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Green “definitely” thought he caught it, while Mohammed Shami and Alex Carey also stand on opposing sides of the raging debate

Osman Samiuddin10-Jun-20231:37

Was Green’s catch to dismiss Gill clean?

Fifteen minutes after the close of play, Shubman Gill took to social media to question the decision that led to his dismissal on the fourth day of the World Test Championship (WTC) final at The Oval.Tweeting a front-on angle photograph of Cameron Green taking the catch down to his left at gully, Gill captioned it with two magnifying glass emojis followed by a facepalm emoji. That sentiment was echoed somewhat by Mohammed Shami later, who suggested the occasion of this final warranted more rigour in the decision-making.Gill was on 18 as India began their pursuit of 444 when he edged Scott Boland low to Green’s left. Green – who said he thought the catch was clean – celebrated immediately but Gill did not walk off immediately. The on-field umpires went up to the TV umpire Richard Kettleborough, with a new protocol in place now without giving a soft signal. The need for a soft signal in these kinds of decisions was scrapped recently by the ICC’s cricket committee and this was the first occasion the protocol was required.After viewing a number of replays from different angles and zooming in, Kettleborough gave the decision as out, much to the visible disappointment of both Gill and his partner, captain Rohit Sharma, as well as the thousands of Indian fans at the ground. The entire process took less than three minutes. “Yes, definitely, more time could have been taken [to verify if it was a clean catch] because it is a World Test Championship final and not just a normal match,” Shami said later. “You could have checked more and zoomed in more. But it’s okay, it’s part of the game.” That was a sentiment – that it is part of the game – that Shami would repeat later.It was Green’s second outstanding grab of the Test, after the spectacular one he took stretching to his right at gully to dismiss Ajinkya Rahane in the first innings, though he did also drop a far simpler chance earlier in the game. “At the time I definitely thought I caught it,” Green said of the Gill catch. “I think in the heat of the moment I thought it was clean. It was left up to the third umpire and he agreed.”Related

• Rahul Dravid rues India's first-day no-show with the ball

• Gill caught by Green: clean or not?

• Report: Kohli, Rahane keep India alive in hunt of 444

The Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey, one of the players close enough to the catch, also thought the correct decision had been made. “It looked good from where I was,” Carey told BBC’s Test Match Special. “I thought he caught it fair and square. He was pretty happy with it, so yeah, the right decision was made.”Green was the recipient of boos from a sizeable and vociferous crowd of India supporters through the rest of the day, as well as chants of “cheat” each time he was involved with the action. It didn’t, however, seem to faze him. “Obviously, the Indian crowd are so passionate and obviously one of their favourite guys Shubman Gill got out and I think that’s what they were all kind of looking forward to watching, so it is what it is and we move on,” Green said.Only time will tell whether Gill faces any consequences for his tweet. Clause 2.7 of the ICC’s code of conduct is clear that social media posts come within the jurisdiction of what constitutes a breach of the code.

“For the avoidance of doubt, any posting by a Player or Player Support Personnel of comments on a social media platform (including, without limitation, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn) shall be deemed to be ‘public’ for the purposes of this offence. Consequently, a Player or Player Support Personnel may breach Article 2.7 where they criticise or make an inappropriate comment in relation to an incident occurring in an International Match or any Player, Player Support Personnel, Match Official or team participating in any International Match in any posting they make on a social media platform.”

James Vince tweets disbelief at Ben Brown’s dismissal as Hampshire’s frustration flares

ECB Reporters Network30-Aug-2022Kent 313 for 7 (Robinson 95, Stevens 84*) beat Hampshire 310 for 9 (Gubbins 75, Donald 54, Organ 54) by three wicketsDarren Stevens continued his farewell tour with an outrageous 84 off 65 balls to send Kent Spitfires to the Royal London Cup final and end Hampshire’s hopes of the treble in the process.Veteran all-rounder Stevens is leaving Kent at the end of this season after they decided not to renew his contract. He will round off his Kent List A career at a one-day final after striking a six off his legs and then a driven four to take his side over the line with an over to spare.Ollie Robinson’s 95 and Harry Finch’s 63 had set up Kent’s pursuit of 310 before the 46-year-old marshalled his side to a three-wicket victory.Kent, who lost to Hampshire in the 2018 final, will face Lancashire in the Trent Bridge showpiece on September 17.Kent openers Joey Evison and Ben Compton were both dismissed inside the first six overs of the reply, both edging to Scott Currie at second slip. At the other end, Robinson was playing with a sublime touch, with all 12 of his fours coming on the offside to go with a beautifully flicked six.Joe Denly put on 48 with Robinson before edging behind before Harry Finch arrived to substantially chip away at their task. A quick outfield paired with well-placed shots made scoring seem easy, with the duo’s 100 stand coming in 101 balls. But the momentum swung back towards Hampshire as Robinson spooned to midwicket for 95 and Finch chopped on.Enter Stevens, on the back of 41 off 24 in the quarter-final.He bossed a 60-run stand with Grant Stewart, and then dominated a 45 partnership with Harry Podmore. Power was the name of his game, whether it was down the ground or through point; every other ball had the kitchen sink thrown at it. His 50 came at a run-a-ball, before an extraordinary slapped four over extra cover, off a no-ball bouncer, and a checked straight six combo silenced the Ageas Bowl. He even had time to hug umpire David Millns after smashing back at him.Seventy-two were needed from the last 10 overs, which Stevens expertly systematically knocked off to win with an over to spare.Earlier, Nick Gubbins and Ben Brown had set the platform with 106 for the first wicket – Hampshire’s highest opening stand of the tournament. Gubbins was dropped on 33 at first slip but moved past 50 for the third time in the competition in 54 balls – brought up with a sweetly timed cut for four.The impressive start was halted by leggie Hamidullah Qadri in controversial fashion. Brown was adjudged to have been caught at short fine leg, giving a sarcastic thumbs up and applause to the away side on his way off – with club captain James Vince also tweeting his disbelief at the decision. The next delivery, Hampshire’s leading run scorer Tom Prest edged behind.Aneurin Donald skewed the hat-trick ball away before forging stands of 40 and 42 with Gubbins and, when he had been bowled on 75, Fletcha Middleton, in a controlled half-century.Another pair of wickets – Donald lbw while attempting a one-handed reverse sweep and Middleton tamely caught at cover – dragged the Spitfires back into things, onl for Toby Albert and Felix Organ to thrash 88 runs in 57 balls.Hampshire looked well set for Trent Bridge. Then came Stevens.

Head coach rues one-wicket loss, blames batting for shortcomings, but doesn’t rule out comeback

Andrew Miller27-Oct-20233:40

Arthur: ‘Unfair to start a witch-hunt on Babar’

Mickey Arthur, Pakistan’s coach, said that his team’s failure to put together the “perfect game” was to blame for their struggles at this year’s World Cup, as he urged the PCB to steer clear of “witch-hunts” in the wake of their agonising one-wicket loss against South Africa.A last-wicket stand between Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi condemned Pakistan to their fourth defeat in a row, their worst run in World Cup history. However, it was a vastly more spirited showing than they produced in their previous match in Chennai, against Afghanistan last week, let alone their seven-wicket loss to India in Ahmedabad two weeks ago.The defeat does not mean that Pakistan are out of the running for a place in the semi-finals. However, the post-mortem on their campaign looks to be underway already.Related

• PCB chief Zaka Ashraf accused of 'flagrant misdoings and unconstitutional decisions'

• Ghosts of Chepauk's past don't spook South Africa

• South Africa rise to the top by the barest of margins in thriller against Pakistan

• Pakistan bring in Usama Mir named as concussion sub for Shadab Khan

• South Africa have another 'C' word to deal with

In the wake of the Afghanistan loss, the PCB issued a press release “addressing the media scrutiny directed at captain Babar Azam and the team management”, in which it stated that “the board would make decisions in the best interests of Pakistan cricket based on the team’s performances in the World Cup.”Speaking after the South Africa loss, however, Arthur replied: “They’re going to be blaming everybody, don’t worry. It’s just the way of the world.”It’s really unfair to start a witch-hunt, certainly on Babar Azam, on Inzi [chief selector, Inzamam-ul-Haq], on our coaches, on the management team,” he added. “What I do know is the boys have tried and the effort of the coaching staff, the effort of the players has been first-class. If they would see that the amount of effort that the players and staff put in, they would be amazed.”That effort was plain in the closing stages of the contest at Chepauk, by a distance the most compelling finish at this year’s World Cup. After posting a competitive but below-par target of 271, Pakistan claimed five wickets for 54 in the space of 12.3 overs to leave South Africa floundering at 260 for 9, before they grafted their way over the line with 16 balls to spare.”Tonight, I thought was our best bowling performance of the competition,” Arthur said. “I thought we bowled really well, but I still thought we were under-par in terms of the runs that we had. We haven’t put the perfect game together yet. It hasn’t been for lack of effort, hasn’t been for lack of trying, but we just haven’t got enough players in form at the minute, particularly with the bat.Mickey Arthur praised Pakistan’s best bowling performance of the tournament despite their agonising loss•ICC/Getty Images

“Tonight is a totally different feeling in that dressing-room to the Afghanistan game,” he added, after their eight-wicket loss at the same venue on Monday. “The Afghanistan game, we were average in all departments. Tonight, we were okay with the bat, I thought we were very good with the ball. And tonight, I’m really proud of those [players] because they fought right to the bitter end.”Pakistan currently have four points from six games following their opening victories over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka. But, with other contenders for the top four also struggling for their best form, including Australia – who play third-placed New Zealand on Saturday – they are still in sixth place, just two points adrift of the semi-final places.”You never know,” Arthur said of their lingering knock-out hopes. “What I do know is that we need to go and assess combinations again, we need to have a look at the holes we have within our team. We need to start improving in a lot of areas and we’ve got to go home and finish this tournament with three victories. That’s what I do know. Every day we’ll be trying and we’ll be striving to do that.”Arthur had been outspoken about the atmosphere within the stadium during Pakistan’s defeat against India in Ahmedabad, complaining that the overwhelming support for the home team made it feel like a “BCCI event and not a World Cup”. However, he had nothing but praise for a passionate and fair-minded Chennai crowd, whose enthusiasm was rewarded with the most compelling contest of the tournament to date.”Yeah, the crowd was outstanding tonight,” he said. “It was really good. Take the results out of the way, Chennai has been outstanding. Training facilities, everything has been brilliant. And the crowd tonight was fantastic. And I think at least we’ve given the World Cup the close finish that it needed to kick-start it on. It’s just a pity we were on the wrong side of that.”

England’s swashbuckling batting line-up makes them firm favourites as Afghanistan look to reach their first ICC final

Sreshth Shah31-Jan-2022

Big Picture

The first semi-final of the 2022 Under-19 World Cup will feature two teams, who in many ways, play just like their senior sides do. England are the side that bat aggressively, while Afghanistan have tied a web around other teams with their spinners.However, both teams have had largely different paths to the semi-final. England reached the West Indies early. They played the warm-ups, beat Bangladesh in their competition opener, and have not looked back since.Afghanistan, on the other hand, had a late arrival to the tournament, forcing them to miss both warm-up games entering the event. They lost to Pakistan, finished second in their group, and barely went over the line in the quarters.Related

• Afghanistan defend 134 against Sri Lanka to reach semis

• Bethell's 88, Ahmed's four-for lift England to semi-finals

Therefore, the two sides are in wildly different headspaces. England have been dominant. They rolled Bangladesh over for 97, made 320 and 362 against Canada and UAE, and chased a target against South Africa inside 32 overs.Afghanistan, though, have been tested, more than once. Against Pakistan, they could not go over the line, but they defended 200 against a talented Zimbabwe side. Lessons from both those games came to use against Sri Lanka in the first knockout game, where they successfully defended 134. That Sri Lanka game gave Afghanistan the sinking feeling of how being eliminated may feel, but most importantly, provided the redemption arc that gives them the belief that they can crawl out of any situation on the field.As expected, Afghanistan are reliant on their spinners, led by left-arm wristspinner Noor Ahmad, playing his second tournament and also in the radar for the upcoming IPL auction. Izharulhaq Naveed provides legspin, and together the two have taken 15 wickets. Throw in left-arm spinner Nangeyalia Kharote’s seven wickets, and Afghanistan have a formidable 30 overs of spin to test England.But standing in their way is England’s swashbuckling batting line-up. Their captain Tom Prest has smacked the second-highest score of the competition. Barbados-born Jacob Bethell scored an outrageous 44-ball 82 in the quarter-final against South Africa. And William Luxton, from the middle order, averages 70+ at a strike-rate of almost 120. If England’s batting plays out 50 overs, they will be favourites to take the win.That’s because Afghanistan’s batting is frail. Papua New Guinea bowled them out for 200, and the Sri Lanka game showed that playing quick seamers isn’t a strength either. And England have plenty of challenging bowlers, with left-arm quick Joshua Boyden leading the way with his 12 wickets, followed by legspinner Rehan Ahmed who have both produced match-winning spells.

Form guide

England WWWWW (most recent first)
England WWLWLAfghanistan players celebrate their win against Sri Lanka in the quarters•ICC via Getty Images

In the spotlight

Can the captain Tom Prest produce the same form that he showed against Canada and UAE? The 154* and 93 against the two non-Test playing countries showed that he is a notch above bowlers from those teams. He has used his feet to the spinners and comfortably played off the back foot against seamers who aren’t extremely quick. But the Afghan spinners will provide a whole different challenge.Suliman Safi is the lone Afghanistan batter who has put on any substantial score. The captain made 62 against PNG and 111 against Zimbabwe, but against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, he couldn’t produce a significant innings. Afghanistan, so far, seem to build their innings around him, and he is the lynchpin who could decide what score the team finally posts.

Team news

No injury news in either team, and both are expected to field their strongest XIs. If the pitch shows cracks, England could throw in spinning allrounder Fateh Singh into the mix.England (possible): 1 George Thomas, 2 Jacob Bethell, 3 Tom Prest (capt), 4 James Rew, 5 William Luxton, 6 George Bell, 7, Rehan Ahmed, 8 Alex Horton (wk), 9 Thomas Aspinwall, 10 James Sales, 11 Joshua BoydenAfghanistan (possible): 1 Bilal Sayedi, 2 Nangeyalia Kharote, 3 Allah Noor, 4 Suliman Safi (capt), 5 Ijaz Ahmad Ahmadzai, 6 Abdul Hadi, 7 Mohammad Ishaq (wk), 8 Noor Ahmad, 9 Izharulhaq Naveed, 10 Bilal Sami, 11 Naveed Zadran

Pitch and conditions

The scores have gotten lower as the tournament has moved on, and there’s a bit of rain expected. If the match is washed out, or no result is possible, then England would qualify into the final because of their better group-stage performance.

Stats and trivia

• The last time England reached an Under-19 World Cup final, they went on to win the whole event. Afghanistan are yet to reach a final in any ICC competition.
• With 275 runs, Prest is the competition’s second-highest run-scorer.
• The two squads have never played each other, although they were supposed to in the warm-up game that was cancelled due to Afghanistan’s late arrival.

Kohli and Pujara started a repair job as India’s lead swelled to 70 by stumps on day two

Andrew Miller12-Jan-20221:21

Manjrekar: ‘The way Agarwal is getting out is worrisome’

Two days done and dusted in a compelling Cape Town contest, and the destiny of a thrillingly fought series remains firmly up for grabs. In battling through to the close with an unbeaten third-wicket stand, Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara overcame the cheap loss of India’s openers to stretch their side into a promising lead of 70. But on another day dominated by high-class fast bowling, it was Jasprit Bumrah’s triumphant return to the scene of his 2018 Test debut that has so far made the crucial difference between the teams.As India target an extraordinary triple-crown of overseas series wins in Australia, England* and now South Africa, Bumrah’s Test career speaks directly to their dramatic transformation away from home (not that their standards on home soil have exactly suffered in recent times). He’s playing his 24th Test out of 27 away from home, and now boasts a stunning haul of 112 wickets at 22.58, including each of his seven five-fors, a tally that no bowler has surpassed since that 2018 debut.After prising out the critical wicket of Dean Elgar in the closing moments of day one, Bumrah was right back on the mark from the moment that play resumed under gleaming blue skies at Newlands – his second ball was a sharp inducker that surged past Aiden Markram’s fatally upraised bat, into the off stump. At 17 for 2, India’s 223 already looked significantly more substantial than at first glance.And so it transpired for the remainder of an engrossing innings, as South Africa pinned their hopes of parity on another coming-of-age knock from the steadfast Keegan Petersen while riding out the contrasting, but unrelenting, threats of a superbly balanced India attack.At varying moments in the course of the day – most notably when they reached lunch on 100 for 3 with only the additional loss of the nightwatchman Keshav Maharaj, and again half an hour before tea, when two wickets in three balls from Mohammed Shami again derailed a well-established innings – South Africa looked set for a significant lead. Instead, their final six wickets were picked off for 51 – not without a fight, but with a certain inevitability, such was the calibre of the attack bearing down on them.The key scalp of the innings was that of Petersen for 72, and sure enough, it was Bumrah who delivered with his second wicket of a pre-tea double whammy that, moments earlier, had served up the dangerous Marco Jansen, bowled for seven by that relentless inducker as he played down the wrong line.Keegan Petersen acknowledges the applause on getting to a fifty•AFP/Getty Images

For the first hour of his innings on a baking-hot morning at Newlands, Petersen had set his sights purely on survival. With Maharaj providing a measure of impetus in a doughty stay as nightwatchman, Petersen had just six runs from 42 balls by drinks, all the while buoyed by the memories of his breakthrough fifty at the Wanderers last week, in a similarly low-scoring tussle.He needed some luck to make it that far, however, including when KL Rahul failed to wrap his fingers round a low edge to third slip on four. But when Umesh Yadav’s scrambled seam burst through Maharaj’s loose drive to bowl him for 25 just before the hour mark, Petersen took his cue for a controlled counterattack.With Rassie van der Dussen now taking his turn to drop anchor, Petersen cashed in on a fractional slackening of India’s extreme discipline, with six fours flowing from the next nine overs, including four exceptionally placed carves through the off side when offered a fraction of width, and a flick off the toes through midwicket off Shardul Thakur. Even R Ashwin, typically economical in an understated nine overs of deployment, couldn’t escape Petersen’s flood of confidence as he reverse-swept the third ball he faced past backward point.In consecutive overs before lunch, the pair brought up both their fifty stand and South Africa’s 100, but van der Dussen’s poise vanished during the 40-minute interval. He could have run himself out twice straight after the break, but instead fell for 21 to a scuffed drive off Yadav, with Kohli at second slip clinging onto a fast-flying edge.Petersen, however, found another important ally in Temba Bavuma – himself enjoying a period of serenity as a Test asset, for all that that another hundred (to follow up the famous maiden effort he made on this same ground in 2016) remains elusive. Few current players can put away a cover-drive with more aplomb right now, and in a hint at South Africa’s waxing fortunes, he even managed to turn a dropped catch at first slip into five bonus runs, as Pujara’s spill rolled into the stack of helmets behind the wicketkeeper.But on 28, and moments after the fourth and final bullet boundary of his innings, Bavuma was undone as Shami dragged his length back for Kohli to cling onto his 100th Test catch at second slip, and when Kyle Verreynne dangled his bat loosely two balls later to depart for a duck, South Africa were 159 for 6, and back in a heap of trouble.That was the cue for Bumrah to rev back into action. For three consecutive overs he tormented Jansen in the channel outside off, then did for Petersen with some extra lift into the heel of the bat. And despite some long-handled resistance from the tail, most particularly Rabada, he would not be denied his first five-for since the Trent Bridge Test in August last year, as Lungi Ngidi looped a leading edge into the covers.The day’s jeopardy wasn’t done just yet. With a slender lead of 13, Mayank Agarwal overturned an early lbw verdict in a hornet-like new-ball onslaught from Rabada, but departed soon afterwards for 7 as Rabada fizzed a full-length delivery off the edge to first slip. And though Duanne Olivier’s first two-over spell was wayward, Jansen’s opening gambit was anything but, as KL Rahul was enticed by the full length, and fenced a fourth-ball drive to Markram in the slips.Kohli, however, fresh from his supreme 79 in the first innings, refused to allow his side’s ascendancy to slide any further, as he and Pujara closed up for the evening in a 33-run stand.

He replaces Jason Holder, who had been at the helm for the last four seasons

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jul-2022South Africa batter David Miller has been named the captain of Barbados Royals for the 2022 CPL season, replacing Jason Holder, who had been at the helm for the last four seasons.Miller, who will return to the CPL for the first time in three seasons having last represented Jamaica Tallawahs in 2018 and St Lucia Zouks in 2016, was snapped up by Royals earlier this month along with his South African team-mate Quinton de Kock. He has scored 332 runs in 15 innings at a strike rate of 146.90 in the tournament.Miller is also coming off a superb run in the IPL, where he scored 481 runs in 16 matches at a strike rate of 142.73 for champions Gujarat Titans. He will now renew ties with a Royals franchise, having played for Rajasthan in the IPL in 2020 and 2021.”During my time at the Royals in the IPL, I always felt very valued and have been able to establish a deep connection with the team,” Miller said. “It is an exciting time for me to come to the Barbados Royals, and a privilege to have been appointed as the captain. It is a team that has an abundance of young and experienced talent from the Caribbean and I am looking forward to working with the entire group to get down to achieving our objectives for the 2022 season”Head coach Trevor Penney added, “Having worked with David (Miller) before at the Rajasthan Royals, we knew he has a cricketing brain which not only reads situations very well on the field, but is also very passionately involved off the field. He is someone who helps in creating a perfect environment for his team-mates to excel in, and that is what we are expecting out of him here at Barbados, where he will be leading the franchise. He has shown tremendous experience and guile in the last few months, and drove his team to IPL glory, unfortunately beating us in the final. We are all delighted to have signed him and look forward to working with him during the season.”Holder played a key role in taking Royals (then Tridents) to their second title in 2019. However, they endured back-to-back tough seasons, finishing fifth in 2020 and last on the table in 2021. Penney said the allrounder will continue to be a “pillar” for the side.”I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Jason (Holder) for his contribution to the team as the captain, and for agreeing to our decision of having a new leader for the team. He is one of the pillars of this Barbados side and will continue to remain so going forward.”The 2022 CPL will be played from August 31 to September 30, with Royals kicking off their campaign against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots on September 1.

Defending champions have direct entry into the semi-final where they will play the winner of Central Zone vs East Zone

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jun-2023Cheteshwar Pujara and Suryakumar Yadav have been drafted into the West Zone squad for the 2023 Duleep Trophy beginning June 28 in Bengaluru.They have been brought in for Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad, who have been named in India’s Test squad due to visit the Caribbean. Priyank Panchal, the Gujarat opener, will remain captain of West Zone, which also features Sarfaraz Khan and Prithvi Shaw among others.Pujara has been left out of India’s Test squad after the World Test Championship final earlier this month, where he made 14 and 27. While his omission has elicited debate and criticism, Pujara himself appears to be looking forward and has begun training for the new season in Rajkot, his hometown.