Australia women lose No. 1 ranking for the first time since the introduction of the combined ranking system in October 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Oct-2017ODI world champions England have pipped Australia by 0.04 ranking points to take the top spot in the ICC women’s team rankings. England, who travel to Australia for the Ashes this month, were the only team that changed position following the annual ranking update. India, who were ranked fourth, gained three ranking points to move to 116, only two behind third-placed New Zealand.England began the year on 125 ranking points, three behind Australia’s 128. But they drew level and went ahead on decimal points following the annual update, which considered results from the 2013-14 season and the 2014-15 season at 50% weightage, and the 2015-16 season at 100%.Australia are ranked second now with 128.43 points, and it is the first time they’ve dropped from No. 1 since the combined rankings were introduced in October 2015.”It’s flattering to be named as the No.1 side in the world because it’s a sign of how much progress we’ve made. It won’t take anything away from the challenges ahead of us, though. We’re a developing side and our journey isn’t finished yet,” England captain Heather Knight said.”We have plenty more hard work to do, starting with the Ashes in Australia this winter but it has been a great 12 months for us. We’ll never forget the feeling of winning the World Cup on home soil and we want to keep pushing forward as a side so we can experience more moments like that.”

England have not won at the Gabba in 31 years and few give them a chance on this occasion, but for all the talk Australia are not without their issues

The Preview by Daniel Brettig22-Nov-2017

Big Picture

Having played three series within two years from 2013 to 2015, Australia and England resume their rivalry with a pair of vastly recast teams. There are new captains in Steven Smith and Joe Root, a pair of largely youthful and uncertain batting orders, while Australia’s much vaunted bowling attack boasts only one man – the skilful and durable Nathan Lyon – to have played a home Ashes Test before this week. England have their two greatest ever wicket-takers in James Anderson and Stuart Broad, but for now at least there is no Ben Stokes, the best performer in an otherwise horrid 2013-14 series.Perhaps because of the aforementioned newness, there has been plenty of talk about that encounter in particular. Lacking much in the way of first-hand experience, the Australians have sought to remind themselves as much as England of exactly what happened four years ago, with a hearty slice of intimidatory rhetoric thrown in. By contrast, Root has led his touring party in reminding all and sundry of the fact that few of the visitors went through that experience, which was the exception to recent Ashes history that has seen the Three Lions emerge victorious in four of five series.At the same time Australia’s formidable record at the Gabba, making the most of its pace and bounce to be unbeaten in Brisbane for 29 years now, serves as a source of comfort to the hosts but also opportunity for the tourists. Alastair Cook, Anderson and Broad can remember how the 2010-11 team escaped Queensland with a fighting draw that also fatigued the Australian bowlers, and the avoidance of defeat in this first match would take on even greater significance given the conditions likely to favour English seam and swing in Adelaide, with its floodlights, pink ball and grassy surface.Nevertheless, it is Smith who holds the most obvious aces in this series in the shape of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, a trio of contrasting yet highly skilled pace bowlers who possess an array of speeds, angles and approaches the envy of the rest of the world. Australia’s tough talk is built upon a strong belief that these fast men can crack England open at the first time of asking much as Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle did four years ago. Should Root’s men be able to stand up to their examination after seeing nothing like the same pace or bounce in their desultory lead-up matches, this encounter may well run a rather different course.

Form guide

Australia WLLDL (last five matches, most recent first)
England WLWWW

In the spotlight

Australia’s eagerness to reference 2013-14 will only be relevant if they can find a bowler capable of having the same sort of visceral impact as Mitchell Johnson, and Pat Cummins seems most likely to fit the bill. Should he be used in short, sharp spells by Smith he can be every bit as fast as Johnson, with a steep, rearing trajectory and plenty of venom. However unlike Johnson, Cummins is not entering this series with years of experience behind him – the Gabba will be Cummins’ first ever Test match on home turf. Also intriguing is how behind Cummins and Mitchell Starc, Australia have few other viable options of similar pace following injuries to James Pattinson and Nathan Coulter-Nile.A key to success in Australia is to take plenty of wickets with the new ball before it becomes appreciably easier to bat, and for England to succeed they will need Alastair Cook to blunt the home side’s pacemen. On his fourth Ashes tour, Cook was dominant in 2010-11 but struggled against higher class bowling on his other two visits and started this one with a first-ball duck in a Perth tour match. Yet freed from the burdens of captaincy and with a deep knowledge of what works in Australia, he has the capacity to set-up England’s innings for the 400 plus totals that will be necessary to dictate terms.

Teams news

As expected, Australia left out Jackson Bird and Chadd Sayers from their final XI, while Warner is likely to play despite suffering from a neck complaint during training in Brisbane this week although Glenn Maxwell was added as cover. Shaun Marsh had a stiff back as well so Maxwell could come in for either Marsh or Warner. Cameron Bancroft will debut at the top of the order with Shaun Marsh at No. 6, and the wicketkeeper Tim Paine playing his first Test match since 2010.Australia: 1 Cameron Bancroft, 2 David Warner, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 Steven Smith (capt), 5 Pete Handscomb, 6 Shaun Marsh, 7 Tim Paine (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Pat Cummins, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Josh HazlewoodJake Ball was named in the XI as the fourth seamer ahead of Craig Overton*, while Moeen Ali will be seen at No. 6 and Jonny Bairstow at No. 7 with the latter’s ability to bat well with the tail.England: 1 Alastair Cook, 2 Mark Stoneman, 3 James Vince, 4 Joe Root (capt), 5 Dawid Malan, 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Jake Ball, 10 Stuart Broad 11 James Anderson

Pitch and conditions

The final pitch prepared by Kevin Mitchell Jnr is likely to offer pace and bounce, generally more so on days two and three than the opening day, before offering cracks and footmarks for the slower bowlers later on. It will have a smattering of grass. Showers are forecast to fall at times throughout the match.

Stats and trivia

• Australia have not lost a Test match at the Gabba since 1988, with England not winning there since 1986
• England have claimed the Ashes in four of the past five series between the two nations, leaving 2013-14 in Australia as the exception
• Six Australian players – Smith, Warner, Lyon, Hazlewood, Marsh and Starc – remain from the team that lost to England in the previous series in 2015. England, too, have six from that series – Cook, Root, Bairstow, Moeen, Broad and Anderson.
• Lyon enters the series needing 23 wickets to surpass Craig McDermott and move into sixth on the all-time list of Australian Test wicket-takers

Quotes

“I think we saw last time England came out here a few blokes struggled with extra bounce in the wicket. Hopefully we can exploit that again.”
“We’re about due to win here. It’s the reason why Australia play the first Test of a series here because they have such a good record here. But what a way to start the series if we can go one up here. It would really upset the apple cart and could give us a lot of momentum.”
*0710GMT The England XI was updated after it was announced on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka were unable to cope with conditions in Delhi, where the air quality dipped to “very unhealthy” levels on Sunday

Sidharth Monga in Delhi03-Dec-20172:25

Not normal for players to suffer like this – Pothas

There were players vomiting inside the Sri Lanka dressing room. There were “oxygen things” used. Eventually they were reduced to only 10 fit and able cricketers who could go out and field in the Delhi pollution when Virat Kohli declared India’s innings closed on 536 in order to “get on with the game”. India felt the stoppages in play, when the Sri Lankan medical staff looked after their players and match officials deliberated, were unnecessary and unfair.It was a bizarre day’s cricket, played in the notoriously poor air of Delhi. After lunch, with Kohli set to give a maiden triple-century a fair go, and with India’s sights set on a mammoth total, at least five of Sri Lanka’s fielders came out wearing masks. About 20 minutes into the session, fast bowler Lahiru Gamage complained of respiratory problems, which resulted in a 17-minute stoppage. In the next hour, there were more complaints. When Suranga Lakmal went off the field to vomit inside the dressing room, Kohli, who was dismissed on 243 during this stop-start period, declared the innings closed. It was only 127.5 overs old.Prior to that, India coach Ravi Shastri had come out and seemed to have a stern word with the umpires. “Ravi was pretty simple,” bowling coach B Arun said at the end of the day’s play. “He said. ‘Please get on with the game, don’t stop, you don’t need to stop. You take a decision, and just get on with the game.'”I think the umpires and the match referee, they have a job on hand and it’s not up to the players to go and protest. They know what they are doing. When the play was unnecessarily being stopped, we just wanted to get on with the game because our focus is to win this Test match.”Asked if, as a fast bowler himself, he felt any sympathy for the Sri Lankan seamers who were ill, Arun said: “Why should we? We are focused on what we have to do, and what we need to do in the Test match. I don’t think we need to be thinking about what the opposition does. It’s their lookout, and their problem to keep their bowlers fit.”That was not the only dig at the Sri Lanka players. “Virat batted close to two days, he didn’t need a mask,” Arun said. “We are focussed on what we need to do, what we need to achieve as a team. The conditions are the same for both teams, we aren’t too bothered about it.”When asked if a review was needed when it comes to playing in Delhi, because the air quality is not great for athletic activity, Arun said: “I think pollution is everywhere in our country. We are not too worried about the pollution. The BCCI schedules these matches, and our job is to go out and play and get the best out of our team. Focus is more on that.” Incidentally, Arun was the coach of the Hyderabad side last year, when their Ranji Trophy match against Tripura was called off due to heavy smog, along with the match between Bengal and Gujarat. The air quality was much worse at that point. On Sunday, Kuldeep Yadav, India’s 12th man, wore a mask when he came on to the field with drinks in the first session. This was even before the first drinks break, when physio Patrick Farhart came on to check on Kohli’s back.Arun didn’t expressly say that Sri Lanka held the game up in order to break the rhythm of India’s batsmen, but he didn’t deny that the stoppages might have resulted in it. That was the farthest thing on Sri Lanka’s minds, according to coach Nic Pothas. They were more worried about the safety of their players.”It is well documented that Delhi has high levels of pollution,” Pothas said. “They had got extremely high at one point, we had players coming off the field and vomiting. There were oxygen things in the dressing room. It is not normal for players to suffer in that way while playing the game. From our point of view, it has to be stated that it is a very very unique case.”I thought all the officials, the match referee and others handled the situation very well. When it is a new situation for everybody, it is not easy to make decisions. I feel for the umpires, and I feel for the match referee. It’s not easy but the job of myself and the manager is to make sure that the players are safe. That’s all what we were trying to do.”Apart from Lakmal and Gamage, Dhananjaya de Silva vomited. “The bowlers obviously were struggling,” Pothas said. “Suranga and Lahiru were struggling. The match referee was in our change room and the doctors, and Suranga, poor guy, was just continuously vomiting. Doctors were in there as well. Dhananjaya de Silva was vomiting. It was tough.”Pothas himself had to go out to discuss matters with Dinesh Chandimal as they were left with only 10 players to put on the park. Trainer Nick Lee had changed into whites when Kohli did declare. Pothas clarified, though, that they never asked for play to be stopped but wanted clarity from the officials regarding players’ safety.”We are here to play cricket,” Pothas said. “Under most circumstances we wanted to play cricket. This wasn’t a case of us wanting to stop. We just wanted to have some clarity on the safety of players. You could see the two fast bowlers… fast bowling is a high-intensity activity. The two guys were struggling. When it becomes unsafe that is when the conversation started. The safety of the players is of paramount importance.”The final decision regarding player safety rests with the ICC. An exchange between the ICC and the officials is expected overnight. “That (future course of action) is in the hands of match referee and umpires, and I am sure they will have meetings tonight and try and put together some sort of precedent if that happens tomorrow again.”Asked if he would personally like to see a precedent being set, Pothas stayed non-committal. “It is an abnormal case,” he said. “I will leave that with the ICC. The match referee and the umpires will file a report, and it will go back to the ICC. Our job is to play cricket.”Pothas also refused to comment on the crowd’s reaction – they booed Sri Lanka and chanted “loser, loser” – or the appearance that India were less than understanding of their plight.

West Indies head coach Stuart Law came down hard on his team after they listlessly crumbled to a 204-run defeat against New Zealand in the second ODI in Christchurch

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Dec-2017West Indies coach Stuart Law came down hard on his team after they listlessly crumbled to a 204-run defeat against New Zealand in the second ODI in Christchurch on Saturday. It was West Indies’ 15th defeat in 21 ODIs this year, and the 121 they managed in a chase of 326 is their lowest total in 2017.”As I said to them before they left [the ground], words are cheap. We’ve got to see actions now,” Law was quoted as saying by . “There’s so much talent in this squad. I don’t think what we saw in the first two games is a fair indication of how well these guys can play.”At one stage, West Indies actually seemed to be in control of the match, having brought New Zealand down to 186 for 5. But from there, Henry Nicholls and Todd Astle flattened them with a sixth-wicket stand of 130 runs in 98 balls. Trent Boult then ripped through their batting order with a career-best 7 for 34 that sent them packing in 28 overs.It is these sort of performances that made West Indies miss out on an appearance in the Champions Trophy in England earlier this year, which was contested between the top eight teams in the world. West Indies have also lost out on a direct entry into the 2019 World Cup and now have to go through the qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe next year.”We need to settle on a group of players to take us forward,” Law said. “The earlier we can come up with those names [for the World Cup qualifier] and come up with a plan for those guys leading up to that tournament [the better].”More immediately, one prospect that could possibly fetch them better results in the third and final ODI of the current series in Christchurch on Tuesday is the likely return of Chris Gayle. The opening batsman has been in imperious form of late, smashing a record 18 sixes in a T20 innings in the final of the recently-concluded Bangladesh Premier League that gave his side Rangpur Riders the title.Gayle, however, hasn’t played much of a role in the current series. He struck 22 in the first ODI but did not take the field during the New Zealand chase. He also missed the second match due to illness. But Law suggested that the left-hander was progressing well. “Fingers crossed he should be right for the next one. I saw him [on Sunday morning] at breakfast and he seemed to have a little bit more life about him. It’s moving in the right direction.”While Law was all for West Indies’ attacking brand of cricket, he impelled them to exercise caution and better discretion. “People talk about poor execution, but if it’s the same dismissal over and over again, it rivals lunacy,” he said.”The batters know they made mistakes and we’re far better than what we showed. Hitting balls into the wind, it’s not very smart, particularly when we spoke about it leading into the game. We were trying to get 300 in 25 overs, when we had 50 overs to get it.”Our guys want to be positive and play an attractive brand, but you can’t be reckless with it. You’ve got to be smart in the way you go about it.”

Essex have brought in Australia Test quick Peter Siddle for the first five games of their Championship title defence

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Feb-2018Essex have signed Australia Test quick Peter Siddle for the first five games of their Championship title defence.As in 2017, when Essex supplemented a largely homegrown pace attack with an overseas pro, Siddle will bring an experienced edge during the opening weeks of the season. Essex’s unexpected Championship success was spearheaded by Jamie Porter and former South Africa spinner Simon Harmer, who took 147 wickets between them, but they benefited from significant contributions by Neil Wagner and Mohammad Amir.Siddle, who previously signed to play T20 for Essex in 2012 before being ruled out with injury, will be expected to fulfill a similar role alongside England Lions bowler Porter and a crop of young seamers including Sam Cook, Aaron Beard and Paul Walter.”I am delighted to sign for Essex,” Siddle said. “I have heard very good things about the club and the quality of the playing squad and look forward to contributing strongly towards the title defence during the first few weeks of the season. I’ve enjoyed my previous experiences of county cricket and can’t wait to get underway at Chelmsford.”Siddle, 33, has taken 211 Test wickets and his style of bustling, skillful seam-bowling is well suited to English conditions; on Australia’s 2015 Ashes tour, he claimed match figures of 6 for 67 to help set up victory at The Oval. His last Test appearance was more than a year ago, however, and he has been troubled by persistent back injuries.He has previously enjoyed successful Championship spells with Nottinghamshire and Lancashire. A recent Big Bash League winner with Adelaide Strikers, he is currently only expected to play four-day cricket at Chelmsford.Anthony McGrath, who was recently appointed as Essex’s head coach after Chris Silverwood left to take up a role with England, said that he had spoken to his former Yorkshire team-mate Darren Lehmann, now in charge of Australia, about signing Siddle.”Peter is someone with proven quality at the highest level,” McGrath said. “He is vastly experienced and is a player who won’t just deliver on the pitch but will help our younger bowlers as well.”He recently played in one of the best International teams around, and we are looking forward to picking his brains and seeing what else we can produce as a bowling unit with his help. Darren Lehmann spoke glowingly about him as a person and a bowler when I spoke to him recently, so we are looking forward to him joining us and making a real impact in the opening weeks of the season.”

Given the presence of four Full Members and the high-stakes nature of the tournament, good viewership figures can be expected, but bringing it to that audience might not yet be a cost-effective undertaking

Nagraj Gollapudi03-Mar-20181:41

All you need to know about the World Cup Qualifiers

For the first time ever, the ICC is set to broadcast matches from its World Cup qualifier event. Ten of the 34 games have been earmarked, including all of the Super Six stage and the final. Still, the ICC will be asked why it is not telecasting the rest of the matches.The interest in this qualifier is far greater than for previous editions, partly because of the participation of four Full Members – two old ones in West Indies and Zimbabwe and two new ones in Afghanistan and Ireland – in a pool of 10 teams. Only two will advance to join the eight Full Members already booked for the 2019 World Cup. With the additional presence of established Associates like Netherlands, Scotland, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and the UAE, wider interest is a given.And given that cricket is still attempting – with however much conviction – to enter the Olympics fold, it would seem to make good sense to showcase its popularity and reach by streaming the qualifiers over a digital platform.Obviously, right? Not so much. This will be the third qualifier of its kind the ICC has hosted, but the previous two – in 2009 and 2014 – were not broadcast. The ICC had actually streamed four matches, including the final, during the 2014 Qualifier in New Zealand.* But the viewership, it is understood, was not so strong. However, four years later, with the likes of Afghanistan climbing into to the upper echelons of international cricket and the smaller Associates aspiring to take bigger steps, the appetite to consume is bigger. So by actually committing to broadcasting ten matches from this event, the ICC Board (which is made up of the various member boards, remember) feels it has already taken a forward-looking step and, based on its success, the next qualifier in 2022 could have even more matches available for the world to see.Though the ICC owns the production rights for its global tournaments, the digital rights are with Star Sports, which has rights till the 2023 World Cup. The ICC could stream in partnership with Star and is also aware of the advantages of streaming matches live over a digital platform.ICC

According to one official from a prominent member board, the way the ICC’s digital live streaming rights are split geographically is unique. In most territories the digital rights are owned by Hotstar, according to the official, but there are pockets where Star will not stream and where the ICC can do if it so wishes.The ICC is capable of streaming matches and has the resources. Even during last year’s women’s World Cup, ten matches were broadcast live on TV. The remaining 21 were streamed live and the ICC produced content good enough for it to distribute it to different countries. Yet tournaments like the women’s World Cup, the Under-19 World Cup and the World Cup qualifiers are not, ultimately, profit-making tournaments.To stream matches for a tournament like a qualifier – with limited commercial appeal for now – is not cost-effective, especially when as many as four matches per day are scheduled during the group stages, played at four venues – two in Bulawayo and two in Harare. It is not just the cost of having the technology in place, but also the cameras, crews, commentators and graphics team.Ultimately, all these add up to costs that the members do not want to contribute to because it cuts into the percentage of profits the ICC distributes to them from global events. The budget for organising a global event comes from the subscription money member boards pay. So if the qualifier does not generate any revenue, and the broadcaster does not want to stream the matches, the ICC has to bear the costs, which consequently will affect member revenues.But, keeping in mind the sizeable and growing interest in smaller countries like Afghanistan and Nepal, the ICC has hired crews who will shoot 90-second clips of the matches that are not being broadcast but will be shared globally with fans.

Medical professionals will judge whether a player is unfit to continue as the ECB takes on the thorny challenge of like-for-like replacements

David Hopps21-Mar-2018Concussion Replacements will be available for the first time in all four professional domestic competitions in England this summer as the ECB has acceded to requests from the counties to put the safety of players ahead of initial fears that the system might be misused.The change of policy is one of several significant changes to the Playing Conditions affecting the Specsavers County Championship, Royal London One-Day Cup, Vitality Blast and Kia Super League.Dr Nick Peirce, the ECB’s chief medical officer, has overseen ECB research into concussion in cricket for several years. “This is a change made in the interests of player safety and health,” he said. “While concussion is not as common in cricket as in contact sports such as rugby, our research has shown an average of around 15-20 incidents in first and second team cricket during each of the last few seasons.”We have already mitigated against this by making helmets meeting the latest safety standards mandatory, and improving the levels of training for umpires and other officials. Now the ECB Board have approved a proposal from the Cricket Committee that we go a step further – with that proposal reflecting a very strong view from first-class counties.”The previous refusal to allow a replacement player had caused tension within the county system. Coaches, in particular, felt that by emphasising player safety and withdrawing a player they were put at an unfair disadvantage for the rest of the game. The prospect that they might condemn themselves to defeat, with all the possible knock-on effects that might bring, was an outcome that rested more easily with some counties than others.The ECB has now acted, with the safeguard that any decision whether a like-for-like replacement is permissible is left to a medical professional.Peirce said: “This season, each team, home and away, at first and second team level, will have to be supported by a medical professional who is qualified to make judgements on possible concussion following a head-strike. They will initially have a five-minute period to make an on-field assessment, and if concerns remain, that assessment will continue off the field, as previously.”At this stage, there is no Concussion Replacement – and there is no time limit on deciding whether or not the player can return to the match.
“But if the medical professional feels that the player has or may have been concussed, they will notify the Cricket Liaison Officer present. It will then be down to the CLO to approve the concussed player’s team’s nomination of a replacement.”Alan Fordham, the ECB’s head of cricket operations, added: “We appreciate that the phrase ‘like for like’ leaves a need for some flexibility and interpretation. We will take into account the cricket that remains to be played and will aim to replace the resource lost by the affected side – but not so much that they are advantaged.”For example they would not gain permission for a specialist batsman to be replaced by a specialist bowler if they were bowling in the fourth innings, or for a fast bowler to be replaced by a spinner if that team were to be bowling later in the match.”The full Playing Conditions are published on the ECB website.

The former captain and CA Board director said Australia must stop celebrating aggressively in the face of their opponents once the batsman was dismissed

Daniel Brettig15-Mar-2018Mark Taylor, the Cricket Australia Board director, has criticised the national team for their on-field behaviour in South Africa, saying both sides had contributed to the ugly atmosphere that led to Kagiso Rabada’s two-Test ban for physical contact with Steven Smith, and the confrontation between David Warner and Quinton de Kock.In a series of comments likely to sting Smith in particular given their mentoring relationship, Taylor said the Australians should be on their “final warning” from match officials for celebrating in the faces of the opposition when a batsman was dismissed. The clearest example of this was when Warner celebrated the run out of AB de Villiers in Durban by screaming at the other batsman Aiden Markram.”Both sides should be on their final warnings, and that definitely includes Australia,” Taylor told Channel Nine. “There’s been too much of this in-your-face celebration when batsmen are dismissed, and the Australian bowlers have been as guilty as the South African bowlers at times.”Taylor’s comments follow those made by a fellow former Australian captain Ian Chappell, who said that Smith and the coach Darren Lehmann were as culpable as Warner for letting things spiral out of control. Chappell had advocated a suspension for Warner, but also pointed out that team leaders needed to carry a heavy burden of responsibility for their players’ actions.1:59

Noise, grumbling and chatter: Everything that’s taking the sheen off a great series

“I absolutely agree with that,” Taylor said. “Unfortunately it’s where David Warner has come unstuck, he’s actually made a point in recent times of saying that he wants to bring back the old David Warner and get in the face of the opposition. He told the world what he was going to do and what’s more he’s gone about and done it, and taken it to another level.”I’m not suggesting for a minute we have silence out in the middle, but there’s no doubt it’s getting worse. Bullying is not a bad term for it, and they’re using it too much. It just keeps escalating and now it’s getting out of hand.”As for Rabada’s appeal against a two-Test ban, which appears likely to be heard before the start of the third Test in Cape Town next week, Taylor said he considered the bowler to have made “avoidable” contact with the Australian captain after dismissing him on day one of the Test at St George’s Park.”I’m not surprised South Africa are appealing the suspension because he’s obviously a key player for them,” Taylor said. “Having taking 11 wickets in the last Test they are going to do everything they can to keep him on the field, but he’s in trouble because he’s already been found guilty. In my mind the contact with Steve Smith in the second Test was avoidable, so that’s why he’s in trouble.”A fresh set of match officials are due to oversee the series in the final two Tests at Newlands and the Wanderers, with Jeff Crowe’s match referee role to be taken over by the former Zimbabwe batsman Andy Pycroft, who also officiated in South Africa’s series victory in Australia in late 2016.

Former Nottinghamshire and MCC chief executive Derek Brewer has also been co-opted to the board as a non-voting “stakeholder advisor”

George Dobell05-May-2018Glamorgan chairman Barry O’Brien is among four new non-executive directors named by the ECB. It is also understood that Derek Brewer, the former Nottinghamshire and MCC chief executive, has been co-opted to the board as a non-voting “stakeholder advisor” in the hope he will keep the ECB appraised of the concerns of the counties.O’Brien, who will be obliged to step down from his club position to take up the post, has been a Glamorgan committee member since 2007 and chairman since 2011. Under his stewardship the club has reduced its debt significantly, largely thanks to several creditors agreeing to write off loans, and benefited from a controversial agreement whereby the ECB provide compensation payments to the club in return for them not bidding to host further Test cricket. A widely respect corporate lawyer, O’Brien is a former head of corporate finance at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, one of the world’s largest law firms.The other non-executive directors are Brenda Trenowden, who has a strong history in banking (she is currently head of Financial Institutions for the ANZ Banking Group) and is global chair of the 30% Club, a campaigning organisation which advocates increased representation for women in senior leadership roles; Delia Bushell, who was previously Managing Director of BT Sport & BT TV; and Alan Dickinson, who is a former Chief Executive of RBS UK. Dickinson will also be obliged to step down from his position as Treasurer of Surrey.But it is the appointment of O’Brien, subject to ratification at the ECB’s AGM, which is most intriguing. The compensation payments from the ECB are currently the subject of an external review by the Good Governance Institute and, in 2007, O’Brien was fined by the Law Society for breaching his duty to a client and bringing his profession into disrepute. It emerged he had advised a consortium run by Philip Green over a proposed takeover of Marks & Spencer who had been a longstanding client of his employer, Freshfields.The new non-executive directors were chosen by the ECB’s Nominations Committee, headed by ECB chairman Colin Graves, following a series of formal interviews. The board is reducing in size from 13 to 12 and, in line with Sport England guidelines, attempting to increase its gender diversity. And while it is noticeable that there is no representative of a Category C ground (a non-international venue) on the board, the ECB had previously announced it would create a board independent of individual county interests.Former county chairmen Chris Grant (Derbyshire) and James May (Sussex), who it is understood was interviewed as part of the process, had previously intimated their desire to stand for a position on the board, though it is unclear whether Grant subsequently applied.While it has not been yet announced, ESPNcricinfo understands that the ECB’s non-executive directors will shortly be paid somewhere in the region of £15,000 a year, before expenses, or up to £150,000 a year for the chairman. Graves has intimated he may well waive any personal payment.Among those stepping down from the ECB board are former chairman Giles Clarke, who has been an ever-present for more than a decade, Peter Wright and Ian Lovett – former chairmen of Nottinghamshire and Middlesex respectively. Surrey chairman Richard Thompson and Andy Nash – who had stepped down as chairman of Somerset in the hope of remaining as a non-executive director at the ECB – both recently resigned having cited their dissatisfaction at the compensation payments and the corporate governance of the organisation.

Former board chairmen Bob Merrimen and Malcolm Speed explain how James Sutherland grew in his role as chief executive officer

Daniel Brettig08-Jun-20184:24

Brettig: Sutherland will be remembered for the way he handled controversies

James Sutherland’s successor at Cricket Australia will face a “hell of a job” to maintain the governing body’s international relationships, according to the former chairman Bob Merriman, who also said the current heir apparent Kevin Roberts should spend as much time as possible with the outgoing boss to learn more of his pragmatic ways.In assessing Sutherland’s 17-year tenure, both his predecessor Malcolm Speed and Merriman touched on common themes of an era beginning in 2001, which led to an exponential growth of the business. CA took the game to new audiences through its promotion of the Big Bash League and women’s cricket and formed a strong relationship with BCCI, feeding off its financial might.Merriman, who was on the panel to select Sutherland as CEO and became his first long-term leadership partner from 2001 to 2005, said that the outgoing chief executive’s high standard over a long period was underlined by the way he had juggled domestic and international responsibilities, alongside the tension between the game’s traditions and its search for growth. He described Sutherland’s exit as a “great loss for cricket”.

‘I didn’t think it would ever happen’

Governance reform at Cricket Australia – changing the Board from a group of 14 state-appointed delegates to nine independent directors – was something tried and failed on many occasions before James Sutherland’s long game alongside successive chairmen finally resulted in the adoption of the new model in 2012.
“The change to the Board constitution to its current structure was again something he worked very hard on over a 10-year period,” Merriman said. “It took a long while to get there but he was consistently at it until he got what one would now say is an operational Board with some independence on it and not run by state interests.
“In my term as chair I tried twice and got beaten twice, but it was one of James’ key objective, set out with it in probably the year 2002, and finally got there in 2012. It was a long, drawn out exercise he finally achieved, after I’d tried it twice and failed and didn’t think it would ever happen.”
Internationally, Malcolm Speed pointed to Australia’s enhanced standing among other ICC member nations as a part of Sutherland’s legacy. “Our Australian focus on local leagues sometimes diminishes the relevance of global sporting bodies. It is quite difficult to accommodate the needs of other countries in a global sport, particularly one such as cricket where the major countries have different religions, economies, business cultures and sporting structures,” he said. “A major part of the role of the CA CEO is to maximise Australia’s position and influence on the world game.
“In his early years, I was critical of James’s role at meetings of the CEOs of the other major countries. I thought his body language was sometimes dismissive of them and he did not show sufficient respect to them. The same criticism might also have been made of me in my early days at ICC. Australians are direct and forthright and do not have time to spend days at meetings beating around the bush. James accepted the criticism and changed his outlook. By the time I finished, James had established himself as a thought leader for the group and mentor for several of the new CEOs.”

“I think the person who succeeds him is going to have a hell of a job, because the standard that James has set is so high and the achievements have been so great,” Merriman told ESPNcricinfo. “Sure, everything appears to be in place for somebody to come in and manage it, given that all the media arrangements are in place for six years, there’s future programming in place, there’s good staff in place and guaranteed revenue. But it’s going to be a real challenge for the next person to maintain that level of excellence that James has been able to achieve in ticking all the boxes that he has.”Particularly with the growing of his staff – there’s been some turnover in his staff – the people he’s got there now growing will be very important in the support of a new person coming in as chief executive. In my view it’s going to be a very difficult job to find somebody, if you use the expression David Peever used that he’s the best CEO in the cricket world, so it’s going to be a bit hard to top him.”One would think [Roberts] has got to be under consideration, and I think he’s got a good period to learn as much as he can in the 10-12 months, however long James stays on. He’s got a very good opportunity to learn a hell of a lot from a guy who is very good. Kevin’s got a lot of experience himself, but here’s an opportunity to work with a very successful person.”Speed, describing Sutherland as “very commercial, methodical, rational, thoughtful and consistent”, noted that one of his strengths had been an ability to work alongside a diverse array of chairmen – Denis Rogers, Merriman, Creagh O’Connor, Jack Clarke, Wally Edwards and David Peever – captains – Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Steven Smith and Tim Paine – and coaches – John Buchanan, Tim Nielsen, Mickey Arthur, Darren Lehmann and Justin Langer.”Put these 16 men into a room and you will see an extremely powerful, talented and influential group. They would be a hard group to manage and they would rarely agree on anything. James has been the constant,” Speed said. “He has been the glue that has held them together and perhaps that has been his most important role.”He has been able to work with each of them and has provided the continuity and consistency that has enabled CA to stay on track and become a genuine sporting powerhouse. Over time, he has quietly imposed himself on the organisation and worked with other key people to bring about change. To look at it another way, he has enabled them to make their contributions and work in a collegiate and respectful way.”Two areas in which Speed said he had been critical of Sutherland at times were crisis management and the way he had initially dealt with other ICC member countries. But he felt that in both cases there had been improvement with a preference for dealing genuinely with issues rather than worrying chiefly about how he was perceived in public.”As a new CEO, I thought James struggled with crisis management,” Speed said. “Cricket in Australia will have its fair share of crises and James had plenty early in his tenure. Not the least of these was the bizarre circumstances facing Shane Warne at the 2003 World Cup in South Africa where he was sent home facing doping charges before he had bowled a ball.1:37

Had been thinking about it for a long time – Sutherland

“James did not seek the limelight in dealing with the many issues he faced. Likewise, he did not shirk the issue when he was called upon to face the media. He was always authentic and straightforward and did not seek to prevaricate or obfuscate and he should be given credit for this. Authenticity is the sports administrator’s most important characteristic and James was always the real deal.”The recent ball-tampering scandal is a case in point. With hindsight, I am sure James would have preferred to have spoken to Steve Smith before he made media comment. Time zones were against him and he was keen to be seen to be on top of the issue. Ultimately, the correct outcomes were achieved. Do we judge a sports administrator on how well he appears in the media or on the decisions that are made in resolving difficult issues?”As for last year’s fraught MOU dispute, in which Sutherland initially declined to intervene but ultimately brought about an agreement with the Australian Cricketers Association after Roberts was sidelined as chief negotiator for CA, Speed said that it was incumbent on any chief executive to empower his staff to tackle issues and only jump in when necessary.”James has been criticised for delaying his entry to the recent Collective Bargaining process with the players. I see it differently,” Speed said. “James empowered others to negotiate the deal and that did not work. As soon as he was involved in the deal, consensus was achieved. The CEO is not required to manage each and every aspect of the business but he or she needs to know when they are needed to support those who they empower to perform important roles.”One of Sutherland’s early battles was the seeking out of a new major sponsor for CA at short notice when Ansett collapsed in September 2001. Merriman recalled that the fact he, David Fouvy and Anthony Everard were able to not only secure a new sponsor within a month but also gain more favourable terms than the previous deal, had greatly increased the Board’s trust in their then 35-year-old chief executive.”I remember when we lost Ansett as a chief sponsor, within a month he got a better deal [with Hutchinson Telecom, worth A$1.5 million more than the previous A$25 million deal with Ansett]. In any sport that is a very significant loss. That part of his operation was not generally acknowledged, but the fact he was able to recover when we lose a major sponsor on the eve of the season like we did in September 2001, and then within a month we’ve got not only a major sponsor but an improved deal. He was able to do that all through my time.”