Former USACA presidential candidate Mahammad Qureshi has made the initial steps towards the creation of another governing body to rival both the USA Cricket Association and the American Cricket Federation

Peter Della Penna20-Aug-2015Former USACA presidential candidate Mahammad Qureshi has made the initial steps towards the creation of another governing body to rival both the USA Cricket Association and the American Cricket Federation. Qureshi, the chief executive and founder of Cricket Council USA, announced the appointment of six CCUSA regional directors on Tuesday, including several former USACA administrators.CCUSA officially classifies itself as a “sports and entertainment management organization” with its annual US Open T20 tournament held in Florida every December since 2008 for a cash purse ranging from $50,000 to $100,000. The announcement of eight regional bodies modelled on USACA’s eight administrative regions, followed by the appointment of the six regional directors, appears to be a thinly-disguised move at posing a challenge to USACA’s status as the ICC’s officially recognised national governing body in the USA.”CCUSA has always been determined to be a leader in player development, and all the affiliated regions share that vision,” Qureshi said in a press release on Tuesday. “We’re thrilled to work together to enhance the future of cricket in United States of America and build a pathway to a national team success at world stage.”Among the appointees announced are former longtime USACA board member Krish Prasad from New York, former USACA South East Regional administrator and current South Florida Cricket Alliance president Melton Taylor, former USACA Central West regional director Mustafa Hemani from Texas and former USACA selector Dawood Ahmed from Washington, D.C. Crucially, though, from a governance standpoint, CCUSA has no constitution and no annual general meeting with an election to decide these positions, which are ICC requirements.”The Regional Directors for Cricket Council USA were offered the position based on their achievements relating to cricket throughout the years,” Sofian Qamar, CCUSA’s vice-president of operations, told ESPNcricinfo via e-mail when asked about the appointment process for the regional directors.CCUSA’s business affairs have had ties with controversial figures in recent years. Banned Pakistan player Danish Kaneria was allowed to play at the 2013 US Open T20. Former CCUSA vice-president and US Open T20 tournament director Jeff Miller – who ran the US Open T20 tournament in 2010, 2011 and 2013 – pleaded guilty last summer in Florida to a second-degree felony charge of grand theft relating to an initial arrest on felony mortgage fraud charges in 2009.Florida-based Qureshi, who ran unsuccessfully for executive board positions in the last three USACA elections – including two failed presidential runs against Gladstone Dainty in 2008 and 2012 – filed for Chapter 11 personal bankruptcy in 2011 with more than $30 million in debts at the time, according to local Florida media reports. However, CCUSA’s tournaments have continued to draw consistent interest and participation from clubs all around the country and Qureshi maintains a loyal following.Notably, the language in CCUSA’s recent releases has put extra emphasis on their role in the development of cricket through the hosting and management of various T20 tournaments around the country. The ICC changed the language in its Associate membership criteria in January so that its member governing body no longer has to be the “sole” governing body in the country but rather the governing body that is responsible for the “administration, management and development of cricket in the country.”In the absence of a letter from the country’s national olympic committee certifying it as the recognised governing body, the ICC maintains discretion to make a final judgment. ICC chief executive David Richardson recently told ESPNcricinfo though that the ICC viewpoint is that all factions must come together in order for cricket to move forward in the USA rather than the ICC choosing between the USACA, ACF or a third party such as CCUSA.

A look at the Railways, Delhi and Rajasthan squads in the run-up to Ranji Trophy 2015-16

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Sep-2015

Delhi

Several controversies and three squads later, Gautam Gambhir will lead Delhi•Getty Images

Where they finished last season
Topped Group A with five wins in eight matches, took the first-innings lead in the quarter-final, but then lost the match to MumbaiBig picture
If Delhi were a team the fans still cared about, they would have released a book of jokes about the way the Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) has run into a comical controversy at each turn this year. It is hard to remember a time the DDCA was not in controversy, but that has not stopped Delhi from providing more international cricketers than any other state in the recent past. Last year there was no dearth of controversy, but on the field, they were the best team in the league stages.On the field, even this year, write Delhi off at your own peril. They have lost Virender Sehwag and Mithun Manhas to other states, they have left out Rajat Bhatia, which will bring pressure on themselves. They have chosen a largely young side – captain Gautam Gambhir and pace bowler Sumit Narwal are the only ones in their 30s – on the insistence of Gambhir. Coach Ajay Jadeja, former Test cricketer himself, says he has told Gambhir he is the boss. Gambhir is a successful IPL captain, Ranji Trophy is easier to win than the IPL, and should Delhi’s natural feeder system provide him with enough good youngsters Delhi can be solid contenders.The batting will rely on Gambhir and Unmukt Chand. Parvinder Awana, Narwal, Pradeep Sangwan and Pawan Suyal are a solid pace attack by domestic standards. Around them, in five players who have no first-class experience and three who have played under 10 matches, Delhi have an unknown quantity.”For any coach, when you have young players coming in, their mindset or game plans are not set,” Jadeja said. “It is easier to mould someone who is young and does not have set ideas. I think it becomes easier for a coach when you have someone who is 18, 19 or 20, and not too experienced.”Players to watch
Gautam Gambhir has seen many a Delhi player say he has had enough of the administrative mess, but he has chosen to stick with Delhi cricket despite there being an offer from Bengal, where he is loved by the Kolkata Knight Riders fans. He has not shied away from bringing all the pressure upon himself by leaving out the veteran Bhatia. In a state association run by proxy he is not fighting by proxy. If he scores the runs and leads Delhi well, this could be a commendable achievement.In the absence of experience, old warhorse Sumit Narwal becomes a key player. He can be sharp on his day, but more importantly he knows how to take wickets. Last Ranji season he took 24 at 19.83, and also scored 229 runs batting down the order.Coaching staff
Former India and Delhi player Ajay Jadeja, who is yet to retire from first-class cricket, will be the coach, Amit Bhandari will be the assistant coach and Manoj Kapoor will be the manager.Preparation
Delhi’s preparation has been marred by controversy. Three different squads announced, two different mentors to oversee the nets sessions, various complaints about lack of balls to practice, they have seen the works.Squad
Gautam Gambhir (capt), Unmukt Chand (vc), Vaibhav Rawal, Milind Kumar, Nitish Rana, Yogesh Nagar, Dhruv Shourey, Manan Sharma, Pulkit Narang, Mohit Ahlawat (wk), Parvinder Awana, Sumit Narwal, Pradeep Sangwan, Pawan Suyal, Sarang RawatIn their own words
“Whether we win the Ranji Trophy at the end of the season remains to be seen but the only aim of anybody who walks into that dressing room is to win the Ranji Trophy because we are not here to participate, we are here to win.”

Rajasthan

Pankaj Singh will miss at least the first two games with back spasms•Getty Images

Where they finished last season

Having suffered a defeat at the hands of Delhi, and played out three draws, Rajasthan were in a must-win situation against a strong Punjab side. Had they lost, Rajasthan would have been relegated. Pankaj Singh, like he has done many times in the past, inspired Rajasthan to victory, but the two-time champions failed to secure a knockout berth, finishing seventh in Group B with two wins.Big picture
What would be the biggest challenge for Rajasthan this year? If you have to believe Pankaj, Rajasthan’s senior-most player and captain last year, there are two: the team has to be united and secondly, the batting department has to be consistent to allow the young but promising fast bowling line-up to stay hungry.Rajasthan managed to score 300 runs in an innings only thrice last year. There were only three centuries in the entire season and one of the batting mainstays in the last five years, Robin Bist, has moved to Himachal Pradesh. That remains a big grey area. “Even to save points and draw matches the bowlers need at least 350 runs on the board,” Pankaj said.The onus is on Vineet Saxena and Ashok Menaria, who is the stand-in captain for the first two matches after Pankaj was ruled out due to injury. Saxena, the opener, is the most senior batsman and has been the team’s best batsman for the past many years. But he needs support from the middle order.According to Pankaj, Menaria needs to rise to the occasion and take the responsibility. In the past Menaria, a former India Under-19 captain, has been overwhelmed and distracted by the responsibility. But Pankaj felt if Menaria can keep his focus and not get bothered by external factors, he has the capability to keep the team united.Rajasthan’s preparation has not been ideal with uncertainty over their participation which was cleared only 10 days before the domestic season started. Sensing the nerves, Amrit Mathur, the co-ordinator appointed by the BCCI to the selections panels, asked former India opener Aakash Chopra to give a motivational chat on the eve of their first match. Chopra was a professional with Rajasthan when the team won their maiden Ranji Trophy title in 2011 and then defended it the following year.Chopra’s message to the players was clear: team bonding leads to team’s success. According to him the main reason behind two successive Ranji titles was Rajasthan’s team spirit – something Chopra had never experienced in the various teams he had been part of.Players to watch out for
Ashok Menaria was Rajasthan’s third-highest run-scorer in the last Ranji season. In the absence of Bist, Rajasthan will need Menaria to be the backbone in the middle order.According to Mathur, no less than former India captain Rahul Dravid was impressed by the 19-year-old Nathu Singh. About six feet tall, Nathu is the latest fast-bowling prospect that has excited the Rajasthan selectors. Saxena rates him as the quickest Rajasthan fast bowler and also one of top five in the country. Other than raw pace, in the range of 135-140 kph, sharpness to attack the stumps have been listed as Nathu’s strengths by his peers. Having performed well for Rajasthan Under-19 last year Nathu played in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament last season and was also part of the NCA development team. Pankaj has one bit of advice for the youngster: stay fast, but make sure you are consistent.Coaching staff
Amit Asawa (coach), Anshu Jain (assistant coach), Pervez Bhati (physiotherapist), Ram Swaroop Singh (trainer).Preparation
The RCA turmoil and the court proceedings did not leave too much time for any well-planned preparatory camp for the players, who also could not participate in the invitational tournaments organised by various state associations in the lead-up to the domestic season. Three two-day trial matches were followed by a short three-day camp and the squad for the first two matches was picked on September 25.Team news
Pankaj is undergoing rehabilitation at the NCA in Bangalore to recover from back spasms that affected him during the final match last season and once again resurfaced a few times in the past month. He will miss at least the first two matches.In their own words
“The main goal should be we need to retain our position in the Elite Group. We need to create and maintain a positive dressing room keeping in mind all the distractions we have had to deal with even before the season has started. So there has to be unity in the team to help build momentum.”
Squad for the first three games
Ashok Menaria (captain), Vineet Saxena, Dishant Yagnik, Pranay Sharma, Rajesh Bishnoi, Puneet Yadav, Arjit Gupta, Ankit Lamba, Ajay Singh Kukna, Aniket Choudhary, Nathu Singh, Deepak Chahar, Manjeet Kumar Choudhary, Madhur Khatri, Surya Prakash Suwalka

Railways

Anureet Singh has had two strong seasons with the ball for Railways and will be targeting another important showing•Abhijit Addya/ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Where they finished last season

Sixth in Group A. Apart from Bengal, Railways were the only team to go without a win in the top two tiers of the last Ranji season.Big picture
Railways’ middling Ranji Trophy performance was sandwiched between a quarter-final finish in the Vijay Hazare Trophy towards the start of the season and a decent outing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Going into this Ranji season, Railways assistant coach Zakaria Zuffri, also a former player with the side, has stressed on the importance of aggression to push for more wins.The side had managed only two 300-plus scores last season and this is where the solidity of opening batsman Saurabh Wakaskar can prop them up. Wakaskar was the leading run-getter for Baroda last season, striking 578 in 8 matches at 48.16 and has moved to the Railways side. Much will also depend on the experience of their captain Mahesh Rawat and legspinner Karn Sharma.Karn, who was ruled out of the Zimbabwe tour after suffering a finger fracture, will be eager to hit form and send a reminder to the national sections. The pace attack rests mainly with Anureet Singh and Krishnakant Upadhyay while medium-pacers Amit Mishra and Ranjit Mali offer useful back-up options.Players to watch out for
Anureet Singh was one of the central forces behind Railways’ progress to the quarter-final in the 2013-14 season and backed it up with 32 wickets in eight matches at 22.96 last season. Besides being known to bowl long spells, Anureet is also a good exponent of yorker as he showed during the IPL.An offbreak bowler, Arnab Nandi picked up two wickets and marshaled a late rally against Tamil Nadu in Chennai at the close of 2014 but Railways’ victory bid was thwarted by rain. Nandi has shown occasional sparks of brilliance but Railways will want him to step up further and contribute more consistently with the bat and ball.Coaches
Former India pacer, Harvinder Singh, is the head coach of Railways and will be assisted by Zakaria Zuffri. The rest of the support staff includes Azariah Prabhakar, the trainer and Irfan Ullaha, the physio.Preparation
Railways held a 25-day off-season camp in Amritsar to strengthen both the skills and fitness of their players. Anureet Singh also turned out for India A in the T20 against the South Africans in Delhi.Team news
Wakaskar has joined Railways from Baroda. The left-arm spinning pair of Ashish Yadav and Avinash Yadav have been left out of the squad for the first three games.Squad for the first three games
Mahesh Rawat (captain and keeper), Ranjit Mali, Rohan Bhosale, Anureet Singh, Ashish Singh, Prashant Awasthi, V Cheluvaraj, Faiz Ahmed, Arindam Ghosh, Hitesh Kadam, Anustup Majumdar, Amit Mishra, Arnab Nandi, Krishnakant Upadhyay, Karn Sharma, Saurabh WakaskarIn their own words
“We have a balanced squad with a good mix of youth and experience. I am happy with the progress during the training camp and we are definitely looking to go forward this season.”

Buoyed by a quicker pitch with some live grass on it, West Indies’ three-pronged pace attack made light work of Sri Lanka’s top order before Jomel Warrican claimed four wickets to wrap up the Sri Lankan innings at 200

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu22-Oct-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:00

Warrican fires as Sri Lanka slide

Buoyed by a quicker pitch with some live grass on it, West Indies’ three-pronged pace attack made light work of Sri Lanka’s top order before debutant left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican claimed four wickets to wrap up the Sri Lankan innings at 200, two hours into the final session on the first day at the P Sara Oval.In response, the visitors lost Shai Hope lbw to Dhammika Prasad in the first over but Kraigg Brathwaite and nightwatchman Devendra Bishoo hung around before deteriorating light forced stumps.Jerome Taylor had woken up a groin niggle but passed a fitness test and consistently hit speeds above 140kph. He struck with his fourth ball – a beauty that angled in and curved away, leaving Kaushal Silva prodding and edging to the wicketkeeper. West Indies reviewed and the third umpire Marias Erasmus decided there was enough evidence to overturn umpire Rod Tucker’s on-field decision of not out. Silva was out for a duck and his lean patch was extended – he had failed to build on a start in the first Test against West Indies after managing only 87 in six innings against India.That wicket proved a scene-setter and each of the West Indies’ fast bowlers got extra bounce and zip before Warrican took over. Milinda Siriwardana, playing his second Test, scored his maiden fifty in the format, and Rangana Herath, promoted to vice-captaincy after Lahiru Thirimanne was left out, indulged in hacks and hooks to avoid a total wipe out.The morning session was packed with action, containing as many as five reviews. West Indies’ second review, coming after the Silva wicket, was also successful, and accounted for 20-year old Kusal Mendis for an edgy 13 on Test debut. Mendis had wafted at a Kemar Roach ball that straightened a touch and nicked behind.Jason Holder’s first dismissal – West Indies’ second of the morning – had also involved a review. He had Dimuth Karunaratne lbw for 13 in his second over; Sri Lanka’s review going in vain this time. The quicks rattled the batsmen and beat the outside edge regularly and reduced Sri Lanka to 59 for 4, six minutes before lunch. The session ended with West Indies bowling coach Curtly Ambrose welcoming his bowlers with warm applause.Siriwardana helped Sri Lanka recover briefly, adding 31 and 37 with Dinesh Chandimal and Kusal Perera respectively. With Siriwardana joining hands with another left-handed batsman in Kusal, West Indies’ premier spinner Bishoo was held back. He had come into the attack only after 36 overs in the Galle Test. Today, he came in after 46 overs.Siriwardana was assured in defence and cashed in when fed with width. He carved Holder over covers, eased Taylor past the same region, and slashed Warrican behind point. He pushed on to bring up his fifty off 76 balls by dancing out and launching a straight six. He had a life when he was shelled at square leg on 63 but added only five more to his tally before he miscued Warrican into Taylor’s lap at long-off.Warrican began with a half-tracker, which was dispatched by Angelo Mathews to the point boundary with a strong cut. He settled down quickly, and twirled away in an uninterrupted 14-over spell after lunch. His reward came off a bad ball: Kusal Perera stepped out and spooned a return catch off a full toss, becoming Warrican’s maiden Test victim. Having received his Test cap from Garry Sobers, it turned out to a happy day for Warrican.West Indies, who had spilled five catches to add to a sixth chance that was not attempted in the first Test, lifted themselves significantly on the field, with the only blip being the Siriwardana drop. Marlon Samuels made a diving save at backward point while Holder threw himself around mid-off. Brathwaite, though, produced the best piece of fielding when he bent forward from second slip to grab a sharp, low catch to snaffle Mathews for 14. The catch was deemed legal after being sent to the third umpire.

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza has stressed on the importance of starting well in the three-match one-day series against Zimbabwe

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur06-Nov-2015Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza has stressed on the importance of starting well in the three-match one-day series against Zimbabwe. Mashrafe also said that Bangladesh had found ways to build partnerships even after losing wickets in the last 12 months.”I think all the fans will be expecting [a whitewash] but we the cricketers shouldn’t be doing that,” Mashrafe said. “The first match is going to be important, like it is in every series. In the last Zimbabwe series, we lost four early wickets in the first ODI. In our first match of the World Cup, we were 4 for 119 against Afghanistan. On both occasions Shakib and Mushfiq put together partnerships. People are most tensed in the first match and once it is over, the task becomes easier. At this moment the first match is significant to us.”Bangladesh’s ODI resurgence began with a 5-0 win against Zimbabwe in 2014, and it gained a massive boost when they beat Afghanistan in their World Cup opener earlier this year. Bangladesh have form on their side after having won the last four ODI home series in a row. Their combination, though, oscillates between playing eight batsmen and three specialist bowlers and seven batsmen and four specialist bowlers. In the absence of Taskin Ahmed and Rubel Hossain, coupled with Mashrafe’s own fitness worries, Bangladesh are likely to fit in a three-man pace attack, taking out one of the top-order batsmen. If they go ahead with the two pace bowlers in Mashrafe and Mustafizur Rahman, they will look to Nasir Hossain to bowl ten overs.Pace has reaped reward for Bangladesh this year but spin has always worked well against Zimbabwe in these conditions, and Mashrafe has hinted that Bangladesh will go in with a spin-based attack.”We have to make the team thinking of the opposition’s weakness, as well as our strength,” Mashrafe said. “I like to combine these two factors. Our main goal is definitely to win but I feel right now it will be their weakness that will get more preference. The wicket is also a factor. We will also not like to play away from our strength.”Mashrafe conceded that the team will miss Soumya Sarkar, who was ruled out on Thursday with a side strain, but his absence will open up chances for the likes of Imrul Kayes and Liton Das to make contributions in the top order.”The whole team will miss Soumya, who is not just a good cricketer but also a fine team-mate,” Mashrafe said. “He is a thrilling player, having made 80-odd in our last ODI. It isn’t great news that we are missing him. But Liton and Imrul now have the chance to do well.”

In announcing a Test squad that includes Nathan Coulter-Nile despite his total lack of recent Sheffield Shield cricket, Rod Marsh made the startling admission Mitchell Starc may have played his last international match of the seaso

Daniel Brettig30-Nov-20151:42

‘We’ve gone with our gut feeling on Coulter-Nile’ – Rod Marsh

In announcing a Test squad that includes Nathan Coulter-Nile despite his total lack of recent Sheffield Shield cricket, the selection chairman Rod Marsh made the startling admission Mitchell Starc may have played his last international match of the season.Starc’s broken foot and ankle spurs were thought to have a recovery time frame allowing him to make February’s New Zealand tour, but Marsh contended that the left-armer would miss that trip and also be doubtful for the World Twenty20 that follows.”In an ideal world … we’d love to have Mitchell Starc playing against New Zealand in the Test series [in February],” Marsh said. “I don’t think that will happen. In an ideal world we’d like to have him playing in the [Twenty20] world cup. It ‘may’ happen.”If it’s two different lots of surgery then we mightn’t see much of Mitchell for a little while. And you’ve got to think of the kid’s health, and the medical people always keep that in mind. He’ll be back when he’s back. In the meantime we’ve got to get on with it.”I’ve said, I don’t know how many times, that we’ve got to have a battery of 10 fast bowlers. I know everyone out there looks at me as if I’m an idiot when I say that, but I tell you what, we’ve got to have a battery of 10 fast bowlers.”If we come up now with a good attack for this Test match, which we think we have, and for the following two Test matches, and the one after that and the one after that, we’ll have called on a lot of fast bowlers. That’s one thing I can promise you, because they just don’t get through a lot of Test matches in a row.”By way of clarification, Cricket Australia released a statement by the team physio David Beakley, stating that Starc did not require surgery for his current injury: “Given that Mitchell now has a lay-off with his foot injury we will take this opportunity to meet with specialists in Sydney this week to get an opinion on whether or not surgery is required at this point in time for his ongoing ankle issues.”We will look to provide an update later in the week but at this stage we do not have confirmed timeframes for his return to play.”In addition to Coulter-Nile, the Victoria fast bowler Scott Boland has been named as a standby player in case any of the bowlers struggle to recover after the win over New Zealand in Adelaide. James Pattinson has retained his place in the 12-man squad and is the likely replacement in the XI for Starc.Nathan Coulter-Nile has played ODIs and T20s for Australia and is now in the Test squad•Getty Images

Coulter-Nile, 28, has been included in the 12 for the Bellerive Test against the West Indies despite not playing any Sheffield Shield matches so far this summer. He played in the Matador Cup but a shoulder injury sidelined him from the start of the Shield season, and he was then suspended from Western Australia’s most recent match after showing dissent at an umpire’s decision during a Futures League game against Queensland last week. Last summer he underwent surgery for a problematic hamstring.”Once Mitchell Starc went down I think everyone’s mind went straight to Nathan Coulter-Nile,” Marsh said. “We’ve had our eye on him for a long time and we’ve been very pleased with the way he’s gone when he has played but as you all know he’s also been a fast bowler who hasn’t been injury free and I guess we’re at a situation now where because of the two Mitchells, one retiring and one being injured that we do need a bit of pace up front.”He comes back well. Fresh. He came back very well, fresh in the Australia A series in India earlier this year so we’re not too concerned about that. In an ideal world yes, it would have been good if he had been playing Shield cricket the whole season and taken 40 wickets, in an ideal world. But we don’t get too many of them so we’ll go with our gut feeling on Coulter-Nile, we like him as a bowler.”Coulter-Nile will come into contention for Hobart if any of the fast men succumb to injury or fitness concerns – Hazlewood’s heavy workload and a back spasm for Peter Siddle in Adelaide makes this a distinct possibility. That would bring Boland, 26, into the squad. A fast bowler with 71 first-class wickets at 30.14, Boland this summer has 12 wickets at 12.58 from three Shield games, and he picked up a career-best 7 for 31 against Western Australia in the last round.”It’s a really good story him I reckon, the fact he’s snuck under the radar,” Marsh said of Boland. “He’s not necessarily a fashionable bowler, but you remember he kept Siddle out of the Matador Cup, so the Victoria coach David Saker thinks a hell of a lot of him, he’s seen a lot of fast bowling in his time. So it’s a very pleasant story for a very pleasant young man.”Boland will play for Victoria in their Sheffield Shield game starting this Sunday unless required in the Test squad. The first Test against West Indies begins on Thursday next week.Test squad David Warner, Joe Burns, Steven Smith (capt), Adam Voges, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill (wk), Peter Siddle, James Pattinson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland (standby).

Joe Root has suggested that the absence of a cricketer from the list of nominees for BBC Sports Personality of The Year could be a “wake-up call” for cricket

George Dobell08-Dec-2015Joe Root has suggested that the absence of a cricketer from the list of nominees for BBC Sports Personality of The Year could be a “wake-up call” for cricket.Root was named man of the series as England won back the Ashes in the summer of 2015. He is currently the No. 1 rated Test batsman, while his 2131 runs in all international cricket in 2015 is the most ever scored by an England player in a calendar year.But perhaps due to the continuing absence of live cricket from free-to-air television, perhaps due to the cost of ticket prices or perhaps simply due to the excellence of athletes in alternative disciplines, there was no nomination for Root or any of his England colleagues when the shortlist of nominees for the BBC award was announced.Following on from stories of falling participation numbers, recreational clubs folding and the reduced appearance of cricket in some newspapers, it has added to a sense that cricket’s place in the public consciousness is diminishing.While Root played down his own non-appearance on the shortlist, he did acknowledge that it was “slightly sad” that no England cricketer had been nominated.”Maybe it is a bit of a wake-up call for cricket and maybe it is slightly sad for the sport,” Root told ESPNcricinfo in an interview to publicise his book .Joe Root enjoyed a stellar year with the bat but it wasn’t enough to earn SPOTY recognition•Getty Images

“The 12 nominees have done amazing things in their individual sports this year and they deserve all the plaudits and recognition they get.”But within cricket, you look at all the things that Stuart Broad has achieved this year, you look at James Anderson breaking Sir Ian Botham’s record for the most Test wickets for England and Alastair Cook breaking Graham Gooch’s batting record for the most Test runs. So I’d probably be down the list in cricket, anyway.”All we can do as players and ambassadors of the game is try to set an example, playing in the right way and make it as entertaining as possible for people watching.”Despite his fine year, Root has been frustrated by his habit of falling when apparently well set. Nine times in Test cricket this year he has been dismissed with his score between 59 and 98.”There’s a lot of improvement to come. Getting out eight times in a year between 70 and 80 is not acceptable. I need to make sure it doesn’t happen going forward.”I want to make contributions that help us win Test matches rather than put us in positions where we have to play extremely well to win. When you make those starts, you want to convert them. That’s been the disappointing thing about this year.”Root also described the World Cup defeat against Sri Lanka at Wellington in March as a key moment in England’s limited-overs resurgence. Root contributed 121 to England’s total of 309 but, any thoughts that such a total might be considered enough were soon dismissed as Sri Lanka powered to a nine-wicket victory with more than two overs to spare. It was, according to Root, the moment England knew their limited-overs cricket had to change.”Knowing that we’d played the perfect innings as a side – and at the time I thought it was one of my best one-day knocks – was a sign that we had to look past benchmark scores,” he said. “One-day cricket has moved on from that and so have we. We don’t set ourselves any boundaries and we look to reach 400 as much as we can. It was a huge wake-up.”

Tamim Iqbal, the Chittagong Vikings captain, and Azizul Islam, the Sylhet Super Stars owner, will both be fined for their altercation during the BPL match on November 23

Mohammad Isam05-Jan-2016Tamim Iqbal, the Chittagong Vikings captain, and Azizul Islam, the Sylhet Super Stars owner, will both be fined for their altercation during the BPL match on November 23. BCB disciplinary chairman Sheikh Sohel said the fines would be announced after the Bangladesh-Zimbabwe T20 series.Sohel added that Azizul would face a bigger penalty than Tamim, who he said should have shown more restraint when provoked by Azizul.At the end of a chaotic game in which Sylhet tried to field two players who were not part of the team sheet provided at the toss, Tamim alleged that Azizul had abused him.BCB had delayed investigating the incident until the end of the tournament, after which BCB president Nazmul Hassan had said the discipinary committee had completed their report on the incident.”I apologise for taking too long on the Tamim issue,” Sohel said. “I spoke to the media and I also spoke to the cricketers, the BCB staff and senior BCB officials present at the ground during the incident. I have decided that both will be punished, fined to be specific.”From what I have gathered after speaking to everyone, both were at fault. Tamim should have shown more patience. He is a national cricketer and also a BPL icon. No matter what anyone says, he has to show patience. He shouldn’t have behaved like that on a cricket ground.”Sohel said Azizul would also be punished for entering the ground unlawfully. “How does a franchise owner enter that area? He doesn’t have the right to get near a cricketer or speak to them. He will be punished for that too.”Because the team owner entered the field unlawfully and behaved badly with the national team cricketer, he will be fined more. It wouldn’t have gone that far had he not started it.”BPL technical committee chairman Jalal Yunus and CEO Nizam Uddin had said after the match that Sylhet’s misdemeanor of trying to field two cricketers without the prerequisite NOCs and not having mentioned their names in the team sheet at the toss would also be investigated. Sohel, however, did not mention whether the BCB disciplinary committee would punish Sylhet for this misdemeanor or not.

Andrew Birch’s career-best figures of 4 for 15 helped Warriors beat Dolphins by nine wickets to earn a bonus point win in Durban

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Feb-2016Andrew Birch, the pacer, did the damage with the ball as Warriors beat Dolphins by nine wickets to earn a bonus point win in Durban. That meant they opened up four-point lead over Lions and jump to the second spot in the Momentum One Day Cup standings.Birch returned career-best List A figures of 4 for 15 as Dolphins, who opted to bat, were shot out for 110 in 28.3 overs. Keshav Maharaj, the No. 9 batsman, top scored with an unbeaten 43. That only four batsmen managed to get into double figures was an indication of Dolphins’ struggle. While Birch wrecked the top and middle order, Ayabulela Gqamane, the pacer, dismantled the tail to finish with three scalps.Warriors turned a small chase into a cruise courtesy a 106-run opening stand in 22 overs between JJ Smuts and Colin Ackermann. A 10-wicket thrashing was avoided as Andile Phehlukwayo, the pacer, dismissed Smuts one short of his half-century, but Ackermann, who hit eight fours and a six in his 83-ball innings knocked off the winning runs with 157 balls to spare.

Saurashtra’s quicks enjoyed the lateral movement from the surface, but it was their patience and attention to detail that paid rich dividends during testing periods

Arun Venugopal in Vadodara13-Feb-2016Saurashtra might have been lucky with the toss which gave them first use of a pitch responsive to fast bowling, but it was the bowling line-up’s patience and attention to detail that produced results for much of the day. It must have been tempting to be swayed by the exaggerated movement off the surface, and the momentum that three quick wickets brought. Saurashtra’s pacers, though, were never indulgent; they were happy bowling a run-drying line during the second session that saw them go wicketless.”We needed to get our standards up after that, so I thought the spell we bowled after tea was more of skill rather than the [assistance from the] wicket,” Jaydev Unadkat told ESPNcricinfo. “It was moving a lot and there was some moisture in the wicket in the first hour. But I feel the wicket eased out after the first hour.”That [to not give runs away easily] was the priority throughout the day. Even in the first session, we were making sure we don’t bowl too many bad balls. Probably in that partnership as well, we controlled the runs and built up the pressure. We were bowling according to the wicket. We bowled good lengths and let the batsman commit errors.”Unadkat, who picked up three wickets, said polishing the ball helped the fast bowlers sustain their threat throughout the day. “I think the slip fielders were really looking after the ball well. That’s probably a minor thing but it sometimes plays a major part in a team’s performance,” he said.”If you see the ball now it [does] not [look] old. We nominate a couple of batsmen to do that, probably Avi [Barot] and Arpit [Vasavada] were the ones doing it today. Generally it is up to the slip fielders to do it because they get the ball straight from the keeper.”It’s difficult sometimes to motivate themselves [to do it] but this is where the team spirit comes in play. They could easily shine the ball lightly and give it to the bowlers, but they didn’t do that. You have to apply some load on the ball and shine it hard.”Unadkat’s effectiveness was also multiplied by the presence of fellow left-armer Hardik Rathod at the other end. Rathod dismissed the openers, and took Arun Karthik’s wicket to enable his team to scythe through the middle order. The similarity between Unadkat and Rathod was hard to miss – both enjoyed hitting the pitch hard, thrived on the resultant bounce and bowled more than 20 overs each. “That’s true [that we have similar styles]. He is also tall like me and he also depends on the natural bounce we get from the wicket because of our height,” Unadkat said.”The wrist position was nice, that’s why I was getting that shape till the end. I have seen him working on the same aspects in the nets. You can say that we were complementing each other, and that’s why the batsmen were finding it difficult from both the ends.”Arun Karthik also attributed his team’s batting struggle to Saurashtra’s disciplined bowling. “They just kept bowling in the same areas and gave nothing away all day,” he said. “I would say we have had a decent day, not a bad one because they bowled really well.”In a knockout game the longer you make the opponents field the better it is. That was my plan after tea. Because we were set for a big target and their bowlers had also tired. I got out at the wrong time.”Unadkat felt the seam bowlers would be in play on all five days. “The wicket will ease out for sure but it is not going to deteriorate,” he said. “I think there will be help for seamers in the first hour of all the five days. There is moisture beneath the pitch so it will come up. The ground is open and once the wind starts blowing, [like] after tea today, it starts swinging as well.”

Alastair Cook and James Anderson will be among the high-profile England players to start the season in Specsavers County Championship action

George Dobell04-Apr-20162:19

Butcher: I’m excited by what’s to come from England

Alastair Cook and James Anderson will be among the high-profile England players to start the season in Specsavers County Championship action.The start of the County Championship season is often diluted by international commitments or a desire to rest players but, this year, every member of England’s Test side in South Africa has been made available by the England management over the opening weeks.

England player availability

All the England players who toured over the last six months to UAE, South Africa and India are available for all cricket from the start of the season with the following exceptions (and those at the IPL: Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler, Sam Billings):

James Anderson: Available for Lancashire’s first three Championship fixtures
Stuart Broad: Available from April 17 (Lancashire v Notts)
Ben Stokes: Available from April 24 (Dur v Midd)
Alex Hales: Available from May 1 (Notts v Yorks)
Moeen Ali: Available from April 24 (Glos v Worcs)
Chris Jordan: Available from May 1 (Sussex v Leics)
Reece Topley: TBC

While a few players – such as Joe Root and Ben Stokes – will be rested from some games, the opening fixtures of the season promise some high-quality clashes between strong-looking county sides. The Championship matches between Warwickshire and Yorkshire at Edgbaston from April 24 and Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire at Trent Bridge from May 1 look especially attractive.Perhaps most intriguing is Alex Hales’ decision to rest until May 1. It leaves him only two games to gain form – and selection – before the team for the first Test of the summer, against Sri Lanka at Leeds from May 19, is named.That might well leave his Test position vulnerable. Nick Compton and Adam Lyth are among those competing for the opener’s spot, while Ian Bell and Gary Ballance join them in pushing for the No. 3 position. If any of them start the season in prolific form, it could put Hales under some pressure.Hales had previously decided against entering the IPL auction in an attempt to concentrate on his red-ball form. He averaged just 17 in the South Africa Test series so cannot be considered to have done enough to have secured his position in the long term.While it is possible he has received assurances about his inclusion in that first Test squad, it seems more likely that after a long and emotionally draining first winter involved in the England squad in all formats of the game, Hales has reasoned that the benefits of a fresh mind outweigh the benefits of early-season batting in England. He will miss two Championship matches.Chris Jordan’s return will also be delayed until May 1 in order to allow him to receive treatment upon his sore right elbow, while Reece Topley’s Hampshire debut may be delayed until their second match of the season.