The former Australia wicketkeeper, who now works as a broadcaster, doesn’t think the technology will slow the game down

Srinath Sripath06-Nov-2019How would the addition of another umpire exclusively for making no-ball calls affect the game? If it helps “arrive at the right decision”, the former Australia wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist is “all for it.”Front-foot no-ball calls have been a contentious issue in cricket for a while, with replays on TV broadcasts often showing on-field umpires missing a number of no-ball calls, and only checking with the third umpire if batsmen have been dismissed.”It is pretty challenging for the on-field umpire to look down there, look up there, have everything else going on,” Gilchrist said at an event organised by Tourism Western Australia in Mumbai. “Surely there was a replay last year that showed it was a no-ball [in the game between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians in Bengaluru].”As revealed by ESPNcricinfo in August, the ICC is conducting trials to put TV umpires in charge of these calls, which the IPL looks set to emulate in the coming months.One of the main concerns over involving TV umpires has been over whether it would slow the game down, but Gilchrist, who works as a broadcaster in Australia with , said it wouldn’t be a major issue given the technology available in the game.”No, no [I don’t think it’ll slow things down], because they can do it in an instant. I know, I work in broadcast, you can have a replay within five seconds. In football, VAR seems to be slowing it down a little bit,” Gilchrist said, referring to the Video Assistant Referee, which has been a contentious topic in recent months in football. “I think, if it’s a line decision [in cricket], you can have a replay like that [in a matter of seconds].”The modalities, though, will be for the ICC and the IPL governing council to decide. Should the third umpire monitor no-ball calls? Or is there enough justification to bring another umpire in? Gilchrist is firmly in the former camp. “Why can’t the third umpire just look at the replay and just go not out? That should be allowed. Whether you need a fourth umpire, maybe not”.

Mark Boucher, the new head coach, had earlier said he was open to asking de Villiers to come out of retirement

Firdose Moonda17-Dec-2019AB de Villiers is already talking to key figures in South African cricket to explore the possibility of coming out of retirement for next year’s T20 World Cup, captain Faf du Plessis has confirmed. Two days after new head coach Mark Boucher said he would be open to asking de Villiers to play in the event, du Plessis said that conversations on the subject have been ongoing for several months.”People want AB to play and I am no different,” du Plessis said after his Paarl Rocks team beat the Tshwane Spartans – coached by Boucher with de Villiers in the line-up – in the Mzansi Super League final on Monday night. “Those conversations have been happening for two or three months already: what does it look like, how does it look over the next year, and that’s where it starts.”De Villiers retired from international cricket in May last year citing exhaustion from the workload that he had often complained about. He attempted a U-turn ahead of the 2019 World Cup and made himself available for selection on the eve of the tournament, but South Africa’s selectors felt he had left it too late. Now, plans are afoot to put a proper process in place that will see de Villiers play some T20I cricket, culminating at the World Cup in Australia in October-November 2020.”T20 cricket is a different beast, it’s not a lot of time away from home. If you are a full campaigner, you have to really get stuck in and spend a lot of time on the road,” du Plessis said. “Test cricket now is the most important thing but also the T20 World Cup is not too far away and there isn’t a lot – I reckon 20 T20s over the season – which won’t be that hard on one to do that. Those conversations have already taken place and will continue to before the next T20 series starts.”South Africa’s T20I schedule includes three matches against England and three against Australia in February next year. They then tour the West Indies in the winter and there is also talk of a white-ball series in Sri Lanka. De Villiers may not be expected to play in all those matches, especially as he will also be involved in the IPL. The idea will be to make sure de Villiers gets enough game time to be considered for the World Cup. Form might not be a worry: de Villiers was the third-highest scorer at the MSL with 325 runs in nine matches at 46.42 and scored four half-centuries, more than anyone else.The tournament has also given du Plessis a deeper look at the talent around the country, especially in his team. The Rocks were made up of “no superstars”, but the likes of Ferisco Adams and Kerwin Mungroo made names for themselves as the competition progressed.”I’ve really enjoyed this campaign. I’ve really enjoyed working with young guys, getting their heads in the right space and getting them to understand their games better,” du Plessis said. “It’s great that experienced those guys can talk and help younger players because it does fast track their careers.”Faf du Plessis wants to continue leading South Africa•BCCI

The MSL has served one more purpose: it confirmed du Plessis’ ability to lead in the shortest format, something which appeared up for debate when he was left out of the South Africa squad to play in India. The last few months have seen talk of a succession plan that has looked to the likes of Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock to take over from du Plessis in different formats, but for now, he wants to keep going.”I’m still very motivated to captain in all three formats and that hasn’t changed,” du Plessis said, while recognising that the leadership needs to be shared as the end of his career looms. “It is also important to use other captains in this process over the next year when there is an opportunity to use guys. There will be a time that someone else will need to take over and it is a great opportunity to start doing it in small series, it might be one-day cricket, it might be T20 cricket just to expose younger guys to learning.”Fifty-over cricket may be the format for experimentation over the next year, with Test cricket still du Plessis’ domain and South Africa expected put a lot of emphasis on the T20 World Cup.After a tumultuous few months, South Africa have a confirmed coaching staff and the first bricks of a structure under director of cricket Graeme Smith and the new-found clarity has du Plessis optimistic about the future.”A lot can change in a week. We’ve seen that first-hand. It was the dark ages last week and there’s a little bit of light this week and that’s very good,” he said. “It’s very important, it will help the dressing room and even the supporters supporting the team. Everyone wants the team to do well, everyone wants to make sure we get the right people in the right positions. It’s good that there is a bit of positivity around in and there’s excitement in the air, myself included. I am very excited with the start of this new journey.”

Australia batsman to be available for first seven matches in County Championship

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Dec-2019Australia batsman Matthew Wade has signed for the first half of Somerset’s 2020 Championship campaign. Wade broke back into the Test team as a batsman earlier this year, scoring two hundreds during the Ashes, and will return to England for the start of the county season in April.”When you’re signing an overseas player, there are a number of criteria that you need to think about,” Somerset’s director of cricket, Andy Hurry, said. “You want your overseas to be a world-class performer, but you also need to look at what they will bring off the field. You want someone who is a leader on the pitch and someone who buys in to the Club ethos. Matthew Wade will tick every single box.”He is a world-class performer, he is extremely driven and he is a leader. He has vast experience and has captained Tasmania as well as leading Victoria to two Sheffield Shields.”He was outstanding for Australia this summer with the bat and his record speaks for itself. We are delighted to have secured a player of his calibre for our opening seven County Championship matches of 2020.”Wade’s first game for Somerset is expected to be the Championship opener against Warwickshire – for whom he played T20 as an overseas signing in 2016 – and he will conclude his spell with the return fixture at Edgbaston before the start of the Vitality Blast at the end of May.Wade said: “It’s an exciting challenge and one that I’m looking forward to. I got a good taste of English conditions last summer and it’ll be good to come back over and to hopefully contribute to Somerset winning matches in the County Championship.”Somerset have got a excellent squad and I’m looking forward to meeting up with the guys and to getting out on the pitch with them. I’m told that Somerset have a bit of a history of Australian players doing well for the club, so hopefully I can add my name to that list.”

Fast bowler roared in celebration after pegging back England captain’s off stump

Firdose Moonda in Port Elizabeth17-Jan-2020Kagiso Rabada will miss the Johannesburg Test after being sanctioned for his celebration following the dismissal of Joe Root on the first day of the Port Elizabeth Test.Rabada was found guilty of a level one offence. He was fined 15 percent of his match fee and earned one demerit point, taking his total number of active points to four. He has accumulated eight in the course of his career, but four of those have now elapsed.Rabada was found to have breached article 2.5 of the ICC code of conduct for “using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon his/her dismissal during an International Match”.Rabada admitted the offence after the day’s play and accepted the sanction proposed by Andy Pycroft, the match referee. As such, there was no need for a formal hearing.Rabada was particularly animated when he beat Root for pace and bowled him in the evening session on day one. In his follow-through, Rabada advanced close to Root, who was walking off, and screamed at him and the stumps. Rabada was quickly swamped by team-mates Rassie van der Dussen and Pieter Malan before the rest of the team surrounded him.After play, South Africa’s bowling coach Charl Langeveldt said he had asked Rabada to “control your aggression”, because he is “always looking for a scrap”.The charge was levelled by on-field umpires Rod Tucker and Bruce Oxenford and third umpire Joel Wilson, as well as fourth umpire Allahudien Paleker. Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, a maximum penalty of 50 per cent of a player’s match fee, and one or two demerit points.All three of the incidents which contributed to Rabada’s ban took place at St George’s Park. In February 2018, he was sanctioned for using provocative language in sending off Shikhar Dhawan in an ODI and a month later, had two incidents in the same Test against Australia which almost saw him banned for the rest of the series. He screamed into David Warner’s face and then brushed shoulders with Steve Smith, an act which was initially deemed a Level 2 offence.South Africa hired a top advocate, Dali Mpofu, to appeal that sanction and were successful. The Smith incident was downgraded to Level 1 which put Rabada on the brink of a ban but allowed him to keep playing. At the time, Rabada said he recognised that his aggressive behaviour “needs to stop,” because he was “letting the team down.”In a later interview with ESPNcricinfo, Rabada explained that his “outbursts of emotion” are just part of the DNA of a bowler and sometimes can’t be helped. “Unfortunately we are playing in an era where those things are being looked at now and you have to watch yourself. You have to think a bit more about what you do.”However, it appears Rabada is still struggling to keep his feelings in check and it has come at a hefty cost. Rabada is the leading wicket-taker in the series and his non-availability for the Wanderers puts South Africa in a quandary ahead of what will be a decisive fixture.Not only will they be missing their premier strike bowler – for whom there is no easy replacement – but they will also be without the only black African player in the current XI, which will set them further back from their transformation target.South Africa are required to field a minimum of six players of colour, of which at least two must be black African, on average over the course of a season, which means they do not have to meet the target in every match. However, they have failed to meet the requirement in all of the three Tests they’ve played so far, with only four players of colour at both Centurion and Newlands and five at St George’s Park. Rabada has been the only black African player in all three Tests.That may remain the case at the Wanderers, where Temba Bavuma, who scored a career-best 180 for his domestic franchise this week, has made a strong case for a recall.However, Bavuma will have to come in as a replacement for a batsman, or as an addition to the line-up and South Africa will still need another bowler to carry Rabada’s load.They have three options in the 16-man squad: allrounders Dwaine Pretorius and Andile Phehlukwayo and left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks, who could make his debut. The only other candidate who comes to mind is Lungi Ngidi, who has not played since the Mzansi Super League in December, where he picked up a hamstring injury.Ngidi is currently at the High Performance Centre attending a strength and conditioning camp for players who were identified to have fitness concerns, and includes those who are likely to be part of the limited-overs’ squads such as Jon-Jon Smuts, Sisanda Magala and Tabraiz Shamsi.The Johannesburg Test will also be Vernon Philander’s final match, after he announced his retirement at the start of the series.

Coach says South Africa must believe that chasing 466 in two days is not impossible

Firdose Moonda at the Wanderers26-Jan-2020Mark Boucher knew taking the job of South Africa head coach would be “very tough”, but would not be drawn into whether the situation in the country’s cricket is worse than he anticipated. Instead, he says his efforts are fully focused on putting in the work that will lead to the team’s improvement in the long term, which he warned will take time.”I always knew it was going to be very tough. We’ve got a lot of hard work to do,” Boucher said. “We’ve set up different processes in the near future to up-skill the guys. It is tough times but we’ve got the attitude in the dressing room that we want to try and get back to where we should be and we understand it’s going to take a lot of hard work, but that’s what we are prepared to do. It’s been a tough and dark period for us over the last couple of weeks but the efforts are still there, as we saw in the field today. I thought the guys tried really hard.”South Africa’s second-innings effort in the field was considerably better than their first, in which they conceded 400, including a last-wicket partnership of 82, and set puzzling fields. Today, they bowled to clear plans and struck regularly, even without Vernon Philander who only managed nine deliveries before sustaining a hamstring tear. Beuran Hendricks followed Anrich Nortje with a maiden five-wicket haul and England were bowled out for 248.Had it not been for England’s massive first-innings lead, South Africa would have been fairly pleased with their efforts. However, they now face a near-impossible task, a record chase of 466 with a batting line-up that has not crossed 300 in this series. Boucher has put the onus on top six, particularly those who have not been in form, to step up.”We are still not scoring the runs we need to, especially with regards to the top six, which is putting us under pressure” Boucher said. “In order to win a Test match, you need to go out there and score runs and that’s where we are suffering at the moment. If you look at the amount of time we’ve got in the game, we’ve still got to look at going for a win. It’s quite a few runs to chase down – it’s never been done before – but we’ve got to hold on to some sort of positivity. And also the fact that quite a few of our batters are due as well. It’s going to be tough but we will give it a go.”Among those who are in the spotlight is captain Faf du Plessis, who has gone ten innings without a half-century. He was stood down from the ODI captaincy last week and is due to meet acting director of cricket Graeme Smith after this series to discuss his future. In what could be du Plessis’ final Test innings, Boucher hopes he can draw inspiration from a sensational one-handed catch, with which he dismissed Joe Root to end the England second innings.ALSO READ: Imagine there’s no Kolpak, it’s easy if you try…“He is under pressure from a weight of runs as well, from captaincy, all that stuff,” Boucher said. “The players back him in the dressing room. It’s nice to see him take that catch towards the end of the day. Hopefully it will lift his spirits. He will go out there and fight. He understands that he is the leader and he wants to do well and lead from the front. Hopefully there is something big around the corner for Faf. The whole scene is set for him to come in under pressure and score big runs and hopefully get us close to winning a Test match.”As improbable as it seems, Boucher has to entertain the possibility that, if South Africa bat for two days, they could win the game. And statistically speaking, scoring over 400 is not a completely crazy thing to consider doing here. In 2013, South Africa finished eight runs short of a target of 458 against India, in an innings that featured a du Plessis century. All that’s required is to get through the new ball and hope for a captain’s knock.”I don’t think there is any opportunity to second-guess yourself,” Boucher said. “We just need to get off to a good start and allow ourselves to maybe put a bit of pressure on the bowling line-up. I’d like to see us take it deep into the last day. If that’s the case, the English bowlers would have spent a lot of time on their feet and that’s maybe when we can throw that punch to try and win the game, but there’s a lot of hard work that needs to go in before that.”It’s a new-ball wicket. It did go around for 30-odd overs, when it does get a bit softer batting gets a bit easier and stroke-making becomes easier. Its difficult for a bowling side to keep the run rate down. There are ways and means to go about getting 450 and we need to try and do that.”

Chris Gayle, Sandeep Lamichhane and Mohammad Shahzad had been due to feature in tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Mar-2020The Everest Premier League (EPL), Nepal’s foremost franchise T20 tournament, has been postponed following a government directive to refrain from mass gatherings amid fears about the transmission of COVID-19 (coronavirus).The tournament, initially scheduled to start on March 14, was set to feature Chris Gayle, Sandeep Lamichhane and Mohammad Shahzad. The tournament’s organisers said in a statement that it would be rescheduled for “the closest possible time whenever the situation is favourable”.The has only been one confirmed case of coronavirus in Nepal to date, but given the country’s proximity to China, the health ministry requested that the public suspend all major gatherings to reduce the risk of community spread.ALSO READ: Sickness concern means no handshakes for England in Sri LankaGrowing concerns about the spread of coronavirus has forced sporting events across the globe to review their position including the Tokyo Olympics. Cricket has not been immune, too. The EPL is the second tournament to fall victim to concerns over the outbreak, following a women’s quadrangular T20I series in Thailand that was scheduled to feature Netherlands, Ireland and Zimbabwe.The EPL postponement comes even as cricket is being played in Nepal’s neighbouring countries: India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. On Wednesday, the Sindh provincial government ruled out moving PSL games away from Karachi. The BCCI, too, is yet to issue a directive on the measures it is taking even as the IPL is scheduled to start on March 29.ALSO READ: PSL games to go ahead in Karachi as scheduled amid coronavirus fearsThe EPL organisers, though, have decided it is best to be proactive as cases of people being affected by coronavirus escalates rapidly across the globe. “We are naturally all sad at today’s announcement of having to temporarily postpone the 2020 EPL, but we simply have to put the health and wellbeing of all Nepalis and our overseas players before everything else,” Aamir Akhtar, the competition’s managing director, said.”It was crucial that we announced this decision now at the earliest possible juncture to ensure the minimum possible disruption to all of our stakeholders, who are integral parts of the ongoing success and growth of the league.”We would like to thank the government of Nepal for their support and counsel through this challenging period, and we support entirely the professional advice throughout. I would like to assure that as soon as we are able to go ahead with the 2020 season, we will be working to ensure that it will be the spectacular event the likes of which Nepal has never seen before.”

Club warns revenues set to fall “significantly”

ESPNcricinfo staff04-May-2020Gloucestershire have become the latest county to cancel the contracts of all their overseas signings, with Qais Ahmad and Andrew Tye’s deals terminated.Ahmad and Tye were due to play for the club during the T20 Blast, with the Afghanistan legspinner also set to appear in the County Championship.The club had previously confirmed that Cheteshwar Pujara’s contract to play the opening rounds of the Championship had been terminated, with all professional cricket in England and Wales currently suspending until July 1 at the earliest.”In order to protect our finances and the club as best we can we have had to sadly terminate our 2020 season contracts with our three overseas players Cheteshwar Pujara, Qais Ahmad and AJ Tye who was due to join the team later in the summer,” said chairman John Hollingdale and CEO Will Brown in a joint statement.ALSO READ: No English cricket until July 1 as season postponed“We know how excited we all were at the prospect of seeing both new and returning faces this year and we’re very sorry that this won’t be possible. The delay to the season, the postponement of the Hundred and the later start of the T20 Blast as well as the aforementioned financial pressures meant it just wasn’t feasible to bring them over in 2020. We would like to thank all three of them for their support and understanding.”In a letter to members and supporters, Hollingdale and Brown warned that the Hundred’s postponement meant the club’s revenue streams “will likely drop significantly well into 2021 before they return to normal”.”ECB monies related to broadcast rights will quite possibly suffer without the new tournament and whilst the ECB are doing all they can to support the game and it’s counties there is a chance this pain may come down to the county network and us as an individual club,” they wrote. “We do, however, remain in a robust position to weather this storm but with the playing and watching of cricket likely to be different from what we’re used to for some time to come.”Last month, the club said it was hopeful that even if no cricket is possible this summer, it expected to break even and “be ready to face the future in a strong financial position when the crisis has passed”. Most of the club’s staff, including players, remain on furlough leave.

Relinquishes his Stars BBL role but will still work as head coach of the Stars’ WBBL team

Daniel Brettig04-Aug-2020Cricketing radical Trent Woodhill has quit as Melbourne Stars list manager to help Cricket Australia chart a way forward for the Big Bash League, in a mirror of his role advising the ECB on the launch of The Hundred.In a role assisting the head of the BBL, Alistair Dobson, with “global player acquisition” and the broader shape of the league, Woodhill will bring his outspokenness and livewire ideas to a competition that is desperately grasping to trend up again after losing crowds and broadcast ratings in the two seasons since it was expanded to a full home and away league in 2018.There are few projects considered more vital to Australian cricket than finding a way to get the BBL growing once more, after its extravagant build from modest origins in 2011 saw the tournament grow in value to be worth about half of CA’s A$1.18 billion broadcast rights deal with Foxtel and Seven a little over two years ago.Curiously, Woodhill has relinquished his Stars BBL role but will still work as head coach of the Stars’ WBBL team, with CA claiming that his new advisory position will deal exclusively with the men’s competition.”I’m grateful to the Melbourne Stars for their understanding in this decision and I’d like to thank Cricket Australia for giving me this great opportunity,” Woodhill said. “It’s clear that it would not be appropriate to hold a List Manager role while working more broadly on player acquisition with the league.”I will continue in my coaching role with the WBBL side, which is something I’m really looking forward to. With the recent signing of Australian captain Meg Lanning, we’re putting the pieces together to deliver a competitive squad for this year’s tournament.”The announcement of Woodhill’s BBL role followed a raft of redundancies across CA departments in late June, on the trail of more than 150 jobs being cut across the state associations.”Trent is a highly respected figure in both Australian cricket and across the world. We see him as an important contributor to the League’s ongoing focus on innovation in and around the game,” Dobson said. “Despite the uncertainties surrounding the current Covid-19 situation, we are committed to bringing the best available T20 players to Australia for BBL 10. Similarly, our commitment to innovation, a core part of the BBL DNA, has only been strengthened. We see Trent as a key driver of this fan-first agenda.”Woodhill’s views on the game and how it should evolve go a long way beyond the mooted changes to this season’s competition, including an overseas player draft and numerous in-game tweaks such as: bonus points available to teams for their progress at the 10-over point of an innings, substitutions also allowed within that same period, powerplay split between the first four overs of the innings and two overs floating elsewhere, free-hits for the bowling of wides, and the addition of extra breaks for advertisements and player strategy after every five overs.ALSO READ: Trent Woodhill’s brave new, data-driven worldHe has held a long list of roles in domestic, international and T20 cricket around the world, and had played a large part in helping the ECB formulate its plans for The Hundred, which has been pushed back by a year due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Woodhill’s position at the Melbourne Stars, over a period in which the club has contended consistently but never won the BBL, has increasingly seen his views being given an audience by CA, particularly after Dobson was poached from the AFL as the new head of the BBL last year.Two of Woodhill’s most enduring relationships as a coach have been with David Warner and Steven Smith, who have worked with him since they first crossed paths in New South Wales more than a decade ago.

After resigning, he alleged that ‘the current administration carries out their duties without transparency’

Andrew Fidel Fernando30-Jul-2020Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) vice-president K Mathivanan has quit his position with the board, as he and the remainder of the SLC executive committee made accusations of impropriety against each other. Jayantha Dharmadasa, a longtime administrator who failed in his bid to be elected SLC president in February 2019, has been appointed to Mathivanan’s vacated post.An SLC release stated that Mathivanan’s resignation had come “in the wake of the recent unanimous decision of the executive committee to hold an inquiry against Mr. Mathivanan for indulging in unethical practices in his capacity as an office bearer”.Mathivanan, the only office bearer elected from outside the Thilanga Sumathipala-backed faction at the most-recent SLC polls, was understood to have had a deteriorating relationship with several others at the board, over the past year. The ethics inquiry is believed to have been about leaks to media – allegations Mathivanan denies.Following his resignation, Mathivanan himself issued a release alleging that “the current administration carries out their duties without transparency and integrity in such a manner which makes it impossible for me to remain in such a set up”. Mathivanan said that the board had made “unsavoury decisions” despite his objections, and had also failed to provide him with “notice of meetings, with the agenda and board papers”.SLC is set to hold another election next year, at which Mathivanan is again expected to contest. As vice-president, he had been in charge of domestic cricket, which presently stands suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

His appointment to the board of the Australia-India Council was announced on Monday

PTI01-Sep-2020The Australian government has appointed former opening batsman Matthew Hayden trade envoy for advancing business ties with India. His appointment to the board of the Australia-India Council was announced on Monday.Hayden was one of three new appointees to the council, the others being Lisa Singh, a former Labor Party senator from Tasmania, and former Victoria premier Ted Baillieu.The council plays an important role in advancing Australia’s foreign and economic policy interests with India.Hayden, 48, played 103 Tests and 161 ODIs between 1993 and 2009, scoring 40 international centuries. He was made Member of the Order of Australia in 2010 for his sporting excellence. He has served as board member at the Institute for Australia-India Engagement since 2018.