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He has worked with the men’s national teams in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Zimbabwe

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jan-2022Sussex CCC have signed former Zimbabwe cricketer and much-travelled coach Grant Flower to be their batting coach. He replaces Jason Swift, who has stepped down to pursue other opportunities.”It gives me great pleasure to be added to the Sussex coaching staff and I can’t wait to start,” Flower, an integral part of the Zimbabwe side from 1992 to 2010, said in a statement released by the club. “I have been told about the exciting young batters coming through the ranks and am excited to be given the opportunity of hopefully improving them along their journey.”I always enjoyed playing against the Sharks and admired their professional approach and ultra-competitiveness. Hopefully I can add to that with some of my international coaching experiences and help contribute to make the Sharks batting unit both reliable and exciting.”Flower’s last assignment was as batting coach of the Sri Lanka side, which ended in 2021 after a two-year stint. Prior to that, he had worked in a similar capacity with Pakistan and, before that, with Zimbabwe. He has also had coaching gigs with Essex and Midwest Rhinos in Zimbabwe.During his playing career, which included 67 Tests (3457 runs at an average of 29.54) and 221 ODIs (6571 runs at 33.52), Flower spent six seasons with Essex, from 2005 to 2010, winning three one-day trophies with them.”Grant is an absolutely fantastic addition to our staff,” Sussex’s championship and one-day head coach Ian Salisbury said. “I’ve known him since my first trip to Zimbabwe in 1989 and can vouch for his personal qualities, while his coaching and playing record speak for themselves.”With a young squad in the early stage of their careers, the quality of the coaching set-up is absolutely vital. To add someone with Grant’s track record alongside people like James Kirtley, Sarah Taylor, Ash Wright and Mike Yardy puts us in a really strong position. I feel humbled to be working alongside this group.”There have been some challenges over the past year or so, but we’ve got to look forward now. We’ve got a brilliant coaching team in place, the medical and S&C teams are doing great work with the lads’ fitness, we’ve got the marquee going up early in the New Year, so we’re in a great position to now focus on the squad’s cricketing skills as we build up to the start of the season.”

Club will not hire new CEO after decline in profits, stress Hundred not determinant of financial success

Matt Roller04-Mar-2020Worcestershire have confirmed that they will play their first County Championship home game of the season at Kidderminster CC, with “unprecedented” levels of flooding leaving it impossible to stage the fixture at their New Road base.The county played two Championship games at Kidderminster last year after disruption due to floods, and after two more floods since the start of 2020, the first home fixture against Sussex has already been moved to the ground.Confirmation of the switch came in Worcestershire’s annual chairman’s report, in addition to the news that:

• The club is not looking to recruit a new chief executive to replace Matt Rawnsley
• There are “no excuses” for poor recent showings in the County Championship
• “Disappointing” commercial performance had necessitated a restructure
• There is no immediate intention to install floodlights at New Road, which is the only main county ground not to have them
• The club does not expect the £1.3 million guaranteed to each county by the ECB between 2020-24 to be supported by the Hundred alone

Hira, who was appointed chairman in September 2018, admitted that the increased regularity of floods at New Road was a “concern”, stating that since the end of October 2019, the ground has been under water for 62 days. He also cited the fact that since the start of the 20th century, there have been only three years in which the ground has flooded five times: 2007, 2012 and 2019.”Due to assistance from the ECB and our insurance policies, our results were not negatively impacted by flooding in 2019,” Hira wrote. “That said we cannot continue to rely upon others to assist us.”Our focus in the next year is to mitigate the losses of flooding by making sure our cellars, retail, disability access and museum are all above the flood plain.”The club is also anticipating an extension to the Graeme Hick Pavilion, but does not have plans to install floodlights. New Road is currently the only main county ground not to have floodlights after Taunton installed them ahead of the 2019 season, and their absence led to a farcical exit in the 2015 T20 Blast.ALSO READ: Worcestershire chief executive departs in unclear circumstancesThey had targeted an improved year commercially, but Hira confirmed that “regrettably these improvements did not occur”.Worcestershire recorded a statutory loss (before tax) of £89,000 in 2019, compared to a £124,000 profit in 2018, but after eliminating the impact of flooding, and the positive effects of on-field success in reaching T20 Blast Finals Day to compare like-for-like performance, the club estimated on an underlying basis “that for 2019, the loss increases to £492k which is a very sharp £627k decline in profitability compared to the 2018 results”.Chief executive Matt Rawnsley left the club without explanation in October 2019, and Hira’s “working assumption” is that he will not be replaced, with poor results leading to a decision to restructure with “more focussed, specific roles and responsibilities”.Worcestershire pose for their team photo on the only part of the outfield unaffected by floods in 2018•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

With regards to the Hundred, Hira stressed that he did not believe Worcestershire’s financial status was dependent on the new competition being successful.”One of the key slides I have seen from the ECB is the expectation that all formats of cricket will grow in 2020,” he wrote. “I hope that is the case but this needs to be supported by active marketing and promotion of all formats of the game.”I do not believe the Hundred is the determinant of financial success for cricket as it is portrayed, it is merely a possible contributor. The often sighted laudable aim is to open the sport up to new audiences. The new TV rights deal secured for 2020-24 at vastly higher levels than the previous agreement (a credit to the ECB) shows that the Hundred accounts for a relatively small component of secured TV revenues (<14%) – it is however pleasing that some cricket at least will be shown on terrestrial TV."The justification often mentioned when discussing the impact of the new Hundred competition is the additional income of £1.3m per year between 2020-24 which all first-class counties like ours are guaranteed to receive. The economics of The Hundred over this period (at least) will not support these levels of payments – it is unlikely to generate enough to pay each county £1.3m."Therefore cross-subsidisation is occurring through other income streams secured by the ECB (of which other TV rights accounts for 86% of revenues). My calculations indicate approximately 40% of these additional payments to counties are from other ECB income."The largest and most important component of income for the ECB and therefore for ourselves is currently through red-ball, Test cricket. To the purist, hopefully this supports the need and our desire to preserve this format of the game as well as the ongoing need to invest in county cricket."With regards to on-field performance, the report lauded Worcestershire's achievements in white-ball cricket – the club reached the quarter-finals of the One-Day Cup and only failed to retain their T20 Blast title on the last ball of the final – but stressed disappointment at their County Championship struggles.The club finished ninth in Division Two having targeted promotion, and have won only 23 of 74 games across the last five seasons."There are no excuses for 2019 performance but the path to achieving any goal is rarely linear and not immediate especially in sport," Hira wrote. "The Cricket Steering Group (CSG) led by Paul Pridgeon have reflected and been very self-critical."There have been changes and the expectation and hope is of improvement in the coming year."

Acting CEO Geoff Allardice said the ICC took on board feedback that the points system needed to be “simplified”

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jul-2021The ICC has confirmed the schedule and points structure of the 2021-23 World Test Championship, which is set to kick off in August with India’s five-Test series in England. As reported by ESPNcricinfo over two weeks ago, points will be awarded on a match-by-match basis as opposed to the series-by-series basis of the 2019-21 cycle, with the teams’ rankings determined by percentage of points won.”We received feedback that the previous points system needed to be simplified,” the ICC’s acting chief executive Geoff Allardice said in a statement. “The Cricket Committee took this into consideration when proposing a new, standardized points system for each match. It maintained the principle of ensuring that all matches in a WTC series count towards a team’s standing, while accommodating series varying in length between two Tests and five Tests.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“During the pandemic we had to change to ranking teams on the points table using the percentage of available points won by each team, since all series could not be completed. This helped us determine the finalists and we were able to complete the championship within the scheduled time frame. This method also allowed us to compare the relative performance of teams at any time, regardless of how many matches they had played.”The nine teams in the WTC will play an equal number of series – six (three home and three away) – but an unequal number of Tests, ranging from 22 Tests for England to 12 for Bangladesh. Each Test will carry a total of 12 points, with a win fetching all 12 points, a tie six points and a draw four points.Three international captains shared their thoughts on the WTC with the ICC.”It was obviously pretty special to win the inaugural ICC World Test Championship in Southampton last month and it’s exciting to now look ahead to the second edition,” said New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, who lifted the WTC mace after his team beat India in the inaugural final last month. “The WTC has certainly added more context and brought new meaning to Test cricket and it was awesome to see the interest that was generated around the Final against India.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“We know trying to defend the title will be a huge challenge, but our focus will be on making sure we prepare as well as we can for the tours ahead and trying to maintain our level of performance.”India captain Virat Kohli was enthused by the fans’ receptiveness to the first edition of the WTC.”It was great to have played the final of the ICC World Test Championship against New Zealand in what was a memorable contest,” he said. “Not just the final, we saw the determination of players throughout the first edition of the championship. The following of cricket lovers too was great to see, and I am sure they will all be waiting eagerly for the second edition.”We will regroup with new energy for the next cycle starting with our series against England, hoping to give our fans a lot to cheer about.”Joe Root, the England captain, looked forward to getting his team’s campaign off on a strong note.”We start our campaign in the second edition of the ICC World Test Championship against the finalists of last time, which is an interesting challenge straight away,” he said. “India are a fine all-round side and it would be good to test them in our home conditions. We narrowly missed out on qualifying for the final last time and are looking to do better this time.”Test cricket is a format we all want to excel in and with points at stake for each match, everyone has to be at their best all the time.”

Both were thrust in at the 11th hour because of Covid guidelines

Andrew McGlashan16-Dec-2021There were two people with positions they did not expect to have on the first morning of the second Ashes Test in Adelaide. Steven Smith was thrust back into the Australian captaincy at the 11th hour and Michael Neser was handed a debut many thought he’d bypass.In the Covid era, situations develop and change quickly. Pat Cummins’ pre-Test dinner (which was entirely within the rules set down by Cricket Australia) put in motion a chaotic 16 hours that resulted in Australia having their third Test captain in three matches and a bowling attack now stripped of two of the big three.It added another chapter to Smith’s storied career. Having been named Cummins’ vice-captain last month there was always a strong chance he would step back into the top job at some point during their joint tenure, but not after one match and in the manner it happened. Smith spoke to Cummins amid the chaos and was told “it’s your team this week.””It’s a huge honour, obviously,” Smith said. “Been a pretty interesting morning, bit been going on.”He was warmly applauded by the crowd when he came out for the toss wearing what appeared to be Cummins’ blazer. There are still those who feel he should not have been granted a leadership position again after the ball-tampering scandal, but he has served his time and life has to move on. Over the last year or so, soundings have been taken from across the game by Cricket Australia about a potential return to the captaincy for Smith with the overall view that he would be accepted.”He, by his own admission, has grown a lot as a person, and has done a huge amount of good work in the community,” Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley said. “I’d say we’ve run a really thorough process for these latest leadership positions, and certainly national selection panel and the board we felt that he demonstrated he was absolutely fit to hold a leadership position again.”Smith will be captaining a bowling attack that has been shorn of 386 wickets compared to the one on the field in Brisbane. Josh Hazlewood’s absence was known a few days ago, but the loss of Cummins has left Mitchell Starc to lead the line alongside Jhye Richardson in his third Test and Neser on debut.Michael Neser wears his brand new Baggy Green•CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Neser had lost out to Richardson as Hazlewood’s replacement and it was all set for him to add another Test to his tally as drinks career which stands on at least a dozen. He couldn’t force his way into the line-up on the 2019 Ashes, during the following home summer against New Zealand James Pattinson played when Hazlewood was injured and last season the attack was unchanged against India.Since being first included in an Australia squad in 2018, Neser has taken 144 first-class wickets at 21.01 and last week was Player of the Match when Australia A beat England Lions. He should not be out of his depth.The last-minute nature of the situation meant Neser could not have his family present and the cap presentation by Glenn McGrath – a player also associated with a last-minute scratching from a Test side when he famously twisted his ankle on stray ball moments before the toss at Edgbaston in 2005 – was streamed back to Queensland. Few of the 461 male players to be handed the baggy green before him can have done it quite such a bizarre scenario.”You get your opportunity for different reasons, there’s no doubt about that,” McGrath told the . “But you’re there because of the work you’ve put in leading into this moment. The reason you got picked is because of the way you bowled. Just do exactly the same out in the middle and just enjoy it.”As someone who loves to bat and bat in the nets, Smith has had plenty of first-hand experience of the off-field work Neser has put in.”I’m really excited for him,” he said. “He’s worked his backside off for a long time, been 12th man a dozen times. He gets his opportunity, and we’re all looking forward to playing with him this week. It’s a great moment for him.”From the disrupted build-up, Covid-related uncertainties and Tim Paine’s resignation this had already been an Ashes series like few others. And there’s every chance that the drama on the opening day in Adelaide is not the last twist to come.

No evidence of any bad blood as duo arrives in Brisbane for Australia’s pre-World Cup training camp

ESPNcricinfo staff02-May-2019There is no apprehension about having the in-form David Warner back in the Australia squad ahead of the World Cup, according to Mitchell Starc.There was no evidence of bad blood between Warner and his team-mates as he arrived in Brisbane for Australia’s pre-World Cup training camp. Steven Smith arrived separately from the IPL.Warner and Smith did spend some time with Australia’s ODI squad on the tour of the UAE prior to the IPL but Starc was not on that tour.Cricket Australia’s interim high performance manager Belinda Clark and CA leadership consultant Tim Ford have already held a meeting with Starc, Warner, Smith and Josh Hazlewood to outline some things prior to the pre-tournament camp. Hazlewood is not part of the 15-man squad but is on standby and will be in the Australia A squad that will be in England during the World Cup. Starc said the ball-tampering saga and any issues surrounding the reintegration of Warner and Smith were hardly discussed.”The meeting I was involved in with Steve, Dave and Josh Hazlewood, along with Tim Ford and Belinda Clark, 95% was not about Dave and Steve and the group,” Starc said.”It was more about where the team was going. There wasn’t anything spoken about those two in particular, it was more the team and what we are focussed on moving forward. I’m sure it was similar to the group meeting they had over in the UAE. We have another meeting this afternoon and I am sure it will be brought up there. But it’s all rosy.”Starc said he was excited by the prospect of having Warner back at the top of the order after his barnstorming IPL where he left as the tournament’s leading run scorer. Warner made a staggering 692 runs in 12 innings for Sunrisers Hyderabad including a century and eight half-centuries, striking at 143.86.”I’ve seen some of the highlights and some of the scores and he’s been on fire over there along with Steve, so that’s great for him, great for the group,” Starc said. “He’s a world-class player, we’re excited to have him back in the group and hopefully he can continue that form into the World Cup.”Australia captain Aaron Finch said he would certainly utilise Smith and Warner during the World Cup due to their vast leadership experience despite the fact both men are still banned from official leadership positions within Australian cricket. Smith is unable to hold a leadership post for another 12 months while Warner was banned from leadership positions for the remainder of his career in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal.

Comfortable five-wicket win as Northamptonshire take control at Wantage Road

ECB Reporters Network07-Jun-2022 Northamptonshire 155 for 5 (cobb 70) beat Derbyshire 151 for 9 (Taylor 4-27) by five wickets Northamptonshire Steelbacks captain Josh Cobb struck 70 from just 44 balls, his highest score of this Vitality Blast season to help his side chase down 152 and earn a five-wicket victory over Derbyshire Falcons with 11 balls to spare.Cobb, deprived of opportunities this season by Chris Lynn’s power-hitting, picked up the mantle after the Australian fell to a rare first-ball duck. Playing a belligerent innings, he struck six fours and three maximums before Rob Keogh took the Steelbacks over the line.Earlier Tom Taylor took three wickets in an over as the Steelbacks’ bowlers restricted Derbyshire Falcons to a modest total. Wayne Masden was the only batter to offer any real resistance with 37.The Falcons were kept to 40 for two at the end of the powerplay. Luis Reece swung one high over deep midwicket in the first over but Taylor and Ben Sanderson applied the brakes, backed up well by some sharp Steelbacks fielding.Reece attempted to up the scoring rate but miscued a big shot against Taylor and offered a steepler of a catch to Neesham at midwicket. Shan Masood fell shortly afterwards to an astonishing running catch by Keogh on the boundary at backward square off Sanderson.Hayden Kerr (29 off 22 balls), promoted to number three, looked assured and put on 39 for the third wicket with Leus du Plooy (19). Any hope of building a big total fell away though when the Falcons lost three wickets for 16 runs in as many balls to stutter to 80 for five at the end of the twelfth over.First du Plooy hit Freddie Heldreich straight to Taylor on the long-off boundary before Kerr holed out at deep midwicket off Jimmy Neesham. Brooke Guest then gave Heldreich his second scalp caught at point.The Falcons went four overs before scoring another boundary as Madsen and Alex Hughes rebuilt. Hughes finally cleared the square leg boundary dispatching the ball into the gardens of the neighbouring terraced houses.Masden survived two dropped catches off Sanderson but Taylor struck back in the next over. First he removed both set batsmen who both fell to catches by Cobb at cover before knocking back Mattie McKiernan’s stumps. With a run-out off the last ball, the Falcons finished on 151 for nine.An expectant Wantage Road crowd were momentarily hushed when Lynn, fresh from his heroics in the previous two Steelbacks home games, edged behind off the first ball of the chase bowled by Kerr.Cobb though started aggressively, clubbing Kerr over mid off and then cutting him for consecutive boundaries.He slog swept George Scrimshaw over deep midwicket for six and hit Watt down the ground for another to take the Steelbacks to 53 for one at the end of the powerplay.He rode his luck at times, offering two sharp chances which the Falcons failed to hold. Later he was caught on the ropes only for the fielder’s boot to touch the rope in the process.He had put on 55 with Ben Curran before his partner fell to a catch behind square off Scrimshaw when Conners took a well-judged catch sliding on his knees to get to the ball. Saif Zaib made only six before he offered a catch behind off an attempted pull shot.Cobb meanwhile advanced to his half century reaching the landmark off 31 balls. He continued in belligerent fashion crunching the ball through the covers and playing some deft cut shots before finally falling off a thick edge to Conners at deep point off Scrimshaw to leave the Steelbacks on 102 for four in the 13th over.Neesham hit 20 before he fell to a catch at long-on but Keogh held his nerve, finishing with an undefeated 28 off 24 deliveries.

The debate was triggered after Chahal bowled Warner but the bails didn’t fall

Shashank Kishore12-May-20224:56

Do stumps with LED lights make bails redundant?

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar says bails are “redundant” in today’s cricket, and need to be done away with because “they add a lot of complications” to an already complex set of rules.The debate was triggered in the first place after Yuzvendra Chahal was denied an “obvious wicket” when he beat David Warner in the air and off the pitch to hit the wicket. However, while the stumps lit up, the bails didn’t fall, thus failing to fulfil a major requirement of the bowled law.Related

• Time for bails to go? Chahal advocates rule change after Warner non-dismissal

• Five times the bails didn't fall in World Cup 2019

• IPL 2019: Why won't the zing bails fall?

It is widely believed bails were used in cricket in the pre-technology era to be sure the ball had hit the wicket. Manjrekar, and many other pundits, believe that given today’s technology, the bails can be done away with.The LED bails currently in use light up the moment they lose contact with the rest of the wicket, which is also used as the instance the wicket was broken for purposes of checking run-outs and stumpings. If the bails were to be done away with, it shouldn’t be too difficult to have wickets that light up the moment they are touched.”I’ve said this before as well, it’s redundant now with the LED stumps to have the bails on,” Manjrekar said on ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time: Out. “Today it would’ve been a wicket deserving for Chahal who bowled superbly. It was a terrible shot from Warner, and it didn’t get a wicket. Unless it’s adding an aesthetic value, they should just get rid of the bails because they’re completely redundant with LED technology.”9:00

Runorder from the archives (Jan 2021): Time to do away with the bails?

“[The bails were used] just to be sure the ball has hit the stumps they had these bails on top, because if the ball just kissed the stumps you won’t know if there weren’t any bails,” Manjrekar said. “And the bails were meant to fall off if the stumps were disturbed. But now that you have a sensor, you know the ball has hit the stumps, so why are the bails there?”Manjrekar has always been for technology playing a greater role in cricket. In 2013, he called for technology to monitor bowling actions live around the time the ICC had begun to clamp down on suspect actions. He cited more examples, like in the case of a stumping appeal where umpires are forced to check at what point the bails come off the groove while adjudicating. This he felt was adding layers of complexity to decision-making and retaining bails anymore was “defying common sense.””If you have the technology, don’t have the bails,” he said. “The other problem with bails is, when there is a stumping, you wait to it to light up and then you’re talking about whether both the bails are off the grooves and there’s just a lot of complication when you’re judging stumped or run out. Just keep it simple.”I know it won’t happen because we don’t like to change too many things. We tweak few other rules, but certain very obvious things aren’t done. Getting rid of bails may sound scandalous to lot of people but it defies common sense.”Piyush Chawla, the India legspinner, backed Manjrekar’s theory and hoped better sense would prevail. If the LED technology was available and it was trusted to give “clear evidence”, it should be taken.”When you have clear evidence, why not,” he asked :”That’s what I believe in. We clearly saw it hit the stump, but the bails didn’t fall off and he survived, and he was riding on luck, because there was a dropped catch and then this. Maybe if they got a wicket there, it was a different story altogether. There should be some rules where if the ball hit the stumps and the LED glows, it should be given out.”

Buttler called on players to be “braver’ after ‘timid’ defeats in opening two games

Matt Roller11-Jul-2022Jos Buttler implored his England team to be “braver” after “timid” performances with the bat in their first two T20 internationals against India, Matthew Mott has revealed.England were bowled out for 148 and 121 in Buttler’s first two matches as their full-time limited-overs captain on Thursday and Saturday, losing by 50 and 49 runs respectively. Mott, their new white-ball coach, admitted they had been taken aback by the “ferocity” of India’s new attacking gameplan.Buttler addressed his squad after the second defeat in Birmingham on Saturday night and told them they should be “prepared to make some mistakes” rather than batting too cautiously. The response was a total of 215 for 7 batting first at Trent Bridge on Sunday, their highest T20I score since February 2020 and one which they defended by a margin of 17 runs despite Suryakumar Yadav’s brilliant 117.”We learned a lot of lessons in the first two games,” Mott said. “India obviously came out with a really attacking mindset and put us under pressure a lot. We expected that, but the ferocity of it took us by surprise a little bit.”After the second loss and the series loss, I thought he [Buttler] spoke exceptionally well in the group about these being the times where you learn about character. It’s easy when you’re dominating teams but we’re going to learn more about ourselves playing great teams like India and South Africa leading into a World Cup – we’re going to learn more about what we need in Australia when we’re put under pressure.”We talked about just being a bit braver. If anything, we could have been accused of being a bit timid with the bat. [On Sunday] we just went out there and thought, ‘it’s a great wicket, let’s put a score out there and hang on.’ We don’t like losing but I think there is plenty that we’ve taken out of this series already and it sets us up well for the summer.”England were without several first-choice players throughout the series including Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow, who have been pencilled in at No. 3 and 4 respectively for the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year. But, if he is available, Stokes could alternatively be used lower down in a finishing role, with Dawid Malan’s 77 off 39 balls on Sunday serving a reminder of his credentials after an early reprieve when Harshal Patel dropped a caught-and-bowled chance.Malan’s innings was his first T20I half-century in a year and came after a scratchy innings of 19 off 25 on Saturday. His attacking intent early in his innings was a notable departure from his usual template: “Malan was unbelievable,” Mott said. “In the last game he wasn’t that happy with the way he got going and he worked really hard this morning. He played a special innings.”Mott expects to have something approaching a full-strength squad available for the three T20Is against South Africa from July 27-31. They will be the final games England play before naming their T20 World Cup squad in mid-September, immediately before they travel to Pakistan for a seven-match series – though some multi-format players will be rested for that tour.Related

• Buttler's challenge is to find his own voice, and continue England's evolution

• Suryakumar Yadav's pyrotechnics leave Trent Bridge in awe, solidify spot for T20 World Cup

• Reece Topley's hard yards overcome Trent Bridge's bowlers' graveyard

• Virat Kohli's nine-ball buy-in shows India's new way is here to stay

• Attacking mantra, Bhuvneshwar's form and Suryakumar's consistency bode well for India

“I don’t think [the World Cup squad] is all locked in yet,” Mott said. “This far out, you’ve got so many things that could happen – whether it’s injuries or form, or whatever. We’ve got a fair idea of what we think the right make-up is, but you want players to come in and perform and really warrant that spot. It’s still open for a lot of players and that’s why we are having looks at different combinations and trying to learn.”Mott also took positives from England’s death bowling, which has been a problem area over the last two years. “It was an unbelievable experience for some of those bowlers,” he said. “[Reece] Topley was magnificent and [Richard] Gleeson has been a real find for us. All the intel that I’ve had is that it’s definitely been an area that we’re looking to improve, so to be under that sort of pressure and hold our nerve gives us a lot of confidence.”England will welcome Stokes, Bairstow, Joe Root and Craig Overton into their squad for this week’s ODI series against India, which starts on Tuesday at the Kia Oval. “They’re obviously world-class players,” Mott said. “As a coach, it’s a great opportunity to learn from probably some of the best players in this format of all-time.”They’ll bring some energy into the group and they’re really excited to be there. I don’t think they’ll have to change a hell of a lot from the way they’ve been playing but it’s a slightly different format. They come in pretty hot and we’re straight into it: that’s the modern game. We’ll see how everyone pulls up.”

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy to be played between October 11 and December 2

06-Sep-2022The BCCI has awarded both Saurashtra and Madhya Pradesh an opportunity to compete in the Irani Cup during the 2022-23 season.Saurashtra will play the season-opener against Rest of India from October 1-5 at Rajkot, their home ground, while Madhya Pradesh, winners of the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy, will play their corresponding fixture from March 1-5 in Indore.The board issued a circular to all state associations, with the calendar along with venues for the 2022-23 season. There had been some miscommunication earlier when it was assumed MP would play the season-opening Irani Cup.The squad had also begun their pre-season training, with special emphasis on red-ball cricket, on the assumption that they would be playing this fixture.Saurashtra were belatedly awarded the game they were denied in 2020, when they beat Bengal to clinch their maiden Ranji Trophy crown. They were slated to host the Irani Cup the following week, but the game was postponed indefinitely owing to the onset of the covid-19 pandemic that led to a nationwide lockdown in India.Meanwhile, Kolkata and Ahmedabad will host the knockout stages of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) and Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT), respectively. SMAT, the domestic T20 event, will take place from October 11 to November 5, while the VHT one-day competition will run from November 12 to December 2.Lucknow, Indore, Rajkot, Punjab and Jaipur will host the league-stage matches of the SMAT, while Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata and Ranchi will stage the VHT league fixtures.The BCCI is conducting a full-fledged domestic season in 2022-23 after truncated versions in 2020-21 and 2021-22 because of the pandemic.The season will begin with the Duleep Trophy, from September 8 to 25 across three venues – Coimbatore, Pondicherry and Chennai, while the Ranji Trophy – back in the home-and-away format, will be played from December 12 and February 20.

The lowdown on Adani Sportsline and Capri Global, who own teams based out of Ahmedabad and Lucknow

Vishal Dikshit25-Jan-20232:43

WPL: BCCI rakes in big money on historic day

Following the sale of five Women’s Premier League (WPL) teams on Wednesday, there are two new players on the franchise cricket market in India. Here is the scoop on both of them.

Adani Sportsline

Adani Sportsline is the sports arm of the Adani Group, an Ahmedabad-based conglomerate. They have been trying to get their hands on an IPL team for a while, and now that they have, they wasted no time in picking a name: Gujarat Giants.Adani offered more money than anyone – INR 1289 crore (US$ 158 million approx.) – at the WPL auction and will base their team out of Ahmedabad, which houses the Narendra Modi Stadium which can seat over 100,000 people.They had bid for one of the two new men’s IPL teams in 2021 as well, when the BCCI expanded the tournament from eight to ten teams, but weren’t successful.Founded in 2019, Adani Sportsline already owns two cricket franchises: Gulf Giants in the ILT20 which kicked off this year in the UAE, and Gujarat Giants in Legends League Cricket (LLC), a competition running for two seasons and played between former players.Related

• England national coach Jon Lewis appointed head coach of WPL team UP Warriorz

• Mithali Raj roped in as mentor and advisor of WPL team Gujarat Giants

• Owners of Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, RCB win bids to own Women's Premier League teams

Gulf Giants are led by England batter James Vince and coached by former Zimbabwe captain and England coach Andy Flower. Gujarat Giants were captained by Virender Sehwag and included big-name players such as Chris Gayle, Daniel Vettori and Graeme Swann.”The Indian women’s cricket team has been doing exceptionally well – and a cricket league for women is a significant step in creating more opportunities for women through sports,” Pranav Adani, director of Adani Enterprises, said in a statement on Wednesday after their winning bid. “Cricket is an inseparable part of the country’s fabric and Adani Sportsline was keen to begin their association with the sport with the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League.Adani Sportsline has also forayed into kabaddi, boxing and kho-kho all under the name Gujarat Giants with plenty of success. Their kabaddi team finished runners-up in the Pro-Kabaddi League in 2017 and 2018. Their boxing team won the inaugural Big Bout Boxing League in 2019 with some of the top boxers from India such as Amit Panghal. Their kho-kho team topped the table in the Ultimate Kho-Kho League in 2022 but lost in Qualifier 2.9:43

Moonda: WPL a game-changer for unearthing the depth of Indian cricket

Capri Global

Capri Global Holdings is part of Capri Loans, an India-based NBFC (Non-Banking Financial Company), which spent INR 757 crore ($92.85 million approx.) on Wednesday for the cheapest women’s franchise in the WPL. They will be based out of Lucknow, which also has a fairly new cricket stadium and can host nearly 50,000 people.Like Adani, Capri already owns a cricket team and a kho-kho team. Their cricket team in the ILT20 is called Sharjah Warriors, who were initially captained by England’s Moeen Ali before he had to leave on national duty.Capri Global Group, which owns a number of subsidiaries, has a net worth of around INR 5400 crore ($700 million approx.) and is a listed company on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange. They were part of the auction for the two new men’s IPL teams a couple of years ago but were unsuccessful. But despite the setback, Capri continued their efforts to break into the lucrative franchise cricket space.”Capri Global’s association with WPL has been strategic in achieving our vision of encouraging sports across all strata and genders and establishing a deeper connect with our stakeholders and customers,” Rajesh Sharma, managing director, Capri Global, said. “We believe cricket is the most natural route to further that vision given its history in India.”Capri’s kho-kho team is called Rajasthan Warriors, which finished last among six teams in 2022. They also have a minor presence in kabaddi, as one of the sponsors of the Bengal Warriors since last October.