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English cricket will continue to insist that all players, including short term overseas signings, undergo anti-corruption education – even though the amnesty to report match-fixing has produced “nothing of major significance.”

Alex Winter30-Apr-2012The Professional Cricketers’ Association and ECB will continue to insist that all players, including short term overseas signings, undergo anti-corrupotion education – even though the three-month amnesty to report match-fixing has produced nothing of major significance.Players arriving on short-term deals for the Friends Life t20 represent a major remaining obstacle in the education programme set up by the PCA and ECB in the wake of the Mervyn Westfield trial. Westfield pleaded guilty in January to spot-fixing while playing for Essex. He was sentenced to four months in prison but released on licence last week after serving half the sentence.Every professional cricketer in the country has been required to work through an online tutorial. Overseas players have been given a two-week period after arriving in the country to complete it but the PCA has encouraged counties to arrange for players to fulfil the obligation before they arrive.The Westfield trial prompted the ECB to open an amnesty window for confidentially reporting information about corruption. The window closed on April 30 with the ECB and PCA satisfied with the progress made in tackling corruption.Current and former players came forward with information but nothing of major significance has been discovered. “All of this information has been managed in confidence and has given us a clear picture of the nature of the threat our game faces from corrupt activities,” Chris Watts, the ECB’s anti-corruption officer, said. “The absence of a significant number of new reports is reassuring but the access unit will rigorously review any report of alleged corruption.”Angus Porter, chief executive of the PCA, said the amnesty window “had not uncovered a can of worms” but said it has served a greater purpose. “More importantly we’ve taken the opportunity to remind people of their duty to report incidents without delay. It’s been helpful as part as a general process of education.”Essex, Westfield’s former county, were criticised for their reaction to the incident which occurred in September 2009 but was not reported until early 2010. They were accused in the trial at the Old Bailey for “turning a blind eye” to corruption by defence counsel Mark Milliken-Smith QC, a criticism they later dismissed as unjustified.”We’ve been working closely with the Essex lads,” Porter said. “We’ve all come an awfully long way since 2010. The emphasis of our discussions with them has been to acknowledge that they did the right thing in coming forward as they did.”The PCA remains undecided on whether to use Westfield as part of its future education programme. He and former team-mate, the Pakistan international Danish Kaneria, who was named during the trial as the man who groomed Westfield for corruption, are the subject of an ECB disciplinary hearing on May 21.The hearing has been delayed to allow Kaneria’s lawyers more time to prepare their defence. Kaneria has not yet confirmed whether he will attend the hearing in person.

A round-up of the second match day of the Women’s Quadrangular Series in Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Apr-2011It was another disappointing day at the Women’s Quadrangular Series in Sri Lanka, as all four teams scheduled to play had to settle for a point each as neither of the two matches in Colombo could be completed because of the weather. The only highlight of the day was Chamari Atapattu becoming the first Sri Lankan woman to score a century in one-day cricket. Rain has affected the whole series, with the Twenty20 matches and the first round of matches in the one-day series all being shortened.On Thursday, the game between Netherlands women and Pakistan women was reduced to a 20-over match but still there could be no play after Netherlands’ innings. The other match between Sri Lanka women and Ireland women was abandoned after Sri Lanka played their shortened innings of 48 overs.At the Nondescripts Cricket Ground Netherlands women were put in to bat and only managed to get to 68 for 6 in their allotted 20 overs. However, Pakistan women never got a chance to start their chase.Sri Lanka women reached 251 for 5 against Ireland women at the P Sara Oval, thanks to Atapattu’s 111 off 110 balls. Atapattu’s score was 23 runs more than the previous highest score by a Sri Lankan woman.

Stephen Peters fell one run short of what would have been the first
double-century of his career after batting for just over nine hours to put
Northamptonshire in a commanding position against Middlesex at Lord’s

06-Jun-2010

ScorecardStephen Peters fell one run short of what would have been the first
double-century of his career after batting for just over nine hours to put
Northamptonshire in a commanding position against Middlesex at Lord’s.He had faced 391 balls and hit 20 fours in the County Championship Division
Two match when he chipped a return catch to Shaun Udal, sprawling to his right. Peters looked crestfallen but he had done a great job for his side in sharing stands of 182 with Alex Wakely, 70 with Nicky Boje and 144 with his captain Andrew Hall.Hall went on to make 133 off 192 balls with 17 fours and when he declared at
581 for 7, Northamptonshire’s highest score against Middlesex, they were 234
ahead. Middlesex closed on 48 for the loss of Scott Newman.Northamptonshire had resumed at 280 for 4 in reply to Middlesex’s first innings
347 and Peters and Boje added 50 in 14 overs before Boje pulled Pedro Collins
straight to square leg. Peters, 115 overnight, was never in trouble as he went past his previous
highest score of 183 not out – scored in leading Northamptonshire to a
six-wicket victory over Middlesex at Northampton in April – but he became
increasingly tentative as he neared his milestone.In the end he could not get there but he had still made the highest score by a
Northamptonshire batsman against Middlesex and given Hall the perfect platform
to build his first century of the season.David Murphy, a wicketkeeper-batsman from Loughborough University who is
deputising for the injured Niall O’Brien, joined him in a seventh-wicket stand
of 107. Murphy made an unbeaten 50, his highest score in the championship, off 87 balls
and by the time Hall was bowled driving at Pedro Collins Middlesex were in
disarray.Udal, their captain, had his left hand strapped after splitting the webbing
between his thumb and forefinger, and Gareth Berg, their newly-capped
all-rounder, was off the field with back trouble.No fewer than nine bowlers were used with only Udal himself and Collins
emerging with any credit and the fielding was so poor that there were jeers from
a section of the small crowd. Their mood did not improve when Newman edged his third ball from Jack Brooks to first slip but at least Sam Robson and Owais Shah held out until the close.

Shamar Joseph could play his first Test in his home nation while Nandre Burger could return for South Africa

Firdose Moonda14-Aug-2024

Big Picture: West Indies, South Africa look to go back to winning ways

That competitive edge we were hoping for in the series opener showed itself on the last day of the rain-affected match, where both teams did all they could to avoid a draw. In the end, too much time was lost to rain and they had to settle for Test cricket’s first draw in 28 matches. The teams will want to get back to winning ways in Guyana.Happily, the elements are not expected to have as much of an impact and more play should be possible. Both teams have plenty of things to work on. At the outset: getting a batter (or two) to convert a start into a three-figure score will be top of mind. Three South Africans – Tony de Zorzi, Temba Bavuma and Tristan Stubbs – and one West Indian – Alick Athanaze – scored half-centuries in Trinidad and there were nine other individual scores in the 30s, which suggests that getting in was less of an issue than staying in. The placidity of the pitch aside, batting in this series appears to be a test of patience and the likes of Kraigg Brathwaite and David Bedingham, who are known for their ability to hold vigils in the middle, could be among those to watch out for.For bowlers, the challenge of Test cricket is always time-based as they seek to stay disciplined for long periods. This series appears to demand more than most as Jayden Seals – who bowled eight spells in South Africa’s first innings in Trinidad – and Keshav Maharaj – who sent down 40 successive overs in West Indies first innings – showed. We’ve seen excellent examples of persistence and quality of skill which should continue into the second Test, where there’s plenty at stake.Keshav Maharaj put in long shifts during the first Test•AFP/Getty Images

West Indies remain rooted to the bottom of the World Test Championship points table and are seeking their second win. Their next assignments are against Bangladesh in the Caribbean followed by a tour to Pakistan, and they will want to maximise all the home advantage they can. The drawn first Test means South Africa will face each of their next seven Tests in this World Test Championship cycle as a must win. If they manage a perfect record, their chances of qualifying for the final will be almost certain. If they slip up somewhere, they could still get to Lord’s but will have to rely on other results, among teams who play far more than they do, to go their way.

Form Guide

West Indies: DLLLW ()
South Africa: DLLLW

In the Spotlight: Alick Athanaze and Kyle Verreynne

Alick Athanaze fell eight runs short of a first Test hundred in Trinidad, helped save the Test and looked comfortable against the short ball, and used the sweep shot well. His composure against South Africa’s more experienced players – Maharaj and Kagiso Rabada – was also impressive. He has already been identified as a key cog in the revival of West Indies’ long-format fortunes and could underline that with another big performance at a place in which he has historically done well: Guyana. Athanaze has played two first-class matches in Providence and crossed fifty three times. He scored 66 against Guyana in 2019, and 81 and 97 against Jamaica in March 2023.Kyle Verreynne will hope to find form in Guyana•AFP/Getty Images

If South Africa want the option of playing only six batters, they will have to believe Kyle Verreynne can score big runs when needed. He’s had a stop-start time in the Test squad, was dropped for the now-retired Heinrich Klaasen, and faces some competition from Ryan Rickelton. So, Verreynne will want to make use of the opportunities he gets quickly, he has not gotten past 39 in his last five innings. But he will want to draw from his first-class success, where he averages almost fifty, to find form in Tests.

Team News: Burger, Shamar likely to return

It would seem amiss not to play Shamar Joseph at home, especially as he is yet to play an international at Providence. After Gudakesh Motie went wicketless in Trinidad, Shamar may be in, leaving Jomel Warrican as the primary spinner.West Indies (Probable XI): 1 Kraigg Brathwaite (capt), 2 Mikyle Louis, 3 Keacy Carty, 4 Alick Athanaze, 5 Kavem Hodge, 6 Jason Holder, 7 Joshua Da Silva (wk), 8 Jomel Warrican, 9 Jayden Seales, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Shamar JosephSouth Africa were comfortable going into the first Test a bowler short but with the series on the line, they may have to sacrifice the length of their line-up to equip themselves with enough firepower to push a win. That could mean benching Ryan Rickelton and choosing between left-armer Nandre Burger or an extra spinner in Dane Piedt to give them a 6-5 split.South Africa (probable): 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Tony de Zorzi, 3 Tristan Stubbs, 4 Temba Bavuma (capt), 5 David Bedingham, 6 Kyle Verreynne (wk), 7 Wiaan Mulder/Dane Piedt, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Lungi Ngidi, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Nandre Burger

Pitch and Conditions: Tough outing for the batters?

With only two Tests played at this ground, and the last of those 13 years ago, there is scant data to go on for what to expect here, but the first-class numbers may tell us something. In 2023, it hosted three red-ball matches and the average first-innings score of 206, which suggests that batters are in for another tough outing. The venue seems to offer enough for both seam and spin with quicks taking 67 wickets in 2023 at 20.20 and an economy of 3.35 and spinners 49 wickets at 21.20 with an economy rate of 2.55.There are some afternoon thunderstorms forecast throughout the match, but the outlook is mostly sunny and dry. The players may need a few extra drinks breaks, though as temperatures will hover in the upper-30 degrees range but with humidity above 90%, so the real feel will be closer to 40 degrees.

Stats and Trivia:

• There have only been two Test matches played at Providence before and West Indies have a 1-1 record. They lost to Sri Lanka by 121 runs in 2008 and beat Pakistan by 40 runs in 2011.
• Aiden Markram had never been part of a drawn Test before the Trinidad match. He was part of a 37-game streak in which games have either been won or lost by South Africa.
• Kagiso Rabada needs five wickets to get to 300 in Tests. If he gets there in this Test, he could be the fastest South African to reach the landmark by number of balls. Rabada has bowled 11,596 balls in Tests so far. Dale Steyn, the quickest South African to 300 wickets by number of matches, got there in 12,605 balls. That gives Rabada 168.1 overs to get to 300 quicker than Steyn.
• In 15 home Tests between 2018 and 2021, Jason Holder took 64 wickets at an ave of 16.4. Since 2022, in six home Tests, he has seven wickets at 58.85.

Quotes

“On the previous game, there was obviously a little bit of frustration. We felt that with a little bit more time, a result could have been possible. Games ending as draws are few and far between and it wasn’t the case of both teams playing super well over five days. I’m yet to be in that situation. It would be nice to be involved in a test where both teams play at their best and at the end of the day, you can’t get a winner. Test cricket has become attacking. That’s an obvious thing because of T20 cricket. But in these conditions, I think it can be a bit tough to be overly attacking in slow wickets.”
“Batting-wise, in the first innings we could’ve put more runs on the board. I think that’s a big focus of ours and bowling-wise, the pitch didn’t offer much, especially the fast bowlers. They [the bowlers] didn’t get much spin in the first innings as well, but we were quite disciplined.”

Leicestershire stroll to target for only their second win of the season

ECB Reporters Network09-Jun-2023A maiden T20 century by Rishi Patel powered Leicestershire Foxes to an impressive six-wicket Vitality Blast victory over Durham at the Uptonsteel County Ground, Grace Road.The 24-year-old right-hand bat – dropped on 38 – struck 103 from 49 balls with 12 fours and four sixes as the Foxes cruised home with 14 balls to spare with comfortably their most emphatic performances of an otherwise dismal season to date, Lewis Hill hitting the winning runs to finish on an unbeaten 54 from 41 balls.It was Durham’s second defeat by Leicestershire in six days although the Foxes remain bottom of the North Group table, having lost their other six games.Aussie Ashton Turner’s unbeaten 60 from 38 balls lifted Durham’s total to a challenging 172 for 4 against a makeshift Foxes bowling attack from which key man Naveen ul-Haq was missing though injury. Ollie Robinson made 30 from 31 balls and Graham Clark 27 from just 14 in the powerplay but spinner Callum Parkinson (2 for 21) and teenage pace bowler Josh Hull (1 for 26) made sure that the visitors were never able to dominate.Asked to bat first, Durham posted 59 for 2 from the opening block of six, 35 of those runs coming in two overs after the visitors went hard against the two new faces in the Foxes attack, with Matt Salisbury and Tom Scriven drafted in for their county Blast debuts after injuries to Mikey Finan and Will Davis as well as Afghan international Naveen.Salisbury, who did not play in the Blast during his four years at Durham but made eight appearances for Essex in 2014, took a wicket with his fifth ball against his ex-team-mates when Alex Lees swung optimistically and was bowled, but took some punishment in his second over as Clark and Michael Jones plundered 17 runs, the pair having taken 18 off Scriven in the previous over, although Clark survived a difficult chance to point on four.Hull finished the powerplay well for the Foxes as Jones miscued to mid-on and when left-arm spinner Parkinson produced a fine, full delivery to trap Clark in the crease in the next over, Durham were 61 for 3. At halfway, with Colin Ackermann and Rehan Ahmed applying the squeeze, they were 80 for 3, advancing to 112 for 4 from 15 overs after Parkinson made another big breakthrough, bowling Robinson to register his 100th Blast wicket for the county.The Foxes would have been disappointed not to claim more wickets in the last five, which saw Turner and Bas de Leede swell the total by 62 runs, both clearing the ropes of Rehan’s legspin, but Hull, the 18-year-old left-arm quick of whom they have high hopes, produced an impressive final over costing just eight runs to finish with 1 for 26.Needing to score at 8.65 runs per over, the home side suffered an immediate setback, losing Nick Welch to the fifth ball of their reply as he missed an attempted sweep against left-arm spinner Liam Trevaskis, but recovered well, with Hill pulling and scooping profitably and Patel hitting powerfully down the ground, to be 69 for 1 from six, although the latter had an escape when Ben Raine dropped what should have been a straightforward chance at wide long-on.Back-to-back boundaries off Turner took Patel to a 21-ball half-century and two more off legspinner Nathan Sowter’s next over brought the target down to 70 with 70 balls remaining.And there was no holding the Foxes back on this occasion with Patel in destructive mood, needing just 24 more balls to reach his hundred, getting there his second six in three balls over wide long-on off Sowter, and although it all ended anticlimactically in the next over as an ill-advised decision to go for a second run to de Leede at midwicket off Wayne Parnell saw him run out.Nonetheless, the home side went into the final five overs needing just 21 to win and though Parnell dismissed Colin Ackermann, who chopped on, and Louis Kimber, caught behind, with consecutive balls, to induce a little anxiety in the home crowd, only 14 more were needed, Hill finishing the job by pulling Sowter for his third six before driving the same bowler through extra cover for four next ball.

Ollie Robinson ruled out again as Saqib Mahmood is named for Test debut

Andrew Miller15-Mar-2022

Big Picture

Reset, and refocus. After five days of hard toil on an unforgiving Antigua deck, the series swings south-east to Barbados, where the surface – to judge by a run of seven consecutive results since a tense draw against India in 2011 – ought to offer more for the bowlers on both teams to get stuck into. However, for England, those bowlers will not include either Ollie Robinson or Mark Wood, both of whom have been ruled out, with Lancashire’s Saqib Mahmood inked in for his debut.If England’s recent experience at Bridgetown is anything to go by, bowler-friendly conditions might not be the most uplifting of prospects. It was on this ground three years ago that they were blown away for 77 in their first innings, a catastrophic derailment that set them on their way to yet another failed Caribbean campaign.And if they wanted a reminder of the Kensington Oval’s fortress qualities, a quick recap of January’s T20I series would suffice – West Indies emerged as 3-2 victors, with the home-town hero Jason Holder’s final sign-off being the small matter of four wickets in four balls.For the time being, however, the events in Antigua did at least inbue two very flaky batting line-ups with some rarely encountered optimism. After failing to reach 300 in any of their ten innings of the Ashes, England passed that mark in both innings of the first Test – and in so doing they recorded three centurions in a Test match for the first time since Rajkot on the tour of India in 2016-17.The best of these belonged to Jonny Bairstow – a man with the red-ball bit between his teeth right now, following a similarly superb century in his previous Test in Sydney in January. An eternity has passed since Bairstow’s annus mirablisin 2016, in which time he has gone on to become arguably England’s most important ODI batter, and so all manner of caveats are warranted when discussing his sporadic Test form in the intervening years.But having arrived at the crease at a familiarly bleak 48 for 4 on the first morning, Bairstow was hugely impressive in first rebuilding the innings in partnership with Ben Stokes, then kicking on after lunch and beyond to lay down England’s first big marker of this post-Ashes era. Zak Crawley in the second innings followed suit with a performance of similar self-denial, before Root put the bow on an encouraging display with his 24th Test century, and his first of 2022.West Indies, however, found resolve of their own to claim an equal share of the batting plaudits. Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell posted fifty stands in each innings, slim pickings by most teams’ standards but an important marker for this outfit, before Nkrumah Bonner’s tour de force dragged West Indies to a first-innings lead of 64 – a non-issue in the final analysis, but the sort of advantage that might have proved vital had the pitch ever threatened to deteriorate.Jason Holder looks on during a nets session•Getty Images

In the bowling stakes, it was a case of two forward, two back and one almighty set-back for England. Sadly for Chris Woakes and Craig Overton, their alliance lived down to most expectations, particularly while West Indies were romping along at four runs an over with the new ball. And when Mark Wood went lame with a deeply worrying elbow injury, one that has opened the way for Mahmood’s debut, that lack of 90mph threat was all the more exposed.And yet, out of adversity surged the inevitable Ben Stokes – a man who had been expected to ease his way back to fitness after the side strain that had so hampered his Ashes display. He ploughed through 28 overs in the first innings, his heaviest innings workload for seven years, and 41 overs all told for the outstanding figures of 3 for 66. He is not quite back to his 2019-20 peak, but these are his most encouraging signs since his career break last summer.And then there was the spinner Jack Leach, whose best effort in an England shirt yielded match figures of 5 for 136 in 73.4 overs, including three of the four breakthroughs on West Indies’ final-day wobble. In the end he could not surmount either the pitch or the resistance led by Bonner and Holder over the contest’s final session. But his poise and control was revealed by the concurrent struggles of his opposite Veerasammy Permaul, who was never permitted to settle in either innings.Ultimately, however, if it’s an England tour of the Caribbean, then the calibre of the hosts’ fast bowling is sure to be the final factor. In the most helpful conditions of the contest, Holder, Kemar Roach and Jayden Seales ripped open some very fresh wounds in their visitor’s batting, while Alzarri Joseph earned late reward in the second innings for some diligent old-ball work. Pound for pound, and with Wood’s injury factored in, that quartet had the edge over their England counterparts. In a series where both teams are prone to moments of chronic batting malfunction, the race to 20 wickets could be well and truly on this week.

Form guide

(Last five matches; most recent first)
West Indies DLLLW
England DLDLL

In the spotlight

Can Nkrumah Bonner back up the masterclass that he produced in Antigua? For more than 12 hours across two innings of the first Test, West Indies’ most fascinating late bloomer racked up 161 runs from 493 balls for once out – and even that flicker of weakness, at eight-down in the first innings, came via a leg-side strangle from the part-time allsorts of Dan Lawrence.His innings were unrepentantly one-paced, and perfectly tailored to meet West Indies’ needs, as he first ground his team into a dominant position, then bailed them out just when it seemed their old batting frailties were set to burst forth. Bonner’s Test average is now just a nudge below 50, and like Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the man whose unflappability he most resembles, while he endures, his team has a solidity at odds with their recent reputation.Ollie Robinson missed the first Test after suffering a back spasm•Getty Images

Amid the furore about the dropping of England’s Big Two, and the subsequent injuries that have scuppered the other two lead members of the Ashes attack, Wood and Ollie Robinson, there is a treat in store for fast-bowling purists on Wednesday with the maiden Test appearance of the thoroughbred Saqib Mahmood.With a rip-roaring action that is as much Waqar Younis as it is Brett Lee, Mahmood looks the part and can touch the part too, with the ability to push the 90mph barrier that England so yearn with the blunting of so many of their previous spearheads – including, of course, Jofra Archer, who has been training with the team during his comeback from elbow surgery. However, Mahmood remains a work in progress, and one that England are obliged to handle with care – in terms of workload as much as expectation. His penultimate match in Barbados was a demoralising one, as Akeal Hosain spanked him for 28 runs in an over to lose a remarkable T20I by one run.

Team news

West Indies have named an unchanged 13-man squad, with reserve batter Kyle Mayers and Anderson Phillip, the uncapped Trinidad fast bowler, once again waiting in the wings. After their relative success in Antigua, the likelihood is an unchanged XI, although given that Permaul went wicketless in both innings, there could yet be the temptation to reinforce the batting with Mayers and rely on the four quicks. Brathwaite, however, has strongly indicated that the spinner remains in his plans.West Indies (probable) 1 Kraigg Brathwaite (capt), 2 John Campbell, 3 Nkrumah Bonner, 4 Kyle Mayers, 5 Jermaine Blackwood, 6 Jason Holder, 7 Joshua da Silva (wk), 8 Alzarri Joseph, 9 Kemar Roach, 10 Veerasammy Permaul, 11 Jayden SealesRelated

• Leach the major positive as Eng find lessons in Antiguan adversity

• Robinson set to return in Barbados but Wood 'unlikely' to be risked

• Simmons hopes for rise in home support after 'playing at Trent Bridge'

• Strauss: ECB to launch high-performance review of English game

Robinson had been back to full pace in the nets and looked set to be handed a recall after missing the first Test with a back spasm, but the management has decided he is not ready, and instead there will be a maiden Test call-up for the Lancashire quick Saqib Mahmood, whose potential to touch 90mph provides England an important cutting edge, with Wood missing out due to “acute pain” in his right elbow. There are obvious questions to be asked about the suitability of Woakes and Overton in these conditions after a toothless display in Antigua, but both men retain their places in the starting XI.England 1 Alex Lees, 2 Zak Crawley, 3 Joe Root (capt), 4 Dan Lawrence, 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Ben Foakes (wk), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Craig Overton, 10 Saqib Mahmood, 11 Jack Leach

Stats and trivia

• England have won three of their previous 16 Tests in Bridgetown, most recently in 2004 – when their eight-wicket victory also put the seal on their only series win in the Caribbean since 1968.
• West Indies, however, have won back-to-back contests on this ground against England – in 2015, when a hard-fought five-wicket win squared the series 1-1, and famously in 2019, when Kemar Roach’s five wickets, Jason Holder’s double-hundred, and Roston Chase’s 8 for 60 put the seal on one of their greatest victories of all.
• Kemar Roach needs one wicket to move clear of Garry Sobers’ tally of 235 Test wickets, into outright seventh-place in West Indies’ list of leading bowlers.

Quote

“To be honest, it’s pretty normal. A lot of supporters come from England with the Barmy Army, so I honestly don’t mind it. They create a lot of energy, and playing in England is always a good feeling too.”

West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite has no concerns about England’s likely home-from-home atmosphere in Barbados, after head coach Phil Simmons complained the Antigua atmosphere had been ‘like playing at Trent Bridge’

“I knew I wasn’t going to play for India, so there was no reason to continue playing”

Shashank Kishore25-Oct-2020Tanmay Srivastava, the Uttar Pradesh batsman, has decided to retire from all forms of cricket at the age of 30. Srivastava finishes with 4918 runs in 90 first-class matches, a majority of which he played for Uttar Pradesh, a state he captained at different times right from the age-group circuit.A solid left-hand opener, Srivastava moved to Uttarakhand ahead of the 2019-20 domestic season. He wasn’t named among the probables for the upcoming season, which continues to remain in doubt due to the covid-19 pandemic.”I wasn’t going to play for Uttarakhand, so I didn’t have an immediate future with the team. I haven’t been playing in the IPL, I knew I wasn’t going to play for India, so there was no reason to continue playing,” Srivastava told ESPNcricinfo. “I played 90 first-class games. Yes, even if I could have played 10 more for 100, what would I have achieved?”Nothing would’ve changed. I’d rather not block a youngster’s place now. Someone else getting the right opportunity at the right time could benefit much more than me sticking around to complete a milestone.”Srivastava’s career started with much promise. As a 16-year old, he captained an India Under-19 team that had in their ranks the likes of Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey and Ravindra Jadeja. At 18, he lost the captaincy to Kohli but was India’s highest run-getter in their victorious Under-19 World Cup campaign in Malaysia in 2008.He was also part of the Uttar Pradesh team when they made back-to-back Ranji Trophy finals from 2006 to 2008, even scoring a century in a losing cause against Delhi on a seaming deck at the Wankhede Stadium. He was part of Kings XI Punjab for the first two IPL seasons before he fell off the IPL radar. Although he was then contracted with Kochi Tuskers Kerala, he didn’t have opportunities to present his case.”One of my favourite memories from cricket is opening the batting with Sachin Tendulkar in the Challenger Trophy in 2006 as a 17-year old,” he said. “He is a hero, so that was a magical experience. Scoring a century in a Ranji final, being part of an Under-19 World Cup win, wearing that India jersey, being part of the IPL – these are all experiences I cherish.”Srivastava finishes his career with a first-class average of 34, something he felt a little disappointed with, although he felt playing on surfaces up north meant the worth of it was probably a lot more. That said, he also accepted inconsistency didn’t help his case.”I used to score 500-600 every season, which is okay, maybe good. But there were a lot of other batsmen who also made the same amount of runs. That is why probably I couldn’t stand out. Also, the wickets in the north, especially in winters, were a lot more challenging than in other parts of the country. So it wasn’t easy as an opener. But that said, I’m overall happy with the career I’ve had.”Srivastava hasn’t charted out a post-retirement plan just yet. For now, he will continue representing ONGC, the company that gave him a sports-quota job as a teenager in 2007, in corporate tournaments.

Ashantha de Mel, the team manager, has written to the governing body, but says he hasn’t received a reply yet

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jun-2019Sri Lanka team manager Ashantha de Mel has complained to the ICC about the “unfair” pitches he feels Sri Lanka have had to play their matches on, as well as the less-than-ideal training facilities and accommodation. The ICC has strongly denied the accusation that there has been favouritism.Although their two most-recent matches were washouts in Bristol, Sri Lanka had begun the tournament on two green decks in Cardiff, where they lost to New Zealand and narrowly beat Afghanistan. In the approach to their match against Australia at The Oval – a venue that has seen high-scoring games thus far – de Mel believes Sri Lanka have been saddled with another green track. As seaming conditions will ostensibly aid Australia, de Mel is unhappy.”What we have found out is that for the four matches we have played so far at Cardiff and Bristol, the ICC has prepared a green pitch,” he told . “At the same venues, the other countries have played on pitches are brown and favourable for high scoring.”The pitch being prepared for our match against Australia on Saturday here at The Oval is green. It is not sour grapes that we are complaining. But it is very unfair on the part of the ICC that they prepare one type of wicket for certain teams and another type for others.”There have been other inconveniences too, according to de Mel, which he said he has officially brought to the ICC’s notice.The Sri Lankans haven’t been too thrilled with their training facilities•Getty Images

“Even the practice facilities provided at Cardiff were unsatisfactory. Instead of three nets they gave us only two, and the hotel we were put up at Bristol did not have a swimming pool, which is very essential for every team – for the fast bowlers, especially, to relax their muscles after practice,” he said. “The hotels that Pakistan and Bangladesh were put up at Bristol had swimming pools.”We wrote to the ICC listing all these shortcomings four days ago but so far we have not had any response from them. We will continue to write to them until we get a reply.”The ICC has since provided an official response, pointing out that pitches are overseen by an independent advisor.”We employ an independent pitch advisor to work with the host curators at all ICC events and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 is no different,” an event spokesperson said. “We are happy with the wickets that have been produced across the event so far in English conditions.”As part of the four year planning process to deliver this event, we have liaised with all teams to ensure they are happy with their set up and are available to work with them should any issues arise that have not been previously anticipated. At the heart of our planning is the philosophy that all ten teams are treated equally to enable them to have the best possible preparation for the event.”Although Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne would not be drawn into the matter of unsatisfactory hotels and training facilities, he did express disappointment with the green surfaces. Both he and coach Chandika Hathurusingha had already said they would prefer to play on batting-friendly surfaces, and Karunaratne reiterated that on the eve of the match at The Oval.”I have already said that people expect entertainment from ODIs,” Karunaratne said. “They want 100-over games. If you take today’s game – between England and West Indies – it is a flat wicket, it is white in colour. If you take this Oval wicket, it is green. These are the things we weren’t expecting. Every wicket should be white-top. We want fair wickets. That’s all we want.”

The ECB has secured a new sponsor for T20 cricket, although the deal with health and life insurance group Vitality will not include the proposed new-team competition for 2020

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Feb-2018The ECB has secured a new sponsor for T20 cricket, although the deal with health and life insurance group Vitality will not include the proposed new-team competition for 2020. Vitality takes over from NatWest, who remain the ECB’s “principal partner” with naming rights on England shirts.The new deal will cover the Vitality Blast for the next four years, as well as England men’s and women’s home T20I series for two years. The Blast is set to be overtaken as England’s main T20 competition in two summers’ time, when an eight-team tournament modelled along the lines of the IPL and Big Bash comes into being.NatWest succeeded Friends Life as the domestic T20 sponsor on a four-year contract in 2014, before widening its agreement with the ECB. That led to Investec, a rival financial services provider, ending its sponsorship of Test cricket in England early, with the board still looking for a replacement.The new T20 competition is hoped to lead to a big increase in interest and revenue, forming part of the comprehensive broadcast deal secured by the ECB last summer worth £1.1bn.”We’re excited to be working with a partner who shares our enthusiasm and passion for T20 cricket,” Rob Calder, the ECB’s commercial director, said. “It’s the fastest growing format of the game, an integral part of ECB’s long-term strategy and has a critical role to play in bringing new people to the sport.”Vitality are an established brand in the sports marketplace with a proven track record of using sponsorship successfully to grow fan-bases and improve participation levels. They’re a natural fit for a partnership to drive interest and engagement in all our different T20 competitions at every level.”Vitality has been an official partner of the ECB since 2013 and make use of England Test captain Joe Root as a brand ambassador. The company also has sponsorship arrangements in football, rugby, hockey and netball.Neville Koopowitz, CEO of Vitality, said: “We’re delighted to be partnering with the ECB for T20 cricket. T20 is a brilliant innovation that’s revolutionising the sport around the world.”This new sponsorship aligns with our own vibrant brand and fits with our desire to increase awareness and engagement among families and across all levels of the game while at the same time telling more people about Vitality.”

A round-up of the opening day of Group A matches in the final round of the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Dec-2016Opener Priyank Panchal became the first batsman from Gujarat to aggregate 1000 runs or more in a Ranji season en route to his century against Tamil Nadu at the KSCA Stadium in Belagavi. Panchal reached the mark in his 11th innings, the fewest taken by a player since the 2000-01 season. It was Panchal’s third hundred in as many matches, coming on the back of a double-century against Mumbai and a triple-century against Punjab.Panchal held Gujarat’s innings together until his dismissal as they put on 267 for 7 in 86 overs on the opening day. Panchal built small partnerships throughout his innings, but with none of his partners making a big score, he had scored 113 out of Gujarat’s 216. After Panchal’s dismissal, Gujarat captain Axar Patel stayed not out on 28 and had Chintan Gaja for company.An unbroken eighth-wicket stand of 153 between No. 9 Saurabh Kumar (85*) and No. 7 Kuldeep Yadav (77*) lifted Uttar Pradesh from 207 for 7 to 360 for 7 against Baroda in Nasik. Several UP batsmen got off to starts, but none could convert them into big scores after they were put in by Baroda. Kuldeep and Saurabh pinged 19 fours between them and frustrated Baroda’s bowlers for close to 36 overs as UP ended the day with a run rate of four. The duo are 51 short of equalling UP’s record stand for the eighth wicket – 204 between Anand Shukla and Sagir Ahmed against Rajasthan in 1961-62. Baroda’s pacers shared the wickets with Babashafi Pathan taking 3 for 84, and Sagar Mangalorkar and Rishi Arothe taking two wickets each.Half-centuries from Uday Kaul and Mandeep Singh highlighted a slow day at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot as Punjab crawled to 216 for 4 against Mumbai. The duo got together with Punjab on 63 for 2, after Shardul Thakur dismissed the openers, and added 138 for the third wicket. Suryakumar Yadav, however, upset Punjab’s plans by sending back both batsmen in the 82nd over of the day. Mandeep was caught for 78 that included 10 fours and two sixes, before Kaul was trapped lbw for 86 three balls later.A 60-over day at the Palam Grounds in Delhi ended with Bengal on 185 for 4 after electing to bat against Madhya Pradesh. Bengal lost four wickets to MP’s seamers with just 88 on the board, before Abhimanyu Easwaran and Shreevats Goswami struck fifties in an unbroken 97-run fifth-wicket stand. Easwaran was not out on 68 and Goswami on 52 at stumps. Chandrakant Sakure took two wickets, while the new-ball duo of Ishwar Pandey and Puneet Datey took a wicket apiece.