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Queensland saw through the opening session without loss before the rest of the day was washed out

AAP28-Nov-2023Matt Renshaw’s search for a pivotal innings in his quest for a Test opening berth was undermined by persistent rain at the Gabba against Western Australia.Renshaw was unbeaten at lunch on 37 with opening partner Joe Burns 19 not out, but that was as far as they got on day one of the Sheffield Shield clash.The visitors won the toss and bowled. Renshaw was confronted with overcast skies, a pitch with a green tinge and a quality pace attack.It was just the test the Australian selectors would have wanted for Renshaw and he started his innings with aplomb. It was tough early with pace bowler Jhye Richardson finding his groove on return from a dislocated shoulder.Cameron Green, who is looking to push for a return to the Test side, sent down four overs for five runs.Renshaw left the ball well, rotated the strike nicely with Burns and played one sumptuous pull shot through midwicket to the boundary off Liam Haskett. He had the demeanour of a man prepared to settle in for a long innings.The 27-year-old is vying with Western Australia’s Cameron Bancroft and Victoria’s Marcus Harris to replace David Warner at the top of Australia’s order for the opening Test against the West Indies in January. Warner will retire after the third and final Test against Pakistan in Sydney.Renshaw will not be hanging his hat on a gritty 30-odd and with the forecast improved for the final three days of the Shield match he has the opportunity to post a big century.The three Shield games in progress that stated on Tuesday are the last of the calendar year but Renshaw, Harris and Bancroft will all get another key opportunity to impress Australian selectors next week when they represent the Prime Minister’s XI against Pakistan in Canberra.

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.

Sakariya and Gaikwad talk about their maiden India call-up and what they’re most looking forward to in Sri Lanka

Shashank Kishore11-Jun-2021The year 2021 has given Chetan Sakariya some of his most cherished memories. But it has also taken away the pillars of his life. In February, his younger brother died by suicide days before the IPL auction. In May, soon after Sakariya impressed in his maiden stint with the Rajasthan Royals, he saw his father succumb to Covid-19.At 23, Sakariya is no stranger to hardships and struggle, having been the sole breadwinner of his family for the last three years, but he now wants to live with the happy memories life has thrown at him, like the news of his India call-up for the limited-overs series in Sri Lanka in July.Related

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“I would’ve been happy just going to Sri Lanka as a net bowler, so this is a massive surprise,” Sakariya told ESPNcricinfo. “At the IPL, I thought I exceeded my own expectations. Initially, I thought I may have to wait for my turn [at the Royals], but once I got into the camp, the kind of confidence and faith everyone showed in me, I got the vibes that I’ll start. So while it is a surprise [to be picked for India], I’m very much ready and confident with the way I’ve prepared.”After the IPL was suspended, Sakariya, a left-arm medium pacer, resumed training in the third week of May. Much of his routine has been focused on improved fitness and developing a strong core. He has been working under the mentorship of AT Rajamani Prabhu, a renowned strength and conditioning coach, in Chennai. The pair first worked together during a pre-IPL camp.”I enjoyed training under him at Royals, so when I was ready to resume, I expressed keen interest in training again under Rajamani sir. The franchise was very supportive of that and arranged everything – like my accommodation and travel – in Chennai, so that I could become a better version of myself. For the last 15 days, I’ve had two intense training sessions every day, with a short break for lunch and rest.”Sakariya has specifically been working on “energy system development”, a training method he explains as something where you “sustain energy over a long period of time through a dedicated training routines”. Ask him about the benefits, and he spontaneously says it has helped improve his agility.”I feel my movements are swifter, my core is stronger, and I believe I’m bowling a tad quicker as well. This side of training isn’t something I knew a lot of growing up, but I’ve felt a lot of change in the way I feel about myself. It’s been a busy routine in Chennai, but one I’m happy and satisfied with. I’m looking forward to learning a lot more with the Indian team.”Ruturaj Gaikwad is focused on getting “the process right”•BCCI/IPL

Sakariya isn’t the only one to have utilised this break to make changes to the way he approaches his training. Opening batter Ruturaj Gaikwad, also part of the 20-man tour party led by Shikhar Dhawan, focused on “sleeping early and become a morning person” so that the 7-11am window during lockdown at home in Pune was utilised in the best way possible.”In Pune, there’s been a lockdown since May, and things have been open only from 7-11am. So I wanted to ensure I didn’t spend that time sleeping,” Gaikwad said. “I wanted to utilise more of that time for my fitness work and gym work. I didn’t want myself to be caught off guard and be in a situation where I was picked but wasn’t conditioned enough.”Because he has tuned himself to going to bed early, he almost didn’t come to know of his India call-up on Thursday night when it was announced – he happened to check his phone only because he mistook the repeated ringing for distress calls from his friends.”When I go to sleep, I generally switch off mobile data. I know if it’s an emergency, someone will generally call twice. When my phones started ringing continuously, I wasn’t first sure what it was,” Gaikwad said, laughing. “Then two journalists informed me of my selection.”I had to wake my parents up to tell them. They were quite deep in sleep, and weren’t fully able to process what I was telling them at first. But this morning they woke up really happy and made some (sweets) at home, and I was happy to make an exception and have them to celebrate the happy news.”Like Sakariya, this is Gaikwad’s maiden call-up. Unlike Sakariya, Gaikwad, has been in and around the India A set-up. While he says the ultimate dream is to earn a debut, he wants to keep his mind blank and soak in the experience of being on tour with the national team.”I had a few good scores for India A two years ago, but I wasn’t thinking much about my selection,” he said. “Even now, I’m not thinking on the lines of ‘will I play’. My main focus is on doing my processes right. I’m looking forward to learning the knack of adaptability, something that will be very important going forward.”Once you play international cricket, teams and players watch you, they make plans against you. Dhawan and a few of the other seniors have played a lot of international cricket, so I’d like to learn from them by chatting to them about how they assess conditions, how they’ve adapted, how they’ve used their experience and learnt from their failures.”I am also really excited to train and spend a month under Rahul Dravid, who was our India A coach when I was part of the team two years ago. He was with us on three tours, and we started to get familiar with each other. So when he was appointed the National Cricket Academy chief, I was personally disappointed at not being able to pick his brains anymore. But now, getting a chance to do that will be very useful for me.”

Four teams will contest the women’s challenge, and concussion substitutes will make an appearance

Nagraj Gollapudi28-Jan-2020For the first time, a one-off all-star fixture, comprising players from all the eight franchises, will precede the IPL. The match will be played three days before the tournament’s opening match, which, as reported in December, is will be played on March 29. Both the opening match and the IPL final will be played in Mumbai, the home base of defending champions Mumbai Indians.ESPNcricinfo understands that the two teams for the all-star match are likely to be formed with players from the four franchises in the north and east of India – Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders – and the four teams in the south and west – Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai. No venue has been finalised for the match yet.It appears that the idea of the all-star match came from BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and IPL governing council chairman Brijesh Patel. Both were present at the governing council meeting on Monday in New Delhi where the decision was made.Timings of evening matches unchangedOne of the key points discussed at the meeting concerned the start timings for the evening matches, an issue both the IPL and host broadcaster Star India have been discussing over the past few years. It is understood that Star wanted an earlier start than 8pm IST, because many matches stretch past midnight. However, several teams pointed out that starting early could hand the advantage to one team because of dew.Consequently, the IPL decided to leave the timing for the evening matches unchanged. Ganguly also said that there would just be four double-headers [days with both an afternoon and an evening match] in the 2020 IPL, continuing with the trend established over the past few years to reduce the number of day matches with the tournament being played in summer.The IPL did not announce the main tournament schedule even though the tournament is starting in two months’ time. BCCI officials did not reveal the reason for the delay, but it is learnt that the schedule is likely to be out later this week. One plausible reason could be to the late arrival of the Australia, England and New Zealand players. As per the availability periods listed pre-IPL auction, players from these three countries will arrive after March 31, as they would be busy with various bilateral series as well as the Sheffield Shield final.Four teams for women’s T20 exhibition matchesTaking another step forward towards a women’s IPL, the BCCI has decided to add another team to the women’s T20 exhibition matches it has been conducting over the last two IPL seasons. In 2018, two teams – Supernovas and Trailblazers – contested a one-off exhibition match, which finished in a last-ball thriller. Last year, a third team – Velocity – was added with four matches hosted in Jaipur, which ran parallel to the main IPL playoffs.For the 2020 season, a fourth team, not named yet, has been added to the mix. It is understood there will be seven matches, including the final, that are likely to be scheduled once again around the IPL playoffs.No-ball umpires get the nodThe IPL has also decided to let an off-field match official to supervise no-balls. The move is bound to be welcomed by the players considering the errors by on-field umpires over the years that have left many captains fuming.Last IPL, Virat Kohli, leading the Royal Challengers in a crucial match against Mumbai, called the umpiring standards “ridiculous” and club standard. Incidentally, the no-ball delivered by Lasith Malinga went undetected by S Ravi, one of the on-field umpires who was removed from the ICC’s Elite Panel last year.Taking cognizance of the players’ complaints, the IPL had discussed the issue last year, with Patel saying that an exclusive match official, separate to the TV and fourth umpire, would be in charge of supervising no-balls. Late last year, the ICC opted to reintroduce the no-ball umpire on a trial basis. The ICC, however, had entrusted the job to the regular TV umpire.Concussion substitutes to be introducedThe IPL governing council also approved the move to allow concussion substitutes from the 2020 edition. The match referee will be the final authority on who could come in as a substitute with the option of disallowing replacements if they are deemed not to be like-for-like.

A year on from an infamous incident in a bar in Perth, Duckett’s recall for the Lions tour is a sign of his second coming

Matt Roller07-Jan-2019Winter can be a strange time for county cricketers. Once a period of rest or temporary work, the off-season has turned into a six-month bonanza of opportunity for many: T20 franchises are desperate to spot hidden gems outside of the international set-up, representative sides tour ever more frequently, and there are chances to learn or to make a point at every turn.But for Ben Duckett, last winter could hardly have been worse. It included a fine and a suspension after pouring a drink over James Anderson during England’s ignominious Ashes tour; omission from the Lions squad to tour the West Indies in the spring, and surgery on his left hand which ruled him out of the North v South series. It was, he reflects, “the lowest point of my career”.Fast forward a year, and there is a chance for redemption. Named in the Lions squad to tour India despite an underwhelming season which he describes as “my worst so far on the pitch”, Duckett has the opportunity to pile on the runs, and make the case that his unquestionable talent rather than his unruly reputation should be what makes him stand out from the crowd.”People have opinions on me,” he admits, “and I completely understand why they do. Getting the call-up when I’ve not necessarily done that well over the last 12 months shows there’s backing from the selectors and the coaches – they want me in there, which is such a positive for me.”I’ve made mistakes in my past and I’d be the first to admit that. Every time I have, I’ve been furious with myself. The management have backed me and shown faith in me. That tells me that the past is in the past, and I’m not going to think about it too much – it’s done now, and there’s nothing I can do about it. But thankfully, I’ve been given a great opportunity to represent the Lions again, so now it’s just down to me to go and perform.”Duckett is in the squad for the duration of the tour, meaning he will have five 50-over games and two unofficial Tests in which to impress. The trip marks Duckett’s first return to the subcontinent since England’s 2016-17 winter tours, during which he won his four Test caps. Despite a fluent fifty in defeat at Mirpur, his method against offspin came under scrutiny in India after R Ashwin dismissed him three times in as many innings, and he was dropped two games into the series.That is not to say that Duckett is overly concerned about the challenge that spinning conditions will present. “I’ve spoken to a few people about it,” he says, “but the offspinner who I was struggling against was probably the best one in the world. Ashwin’s not just an offspinner, either – he’s got all these variations, and a lot of left-handers have struggled against him. I’m trying not to think too much about it. I know now why I struggled when I last went to India, so at least that’s a head start for me going out there this time.”Despite his disappointment at a county season which brought only one hundred across formats, compared to three in 2017 and seven the year before that, Duckett impressed with a match-winning 75 on debut in the Mzansi Super League, and played for a youthful Hobart Hurricanes side in the Abu Dhabi T20 immediately after the season’s end.”Playing in different teams and different conditions is great,” he says. “If I do play at that step above again, and I go and play abroad, then I can now say that I’ve played there and I’ll know the conditions well. You play with different players, different coaches, and feed off them – it’s a great experience.”2018 also saw a move to Nottinghamshire for Duckett, after 12 years at Northamptonshire. There was no shortage of suitors as he approached the end of his contract at Wantage Road – Yorkshire was mooted as another possible destination – but the decision ended up being an easy one.”As soon as Peter Moores came and spoke to me, it was easy. After I chatted to him I said to my agent ‘just get it done, that’s the place I want to be’. I’ve played against Notts a number of times in the past few years, and I get on with a lot of the guys there. I loved my time at Northants, but as soon as I knew Notts were keen and spoke to them, I was dead set.”Alongside the signings of Ben Slater, Zak Chappell, and Joe Clarke, Duckett’s move to Trent Bridge was highlighted by some as evidence of wealthy counties poaching talent from smaller rivals. But from the players’ point of view, the moves are evidence of a long-term vision for the club.”I think it’s great what Notts are doing,” Duckett says. “They’re finding young, English players who can form the core of a side over the next few years; who can step up and be at Notts for the rest of their careers.”I completely understand people having opinions, but we’re just trying to get the most dangerous squad we possibly can. There’s a great balance between the experienced players and the younger guys, and looking forward, we should be contenders for every trophy this year.”For years Duckett has been mentioned as a future England star, although his professionalism has been called into question since he was a teenager. It is clear to him as much as anyone that reputations are hard to shed, and it would surely benefit all parties – Duckett, Notts, and England – if his batting was the only thing to make the headlines in 2019.Yet it is easily forgotten that Duckett is still only 24; easier still to forget that beneath the reputation lies a man with immense talent, who could well become an all-format regular at international level.Of course, Duckett knows that competition for England places is fierce, and has few illusions about the length and quality of the queues he is trying to reach the front of. “In all formats, it’s so tough to break into the set-up at the minute: I’m not going to put any pressure on myself, and I’m not the type of person who thinks too far ahead.”For this year, the main thing is playing for Notts, trying to win games and a couple of trophies. If one day I do get the recall then I’d be chuffed. Whatever the format, if I do play for England again, I’ll be over the moon.”

Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla blitzed a century each, became South Africa’s most prolific ODI pair of all-time and scripted their biggest win by 10 wickets in ODI history

The Report by Firdose Moonda15-Oct-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details AFP

Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla blitzed a century each, became South Africa’s most prolific ODI pair of all-time and scripted their biggest win by 10 wickets in ODI history. South Africa’s mockery of a 279-run target followed Bangladesh’s own record-setting after they chose to bat in the first ODI. Mushfiqur Rahim became the first Bangladesh batsman to score a century against South Africa in any format and led his team to their highest total against this opposition. But those efforts barely challenged the hosts.On a flat track in Kimberley, where anything under 300 was considered sub-par, Bangladesh were at least 50 runs short. Mushfiqur did his bit, but found scant assistance. Imrul Kayes was the only other player to score more than 30 against a weakened South African attack.The home pack were already plagued by absentees through injury and lost a further 65 caps when Wayne Parnell could not be considered for selection after picking up a groin strain. Dane Paterson was handed a debut. It was a baptism of fire for Paterson, who conceded at 7.66 to the over and went wicketless after being tasked with sharing the new ball with Kagiso Rabada.As the most experienced quick, Rabada took on the task of leading the attack. He produced an aggressive six-over new-ball spell, in which he took 1 for 11 and then returned to take 3 for 25 in three overs at the end.In between that, South Africa’s second-string seamers operated around Imran Tahir, but did not present much of a challenge. Paterson and Andile Phehlukwayo did not have the pace threaten Bangladesh while Dwaine Pretorius fared decently when replicating Rabada’s short-ball tactics – though he leaned more towards slower bouncers.While Bangladesh cashed in on the scoring opportunities Paterson and Phehlukwayo presented, they had too few substantial partnerships. Only Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur (59 runs) and Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah (69) sharing in stands of over 50. Even though South Africa did not apply sustained pressure, the incisions they made counted.After Shakib became the fastest player to the double of 5000 ODI runs and 200 wickets, he fell to crafty captaincy. Faf du Plessis kept a slip in place when Tahir was bowling and Shakib edged a googly into Hashim Amla’s hands. Tahir was effective in the middle overs and made a nuisance of himself to the Bangladesh batsmen.He had an lbw appeal against Mushfiqur when he was on 41 and tried to run a googly down to third man. Mushfiqur was hit on the back pad flap outside the line and South Africa did not review. In Tahir’s next over, Mahmudullah missed a sweep and was hit on the pad. South Africa reviewed but the impact was outside the line.Mahmudullah provided one of the highlights of the innings when he charged Rabada and tonked him back over his head for six but the bullishness did not last long. He top-edged a pull off Pretorius and David Miller took the catch to put the brakes on Bangladesh.Mushfiqur was on 79 at the time and pushed on with Sabbir Rahman at the other end. A six over square leg off Paterson took him past 80, and twin reverse-sweeps off Tahir into the 90s. His century came up with a push through the covers, off the 108th ball he faced. Cameos from the tail-enders took Bangladesh over 270 but not as far as 300, though even that may not have been enough.De Kock and Amla treated the chase like batting practice and denied their team-mates the chance to experience the same. Bangladesh’s bowlers also seemed to have bought into that mindset, with neither swing nor spin on offer and simply fed deliveries to the opening pair to hit.Rubel Hossain’s first ball was overpitched and swinging in to Quinton de Kock. He clipped it for four and didn’t stop at all from there. De Kock’s runs came mostly through the leg side at first and then shifted all around the wicket. His fifty came up off 56 balls with an inventive flick over his shoulder. He had been scoring at a similar rate to Amla up to that point but then took more of the strike and accelerated past him. His century came up off 100 balls.Amla’s fifty was off 48 balls but he was happy to let de Kock take centrestage thereafter. A hallmark of Amla’s innings was his ability to rotate strike and prevent dot balls from accumulating. Amla only scored four boundaries in his first fifty runs, and eight in his century. By the time Amla got to his hundred, de Kock was eight away from 150, and had already registered his second-highest ODI score. Had Bangladesh set a higher target, de Kock may have gone on to surpass his 178 against Australia.To rub salt in Bangladesh’s wounds, they only created two chances and fluffed both. At the start of the 38th over, when Amla, on 94, drove a ball back to Taskin Ahmed, the bowler could not hold on in his follow-through. Then, with the match all but gone in the 43rd over, de Kock smashed one to Nasir Hossain at long-on. Nasir had to jump to take the catch over his head and could not hold on.South Africa had no problems, other than the fact that the rest of their line-up, which included AB de Villiers on his international comeback and David Miller in his 100th ODI, did not bat.

South Australia squandered a strong position in their chase against Western Australia as the Matador Cup match at the WACA ended in a thrilling tie

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Oct-2016
ScorecardOpener Alex Carey hit 75 off 86 balls, but South Australia lost their last six wickets for 38•Getty Images

South Australia squandered a strong position in their chase against Western Australia as the Matador Cup match at the WACA ended in a thrilling tie.Pursuing 243 for victory after a disciplined bowling effort from a young attack missing Daniel Worrall, Joe Mennie, Adam Zampa and the state captain Travis Head, SA cruised to 4 for 204 in the 39th over, needing a mere 39 from 66 balls at the moment Alex Ross fell.SA had been pushed that far by the debutant Jake Weatherald’s fluent start and then a composed hand by the wicketkeeper Alex Carey. However, SA proceeded to toss away their carefully constructed position, losing their last six wickets for 38 to leave the match tied.WA’s fightback had been driven by Nathan Rimmington, who claimed four wickets including the key figure of Jake Lehmann when SA were within three runs of victory. The final wicket of Nick Benton fell to Jason Behrendorff the following over.WA’s innings had been characterised by a series of starts. The captain Adam Voges top-scored with 51, but he will be hoping for bigger scores from the top six in future assignments.

Players in the third edition of the BPL will be allocated to participating franchises through a lottery-based transfer system called “players-by-choice”

Mohammad Isam22-Aug-2015Players in the third edition of the BPL will be allocated to participating franchises through a lottery-based transfer system called “players-by-choice”. Used once for the 2012-13 Dhaka Premier League, it will replace the players’ auction of the BPL’s first two editions.The system was formulated first in 2013 after many of the Dhaka clubs demanded a level-playing field, faced with exorbitant salary demands from players. It is styled after the draft in American sports, except for a few details. In the following season, the BCB reverted to the traditional open players’ transfer, which lasts two to three days.BCB president Nazmul Hassan said that the system will ensure balance among the BPL teams. A team can pick a maximum of four overseas players from the list provided by the BPL governing council. They can select from outside the list as well but those players will not be given payment guarantees from the BCB.”We have discussed making quotas for local and foreign players,” Hassan said. “We have to go for players-by-choice. They will make a list of local cricketers and divide them into different categories. We want to ensure one team is not too strong and another not too weak. We will have a long list of foreign cricketers. Every team can take four cricketers from here.”The BPL governing council will make categories A, B and C where the prices will be fixed. We won’t stop anyone from taking players from outside the list. If they pick from the list, they can make a good team worth Tk 7 crore (approx. USD 900,000). If anyone wants to bring more foreign players, the franchise will pay the players, not the BCB.”The players-by-choice was first used to determine the player transfers for the 2012-13 Dhaka Premier League season. It took the Dhaka clubs a while to understand the system despite being given a demo a few days before it was first put to use.Under the system, the franchises will pick their choice of players from different categories. In 2013, there were seven categories, each of which had a fixed payment ranging from Tk 1 lakh (approx. USD 1,300) to 22 lakh (approx. USD 28,300).The teams will first have to take part in a lottery to determine their calling number in each of the rounds for every category. In each round, the team that drew first in the lottery will have first choice of players. Each round will have a separate lottery.

Warwickshire will hold second interviews for shortlisted candidates as they seek to fill the role of director of cricket following Ashley Giles’ departure to coach England

George Dobell18-Jan-2013Warwickshire will hold second interviews for shortlisted candidates next week as they seek to fill the role of director of cricket following Ashley Giles’ departure to coach the England limited-overs teams. Candidates will be expected to stage a presentation to the interview panel with the name of the successful applicant due to be announced in the week beginning January 28.Reports that Ottis Gibson, the West Indies coach, had already been appointed to the role were premature. While ESPNcricinfo understands Gibson is among the short-listed candidates, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) remain confident of retaining his services. It is expected that his West Indies contract, which expires in a couple of months, will be discussed at the next meeting of the WICB in St Lucia next week.Other candidates for the Warwickshire role who are expected to be interviewed for a second time in the coming days include David Parsons, the ECB performance director, Graeme Welch, Warwickshire current bowling coach, and Dougie Brown, the club’s assistant coach. David Hemp, former Glamorgan and Bermuda captain and now coaching at Solihull School, is understood to not have been invited for a second interview, while Andy Moles, former Scotland, Kenya and New Zealand coach, was discounted without a first interview.

Graeme Smith is determined to make amends for the World Cup with a clinical series win against Sri Lanka

Firdose Moonda23-Dec-2011If the most dangerous animal is one that has been wounded, then the most determined cricketer is one whose ego has been punctured. Of all the sportsmen to suffer ignominy in the last 12 months, few have been more humbled than South Africa’s cricket team. Although they did not play cricket for seven months of the year, the break gave them ample time to think about the disappointment which preceded it.Without mentioning what that was just yet, remember that South Africa ended their winter break with a cracker-jack series against Australia. Now, they are in the process of sinking their teeth into a tender Sri Lankan side, whose inability to perform away from home and without their stalwart spinner, Muttiah Muralitharan, has never been more glaring. For Graeme Smith, it is an opportunity to make amends, even though the wrong has long been forgotten.”After a very disappointing time at the World Cup, a lot of criticism around and the lack of confidence, just to be able to build and strengthen up the squad is crucial,” Smith said. “There’s stability around the team. You could feel a much more settled nature in the squad in the first Test against Sri Lanka and some confidence shown in players. It’s good to see the players have taken that and performed.”March 25, Allan Donald in the black and white of New Zealand and Kyle Mills shoulder-charging Faf du Plessis seem like years ago. To the average South African cricket fan, that quarter-final loss probably doesn’t matter that much anymore and definitely has no place in the current summer of cricket. But, Smith is still a little haunted by the memory of that day and, according to him, some of the other players also are. “A lot of the players have been hurt over the last period of time and are really motivated to put things right,” he said.Redemption is too strong a word to use for what South Africa hope to do – if they were looking for that, they achieved it when they bowled Australia out for 47 in Cape Town last month – it’s far less complicated than that. Consistency is perhaps closer to the truth or just simply the ability to win a home series for the first time in three seasons. Whatever it is, Durban would be a fitting venue to do it.The last time South Africa won a Test at Kingsmead was in 2008, against West Indies. Since then, it’s been as much of a nemesis to them as left-armers are to Smith and they have lost to Australia, England and India. “It’s been extremely disappointing the way we have played at Kingsmead,” Smith said. “I want to turn that around. I want to perform well here and I think everybody in the team feels the same way.”Usually, the Kingsmead Test is the Boxing Day one and Smith was candid in saying at this festive time of year, the squad has to be careful not to let their guard down. “At Christmas time, you have to keep your focus up,” he said. “The margins have been small here in the Test matches we’ve played. We’ve being as clinical as we could have been. Mentally, we need to be strong.”The reality is that few expect South Africa will need a Herculean effort to overcome this Sri Lankan side, that the inspiration the squad will draw from their World Cup exit and their poor record in Durban might be better directed to a different, more competitive opposition. Since, it can’t, this will have to do. Smith and Co. can only fight the opponent put in front of them and they are determined to leave nothing to chance. “It’s our goal to keep them [Sri Lanka] on the back foot as long as possible and not allow them to find that rhythm and freedom with which they like to play,” Smith said.