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A request by the PCB to have an observer present at the spot-fixing hearing currently underway in Doha, Qatar, was turned down by two of the three players

Osman Samiuddin in Doha06-Jan-2011A request by the PCB to have an observer present at the spot-fixing hearing currently underway in Doha, Qatar, was turned down by two of the three players defending themselves against the ICC’s charges, reaffirming the distance that has grown between the players and their former employers.The code of conduct under which the ICC hearing is held allows for such a provision but leaves the final choice to the discretion of the tribunal. The relevant portion of article 5.1.8 of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code states, “At the discretion of the Anti-corruption tribunal, a representative of the Player’s or Player’s support personnel’s relevant National Cricket Federation may also attend any such hearing (but strictly as an observer only and with no right to be heard).”ESPNcricinfo understands the request was made ahead of the hearing that began on Thursday. The request was considered by Michael Beloff QC, the chairman of the tribunal and the ICC’s code of conduct commissioner, and discussed with other members of the tribunal as well as the players and their lawyers. Though the final decision remains with the tribunal, in this case it appears that the players’ objections have been heeded. Had it been accepted, the PCB would have sent a legal representative.The reason behind the PCB’s request appears to have been nothing more than wanting a representative present at such a significant trial involving players who have been such an important part of the national team until recently.”When the request was made for Shahid Afridi and Waqar Younis [who will appear as witnesses for the ICC] we felt there should be a board man there too because they are our players in that sense and to keep an eye on the proceedings to ensure justice is done,” a board source told ESPNcricinfo.The refusal might not ultimately be a bad thing, as one source pointed out. “Whoever went would be under a bit of tension in the sense of whether they should support the players or the system so in that sense it isn’t a bad development ultimately.”When the scandal first broke in England last summer, the PCB as well as the Pakistani High Commission in London assumed broadly supportive stances. The board did not suspend the players until the ICC officially charged and suspended them, even offering initial legal representation in their interactions with Scotland Yard.But since then, at the insistence of an ICC concerned that its members might be seen as supporting players potentially facing spot-fixing charges, the board has stepped back. The players’ central contracts have been suspended, they have not been allowed to practice at board facilities and no legal or financial assistance has been offered. On at least a couple of occasions, Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir have indicated public bewilderment at how the board has left them to fend for themselves.Given that one player is believed to have not raised an objection the move also points to a growing individuality in the players’ approach to their defence. The trio have been staying separately in Doha and arrived and left separately on the first day of the hearing.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) will be holding the passports of all visiting players at the upcoming Under-19 World Cup as a precautionary measure

Nagraj Gollapudi14-Jan-2010New Zealand Cricket (NZC) will be holding the passports of all visiting players at the upcoming Under-19 World Cup. The exercise is understood to be a precautionary measure after there were instances of players going missing at the qualifying tournament in Toronto last September.An ICC spokesperson confirmed the developments and said the message had been communicated to the management of all teams prior to their departure, to which there were no objections. “They asked NZC to retain passports of players from certain countries, whom they considered to be a high-risk of overstaying,” he told Cricinfo. “We did not feel it was fair to single out a small number of teams so NZC is holding the passports of all the teams.”During the qualifiers, seven Uganda players were unaccounted for, just before the team was due to return home from Canada. It later emerged five players and a coach of the Afghanistan squad also failed to return home with the rest of the squad, and were believed to be seeking asylum in Canada.”Naturally, this [the Canada fiasco] has had a knock-on effect for the tournament proper in New Zealand with understandable concerns being raised by the immigration authorities that there may be a repeat occurrence,” the spokesperson said. “The people at New Zealand Immigration have been extremely helpful and accommodating in ensuring that the teams taking part in the Under-19 World Cup were granted the necessary visas for the event but they did require certain assurances. All the teams understand the need to do this and it is being done in the best interests of the event and the game of cricket.”The Under-19 World Cup will kick off on January 15 with defending champions India taking on Afghanistan in the opening game at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval.

Fast bowler joins Bristol exodus after agreeing three-year contract

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Aug-2025Fast bowler Zaman Akhter has become the latest Gloucestershire player to agree a move away from the club after signing a three-year deal with Essex.Zaman has featured for England Lions after impressing with his pace for Gloucestershire. He made his first-class debut in 2019 for Oxford MCCU before gaining a second chance through the South Asian Cricket Academy, leading to a county contract at the age of 24.Essex are currently third from bottom in Division One of the County Championship and beginning a process of reshaping their squad after the return of Chris Silverwood as director of cricket before the start of the season.”We are really excited to bring ‘Zum’ into the group,” Silverwood said. “He is a player we’ve had our eye on for a while and we really believe his quality will add and strengthen our bowling group.”I look forward to working closely with Zaman over the winter period when we prepare for the 2026 season, integrating him into the squad and our plans for the season ahead.”Zaman is the fourth Gloucestershire quick to announce their departure in recent weeks. Ajeet Singh Dale will join Lancashire at the end of the season, while Tom Price and Dom Goodman are making the switch to Sussex. Long-serving batter Chris Dent has also announced his retirement.Zaman said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining Essex. It’s a great club with a rich history and a strong winning culture, and I can’t wait to get started.”I’m really looking forward to contributing on and off the field, learning from some outstanding players and coaches. Speaking to Chris Silverwood, it’s a really exciting time and hopefully I can thrive at Essex to help contribute to their future success.”

“We need to play a certain brand of cricket, which we have been known for. Fearless cricket is something I’ve always advocated”

S Sudarshanan05-Dec-20236:58

‘We are seeing the positive effects of the WPL on India’s squad’

In his first press conference as the head coach of India, Amol Muzumdar picked fitness and fielding as areas of top priority ahead of the women’s T20I series opener against England.”Fielding and fitness are of highest priority,” Muzumdar said on the eve of the first T20I. “There is no compromise on fielding and fitness. There will be lot of camps that will be happening post this series and getting into the next season. There will be a lot of cricket played either at the NCA or somewhere or the other.”More exposure, fitness and fielding will be my top priority. The fringe players – the new generation coming through – will get equal opportunities. These are the prime things that we will take forward after this series.”Related

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India kicked off preparations for the multi-format series against England and Australia – including two one-off Tests – mid-November at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. After a four-day practice match, they had a three-day camp before touching down at the Wankhede on December 2. Skill aspects aside, focus was strained in on the fitness aspects with parameters set.”Goals have already been set,” Muzumdar said. “We already had some [fitness] test done when we were at the NCA in Bengaluru. [The parameters] are already in place and we follow it very rigorously and religiously moving forward. There will be three tests in the season, that is already being followed.”Muzumdar called for the batters to play fearlessly, starting from Shafali Verma. In T20Is in 2023, India’s openers have had a fifty-run partnership only twice. Shafali averages 20.45 in 11 outings this year and has a strike rate of 112.50 – well below her career strike rate of 130.58.”We need to play a certain brand of cricket, which we have been known for,” Muzumdar said. “Shafali and Jemimah [Rodrigues] are both a very important cogs in the wheel. I would like them to continue what they have been doing.”Fearless cricket is something I have always advocated. We would be playing that brand of cricket.”It is the first time India are playing a T20I at the Wankhede and the opening clash against England will be only the second women’s T20I at the venue. Muzumdar, who played most of his domestic cricket for Mumbai, was nostalgic talking about the venue but cautioned against getting complacent.”Coming back to Wankhede, I am starting a new role at the home ground,” he said. “I have played all my cricket since childhood here. [It is] great to start the series here at Wankhede. [We are] familiar with the conditions but cannot be complacent as every game has its own challenges.”India have won only seven of the 27 T20Is against England, but Muzumdar brushed aside the numbers.”We have decided to leave the statistics and whatever has happened behind us. We are looking forward to a fresh start. The numbers are there to be seen, but these girls and the team are looking forward to the season ahead. We are not going to go back in history — of course it is important — but at the same time, it is also important to look forward to the season ahead.”Harmanpreet Kaur and Amol Muzumdar will combine as captain and coach for their first series together•PTI

DRS a first for a women’s bilateral series in India

The series will be the first to have the Decision Review System (DRS) for a women’s bilateral series in India. Each team will have two reviews in the T20Is and three per innings in the one-off Test.DRS was first introduced in women’s cricket at the 2017 ODI World Cup but it was inconsistent in bilaterals. The Women’s T20 World Cup in 2018 was the first T20 edition to have the review system in place. For bilateral series, it is up to the host boards to have the broadcast facilities for DRS.While England have had DRS in their home series for a while, Muzumdar said India have a “DRS committee” in place to deal with what he called “important aspect of the game”.”We have already had a discussion on this. We do have a DRS committee in place. It is an important aspect of the game. It could be a game-changer or a series-changer. Every small little aspect will be taken care of. We already have a committee in place to deal with that.”England captain Heather Knight, on the other hand, laid bare the key members of the on-field DRS decisions, having used to the system in the women’s Hundred as well.”We are really used to playing with DRS both internationally and domestically,” she said. “Myself, the bowler and [wicketkeeper] Amy Jones are really key cogs in terms of information. Not sure I am the best at it, don’t think if I have an amazing record at DRS. Yeah, one of those you trust your bowler and keeper to try and work it out.”

“Everything that we’re doing in the T20 space ties back into the World Cup,” says Finch

Alex Malcolm19-Sep-2022With Mitchell Marsh absent with an injury, Steven Smith will bat at No. 3 against India. His role in Australia’s first-choice XI in the lead-up to the men’s T20 World Cup, however, will remain fluid.Australia are missing three of their first-choice players in the top six for the three-match series against India starting in Mohali on Tuesday, with Marsh, David Warner and Marcus Stoinis all back at home. Mitchell Starc is also resting because of a niggle. It means Australia will structure their side differently out of necessity, with just nine matches to go before starting their title defence at home against New Zealand.Related

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Smith has batted at No. 3 in T20Is only once in the last 12 matches he has played across a two-year period. That was also out of necessity, against England in the 2021 T20 World Cup, when Marsh was left out for structural balance as Australia chose a fifth specialist bowler.Since then, Smith has batted no higher than No. 4 regardless of Marsh’s availability or not, with his long-time role as a floating “Mr Fix it”, who would enter early at the loss of wickets in the powerplay, abandoned for a more permanent place in the middle order.But his lack of strike power in the middle order has created questions around his place in Australia’s first-choice XI for the World Cup, particularly after Tim David was added to the squad. In his last 12 games, Smith has only batted eight times, with a strike rate of 107.20, down from his already middling career T20 strike rate of 125.27.Aaron Finch confirmed on Monday that Smith would likely bat at No. 3 in the series against India, and he reiterated Australia’s faith in Smith’s capabilities as a versatile cog in the line-up.”Most likely he’ll bat at three in this series with Mitch Marsh being out,” Finch said. “We know the quality that Steve’s got. He’s one of the best players that has ever played the game over all formats of the game. So we know the skill that he’s got and the game sense and the tactical nous that he’s got.”So we’re really confident that regardless of what role he has to play within the structure of the squad, that he can do that very, very well.”Finch confirmed that Australia would experiment with the structure of their side and their personnel in various positions, with an eye on both the upcoming World Cup in Australia as well as the different conditions that will be presented in the three matches in India.”Every decision that we make, I think, has one eye towards the World Cup and seeing the wicket yesterday [in Mohali], it looked like there was quite a bit of grass on it,” Finch said. “And we know in Mohali, the ball can swing around and it can carry through quite a bit, so I think we will be mindful of not being too narrow-minded in terms of our focus.”What we’ve tried to do over the last sort of six-eight-ten months is make sure that everything that we’re doing in the T20 space ties back into the World Cup and, for us, it’s about making sure that once we get there that we’ve had plenty of different combinations of teams that we can play. Because the last thing you want to do is have an injury derail your whole campaign because you’re pigeon-holed into playing one style of cricket or one structure of team. So there’ll be a little bit of mixing and matching, but still with that one eye towards the World Cup, to make sure that we’re still as rounded as we can be as a squad.”The loss of two allrounders in Marsh and Stoinis, and a left-arm quick in Starc, will force Australia to structure the bowling differently, which in turn has a direct influence on the top seven they can select.Cameron Green could make his T20I return against India•Getty Images

David looks set to make his Australia debut in the middle order as a direct replacement for Stoinis, after having played 14 T20Is for Singapore. But he only bowls very part-time offspin. Cameron Green, who is not in Australia’s World Cup squad but is on this tour of India, is another who could play if Australia want a pace-bowling allrounder. Green made his T20I debut for Australia on the tour of Pakistan earlier this year, but has only played 14 professional T20s in his career.However, Finch felt Green was capable of being a three-format player after his recent performances in the ODI series’ against Zimbabwe and New Zealand in Australia.”I think his ability to bat at five, six, seven in the one-day team has been really impressive,” Finch said. “The fact that such a young guy was able to guide us home in a really tricky run chase, in a great partnership with Alex Carey in the recent series against New Zealand, shows that he’s got all the tricks and the game sense for such a young guy to be super successful in all three formats for Australia.”He’s just such a great kid, someone who continues to impress with everything that he does.”

The Delhi Capitals allrounder said Avesh Khan was initially supposed to deliver the Super Over

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Apr-20211:57

Axar Patel – I suggested Rishabh Pant I should bowl the Super Over against Sunrisers

Axar Patel, playing his first IPL 2021 game after recovering from Covid-19, revealed following Delhi Capitals’ Super Over win against the Sunrisers Hyderabad that it was he who told the team management that he should bowl in the one-over shootout. Bowling at David Warner and Kane Williamson, Patel conceded only seven runs in six balls, which the Capitals chased down.Patel said in the post-match press conference that the Capitals were planning on having Avesh Khan – who took 3 for 34 in his four-over quota – deliver the Super Over. But at the end of regulation play, Patel approached the Capitals captain RIshabh Pant and suggested that a spinner would be much harder to put away on the sluggish Chepauk surface. The assessment proved correct eventually as Patel bowled two dots, two singles, one leg bye, and one four.”When I was in the dressing room, I was thinking that on this wicket, a spinner would be pretty effective,” Patel said. “When I came out of the dressing room, the coach and everyone were talking. The initial thought was to go with a fast bowler – Avesh Khan – because they would send a left-right combination.Related

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“After that, when we were just stepping onto the ground, I thought a spinner would be more effective. So I told Rishabh that I could also bowl the over. Then he spoke to Ricky [Ponting], and it was decided at the last moment that I would bowl.”Patel also said that the Capitals’ decision to not send both their openers – Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan – in the Super Over chase of eight and instead of going for two left-handers in Dhawan and Pant was based on the dimensions of the ground, which were bigger on one side and, therefore, would allow more twos to be taken. That decision worked out against Rashid Khan, whom the Sunrisers fielded to bowl the Super Over.Patel, who took 2 for 26 in his regulation four overs, said that he was match-ready ever since he came out of the medical facility in Mumbai where he spent nearly three weeks recovering from Covid-19. With the Chepauk surface assisting spinners, and Patel having rejoined the Capitals camp in Chennai on Thursday, he was asked by the management ahead of Sunday’s game if he felt fit enough to play, to which he said yes. The management told Patel that if he was ready, they he would slot into the XI right away. Patel said his confidence was boosted by his stellar returns against England in the recent home series.”Even before Covid I was bowling well, in Test matches, and then I bowled in the T20Is too. So, I was carrying the same confidence,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking much that I have had Covid. After recovering from Covid, if I still keep thinking about it that I lost 20 days…obviously it was frustrating but I wasn’t thinking much about it.”When I was in quarantine, the team-mates used to have a chat with me over calls, so I was thinking only the positive stuff that I would regain my rhythm and won’t think much about how I would do, or if my bowling or batting would be affected. So, I followed the basics, spent some time in the nets, and found the rhythm I wanted in those four days. After that, I was both mentally and physically ready.”

The Hurricanes’ batting order came under scrutiny during a very slow phase which ultimately left them short of runs

Andrew McGlashan11-Jan-2020A powerful half-century from Alex Hales set the Sydney Thunder on their way to a victory which took them third in the table, but they needed the calm head of Alex Ross to carry them through a late wobble against the Hobart Hurricanes.Hales and Usman Khawaja added 96 for the first wicket but a series of poor shots kept the Hurricanes in the game until Ross, who was an off-season signing from the Adelaide Strikers, got the job done with four balls to spare.The Hurricanes’ batting tactics had again been curious as they left Ben McDermott and David Miller until late in the innings. McDermott and George Bailey, who gave the innings some life, added 64 in six overs while some handy late blows from Clive Rose pushed them over 160.Middle-order muddleIn the last couple of matches the Hurricanes have used Simon Milenko at No. 3 and it’s been a questionable tactic, particularly with how he played in this innings. He is known as a strong hitter, but plodded his way to 17 off 21 balls which did nothing except dig a hole for the innings after Caleb Jewell had provided some early impetus in the Hurricanes’ equal best powerplay of the season: 1 for 51. There was a 43-ball period from the end of the fifth over to early in the 13th – which included the whole stand between Milenko and Bailey – where the Hurricanes did not manage a boundary. When Chris Morris hit Milenko’s leg stump it was a good thing for the Hurricanes and one of those wickets where the opposition may ponder how wise it was to take it. McDermott, who is an Australia T20 player, did not come to the crease until the 12th over and then took time to get himself in. He struck impressively towards the end of the innings, but it is something the Hurricanes will have to look at.Bailey’s reminderIt was Australia’s new selector who broke the shackles when he struck back-to-back sixes off Arjun Nair in the 13th over. He then took consecutive boundaries off Chris Tremain and deposited Morris over long-on with a brilliant shot played off his back knee. It was his most substantial innings of his final season – Bailey, who ended his Sheffield Shield career in December, will retire when the Hurricanes’ campaign is over to take up his role alongside Trevor Hohns and Justin Langer. The innings carried him over 4000 T20 runs and was a reminder of what he has been capable of. The TV replays suggested he didn’t hit the one he was given out to, instead striking the ground.Perfect platformThe Thunder’s chase was quickly out of the blocks against some poor powerplay bowling. Qais Ahmad was given an early over – the fourth – with Hales taking the majority of the 18 runs from it as he hit strongly down the ground. By the end of the six overs the Thunder were cruising on 0 for 66. Hales went to a 28-ball fifty and the back of the chase had been broken. He was given a life on 51 when McDermott couldn’t get a glove on a stumping chance, but it didn’t cost too many as Hales picked out long-off to give the Hurricanes their first opening, although when he fell the Thunder needed 67 off 58 balls and it should have been much simpler than it became.A wobble, but a winKhawaja picked out deep square, where Nathan Ellis lost the ball before clinging on, and when the in-form Callum Ferguson was lbw the pressure started to mount. Morris appeared to have struck the telling blows when he swung Ellis for a four and a six in the 17th over but lazily popped a catch down to long-on in the next over to expose the lower order. However, Ross was in control and did what Morris couldn’t by depositing Rose into the stands to bring the requirement down to 10. Daniel Sams played an awful swipe to leave four needed off the final over and when Nair was able to give Ross the strike back he hammered Ellis through point.

Half-centuries from Jos Buttler and Sam Curran swept England towards a competitive total before Jack Leach struck late in the day

The Report by George Dobell in Pallekele14-Nov-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIf there was any doubt how much assistance the surface in Pallekele would provide for spinners in this match – and there really wasn’t very much – it was banished within a few minutes of the start of the second Test.The first and final balls of the second over of the innings, bowled by offspinner Dilruwan Perera, fizzed past the outside edge of Rory Burns’ bat. By the close, 10 of the 11 wickets to fall had been taken by spinners with few more dramatic than the last – Kaushal Silva being bowled by a beauty from Jack Leach that drew him forward, gripped and turned past the outside edge to clip the top of off stump. Not many are expecting to be here on Sunday.Certainly Joe Root would have been delighted to win his seventh toss in succession in Test cricket. England’s theory – and they are probably right – is that batting (or at least run-scoring) on this unusually dry surface will become more difficult throughout the game. While it is possible that the pitch will, instead of the pitch crumbling – there is little if any precedent for that here – simply lose pace, scoring runs is unlikely to become any easier.That England were able to set something around a competitive total in such circumstances was largely due to half-centuries from Jos Buttler and Sam Curran. Both men owed their success to the use of calculated aggression, confidence in their own ability and abundant natural talent.There was a time when batsmen would have reacted to the turning ball and pressure that Sri Lanka built with careful defence and hours of concentration. Not any more. Buttler’s first response was to attempt to sweep (either reverse, conventional or lap) almost every delivery he received – at one stage he swept five balls in an over and 51 of his 63 runs came from different variations of the stroke – while Curran thumped six sixes, all of them before he had hit a four, in a remarkable late-innings blitz. The modern game has lost some qualities it used to have – some rigour, some grit, some attrition – but it might never have offered more entertainment.Both Buttler and Curran started their innings in fairly conventional fashion. But Buttler soon abandoned that after just recovering his ground to avoid being stumped before he had scored and instead reasoned that his best method of combating the turn was to sweep. Sometimes he swept through extra-over, sometimes he swept just past the keeper’s left hand and, at one stage, Akila Dananjaya was swept for three fours in succession.While the shot eventually brought his downfall – he top-edged a reverse to backward point – his innings had helped revive England just as they appeared to be falling away. Burns, who batted nicely in making 43, was the only other man in the top seven to reach 20.Curran’s contribution was every bit as impressive. England were 225 for 9 when James Anderson joined Curran but, so well did he strike the ball and farm the strike that the final pair added 60 in 11 overs in a stand – the highest of the innings – that seemed to dishearten an increasingly ramshackle Sri Lanka.Curran thrashed six sixes – he has now brought up all three of his Test fifties with a six, and has hit more sixes than anyone else in Test cricket this year – while Anderson contributed just seven runs in the partnership. Five of those sixes were off the unfortunate Dananjaya- twice he was driven over long-off, once over long-on, once he was pulled and once, impossibly, he was swatted over extra cover when the bowler delivered a wide one in an attempt to thwart him – while Perera was also lofted over mid-off to help England progress from an adequate total to, perhaps, a dangerous one. Anderson was also reprieved on review after he had been given out lbw first ball.Sri Lanka will rue a couple of missed opportunities, though. Curran was reprieved on both 1 – when Niroshan Dickwella whipped off the bails just before Curran overbalanced and fell out of his ground – and again on 7 when he edged the deserving Dananjaya through the left hand of a diving slip fielder.He was dropped on 53, too. On that occasion Malinda Pushpakumara, who came into the side in place of the retiring Rangana Herath, was back on his heels on the long-on fence and subsequently put down a relatively straightforward chance driven straight into his midriff. It summed up the latter stages of an increasingly untidy performance in the field by a somewhat demoralised Sri Lanka side.For all the talk of spin, it remains seam – or at least pace – that appears Keaton Jennings’ weakness. Here he fell jabbing at one he could have left from Suranga Lakmal; the only man to fall to seam bowling all day.Burns was the most comfortable of England’s batsmen. Three times he swept Dilruwan to the boundary; on another occasion he cut him there. He also picked up an early boundary off his legs from the seam of Lakmal. It was some surprise when he was drawn forward and edged to slip by a fine delivery in Dananjaya’s first over.While Burns might be forgiven for wondering how he could play such a delivery, Root might be forgiving for wondering how he missed the one that bowled him. Lunging forward to the left-arm spin of Pushpakumara, Root left a gate so large you could reverse park a caravan in it and simply missed a straight one. It was the third time in the series he has been dismissed by left-arm spinners. Shades of Kevin Pietersen, perhaps?Ben Stokes started his first innings at No. 3 in typically positive style. He was down the pitch to his first delivery, bowled by Lakmal, and flicked his third through square leg for four. But while there was another flowing drive to the boundary off the seamer, life against spin proved harder. He survived a reviewed appeal for lbw on 10, on the basis of umpire’s call, but fell in almost identical fashion shortly afterwards, back when he should have been forward and struck on the back pad by one that turned and beat his outside edge.For the second match in succession, Adil Rashid contributed valuable runs, too. England were 171-7 when he came to the crease but, so well did he strike the ball that England added 45 – the second-highest partnership of the innings – for the eighth-wicket.England may yet regret a couple of somewhat soft dismissals, though. Moeen Ali simply missed a short ball he had tried to turn into the leg side, while had Ben Foakes called for a review, he would surely have won a reprieve after being adjudged to have edged to slip. Replays suggested the ball brushed both his front and back leg but at no stage touched his bat. In a low-scoring game, such moments could yet prove crucial.

Yorkshire would have slipped into the bottom two if they had lost after following-on against Surrey but hundreds by Shaun Marsh and Alex Lees guarded against calamity

ECB Reporters Network15-Sep-2017Determined hundreds from both Shaun Marsh and Alex Lees ensured Yorkshire’s escape with a hard-earned draw against Surrey at the Kia Oval despite having been being forced to follow-on in their Specsavers County Championship match.Marsh finished unbeaten on 125, from 263 balls, in a dedicated demonstration of crease occupation across five and a half hours, and he had guided Yorkshire to safety at 281 for 2 in their second innings – an overall lead of 83 – when bad light prevented the last 31 overs of the match from being bowled. There was just one over sent down after tea before umpires Michael Burns and Neil Mallender took the players off, never to return.It was a fine effort from Marsh and Lees, with the five draw points highly valuable to a Yorkshire team who are facing a fight to avoid relegation from Division One in the upcoming last fortnight of the season. The 10 points they take from this match leaves them on 124, just one point ahead of both Somerset and Middlesex and with one of those three counties seemingly destined to join already relegated Warwickshire in the second division next season.

So many could go down – Gale

Andrew Gale (Yorkshire head coach): “There are so many teams down there who can go down. Surrey aren’t out of it just yet, either. We’ve got two massive games, but for me the key is not to look at the table. We just need to perform like we have done with the bat here. Our home form has been good for a number of years, and we back ourselves at home.”
Michael Di Venuto (Surrey head coach): “We thought the pitch was going to break up a bit more than it did. The guts of the wicket was still very good for batting. There was a bit of rough there for the spinners to work with, but it was only slow turn.”

Marsh and fellow left-hander Lees put on 215 in 67 overs, a Yorkshire second wicket record against Surrey. The previous record, of 196 between Herbert Sutcliffe and Edgar Oldroyd, dated back to 1922 and was also at the Oval.The 24-year-old Lees, having completed his first century of what has been a difficult, low-scoring season for him, reached 102 from201 balls before chopping on attempting to cut slow left-arm spinner Freddie van den Bergh. It was the 12th first-class hundred of Lees’ career.Yorkshire resumed on 59 for one, still 139 runs adrift, and Marsh was largely untroubled as he moved on from his overnight 27. Lees, however, who started the day on 19, was close to being leg-before to Sam Curran’s left-arm seam and swing when on 24 and, after being beaten by the same bowler on 32, he survived a confident appeal for a catch behind off Curran on 33.On a last day pitch still good for batting, and against a Surrey bowling attack surely growing weary on a third successive day in the field, Marsh took the opportunity to underline his claims for inclusion in Australia’s Ashes Test plans.This was his 22nd first-class hundred, four of which have been made in his 23 Test appearances to date. Next week, his place as overseas batsman in Yorkshire’s team passes to Kraigg Brathwaite, the West Indies opener signed for the last two games of the championship season with a view to an extended stint going into next summer. Gary Ballance kept Marsh company with 28 not out before the bad light brought a premature finish to the game.Surrey, who take 12 points from the game and now have 136 in total, are not yet totally out of the relegation picture themselves – even third-placed Hampshire could yet be sucked in. Surrey host Somerset at the Kia Oval next week, before a visit in the last week of the season to play Lancashire at Old Trafford.

The Supreme Court has accepted most of the Lodha Committee recommendations covering wide-ranging aspects of the game in India

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-20166:39

Ugra: The BCCI will look for legal wriggle room

The Supreme Court has accepted the majority of the Lodha Committee recommendations covering wide-ranging aspects of Indian cricket at the central and state level. It has given the BCCI between four and six months to implement the recommendations and appointed RM Lodha, the former chief justice of India who was the architect of the report, to oversee the transition.The order was delivered on Monday afternoon by the two-judge bench, comprising Chief Justice of India TS Thakur and Justice Ibrahim Kalifulla, which has been hearing the case since January.

Highlights of the court order

Recommendations that were accepted
♢ Each state will have only one vote at BCCI elections
♢ Ministers and civil servants cannot hold BCCI offices
♢ BCCI and state office bearers must not be over 70 years old
♢ No person can hold office at the BCCI and state association simultaneously
♢ No person can hold more than three, three-year terms as a BCCI official, and no official can serve consecutive terms
Recommendations that weren’t imposed
♢ Bringing the BCCI under the Right to Information Act
♢ Legalising betting in India
♢ Limiting TV advertisements during the broadcast of matches
♢ Making the BCCI fund the proposed players’ association

“In the result, we accept the report submitted by the [Lodha] Committee and the recommendations made therein with such modifications and clarifications as have been set out by us in the body of this judgement,” the bench said in its order. “The transition from the old to the new system recommended by the Committee shall have to be under the watchful supervision of this Court.”The supervision of the transition can, in our opinion, be left to be undertaken by the Committee not only because it has a complete understanding of and insight into the nature of the problems sought to be remedied but also the ability to draw timelines for taking of steps necessary for the implementation of the proposed reforms. We are conscious of fact that the process may be time consuming but we hope that the same should be completed within a period of four months or at best six months from today. We, therefore, request the committee headed by Justice Lodha to draw appropriate timelines for implementation of the recommendations and supervise the implementation thereof.”With these observations we dispose of the matter finally placing on record our deep appreciation for the commendable work which the Committee has done in a short period.”The BCCI counsel KK Venugopal told the court that his client “will show greatest respect in implementing the judgment”. BCCI president Anurag Thakur offered no comment because he said he wanted to study the order first, but IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla said the BCCI would respect the judgement and discuss the procedure for implementation at a meeting.Reacting to the court order, Lodha said he hoped it would be a positive influence on the game. “Great day for Indian cricket and Indian sport, think cricket fans should rejoice the verdict of Supreme Court,” he told ANI.The panel – comprising Lodha and retired Supreme Court judges, Ashok Bhan and R Raveendran – had been formed in January 2015 to determine appropriate punishments for Rajasthan Royals official Raj Kundra, Chennai Super Kings official Gurunath Meiyappan and their respective franchises, and decide on Sundar Raman’s role in the IPL 2013 scandal, and propose changes to the BCCI’s functioning to streamline its functions and prevent sporting fraud and conflict of interest.The most important set of recommendations announced by the Lodha Committee in January this year were accordingly aimed at transforming the BCCI’s power structure. The court accepted the committee’s recommendation of giving each state only one vote in the BCCI’s elections and and removing the vote from associations without territorial definitions (Railways and Services, for example).The court also approved of recommendations that sought to define stringent eligibility criteria for the board’s office-bearers and set limits to their time in office. Ministers and bureaucrats currently holding office will not to be allowed to hold BCCI positions, neither would those officials holding office in their state associations or those above 70 years of age.The committee’s recommendation that there be five elected office-bearers – president, secretary, one vice-president instead of the current five, treasurer and joint-secretary – but that they serve no more than three three-year terms across positions was also accepted by the court; as was the motion to have a “cooling-off” period between terms to prevent an official from holding high BCCI office for several years at a stretch.The Lodha’s report had also recommended that the Working Committee, the BCCI’s highest decision-making body, be replaced with a nine-member Apex Council, which will include representatives from the players’ community – including one woman. There should also be a nominee of the Comptroller and Auditor General to keep an eye on how the board’s vast resources were being utilised. The BCCI was asked to implement all these recommendations.There were three major recommendations made by the Lodha Committee that the Supreme Court did not direct the BCCI to implement. The court did not accept the recommendation to impose restrictions on television advertisements during the broadcast of matches, and it said that the matters of bringing the BCCI under the Right to Information Act and legalising betting in the country were matters for the Indian legislature.