All posts by n8rngtd.top

Derbyshire slide from position of strength before openers cement hosts’ advantage

ECB Reporters Network04-Sep-2023Wayne Madsen narrowly missed out on a century in his 200th first-class appearance for Derbyshire as Yorkshire seized control of the LV= Insurance County Championship match on day two at Scarborough.Madsen, 39, impressed with a very watchable 93 off 140 balls in Derbyshire’s 247 all out as they replied to a first-innings 297. Opener Mitch Wagstaff also posted 52 – his maiden fifty in only his seventh first-team fixture. But Madsen was one of seven afternoon wickets to fall as his side slipped from significant health at 173 for 3 to concede a lead of 50.Seamers Matthew Fisher and Jordan Thompson both claimed three wickets apiece for Yorkshire, who later added to that lead with 179 for 2 from 38 second-innings overs. Openers Fin Bean and Adam Lyth shared 100 inside 21 overs, their sixth successive Championship stand above 50. Bean top-scored with 64 before being run out backing up.While Thompson’s 3 for 48 from 20.1 overs ensured he finished with the pick of the home figures, starting with a wicket in the day’s opening over, Fisher was excellent during the afternoon. He put the skids under Derbyshire on a pitch lacking pace in a fiery five-over spell yielding two wickets.He bowled both Matt Lamb and Anuj Dal, beating them for pace with deliveries which kept low. Lamb’s off stump went cartwheeling as the score fell to 193 for 6.Winding back to the start of the day, which Derbyshire started on 47 for 1, Thompson had Brooke Guest caught behind in the opening over.Wagstaff, 20-years-old, started day two on 32 and reached his fifty off 99 balls. This is only his second first-class fixture. The otherwise composed left-hander was then the second morning wicket to fall when ruffled by a Fisher short ball which he miscued to square-leg, leaving the score at 103 for 3.Derbyshire then pressed ahead with a 70-run stand either side of lunch between Madsen and captain Leus du Plooy, who made 30.Madsen had reached his fifty off 67 balls before lunch, including a six over long-on against Ben Coad – and he looked extremely fluent early in his landmark appearance for Derbyshire.Madsen, who hit three successive fours in one Fisher over, has had an interesting history with Yorkshire, a county who were previously keen on his signature.In 2013, he won the inaugural Christopher Martin-Jenkins Spirit of Cricket Elite Award in recognition for walking of his own accord in a Championship match between these two counties at Chesterfield that season. Steve Patterson’s appeal for caught behind was turned down, but Madsen walked. He went on to score 141 in the second innings of a defeat. Yorkshire’s interest in signing him was around the same time.Last year, Madsen made his 400th all-format appearance for Derbyshire in a Vitality Blast game at Headingley. In this year’s same fixture, he narrowly missed out on posting a world record sixth successive T20 half-century.With him and du Plooy settled after lunch, Derbyshire looked well set for a first-innings lead. However, the course of the fixture was about to change. Thompson, who thought he had du Plooy caught behind on 20, removed him caught at first slip on 30, leaving the score at 173 for 3 in the 51st over.Then came Fisher’s aforementioned twin strikes before Matthew Revis bowled Alex Thomson. And when Madsen edged another seamer George Hill into the gully seven short of three figures, Derbyshire were 209 for 8 in the 68th over.Zak Chappell and Sam Conners meatily struck some useful lower order runs – 20 and 15 respectively – before falling caught off Revis and Thompson respectively.Bean and Lyth, who made 43, then further rubber-stamped Yorkshire’s excellent day with a dominant evening alliance. They looked in little trouble, though Lyth was caught at slip looking to attack offspinner Thomson, who then deflected a James Wharton drive on to the non-striker’s stumps to run Bean out.Wharton and captain Shan Masood – 29 and 41 – then shared an unbroken half-century partnership through to close.Yorkshire are on track for their second win of 2023. Their first was against Derbyshire at Chesterfield in June.

Dashing left-handed opener earns his first professional contract with Melbourne Renegades after dominating for Australia’s Under-19s against England this year

Andrew McGlashan13-Sep-2023Harry Dixon is 18 years old, has been blazing runs for Australia Under-19s, idolises David Warner, and has just been handed a two-year deal with Melbourne Renegades.Dixon, a left-handed opener, has been highly regarded around the Victoria grade system – he hit his maiden hundred for St Kilda in the final round of last season – and has just come off a memorable few days in England where he made 167 and 83 in the first Youth Test at New Road.In the first innings, he raced to a century before stumps on the first day and his second-innings runs came from 52 balls, adding 156 in 17.2 overs with Sam Konstas, as Australia A chased for 191 in 21.2 overs.”I was on 66, maybe, with about 40 minutes left in the day, then hit a couple of boundaries in one over and told myself I was going to get a hundred before the close of play,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “[In the second innings] we went out there and wanted to have a bit of freedom. We didn’t plan to have it all come off that way, but we got to drinks and were both hitting them pretty well. Good to get the boys a rest day, too, which was nice.”Earlier this year, Dixon made 148 off 125 balls in the one-day series when England Under-19s came to Australia. The name of the batter he most admires is, perhaps, therefore not entirely a surprise.”I’ve always idolised David Warner,” he said. “Seeing him grow up as a T20 player and then be able to play all three formats as well as he has done is hopefully something I want to do in the future. He has been incredible and done a lot for the country, hopefully, I can be pretty similar and get into the Aussie team and play all three formats.”I’d like to think of myself as someone who can potentially in the future play all three formats. Think I showed that in the last couple of series against England which is nice.”Dixon does not yet have a state contract, although he will spend some time training with Victoria in the coming weeks, but there is a strong chance that will come next season. However, he has been snapped up for the BBL.Renegades first showed interest during the Under-19 series in Australia during February, then moved in for a deal after the recent Top End tournament in Darwin where Dixon played for the opposite side of town as part of the Melbourne Stars Academy. He made a couple of starts, including 32 of 14 balls opening against Pakistan A.He is certainly going to have some experience to learn from with Aaron Finch, Shaun Marsh and Quinton de Kock part of Renegades’ squad.”Can’t wait to share a locker room with guys like Aaron Finch, Shaun Marsh and Nathan Lyon,” he said. “Looking forward to getting stuck in and learning as much as I can and becoming the best player I can be. Regardless of however many games I play, just being around and training with those boys will be fantastic for my development as well.”Melbourne Renegades General Manager James Rosengarten was pleased to add more young talent to their experienced list.”Harry’s one of the country’s most promising batters and we’re thrilled to have him agree to join our club,” Rosengarten said.”We’ve got a wealth of experienced players within our group and also some exciting young talent like Will Sutherland and Harry. Harry has all the attributes to be a successful player in this format of the game for a long period of time.”

ICC’s chief executive officer says “they (IOC) have been following the progress or the developments there”

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Nov-2023Afghanistan’s participation in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is in the hands of the International Olympics Council (IOC), not the ICC. This is the view expressed by ICC’s chief executive officer Geoff Allardice, who was responding to how cricket’s governing body will tackle the challenge of Afghanistan women players being forced into exile since Taliban assumed power in 2021.In October the IOC approved the LA28’s recommendation of adding T20 cricket as a new sport, convinced by its popularity across the Commonwealth countries as well as the younger generation, along with the potential it brings for growth in markets such as the USA.In its proposal, the ICC had recommended a six-team event for both the men’s and women’s competitions which was approved by the IOC. By 2025, the LA28 and ICC will work out a competition structure as well as the way in which teams can qualify for the event.The LA28 organisers have stressed on gender equality at the Olympics, which normally sees participation from both genders in individual and team sports. However, Afghanistan currently do not have a women’s cricket team, with 22 out of the 25 contracted players moving overseas since the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021. There remains a chance, however, that the men’s team might take part in the event in five years’ time.”(In) the Olympic competition teams are fielded by the National Olympic Committees of those countries,” Allardice told the ‘s Stumped podcast. “As an international sporting federation, we position our sport with the LA28 organisers for inclusion. And the IOC and they (LA28) have included cricket. In terms of the position of the National Olympic Committee of Afghanistan, it’s probably something for the IOC to be able to address more accurately than me. But I know that they (IOC) have been following the progress or the developments there. Our position on cricket and supporting our member in Afghanistan is not dissimilar to those of other international sporting organisations.”Related

• Human rights question hangs over success story of Afghanistan's men

• Afghanistan agree 'in principle' to support women's cricket

• Afghanistan women's cricket in danger after Taliban's reported opposition

• Women's cricket 'in peril' but fans rejoice as the game returns to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan

• IOC to monitor support for women's cricket in Afghanistan ahead of LA28

In its communication with the Taliban government, the IOC has been emphasising that the country’s National Olympic Committee (NOC) will be in danger of suspension if access to sports for women continues to be restricted. The IOC has not cleared Afghanistan’s participation for the 2024 Paris Olympics.Addressing the IOC session in Mumbai in October, James Macleod, IOC head of Olympic Solidarity and National Olympic Committee Relations, said that there was a “tiny bit of progress” made which was evident in the Hangzhou Asian Games recently. Out of the 83 Afghan athletes, 17 were women. While it was the men who owned all five medals, the women athletes – all of whom reside overseas – competed in volleyball, athletics and cycling. They also had male and female flag bearers at the event.IOC president Thomas Bach had pointed out at the Mumbai session that the onus was on Afghanistan’s National Olympic Committee to show the progress it was making to ensure women cricketers were receiving encouragement and support to compete at all levels. “In this broader context, cricket will be considered in the end,” he saidAfghanistan men were part of the gold medal match in the Asian Games in the absence of the women’s team. Allardice, who traveled to Hangzhou, said that the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) had committed to developing women’s cricket when it was granted ICC’s Full Membership in 2017.”They were in the process of doing that through to 2021,” Allardice said. “And in 2021 the regime in the country changed and has brought in rules, laws that prohibit women from playing sport in the country. Whilst we have spoken with the Afghanistan Cricket Board and their position is that they have to operate within the laws of the country and the rules set by the government.”An ICC working group, led by its deputy chair Imran Khwaja, has been liaising with the Taliban government in the last year with the ultimate aim of helping women play cricket safely. “The question for the ICC board is do we support our member in their ability to promote cricket within the rules set by the government of the country? And view is yes,” Allardice said.As a Full Member, the ACB receives significant funding. As per the ICC’s financial distribution model for the next cycle (2024-27), the ACB will receive approximately USD 16.8 million as its share from the commercial earnings. Allardice said that the member boards had the autonomy to utilise the funds as they saw fit.”How those members distribute those funds and the use of that money is very much up to those members. With any of our members, we have a check and balance over how that money is distributed and whether it goes to certain contracts or other contracts. We don’t stipulate how that needs to be managed.”

Offspinner Mufudza was handed a maiden ODI call-up, while Ndlovu and Mumba return to the T20I squad

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jan-2024Craig Ervine has returned to lead Zimbabwe in the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, but veteran allrounder Sean Williams will miss the tour that also includes three T20Is. Williams picked up a side injury in the second T20I in Harare last month. Ervine, who had missed the home series against Ireland due to a groin niggle, was named in both squads.Uncapped offspinner Tapiwa Mufudza was called-up to the ODI squad after impressing in the domestic season. Mufudza, 33, picked up 18 wickets, the most in the Pro50 Championship 2023 in Mashonaland Eagles’ title win. Fast bowling allrounder Faraz Akram, who was called up for the Ireland ODIs but did not play, remains in line for his debut in the format.Takudzwanashe Kaitano, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe, Milton Shumba and Tony Munyonga, part of the seven new faces against Ireland, keep their places for the ODIs in Sri Lanka. However, Kaitano, Mufudza and Akram will make way for allrounder Brian Bennett – who made his T20I debut against Ireland – Ainsley Ndlovu and Carl Mumba in the T20I squad led by Sikandar Raza.Related

• Top-order batters and finishers in focus as SL, Zimbabwe aim to turn fortunes around

• Zimbabwe pick seven new players for Ireland ODIs

• Dave Houghton resigns as Zimbabwe head coach

• ZC suspends Madhevere, Mavuta for breaching anti-doping rules

Allrounder Wessly Madhevere did not find a place in the squads after he was suspended by Zimbabwe Cricket for breaching the anti-doping rules.Zimbabwe had a year to forget in 2023, after having a poor run in two qualifying events for World Cups. They first failed to make the cut for the ODI World Cup in India, not finishing in the top two of the qualifying tournament they themselves hosted. They also missed out on a ticket to the 20-team T20 World Cup that will be played in the West Indies and USA this year, after losing to Namibia and Uganda in the Africa Region Qualifier.Following the home series against Ireland, Dave Houghton stepped down as the head coach. Walter Chawaguta will be the interim head coach for Zimbabwe’s tour of Sri Lanka. The ODIs will be played on January 6, 8 and 11, followed by the T20Is on January 14, 16 and 18.

Zimbabwe ODI squad vs Sri Lanka

Craig Ervine (capt), Faraz Akram, Ryan Burl, Joylord Gumbie, Luke Jongwe, Takudzwanashe Kaitano, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe, Clive Madande, Wellington Masakadza, Tapiwa Mufudza, Tony Munyonga, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Sikandar Raza, Shumba Milton

Zimbabwe T20I squad vs Sri Lanka

Sikandar Raza (capt), Brian Bennett, Ryan Burl, Craig Ervine, Joylord Gumbie, Luke Jongwe, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe, Clive Madande, Wellington Masakadza, Carl Mumba, Tony Munyonga, Blessing Muzarabani, Ainsley Ndlovu, Richard Ngarava, Milton Shumba

Bulls batting fails; Army captain hit 39* in huge chase of 116; Strikers seamer grabbed 4 for 7 to restrict Braves to 75

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Dec-2023An excellent opening burst from Azmatullah Omarzai helped Northern Warriors pull off a record-breaking performance at the Abu Dhabi T10. The 79 for 5 that they made on Wednesday is the lowest total successfully defended in the tournament’s history.Omarzai set the tone with the new ball, picking up two wickets and they were crucial ones too, sending back the big-hitting Quinton de Kock and Johnson Charles. Bulls lost a batter every over thereafter all the way to the 10th and final one where they were left needing 26 to win. Although Naveen-ul-Haq clattered a six and a four, it wasn’t enough and Warriors savoured a victory that didn’t seem possible. After being put in to bat, they were 0 for 2 with Fazalhaq Farooqi on a hat-trick after picking up wickets with the first two balls of the match. They managed only one score above 20, which came from the wicketkeeper Rahul Chopra. Omarzai played a timely hand with the bat as well, striking a six and a four in the final over and for all that effort he went away with the Player-of-the-Match award.File photo: Moeen Ali smacked 39* from just 15 balls•ECB/Getty Images

Samp Army collected their fifth win a row, as captain Moeen Ali led from the front in their chase of 116 against Deccan Gladiators. Army were 21 for 3 in the fourth over, but the middle order got the job done with six wickets and four deliveries in the bank. Moeen smacked 39* from just 15 balls, first adding 49 off only 19 deliveries for the fourth wicket with Ibrahim Zadran, and then 46 from 17 with Karim Janat.Both Zadran and Janat too smashed runs at a rapid pace, with the former hitting 26 at a strike rate of 173, and the latter clubbing 27 at 300. But Army’s win was set up by pace bowler Salman Irshad and legspinner Qais Ahmad. Irshad removed Andre Russell and Imad Wasim in the space of three deliveries, as Gladiators lost 3 for 5 in a middle-order collapse.However, Andre Fletcher cracked an unbeaten 52 – he rammed five sixes in his 27-ball innings – thus keeping one end intact for Gladiators. Fabian Allen’s cameo of 14 off six balls helped push the total to 115, although Gladiators were helped by 15 extras. But Moeen and his batting colleagues took Army home rather comfortably in the end.File photo: Mohammad Amir removed Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Charith Asalanka without scoring•Getty Images

Four wickets in the second over left Chennai Braves in a hole from which they could hardly find their way back up, as New York Strikers strolled to a five-wicket win. After running Kobe Herft out to start the over, Strikers’ Mohammad Amir struck three times in the next five balls to remove George Munsey, and both Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Charith Asalanka without scoring.Jason Roy and Sikandar Raza briefly rebuilt with a 30-run stand from 6 for 4 at one stage, before Sunil Narine got Raza for 14 in the sixth over. Amir dismissed Roy for 18 in the eighth, and finished with 4 for 7 in two overs, as Strikers restricted Braves to 75 for 9.But a rude shock awaited Strikers in the chase. Sam Cook nearly replicated Amir’s heroics by reducing Strikers to 1 for 2 after just three balls, as openers Niroshan Dickwella and Rahmanullah Gurbaz were sent back for golden ducks. But Muhammad Waseem and Mark Deyal limited the damage by adding 30, before Asif Ali wrapped the game up for Strikers with an unbeaten 23 off just 13 balls. Their fifth successive win meant Strikers continued to top the points table.

The ground, which is set to host three of India’s matches, is likely to be ready only by the end of May

Nagraj Gollapudi17-Jan-2024Eisenhower Park in New York will not be hosting any international matches before the T20 World Cup in June, as the ground will be ready only by the end of May. The venue is slated to host three of India’s matches in the upcoming tournament.Announcing detailed plans on Wednesday for the New York venue, which will become first modular stadium in cricket, the ICC also said tickets for the 20-team World Cup, which will be co-hosted in the West Indies and the USA, will be the released in the next fortnight.Eisenhower Park, which is located in Nassau County (Long Island), and is about 25 miles east of New York City, was recently shortlisted by the ICC as one of the three venues in the USA along with Grand Prairie (Texas) and Broward County (Lauderhill, Florida) to host 16 group phase matches. Half of those matches – eight – will be hosted at Eisenhower Park, including the India-Pakistan match on June 9.Related

• New York's beautiful monster: how a cricket venue was created from scratch

• Rassie van der Dussen hopes to put in 'strong performances' at SA20 for T20 World Cup spot

• India, Australia and England boards should do more for Test cricket – Johnny Grave

• CWI and T20 World Cup CEO: 'Growing the sport in our time zone crucial to our long-term survival'

While the first match at the New York venue is scheduled on June 3 – between South Africa and Sri Lanka – the ICC has planned to carry out the testing phase of the ground, including the drop-in pitches, in the second half of May. It will likely be the first time a major ICC event will be played at a venue where no international match has been held before.Such a prospect is not making the ICC anxious at all, though. Chris Tetley, ICC’s head of events, said that the testing phase, scheduled to start in the week of May 13 and will include warm-up matches, will provide the organisers better understanding of the venue before the World Cup matches start.”There will be warm-up matches played at the facility (New York) so that we know from a cricket perspective how the venue runs,” Tetley said. “Also, importantly, we will know from an operational perspective how all of the functional teams that will come together to run the stadium need to interact on an event day with people coming through the turnstiles.”Part of that is understanding how do people come through the turnstiles and where do they go, how do they use the venue, where do they walk? Because that will then help us refine plans on spectator flows and where we need additional signage, where people get confused, where do they congregate?”Currently the outfield at existing cricket venue at Eisenhower Park is “bumpy” Tetley admitted, but he also said the work to create the stadium had started this month with a timeline of finishing the project by mid-May when the testing phase will begin.A set of drop-in pitches are currently being prepared in Florida by Adelaide Oval Turf Solutions, which is headed by Damian Hough, the head groundsperson at Adelaide Oval. The outfield, meanwhile, is being manufactured by LandTek Group, a USA-based turf making business which have prepared playing fields for the New York Yankees, New York Mets, and Inter Miami CF.In addition, Populous, a globally renowned architecture and design firm has been hired to plan the stadium at Eisenhower Park, which will seat about 34,000 fans. Having such trusted hands involved, Tetley pointed out, gave the ICC the “reassurance” and confidence that any last-minute hiccup could be cleared without stress.”In addition to testing events that gives us a lot of reassurance is the quality of the people involved and the quality of the work that they do day in, day out: from Damian (Hough) on the pitches and the number of pitches he’s building, which gives us a bit of flex in case one of the pitches doesn’t go as well as we want, we can shift around so that we’re not reliant on you know, a no latency solution there.”LandTek are working hand in glove with Damian on all of the agronomy aspects of the facility. From a cricket perspective, they are the ones that we are most keenly interested in ensuring over the right quality, because that’s fundamental.”A welcome board outside Eisenhower Park which will host the 2024 T20 World Cup•Getty Images

MLC looking at using modular stadium

A modular stadium is made up of steel and aluminium, erected in a short period of time (about three months in the case of Eisenhower Park) and is customisable. The amenities in a regular cricket ground can be replicated easily including fans seating, corporate boxes, dressing rooms and all other hospitality avenues and general amenities alongside media and broadcast facilities.Formula One has widely used modular stadia across the globe and part of the infrastructure used during the Las Vegas Grand Prix recently will be deployed in the construction of stands at Eisenhower Park. Golf has utilised modular stands including at the Ryder Cup last year in Rome.The ICC will utilise modular stadium solutions to double the capacity also at the two other US venues for the T20 World Cup – in Texas and Florida. Post the World Cup, Tetley said the modular stadia can be brought down easily.However, Tetley pointed out that Major League Cricket (MLC) was “evaluating” whether it could utilise the modular stadia at the three USA venues for the second season which is scheduled for July-August.”MLC is actually very interested in the opportunity that this would afford them to play some of the matches of their second season. So they’re evaluating at the moment whether it will work for them. It’s a live conversation at the moment, but in theory, yes, it gets all broken down.”Tetley said the key “legacy” the World Cup will leave for the local cricket community in New York would be an international outfield alongside a well-equipped central square sans the drop-in pitches.”One of the legacies of the project is that what we will leave behind a world class cricket outfield to international standards. We’ll actually take out the drop-in pitches and leave them with an artificial surface in the middle there because that will be much easier for them to maintain.”The drop in pitches, we will work out where they go and to whom will best benefit from them. We’re obviously creating training facilities as well that will be left behind.”