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A record crowd of 80,833 watched Luke Wright’s masterful century guide the Melbourne Stars to a crucial seven-wicket win over cross-town rivals Melbourne Renegades

The Report by Will Macpherson at the MCG02-Jan-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsLuke Wright’s unbeaten 109 was a memorable innings for the record crowd that showed up at the MCG•Getty Images

Forecasts had suggested the Melbourne derby might break the Big Bash League’s record attendance (previously 52,633). But in the end, the record was veritably smashed, with 80,883 people watching Luke Wright’s masterful century guide the Melbourne Stars to a crucial seven-wicket victory over cross-town rivals the Melbourne Renegades.Earlier 12,901 people – more than have ever watched a Women’s WT20 Final – had seen Renegades Women sneak home against their Stars counterparts. That game was also the first women’s fixture to be shown on one of Australia’s main TV channels.Crowd-wise, this was the perfect storm, a warm Saturday evening at a family-friendly time at the back-end of the holiday season. The significance of such a crowds – particularly with regard to the BBL’s relationship with Test cricket in Australia – cannot yet be known. What is for certain is the tournament has landed; the MCG is used to filling like this for the AFL’s finals series and flagship days, for Ashes Test matches, or for World Cup Cricket.Wright’s innings was brutal, stalking down a Renegades total that always looked light, vindicating David Hussey’s decision to invite them to bat first. Chris Gayle – the self-proclaimed biggest draw of the night – never got going; looking to heave John Hastings’ second ball, Gayle contrived to find Kevin Pietersen at mid-off.Aaron Finch shared 49 with Cameron White, but the Renegades continued to lose set batsmen at inconvenient junctures. Finch heaved Ben Hilfenhaus for a leg-side six before miscuing Marcus Stoinis to point. Every time Adam Zampa entered the attack, White seemed to find an extra, utterly brutal gear, launching the legspinner for three sixes between cow corner and long-off. White put on 58 with another former Stars player, Matthew Wade, who the ball over Stoinis’ head for a beautiful four. Both batsmen, however, fell in the space of three balls just as the Renegades needed to motor. Wade attempted to ramp Hastings and edged behind, then White sent Michael Beer straight to deep backward square.Tom Beaton nailed his first ball for a straight six but was gone an over later, caught in the deep on the leg side, then Hastings picked up two wickets in the final over to finish with 4 for 29. Tom Cooper hit a marvellous ramped six, but mistimed a pull to fine leg. An uncomfortable Dwayne Bravo innings ended in comical fashion, his bat flying towards midwicket – for the second time this competition – as he was comprehensively yorked.Wright looked ravenous from the off. The Renegades bowling looked shy once more, and after a series of hard-run twos to get going, he pulled Nathan Rimmington for four, then bunted him over long-on for six next ball. His opening partner Stoinis was scratchy, and fell to a stunning catch by Wade off Chris Tremain, the wicketkeeper diving full-stretch, one-handed to his right to take a thick edge.Wright continued on his merry way, briefly joined by Kevin Pietersen, who drove his first ball for a beautiful four but was caught behind playing a half-hearted pull off Cameron Gannon, the pick of the Renegades’ bowlers. Wright’s first half-century for the Stars in his last 15 innings came after consecutive boundaries – pulled, then straight-driven – off Gannon. Wright is seldom elegant, but is more calculated than he looks, and his strong wrists and brutal bottom-hand make him tough to bowl to when set.Glenn Maxwell came, shone briefly, then left; a stunning swept six off Xavier Doherty followed by a horrid misjudgement to Bravo, who bowled him through the gate at the end of an over that saw Wright biff him for two more boundaries. Wright stepped up a gear to Doherty’s next over. He was dropped by Beaton at long-on on 64, and punished the fielder to the tune of two consecutive sixes straight over his head. In the company of the calm Peter Handscomb, it was a cakewalk, Wright bringing up his century in the penultimate over with a pull over midwicket for six, and finishing the job off the first ball of the last, hitting Gannon down the ground.The BBL is on the charge and so, thanks to Wright, are the Stars.

Four days before Australia’s opening Champions Trophy match against England, Michael Clarke will visit a specialist in London after his long-standing back problem flared up

Nagraj Gollapudi in Cardiff04-Jun-2013Four days before Australia’s opening Champions Trophy match against England, Michael Clarke will visit a specialist in London after his long-standing back problem flared up and ruled him out of the warm-up match against India after he also missed the West Indies game.Clarke has had to manage his back condition through the majority of his international career so the fact that he is having further investigation will not cause overdue alarm although the timing is hardly ideal for Australia.Cricket Australia physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said: “Michael is still experiencing some lower back pain and as such is not fit for the warm-up game against India today. Michael will head to London tomorrow for specialist treatment and a decision on his fitness for next game will be made in due course.”Clarke sat out Australia’s four-wicket victory against West Indies in the first warm-up match, in Cardiff last Saturday, with George Bailey taking over as interim captain. Clarke had batted in the indoor nets ahead of the second match against India but was not part of the playing eleven as Australia named an unchanged team.In March, Clarke was forced to miss the final Test against India, in Delhi, after his back problems surfaced and Shane Watson stood in as captain. However, Watson has ruled himself out of filling in the leadership again after his troublesome tour of India.”At this point in time absolutely not,” he said. “I stepped down as vice-captain for a number of different reasons but at this point in time, it was certainly the best thing for the team. I’m just here to get the best out of myself and help as much as I always do anyway.”If Clarke’s problems reoccur during the Ashes, Brad Haddin would be the likeliest person to step into the captaincy. Before leaving Australia, Clarke had spoken about his confidence at the back issues not being a major problem.”I’m confident it’ll be no different to what it has been through my career. I’ve managed to play 90-odd Test matches and only miss one through my career,” he said. “That’s a big part of why preparation is so important for me, I need to make sure I’m fit, need to make sure I’m not carrying too much weight, I need to make sure I’m putting in the work to be fit in eight or 12 months’ time.”

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings in Kolkata

The Preview by Kanishkaa Balachandran13-May-2012

Match facts

Monday, May 14, 2012
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Super Kings have two remaining games as opposed to Knight Riders’ three•AFP

Big Picture

The Saturday double-header produced unexpected results, adding more intrigue to the race for the playoffs. Both Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders – the top two teams – suffered heavy defeats, giving the teams below a chance to sneak into the final four at the end of the league stage.Chennai Super Kings’ campaign, which had stuttered midway, was revived by two consecutive victories, the latest coming against Daredevils. The manner in which they brushed aside the table leaders in Chennai should cause shivers to Knight Riders, who took their foot off the pedal on Saturday and paid the price. Super Kings silenced a powerful batting order on a pitch that gave the seamers a lot of assistance. Knocking off the required 115 was a mere formality. If Super Kings lose to Knight Riders and then beat Kings XI Punjab to finish on 17 points, they’ll need a lot of other results to fall into place for them to make the last four. Having seen off one powerhouse, they need to get past another.Knight Riders are ahead of Super Kings by points, but, have played one game less at this stage. One win in their remaining matches will give them a very good chance of qualifying. However, their aim won’t be to just qualify. They’ll want to finish among the top two and give themselves the best chance of making it to the final.

Form guide

(most recent first, completed games)
Chennai Super Kings: WWLWL

Kolkata Knight Riders: LWWWW

Players to watch

In a forgettable game with the ball for Knight Riders against Mumbai Indians, Shakib Al Hasan was the lone wicket-taker and finished with the best economy rate – 6.75 – off his four overs. Shakib returned after nearly a month on the bench and enhanced his reputation by bowling 12 dot balls.Ben Hilfenhaus was the standout performer for Super Kings against Daredevils with a match-defining 3 for 27, but Albie Morkel‘s contribution was also significant. He took a wicket but gave away just 15 runs off four overs. Morkel’s overall economy rate for Super Kings over five seasons is a pricey 8.22. His returns on Saturday were a refreshing change.

Stats and trivia

• Ravindra Jadeja is Super Kings’ leading wicket-taker with ten wickets and has bowled 29 overs. Dwayne Bravo is second with nine but has bowled 13 overs more.
• Sunil Narine has gone wicketless in an innings only twice in his ten games for Knight Riders.

Quotes

“Ben’s action is different to that of Doug [Bollinger]. But, Ben is very good at swinging the brand new ball. It is an asset, though his action is a little different to both Albie [Morkel] and Doug.”
.”Calling his innings excellent will be an understatement. It’s hard to describe his innings in words.” .

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Pune Warriors in Bangalore

Sidharth Monga28-Apr-2011

Match facts

Friday, April 29, Bangalore
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Yuvraj Singh will look for more support from his batting line-up•Associated Press

Big picture

Time is running out for Pune Warriors. With four losses out of six matches, they have severe catching-up to do in their remaining eight games. And it all has to start with snapping a four-match losing streak they have accumulated. In their last three matches they have been 17 for 4, 40 for 4 and 41 for 4. The batting order is surely not ideal: Yuvraj Singh at No. 5 always runs the risk of being wasted, Mithun Manhas and Mohnish Mishra in the top four make it one non-international batsman too many, and Callum Ferguson definitely should not be on the bench considering their batting failures.Royal Challengers Bangalore, on the other hand, have started a turnaround of sorts with Chris Gayle’s arrival. They have seven points after seven matches; 14 after 14 can get them through to the qualifiers. However, they will want more than that, and will be aiming at four wins at least in the remaining games.

Form guide (most recent first)

Bangalore WWNLL (fourth in points table)
Pune LLLLW (ninth in points table)

Team talk

Pune will need to find a way to get Ferguson in. Given that they have five specialist bowlers doing a good job for them, they can easily bring him in ahead of Mitchell Marsh, who replaced Nathan McCullum for Pune’s last game.Bangalore will want to persist with their winning combination.Predict the playing XIs for this match. Play ESPNcricinfo Team selector.

In the spotlight

Jesse Ryder has got off to good starts, but has also fallen to the short ball on more than one occasion. Expect more of that from Zaheer Khan & Co.Tillakaratne Dilshan scored a golden duck in the previous game, and will look to pull his weight in what is, on paper, one of the most destructive opening combinations in the IPL.

Prime numbers

• Virat Kohli, with 227 runs to his name, is 43 short of claiming the orange cap
• Rahul Sharma’s 6.04 an over is the fourth-best economy-rate among bowlers who have bowled a minimum of 10 overs. Daniel Vettori, Yusuf Pathan and Doug Bollinger are ahead of him

The chatter

“We didn’t apply our brains while batting. We kept on making the same mistakes again and again.”

Ewen Thompson, the Central Districts left-arm seamer who played an ODI and a Twenty20 for New Zealand, has retired from first-class cricket

Cricinfo staff27-May-2010 Ewen Thompson, the Central Districts left-arm seamer who played an ODI and a Twenty20 for New Zealand, has retired from first-class cricket. The 30-year-old has announced that he wants to focus on being a player-cum-coach for club side Northland from next season.Thompson had already hinted at retirement recently, when he told his bosses at Central Districts that he won’t be available for the Twenty20 Champions League in South Africa later this year.”I have decided I’d rather move on earlier rather than stay around for the tournament so have organised my job with Northland Cricket,” Thompson told New Plymouth-based . “I’m focusing on my other careers, which is coaching and in property.”A tall left-armer and useful lower-order batsman, Thompson was rewarded with a national call-up at the age of 29, during West Indies’ tour of New Zealand in 2008-09. He made his first-class debut in 2000-01 and immediately made an impact, finishing the joint second-highest wicket-taker (22) for his state. His journey to the top wasn’t easy – he once suffered a fatigue-related virus – and his perseverance was one of his string suits.Thompson ended the previous Plunket Shield season as the third-highest wicket-taker with 34 in eight games at an average of 24.08. Despite those figures, Thompson admitted that his body felt the strain towards the end of the season, which prompted his decision to quit the first-class game.”I’m not a player who can manage my workload very well. I just like to get stuck in and I really found the last part of last season tough keeping up the overs I tended to bowl,” Thompson said. “Plus, we’ve got some good young guys coming through in Central Districts like Adam Milne, who really impressed me with his start last summer, so it’s a good time to move on.”Before joining Northland, he will play six weeks of club cricket in Ireland from August.

Glamorgan claim consolation win thanks to unbeaten 50 from Australia international

ECB Reporters Network16-Jul-2024Marnus Labuschagne starred with bat and ball as Glamorgan eased to a 13-run victory over the Kent Spitfires in a rain-shortened dead-rubber at Canterbury.After the weather delayed the start, Glamorgan made 145 for 6 from their 13 overs, with Labuschagne blasting an unbeaten 50 from 26 balls, before claiming an economical 1 for 14 from his two overs.Sam Billings hit 33 from 17 balls but Kent were always struggling to keep up with a run rate of more than 11 an over. Two wickets from Timm van der Gugten in the 11th over extinguished the Spitfires’ already slim hopes and they finished on 132 for 5.Neither side stood a chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals and torrential rain delayed the start until 8pm, with the game reduced to 13 overs per side.The visitors were asked to bat and attacked from the outset. Kiran Carlson ramped Tom Rogers for an outrageous six and Will Smale hit a rapid 18 from eight, before a cluster of wickets temporarily slowed the run rate. Smale miscued Nathan Gilchrist to Tom Rogers at mid-off and Tom Bevan was run out for 3 after Carlson was hit amidships by Rogers: he had almost reached the striker’s end before realising his partner was doubled up with pain, allowing the bowler to run him out with a direct hit.Marcus O’Riordan claimed a wicket with his first ball when Carlson went for 18, caught at backward square-leg by Rogers. At that point it was 52 for 3 but Labuschagne and Colin Ingram countered with a stand of 54 that ended when Joey Evison had Ingram caught by Rogers for 26 from 13 balls.Related

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Chris Cooke went for 6, driving Gilchrist to Jack Leaning at long-off and Ben Kellaway was run out by Rogers and an off-balance Billings for 3, but Labuschagne scrambled his way to a half-century in the final over.Kent’s Blast campaign has been so grim that this looked like the sort of target they’d struggle to chase with 20 overs to play with. They took 12 from a promising first over, but lost Tawanda Muyeye for 7, caught behind off Dan Douthwaite.O’Riordan should have gone for a duck in the same over and although Andy Gorvin dropped an absolute dolly at midwicket, he failed to cash in. Mason Crane claimed the prize wicket of Daniel Bell-Drummond for 27, caught by Kellaway at the cow-corner boundary before Labuschagne bowled O’Riordan for 9 off 14.Billings hit Crane for a six that landed on the roof of the Cowdrey Stand and Smale dropped Jack Leaning when he holed out off Labuschagne on 9, but Glamorgan’s economical bowling meant the rate spiralled out of control.Kent needed 54 from the final three overs and the pressure forced Billings into an ugly shot, chipping van der Gugten to Carlson at cover. Van der Gugten then had Leaning caught by Kellaway at deep square for 11 and although Rogers had some fun, his unbeaten 31 from 12 begged the question why he hadn’t batted higher up the order.Kent needed an improbable 29 from Douthwaite’s last over but only managed 15 and the defeat guarantees the 2021 champions will finish bottom of the South Group.

Sandeep Sharma’s last-ball yorker made Royals the first team to defend a sub-190 total this season

S Sudarshanan12-Apr-20238:20

Moody: We’ve all questioned CSK, and Dhoni is usually right

It was set up perfectly. The whistles at Chepauk were getting louder with each moment as MS Dhoni took strike with 21 needed off six balls. Two wides later, Sandeep Sharma nailed a yorker, before erring in length and seeing Dhoni wallop back-to-back leg-side sixes.Dhoni was leading Chennai Super Kings for the 200th time in the IPL and he had the chance to script another fairytale, and the perfect finish loomed even after Sandeep went around the wicket and pulled things back, bringing the equation down to five needed off the last ball. This was still Dhoni territory, but Sandeep nailed another perfect yorker from around the stumps and Rajasthan Royals eked out a three-run win to go top of the table after four games.

Samson fined for slow over rate

Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson has been fined INR 12 lakh (USD 14,000 approx.) for his team’s slow over rate against Chennai Super Kings. It was his team’s first over-rate offence this season, a post-match IPL statement said.
No in-game fielding-restriction penalty was imposed on Royals during the match.

Super Kings needed an improbable 54 off 18 balls with Ravindra Jadeja and Dhoni still new to the crease. Dhoni began the assault with a four and a six in Adam Zampa’s last over before Jadeja took over in a 19-run penultimate over bowled by Jason Holder, hitting him for a four and two sixes.Sandeep, however, just about kept his calm and Royals became the first side to defend a sub-190 total this season.MS Dhoni rolled back the years but Super Kings fell just short in the end•BCCI

Ashwin, Chahal, Zampa storm CSK’s spin fortress

Chasing 176, Super Kings lost the prolific Ruturaj Gaikwad in the third over. But Devon Conway and Ajinkya Rahane added 68 in 43 balls to keep the chase on track. Rahane, who had scored a blazing half-century against Mumbai Indians in his last outing, was quick off the blocks again, pulling Jason Holder through midwicket and slinking down the track to deposit R Ashwin over the long-off boundary while rushing to a 19-ball 31.In Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal and Impact Player Adam Zampa, however, Royals had a spin attack made for Chepauk conditions, and they extracted plenty of purchase even with dew starting to kick in. Ashwin’s dismissal of Rahane turned the tide for Royals. From 78 for 1 in the 10th over, Super Kings slumped to 122 for 6 at the end of the 17th.Zampa conceded 14 in the 18th over, when Dhoni went after him, but even including that, Royals’ spinners conceded just 95 in 12 overs while taking five wickets, while their Super Kings counterparts went for 84 in 10 while taking three.

Buttler and Padikkal set the tone

Yashasvi Jaiswal has been in red-hot form for Royals this season, and he threatened to go on another boundary spree in the powerplay when he hit two fours off the left-arm quick Akash Singh in the first over, after Super Kings elected to bowl. But Tushar Deshpande, Super Kings’ go-to bowler in Deepak Chahar’s absence, prised Jaiswal out in the next over. Royals kept the left-right combination going by promoting Devdutt Padikkal, who sat out the match against Delhi Capitals, to No. 3.Padikkal and Jos Buttler went after Maheesh Theekshana – who was playing his first game of the season – hitting him for four fours and a six in his first two overs, both inside the powerplay. That got them into groove for a 77-run second-wicket partnership off just 41 balls, which took Royals to a formidable 88 for 1 in the ninth over.R Ashwin made an impact with bat and ball•Associated Press

Bowlers keep CSK in the game

Jadeja helped Super Kings claw back with the wickets of Padikkal and Sanju Samson in the space of three balls, and Royals responded with the now familiar tactic of promoting Ashwin up the order. The scoring rate dipped for a while, with Royals failing to find the boundary in five successive overs, before Ashwin broke the drought with a slashed four off Theekshana in the 14th. He then swatted Akash for successive sixes in the 15th, before falling later in the over for a 22-ball 30.Buttler, who had been 34 off 17 at the time he lost Padikkal, didn’t hit another boundary, and eventually fell for a 52 off 36 balls. In the process he also crossed 3000 runs in the IPL, becoming the third-quickest to the mark in terms of innings taken.The ostensible intent behind the Ashwin promotion was to delay Shimron Hetmyer’s entry, and he came in at roughly his preferred time, with five overs remaining. He did his bit at the finish, smacking an unbeaten 30 off 18, but there was little support from the other end during his time in the middle, as Royals only managed 40 in their last five overs.Having at one stage seemed on course for 200, they finished on 175 for 8, with Deshpande dismissing Holder and Zampa in the last over .

Impact Player Strategy

Royals brought in Zampa as their Impact Player: he walked out to bat at No. 10 to face the last ball of their innings, replacing Buttler. The finger injury Buttler picked up earlier in the competition could have played a part in his removal. Super Kings, meanwhile, yanked off Sisanda Magala, whose two overs went for 14, after he injured a finger in his right hand while taking the catch to dismiss Ashwin. Super Kings subbed in Ambati Rayudu, who batted at No. 6 and lasted just two balls.

Mumbai slotted in as first option to host 10-team tournament, with UAE and South Africa as back-ups

Nagraj Gollapudi22-Jan-2022The 2022 season of IPL is set to start in the last week of March, and is scheduled to run till May end. ESPNcricinfo has learned that in a meeting with the ten franchises on Saturday (January 22), the IPL authorities informed owners that they had pencilled in March 27 as a likely start date.The franchises were also told that the tournament would be held in India, with Mumbai slotted in as the main venue. And in case the Covid-19 numbers in India are low at the time, Ahmedabad could be considered as a second venue to host the playoffs. In case the pandemic situation in India is not feasible to host the tournament, then South Africa and the UAE will be the back-up options in no particular order. At Saturday’s meeting, the IPL told the franchises that a final decision is expected to be taken by February 20.”I am delighted to confirm that the 15th season of the IPL will start in the last week of March and will run until May end,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a statement released on Saturday evening. “A majority of the team owners expressed their wish that the tournament be held in India. The BCCI was always keen on staging the 2022 edition that will see two new teams – Ahmedabad and Lucknow – in India. I can tell you that we will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that IPL stays in India. The BCCI has not compromised on the health and safety of its stakeholders in the past and will concurrently work on Plan B since the COVID-19 situation with new variants remains fluid. The mega IPL Auction will take place on February 12-13th and we will lock in venues before that.”The reason the IPL has zeroed in on just one venue in Mumbai, which has multiple grounds, was to avoid travel and the debacle of 2021 edition, when the tournament had to be called off at the halfway stage due to the spike in the number of cases among teams. One key reason responsible for teams reporting growing Covid-19 positive cases was travelling between different cities. The tournament was postponed, before the second leg was held in the UAE in September-October.Related

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India is currently experiencing the third wave of the pandemic, with the Omicron variant dominant across the country. Though the impact is less severe, the high degree of transmissibility has led to stringent curbs on movement and public activities in big cities.Incidentally, even in 2021, the IPL had thought about holding the entire tournament in Mumbai, before deciding to host it across two cities at a time. This time they have decided to wait until mid-February, by when necessary government permissions would have been received and the feasibiity of hosting the tournament, which will feature 74 matches, in Mumbai can be checked.Along with the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai also has two other grounds that have hosted international matches: the Brabourne Stadium and the DY Patil stadium. There is also the Mumbai Cricket Association-run ground in Bandra-Kurla Complex, which has hosted domestic tournaments and where IPL teams have trained in the past.Teams split over UAE and South Africa
It is learned that not all teams are unanimous about either of the two back-up options. Some of the franchises pointed out that the UAE, which has three venues, was becoming more predictable in terms of results as witnessed during the men’s T20 World Cup that was held in 2021, as well as the second leg of IPL 2021 that immediately preceded it. Another concern with the UAE was that the pitches could become weary by April-May, after a long season with multiple tournaments. However, others felt that barring Sharjah, which dished out slower pitches with low bounce last IPL, Dubai and Abu Dhabi hosted close contests.Some franchises also backed UAE only because there was no internal travel involved and the venue itself overall had been one of the safest spots globally during the pandemic. It was also pointed out by the IPL authorities that South Africa had one clear advantage in terms of multiple venues, but the counter to that – as pointed out by some franchises – was that any travel during the pandemic came laden with risk, as was already experienced in the first half of IPL 2021 in India, when the country had struggled to cope with the Delta variant.It is learned that some franchises said that one crucial aspect that the IPL had to take into account was the absence of any window in 2022 in case the tournament were to disrupted once again, due to travel-related reasons.

The former Pakistan batsman also breached quarantine protocols for domestic cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Sep-2020The PCB has withdrawn Faisal Iqbal, the Balochistan first XI head coach, from the upcoming National T20 Cup after his NOC was delayed from his parent organisation, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). ESPNcricinfo understands the reason for the delay is becasue he is presently facing an inquiry about discrepancies between his date of birth and his name in the matriculation certificate from the one he had submitted for his employment with PIA in 2003.Iqbal was staying with his team in Muridke in a biosecure environment, a protocol for all teams playing domestic cricket. On the last day of quarantine, he, along with his assistant coach Wasim Haider, violated the protocol only to have their stay extended by five days. They were to be tested twice over and required to return negative both times before being allowed to join the team in Multan. After withdrawing Iqbal from the rest of the squad, the PCB named Haider as interim head coach for the tournament scheduled to start from September 30 in Multan.Unlike last year, all players, support staff and match officials who were offered contracts were asked to fulfill the stipulated term to obtain the NOC from their respective organisations. Unlike Iqbal, PIA has issued an NOC to their regular employees Ghulam Ali (head coach of Sindh Second XI) and Aizaz Cheema (Southern Punjab First XI), while other coaches in the system have understandably submitted their NOCs.ALSO READ: Salman Butt refuses to play National T20 Cup after Central Punjab demotes him“It would be unfair on Faisal Iqbal as well as on his side – and on the tournament – if he competed in a major domestic tournament until he had resolved and settled the matter with his parent organisation,” the PCB said in a statement. “Faisal Iqbal would be reintegrated with his domestic side as soon as PIA gave him a clean chit along with a No Objective Certificate (NOC). Until such time, Wasim Haider will act as the Balochistan cricket team’s interim head coach.”This year, the PCB had made substantial changes to the domestic set-up, bringing in new coaches with Iqbal being handed over the charge of Balochistan’s first XI team. However, there were as many as 16 coaches who lost heir jobs, including Azam Khan, Arshad Khan, Ijaz Ahmed Jnr and Kabir Khan. Abdul Razzaq is supposed to replace Kabir at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while Basit Ali, the former SNGPL coach, will take over the reins from Azam at Sindh. Shahid Anwar is in charge of Central Punjab while both Abdur Rehman (Southern Punjab) and Mohammad Wasim (Northern Punjab) were retained. All six domestic coaches will also act as national selection committee members to assist Pakistan national team coach-cum-chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq.Iqbal, 38, had a prolific career at the junior level since making the Under-15 side. But his time with the seniors has, for the most part, been marred by allegations of nepotism. His career coincided with Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamam-ul-Haq being at their prime, and thus Iqbal was never able to cement his place in the team.His domestic figures are impressive with 12,685 runs at 39.64 in 225 matches to go along with 5,979 at 42.10 in List A games. Iqbal turned his attention to coaching since he retired from all cricket in 2018, having served as the Karachi Kings’ batting coach for the last two seasons of the PSL.

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.