All posts by n8rngtd.top

Chris Gayle played his slowest ODI innings (minimum 25 innings) in his 31-ball 4, while Evin Lewis’ three sixes gave the home fans something to cheer about

The Report by Sreshth Shah08-Aug-2019Match abandoned After a five-and-a-half-hour period where only 13 overs were bowled, the first ODI between West Indies and India in Providence was called off by the umpires due to a wet outfield.In that period, Chris Gayle played his slowest-ever ODI innings (minimum 25 balls), scoring only four singles in 31 deliveries. At the opposite end, Evin Lewis ensured there was something for the home fans to cheer, blitzing an unbeaten 36-ball 40 that included three shoveled pulls over deep midwicket.The match began 90 minutes after the scheduled start, a delay forced by morning showers. When play started, though, following Virat Kohli’s decision to bowl, the sun was bathing upon a half-filled Providence Stadium, but with rain scheduled towards the afternoon, it was not long before the first interruption happened.With Mohammed Shami, from around the wicket, troubling the sedate Gayle, and Lewis failing to find gaps in the infield, the teams first left the ground after 5.4 overs with West Indies yet to reach double digits. Over an hour later, the players returned, and Lewis made full use of the wet ball, shoveling Bhuvneshwar Kumar for six. In the next over, he creamed 15 runs off left-arm quick Khaleel Ahmed, with a pulled six over midwicket sandwiched between two flicked fours through the on side.The partnership was primarily saved by Lewis’ aggression with Gayle failing to find his timing, and it was eventually Kuldeep Yadav who ended the batsman’s innings in the 11th over.Playing his 299th ODI – equalling West Indies’ record-holder Brian Lara – Gayle needed 11 runs to become the team’s highest-ever ODI run-scorer, but swinging conditions early on meant he was either splicing the ball or missing it completely. While Lewis’ rampage was on, Gayle was unable to break free as he tried to heave Kuldeep’s full-pitched stock delivery over the leg side, only to inside-edge it onto the stumps.Rain returned two overs later, and it was intermittent enough for the umpires to call the game off at 3.12pm local time. Wet patches on the field earlier in the day had delayed the game’s restart, and in anticipation of the ground not being ready by 4pm – the cut-off time for a 20-over-a-side shootout – umpires Nigel Duguid and Adrian Holdstock called off the match. Ironically, a few minutes after that decision, the sun returned, but by then it was too late.The teams now move to Port-of-Spain for the second ODI on August 11.

New Zealand allrounder was club’s second choice after pursuit of Kemar Roach fell through

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Sep-2019Doug Bracewell has joined Northamptonshire’s promotion push for the final three games of the County Championship season.New Zealand allrounder Bracewell returns to Wantage Road having represented Northamptonshire in a handful Championship matches last year.While Northants’ head coach, David Ripley, conceded that Bracewell wasn’t the club’s first target, he was delighted to welcome him back to the club.”Initially we’d spoken with Kemar Roach to add some more variety and a bit of express pace to our attack, but once that fell down we were keen to get someone of high all-round quality,” Ripley said. “Being able to have Doug around for those three games is something we couldn’t really resist when we got a whiff he was interested in filling that void for us.”Bracewell has played 125 first-class games, including 27 Test matches for New Zealand. He has claimed 376 wickets and is approaching 4,000 runs.Bracewell said: “I got the buzz last week from Rips and I’m really excited to come back and hopefully help the lads get promoted to the top div. I really enjoyed my time here last year, even though it was only three or four games. It always helps being in a familiar team with a little taste last year, I’m ready to hit the ground running.”Northamptonshire are currently in position to claim one of the three promotion spots available this season, sitting third on the Division Two table. They play bottom-placed Leicestershire in the first of their three remaining matches starting on Tuesday.Red ball skipper Adam Rossington was pleased to welcome Bracewell back to the club. “I think Doug’s a great signing for us for the last three games and our promotion push,” he said. “He brings high quality skill with both bat and ball which we’ve seen from him before in a Northants shirt.”

If Sam Curran was the more exotic choice, England’s decision to pick Overton demonstrates a desire for a more reliable option as their third seamer

George Dobell in Manchester03-Sep-2019He probably isn’t the player the crowds will be looking forward to watching, he probably isn’t the bowler keeping Steve Smith awake at night and he probably isn’t likely to feature on the front cover of , but Craig Overton’s selection for this fourth Test makes some sense.Overton is, in many ways, an archetypal English seamer. He is not especially quick – 85mph may be his peak speed – and doesn’t gain the sharp movement of James Anderson. But he will hit a consistent line and length, he will gain more bounce than most, he bowls a decent bouncer and he will not wilt under pressure. He won’t let England down.With England keen to ensure their strike bowlers are not worked into the ground and concerned that Chris Woakes is a little jaded after a tumultuous few months, Overton has been called up to offer reliability and control. They are not the most glamorous of attributes but, in a team blessed with more flamboyance than consistency, more champagne than bread-and-butter, such skills have their place.ALSO READ: England replace Woakes with OvertonWhile his selection here may seem to come out of the blue, it doesn’t really. He was put on unofficial standby as a concussion substitute earlier in the series and, in the last month, is said to have recovered that bit of nip and bounce that suggests he is at his best. He has claimed 32 wickets at 21.34 this Championship season and while his brother, Jamie (who has claimed 26 at 18.88 this season), is notably sharper, he is also less reliable.Some, it seems, will never forgive Overton for an incident in 2015 when he was alleged to have abused – perhaps racially – Sussex’s Ashar Zaidi. And it is true there were aspects of the case – not least that the comments were reported by two exemplary witnesses, non-striking batsman Michael Yardy and one of the umpires, Alex Wharf – which remain concerning.Before rushing to condemn him, however, it is worth remembering he was found guilty of a Level One offence – using language that is obscene, offensive or insulting – and not a Level Two or Three offence – which would have encompassed racial abuse. In short, he wasn’t found to have committed the more serious charge. As a result, it doesn’t seem especially reasonable to continue to hold it against him.The England management have long admired his tough character. This was demonstrated early in his Test career when he not only top-scored in the first innings of his debut Test in Adelaide – he made 41 from No. 9 – but also bowled the most overs and took the most wickets in Australia’s first innings. His maiden wicket was Steve Smith.Perhaps more persuasively, he shrugged off a cracked rib – sustained when Pat Cummins struck him with a short ball – to bowl 41 overs in Australia’s first innings in the following Test in Perth. He was only forced to admit defeat when throwing himself into a diving boundary save. He heard a large crack as he landed – the little crack becoming something more substantial – and was ruled out for the rest of the series. Paul Farbrace used to say, were it up to him, he would include him in every England team.Overton will have the role of workhorse here. He may be expected to bowl long, tight spells and ensure Jofra Archer, in particular, can be used more sparingly. England hope that his extra height will extract a bit more bounce from a surface that isn’t expected to offer the same lateral movement as other tracks in this series. Indeed, in normal circumstances, it looks to be the sort of surface – a little cracked already and with little grass cover – on which two spinners might be played. But with Adil Rashid injured and Moeen Ali out of sorts, Jack Leach will be relied upon to carry that burden. At least one member of England’s coaching staff thought it an oddly hospitable pitch which offered no home advantage.Woakes can probably count himself unfortunate. Having suffered from a knee injury through the winter tours, he was obliged to play several games for Warwickshire in order to prove his fitness ahead of the World Cup. He then played in the series against Pakistan, the whole World Cup and every Test so far this summer. And, while England insist he was fit for selection here, there were times at Leeds, at least, when the miles in the legs started to show. He will hate to miss out on this game, but the break may do him good.In the longer term, the England management are concerned at his effectiveness on flat surfaces, especially flat surfaces where there is no Duke’s ball available to him. They point out he could still play at The Oval in the unlikely event that the pitch is green but his captain’s use of him so far this series – lack of use, might be more accurate – does not augur especially well for him.Sam Curran, too, could be forgiven for wondering why he is with the squad. But while he clearly has talent with bat and ball, he is a bit slower and a bit shorter than Overton. The concern is his batting is not quite strong enough – he hasn’t scored a first-class century – to bat in the top six and his bowling not quite strong enough to be relied upon to ensure that Archer and co aren’t over-bowled. His best chance of a place may be at No. 7 instead of Jos Buttler.It is revealing that the only selection change has involved the bowlers. While there has been the odd day in recent years when England’s bowlers have struggled for penetration or consistency, this team’s primary problem remains their fragile batting. Shuffling that top-order seems unlikely to suddenly unearth a pair of aces. There are two of three batsmen in this side who really need to repay the faith shown in them.In the longer term, there seems to be a strong temptation to play Zak Crawley and Dominic Sibley in a top three that also includes Rory Burns. But for that, it seems, we will have to wait until they reach New Zealand. There is important business to be conducted first.

Jay Shah, Gujarat Cricket Association secretary and son of India’s Home Minister Amit Shah, is similarly in position to be the new BCCI secretary

Nagraj Gollapudi13-Oct-2019Former India captain Sourav Ganguly is set to take over as the new BCCI president. Ganguly is expected to file his nomination on October 14, the deadline for that stage of the BCCI electoral process; he is also likely to be the lone candidate and should therefore be elected unopposed. Jay Shah, Gujarat Cricket Association joint secretary until recently and son of India’s home minister Amit Shah, is similarly in position to be the new BCCI secretary.October 14 is the last day set by the BCCI’s electoral officer to receive names for the five office-bearers’ posts, for which elections are scheduled on October 23. Brijesh Patel, the former India batsman and experienced administrator who has served in various positions at the Karnataka State Cricket Association and BCCI over the years, is expected to become the new IPL chairman.It is also understood that Arun Singh Dhumal, brother of former BCCI president Anurag Thakur, is expected to file for the treasurer’s position, and Kerala Cricket Association president Jayesh George for the joint secretary’s position.Ganguly and Shah will serve in their respective positions for around ten months before going into the mandatory cooling-off period of three years. An office-bearer or an administrator has to serve the cooling-off period, which is part of the new BCCI constitution formed on the basis of the RM Lodha Committee recommendations, after having served six consecutive years in any position at the national or state levels.The plan to have Ganguly and Shah in the two most important positions in the Indian board was taken at an unofficial meeting in Mumbai on Sunday, attended by some of the key men in Indian cricket including former BCCI presidents N Srinivasan and Thakur, along with former board secretary Niranjan Shah, and former IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla.Although all these individuals are part of the BCCI’s old guard, they continue to wield a lot of power in Indian cricket. Srinivasan’s daughter Rupa Gurunath was recently elected unopposed as the president of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association; Dhumal was elected president of Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, where Thakur was in charge for several years. Niranjan Shah’s son Jaydev, the former Saurashtra captain who retired less than a year ago, was elected as president of Saurashtra Cricket Association, once again unopposed.Ganguly, Jay Shah and Patel were all present at the meeting in Mumbai, which, one attendee said, was organised by Srinivasan. It is understood that Srinivasan announced Ganguly and Patel’s names for the top positions in the BCCI and IPL. This was soon followed by the other attendees giving their oral approvals to the other names filling up the remaining office-bearers’ positions.Ganguly has never been shy of taking leadership roles. After finishing his career as one of the most successful captains in world cricket, he entered administration at the CAB under the tutelage of former BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya. He has also been at the helm of key sub-committees of the BCCI, including the technical panel and more recently the Cricket Advisory Committee.

Promising young quick signs two-year deal after impressing for Western Province and Nottinghamshire 2nd XI

George Dobell30-Oct-2019Derbyshire have signed former South Africa U19 seamer Michael Cohen.Cohen, who qualifies for EU citizenship and is therefore not considered an overseas player, has played 15 first-class games – mostly for Western Province – and claimed 50 wickets at an average of 26.12. He bowls left-arm, is 21 years old and played a couple of games for Nottinghamshire second XI during the 2019 season.”Michael is a really promising bowler and we were keen to get him on board for all forms,” Derbyshire’s Head of Cricket, Dave Houghton, said. “He has a good record in South Africa, and as Leus du Plooy proved last year, players will be given the opportunity to fight for a place in the team and take their chance.”While Cohen is, by all accounts, a promising young cricketer, his arrival will cause some disquiet. Although there is little doubt that the addition of some cricketers developed abroad improves the standard of the English game, there will also be murmurs of discontent about
the county game’s apparent reliance upon them. For a club like Derbyshire, who do not have an especially impressive record of producing England players, such signings may also revive the debate about whether 18 counties are either sustainable or desirable and renew conversations about whether they block opportunities for England-born players.Equally, there will be concern – particularly in the week when Devon Conway, South Africa-born but committed to New Zealand, made a triple-century for Wellington – about the continued talent drain away from South Africa.While there is a general expectation that the window for such signings could be closed by Brexit, it remains entirely possible it will be widened. Anticipated trade deals with both the European Union and beyond – notably with India and Australia – could well create opportunities for further movement of labour.Cohen added: “It’s really pleasing to have joined Derbyshire. I’m eager to test myself in England and continue my development.”We have a really good group of bowlers, and I will be looking to use their experience and adapt to conditions quickly. The club had a good season last year, so I know there will be competition for places, but I will work hard for my chances and hopefully show what I’m all about.”

Shardul Thakur replaces him for the three-match series

Nagraj Gollapudi13-Dec-2019Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been ruled out of the three-match ODI series against West Indies due to a groin injury. Shardul Thakur will come in as his replacement.*In a media release, the BCCI said of Bhuvneshwar’s injury: “Bhuvneshwar complained of pain in his right groin after the final T20I [against West Indies] in Mumbai on Wednesday. He underwent an ultrasound scan conducted by a specialist and the BCCI medical team found that his sportsman’s hernia symptoms have resurfaced.”A specialist opinion will now be sought, and his management plan will be decided accordingly.”The development will come as yet another setback for Bhuvneshwar, for whom injuries have become a constant in the recent past. During the World Cup, Bhuvneshwar had to limp out of the marquee contest against Pakistan in Manchester with a hamstring strain after bowling just 2.4 overs. He made a comeback in the semi-finals, but then missed the home series against South Africa and Bangladesh recently because of what the selectors had called a niggle.Thakur last played an ODI during the Asia Cup last September, following which he played his first – and only – Test against West Indies in October. In the recently concluded domestic T20s, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he picked up nine wickets in eight games for Mumbai.Bhuvneshwar is the second player after Shikhar Dhawan to miss out from the series against West Indies due to injury. Dhawan, who hurt his knee during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy recently, was replaced by Sanju Samson for the T20I series, while Mayank Agarwal has taken his place for the ODI series.*

He went after left-arm spinner Anton Devcich to emulate Yuvraj Singh, Ross Whiteley and Hazratullah Zazai

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jan-2020Leo Carter has become the first New Zealander to hit six sixes in an over in T20 cricket. The 25-year-old left-hand batsman achieved the feat during the course of an unbeaten 29-ball 70 that helped Canterbury Kings chase down 220 against Northern Districts in the Super Smash tournament on Sunday. Overall, Carter is just the fourth player after Yuvraj Singh (2007), Ross Whiteley (2017) and Hazratullah Zazai (2018) to achieve the feat in T20 cricket. Those to have achieved this feat in other formats include Sir Garry Sobers and Ravi Shastri in first-class cricket and Herschelle Gibbs in ODIs.With Canterbury needing 64 from 30 balls with seven wickets in hand, Carter hammered left-arm spinner Anton Devcich for 36 runs in the 16th over, courtesy some brilliant leg-side hitting at Hagley Oval.Carter’s unbeaten 70 was his maiden T20 half-century in 22 innings. He made his senior debut for Canterbury in 2014, and has so far played 25 first-class matches, 20 List A games and 26 T20s. His astonishing strike rate of 241.37 on Sunday was nearly twice his overall career strike rate in T20s.

Ashley Giles has never made any secret of his disapproval of his side playing football

George Dobell in Cape Town03-Jan-2020England have sounded the final whistle on football as a warm-up activity in training sessions.Ashley Giles, the director of England’s men’s teams, has never made any secret of his disapproval of his side playing football. And, after Rory Burns became the latest player to sustain a football-related injury, Giles and Chris Silverwood, the England coach, have decided to ban the activity.Burns suffered serious ligament damage to his ankle after landing awkwardly while playing football as a warm-up to training on Thursday. He was subsequently ruled out of the rest of the series in South Africa and will fly back to England on Friday night. Jonny Bairstow also suffered a football-related injury in Sri Lanka at the end of 2018 while, in the past, Joe Denly and James Anderson have also been hurt playing the game.Giles said when he took the job that he was unhappy to see football as part of England’s warm-up. But he was persuaded by senior players that it was an important part of the bonding process of the squad and agreed to review it once the World Cup had finished. The injury to Burns appears to have strengthened his resolve.Giles banned football from Warwickshire when he was director of cricket there. England have denied suggestions football has been banned at all counties as a warm-up activity, saying it is up to each individual county to decide.The England management team will discuss whether they need to call-up a replacement for Burns over the next day or two. They have, at present, only one reserve batsman – Bairstow – in the squad and are likely to consider Dawid Malan, James Vince and Keaton Jennings as options. But with the squad size still 18 and only two Tests left after this, it is far from certain they will send for anyone.Meanwhile, Jofra Archer may also have played his final game in the series. He will undergo a second scan on his sore right elbow on Friday after the first one proved inconclusive.

Tour set to go ahead with Cricket Ireland ‘monitoring’ coronavirus situation in northern India

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Feb-2020Ireland head coach Graham Ford will miss his side’s upcoming T20I series against Afghanistan in India after a “slip accident” at his home in Dublin led to a fractured vertebrae and three broken ribs.Ford had to travel home from the Ireland Wolves (the ‘A’ side) tour of South Africa last week, after a Durban doctor told him he would be unable to participate in physical training with the squad.Rob Cassell, who will leave the coaching staff to take up a bowling coach position with Rajasthan Royals immediately after the tour, will be acting head coach for the series, while another coach will be added to the staff in the interim.Cricket Ireland also confirmed that it will “continue to monitor the situation” with regards to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. The board said it was “concurrently taking advice from government, health and sporting bodies,” and that “while a duty of care approach to players’ health will be maintained, there is currently no advisory against travelling to northern India”.The series starts on March 6, with all three games being played in Greater Noida.