Governing body to be placed in special measures after 448 racist incidents are revealed

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jul-2022Cricket Scotland is to be placed into special measures at least until October 2023, and could stand to lose public funding worth £460,000 a year from , following the publication of a damning report into institutional racism within the sport.A total of 448 examples of institutional racism were revealed in the Changing the Boundaries report, carried out by consultancy firm , while Cricket Scotland failed in 29 out of 31 tests used to measure the scale of the problem – and barely met the required standard in the remaining two.On Sunday, in anticipation of the report’s findings, the board of Cricket Scotland resigned en masse, with an apology to those affected by institutional racism, notably Majid Haq and Qasim Sheikh, the two former players whose allegations of victimisation had set the review in motion, but also with an acknowledgement that the scale of the problem was beyond the scope of the sport’s existing governance.Plan4Sport’s investigation took in the testimony of nearly 1000 participants across all areas of Scottish cricket, and outlined 68 individual concerns that have been referred for further investigation, including 31 allegations of racism against 15 different people, two clubs and one regional association.Some of these have also been referred to Police Scotland as hate crimes, including one incident that has already resulted in a court appearance.The allegations outlined include racial abuse, inappropriate language, favouritism to white children from public-school backgrounds and a lack of transparency in selection for non-white players.A survey conducted during the investigation found that 62 percent of respondents had experienced, seen or received reports of racism or other forms of discrimination.The report also found that the lack of diversity within Scottish cricket meant there was no consistent process for handling racist incidents, and that people who did raise issues tended to be “sidelined or ignored”. This was the fate that Haq encountered after being sent home from the 2015 World Cup, after which he never added to his then-national record of 54 ODI appearances.Louise Tideswell, MD of Plan4Sport and Stewart Harris, CEO of Sportscotland at the launch of a report into racism in Scottish cricket•Getty Images

Cricket Scotland’s interim CEO, Gordon Arthur, described the report’s findings as a “watershed” moment for the sport, and issued a “heartfelt apology to all those who have been the victims of racism and discrimination in Scottish cricket”.”The racism and discrimination that has taken place in the sport that we all love should never have been allowed to happen, or to go unchallenged for so long,” Arthur said. “We recognise the impact this will have had on individuals and their families. We hope the report provides them with some reassurance that their voices have been heard, and we are sorry this did not happen sooner.”This report is a watershed moment for cricket in Scotland and taking its recommendations forward is the top priority. It’s clear that significant cultural change must happen and it must happen quickly. The immediate priority must be to get the independent referral process agreed and implemented so the investigations into the referrals can start.”Louise Tideswell, the managing director of Plan4Sport, praised the bravery of those who had come forward with their stories, and condemned Cricket Scotland’s leadership for failing to recognise the problems and thereby “enabling a culture of racially aggravated micro-aggressions to develop”.”I also want to add that whilst the governance and leadership practices of the organisation have been institutionally racist, the same should not be said for cricket in Scotland. There are many outstanding clubs and individuals delivering local programmes which truly engage with diverse communities.”Stewart Harris, the chief executive of Sportscotland, described the findings as “deeply concerning and in some cases shocking”, and added that they should serve as a “wake-up call for all of Scottish sport”.”Racism is a societal problem and it is no longer good enough to simply be non-racist, Scottish sport must now be actively anti-racist,” Harris said. “We will keep all options on the table as we hold Cricket Scotland to account on all of the recommendations contained within this report.”One of the key recommendations of the report is that future recruitment to the board should involve no more than a 60-40 gender ratio either way, including a minimum of 25 percent of members should come from minority ethnic backgrounds.In addition, an urgent review is to be held into the governance of Western District Cricket Union – one of Scotland’s five regional associations – which will be placed in special measures by Cricket Scotland, and suspended from overseeing disciplinary measures in the competitions under its auspices.

Netherlands took the match to the final over, courtesy fifties from Vikramjit and Cooper, but failed to prevent a 3-0 sweep

Danyal Rasool21-Aug-2022Pakistan nearly paid the price for extreme caution with the bat, but standout bowling performances from Naseem Shah and Mohammad Wasim spared their blushes as they eked out a nine-run win in the third and final ODI in Rotterdam and sealed the series 3-0.For a large part of the chase, it seemed that Netherlands would topple Pakistan, particularly during a 71-run fourth-wicket partnership between Vikramjit Singh and Tom Cooper. But with the pressure at its most intense, Naseem and Wasim bowled with a composure that belied their inexperience, taking nine wickets between them to close out the game. Naseem registered career-best figures of 5 for 33, with Wasim backing him up with 4 for 36.Earlier, a miserly bowling performance from Netherlands saw Pakistan bowled out for 206 in 49.4 overs, handing the home side a golden opportunity to nab a win. Pakistan were exceptionally conservative with the bat for much of the innings; by the end of 30 overs, they were 105 for 3. Bas de Leede, Netherlands’ best player of the series, was once again exceptional with the ball as he ran through the middle order, striking thrice to prevent Pakistan ever really breaking away. Only Babar Azam, who scored a steady, if sedate, 125-ball 91, was able to keep the innings together, but in the absence of a supporting cast or an injection of impetus, a modest total was all that Pakistan could muster.Netherlands sniffed an opportunity, but they were abundantly cautious early on, and Naseem, as he had done all series, continued to punch holes in their batters’ defences. Max O’Dowd played at one that nipped away to cap an indifferent series before Naseem cleaned up Musa Ahmad with a ball that held its line from around the wicket. Wasim, who replaced the somewhat less potent Shahnawaz Dahani, took up the mantle from the other end, sending de Leede back after he nicked one through to Mohammad Haris.But with the target relatively low, the hosts were never out of the game, and one big partnership was enough to give Pakistan a real fright. Vikramjit and Cooper began to rebuild after the early blows, the former’s three successive boundaries off Wasim a clear signal of intent. The duo looked comfortable against most Pakistan bowlers.Pakistan needed a breakthrough fast, and for that, Babar turned to Wasim once more. In the second over of his new spell, he sent Vikramjit packing. Naseem, of course, was not to be outdone, removing Scott Edwards in his first over back with a dream delivery that beat the outside edge of the bat and crunched into off stump.But Netherlands rebuilt with Cooper and Teja Nidamanuru, a 56-run stand taking them to within 35 of the target. At that stage, the asking rate was under seven, and Netherlands were turning the screws once more.Aryan Dutt had Babar Azam caught and bowled on 91•KNCB/Gerhard van der Laarse

But the Naseem-Wasim duo refused to give up, combining in a scintillating death-overs display to remove the pair in the space of six balls and burrow into the tail. From thereon, it was an uphill task for Netherlands against two bowlers in top form and, while Pakistan were made to sweat, victory always seemed a touch out of their reach. Wasim rattled Aryan Dutt’s stumps to finish off the game, and Pakistan just about got away with one.In the morning, Pakistan made four changes to their side, bringing in Abdullah Shafique as opener for his ODI debut, as well as Haris in place of Mohammad Rizwan. After they opted to bat, Shafique had the opportunity to impress straightaway, but Vivian Kingma struck early once again.Kingma and Dutt kept things tighter than a taxman’s purse, never allowing Pakistan any freedom to accelerate. The fielding was lively, and with the batters finding the fielders with most shots, Pakistan began to feel suffocated. Neither Fakhar Zaman nor Babar could truly break away, and even when there were changes in the bowling, a change in fortunes for Pakistan did not accompany them.The pressure finally got to Fakhar, who went for a huge heave against Logan van Beek, only to be beaten by the pace and have his off stump rattled. Netherlands only squeezed harder, with the run rate continuing to snail along well under four.Babar was curiously passive through the innings, and the failure of the inexperienced middle order to capitalise made his wicket even more valuable. It didn’t come until fairly late in the innings, but his failure to break free meant he couldn’t inflict much damage anyway. It was Dutt, the pick of the bowlers, who got rid of him for the second time this series, taking a superb one-handed catch off his own bowling. Dutt had deserved it more than perhaps any other bowler, his figures of 10-1-34-1 a just reward for a sensational showing.The final few overs saw Pakistan trying to accelerate, only for Netherlands to shackle them further. The odd four or six gave hopes of a change in momentum, but it was swiftly followed by wickets. No. 10 Zahid Mahmood struck a six in the penultimate over, but Kingma returned to help Netherlands get the final two wickets.At that stage, Netherlands looked on track for their first home win of the summer. They might well have reached there but for two young Pakistani fast bowlers.

The six franchises have signed between two and five players already, and can have a maximum of 17 players in their line-up

Firdose Moonda31-Aug-2022CSA’s new franchise-based T20 league has been named “SA20”, Graeme Smith, the tournament commissioner, announced in a press interaction on Wednesday. He also confirmed that the player auction for the inaugural season, to be played in January-February 2023, will be held on September 19.The six teams – all owned by groups that own teams in the IPL – have already signed between two and five players apiece from a pool of marquee players as part of the direct-acquisition process. The franchises have an overall purse of US$2 million and can buy as many more players as they can, or want, with the maximum squad strength set at 17.Related

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The money available to them at the auction will be based on what is left of the purse after acquiring the pre-auction players [the five included a maximum of three overseas players, one a South African international, and one an uncapped South African player]. In total, franchises will be permitted to sign up to seven international players and ten South Africans, with a view to fielding an XI with a maximum of four internationals and seven South Africans, the same format as in the IPL.The tournament’s fixtures will be revealed soon and will comprise 33 matches, with each team playing the others home and away, two knockout matches, and a final. Sub-Saharan African broadcasters , who own a 30% share in the tournament, also have the rights to broadcast it on the African continent but CSA are in the market for international broadcasters. They are also in discussions to ensure South Africans who only have access to free-to-air television will have some way of keeping in touch with the event, with everything from radio coverage to delayed television broadcasts up for discussion.The league is currently working through player registrations and will present the franchises with a shortlist of candidates ahead of the auction.Smith said they had received an “immense amount” of interest from players, both local and overseas, despite the calendar congestion. The SA20 will clash with both the Australian BBL and the UAE’s ILT20 as well as the BPL in Bangladesh. While the ILT20 will rely on a majority of internationals, the BBL has a similar structure to the SA20 [with a maximum of three internationals in each XI]. Player overlaps between tournaments might become inevitable.To deal with clashing contractual obligations, Smith met with organisers of the ILT20, and the two players signed to both the BBL and SA20 – Liam Livingstone and Rashid Khan – have made themselves available for only part of the BBL, because they had signed with CSA first.”The Big Bash has created a different structure where they have allowed players to play for a portion of the Big Bash. The players that have signed for our league will be there [Australia] for the first couple of days of January and then they will come across to South Africa,” Smith said. “They will be here when their team owners require them in South Africa. They will be available fully for the South African league.”The headlines have obviously been grabbed by the big international names, but the CSA’s focus is also on developing local players.”We’ve been able to attract some big international names to our league. You can see in the pre-signing with Rashid Khan, Jos Buttler, Liam Livingstone and the like. We’ve got some real quality but the difference for us is that we focus on South African talent as well,” Smith said. “There will be 60 or 70 SA players on a global platform with their storylines. We’ve seen how that’s benefitted Indian cricket in the IPL and it’s gone to benefit their all-format cricket. We are hoping we will be able to create the same in South Africa.”The SA20, however, has been cited as one of the main reasons for CSA downscaling on Tests in the next FTP, in which South Africa play no Test series of three or more matches in the 2023-2025 World Test Championship cycle.With the prime summer period in January-February now occupied by the SA20, and the IPL due to start in mid-March, South Africa’s Test – and by extension their first-class – window will have to be earlier in the season, in September-December. And concerns around the quality of the red-ball game have already been expressed.However, Smith, also South Africa’s most successful Test captain, does not see the league as having a negative effect on the longer format.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“These are things everyone grapples with in the international game – the growth of T20 and trying to understand how all the formats fit in. It’s an interesting debate and discussion going forward,” he said. “Every year, South Africa has played a T20 tournament. Now it’s just got to a level that elevates it to a standard that we see across the world.”It will bring a lot of expertise into our game. It’s going to bring financial support that hopefully will benefit all forms of the game in South Africa and keep us relevant in the international game. We don’t see it as an issue for Test cricket. We see it as an issue of growing South African cricket and keeping it strong.”CSA will try not to have any international matches when the SA20 is on, but in the first year, it will coincide with three ODIs against England. The matches were postponed from late 2020 and form part of the World Cup Super League. South Africa lie outside the automatic qualification zone and will forfeit points to Australia in January 2023 – they are not playing those matches because it would clash with the league. So they cannot afford not to host England.In subsequent years, the FTP sees some fixture clashes with the SA20, such as an England tour in early 2026, but schedules may be tweaked to allow CSA to keep the league window free.CSA also intends to launch a women’s version of the SA20 in the future, but have not been able do it from the outset because of the T20 World Cup, which will be held in South Africa in February 2023. “It’s 100% in our plans,” Smith said. “In year one, with the Women’s World Cup starting directly post the new league, it wasn’t viable. It’s definitely in our plans to begin one as soon as possible.”

The tour will consist of three ODIs and two Tests

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Oct-2022India will arrive in Bangladesh on December 1 to begin their tour comprising three ODIs and two Tests. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced the tour schedule on Thursday, with Dhaka set to host all three ODIs and one Test, and Chattogram the other Test.The tour begins with the ODI series, which will be played on December 4, 7 and 10 in Dhaka. The touring party will then move to Chattogram to play the first Test at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium from December 14 to 18, after which they return to Dhaka to play the second Test from December 22 to 26. India are set to depart Bangladesh on December 27.

India tour of Bangladesh

December 4: 1st ODI in Dhaka
December 7: 2nd ODI in Dhaka
December 10: 3rd ODI in Dhaka
December 14-18: 1st Test in Chattogram
December 22-26: 2nd Test in Dhaka

Both Tests are part of the ICC World Test Championship, where India are currently in fourth place with 52.08 percentage points while Bangladesh are last in the nine-team championship with 13.33 percentage points.For India, the Test series is crucial to their hopes of qualifying for the WTC final, which will be played at The Oval in June 2023. After the two Tests in Bangladesh, their final assignment in the 2021-23 cycle is a four-Test home series against Australia in February-March 2023.The last time India went on a multi-format tour of Bangladesh was in 2015. That time around, the only Test was drawn while Bangladesh won the ODI series 2-1.

Sussex allrounder retires after 20-year playing career that peaked with World T20 title in 2010

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Nov-2022Luke Wright, the former England and Sussex allrounder, has been named as the new England Men’s selector.The role, which covers many of the duties previously carried out by the former national selector, Ed Smith, will see Wright sharing responsibility for the selection of England’s red- and white-ball teams, alongside the coaches and captains of the respective squads, as well as England Men’s managing director Rob Key, performance director Mo Bobat and player ID lead David Court.He will also give his input into the selection of England’s Lions and Young Lions squads, and – much like Smith’s former head scout James Taylor – will be responsible for being across all domestic cricket in the summer, including talent identification. His input will be factored into decisions on ECB central contracts, and he will also work with the ECB science and medicine team on player availability and programming.”It’s a huge honour and privilege to take on this role, one that I am incredibly excited about,” Wright said. “With the Ashes and ICC Men’s 50-over World Cup next year, I can’t wait to get started and try to contribute after what has been a fantastic year for England men’s cricket.”In order to focus on his new role, Wright, 37, has also called time on his 20-year professional career, one that encompassed County Championship wins with Sussex in 2006 and 2007, as well as a key role in the England team that won the World T20 title in 2010, beating Australia in the final in Barbados.He played in over 400 matches for Sussex across all formats, and bows out as the highest scorer in T20 Blast history with 5026 runs for Sussex, including the Twenty20 Cup in 2009, and consecutive Pro40 titles in 2008 and 2009.”A huge thank you to Sussex for the most incredible 19 seasons at the club,” Wright added. “I am very proud of what I achieved individually and as a team during my time. I gave my everything and I hope that showed on the pitch. I will always be a Sussex fan.”All told, Wright played 101 times for England in white-ball cricket – 50 ODIs and 51 T20Is. He made his debut in England’s maiden World T20 fixture, against Zimbabwe in Cape Town in 2007, and featured in each of the first four such global tournaments, with a highest score of 99 not out against Afghanistan in Colombo in 2012.His hard-hitting batting and energetic seam bowling could have made him a contender to fill Andrew Flintoff’s shoes as a Test allrounder, but despite a handy record in first-class cricket – 7622 runs at 38.11 and 120 wickets at 40.51, with a career-best 226 not out against Worcestershire in 2015 – his priority was always the white-ball game.As one of the first county cricketers to commit to the globe-trotting T20 franchise circuit, Wright has played a total of 344 T20 fixtures – the fourth-most among English players – with stints in the Pakistan Super League, Australia’s Big Bash, the Bangladesh Premier League and the Abu Dhabi T10, among others.Related

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And it is this status as one of the pioneers of England’s new approach to white-ball cricket that has earned Wright the chance to help shape the identity of the future national squads.His appointment is the latest left-field appointment from Key, whose choice of Brendon McCullum as Test coach – in spite of his lack of explicit red-ball experience – was rewarded with six Test wins out of seven last summer, while Matthew Mott’s recruitment from the Australia Women set-up reaped rich rewards last week with victory in the World T20 final against Pakistan in Melbourne.”Off the back of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup win and a successful summer for our men’s Test team, I’m delighted that Luke will be joining as England Selector,” Key said. “With his significant experience of playing in England and overseas as well as his in-depth knowledge of county cricket, he will be an important voice in squad selection while also helping to identify the next generation of England stars.”It’s an exciting time for England men’s cricket, but with the Ashes and the ICC Men’s 50-over World Cup next year there is a lot of hard work ahead if we are to build upon what has been an exciting year.”Wright has spent the past two winters in New Zealand, coaching Auckland and playing a role in the national squad’s limited-overs set-up, and will finish his time there before starting his selector role at the end of March, in time for the start of the English season.

Lancashire allrounder gets nod above Will Jacks, Ben Duckett confirmed as opener for first Test

Vithushan Ehantharajah29-Nov-20221:56

Why Livingstone could play ahead of Jacks vs Pakistan

Liam Livingstone will make his England Test debut against Pakistan in Rawalpindi on Thursday.Livingstone, 29, will be one of two new faces named by skipper Ben Stokes for the first Test from the team that ended the English summer. Ben Duckett will partner Zak Crawley at the top of the order, replacing Alex Lees who was dropped for this tour, adding to his four Test appearances from 2016-17, against Bangladesh and India. Yorkshire batter Harry Brook keeps his spot at No. 5, having replaced the injured Jonny Bairstow at the Kia Oval in the final match of the South Africa series.Livingstone, picked on this tour for his capabilities as a spinner along with his ball-striking which has made him a go-to signing on the Twenty20 circuit, last played a competitive red-ball match at the end of the 2021 summer for Lancashire. Both of his first-class averages are in the high 30s: 38.36 with the bat and 36.13 with the ball.Related

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His selection in the XI is ultimately for his potential, bombastic upside. As head coach Brendon McCullum put it on Monday: “He bowls offspin, legspin, fields well and smacks the ball out of the park – it’s hard not to get around a player who plays like that.” Ultimately, the call was between him and Surrey’s batting allrounder Will Jacks, who bowls offspin. Livingstone got the nod on account of offering both wrist and finger spin.”The only real discussion we thought was worth having was whether we go with Jacksy or Livi,” Stokes said. “I think given the place where Livi’s going to play and as that third spinner role, it’s quite nice to have someone who turns it both ways. And quite nice the way he applies himself with the bat – very similar to Jacksy, but having that legspin and offspin possibility with Livi was a big plus for us.”Stokes referring to Livingstone as a “third spinner” is down to wanting to utilise Joe Root’s offspin alongside the left-arm orthodox of Jack Leach, who is regarded as the frontline spinner. Livingstone will supplement both.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“With Livi he’s one of those cricketers who can come on from anywhere and take a wicket when the ball’s flowing a bit the opposition’s way. I’ve already spoken to Rooty as well. I’m going to try to use him quite a lot. I think he underuses himself. He’s actually got some very good assets as an offspin bowler. He’s been working very hard on his bowling.”The presentation of a maiden Test cap this week will round off a special month or so for Livingstone, who was part of England’s successful T20 World Cup campaign in Australia. As a verified specialist in the shortest format, notably from an English perspective when he carried the first edition of the Hundred in 2021, it perhaps bodes well that someone like him would relish the chance to play the longest format.Stokes revealed he spoke to Livingstone about the prospect of playing a part in these Test matches a couple of months ago. The response he got back was encouraging. His lack of first-class action has featured less as a worry and more as a punchline over the last fortnight. Stokes joked that Livingstone “will probably try to hit a few over this media centre, no doubt”.”It was a pretty simple conversation I had with him, actually before we went out to Australia for the World Cup. I obviously told him where we stood in terms of him playing some red-ball cricket out in the subcontinent.”With the skill he has with the ball and the way he plays with the bat, [he] is very aligned with how me and Baz want to see the team play. He jumped at the opportunity. I don’t necessarily think that not playing a red-ball game is going to be too much of a thing for him. He’s a very natural cricketer, he’s going to go out there and really express himself. So yeah looking forward to seeing him in the whites. He did say when he got his white pads out of the bag ‘what are these?'”Duckett, while also selected on style of play, has earned a recall on an impressive showing last season with Nottinghamshire. He struck 1012 runs at an average of 72.28, at a rate of 76.09 – that last figure as much a pro for this management group as the three centuries. He underlined his expansive play in the T20 series in Pakistan a few months ago with 233 runs at 46.60 (strike rate 159.58), which gave Stokes in particular a nudge he was the man for the job ahead of the other opener in the squad, Keaton Jennings.Liam Livingstone has been picked in England’s Test XI for Rawalpindi•Getty Images

“Ducky showed out here in the T20s just how good he is against spin bowling,” Stokes said. “To have someone at the top like him who can mess around with the fields and make it a captain’s nightmare because he sweeps both ways, and we know how much of a part spin plays out in this area. Excited to have him at the top.”Brook’s selection, meanwhile, is a continuation from the summer in which he carried drinks before making his bow in the format in the final South Africa Test. He scored 12 in his only innings of that match but comes off the back of a stellar season with Yorkshire: a monster average of 107.44, with three hundreds – including a career best 194 against Kent – and a final tally of 967 from just eight matches.”The way in which Harry’s gone about his first-class cricket over the last year, we won’t see much difference out here in the subcontinent,” Stokes said. “Another one who’s a perfect like for like in the way they play for Jonny. He [Bairstow] is a big miss in this Test team out here, but very blessed to have someone like Brooky to replace him.”Stokes also discussed the importance of approaching this tour of Pakistan with an understanding life is more important than cricket. On Monday, the England captained revealed he would be dominating his match fees, understood to be approximately £50,000 (US$60,000) for this tour to the Pakistan flood appeal.”Coming here is a monumental time for English cricket and for Pakistan as a nation. There are bigger things to life than cricket. The floods were devastating to the country, and me coming out here and representing my country, bringing the sport back to the nation. There are things that go on in life that are bigger than sport and I felt compelled just to give something that is bigger than cricket.”Donations to the appeal can be made via the Disasters Emergency Committee.

Morris and Queenslander Michael Neser added to the squad for the second Test against West Indies in Adelaide as cover with doubts remaining over Pat Cummins

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Dec-2022Lance Morris, the Western Australia pace bowler who is rated the quickest bowler in Australia, has been called up into the squad alongside Queensland seamer Michael Neser as bowling reinforcement for the second Test against West Indies in Adelaide.Morris, 24, has had an outstanding Sheffield Shield season where he is the leading wicket-taker with 27 and 18.40. He almost bowled WA to a remarkable victory at the Gabba on Sunday.Dubbed ‘The Wild Thing’ – in a nod to former tearaway Shaun Tait – after bursting onto the scene five years ago during a tour game against England at the WACA, where he notably bowled a wayward short delivery first up to Joe Root, Morris has developed a reputation for testing the speed radar.”I’m an attacking and intimidating bowler,” Morris told ESPNcricinfo earlier in the season. “I can get to the early 150s [kph]. I’m just settling into my body now. They say around 26 is when you basically mature as a bowler. I’ve got still room to get faster.”Related

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Australia have called up reinforcements after captain Pat Cummins was unable to bowl in the second innings in Perth due to a quad injury although he did return to the field. He is confident of being fit for the day-night Test but with a packed schedule the selectors are unlikely to take risks.”Was he at risk out there doing what he was doing? No,” head coach Andrew McDonald said. “He was able to manage the tempo in which he ran. We felt as though him being out there was helping us so that we were in control of the game.”We can we can leave it right up to the to the toss if we want [to see if he will play]. He’s our captain, we’re going to give him every chance to get out there, and…even the way he marshalled the troops out there was impressive.”Whether Morris cracks into the XI remains to be seen with Scott Boland, who averages 9.55 in Tests, already there as the reserve quick. He has not played since his stunning Ashes performance last season.But Morris could add a point-of-difference to the attack and the selectors may consider it is worth seeing what he can do at the next level.”I think that’s probably No.1 [quickest] I’ve faced in my Shield career,” Kurtis Patterson, the New South Wales captain, said earlier this season. “He was fast and it was No.1 in terms of absolutely consistent pace.”Morris also gave the Indians a working over during a T20 World Cup match in Perth earlier in the summer.”The more I bowl, the more I feel like I’m really grasping what being a fast bowler is all about,” he said. “Hopefully I can keep getting better and continue to bowl fast because it’s a lot of fun.”McDonald is wary of the workload on the quick bowlers with five Tests against West Indies and South Africa in less than six weeks.”Bowling last and a short turn-around, put stress and strain on your bowling stock,” he said. “We know we’ve got other guys that are there ready and available. See how our guys pull up and then move from there.”At the moment as it sits they’ve pulled up well, both Josh and Mitch. Patty’s obviously the major concern, and we erred on the side of caution with him.”Neser played his one and only Test match to-date in last year’s Adelaide day-night Test when Cummins was ruled out with Covid.Squad David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland, Michael Neser, Lance Morris, Marcus Harris

The two captains were surprised by the new ball offering more turn and how much it spun in the second innings

Deivarayan Muthu28-Jan-20231:29

Is Devon Conway New Zealand’s best all-format batter?

India captain Hardik Pandya was surprised by the way the Ranchi pitch behaved in the T20I series opener against New Zealand on Friday. The pitch offered sharp grip and turn to slower bowlers throughout the game, with the dew factor not making much of an impact in the second innings. Chasing 177, India could manage only 155 for 9, as New Zealand won their first game of the tour.”I don’t think no one even thought that this wicket would play like that,” Hardik told Star Sports at the post-match presentation. “Both teams kind of got surprised, but think they played better cricket on this [pitch], and that’s the reason the result ended like that.”Actually, the ball was turning more with the new ball than the old one. And the way it spun and the way it was getting [that] bounce, I think it kind of caught us by surprise, but I still think we kind of pulled it back. We were still in the game till Surya [Suryakumar Yadav] and myself were batting and obviously the way Washy [Washington Sundar] finished. As I said, it was a surprise wicket, but they just played little better cricket than us.”Related

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• 'Big plus' Washington Sundar hasn't lost his white-ball smarts

• Daryl Mitchell and Mitchell Santner give New Zealand 1-0 lead in T20Is

New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner echoed Hardik’s thoughts on the track, with the sharply cut grass at the JSCA Stadium perhaps offering their spinners more assistance in the second innings.”I think it was a shock for everyone involved – how much it kind of spun in the second innings,” Santner said. “But yeah, it was a great game, and it was pretty tight in the end. You saw a lot runs in the ODI series, so it’s nice to see the ball spin a bit more [in the T20Is].”

Watch India vs NZ on ESPN

You can watch the replay of the first T20I on ESPN Player in the UK and on ESPN+ in English and in Hindi in the USA.

Washington wasn’t too critical of the pitch and suggested that the way it played was just an aberration. “I think it was just a one-off game,” he said at the post-match press conference. “I don’t think that just because it was spinning so much, we have to address anything. Just that one-off game. Had we got off to a flier or even a better start, things would’ve been much different. Obviously, it did spin, and you will see such wickets here and there. Obviously, people over here and players in our team have played on such wickets in the IPL and even in the Indian team. So, just that one-off game where certain things didn’t go our way and eventually, we couldn’t cross the line. They bowled well and they played with three spinners and even their seamers bowled very well.”Washington reckoned that allrounder Daryl Mitchell’s unbeaten 59 off 30 balls, including a sequence of 7(nb), 6, 6, 4 in the last over turned the game. Left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh kept missing his yorkers and ended up leaking 27 off the over of New Zealand’s innings.”Obviously, Daryl’s innings was very crucial for them and as I said 150 would’ve been par and we would’ve been very happy with that going inside, but yes he made the difference by actually getting a half-century for himself,” Washington said. “He played till the end and made the difference in the last over. I think these big overs will happen in T20 cricket and it just happened in a couple of occasions in this game and at times it could happen where you will see 15 runs and above in three-four overs. That’s how this format is.”Santner also acknowledged that Mitchell’s contribution – and making early inroads with the ball – was crucial on that pitch. Santner himself was so un-hittable in the early exchanges that Suryakumar played out a maiden in the last over of the powerplay. The left-arm fingerspinner came away with the most economical figures on the day: 4-1-11-2.”I don’t think we were ever safe [with that total],” Santner said. “On-seventy-odd was obviously nice, Daryl hit a couple over the rope and he batted extremely well and so did Dev [Devon Conway]. We thought we were in with a sniff at 180 [176 for 6]. We knew we had to bowl well with the power that India have; so it was nice to chip some wickets away at the powerplay, which we struggled for in the one-day series.”

Madhya Pradesh were 15 for 3 replying to 484 and still have a long way to go

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Mar-2023Harsh Gawli and Yash Dubey put up an unbeaten 97-run stand to resurrect Madhya Pradesh’s innings after Navdeep Saini and Mukesh Kumar rattled them early with the new ball.In reply to Rest of India’s (RoI) massive total of 484, Madhya Pradesh got off to a shaky start, as Mukesh struck in the first over getting Arham Aquil to edge behind for a duck. In the next over, Saini induced a thick outside edge off Himanshu Mantri’s bat with Dhull at second slip taking a superb catch. It wasn’t too long before Shubham Sharma walked back to the pavilion after Saini pinned him in front, leaving Madhya Pradesh reeling at 15 for 3.Gawli and Dubey then came together to resist the RoI bowlers, who were made to toil without rewards for the rest of the day. After a watchful start, the pair managed to hit a few boundaries to build up the score. Dubey also brought up his half-century with a four off Saini to backward point. At stumps, Madhya Pradesh had reached 112 for 3, with Gawli on 47 and Dubey on 53.Resuming the day on 381 for 3, RoI lost their nightwatch Saurabh Kumar early in the day for a duck. Yash Dhull then joined B Indrajith at the crease, as the duo took RoI’s total past 400. While Dhull displayed an aggressive intent, picking the gaps with every chance he got, Indrajith was more sedate at the crease. Indrajith’s 72-ball stay came to an end with him edging an Anubhav Agarwal delivery to the wicketkeeper. Soon after, Dhull brought up his fifty off 65 balls with a boundary.At one point, RoI were cruising towards 500 with Dhull going strong at one end. But with Upendra Yadav’s dismissal, RoI went on to lose their last five wickets for 18 runs. Left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya cleaned up Upendra for 14 before Agarwal had Atit Sheth caught behind for a duck at the stroke of lunch. Kartikeya then claimed the key scalp of Dhull, who played down the wrong line to be struck on his back pad. Saini and Pulkit Narang then hit three boundaries combined to take the total to 484 before Avesh Khan (4 for 74) struck back-to-back to finish the proceedings.

Haris Sohail suffered a left shoulder injury when he landed awkwardly during a fielding drill

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Apr-2023Pakistan allrounder Iftikhar Ahmed will replace batter Haris Sohail for the final three ODIs of the ongoing series against New Zealand. Sohail suffered a shoulder injury on the eve of the first ODI, and while the PCB announced initial scans were satisfactory, he did not take part in the second game on Sunday.Sohail, 34, returned to Pakistan’s ODI squad for the first time in three years for a previous series against New Zealand in January. He was retained for this one as well but landed awkwardly on his left shoulder during a fielding drill, causing the injury that has necessitated his absence.The injury is a significant blow to Sohail’s World Cup chances. Pakistan play three more ODIs against Afghanistan in August and then they have the Asia Cup, but its logistics are still only being worked out. Sohail has played 45 ODIs, and was a part of Pakistan’s World Cup campaigns in 2015 and 2019.Iftikhar, 32, has played just 10 ODIs, and none for over a year. His record with the bat has not been especially encouraging, with 132 runs in nine innings and a highest score of 32 not out. But there is a spot in Pakistan’s middle order up for grabs with Sohail’s absence, and Shan Masood’s recent struggles. Masood was omitted from the starting XI of the second ODI, and replaced by debutant Abdullah Shafique.