All posts by n8rngtd.top

Brothers put on 118-run stand to give south Londoners spoils on derby night at Lord’s

ECB Reporters Network25-May-2023The Curran brothers Sam and Tom put Middlesex’s bowlers to the sword as Surrey won the T20 Blast London derby at Lord’s by 77 runs.Sam, who’d hot-footed it back to London from an underwhelming stint at the IPL with Punjab Kings, took out his frustration on the Seaxes with 68 off 47 balls, including two big sixes in Surrey’s total of 199 for 6. Tom, playing these days under a white-ball only contract, was if anything even more belligerent with 50 off 33 balls with eight fours as the siblings added 118 in 11 overs. Will Jacks earlier blasted a quickfire 43.Three wickets in the final over for Tom Helm gave him 3 for 38, while left-arm spinner Nathan Fernandes took 1 for 27 from three overs on debut.Jacks then starred with ball in hand, returning 3 for 17, backed up by Gus Atkinson’s 3 for 20 as the hosts could only muster 126 in reply despite some defiant striking by Max Holden who top scored with 43.Jacks, who had made two swashbuckling half-centuries in his last three innings against Middlesex at Lord’s in the format, came out swinging from ball one and while he played and missed at a few the England man took heavy toll of a full toss from Helm, belting it back past the bowler for four.Teenager Fernandes, thrown on in the powerplay, struck second ball when pinch-hitter Sunil Narine hit him straight to cover, but Jacks sent two drag-downs from legspinner Luke Hollman into the stands, before a brilliant catch by Helm on the fence at long-on ended his revelry.The Currans’ progress was steady initially, but the 12th over bowled by Ryan Higgins changed the complexion as Tom Curran dispatched the allrounder to all parts, hitting five fours in succession. Not to be upstaged Sam Curran then cut loose, denting Fernandes’s excellent figures to that point with consecutive sixes.Blake Cullen, back on Middlesex first-team duty for the first time in more than a year, was rusty and his 11-ball over, including a waist-high full toss and four wides only added to Surrey’s momentum.The 100-stand came in 56 balls, and we were in the penultimate over by the time Tom top-edged a steepling catch back to grateful bowler Higgins. Sam, too, left before the end as the south Londoners finished one shy of 200.For Middlesex much depended on skipper Stephen Eskinazi, but he departed for just 1, run out following a mix-up from the fourth ball of the innings.The exciting Joe Cracknell deposited a short one from Sean Abbot into the second tier of the Mound Stand only to perish trying to repeat the feat meaning both openers were gone with 27 on the board.Pieter Malan, back from injury, also found the stands before departing to Atkinson for a breezy 30, and Jacks then struck twice in his first over, removing the dangerous Higgins, caught at mid-off before bowling Hollman round his legs.Throughout this period Holden had hit bravely, smiting two big sixes at a strike rate approaching 200, but when Narine bowled him for 43 the game was up.

England captain recalls being asked if she did “the ironing for the men” in her team as a youngster

Valkerie Baynes30-Jun-2023Heather Knight says she is not surprised by the findings of a damning report into inequality in cricket, recounting her own experience of sexism in the sport.Responding to the report and recommendations of the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) released this week, Knight, the England Women’s captain, said that while much progress had been made, there was still a “long way to go”. She also recalled how she had been asked if she did “the ironing for the men” when she played men’s cricket as a youngster.”It’s been really sad to hear about anyone that’s not felt welcome in our game – nobody should be made to feel unwelcome in our sport,” Knight said on the eve of England’s first T20I against Australia in the Women’s Ashes at Edgbaston, where more than 19,000 tickets have been sold.”This is a really important step for cricket, and cricket – having done this report – can really lead the way in terms of being more equitable, more diverse and more inclusive,” Knight said. “It’s really important for me to say as a woman in cricket it’s not at all surprising, the recommendations that have come out of the report – but it’s really important to say cricket has come a hell of a long way since I was a kid.”I started out playing men’s club cricket and being asked ‘do you do the ironing for the men when you finish playing?’. Tomorrow I’ll lead my side out in front of a near full-house with 85,000 tickets sold for the whole series.”Cricket has come very far but it’s also got a long way to go. As a group of England women cricketers we feel really strongly about this. We want to be a key part of that in pushing the game forward.”Related

• English establishment must listen and learn in wake of ICEC report

• ECB issues 'unreserved apology' as ICEC report reveals deep-rooted discrimination within English cricket

• Ten key recommendations of the ICEC report

• Commission recommends 'fundamental overhaul' of women's cricket pay structure

• 'Home of cricket is still a home principally for men': Lord's castigated for lack of Women's Tests

The ICEC report found that racism, sexism, elitism and class-based discrimination have existed and still exist within the game.Knight, who was among 4000 people to give evidence to the commission for its 317-page report titled “Holding Up a Mirror to Cricket”, is only aged 32, so her experience is by no means ‘historical’ and she said such behaviour was still going on. But she said she was encouraged by changing attitudes and would encourage young girls to take up the sport.”There still are instances where this goes on but I think it has changed a lot,” Knight said. “I went to watch a friend, a female in an [otherwise] male team recently, and she got quite a hostile reaction because she was female from one player in the other team. But I think the reaction of the people on the field was really important and I don’t think that probably would have happened previously.”Everyone can be an ally of anyone in the sport and make people feel welcome. So if you’re younger and want to get into cricket, I’d say, do it, there’s no better time. I wish I was a youngster getting into cricket now. There’s no better time to be a female playing cricket so yeah, come and join in and hopefully you feel welcome.”Among the report’s 44 recommendations was a call for equal pay between women and men at domestic level by 2029 and international level by 2030. The report also said ICEC was “alarmed” by the “truly appalling” fact that England Women have never played a Test at Lord’s, saying: “The ‘home of cricket’ is still a home principally for men.”The third ODI against India at Lord’s last year was the first time England Women had played a match at Lord’s since they won the 2017 World Cup final there, although they are due to play their third T20I against Australia at the venue on July 8. And Richard Thompson, the ECB chair, has said England Women will host a Lord’s Test in 2026, acknowledging that it should have happened sooner.”I’d love to play a Test match at Lord’s and it’s very nice to see Richard Thompson say the other day that there’ll be a Test match there in the next few years, that’s brilliant,” Knight said. “We’ve actually got a game at Lord’s later in the week, I’m really excited to play that, it’s a place that’s very special. We’ve obviously won a World Cup there as well which makes it even more special for the girls that were involved in that.”I’m also involved with the MCC Foundation, which is a charity that do a hell of a lot of work with state school children in this country and a hell of a lot of work overseas as well. So, yeah, it would be nice to play a Test match there in the future and that sounds like it’s going to happen.”As ticket sales for this Women’s Ashes series hit record levels, Knight paid tribute to the pioneering work of players like Rachael Heyhoe Flint, who in 1976 became the first woman cricketer to set foot – in a playing capacity – on the main ground at Lord’s when she captained England in an ODI against Australia. She was also central to the campaign to allow women to become members of MCC in 1998, becoming one of the first female members of the club the following year. A gate named after her was unveiled at Lord’s last year.”The crowds seem pretty good actually for The Oval and Lord’s which is great to see and just thinking about people that weren’t allowed in at certain places in cricket previously and how they fought to get a seat at the table and have their voices heard, I think is really important,” Knight said.”Rachael Heyhoe Flint at Lord’s [is] probably the most obvious in terms of that so those sort of pioneers we’re very thankful for and hopefully that change can really accelerate and move on.”

Clark, Haines add 150 for first wicket to set up Sussex’s strong position

ECB Reporters Network10-Jul-2023Sussex 376 for 7 (Clark 96, Haines 86, Carter 56, Hudson-Prentice 52*) vs DerbyshireTom Clark top-scored with 96 and three of his team-mates also made half-centuries as Sussex took the first-day honours against second division strugglers Derbyshire at Hove.Having put Sussex in, Derbyshire squandered any advantage offered by a pitch with a covering of live grass during a careless first session at the 1st Central County Ground when they conceded 150 runs without parting openers Clark and Tom Haines.Haines fell for 86 to the first ball after lunch and Clark went on to a season’s best before both Ollie Carter and Fynn Hudson-Prentice passed fifty for the fifth time this season after tea as Sussex closed on 376 for seven.Sussex have yet to lose this season but badly need a second win to strengthen their hopes of promotion in the LV= Insurance County Championship and would have been pleased with their day’s work, although Clark and Haines will be disappointed not to have got to three figures.Despite its green tinge the surface is dry and few balls misbehaved all day. Off-spinner Alex Thomson picked up three wickets for the first time in a year after being called into the attack as early as the 17th over, but the Derbyshire seamers found little help from either the surface or the Kookaburra ball being used for the second time this summer.Skipper Leus du Plooy employed six bowlers in the morning session without reward as Sussex’s two left-handers made serene progress at more than five runs an over. Haines was the more aggressive, hitting 15 fours, and it was a surprise when he pushed forward to the first ball after lunch as Thomson found a modicum of turn and edged to slip.It was the start of a productive afternoon for Derbyshire who bowled with more discipline, although they were helped by some questionable shot selection by Sussex’s batters.Skipper Tom Alsop drove loosely at Suranga Lakmal and was caught at slip and James Coles, who’d just hit Thomson for a straight six, tried a repeat and instead holed out to long on.Clark and Carter added 55 for the fourth wicket with few alarms and Clark was on course for his first hundred of the season when he tried to drive Thomson down the ground and picked out Du Plooy, who took a comfortable catch at long off. Clark hit 14 boundaries but he knew he’d missed out on a sizeable score as he trudged off.George Scrimshaw, playing his first Championship match for nearly a year, wasn’t afraid to test out the middle of the pitch and was rewarded in the 78th over when Dan Ibrahim, who had struggled for fluency, wafted at a bouncer and was caught at backward square leg.Carter has been Sussex’s most consistent batter and in his unfussy but effective way he passed fifty for third successive match only to fall to a leg-side strangle and give Scrimshaw his second wicket.Nathan McAndrew lost his off stump to Lakmal when Derbyshire took the new ball, having been dropped at second slip by Haider Ali off Sam Conners in the previous over. But former Derbyshire all-rounder Fynn Hudson-Prentice hit Conners for four successive fours on his way to a 46-ball half-century and even nightwatchman Ari Karvelas enjoyed himself, lofting Anuj Dal over the pavilion roof just before stumps.

Sub-par target of 143 proves ample as Craig Overton, Henry and Green set up Essex showdown

Andrew Miller15-Jul-2023Somerset 142 for 7 (Abbott 4-23) beat Surrey 118 (Henry 3-19, Overton 3-24, Green 3-25) by 24 runsCraig Overton, Matt Henry and Ben Green claimed three wickets apiece in a stunning defence of a sub-par target of 143, as Somerset overcame Surrey by 24 runs to book their place in the Vitality Blast final, where they will face the 2019 champions, Essex, with the chance to cap a record-breaking campaign with their first T20 title since 2005.At the halfway mark of the contest, it seemed Surrey already had one foot in the final, after a masterful display from their own seam attack, led by Sean Abbott’s stand-out figures of 4 for 23. The build-up to their campaign had been overshadowed by the absence of Sunil Narine, who opted to stay in the USA for the maiden season of Major League Cricket, but Surrey didn’t require a single over of spin. Their extraordinary wealth of allrounders seemed to have turned up the ideal combination for the blustery conditions, but as it transpired, they had simply inspired their opponents to raise their own game in response.Desperation does the trick for SomersetAfter finishing as runners-up and semi-finalists in consecutive Finals Days, Tom Abell had conceded Somerset were “desperate” to go one better this year. And while that was a choice of words that might have implied weakness, it was also an apt description of their hungry, clawing response to a sub-par batting display.In the course of Somerset’s innings, Jamie Overton didn’t even get a bowl against his old county, given how stacked with pace options his new team clearly is. But the onus on hitting the pitch hard and forcing Surrey into errors was right up his alley of his Taunton-based twin brother. With his fourth ball of the chase, Craig Overton found enough jag off the seam from his favourite back-of-a-length to smash Laurie Evans stumps for a second-ball duck, and spark his side with renewed belief.Matt Henry’s hardly averse to hard lengths either. His second over did for the key scalp of Jason Roy, who looked aghast skywards as an attempted flick to leg got pick on him and spiralled out to a sprawlingv Sean Dickson, running in from deep square. And with the going good for the quicks, Lewis Gregory gambled on a third powerplay over for Overton, and was quickly vindicated as Will Jacks holed out to deep midwicket.At 24 for 3, Somerset had stolen the ascendancy for the first time in the match, albeit at the cost of five overs from their strike bowlers.Green and Sodhi becalm the middle orderGregory, however, still had a significant trump card up his sleeve. Green, the tournament’s leading wicket-taker, entered the attack for the eighth over of the innings, and struck with his first ball as Sam Curran scuffed a tame drive to Henry at mid-on (38 for 4). He left for 5 from 10 balls, perhaps ruing his failure to assert himself against the legspin of Ish Sodhi, whose previous over – the first sighting of spin in this contest – had gone for just five runs.With the wind now swirling and making strikes down the ground from the City End particularly fraught with peril, Green’s naggingly awkward cutters were the ideal impediment for a team in a hurry. Jamie Smith didn’t get the memo, with an ill-conceived club down the ground that held in the breeze and was dying on Craig Overton as he swooped in from long-on.Jamie Overton, next man in, got away with a similar drill that scudded over the head of long-off for a second-ball four, and though he found a more convincing route to the rope in Sodhi’s next over, one ball later he too was gone, and in the most galling fashion possible … another long-levered club down the ground, but straighter this time and straight into the hands of his brother at long-on (68 for 6).Short-side bluesSurrey’s unparalleled depth means that no cause is lost until the tenth wicket has been toppled, and as the England pairing of Tom Curran and Chris Jordan combined with 75 needed from 48 balls, it was clear that Somerset’s graft was not done yet. Three sixes in as many overs kept that rate very much under control, with both men recognising that the short leg-side boundary from the City End was the place to take on the quicks.But then, after depositing the return Overton in that very direction, Jordan succumbed to the same stroke three balls later, getting underneath his pull on this occasion for Will Smeed to cling on at square leg. And one over later, with a touch of desperation setting in, Curran decided to chance his arm on the long side instead, and wiped Henry into the hands of deep midwicket. He departed for 22 for 15, with his team in the soup at 103 for 8.Three balls later, Green had his third – and his 30th of the tournament – after another reviewed nick off Cam Steel, and nine balls later, Somerset were home and hosed, as Abbott became just the latest – but arguably most blameless – victim of some superb outfielding, as Smeed clung onto another flat smash into the leg side.Top-order power failureSomerset’s record-breaking run in the group stages had been built on the form of their bombastic top three. Smeed, Tom Banton and Tom Kohler-Cadmore came into Finals Day with more than 400 runs apiece, each at strike-rates in excess of 150. And though it hardly seemed like it at the time, their application of the usual template for the first four overs of match would prove to be the difference between the teams.It wasn’t that Smeed and Banton came hurtling out of the blocks in their opening stand of 38 (the same score at which Surrey would lose their fourth wicket), but with four fours and a six between them – the latter swatted off the eyebrows over fine leg by Smeed – the pair had emerged with a clear determination to get busy. That trait would be noticeably absent by the back-end of the innings, with not a single boundary coming from the final 20 balls as Jordan and Tom Curran nailed their death lengths.That Smeed six, however, had been a harbinger of the hardships to come. Gus Atkinson’s extra pace had all but decapitated his quarry in the process, and when Abbott entered the attack with similar licence to slip the handbrake, he took just two balls to make the breakthrough. More pace and bounce outside off drew a flat-footed drive from Smeed, and after a review, a thin nick through to the keeper was confirmed.Banton carried on attacking, dispatching Atkinson for a second six with an excellently played ramp over fine leg. But one ball later, he too was gone – once again via a review as Atkinson followed him down the leg side with that pitch-battering length and found another graze of willow to the keeper. Kohler-Cadmore by this stage had got off the mark with a genuine edge through deep third off Abbott, but he wouldn’t add to his boundary count before Abbott got his revenge, via a steepling catch to point. Somerset’s big three were gone before the end of the tenth over and the innings never quite regained its poise. In the end, it never needed to.

ECB finds Middlesex and Middlesex Cricket Board in breach of financial regulations after years of mismanagement

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Sep-2023The ECB have placed Middlesex and Middlesex Cricket Board (MCB) under special measures following breaches of the County Partnership Agreement (CPA) and financial regulations.The measures have been imposed following an investigation into funds provided to Middlesex and MCB, which found the club has been financially mismanaged over several years. They include a reduction in payments to the club and a suspended points deduction in each of the County Championship, One Day Cup and T20 Blast, along with a business plan to run until the end of October 2025. The ECB will monitor the club every quarter and has the right to observe board and audit committee meetings.Middlesex’s financial issues, while exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, were triggered by an error in pension payments across a 12-year period which cost the club £500,000 to rectify. The issue, discovered in 2021, meant a registered loss of £952,000 that year, with the published accounts showing club reserves had been reduced to £179,000 from more than £2 million before the pandemic.Middlesex are unique among the 18 counties in that they do not own their home ground, Lord’s, which they rent from the MCC. This means, for example, they do not earn any extra revenue when the ground hosts international matches and are unable to stage non-cricket events at the venue, which other clubs utilise to turn a profit.As such, the county are over-reliant on income received from the ECB, which makes up more than 70 percent of their overall figure – £4.733 million out of £6.589 million, according to their latest accounts. This includes including their CPA, plus a further £1.3 million in return for agreeing to the staging of the Hundred.The ECB will henceforth reduce payments to Middlesex by £150,000, of which £100,000 will be suspended until 31 October 2025. The points deduction, equivalent to the maximum points for one win in each of the County Championship, the One Day Cup and the T20 Blast, is also suspended until 31 October 2025.The financial plan includes budgets for the period up until the end of October 2025 that show a sustainable year-on-year profit, and limits spending on players within an appropriate budget. In addition, a governance plan will include separating the governance and financial oversight of Middlesex and MCB and understanding the shortcomings in governance that caused the failings identified by the ECB’s investigation.The punishments handed down are more forgiving than those received by Durham in 2016, which included immediate relegation from Division One, a 48-point deduction for the following season and the loss of Test status. While the situations are different – Durham required a £3.8million bail-out from the governing body – Richard Gould and Richard Thompson, chief executive and chair of the ECB, respectively, are more supportive of the counties than their predecessors.In a statement released by the ECB on Monday, Gould said: “We have agreements in place with all our county cricket clubs and county cricket boards to ensure that ECB funding is used appropriately and for the purposes in which it is intended. Where breaches of our Regulations and Agreements take place, it is right that we take appropriate action.”It is vital that all our members have the necessary governance arrangements in place to ensure ECB funding is used appropriately. We will work closely with Middlesex County Cricket Club and Middlesex Cricket Board in the period ahead to ensure the conditions we have agreed are met.”Andrew Cornish, Middlesex CEO, said: “Middlesex is determined to ensure that the financial management and governance of the Club going forward is of the highest standard and we are resolved to work closely with ECB to ensure that this is the case.”

Victoria are optimistic about his summer availability after an uninterrupted winter playing club cricket in England

Alex Malcolm22-Sep-2023Will Pucovski has not been named in Victoria’s squad for their opening Marsh Cup matches next week due a minor thumb fracture but there is cautious optimism that he could play a significant portion of the Sheffield Shield season, which begins on October 4, following a successful uninterrupted winter playing club cricket in England.Pucovski suffered his thumb injury a month ago at the back end of his stint in England but he is on track to play in Victoria’s Sheffield Shield opener against Western Australia in Perth.Pucovski, 25, has not played a senior match for Victoria since his last Sheffield Shield appearance in October 2022 against Western Australia. Shortly after that match he took an indefinite leave of absence from cricket, having previously taken a number of similar breaks in his seven-year professional career, on top of multiple layoffs due to concussions and the long-term shoulder injury he suffered in his debut Test match against India.Pucovski did return to play grade cricket in January 2023 and played six matches for his Victoria premier cricket club Melbourne. He also played one 2nd XI match for Victoria against Tasmania in March late last season.Related

• Will Pucovski to miss Victoria's Shield clash with Queensland

• Handscomb keen to shake subcontinent specialist tag

• Will Pucovski on his multiple concussions: 'It's been a reality check – there's so much more to life'

• Pucovski takes indefinite leave of absence from cricket

But there is cause for optimism within Victoria’s camp about his availability this summer after Pucovski spent the winter turning out for Weybridge Cricket Club in the Surrey Championship in England. He played 18 matches for Weybridge and scored 614 runs at 55.82, including a century and four half-centuries. More importantly, he managed to play 13 consecutive weekends of cricket without interruption, which is something he has scarcely managed to do in Australia for his club side Melbourne, let alone for Victoria.There is hope he can play close to a full summer for Victoria in the Sheffield Shield, and potentially some Marsh Cup cricket, but it is understood that Australia’s national selectors would like to see him play without interruption for at least one full domestic campaign, if not two, before he is considered to return to international cricket.Since making his debut for Victoria in February 2017, Pucovski has not managed to play a full domestic season. The closest he has come was the 2019-20 season where he played the first half of the summer for Victoria, four List A and six Shield matches, before taking an indefinite break in December of that summer and not returning until the 2020-21 season.A full domestic summer for Victoria includes ten Shield matches plus a final if they qualify, and eight Marsh Cup games plus a final. By way of comparison, Cameron Green, who is a year younger than Pucovski but debuted for WA in February 2017, has played 128 professional matches compared to Pucovski’s 43 over the same period, despite missing the entire 2017-18 season due to a serious back injury.Will Pucovski has suffered a number of serious concussions in his career•Getty Images

Pucovski first took a break from professional cricket, unrelated to injury, following his first Shield double-century in October 2018 and then took another break after being called up to the Australia Test squad in February later that summer for a two-Test series against Sri Lanka. In November 2019, he made himself unavailable for Test selection after playing for Australia A.Since playing his only Test match in January 2021, his breaks have been mainly down to physical issues. He dislocated his shoulder in the Sydney Test against India and had season-ending surgery.In October 2021, he was concussed while batting in the nets. In February 2022, on return from that concussion, he suffered concussion-like symptoms in the warm-up during a Shield game against South Australia and required a break from playing but was later cleared of formal concussion from that incident.After a relatively smooth pre-season last year, which included a trip to the MRF Academy in India for a training camp, he managed only two Marsh Cup games and two Shield games at the start of last summer before taking another break from the game.Victoria have named a strong squad including Test spinner Todd Murphy who has recovered from a minor shoulder problem that forced him out of the Australia A series against New Zealand A earlier this month. Marcus Harris and Scott Boland have also been named with Peter Handscomb to captain Victoria’s Marsh Cup team despite handing over the Shield captaincy reins to Will Sutherland. Nic Maddinson is unavailable as he continues to recover from the ACL injury he suffered last year.

India batter becomes the first to score 50 ODI hundreds, and also breaks Tendulkar’s record for most runs in a World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Nov-2023After becoming the first batter to score 50 ODI centuries, Virat Kohli described the moment as “the perfect picture,” for having achieved the record in a World Cup semi-final against New Zealand, in front of his wife Anushka Sharma and Sachin Tendulkar, the man whose record he broke.As he flicked Lockie Ferguson behind square in the 42nd over of India’s innings and completed the two that got him to his 50th hundred, Kohli celebrated with a leap and a punch in the air, before taking off his helmet, raising his arms and bowing towards the stands, where Tendulkar and Anushka stood applauding the achievement.”It’s stuff of dreams, Anushka was sitting right there, Sachin was there in the stands,” Kohli said while being interviewed during the innings break. “I mean, it’s very difficult for me to explain this, but if I could paint the perfect picture, I would want this to be the picture. My life partner, the person I love the most, she’s sitting there. My hero, he’s sitting there. And I was able to get the 50th in front of all of them and all these fans at Wankhede as well, such a historic venue. It was amazing.”Related

• Who's the greatest ODI batter of them all? Two contenders come to mind

• School's out as Rohit, Iyer rip up the textbooks in Mumbai

• Shami turns jeopardy into joy as India briefly confront their own mortality

• Crazy, stupid, love: a Tendulkar fan's complicated relationship with Kohli

While Tendulkar had scored his 49th hundred in his 451st ODI innings, Kohli had equalled that landmark in just 277 innings – against South Africa in India’s penultimate league game of this World Cup – and then broke the record in his 279th innings.”I said it in Kolkata, the great man (Sachin Tendulkar) just congratulated me, all this feels like a dream for me, honestly,” Kohli said. “It’s too good to be true, feels surreal, I never thought I’ll be here ever in my career. Just to help the team so many times, again, a big game today, I had to kind of play the role I’ve played throughout the tournament so that the guys around me can go and express themselves. Just glad that everything came together so nicely and we put up a great total on the board as well.”

BBL finals could be played in Canberra and the Gold Coast due to venue clashes, while the players’ union are open to regular-season matches on Christmas Day

AAP28-Dec-2023Adelaide Strikers are set to be forced to take a Big Bash League finals match to Canberra if they earn the right to a home final, due to venue availability during the Test summer.A potential clash with Australia’s home Tests against West Indies hovers over the BBL finals week, with Test matches scheduled for both Adelaide Oval and the Gabba in Brisbane.It means the Strikers would be unable to host a finals match in Adelaide if they were to finish first or third, and would instead play their qualifier or knockout at Manuka Oval.Strikers currently sit fourth on the BBL ladder, and are every chance of contending for third spot. Adelaide Oval would become available for the challenger on January 22 and final on January 24, if the Strikers qualify.The first-placed Heat are the other club to be impacted. Heat would still be able to play their home finals matches in southeast Queensland, with the 27,000-seat Heritage Bank Stadium (Carrara Oval) available on the Gold Coast.Carrara would be used for any post-season matches Heat earn the right to host, including the competition’s final on January 24 with the Gabba Test starting the next day.Colin Munro pulls behind square at Carrara•Getty Images

The BBL reverted to a top-four finals series this summer, with first and second place playing off for a right to host the final and third and fourth featuring in a sudden-death match.Meanwhile, Australian Cricketers Association boss Todd Greenberg has said he would be open to BBL matches being playing on Christmas Day.The National Basketball League has found rating and attendance success by playing on December 25 in the past two seasons in Australia, while American sports have also thrived on the day.The BBL moved further away from a Christmas Day fixture this summer, removing their Christmas Eve match in Hobart. There is a feeling that a Christmas Night match would be a bigger ratings success, particularly in the form of local derbies to eliminate travel.Sydney Sixers veteran Moises Henriques backed the call this week, but said the concern would largely be for support staff and other stadium officials and employees.Melbourne Stars opener Tom Rogers has, however, summed up a greater reluctance, claiming his mother would not allow him out of the house to play.The Australian Cricketers’ Association has not surveyed players on the matter, but Greenberg said he would be open to the discussion.”There will be people who don’t want to play on Christmas Day, like there people who won’t want to work on it,” he told SEN. “But I get a sense people are open to the conversation, and if you can explain the benefits … then the conversation gets easier.”The world evolves. If you had said 15 or 20 years ago, it would have been sacrilege to play on this day.”But other sports and other models are making it work, so why wouldn’t we open our eyes to it?”

Fletcher, Pooran, Kohler-Cadmore and Thushara play starring roles in Gladiators’ win

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Dec-2023Sikandar Raza’s 27 off 10 balls helped Chennai Braves chase 106 down as Northern Warriors went down by five wickets.Having been put in, Warriors were off to a steady start, with opener Hazratullah Zazai scoring 54 off 32 balls. His partner Kennar Lewis, meanwhile, could not get going, as he made a 15-ball 13. Mohammad Nabi got the breakthrough for Braves, with a double strike in the eighth over, where he first dismissed Zazai and then sent James Neesham back. It was then Junaid Siddique’s turn to strike as he removed Lewis. Adam Hose then scored a 10-ball 24 which gave Braves a target of 107.In reply, Braves lost their openers Kobe Herft and Jason Roy for single-digit scores. Bhanuka Rajapaksa, too, was sent back for 7. Stephen Eskinazi scored a couple of boundaries and a six to lift Braves before he was pinned in front by Tabraiz Shamsi. With the required run rate going up, Raza and Charith Asalanka then combined for a 45-run stand to take Braves closer to the line. Raza took Angelo Mathews for 6, 4, 6, 6 to turn the game Braves’ way. He was dismissed in the ninth over, but Asalanka made sure there were no further blemishes as Braves put up their second win of the season.Richard Gleeson picked up three wickets in an over•Abu Dhabi T10

Richard Gleeson picked up three big wickets in one over, and later the Player-of-the-Match award, to set up a huge win for Delhi Bulls over Bangla Tigers on Saturday evening. The win was Bulls’ third in a row, and placed them comfortably at the top of the table, at least for the time being.Tigers were going fine at 28 for 2 after three overs, and with Jordan Cox, David Miller and Dasun Shanaka, among others, to follow, looked set to put up another big total after scoring 143 for 4 in their win over Dubai Gladiators on Thursday. But Gleeson changed the script in the space of five balls in the fourth over, getting rid of Miller, Shanaka and Cox, in that order, to leave Tigers completely off-kilter at 29 for 5.Between Daniel Sams (20 not out in 15 balls) and Carlos Brathwaite (21 in 17), Tigers did fight back to get to 81 for 7, but it was never going to be enough against Bulls’ powerful batting line-up.Quinton de Kock and Johnson Charles fell inside two overs, but James Vince (17 in nine), Rilee Rossouw (21* in 11) and captain Rovman Powell (37* in 11) made sure Bulls got to the target quickly – in just six overs.For Tigers, it was a second loss in three games, and at the end of it, they were placed seventh on the eight-team table.Nicholas Pooran gave Deccan Gladiators a powerful start•Abu Dhabi T10

Explosive 30s from captain Nicholas Pooran and Tom Kohler-Cadmore, followed by Andre Fletcher’s 12-ball 41, set up a crushing win for Deccan Gladiators over Team Abu Dhabi.Pooran dashed out of the blocks taking left-arm fingerspinner Roelof van der Merwe for two fours and two sixes in the first over. Rumman Raees then dealt a double-blow, removing both Pooran and Andre Russell off successive balls in the fourth over, but Kohler-Cadmore and Fletcher proceeded to re-establish Gladiators’ dominance.Six of the 12 balls that Fletcher faced were sent to the boundary, including five sixes. Fletcher, Fabian Allen and Kohler-Cadmore all fell in quick succession, but David Wiese provided the final flourish with 15 off six balls.Abu Dhabi started their chase shakily, losing their top three inside five overs. Leus du Plooy (25), Colin Ingram (19) and captain Dwaine Pretorius (9), fought back to lend some respectability to the scorecard. Sri Lankan slinger Nuwan Thushara, who plays for Jaffna Kings in the LPL, was the pick of the bowlers for Gladiators, coming away with 2 for 5 in his two overs.