South Africa dismantled West Indies for the second-lowest total in their history and sixth lowest in the tournament’s en route a crushing 10-wicket win, their second in three games

The Report by Firdose Moonda02-Jul-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDane van Niekerk capped off a spectacular bowling display for South Africa•Getty Images

South Africa dismantled West Indies for the second-lowest total in their history and sixth lowest in the tournament’s en route a crushing 10-wicket win, their second in three games, in 140 minutes. Less than a third of the overs in the game were bowled as South Africa completed their chase of 50 in 6.2 overs. A third successive loss left West Indies, runners-up of the 2013 edition, closer to elimination.Dane van Niekerk, the South Africa captain, became the only bowler in cricket history to take four wickets in an international without conceding a run, but the damage was done earlier. Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail reduced West Indies to 5 for 16, with only one batsman – Chedean Nation – getting into double digits.South Africa had warned of something like this in the warm-up match against West Indies ten days ago. Then, South Africa plucked their opposition for 63 and neither Ismail nor Kapp was among the wicket-takers. Here in Leicester, on a green-tinged top, they made up for that.Ismail made two breakthroughs. She got the ball to nip back into the right-hand batsmen at pace, trapped Hayley Matthews lbw and took out Stafanie Taylor’s off stump. She should have had debutant Reniece Boyce caught at third man in her next over but the chance was put down. Instead, it was Kapp who got rid of the newcomer in an over of mayhem, which effectively ended the contest.In the eighth over, Boyce popped a leading edge back to Kapp off the first ball, Kyshona Knight was struck on the front pad in line with middle stump off the second delivery, and Deandra Dottin’s leg stump went cartwheeling off the fifth. West Indies had half their batsmen back in the changeroom without even 20 runs on the board.South Africa’s change bowlers Ayabonga Khaka and Moseline Daniels kept the pressure on and conceded only 14 runs in the nine overs they bowled, which included four maiden overs before Dane van Niekerk brought herself on for a first taste of spin. Melissa Aguilliera, who had battled 37 balls for just three, tried to take her on but missed the sweep and was bowled. Shanel Daley also mistimed her aggression and top-edged a swing off van Niekerk to short-fine leg before Kapp was brought back on to finish things off.She added a fourth to her haul when she bowled Afy Fletcher to finish with career-best figures but van Niekerk put the icing on the performance. Nation, who had managed to find the boundary five times in her innings, ran out of patience and chipped a catch to short midwicket before young Qiana Joseph, just 16 years old and in her first game, missed a sweep. Kapp and van Niekerk finished with the two best bowling figures by South African women in a World Cup game.It did not seem things could get any worse for West Indies but they did in the field. In the third over of the South African innings, they dropped both openers off successive balls. Lizelle Lee was put down by Taylor and Laura Wolvaardt by Anisa Mohammed and both made full use of their lifelines. South Africa raced home in 38 balls to completely demoralise a West Indian side who have lost all three of their matches so far.

Barisal Bulls won’t be part of the 2017 Bangladesh Premier League season after they were ousted for not meeting the financial terms and conditions set by the BCB

Mohammad Isam09-Aug-2017This year’s Bangladesh Premier League will be without Barisal Bulls after the governing council ousted them for not paying the tournament fees. The tournament will now have seven teams.”At a meeting today, we decided that Barisal Bulls will not be participating in the 2017 BPL,” governing council chairman Afzalur Rahman Sinha said. “They didn’t meet the BPL’s financial terms and conditions.”The Barisal franchise, co-owned by Axiom Technologies and BCB director MA Awwal Chowdhury, finished last in 2016. ESPNcricinfo understands that one of the owners was reluctant to run the team this year due to financial difficulties.Sinha said the Barisal players, including their icon player, were likely to be in the draft next month.

Ed Barnard starred with four wickets on an excitable but brief day of action at Trent Bridge

David Hopps at Trent Bridge05-Sep-20171:37

County Championship Round-up: Barnard gives Worcs the edge

Nottinghamshire 188 for 9 (Barnard 4-66) v Worcestershire

ScorecardTwo limited-overs trophies safely gathered in, it was time for Nottinghamshire to return to the gentler rhythms of the County Championship. Ah yes, the dutiful seeing-off of the new ball, the careful perusal of each bowler until every variation had been logged, the chance for spectators to chew upon the clue for seven across and contemplate the latest news from North Korea.Except Championship cricket at Trent Bridge is rarely like that. At one point Notts were for 127 for 6 in the 28th over, the ball as excitable as a week-old puppy, the top six batsmen all suffering the batting equivalent of wee up the trouser leg. Last week, Notts traded runs for wickets with Northants, who were third until they were well beaten. This week it is the turn of Worcestershire, who lie second. There has barely been time to read the news at all. No bad thing.No English ground looks more beautiful in the rain, with the floodlights blazing, than Trent Bridge, but by the time the weather worsened for the final time at 5pm, with Notts 188 for 9, it was time to accept the inevitable with honours about even. To steal 47.5 overs from a day like this was a fair effort.Such is county life on a bedraggled day like this that Ed Barnard, an archetypal English seamer, making strides at 21, had four wickets – removing Jake Libby, Cheteshwar Pujara, Samit Patel and Riki Wessels in the space of 25 balls – while Ravi Ashwin, the Indian spinner brought over to England with considerable fanfare, did not even get a bowl.Ashwin took 8 for 162 to guide Worcestershire to victory against Gloucestershire on his debut last week, but his most valuable experience here, ahead of India’s tour next summer, might well be to bat twice on a seaming deck.Barnard maintained an attacking length and was rewarded for it. His first four overs disappeared for 24, Notts well placed at 79 for 1 in the 19th over, but then the wickets came thick and fast. Jake Libby fell to a combo catch – wicketkeeper Ben Cox knocking the ball on to second slip – Cox held on to dismiss Pujara then took a beauty, low to his right, to silence Samit Patel. Riki Wessels made nought, sitting back to one that kept a little low. Barnard also threw out Brett Hutton late in the day, Hutton had got off the mark the previous ball – his 26th – as he was almost solely responsible for slowing the rate to four an over.The first session was so high-risk, so full of threat and counter-threat that the story should properly have been told in front of a TV camera by Ri Chun-hee, the patriotic North Korean newsreader. She began her career, incidentally, back in 1971 when Mike Smedley and Brian Bolus were mastering the art of the scurried leg-bye at Trent Bridge and North Korea was actually talking about unification with the South. More sober, safer times.Nottinghamshire are marking the retirement of their own supreme leader here, an altogether more popular figure. This is their last home Championship match of the season, the last time that Chris Read will be seen at Trent Bridge. For 20 years, he has graced the game as one of the most quicksilver glovemen around, including 15 Tests – a figure that would have been far higher if the batting qualities that ultimately brought him more than 16,000 first-class runs at 37.18 had been apparent a little earlier.Read’s elan has brought joy to so many Trent Bridge days. He has been nimble behind the stumps and a counter-attacker with the bat around No 7 in the great wicketkeeping tradition. As was observed by Michael Henderson, from , who was on hand to pen a leisurely valediction, while Read has played for Nottinghamshire, the entire ground, bar the chimney-potted old pavilion, has changed around him. The pavilion is also due for a revamp, although Read will not be around to see it. The game has changed too.Read surpassed Thomas Oates for most victims by a Notts wicketkeeper last month. After the last of his Tests, against Australia in Sydney 10 years ago, England preferred to treat him like Captain Lawrence Oates, presuming that he may be gone some time. In England terms, so he has been, but quite properly he walked out to a standing ovation. England should have made better use of him, but in the pubs of Worksop and Newark people will talk fondly of his skills well into their dotage.

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.