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India captain Hardik Pandya had criticised the surface after chasing the target of 100 with only one ball to spare

PTI31-Jan-2023The curator of the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow has been removed from his job for preparing a slow and turning pitch for the second T20I between India and New Zealand.Though India won the game on Sunday with a ball to spare, the wicket received criticism from India captain Hardik Pandya, who called it a “shocker of a pitch”. New Zealand were restricted to 99 for 8 in 20 overs and India had a hard time chasing the small target, winning in 19.5 overs. Spinners bowled 30 of the 40 overs in a match that had zero sixes.Related

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“The curator has been removed and replaced by Sanjeev Kumar Agarwal who is a very experienced curator,” a UPCA source was quoted as saying by PTI. “We will turn things around in a month.”A lot of domestic cricket was already played on all the centre wickets ahead of the T20I and the curator should have left one or two strips for an international game. The surface was overused and due to the bad weather, there was not enough (time) to prepare a fresh wicket.”Agarwal has experience preparing pitches in Bangladesh in the past before being removed in October last year. According to the source, he will work closely with veteran BCCI curator Taposh Chatterjee.Hardik has not been happy with the quality of pitches so far in the T20I series. “To be honest, it was a shocker of a wicket,” Hardik told after the second T20I. “Both the games we have played on so far. I don’t mind difficult wickets. I am all up for that, but these two wickets are not made for T20. Somewhere down the line, the curators or the grounds that we are going to play in should make sure they prepare the pitches earlier.”With the T20I series level at 1-1, India and New Zealand play the decider in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

Opener believes 2-2 would be just, welcomes prospect to take on the quicks at The Oval

Vithushan Ehantharajah24-Jul-2023By the time Monday came around, the rains had ceased in Manchester. The clouds were finally empty after a weekend of showers. And just to rub it in, the sun dipped in and out of view as a reminder it was still up there on this, the first morning in which the 2023 Ashes were no longer live.An abandoned match and a draw in the fourth Test has Australia taking the urn back with them, boasting an unassailable 2-1 lead heading into the fifth Test at the Kia Oval. The great decider that was supposed to send English cricket into the stratosphere is now signposted as the tourists’ chance to win their first overseas Ashes series since 2001.Nevertheless, mimicking the two-all scoreline of 2019 is a huge motivation for this England side. Unlike then, when the fifth Test had a very end-of-term feel, with the only thing missing being both sides playing out the match in jeans, Ben Stokes’ charges have the opportunity to affix an asterisk to Australia’s retention.They believe they have been the most assertive across the series so far, despite the fact they were 2-0 down after two. And while it may only be an asterisk that those in the dressing-room can see, the fact that the weather stopped them from going into the final match on Thursday with it all to play for has England feeling robbed. A squared series at the end, to them, would represent some form of justice.”I think 2-2 would be fair,” said Crawley, whose stunning 189 from 182 deliveries drove England to 592 for a 275-run first-innings lead that they could not cash in. “They had the better of us at Lord’s, Edgbaston could have gone either way. We probably deserved this one and Headingley could have gone either way. So I think two-all would be right. We’ll see, hopefully we can get it.”We’ll play the same way and to know we can make a big score. It suits us to have a little in the wicket – we’ll see what happens. That’s the beauty of a five-Test series; you get a look at them, work out tactics and nuances. I’ve never played a five-match series before this one.”We’re massively up for it. And as Stokesy says, we’re building as a team, this isn’t the end just because it’s the Ashes. It’s very much the start, hopefully.”Even amid the positivity, Crawley admitted the Old Trafford dressing-room was flat when the match was eventually abandoned on day five, at around 5.24pm. A consistent downpour across days four and five meant England were only able to bowl 30 out of a possible 180 overs to push for victory.Up until Friday evening, England had played more or less the perfect game; reducing Australia to 113 for 4 in their second innings, trailing by 162, by stumps on day three. Alas, it was all in vain.”It’s pretty flat,” said Crawley of the mood among the squad. “We’re disappointed we’ve played a lot of good cricket in this game. We wanted to win, we were in a good position to win, and two days of rain cost us. But that’s how it is.”Related

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As for Crawley personally, his innings took him to the top of the run-scorers charts this series – comfort for a player derided as a weak link throughout Stokes’ and Brendon McCullum’s time in charge. He arrived into the fixture with handy starts, including 61 in his first knock of the series, which he marked by striking the first ball of the first Test at Edgbaston for four off Pat Cummins.He continued on in a similar vein and, as such, his 385 runs so far – at an average of 55.00 – have come from just 428 deliveries. Number two on the list, Australian opener Usman Khawaja, has scored his 377 from more than twice as many (961).”I feel I’m as good a player as I have ever been,” Crawley said, having now passed 2,000 career runs and lifted his 38-cap average to 31.01. “I feel good about my game, I’m pleased with how I’m playing – I’ve just got to build on it. I have a bit more experience now, things to fall back on in different conditions, so yes, I feel I can kick on now.”Crawley agreed that Australia’s extra pace throughout their attack has been a contributing factor to his upturn in performance. And on what should be an Oval pitch favouring batters, the Kent batter hopes to cash in once more before the Test summer concludes.”I think so, I certainly feel quicker attacks do. Fast bowling suits my game. The Australian attack is a quick attack and I think a bit less when they’re faster. I think that just suits my game a bit more. They are unbelievable bowlers, they present different challenges.”I love batting at The Oval for Kent, and I have played one Test match there and did okay (five and 69 not out against South Africa last summer). Hopefully it’s a decent wicket and a good game.”

The offspinner will start his season by captaining New South Wales for the first time in what will just be the second occasion he has led in his first-class career

Andrew McGlashan01-Oct-20250:52

What Will Jacks offers the England Ashes squad

Nathan Lyon has endorsed the value of always playing a spinner in Australian conditions amid a growing sense that England may opt to go without a frontline option at stages during the upcoming Ashes.While it falls into the category of unsurprising assessments from Lyon, as he himself remarked, it will nevertheless provide one of the interesting dynamics in the build-up to the first Test next month when England ponder the balance of their side having selected allrounder Will Jacks, who last played Test cricket in 2022, as the back-up to offspinner Shoaib Bashir.”You’re asking the spinner if they want to pick a spinner,” Lyon said with a smile. “For me, yeah, you’re picking a spinner in every side. Variation, it changes the whole tempo of the game. I think spinners can play a very effective role out here if their skill sets suit.”Related

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One of the factors England will be considering is how visiting spinners have so often struggled in Australia: since Lyon’s debut, those from overseas have averaged 62.09 compared to Lyon’s 31.08. However, the last time England were successful down under, in 2010-11, Graeme Swann played a vital role in a four-man attack”I grew up here. I understand and built my craft around playing on wickets that don’t spin,” Lyon said. “So, I’ve had to find a way to firstly survive but also create chances and build pressure along the way, and it’s something that I thoroughly enjoy doing, and I’ll keep doing that.”There is a little twist to Lyon’s current situation, though, in that he was left out of Australia’s most recent Test in Jamaica when they opted for an all-pace attack in the day-night encounter with a pink Dukes ball. They finished the game by skittling West Indies for 27 with Lyon’s replacement, Scott Boland, taking a hat-trick.It is a scenario highly unlikely to play out in Australia, as the selectors have already indicated, and while Lyon acknowledges the end result justified the move, he was adamant he could have played a role.”Disappointed that I wasn’t a part of that, but I understood the reasons behind it and at the end of the day, you look at it now, it’s a pretty good call and brave call,” Lyon said. “But if I’m going to miss a Test for anyone, it’s going to be Scott Boland, that’s for sure. I’m only disappointed because I believe my skill set can play a role in any conditions around the world and I kind of feel like I’ve proven that to be effective.”Nathan Lyon will start his season as New South Wales captain•Getty Images

Lyon, who sits on 562 Test wickets, one short of equaling Glenn McGrath’s haul as the second-most for Australia, will begin his Ashes preparations by captaining New South Wales for the first time against Western Australia in Perth having been named as Jack Edwards’ understudy while the allrounder is with Australia A in India. It is one of three Shield appearances Lyon expects to make before the first Test.It will be just the second first-class match Lyon has ever captained in, having previously done it once in the Sheffield Shield for South Australia in 2012, while he also captained a Prime Minister’s XI against England in 2018.”It’s a massive honour to captain the state that you were born in and obviously dreamt of playing cricket for,” he said. “So to get that call the other day was pretty humbling. I’ve never had any ambitions to captain any teams, especially professional teams. But Greg Mail [NSW chief performance officer] has come up to me and asked me whether I’d do it, and that he wanted me to do it… so it’s a short stint but I’m pretty happy with that.”Alongside Edwards, New South Wales are missing six other potential Shield players between Australia’s T20I side in New Zealand and the A team in India, but the side to face Western Australia will include Sam Konstas as he heads into a vital month in his bid to retain a place in the Test side.Konstas enters the season having scored 188 runs in the two four-day Australia A matches, including a century, but the selectors have long stated that it will be the first three Shield matches that prove key to their decisions.When Lyon was asked what he expected of Konstas over the next few weeks, he said “runs”, but also stressed that he was a player still developing his game.”Obviously he had a pretty successful tour over there [in India], but it’s great to have him back on the Shield side,” Lyon said. “He’s learning the craft, as we’re all learning. Some of us are a lot further on in our journey as professional cricketers, but they’re learning their craft. Not just him, but everyone around Australia. They’ve got to learn their style and be brave enough to back that and have faith in it.”

After conceding 75 in his first 15 overs, he dismissed Pant, Rahul and Jadeja to put New Zealand in sight of victory

Ashish Pant19-Oct-20241:17

What worked for New Zealand’s bowlers?

William O’Rourke admitted being “pretty streaky” and “hot and cold” in the early part of the second innings of the first Test in Bengaluru. But having gone for 75 off his first 15 overs, he dismissed Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja in three successive overs with the second new ball as India lost their last six wickets for just 29 runs.”Overall, for me, I’ve been pretty streaky, pretty hot and cold with the ball,” O’Rourke said at the end of the fourth day. “Pant and Sarfaraz [Khan] obviously batted very well for a long time there, but that second new ball came on and started doing a little bit for us.”So, credit to Timmy [Tim Southee] for getting that first breakthrough [of Sarfaraz] and then I was lucky enough to get a wee chop on there [from Pant] to give us a bit of momentum going through.”Related

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Sarfaraz, in particular, handled O’Rourke well, picking him for 39 runs in 35 balls and repeatedly throwing him off his lengths with ramps and late cuts. While O’Rourke said he and the rest of the bowling unit could have been tighter with their lengths, he credited Sarfaraz for using the angles and opening up the field.”He [Sarfaraz] played me really well,” O’Rourke said. “With that angle of me sort of falling away, it sort of opens up that little dab shot. Yeah, maybe we could have been in the game a little bit, but he played it so well.”I would have liked to be a little bit tighter. Obviously, one of his strengths is that [the late cut]. So, yeah, I would have liked to be a little bit tighter, but I was missing a little bit wide, and he put me away. So credit to him.”O’Rourke has had a rousing start to his Test career. This is his fifth Test and he has already picked up 26 wickets at 18.84, which includes two five-fors. Fifteen of his 26 wickets have been in the subcontinent. He had an excellent tour of Sri Lanka last month where he picked up eight wickets in two Tests, and has continued his good run in India.William O’Rourke took three wickets in three overs to hurt India•BCCI

“I think we had a really good prep in Tauranga and down in Lincoln,” he said about his success in the subcontinent. “We had a few wickets that were a bit drier than probably what we are used to at that time of the year in New Zealand. And yeah, learning from the guys like Matt Henry, Tim Southee, who have been here before and done it before, it’s been massive for me coming here.”In the first innings here, O’Rourke picked up four wickets, including Virat Kohli’s for a duck.”It’s obviously pretty special getting someone so great, one of the greats of our game, out like that,” he said of the Kohli wicket. “You grow up watching those guys. So to come here and take that wicket, it’s probably right up there as one of the [best] wickets I’ve got.”While O’Rourke has been pleasantly surprised by the bounce he has seen on the Bengaluru surface, he is also loving bowling with the SG ball.”It has got a bit more of a pronounced seam than the Kookaburra [that New Zealand use at home], so it seems to be nice and hard to start with. It goes through nicely and big seams are always a big plus. [It’s] my first time here and [Bengaluru] probably had a little bit more bounce, a bit more pace than we expected coming over here, which suits a bowler like me. So far, I’ve really enjoyed it.”We definitely do our scouting and stuff before games. I’d say at the moment in my career, I’m more of a feel bowler. I like to back what I do, run in and do what I do. But definitely I have a look at the players beforehand, I like to know their strengths and weaknesses. But I think it normally comes back to just being me and doing what I do.”

“He has cited family reasons for his decision,” as per BCB cricket operations chairman Jalal Yunus

Mohammad Isam09-Feb-2022Ashwell Prince has resigned as Bangladesh’s batting coach, according to the BCB’s cricket operations chairman Jalal Yunus. Prince, whose contract was supposed to run until the end of 2022, was in the job for less than a year.”We have received his resignation letter on email a few minutes ago. He has cited family reasons for his decision,” Yunus said.BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury said in a statement*: “The board respects Ashwell’s decision and accepts the resignation. We thank him for his service and professionalism and his dedicated work with the national team batsmen and wish him the very best for his future endeavours.”Related

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Prince’s decision comes a month after the BCB’s appointment of Jamie Siddons, the former Bangladesh coach, as batting consultant. When Siddons was appointed in December, board president Nazmul Hassan had said it was “not yet finalised in which area he will work in, whether it is the High Performance, Under-19s or the senior team”. The board is allowing Siddons a few weeks to observe the BPL to find out more about the local talent before firming things up.Prince joined the Bangladesh team last July during their tour of Zimbabwe. The following month, the BCB extended his contract till the end of the 2022 T20 World Cup. Prince had resigned as the head coach of South Africa’s Western Province side to take up the Bangladesh role permanently.Prince oversaw a difficult period for Bangladesh when they struggled with the bat in last year’s T20 World Cup, as well as the home series against Pakistan. But, during his tenure, they also bounced back superbly in the Mount Maunganui Test, which they famously won by eight wickets against New Zealand.*1420 GMT The copy was updated with Chowdhury’s quote

Barbados Royals, Guyana Amazon Warriors and Trinbago Knight Riders will contest the tournament hosted by St Kitts, which is set to begin on August 30

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jun-2022The three teams for a Women’s Caribbean Premier League, set to run concurrently with the men’s CPL, have been drafted. Barbados Royals, Guyana Amazon Warriors and Trinbago Knight Riders will be captained by Hayley Matthews, Stafanie Taylor and Deandra Dottin respectively.The teams were drafted from a pool of players put together by Cricket West Indies, with 33 cricketers picked. The remaining three players in each 14-woman squad will be drafted in as overseas players. The tournament will begin on August 30, with St Kitts to host the entire tournament. The overseas players are to be announced in due course.The squads for the three Women’s Caribbean Premier League teams have been announced•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“With Matthews and Taylor rated in the top 10 T20 allrounders in the world and Dottin one of the most destructive batters in the women’s game, all three players have shown their quality for the West Indies and in domestic competitions around the globe, a CPL press release said.Ricky Skerritt, Cricket West Indies President, said: “This inaugural Women’s version of the CPL represents a huge upward step for West Indies cricket. I am grateful to all those in CPL and CWI who made it happen, especially the three pioneering franchises who have so willingly got on board.”A WCPL had been in the works, with the league officially announced by Skerritt in March. England, Australia and New Zealand have all played host to women’s T20 leagues with the same number of teams as the men’s tournaments. India has hosted four editions of the Women’s T20 Challenge alongside the IPL, and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has assured that a full-fledged Women’s IPL will be launched soon.Pete Russell, Hero CPL’s CEO, said: “A Women’s CPL is the next logical step as we grow the brand, and we are very pleased that we have been able to make this a reality in 2022. We are grateful to the CWI, the Barbados Royals, the Guyana Amazon Warriors and the Trinbago Knight Riders for working with us on this ground breaking tournament and we look forward to showcasing the tremendous skills of all these talented players.”

The Australian captain stepped away after the Commonwealth Games earlier this year

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Sep-2022Australia captain Meg Lanning will miss the WBBL with Melbourne Stars as she continues her indefinite break from the game.Lanning stepped away following Australia’s Commonwealth Games gold-medal success in Birmingham and it remains unclear when, or if, she will return.”The club respects her decision and asks that her privacy continue to be respected,” a Stars statement said.Stars will need to find a new captain for their WBBL campaign which starts on October 15 against Brisbane Heat. Earlier this year Lanning had handed over the captaincy of Victoria to Sophie Molineux.With Lanning now ruled out of the WBBL it also increases the prospects of Australia needing a new captain for their tour of India in mid-December.When Shelley Nitschke was confirmed as the new permanent head coach last week she said that conversations about Lanning’s future had not yet taken place.”When the time is right we’ll have those conversations about whether she is back in December or whenever it might be,” she said.Previous vice-captain Rachael Haynes has retired from international and state cricket which means a new leadership team may need to come together but Nitschke was confident in the potential of the squad.”There are a good group of emerging leaders in our team that are going to have opportunities to stick their hands up,” Nitschke said. “We don’t have a designated leadership group but there are people amongst the team and group that are leaders on and off the field. Some girls lead in their states. They all have different strengths.”Lanning was named Australian captain when she was 21 and over the last few years has led the team to unprecedented success with the T20 and ODI World Cup titles, Commonwealth Games gold and multiple Ashes victories. She has also maintained her form as one of the leading batters in the world, averaging 53.53 in ODIs and 36.48 in T20Is.

Edwards and Ben Dwarshuis added 127 for the eighth wicket

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff15-Mar-2023A career-best innings from Jack Edwards elevated New South Wales to a promising position against South Australia as they try to post their first win of the season in the final-round match.NSW declared midway through the middle session at 9 for 447, with South Australia reaching 3 for 134 at the close on day two.Daniel Drew (51no) was leading the way for South Australia. The other major contribution came from opener Kelvin Smith, who hit a confident 46 in his first Shield match for four years before missing a cut against Chris Green.Henry Hunt had early become a maiden first-class wicket for Ryan Hadley while Nathan McSweeney was bowled when he shouldered arms at Chris Tremain.Allrounder Edwards led the way for the inexperienced NSW side with an innings of 138 that included 20 boundaries and a six.The 22-year-old’s second Shield century eventually came to a close after 179 balls with a catch on the point boundary off the bowling of Nathan McAndrew.Edwards and fast bowler Ben Dwarshuis were rarely troubled on the Karen Rolton Oval pitch in their 127-run stand for the eighth wicket. Dwarshuis ended unbeaten on 60, having notched his first half century.It was a day of career-highs with the NSW-born McAndrew returning 6 for 97, securing his maiden first-class six-wicket haul in the process.South Australia’s hopes of reaching the final ended in last week’s penultimate round, while NSW are seeking to avoid a first-ever winless campaign in a 10-match season.

“I don’t know the schedule exactly – but I’ve enjoyed it, I look forward to being back next year,” he says of the IPL

ESPNcricinfo staff27-May-20243:38

Will Starc quit ODIs to play more franchise cricket?

Mitchell Starc stayed away from the IPL for the best part of his peak years, but after winning the title with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), will consider dropping one format from his life, and that might be ODI cricket.”The last nine years, I’ve prioritised Australian cricket. I have given myself a chance to give my body a break and spend some time away from cricket with my wife as well, so that’s certainly been where my head’s been for the last nine years,” Starc said at a press conference after the IPL 2024 final in Chennai, where KKR steamrolled Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to win their third title, with Starc playing a starring role.”Moving forward… look, I am certainly closer to the end of my career than the start. One format may drop off. There is long time before the next one-day World Cup and whether that format continues for me or not… it may open doors for more franchise cricket.”Related

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And franchise cricket could mean two months of the IPL, a tournament he had played just twice in the past, for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2014 and 2015, but usually skipped to be fit and fresh for international cricket.In fact, in all these years of playing top-level cricket – he made his international debut in 2009 – Starc has only played 137 T20s.”I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this season,” he said. “It’s been great, it leads into the World Cup, that’s the other side of the benefit of being here against some amazing players in an amazing tournament. It’s a great lead-up to a World Cup.”Next year – I don’t know the schedule exactly – but I’ve enjoyed it, I look forward to being back next year and hopefully be seen in purple and gold [KKR’s colours] again.”Starc, the most expensive IPL auction buy ever when KKR splurged INR 24.75 crore (US$2,982,000 approx.) had a terrible time of it to start with, going wicketless in his eight overs in the first two games while conceding 100 runs. He took time to get it right, picking up a three-for against Lucknow Super Giants and a four-for against Mumbai Indians, but really came into his own in the playoffs, with 3 for 34 and 2 for 14 against SRH in Qualifier 1 and the final.”I’ve played a lot of cricket, so I know how to manage myself,” Starc said. “I haven’t played a lot of T20 cricket in the last few years, so for me, it was trying to find that rhythm of [the] T20 format, and trying to stay ahead of batters.”

The BCCI announced he will sit in as captain on the press conference scheduled for January 18, when the two squads will be named

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jan-20254:39

Refresher course: remember how good Gill and Rahul are at ODI cricket?

Rohit Sharma is set to continue as India’s ODI captain; this was confirmed when the BCCI announced he will sit in as captain on the press conference scheduled for January 18, when the squads for the Champions Trophy and the ODIs against England will be announced. The three ODIs against England will be India’s last in the format before they begin their Champions Trophy campaign against Bangladesh in Dubai on February 20.Rohit’s future came into sharp focus after he had stood down from India’s XI in the fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this month. He, however, clarified that the decision shouldn’t be misconstrued as a retirement.Related

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Rohit, 37, has been struggling for form and during the home series against New Zealand, he also admitted to captaincy errors, which contributed to India’s 3-0 whitewash. In six Test innings against New Zealand at home, Rohit managed only 91 runs at an average of 15.16 and then in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, his average slumped further to 6.20 in five innings.In a bid to rediscover his form, Rohit had linked up with the Mumbai squad for training sessions in the lead-up to the start of the second phase of the Ranji Trophy.Having ended his T20I career by winning the T20 World Cup title in Barbados last year, Rohit now has the chance to lead India to an ODI world title at the Champions Trophy. India will play all their three league games in Dubai, which will also stage one of the semi-finals and possibly the final too, if India get there.India have played just six ODIs since November 19, 2023, when they lost to Australia in the World Cup final in Ahmedabad.