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BCCI to replicate guidelines issued by Indian Health Ministry and distribute to all stakeholders

Nagraj Gollapudi05-Mar-2020Even as COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) continues to cripple all walks of life across the world, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has said the IPL is “on” and that the board is taking all necessary precautions for the smooth conduct of cricket’s most lucrative tournament, which begins on March 29. Some of those precautionary measures are likely to involve asking players to avoid physical contact as far as possible including shaking hands with fans, considering the coronavirus is highly contagious.”It’s on…and BCCI will take all protection (against coronavirus),” Ganguly told ESPNcricinfo when asked how the board was dealing with the outbreak that is threatening to bring daily life to a standstill. Spectator sport is seen as particularly vulnerable, given it brings a large crowd together in a confined space. The IPL has an added complication: its global profile, with players, support staff and vast administrative and broadcast services being drawn from across the world.The novel coronavirus is a respiratory illness, which originated in China, and, has no cure yet, forcing the shutting down of towns, cities, schools across the world. Global medical experts have been anxious about how India, the world’s second-most populous nation, would respond to the outbreak. The official figures released by the Indian Ministry of Health so far has put the count of those infected closer to 30.The outbreak has already begun affecting sporting events. In Italy, one of the worst affected countries, the government ordered all Serie A matches to be played behind closed doors with no fans allowed at any football ground until April 3. The March 14 Six Nations rugby game between Italy and England, scheduled in Rome, has been postponed. It was the second game involving Italy to be postponed after the contest against Ireland in Dublin scheduled for Saturday. The Premier League in England is also talking to the clubs to have matches played behind closed doors as the UK government’s chief medical officer today said the country was moving from containment to delaying the spread of the coronavirus, which claimed its first victim on Thursday.ALSO READ: Coronavirus impact on Indian sportsAlthough there has been no official update put out by the BCCI or the IPL on the respective websites (a norm followed by global sporting organisations), ESPNcricinfo understands that the top officials have been internally discussing the outbreak and its potential impact on the T20 tournament. It is believed that the BCCI has been following the guidelines and updates put out by the Health Ministry on coronavirus.A senior BCCI official confirmed that the board would replicate the precautionary guidelines recommended by the Health Ministry and send them to all the stakeholders: players, franchises, airlines, team hotels, broadcast crews and everyone else involved in the running of the tournament.As far as the players go, the BCCI would ask them to be proactive and report to the concerned medical authority in case they detect any of the symptoms associated with the coronavirus, which include cough, fever or difficulty in breathing. Also if the person has travelled in or via high-risk areas across the world, he/she would need to report that.It is understood that the BCCI would also advise the players not to shake hands with fans or even possibly take pictures with devices that are not their own. All these measures are already being followed globally by athletes. Recently England captain Joe Root said that England players would not be shaking hands with one another on their tour of Sri Lanka to ensure germs and bacteria are not spread. The England players would instead resort to fist bumps, something even the National Basketball League (NBA) in the USA advised its players to use instead of the high-fives. The NBA also asked the players not to use the pens/markers fans provide them to sign autographs.The BCCI has not yet discussed whether it would recommend fist bumps over handshakes, but the official said that as things evolve, the board would be open to take all measures that would keep everyone safe.Many top sporting events including the Tokyo Olympics have come under threat with countries warning against mass congregations in light of how contagious the virus is.Cricket, too, has been affected with a women’s quadrangular in Thailand being the first tournament to be postponed last week. On Thursday, the Everest Premier League, a domestic T20 tournament scheduled to start from March 14 in Nepal, was postponed indefinitely even though the country has reported just one case of the outbreak yet. The ICC World Cup Challenge League due to be hosted by Malaysia on March 16 has also been postponed

Seamer admits he needs to come through South Africa A game if he has a chance of playing Boxing Day Test

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Dec-2019James Anderson says he will have to come through England’s three-day warm-up match against South Africa A on Friday if he has any chance of being fit for the first Test at Centurion on Boxing Day.Anderson, who pulled up with a calf injury four overs into what proved to be his only spell of last summer’s Ashes series, played his first competitive game since a Lancashire Second XI fixture at the end of August earlier this week, taking 1 for 37 in his 11 overs against a Cricket South Africa invitational side at Benoni.ALSO READ: 2021-22 Ashes on Anderson’s radar after technical tweaks during recoveryAnd he admitted that he felt short of match practice, and was some way short of his top speed during his return to action.”It feels like a long time since I played a competitive game,” Anderson said, “so to get back out in the middle and get some overs under my belt is very pleasing. There was a bit of rust there this morning, but that’s to be expected not having played for four or five months.”A six and a five[-over spell] was pretty good, with an eye on potentially playing at the end of the week and getting more overs in then. It was a good start: I felt better second spell, bowled a bit better, and felt like things were coming together. At the same time, I know I’m not up to max speed yet, so that’s something I’ve got to try and get better at by the end of the week.”England were short of three frontline bowlers in Stuart Broad, Jofra Archer and Jack Leach, all of whom went down ill on Wednesday, and as a result, Anderson is expected to get a good opportunity to prove his fitness ahead of the first Test.The match was to have been Anderson’s first first-class game since his injury at Edgbaston this summer, against a strong South Africa A team which features Temba Bavuma, Reeza Hendricks and Theunis de Bruyn. However, the match has been downgraded to a friendly to allow the ill players a chance to recover and still take part.”We’ve got a few men down with illness and that, so it might not be such a difficult team to pick,” Anderson said, “but I’d like to be in that. If I’ve got any chance of being in that first Test, I think I need to play that three-day game.”To be honest, I’m just trying to force my way back into the side – that’s all I’m thinking about. I’m just hopeful that I can get my fitness up to speed [and] be bowling well enough that I can get picked for that first Test.Before the game was downgraded, Anderson suggested that its first-class status would help to replicate the “intensity” of an international game. “It’s really good to have that first-class [game] just before a Test series,” he said. “It’s good to create that intensity that you need, there’s a bit more on it… it means that bit more, so it’s good for us to have that intensity ahead of what is going to be an intense four-Test series.”James Anderson was back in an England shirt•Getty Images

There have been no targets set by the England set-up regarding how many games Anderson can hope to play in the series, and he suggested that the pace-bowling camp he was part of in Potchefstroom has given him the confidence to “hit the ground running”.”It was just [about] getting some more overs in and really trying to build up my rehab,” Anderson said, “build up my confidence as well, and feel like I can step up the gas, bowl with a bit more confidence and freedom. It was really helpful for me – I feel acclimatised now. I felt like I could come into this game and not feel I had to ease my way in, I could just hit the ground running.”I’ve bowled in the nets and I’ve bowled in the middle as well in the last two weeks out here against a couple of our lads, [but] you just can’t recreate that match intensity. I think I was a little bit off the pace in my first six overs, and it felt a lot better in the second spell. I’m sure that going into the next game, if I do play the next three-day game, then spell after spell, that’ll hopefully just keep getting better and better.”England’s seamers struggled in Anderson’s absence in New Zealand, toiling fruitlessly on their way to a 1-0 series defeat. But Anderson suggested that South African pitches should be provide more assistance for their attack.”New Zealand’s always a hard place to go when there’s not much swing, and the pitches are pretty flat there,” he said. “I think here, you get a bit more – both in the wicket and, with the ball, you get a bit more through the air.”It’s still not a huge amount of swing, or for a long period of time, so it’s about being spot on for that period that it does swing for – you’ve got to be right on the money.”

India batsman asks to be considered for all formats of the game

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Aug-2019Nearly two months after announcing his retirement amid high drama, Ambati Rayudu has made a giant U-turn. According to the , the 33-year-old batsman has sent an email to the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) saying his decision to retire was an “emotional one” and that he was “willing to play in all formats of the game” again.On their part, the HCA want Rayudu to groom the next generation of Hyderabad batsmen, with chief selector Noel David going as far as to say that “he has at least five years of cricket” left in him.”I want to take this opportunity to thank Chennai Super Kings, VVS Laxman and Noel David, who have been very supportive during the tough time and are instrumental in making me realise that I have enough cricket left in me,” Rayudu wrote in an email to Prof Ratnakar Shetty, a member of the panel currently overseeing affairs at the HCA.”I am looking forward to a wonderful season ahead with a very talented Hyderabad team and help the team realise its full potential. I will be available from September 10 to join the Hyderabad team.”Rayudu sent out mixed signals last week when he stated his desire to play in the IPL. He is presently contracted to Chennai Super Kings.”It is great news for us. I still believe he still has five years of cricket and groom youngsters, which is more important for us. Last year without him, we struggled in Ranji Trophy,” David said. “Rayudu’s class and experience will prove to be very handy for Hyderabad and will surely have a major positive influence on the other players as he will be playing in all the formats.”Hopefully he carries on the good work and leads from the front and I am confident of Rayudu getting support from all quarters.”Rayudu announced his retirement after he wasn’t chosen as a replacement for the injured Shikhar Dhawan despite being named one of five stand-bys for the World Cup. He also courted controversy for a not-so-cryptic “3D” tweet aimed at chief selector MSK Prasad who had said that Vijay Shankar – the player picked ahead of Rayudu in the initial 15 – had three dimensions to his game, capable of contributing with bat, ball and in the field.Last year, Rayudu announced his retirement from first-class cricket to focus on his limited-overs career with the World Cup in mind. He played the last of his 97 first-class games in November 2017. Hyderabad finished seventh in Group B in the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy season.

Shaw had ‘inadvertently ingested a prohibited substance, which can be commonly found in cough syrups,’ a BCCI release said

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jul-2019India Test opener Prithvi Shaw has been suspended until November 15, 2019 for a doping violation. A BCCI release on Tuesday said the penalty on Shaw had been imposed after he “inadvertently ingested a prohibited substance, which can be commonly found in cough syrups”.Not picked in the Test squad for the upcoming West Indies tour because of a hip injury, Shaw will also now miss the home Tests against South Africa in October as well as the first Test against Bangladesh, which begins on November 14.Shaw had provided a urine sample as part of the BCCI’s anti-doping testing programme on the day of Mumbai’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match against Punjab on February 22 in Indore. His sample was subsequently tested and found to contain . “Terbutaline, a specified substance, is prohibited both In & Out of Competition in the WADA Prohibited List of Substances,” the BCCI release said. Shaw was then charged on July 16 under the BCCI Anti-Doping Rules (ADR) Article 2.1 and provisionally suspended pending determination of the charge. He admitted to the anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) but asserted it was “inadvertent”, caused by using “the over the counter cough syrup he had taken for his cough”.The BCCI was “satisfied” with the explanation that Shaw had not taken terbutaline “as a performance-enhancing drug”, and after considering all the evidence and taking “expert external advice”, agreed that a “period of ineligibility of eight months should apply, together with disqualification of certain results”.”Because Mr. Shaw promptly admitted his ADRV upon being confronted with it by the BCCI, there is discretion under BCCI ADR Article 10.10.2 to back-date the start of the period of Ineligibility to the date of sample collection (22nd February 2019),” the statement said. “However, the BCCI ADR Article 10.10.2 also requires Mr. Shaw to actually serve one half of the period of ineligibility. Therefore, further to BCCI ADR Article 10.10.2, the eight-month period of Ineligibility will be deemed to have started to run on 16th March 2019, so that it will end at midnight on 15th November 2019.”However, Shaw can return to train with his state team and/or use the facilities of any club or other member organisation of the BCCI after midnight on September 15, 2019 because of the following provision: “Under BCCI ADR Article 10.11.2 a Cricketer may return to train with a team or to use the facilities of a club or other member organisation of a Signatory’s member organisation during the shorter of:
(i) the last two months of the Cricketer’s period of Ineligibility; or
(ii) the last one-quarter of the period of Ineligibility imposed.”The BCCI also said that all of Shaw’s numbers from February 22 this year, when the urine sample was collected, to July 16, the date when he was provisionally suspended, stand “disqualified”.Shaw made his Test debut against West Indies in October 2018 with a sparkling century, followed by a half-century in the next Test. Then he was picked for the Australia tour, but he injured his ankle in a warm-up match which ruled him out of the series.Dullarwar and Gajraj suspended tooAlong with Shaw, Vidarbha’s Akshay Dullarwar and Rajasthan’s Divya Gajraj were also suspended for doping violations. The two had “inadvertently ingested a prohibited substance” for a treatment of an infection and an eye injury respectively.Dullarwar had provided his urine sample during a men’s Under-23 one-day match on March 10, 2019 in Hyderabad, while Gajraj provided his during a Cooch Behar Trophy Under-19 match on February 5, 2019 in Jaipur. Dullarwar’s sample was found to contain , a metabolite of deflazacort, which is a glucocorticoid that is prohibited in-competition in the WADA Prohibited List of Substances, whereas Gajraj’s sample contained , which is a diuretic & masking agent, prohibited at all times in the WADA list.Both players admitted to the ADRV after being charged on June 26, 2019, asserting that it was inadvertent, being caused by their ingestion of the medication that had been prescribed for them by their respective doctors. Like in Shaw’s case, the BCCI was satisfied with the players’ explanation that they were not taken as performance-enhancing drugs.Dullarwar was suspended for eight months, from March 10 to November 9. He can return to train with his state team and/or to use the facilities of any club or other member organisation of the BCCI after midnight on September 9, 2019. Gajraj was suspended for six months, February 5 onwards, but he is required to serve one half of the period of ineligibility, which will begin from March 26 and end on September 25. He will be able to return to train with his state team from August 10.

Combined figures of 5 for 33 from eight overs, bowled by Lasith Malinga and Mitchell McClenaghan, handed Mumbai Indians a place in the IPL playoffs

The Report by Mohammad Isam17-May-2015Lasith Malinga sent Shikhar Dhawan’s off stump flying in the first over•BCCI

Combined figures of 5 for 33 from eight overs, bowled by Lasith Malinga and Mitchell McClenaghan, handed Mumbai Indians a place in the IPL playoffs. Mumbai ended in second place in the points table behind Chennai Super Kings, after a rousing nine-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad.Mumbai finished the match with 6.1 overs to spare to complete a great comeback to the season, which began for them with four consecutive defeats. Sunrisers, though, hardly turned up in their own ground despite having a head start when David Warner called correctly at the toss.Warner’s decision to bat first was a straightforward one given the sheen on the pitch, but it all fell apart in seven deliveries. Sunrisers’ best batsmen this season have been Warner and his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan, by a distance.Malinga got the ball to get under Dhawan’s bat in the first over, sending him back for just 1. Next delivery, McClenaghan bounded in and got one to hurry into Warner who was caught nowhere playing the pull. The ball took a leading edge and fountained in the air, only to be gobbled up by Kieron Pollard who was coming in from point.Malinga and McClenaghan gave away just 13 runs in the first four overs they bowled together. Eoin Morgan got a boundary off Vinay Kumar in the fifth over before McClenaghan hurried another to the batsman, this time Morgan top-edging to third man for a simple catch. McClenaghan added the wicket of Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the 17th over to finish with 3 for 16 from his four overs.KL Rahul got a couple of fours, but then it was J Suchith’s turn to stutter the home side further. In the 10th over, he first had Moises Henriques stumped for 11, before removing the out-of-form Naman Ojha for a first-ball duck, the batsman chipping to Rohit Sharma at cover. Rahul fell in the 13th over after he dragged a Harbhajan Singh short delivery on to the stumps for 25. From 61 for 6, there was very little hope remaining for the hosts.Ashish Reddy, who was brought into the side in place of Bipul Sharma, struck the first six of the innings when he clouted Harbhajan over midwicket but he too fell the following over, caught at point. Dale Steyn knocked three fours in his 11-ball unbeaten 19 but it was never going to be enough.Lendl Simmons and Parthiv Patel found three fours each in the first six overs of the small chase. Parthiv was the aggressor among the pair, adding fours quite regularly. Parthiv, though, survived a stumping chance on 34 when his opposite number Ojha couldn’t gather Karn Sharma’s googly in two tries, leaving Parthiv with little to do but plonk his bat back in the crease in time.The legspinner Karn gave 22 runs in his second over, with Simmons cracking two consecutive sixes over midwicket after Parthiv had scored two fours off the second and third deliveries. Karn eventually took the wicket of Simmons, but by then, the batsman had made 48 off 44 balls with four fours and the two sixes, and with the score at 106. Parthiv remained unbeaten on 51 off 37 balls with the help of nine fours, and quite aptly, struck the winning runs in the 14th over.Simmons and Parthiv added their second hundred-plus opening partnership of the season as Mumbai cruised to set up a clash with the table-toppers Super Kings for the first qualifier in Mumbai on May 19.

On the first morning of the 77th Ranji Trophy, Rajasthan bowled Hyderabad out for 21 in Jaipur, breaking the record for the lowest team total, set in the first edition of the tournament in 1934-35

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Nov-2010On the first morning of the 77th Ranji Trophy, Rajasthan bowled Hyderabad out for 21 in 78 minutes of mayhem in Jaipur, breaking the tournament record for the lowest team total and equalling the Indian first-class record. Debutant Deepak Chahar, Rajasthan’s 18-year-old medium-pacer, did the damage with a spell that read 7.3-2-10-8.The previous Ranji record was set in the first season (1934-35), when Southern Punjab were bowled out for 22 chasing 114 against Northern India in Amritsar.Chahar – son of an Air Force employee who gave up his job to facilitate his son’s cricket career – extracted prodigious swing both ways, an attribute that set Praveen Kumar apart in 2005-06, his debut season. In his third over of the day, Chahar got Akshath Reddy to edge one that swung away late. By now he had the Hyderabad batsmen expecting big outswingers, and that set captain DB Ravi Teja up for a dismissal that made him look silly. Teja saw the ball start wide, was prepared to leave it alone, and had no response to the big inswinger that caught him dead in front.Anoop Pai followed with a not so remarkable shot, getting an edge even as he looked to leave a ball away from his body. Syed Quadri, though, got a jaffa that started on middle and off, then swung away to take the edge. Chahar completed his five-for when that big inswinger found its way through the high back lift of Hyderabad vice-captain Ibrahim Khaleel. Chahar then went on a celebratory run, having completed a debut five-for even before the first drinks break of the match. There was no letting up either: he removed the last three with inswingers, for a matter of two runs.”If you haven’t played Chahar before, there is a chance you will get fooled by the inswinger,” team-mate Aakash Chopra wrote of the debutant. “His stock ball is the one that goes away, and swings appreciably, and the inswinger comes in like a banana.”That nobody had seen him before helped, as did his ability to swing the ball both ways. I won’t say he is rapid, and you don’t expect a swing bowler to be rapid. If you had to draw a parallel with somebody, he would be like a Praveen Kumar or a Manoj Prabhakar, who had good control over the swing, and a really good wrist position that got them the swing.”Chahar was on a hat-trick once, removing MP Arjun and Alfred Absolem with the last ball of his seventh over and the first of his eighth. Pagadala Naidu, the No. 11, kept the hat-trick ball out but got out to the next one. He was not close to getting a perfect 10, though: Pankaj Singh claimed the second and fourth Hyderabad wickets.His figures fell just short of the record effort on debut. Maharashtra’s Vasant Ranjane took 9 for 56 on first-class debut in 1956-57, bowling Saurashtra out for 83 in Khadakvasla and setting up an easy innings win.Not one of Hyderabad’s batsmen got to double figures, and Reddy’s six was the highest individual score. Incredibly, there were only three ducks, and no extras. The whole innings lasted 15.3 overs.Hyderabad’s effort equalled the record for the lowest total in all first-class cricket in India, a mark that has stayed for 95 seasons. During the Bombay Quadrangular in 1915-16, the Europeans bundled the Muslims out for 21.

Sourav Ganguly has put down Kolkata Knight Riders’ comprehensive defeat at the hands of Chennai Super Kings to poor bowling at the death and the loss of early wickets in the chase

Cricinfo staff16-Mar-2010Sourav Ganguly has put down Kolkata Knight Riders’ comprehensive defeat against Chennai Super Kings to poor bowling at the death and the loss of early wickets in the chase. Kolkata, playing at home, were in a strong position after taking three wickets – Matthew Hayden, M Vijay and Suresh Raina – in the first 10 overs. But MS Dhoni and S Badrinath retaliated with an unbeaten 109-run stand to push their team to 164, which their bowlers defended with ease.”We were not up to the mark in last five overs, gave away 60-odd runs. Then we kept losing wickets in run chase. We have to address that. Last four-five overs (of the Chennai innings) took the game away from us,” Ganguly said after his team’s first defeat in the tournament.Dhoni and Badrinath began their surge in the 15th over, when Angelo Mathews was struck for a boundary over short fine leg and a massive six over long-on. The last six overs of the Chennai innings yielded 83. “We’ll talk about our death bowling, but you have to give credit to Dhoni for the shots he played,” Ganguly said.When asked if Kolkata missed a fifth bowler, he said: “We have five bowlers with Brad Hodge and Laxmi Ratan Shukla. Probably we could have bowled Hodge a few more overs.”The Kolkata reply, too, was lacklustre. They lost their two star batsmen from the previous game, Brad Hodge and Manoj Tiwary, within the two overs, and their middle order, including Ganguly, offered little resistance as Kolkata were shot out for 109. “We played too many shots up the order and kept losing wickets. Hopefully, we’ll learn from this and come back a better team,” Ganguly said.Dhoni, despite the thumping win, expected more from his bowlers in the games to follow. “We were worried about our bowling both with the new ball and at the death,” he said. “I still think a couple of our bowlers were a little short with their length and on a slow track like this you can be punished. It’s an area which needs improvement, but it feels good to have a victory under the belt.”The slowish nature of the track, Dhoni said, ensured a score of above 150 was going to be difficult to chase. “You are always under pressure in this format of the game, but we always felt a total of 150 would be a good score on this wicket because it was on the slower side.”

Brooke Guest’s second hundred sets up declaration after stand with Wayne Madsen

ECB Reporters Network01-May-2022Glamorgan narrowly failed to pull off a thrilling run chase as the LV=Insurance County Championship Division Two match at Derby ended in a pulsating draw.Set 331 in 55 overs, Marnus Labuschagne with 85 from 87 balls and Sam Northeast’s 81 off 101 balls put Glamorgan on course before fast bowler Ryan Sidebottom raised Derbyshire’s victory hopes with 4 for 50.Sidebottom removed Northeast to reduce Glamorgan to 308 for 8 but James Harris and Timm van der Gugten, batting with a runner, held on for the draw.Derbyshire wicketkeeper Brooke Guest had earlier scored his second century of the game to equal a 126-year record when he became only the second Derbyshire ‘keeper to make two hundreds in a match.Wayne Madsen also scored an unbeaten 135, sharing a third wicket stand of 276 in 76 overs with Guest, before Derbyshire declared on 349 for 3.David Lloyd with 49 launched the chase with Labuschagne but the Glamorgan captain was issued with a Level One warning on the field for abusive language after he was given lbw by umpire Paul Pollard.Guest and Madsen batted through the morning to set up the drama that unfolded against an attack that was a bowler down after van der Gugten left the field yesterday with a hamstring injury.Guest reached his landmark when he cut the leg spin of Labuschagne for his ninth four to complete his second hundred and equal the record set by Bill Storer against Yorkshire at Derby in 1896.Madsen celebrated yet another century, his 33rd first-class hundred for the county, by cutting Andrew Salter to the boundary and the pair scored 117 runs in the session to take the lead to 268.Derbyshire made their intentions clear after lunch with Guest dispatching a Salter full toss over the ropes at long on and pulling Lloyd’s medium pace for another six.The declaration came when Guest was caught behind down the leg side, leaving Glamorgan to score at more than six an over to achieve victory.Derbyshire took only four balls to get their first wicket with Salter falling to a superb diving catch by Leus du Plooy at third slip off Suranga Lakmal.The big wicket was Labuschagne and Sam Conners twice found his outside edge only for the ball to fly wide of the slips.When he did offer a chance, Derbyshire failed to take it with Mattie McKiernan spilling an edged drive off Sidebottom at first slip on 27.That was always likely to prove costly and Labuschagne twice drove off-spinner Alex Thomson for six on his way to a 49 ball 50.Lloyd was one away from a half-century when he played across the line at Sidebottom and was lbw; he was clearly unhappy with the decision and was issued with the warning for swearing loudly as he marched up the pavilion steps.Labuschagne was dropped again on 74 by Guest but Sidebottom finally got him when he failed to clear cover.Kiran Carlson’s 37 from 35 balls and Chris Cooke with 32 from 25 gave Glamorgan the momentum but Sidebottom and Anuj Dal stemmed the run flow and, crucially, took wickets.Northeast pulled Dal for six but when he drove Sidebottom to third man in the penultimate over with 23 still needed, Glamorgan called off the chase with both teams taking 14 points after an enthralling final day,

The left-hander re-aggravated his quad injury on the opening day against Tasmania

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Oct-2019Kurtis Patterson’s hopes of forcing his way into the selectors’ thoughts for the opening Test of the summer have taken another blow after he re-injured his left quad on the first day against Tasmania.Patterson missed the opening round of Sheffield Shield matches after picking up the original injury playing grade cricket although his absence from the game against Queensland was viewed as precautionary.He replaced Nick Larkin in the New South Wales side to face Tasmania but limped off before lunch after chasing a ball towards the boundary. He was receiving treatment with the hope he would be able to bat later in the match.Patterson made a century in his second Test, against Sri Lanka in Canberra, last February but missed the cut for the Ashes after struggling on the Australia A tour.Of contenders for a middle-order position against Pakistan in Brisbane next month, Mitchell Marsh has already been ruled out after the self-inflicted broken hand from punching the dressing room wall at the WACA.Meanwhile, Aaron Finch has been left out of Victoria’s match against Western Australia a week before the T20I series against Sri Lanka starts following the back spasms he suffered against South Australia.Finch injured his back while running between the wickets during his half-century on the second day at the Junction Oval and did not field for the remainder of the match. He travelled to Perth but was left out of the XI as a precaution although is expected to play the Marsh Cup game against WA at the WACA on Wednesday ahead of leading Australia in six T20Is in the space of 12 days against Sri Lanka and Pakistan from October 27.Matt Short replaced Finch in the middle order. Peter Siddle returned for his first game since injuring his hip flexor in the final Ashes Test.

Only three of the eight players who won selection for the ECB’s North v South Series via the PCA MVP ranking system will take part in this year’s outing to Barbados in March

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jan-2018Only three of the eight players who won selection for the ECB’s North v South Series via the PCA MVP ranking system will take part in this year’s outing to Barbados in March. The pre-season competition, first played in 2017, was originally conceived as a way to bring added relevance to the Royal London Cup and aid England selection ahead of the 2019 World Cup.Of the four South-qualified players, only Daniel Bell-Drummond will take up his place; Alastair Cook and James Vince will be unavailable, with England’s Test team touring New Zealand, while Ravi Bopara has a contract to play in the Pakistan Super League.From the North, Keaton Jennings and Sam Hain will be involved for the second year running. Gary Ballance, another automatic selection via the PCA rankings, will be away on tour to South Africa ahead of his second season as Yorkshire captain, while Shiv Thakor has been deemed ineligible after his recent criminal conviction, which lead to him being sacked by Derbyshire.Steven Mullaney, recently named as Chris Read’s successor as captain at Nottinghamshire, will lead the North, while Sam Northeast takes on the South captaincy.Ben Duckett, who fell foul of the ECB’s disciplinary procedures on the Lions’ tour of Australia, wins a chance to make amends with the North, alongside three other players who featured in 2017: Joe Clarke, Paul Coughlin and Saqib Mahmood. From the South squad who won the inaugural series 3-0, Northeast, Bell-Drummond and Liam Dawson return.The North will be coached by Paul Collingwood, with assistance from Nottinghamshire’s Paul Franks; while Mark Ramprakash will take charge of the South, backed up by Andy Flower. The squads were chosen by national selector, James Whitaker, after discussions with Collingwood and Ramprakash, as well as England selectors Angus Fraser and Mick Newell.”We believe these are two exciting squads which again underline the value of this North-South Series as an opportunity for us to see some strong contenders for white-ball cricket playing at a higher level of competition and intensity,” Whitaker said.”The unavailability of several of the players who had earned automatic invitations means the squads are tilted more towards youth and potential this year. The North squad has six players aged 21 or under, and the South squad includes four 20-year-olds plus Sam Curran, who is still only 19.”Some of the players we have selected have very limited List A experience with their counties. But in those cases their potential has already been identified with selection on the ECB’s International Pathway. For example Delray Rawlins is currently in Sydney on an overseas placement, and we have included three fast bowlers currently training with the Pace Programme – Zak Chappell in the North squad, and Paul Walter and Tom Helm with the South.”But it is also a good opportunity for more experienced players who have impressed in the county game, such as Steven Mullaney, Brett D’Oliveira, John Simpson and Sam Northeast, to show the selectors and England coaches what they can do at a higher level.”The North-South Series will take place at Kensington Oval, with fixtures on March 18, 21 and 23. A number of players will also be involved in the Lions tour of the West Indies that precedes it, while Essex will subsequently play MCC in the Champion County match at the ground – moving to the Caribbean after several years in the UAE – on March 27-30.North Squad: Steven Mullaney (Notts, capt), Sam Hain (Warwickshire), Ben Duckett (Northamptonshire), Joe Clarke (Worcestershire), Keaton Jennings (Lancashire), Brett D’Oliveira (Worcestershire), Alex Davies (Lancashire, wk), Paul Coughlin (Notts), Matt Fisher (Yorkshire), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Richard Gleeson (Northamptonshire), Zak Chappell (Leicestershire), Matt Parkinson (Lancashire)South Squad Sam Northeast (Kent, capt), Daniel Bell-Drummond (Kent), Nick Gubbins (Middlesex), Dan Lawrence (Essex), Delray Rawlins (Sussex), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), John Simpson (Middlesex, wk), Sam Curran (Surrey), Paul Walter (Essex), Dom Bess (Somerset), Tom Helm (Middlesex), Jamie Porter (Essex), George Garton (Sussex)