International cricket will arrive at the new Perth Stadium as the one-day series draws to a close with Australia looking to narrow the margin to 3-2

Andrew McGlashan27-Jan-2018

Big Picture

An historic day for cricket in Western Australia. It is not to the WACA that the players will arrive for the final ODI. Over the Swan River, the gleaming new Perth Stadium will make its international debut with 55,000 set to fill a ground that could hardly be more removed from its now second-tier neighbour. It adds a level of intrigue and significance to the final match of a series which England had wrapped up with room to spare.However, the whitewash is no longer on the cards after Australia were marginally the less rubbish side with the bat in Adelaide – although it threatened to be a close run thing, which was quite a feat given England were 5 for 8. Travis Head kept his while others around him lost theirs with 96, before Tim Paine finally put the chase to bed.It was not the first time this power-packed, world-leading, England side has come a cropper with dramatic results: against South Africa at Lord’s last year, also with the series safe, they found themselves 20 for 6 with the ball nibbling around. If there remains a question around this side it is batting first when there is some help on offer, although to still recover to 196 again highlighted their depth.Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins exploited conditions superbly and will hope to score a few more points in Perth. However, given Steven Smith’s comments after the faltering chase, the important issue for Australia is a more confident batting display. This is their last one-day international until they visit England for a series in June.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
AustraliaWLLLL
England LWWWW

In the spotlight

Jason Roy and Alex Hales could well be facing off against each other when Ben Stokes is available again – which may be for the series in New Zealand. Roy started this series with a record-breaking bang, making 180 at the MCG, but has found the going tougher since then while Hales has only hit his straps once in four innings and has been disturbed by Australia’s pace bowling. Although both will have a string of T20s over the next few weeks, they would like to finish this series with a score of note so that the selectors do not feel a decision is made for them.David Warner has had a lean series with 58 runs in four innings, kept quiet by some tight new-ball bowling and then the one time he did get set in Brisbane falling to Moeen Ali. Unlike a few other senior figures, Warner won’t be getting a rest after this series as he takes over the captaincy for the T20s which will mean a hurried lead-in to the South Africa tour. The Australia management will hope that fatigue is not becoming an issue.

Teams news

Steven Smith has hinted that Glenn Maxwell, who was snubbed in the original squad, could find a place in the side having come in for the injured Aaron Finch. Cameron White would be the man under pressure given a lean run since his surprise recall. Mitchell Starc, rested in Adelaide, and home-town boy Jhye Richardson are the other pace options.Australia (possible) 1 David Warner, 2 Travis Head, 3 Cameron White/Glenn Maxwell, 4 Steven Smith (capt), 5 Mitchell Marsh, 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Tim Paine (wk), 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Andrew Tye/Jhye Richardson, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh HazlewoodSam Billings, David Willey, Dawid Malan and Jake Ball are England’s squad players yet to get a game in this series and they will struggle to find a spot in Perth unless the view is taken that it’s worth some rotation. The first three of that quartet are also in the T20 squad. For Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and Joe Root this is their last outing of the tour – they have been rested from the T20 tri-series.England (possible) 1 Jason Roy, 2 Jonny Bairstow, 3 Alex Hales, 4 Joe Root, 5 Eoin Morgan (capt), 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Tom Curran, 11 Mark Wood

Pitch and conditions

The pitch, a drop-in, will be largely an unknown for its first international. It may be expecting too much for it to be a Perth flyer. The forecast is for a hot day and this is the only day-game of the series so there won’t be much relief from the heat.

Stats and trivia

• The Perth Stadium will be the 19th ground to host an ODI in Australia
• Perth (the WACA) was the venue for England’s only victory on the ill-fated 2013-14 tour.
• Chris Woakes needs one wicket for 100 in ODIs

Quotes

“We don’t want to wipe 10 overs out of the game and say, they bowled well but we only got 15-20 runs. We still want to take the game forward. I’d rather probably be 40 for 2 than 20 for 0.”

The board has appointed a task team to present a new business model for the tournament such that it can grow the cricketing fan base as well as turn a profit

Firdose Moonda14-Feb-2018A task team appointed by Cricket South Africa (CSA) has been asked to present a new business model for the T20 Global League such that a 20-over tournament can both grow the cricketing fan base and turn a profit in order to put South Africa on the world’s T20 landscape.The team will present its plans on March 31 to the Members’ Council, the decision-making body made up of the 12 provincial presidents, who rejected a proposal presented at a board meeting in Durban because they wanted more options to consider.The Members’ Council will take the final decision on whether the tournament will go ahead or not.The council were not in favour of the most recent model, which moved away from private ownership to a centrally owned CSA-run league – which also threatened the existing domestic game – but the CSA’s acting CEO Thabang Moroe, who is on the task team, told ESPNcricinfo that both the Members’ Council and the board want to see the tournament go ahead in some form.”It was not so much about rejecting the proposed model,” Moroe said. “The Members’ Council were of the opinion that a number of options needed to be considered to come up with the best possible model. There is general agreement that the final model should be based on growing CSA’s fans base to draw new fans to the game and produce a viable alternative source of revenue.”Growing the local fan base is part of the reason the proposal presented to the board at the beginning of February opted for a league that was owned and run by the CSA, as opposed to the original tournament in which all but one team was foreign owned. Three IPL owners, two PSL teams, and businesspersons based out of the UAE and Hong Kong were announced as owners of seven of the eight teams. However, contracts were signed and no money changed hands.Players who were contracted for the original event did receive contracts and were subsequently paid – foreign players received 50% and local players 60% of their total fee – and the postponement of the inaugural event cost CSA US $14 million. They had forecast that staging the event would amount to losses of US $25 million and are now aiming for an event which will only cost US $6 million to run per year – with fewer foreign players – for the first three years.Though the most cost-effective model was not approved by the Members’ Council, Moroe aims to present them with something better when they meet next on March 31. He also offered an assurance that a new T20 tournament will not crowd out the current domestic set-up, as has been feared.”The T20 [league] will be a product for fan and economic growth,” Moroe said. “The one-day cup and the Sunfoil Series four-day competitions are cricket-specific and will continue to operate as key elements of CSA’s talent and development pipelines to ensure that our future players are well-prepared to take the step up to international level.”A GLT20, however, will still not be possible without a host broadcaster and title sponsor, both of which were absent when the original tournament was postponed. Moroe confirmed those are “the two most important initial objectives,” and that negotiations were “underway with interested parties.”

Australia captain Steven Smith will not play the fourth Test against South Africa in Johannesburg, after the ICC gave him the maximum penalty for tampering with the ball

Daniel Brettig in Cape Town25-Mar-2018Australia captain Steven Smith will not play the fourth Test against South Africa in Johannesburg, after the ICC gave him the maximum penalty for tampering with the ball on the third day of the Newlands Test. Fielder Cameron Bancroft, the player to actually tamper with the ball, was given three demerit points and fined 75% of his match fee after accepting the Level 2 charge.Earlier on Sunday, Smith was stood down as captain by Cricket Australia for the rest of the ongoing Cape Town Test, while David Warner was removed as vice-captain. Both players took the field under the temporary leadership of wicketkeeper Tim Paine.ICC chief executive David Richardson laid the charge against Smith under Article 2.2.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct which prohibits to ‘all types of conduct of a serious nature that is contrary to the spirit of the game’. Smith accepted the charge and the sanction of two suspension points, which equates to a ban for the next Test match, and the 100% fine of his match fee. He will have four demerit points added to his record.”The decision made by the leadership group of the Australian team to act in this way is clearly contrary to the spirit of the game, risks causing significant damage to the integrity of the match, the players and the sport itself and is therefore ‘serious’ in nature. As captain, Steve Smith must take full responsibility for the actions of his players and it is appropriate that he be suspended,” ICC CEO David Richardson said.”The game needs to have a hard look at itself. In recent weeks we have seen incidents of ugly sledging, send-offs, dissent against umpires’ decisions, a walk-off, ball tampering and some ordinary off-field behaviour. The ICC needs to do more to prevent poor behaviour and better police the spirit of the game, defining more clearly what is expected of players and enforcing the regulations in a consistent fashion. In addition and most importantly Member countries need to show more accountability for their teams’ conduct. Winning is important but not at the expense of the spirit of the game which is intrinsic and precious to the sport of cricket. We have to raise the bar across all areas.”The ICC confirmed that the umpires had been made aware of the possibility of ball tampering by television replays on the big screen at Newlands. The on-field umpires Richard Illingworth and Nigel Llong then spoke to Bancroft and Smith, before they the third umpire Ian Gould and fourth umpire Allahudien Palekar, laid the ball-tampering charges. They did not replace the ball nor award South Africa five penalty runs because they did not believe the ball’s condition had been changed.The match referee Andy Pycroft said he hoped Bancroft would learn from the episode. “To carry a foreign object on to the field of play with the intention of changing the condition of the ball to gain an unfair advantage over your opponent is against not only the Laws, but the Spirit of the game as well,” he said.”That said, I acknowledge that Cameron has accepted responsibility for his actions by pleading guilty to the charge and apologising publicly. As a young player starting out in international cricket, I hope the lessons learned from this episode will strongly influence the way he plays the game during the rest of his career.”

CSK team members react to the news of having to move out of Chennai for their home games in IPL 2018

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Apr-2018

The Toronto Nationals, Montreal Tigers, Ottawa Royals, Vancouver Knights and Winnipeg Hawks and the Caribbean All-Stars will make up the six-team tournament

Peter Della Penna16-May-2018Global T20 Canada, the new six-team franchise league organized by Cricket Canada and Mercuri Group based out of Chennai, will take place between June 28 and July 15.Each team will play six games in the league phase: an initial round-robin followed by a single-match second round in which the teams will play one other opponent. The top four teams after the league phase advance to the playoffs beginning on July 12.Similar to the IPL, the top two teams will play in the first playoff, with the winner going into the tournament final while the loser gets a second chance by playing the winner of the first elimination playoff between the third and fourth-placed teams. The final will take place on July 15 at 2pm local time, the same day as the FIFA World Cup Final in Moscow.Though Cricket Canada president Ranjit Saini told ESPNcricinfo in February that the tournament would be spread across three venues in the greater Toronto area, the schedule unveiled this week lists all games to be held at Maple Leaf Cricket Club, 25 miles north of downtown Toronto in King City.Saini had indicated that there may be difficulty getting permits for access to certain venues such as the centrally-located Toronto Cricket, Skating & Curling Club, which hosted the Sahara Cup ODI series between India and Pakistan in the late 1990s.While no permanent infrastructure exists at Maple Leaf CC beyond a small clubhouse, the venue has installed temporary seating in the past to accommodate fans for a quadrangular series in 2008 between Canada, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. The Global T20 Canada website lists the seating capacity for the tournament matches at Maple Leaf CC as 7,000, meaning temporary bleachers are expected to be brought in once more for the tournament.Though the entire tournament will take place at Maple Leaf CC, Global T20 Canada’s franchise names represent five cities across Canada as well as one team called “Caribbean All-Stars”. The other five teams are the Toronto Nationals, Montreal Tigers, Ottawa Royals, Vancouver Knights and Winnipeg Hawks.The tournament is scheduled to have a player draft on May 26 to fill out team rosters. However, no information has been provided by Cricket Canada or tournament organizers regarding any foreign players in the draft pool or regarding fixed salaries tied to a player’s draft slot akin to the Caribbean Premier League. Saini had told ESPNcricinfo in February that only a minimum of four Canada players would be required in each 15-man squad, with no mandate that any Canada players be in a starting XI.

A fine unbeaten century from Adam Lyth saw Yorkshire through to a supremely comfortable nine-wicket victory over Leicestershire

ECB Reporters Network27-May-2018
ScorecardA fine unbeaten century from Adam Lyth saw Yorkshire through to a supremely comfortable nine-wicket victory over Leicestershire at the Fischer County Ground.The left-handed opener played with real fluency and timing, albeit against some distinctly average seam bowling, first in compiling first a partnership of 153 with fellow opener Tom Kohler-Cadmore (74 from 71 balls) and then of 112 with Cheteshwar Pujara (75 not out from 81 balls).With the match being played on a pitch which had yielded over 700 runs in Leicestershire’s previous RL50 match, against Nottinghamshire, the Foxes were well aware they needed a good start: they got the opposite, losing their first three wickets for only 39 runs.First to go was Cameron Delport. Back from IPL duty, the South African cracked two boundaries off Ben Coad, but in the second over Matthew Fisher swung a ball back in to the left-hander to have him leg-before. Colin Ackermann gave Coad the charge but could only give the bowler a straightforward return catch, and captain Paul Horton then off-drove a delivery from Fisher waist-high to Steve Patterson at mid-off.Mark Cosgrove and Ned Eckersley repaired the innings with a stand of 128 for the fourth wicket, compiled in 20.1 overs, but having reached his 50 off 61 balls, Eckersley’s attempted on-drive failed to clear mid-on, and Pujara took a simple catch.Leicestershire badly needed Cosgrove to go on to three figures, but the Australian’s attempt to loft Adil Rashid for a straight six was well held by Kohler-Cadmore above his head on the boundary at long-on, and soon afterwards the same combination accounted for Tom Wells, this time at long-off. Neil Dexter and Callum Parkinson compiled a partnership of 41 for the eighth wicket, but though Dexter reached his half-century off the final ball, a total of under 300 never looked likely to be enough.So it proved. Neither Lyth nor Kohler-Cadmore needed to take risks in scoring at six runs an over, thanks in part to a series of half-volleys bowled by Richard Jones, making his first appearance of the season for the Foxes after returning from injury.Carelessness saw the end of Kohler-Cadmore, the right-hander pulling a long-hop from Delport to Horton at midwicket, but Lyth went to his century off just 96 balls, hitting thirteen fours and a six before finishing on 132 not out, just four short of his List A career best. Pujara too played with freedom and, towards the end, creativity, twice ramping countryman Aaron Varun for four to third man as the end came quickly.

Middlesex beat Gloucestershire at Uxbridge for the first time in 12 attempts last year but normal service was resumed as they succumbed to Michael Klinger’s ebullience

ECB Reporters Network08-Jul-2018
ScorecardMichael Klinger’s assured half-century saw Gloucestershire resume their T20 hoodoo over Middlesex with a comfortable six-wicket win at Uxbridge.Gloucestershire’s first defeat to Middlesex at Uxbridge last season came at the 12th attempt but thanks to Klinger’s 58 that result proved the exception.The 38-year-old Australian was content to play second fiddle initially to Miles Hammond before taking responsibility for seeing his charges comfortably to their under-par target with a succession of elegant variations.For Middlesex, the only cause for cheer was a belligerent 33 in just 12 balls from James Fuller, back playing again after an 18-month injury hell.Middlesex were glad to have skipper Dawid Malan back from 12th-man duties with England, but the left-hander’s recent run of low scores continued as he chipped one back to David Payne in the first over to depart without scoring.Worse followed in the next over when Paul Stirling skied a top-edge from Matt Taylor which eventually came down into the gloves of wicketkeeper Gareth Roderick.Nick Gubbins responded with four quick-fire boundaries but when he edged Thisara Perera to Roderick, Middlesex were 35 for 3.Attempts at a rebuild by Stevie Eskinazi and John Simpson also came up short when the latter holed out at long-off for 13 off Benny Howell. It was all-rounder’s last contribution to the bowling effort as he pulled up injured one ball later and promptly left the field. He has damaged a groin and could miss several weeks – a blow for Gloucestershire as he is the kingpin of their attack.However, there was to be no respite for Middlesex as Ryan Higgins grabbed the chance to bowl against his former county and promptly had Eskinazi caught off the glove.At 63 for 5 off nine, Middlesex effected a rally of sorts courtesy of Dwayne Bravo and Hilton Cartwright, the pair adding 47 in seven overs before Cartwright failed to clear cow corner.Such was the Gloucestershire strangled-hold, typified by Middlesex old-boy Tom Smith’s four overs for just 15 runs, it was the 18th over before Bravo (34) flayed the first six of the innings. He would depart next ball, hit wicket, to cue Fuller’s extraordinary cameo.Gloucester began their pursuit of 161 at full throttle, Hammond, in only his second match in almost three years because of architectural studies, hammering eight fours in a breezy 36 before hitting a Bravo full toss straight to substitute fielder James Harris.Under no scoreboard pressure skipper Klinger and Ian Cockbain continued, albeit with few boundaries, to tick the score along until the latter lofted Stirling to Cartwright on the square leg boundary with the score on 93.Roderick weighed in with 24 to go with his three catches and although Klinger, too, left before the end, bowled by Bravo, Gloucester eased home with eight balls to spare.

The PCB had acted promptly in issuing a notice of charge and provisionally suspending a different player in a case last year

Umar Farooq 09-Jul-2018Over two months on from the dope test, and three weeks since the results of that test became public, the Pakistan player who tested positive for a prohibited substance is yet to face any action.The player in question underwent a test in Faisalabad during the 50-over Pakistan Cup in the last week of April. News of a positive test only emerged through media reports, even though the adverse analytical finding from the WADA-accredited lab in India had reached the PCB in early June.The PCB was forced to tweet out a confirmation that a player had tested positive, but also said that under the ICC’s rules, it could not name the player until the chemical report was confirmed by their own government’s anti-doping agency. “We should have an answer in a day or two,” the board said in the tweet.That was on June 20, since when there has been no answer. The details of why there has been such a delay in getting the reports confirmed is unusual – one PCB official told ESPNcricinfo that the review board of the government’s anti-doping agency was doing a very thorough check of the lab results, which was causing the delay.A PCB official said that “the review board report will be out within the next two-three days”.The government’s anti-doping agency is regulated by the Pakistan Sports Board, but an official from PSB confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that, as of July 8, the body hadn’t received any request for a review from PCB.The timeline of this particular case stands in stark contrast to the last doping case the PCB handled. On October 5, 2017, Imran Butt tested positive during the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. A positive finding was confirmed by November 6, a review panel was set up the same day, he was provisionally suspended the following day and by November 15, a notice of charge had been issued.In this case, the PCB is yet to confirm the name of the drug or the prohibited substance found in the player’s urine sample. But if the review board confirms that a prohibited substance was indeed present in the sample, then the player will be ineligible to take part in the game for four years, given it’s his first offence. That sanction can be reduced only if the player manages to establish that he had no significant fault, or negligence, about the doping violation.

Yorkshire have now won six of their 10 games and sit inside the top four of a hugely competitive North Group table on 12 points

ECB Reporters Network03-Aug-2018

ScorecardYorkshire tightened their grip on a quarter-final place in the Vitality Blast with a routine six-wicket victory over winless Northamptonshire at Headingley.The Vikings cruised past the Steelbacks, who were hesitant in posting 129 for 7 before failing to defend it, despite Richard Gleeson getting Adam Lyth caught behind after two balls.Yorkshire have now won six of their 10 games and sit inside the top four of a hugely competitive North Group table on 12 points.While they still have work to do to qualify, they are definitely on course ahead of Thursday’s sold out Roses clash here against Lancashire.Debutant Charlie Thurston top-scored with 41 for a Northants side who have now lost eight of nine matches. The other was tied.The Vikings fell to 22 for 2 inside five overs of the chase, but Kane Williamson steered the ship with an unbeaten 52 not out off 44 balls, including two sixes. They won with eight balls remaining.After electing to bat, Northants were tied down as Yorkshire’s quartet of seamers – David Willey, Jack Brooks, Steve Patterson and Jordan Thompson – all bowled tidily to restrict the score to 35 for 2 after seven overs, when spin was introduced.Brooks had a hand in the two wickets to fall, quite literally, as the score slipped to 16 for two in the fourth. He had Richard Levi caught behind and deflected a Ben Duckett straight drive onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end to run out Josh Cobb.Thompson then claimed the important scalp of Duckett in the ninth over as the left-hander miscued to mid-off, leaving the score at 48 for 3.It was soon 62 for 4 when Steven Crook fell in similar fashion to Duckett, this time off Patterson’s bowling in the eleventh.Thurston pulled his third ball for six off Patterson, but it was brief respite for the Steelbacks as captain Alex Wakely holed out to long-off as Azeem Rafiq struck.Willey and Patterson again struck late on, the latter getting Thurston caught at deep cover in the last over, as each member of Yorkshire’s five-man attack struck.Willey was the pick with 1 for 20 from four overs, while Patterson returned 2 for 26.The hosts caught well and fielded brilliantly, with a highlight of the Northants innings being when Yorkshire mascot Vinny the Viking played his part in tackling a pitch invader.After Gleeson had Lyth and Willey was run out going for two, Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Williamson took the sting out of the situation against an accurate attack.The former then skied Seekkuge Prasanna’s leg-spin to long-off in the 10th before Williamson and Gary Ballance found the gaps and accumulated in a 51-stand before the latter fell to Gleeson late on.Williamson reached a second successive fifty off 42 balls with his second six in the 18th over and helped to finish the game in the next.Northants did increase the asking rate to seven runs per over for the last seven, but it never looked like being their night even though runs did not flow for either side.

As Anderson passed Glenn McGrath’s record, the retiring Cook called him “England’s greatest cricketer”

Andrew Miller11-Sep-20181:46

‘What Jimmy has and can still achieve is astounding’ – Joe Root

An emotional James Anderson admitted that the achievement in overtaking Glenn McGrath to become the most prolific fast bowler in Test history was made all the more special because his team-mate and best friend Alastair Cook was still on the field to witness it.In turn, Cook lauded Anderson as “England’s greatest cricketer” with only spinners Muttiah Muralitharan (800 Test wickets), Shane Warne (708) and Anil Kumble (619) now ahead of him.In remarkable scenes at the end of a thrilling fifth day of the final Test at The Oval, Anderson reeled off a 14-over spell either side of tea to, first, slow India’s onslaught as KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant combined in a brilliant 204-run stand for the sixth wicket, and then to seal victory by bowling Mohammed Shami for the final wicket of the match.Shami’s wicket was Anderson’s 564th in Test cricket – taking him past Australia’s McGrath in his 143rd Test – and it sealed a 118-run win for England, and a 4-1 series scoreline.”I’m happy that Cookie was on the field to see that wicket, it’s been a tough week,” Anderson told Sky Sports, after he and Cook had left the field together for the 130th and final time in their combined Test careers.”I’m just happy to win the game to be honest,” he added. “I wasn’t even thinking about it [the record]. When they were building that partnership it was looking like they were going to get close. My job was just to try and hold an end and I didn’t think I’d end up bowling 14 overs from that end.”But got into a really good rhythm and thankfully Joe [Root] let me take the new ball eventually and give me half a chance to take that wicket.”Asked what it meant to play his final match with Cook, after a 12-year England partnership that began on the tour of India in March 2006, Anderson had to choke back tears as he said: “He’s my best mate. And he’s been brilliant just to be there for me, all the time.”Speaking shortly afterwards, Cook admitted that the thought of no longer sharing such experiences with the likes of Anderson and Stuart Broad, who made his own Test debut in Colombo in December 2007, would be tough to accept.”That was the hard bit,” Cook told Sky Sports. “Even though the decision [to retire] was quite easy, I know that I’ll never stand at first slip and take a catch off one of those two again.””We have lived in each other’s pockets for 12 years,” he said of Anderson. “There was a picture of us, and Swanny, lying on a bed in India fast asleep, all three of us in exactly the same position and it just shows how close we’ve become, and it’s been a privilege to play with, I think, England’s greatest cricketer.”No disrespect to any of the other guys, but his skill [is] to do it time and time again,” he added. “You almost take it for granted that he’ll hit a length from ball one, and when he doesn’t you think, what’s wrong? And it shouldn’t be like that”That spell today when it was a bit tight, I don’t think he missed his length once outside off, and it’s only fitting that he gets the wicket, knocks middle stump out, to win a Test for England.”