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The left-arm will miss the final two matches of the T20 series due to a family illness

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Dec-2020Mitchell Starc has been withdrawn from Australia’s T20 squad on compassionate grounds due to a family illness and will miss the final two matches of the series.It has not been confirmed when Starc will rejoin the squad. The Test group is due to link up in Adelaide next week ahead of the opening match of the series on December 17.”There is nothing in the world more important than family and in this case Mitch is no exception,” head coach Justin Langer said. “We will give Mitch all the time he needs and welcome him back into the squad with open arms whenever he feels the time is right for him and his family.”Starc missed the third ODI with soreness but returned for the opening T20I in Canberra and impressed with the new ball.Starc’s absence could open the door for AJ Tye or the uncapped Daniel Sams to come into Australia’s XI for the second T20I on Sunday.Australia’s resources for the T20 series have been stretched due to injuries and absences. David Warner, Ashton Agar, Marcus Stoinis and Mitchell Marsh have all been missing while Pat Cummins was rested for the series. Captain Aaron Finch is also doubtful for the second match having picked up an injury in Canberra.

“Mushfiqur will not be playing as we want to see one of the youngsters in this game”

Mohammad Isam04-Mar-2020Mushfiqur Rahim, the only Bangladesh player to have opted against travelling to Pakistan, will not be considered for the third, and final, ODI against Zimbabwe on Friday as the team wants to prepare for the one-off ODI against Pakistan in Karachi early next month, chief selector Minhajul Abedin has said.”Mushfiqur will not be playing as we want to see one of the youngsters in this game, before they are picked for the Pakistan ODI next month. We don’t want to hand them a debut there,” Minhajul said, confirming that there wouldn’t be any changes to the existing squad for the last game of the series.The senior wicketkeeper-batsman, who didn’t make the journey for the first two legs of the three-part tour stressed last week that he would not change his mind on the matter despite BCB president Nazmul Hassan’s tough stance against him, where he said that Mushfiqur was “contract-bound” to tour with the rest of the team.Minhajul said that the BCB had met Mushfiqur over the weekend for discussions and that Mushfiqur hadn’t budged.”We saw in separate newspapers that he may go and then he may not go. So we asked him to tell us directly, and he has let us know,” Minhajul said.Hassan, who had stated before announcing the tour dates in January that every player had the right to choose whether he wanted to tour Pakistan or not, made a U-turn after Bangladesh’s win over Zimbabwe in the one-off Test match – where Mushfiqur scored an unbeaten 203 – expressing his dismay at Mushfiqur’s decision.”We are expecting that he would go. Not only him, but every contracted player should go,” he had said. “Players have to think about the country, and not just themselves. This is what I personally feel. The country comes before everything else.”Everyone should keep it in mind. We will remind them that the contracted players must play as they are told, when selected. It never occurred to me that one has to tell them this, too.”

Worcestershire dismisses for 205 as promotion-chasing Glamorgan take grip

ECB Reporters Network10-Sep-2019Glamorgan 44 for 2 trail Worcestershire 205 (Hogan 4-53) by 161 runs
Michael Hogan and fit-again Timm van der Gugten established a position of strength with the ball for promotion-chasing Glamorgan on the opening day of the Specsavers County Championship match with Worcestershire at Blackfinch New Road.Hogan remains a potent threat at the age of 38 and his return of 4 for 36 took his wicket tally for the campaign to 36 as Worcestershire were bowled out for 205 in 70 overs after an uncontested toss. It followed on from his 5 for 62 against the same opponents in the corresponding fixture at Cardiff in late June.Van der Gugten had suffered a back injury in that game but marked his return with three wickets including the prized scalp of England allrounder Moeen Ali.Only Daryl Mitchell, in his 200th first class game for Worcestershire, Riki Wessels, with a expansive 45, and Ed Barnard offered much resistance in another below-par batting performance from the home side.The inability of the top five to score consistently has been a prime reason for a disappointing red-ball campaign in contrast to Worcestershire’s success in the Vitality Blast in which they booked another spot at finals day on September 21. But Glamorgan’s focus is on achieving promotion for the first time since 2004.Although Nick Selman and Tom Cullen departed cheaply, by the close West Indies batsman Kraigg Brathwaite had moved on to a patient 15 out of 44 for 2 on his Glamorgan debut.Hogan made the first breakthrough of the day when bowling Hamish Rutherford after beating his defensive push.Moeen had scored a brilliant hundred against Sussex in Friday’s Blast quarter-final win at Hove. Here he managed only 18 before falling victim to van der Gugten after driving hard at the paceman and edging to Selman who held on to a low chance at third slip.Mitchell needed 24 balls to get off the mark but looked solid in defence in batting through the morning session for an unbeaten 31. But the visitors’ attack turned the screw once Hogan had returned to dismiss Mitchell in the second over after the resumption.He dabbed at a fine delivery and only succeeded in nicking through to keeper Chris Cooke to end his 103-ball knock of 36. Alex Milton provided Cooke with another catch off Lukas Carey and then Jack Haynes, who shouldered arms, and Ben Cox were both lbw to van der Gugten.Wessels innings was a mixture of fine drives and fortuitous edges and always entertaining. He faced only 35 deliveries and struck eight fours before he drilled Rory Smith straight to mid-off.Club captain Joe Leach went for an on drive against Smith and was leg before and Hogan accounted for tailenders Charlie Morris and Adam Finch to leave Barnard unbeaten on 29.When Glamorgan replied, they also encountered some disciplined bowling with Selman falling at first slip off Morris and Cullen aiming a lavish drive at Barnard and being caught behind.

Steve O’Keefe produced his second-best first-class figures, of 6 for 35, in a fine spell of spin bowling after lunch to lead Australia’s charge, and put his own career back on track

Brydon Coverdale24-Feb-2017Steve O’Keefe knew this Test was his big chance. He had played four Tests before, but never more than one in a series. One in Dubai, one in Sydney, one in Pallekele, another in Sydney. So when he saw a pitch that threatened to be a raging turner, he knew the pressure was on to perform. And, having been given the new ball to share with Mitchell Starc, O’Keefe went to lunch on day two with 0 for 23 from seven overs.He was disappointed with how he had bowled. He was not leaking runs, but nor was he threatening much either. So, O’Keefe spent some of his lunch break training with Sridharan Sriram, the former India allrounder serving as Australia’s spin consultant on this trip. And when O’Keefe was handed the ball for his first spell upon the resumption, he took three wickets in his first over to turn the match in Australia’s favour, and finished with 6 for 35 from 13.1 overs.”When I first started to bowl, my first six overs, I went probably back to my comfort zone, which is what I bowl in Australia,” O’Keefe said after play. “You probably won’t see it on camera, but I know how it feels. I was probably just going a bit over the top and whenever I tried to bowl quick it was too full, and it was ordinary bowling the first six overs.”I’d been working in the nets on some other variations, just changing the seam angle and arm angle and you probably don’t notice it, but for me it made all the difference. Sree was like ‘let’s go out and bowl it so you feel comfortable with it’.”It’s amazing how things can quickly change over here. I probably didn’t bowl very well at all in my first six overs. And then it all just happened really quickly. I guess that’s the sort of wicket it is. We played and missed at a lot of balls, and fortunately for us they nicked them and we caught them. It was a good day to be a part of and well finished off by the batters.”O’Keefe’s success should guarantee that, unless he suffers an injury like he did during last year’s Sri Lanka tour, he will play multiple Tests in a series for the first time in his career. At 32, he knew this tour was make or break for his international career, after the disappointment of being forced home from Sri Lanka, which had been followed by a drunken incident at a Sydney hotel that led to a fine from Cricket Australia.Steve O’Keefe returned the third-best figures by a visiting left-arm spinner in India•AFP

“Going to Sri Lanka, I thought that was my big opportunity, and I sort of messed that one up,” he said. “To be honest, I always thought an India tour was there but that it was almost unreachable. To be given this opportunity – I’ve tried to make the most of it and I’ve prepared for it back home by giving away some of the Big Bash cricket to prepare solely for red-ball cricket … It means a lot to do well, but we’re day two in a four-Test series, so we’re not getting ahead of ourselves.”O’Keefe was well backed up by the fielders on day two in Pune – Peter Handscomb’s take at second slip to get rid of Ajinkya Rahane was particularly special, but also by his captain. Steven Smith trusted O’Keefe to take the new ball and then went to him again soon after lunch, despite his struggle for impact in his opening spell.”I think the important thing is I’ve been well backed up by Steve Smith, who I think is a brilliant captain,” O’Keefe said. “When you play under a captain who shows a lot of belief in you, it’s amazing what can happen.”O’Keefe’s final analysis of 6 for 35 was the third best by a visiting left-arm spinner in India, behind Hedley Verity’s 7 for 49 in 1934 and Michael Clarke’s 6 for 9 in 2004, and they were also the second-best figures of O’Keefe’s first-class career. And while he was still coming to terms with his triumphant performance shortly after play on day two, he knew it would count for little if Australia let India off the hook in the second innings.”It hasn’t really sunk in yet,” he said. “I think it will if that contributes to a win. Right now we’ll enjoy it, we had a good day, but that’s all it is. It’s just a good day’s cricket. We know this Indian team, how well they can bat, and even in spinning conditions they’re exceptional players. They’re all match-winners, all their top seven batters, you’d even argue the top eight. We’ve got our work cut out for us. We’re 300 ahead – let’s get more and let’s create 10 chances tomorrow and hold on to them.”

Darren Sammy singled out West Indies’ determination to fight to the finish as the key factor in helping them win their first world championship since the World Cup of 1979

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Oct-2012The West Indies celebrations after the final wicket were interrupted only by the post-match presentation, during which the captain Darren Sammy singled out his team’s determination to fight to the finish as the key factor in helping them win their first world championship since the World Cup of 1979.”For the last two years we’ve shown the never-say-die attitude, but we haven’t had the results,” Sammy said. “This moment we’re going to live forever. The team has been through a lot in the last two years, for the last ten years. The mission was to win the T20 World Cup, the belief we left the Caribbean with has pulled us through. Today we were down and out but our never-say-die attitude came out.”Thank you to everyone who supported us. The tournament is for the fans. The love we felt from the Sri Lankan people is tremendous and we want to thank them for that. This hopefully will be the beginning of things to come. Hopefully this team will go on.”Sammy played an important role in the 36-run win the final, scoring quick runs at the death during West Indies’ innings to push the total to a competitive 137. But it was Marlon Samuels who played the decisive knock, reviving his team with a counter-attacking 78 off 56 balls, which not only boosted what was a crawling run-rate, but made possible a score his bowlers could ultimately defend. The feature of Samuels’ innings was five sixes off Lasith Malinga.”Put in a lot of hard work. To Jamaica, to the West Indies. Can’t explain how much it means to me,” Samuels, who had lost two years to a ban related to links with an Indian bookmaker, said after being named Man of the Match. “They beat us twice, I tell Chris [Gayle] we can’t lose thrice. The wicket was a bit slow, today was a different mindset, I decided to attack Malinga, their best bowler and it paid off. We are working together as a unit. Future-wise I think West Indies are going to do well, even in Test cricket. Test cricket is the best cricket.”The game ended in despair for Sri Lanka, the hosts, who dominated the first half of the West Indies innings. Mahela Jayawardene kept his team on track in the first half of the chase, but there was no recovering from a collapse that began with the fall of his partner Kumar Sangakkara in the 10th over. They ended up losing nine for 53.”I think the first ten overs were fantastic, they knew they had to go for it. A couple of mistakes on the field and three-four bad overs shifted the momentum,” Jayawardene, who resigned as T20 captain after the defeat, said. “We’re disappointed, a full house. A couple of overs they went after us, against our best bowlers. I backed my No. 1 bowler to deliver but Marlon batted very well.”They bowled really well, we just needed to keep the pressure on which we didn’t. We need to sit down, have a good chat, and move on.”

The Bombay High Court has given Nimbus Communications four weeks to deposit Rs 305 crores (approx. US$61 million) with the court as security for the amount the BCCI claims it is owed by the company

Tariq Engineer23-Jan-2012The Bombay High Court has given Nimbus Communications four weeks to deposit Rs 305 crores (approx. US$61 million) with the court as security for the amount the BCCI claims it is owed by the company. The order, issued by Justice SJ Vazifdar on January 19, 2012, came after the board had moved the court asking for Nimbus to provide a security for the outstandings.The BCCI argued that the amount is due to them for the telecast of India’s recent home one-day series against England and the West Indies series, and asked that the amount be taken from the advertisement revenue earned through Nimbus’ sports channels – Neo Sports and Neo Cricket.The lawyers for Nimbus and Neo Sports, however, claimed that the terminated contract was between BCCI and Nimbus and did not involve Neo Sports. Therefore Neo was not liable to pay the board anything. Neo, they argued, was an independently-run business and though it was a subsidiary of Nimbus, there were no legitimate grounds to use its revenues to pay off the debts of its parent company.However, the court disagreed with Nimbus’ argument and ruled that “the respondents [Nimbus and Neo] should deposit all monies which they have already received from the advertisers as consideration for broadcast of advertisements on the television channel/s owned and operated by the respondents in relation to the 2011 cricket series.” In addition, the court directed Nimbus to petition the advertisers who still owed them money for the same series to deposit that money with the court as well, with the stipulation that the total amount placed with the court was not to exceed Rs 305 crores.Nimbus and the BCCI are locked in a battle over the television rights for cricket in India. The board terminated the contract between the parties last month, claiming Nimbus had defaulted but were stymied by the courts when it came to encashing bank guarantees worth Rs 1600 crores (approx. $320 million). ESPNcricinfo understands that the dispute over the contract is now under arbitration.

Welsh Fire fall short in chase as defending champions leap from bottom of table to third

ECB Reporters Network14-Aug-2023Trent Rockets climbed off the bottom of the table with a nail-biting win over Welsh Fire, as bowler John Turner held his nerve with 14 required from the final five balls.He finished with superb figures of 1 for 22, while Rockets were able to set a competitive total thanks to New Zealander Colin Munro who smashed 66 off 35 balls after his team had been reduced to 40 for 4 early on. In the end they reached 152 for 6.The defeat is a blow to Fire’s hopes of a top three finish, as they let Rockets off the hook with the ball and never really got going with the bat. It came down to the last ball with Roelof van der Merwe needing to hit a six to win, but he could only manage a single as Fire finished on 148 for 6, Joe Clarke top scoring with 54 off 34.This was billed as Trent Rockets international top order batting against the equally international class of the Welsh Fire bowling attack, and the home side opted to bowl first to unleash that threat.It went the way of the bowlers early on, England’s David Willey dismissing both openers. Alex Hales got a thin edge through to wicketkeeper Clarke, who took a fine diving catch, while Dawid Malan was out lbw trying to guide the ball down to fine leg, a review showing it would have clipped leg stump.Joe Root started in typically busy fashion and also unfurled the ramp shot he has used so often this summer, but it was to get him out from a Jake Ball slower ball as the lack of pace saw the ball just spoon up to Clarke.When van der Merwe got his first ball to turn and dismiss Tom Kohler-Cadmore, playing down the wrong line, the Rockets were in serious trouble at 40 for 4 after 41 balls.Samit Patel hit van der Merwe for a 94-metre six, but then perished next ball trying to repeat the shot, this time top edging into the covers to be caught by Stephen Eskinazi.Munro should have been run out after a brilliant piece of boundary fielding by Harris Rauf, but Shaheen Shah Afridi tried to throw the stumps down when a simple throw through to keeper Clarke would have been enough.Munro then hit van der Merwe for two big sixes, with another six off Rauf taking him to his half-century off 27 balls. Despite that Pakistan ace Rauf conceded only 19 off his 20 balls, while Munro finished on 66 off 35 as he steered his side to a competitive total.Stephen Eskinazi was dropped by Daniel Sams off Turner on 5, however the bowler was not to be denied when he hit the off stump of Jonny Bairstow, the England man’s second low score in a row since returning for Welsh Fire as he departed for 3.Fire fell behind the required rate early on, struggling particularly against the swing of Luke Wood. The acceleration needed to come, but Eskinazi perished trying to hit Sams over the top, caught by Joe Root coming in from long-on.Luke Wells was dropped by Munro at deep square off Lewis Gregory on 3, but departed for 8 after Sams made no mistake on another skied effort off Ish Sodhi.Clarke and Tom Abell did not find things easy, but managed to keep the scoreboard ticking over without ever getting ahead of the rate, with Fire needing 34 from the final 15 balls. The first five of those went for no runs, with Abell run out and Clarke given out off the fifth. However it turned out to be a no-ball and a free hit, which Clarke hit for six to keep Fire alive needing 26 off the final 10.Glen Phillips hit 12 of those off Sams before being caught at long-off, leaving Clarke and David Willey 14 to get from the final set. But Rockets, and Turner, held their nerve.

The deal is initially only for the ODI leg of Bangladesh’s tour of South Africa

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Mar-2022Albie Morkel has joined the Bangladesh men’s national team as the power-hitting coach for the ODI leg of their tour of South Africa. On Tuesday, Morkel linked up with the Bangladesh touring party at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, where they are playing an intra-squad practice match.The BCB had expressed the desire to add a power-hitting coach to the support staff line-up soon after Bangladesh’s poor performance at the T20 World Cup last year.”He [Morkel] will be with the ODI team for a week or so. He will help the batters,” Jalal Yunus, the BCB’s cricket operations chairman, said. “We will see how it goes, and then decide what happens afterwards.”This is the second turn as a coach for 40-year-old Morkel, who played one Test, 58 ODIs and 50 T20Is for South Africa between 2004 and 2015, after playing the role of assistant coach for the Namibia men’s national team soon after retiring from the game in January 2019.BCB has been in the process of revamping the coaching staff of the senior men’s team. Currently, Khaled Mahmud is the team director while Russell Domingo is the head coach. Batting coach Jamie Siddons is working with the specialist Test batters in a separate camp in Cape Town, while Domingo and the rest – including Allan Donald, the new fast-bowling coach, and Morkel – are in Johannesburg with the ODI squad. Apart from them, spin-bowling coach Rangana Herath and fielding coach Shane McDermott are also with the squad.Bangladesh will play three ODIs against South Africa, as part of the ODI Super League, on March 18, 20 and 23. They will also play two World Test Championship matches from March 31.

Completing chases and walking off the field a winner something the youngster needed to experience, the India captain said

Aishwarya Kumar in Guyana07-Aug-20195:16

Dasgupta: The unbeaten 65 could change Pant’s career

Rishabh Pant came good in the third T20I against West Indies, his unbeaten 65 off 42 helping India negotiate a potentially tricky chase to sweep the series. He top-scored for India and hit the match-winning six, prompting his captain Virat Kohli
to say “we are looking at Rishabh Pant as the future”.Kohli said all the youngster needed after two poor outings on the bounce was one innings to settle in and show the world what he could do. The message was for him to finish the game – there’s a lot of confidence that comes with hitting the winning runs and walking off the field with bat raised, and Pant needed to experience that, Kohli said.”For the first two games, he was disappointed that he didn’t get any runs,” Kohli said. “He was playing really well, hitting the ball really well, but that’s how T20 cricket goes. Sometimes you don’t have the rub of the green. But today he made sure he applied himself and batted to his skills and backed himself to hit the big shots when required and really played with the tempo of the innings.Rishabh Pant whips one into the leg side•AFP

“He’s got a lot of skill and talent. [But] it’s about winning and finishing games like these and gaining confidence, which he wants to do as well. It’s about giving him a bit more space to ease himself into international cricket and not putting too much pressure because of the way he’s played in the IPL.”At the international level, you need to tackle pressure differently and play yourself into the whole set-up. He has come a long way since he started. If he plays like this more regularly, we will see his potential shine for India.”With the focus now shifting to the ODI series, starting on August 8 at the same venue – Providence Stadium – Kohli said he was glad the team got a full game despite the early rain, and got the chance to have a proper hit. All the while, with an eye on the bigger picture: the priority is to make sure India play consistent cricket, with young players like Pant and Rahul Chahar – the debutant legspinner – helping strengthen the team’s resources.”I think the priority is to keep Indian cricket at the top, go out there and win games and find ways to win games for your team,” Kohli said. “That’s the reason we have been one of the top teams in the world for a while now.”The players are going to take the day off on Wednesday to rest and recover ahead of the 50-over games, Kohli said, as the humidity and the high temperatures would be tricky to deal with over a whole day.And when the ODI action begins, the teams would know that the weather – the forecast isn’t ideal for cricket – might not deny them 100 overs of action, based on the evidence on Tuesday. The drainage at Providence is excellent: a downpour earlier in the morning had resulted in a one-hour delay to the start, and at one point it was coming down so hard that there were concerns over whether a single ball would be bowled. But, as Kohli said, one could hardly tell it had rained as much as it had.