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Management cautious about allrounder’s workload but hopeful she’ll be fit come January

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Dec-2024Freya Kemp could yet play a full role in the Women’s Ashes in the new year, according to England’s captain Heather Knight, despite flying home early from their tour of South Africa in order to manage her recovery from a long-term back injury.Kemp, 19, claimed two wickets with her left-arm seam across the three matches of last week’s T20I leg of the multi-format series, and bowled her full allocation of overs in their emphatic nine-wicket win in Centurion on Saturday.Kemp has suffered two stress fractures of her back in recent years, the first of which prevented her from bowling competitively for 14 months, but Knight insisted her withdrawal from the ODI and Test squads in South Africa was due to a surfeit of caution, rather than a recurrence of the injury.”It wasn’t originally part of the plan,” Knight said on the eve of the first ODI in Kimberley. “We were hoping to have her available for all three formats but, obviously, with her history with back injuries, she’s someone that we have to manage quite tightly and really look after.”We’re gutted to lose her,” Knight added. “She’s a great person to have around the group, and obviously a hugely exciting prospect for us. But the right thing for Freya was to go home and have a little look at how her back’s going, and then hopefully build towards those Ashes.Related

• Seren Smale, Ryana MacDonald-Gay called up to South Africa tour

• Wyatt-Hodge, Sciver-Brunt hammer England to series-sealing victory

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• Dean sets up big win as England complete 3-0 sweep

“We’re really hopeful that she’s going to be fit and available, but it’s a tricky one with stress fractures. You just have to be a little bit careful around loads. She was obviously able to partake in all three games, so that’s a good sign, but the decision was made that she wasn’t going to be in a place to be ready for the one-dayers and the Test.”England’s 3-0 win in the T20Is means they will guarantee themselves at least a share of the multi-format series if they can win the first ODI at Kimberley on Wednesday, with two further 50-over matches to follow in Durban and Potchefstroom, and the one-off Test beginning in Bloemfontein on December 15.With the Ashes looming in January, Tammy Beaumont and Kate Cross – England’s longer-format specialists – are back in contention, as Knight’s team seeks to finetune their 50-over plans after successful summer series against Pakistan and New Zealand. A used track is in prospect at the Diamond Oval, which is expected to offer less pace than was on offer in the final two T20Is.”We haven’t played a huge amount of ODI cricket recently, so it’s a format that I really enjoy playing,” Knight said. “Everyone’s pretty excited to get into the longer format, and have a little bit more time to execute your skills and build plans around one day game.””Obviously with the Ashes, we’re not looking too far ahead,” she added. “Continuing to have success on this tour is, naturally, going to be the way that we’re going to build into the Ashes. The focus very much on South Africa and what they’re going to bring against us tomorrow.”

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.”

Mumbai’s coach expressed joy over team’s resilience and feels established sides need to push themselves

Shashank Kishore26-Jun-2022Mumbai’s hunt for a Ranji title now extends to its seventh year, but the foundation has been laid for a bright future. These were the thoughts of head coach Amol Muzumdar as he sat down to reflect on his maiden season in-charge.Mumbai’s white-ball season had been disappointing, to state it mildly, with the team failing to make it through to the knockouts of both competitions. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the 50-over competition, Mumbai finished last in Group B with a solitary win in five games. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the domestic T20 tournament, they fared slightly better with three wins, but couldn’t get past the group stage again. Come the red-ball event, there was growing pressure from both within and the outside to deliver results.Related

• Mumbai Cricket Association proposes retainer contracts for senior men and women's teams

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• 'I feel proud when I do well' – Jaiswal happy to embrace big-match pressure

• Armaan Jaffer and Sarfaraz Khan: A tale of friendship and fire

• Amol Muzumdar: Mumbai's players 'have bought into the future'

While they couldn’t win their 42nd title, Muzumdar felt the tournament provided a glimpse of what they could deliver going forward.”It’s been exciting ever since I took over last June,” he said after losing the final to Madhya Pradesh on Sunday. “I’m very proud of these young boys. We’re watching the generation-next of Mumbai cricket and a little dose of it was provided this season. The future looks bright and I’m excited about it.”When I took over in June 2021, I was only focused on improving and getting back on track as far as red-ball cricket was concerned. That was the basis of the foundation we laid last July-August.”We hadn’t qualified for a Ranji final since 2016-17, so that was one thing that was told by the MCA and the others around Mumbai cricket. Had we won, that would’ve come true, but at the same time, we’re back on track with a young side. It’s the next generation, they all have unbelievable talent and we need to just show them the direction.”Come the big final, Mumbai had most things going their way. Sarfaraz Khan was in the form of his life, having racked up over 900 runs already. Yashasvi Jaiswal had struck back-to-back centuries in the quarter-final and the semi-final. Left-arm spinner Shams Mulani had picked up 37 wickets. Then they had the experience of Dhawal Kulkarni to bank on in the pace department. In short, Muzumdar said, “all bases were covered,” and it was just a matter of one determined team toppling them in key moments.Amol Muzumdar led Mumbai to their first Ranji Trophy final since 2016-17•Cricket South Africa

“It was all bases covered coming into the final,” Muzumdar said. “In the bowling especially, we had the experience of Dhawal, the pace of Tushar [Deshpande], who is a slippery customer. Mohit [Avasthi] is young and exuberant. Then a left-arm spinner in great form. We had Tanush Kotian, an exciting offspinner. I think just the one day [the third day] didn’t go our way, it hasn’t happened that we have failed to pick up wickets across lengthy periods. It was a terrific performance till the finals.”Muzumdar was particularly pleased about how Mumbai bounced back at different stages this season despite the hard knocks. Their inability to pick up one final wicket to beat Saurashtra in their opening game could have gone against them. In their second match, they bounced back from being shot out for 163 in the first innings to beat Goa by 119 runs. In their final game, they were in a must-win situation against Odisha, because Saurashtra too were eyeing the lone qualification spot from the group, and Mumbai went through. Muzumdar pointed to these results to explain how the gap had narrowed down among the teams.”There are no small teams anymore,” he said. “In fact, it’s a little bit of a push for the bigger teams like Karnataka, Mumbai, and Delhi to push themselves to the next level. There was tough competition in the league phase. It was brilliant [that the Ranji Trophy was going] because at one stage I felt we were personally going to lose out on another year.”We went to Kolkata for the league phase on January 3 and then the third Covid wave hit on January 5. We were pushed back to Mumbai. But credit to the BCCI for organising the league phase before the IPL and the knockouts in Bangalore, where there’s less chance of rain in June. To give opportunities to so many of India’s aspiring cricketers, credit to the BCCI for that. The Ranji Trophy is crucial, it’s the basis of Indian cricket, so to get it going was great to see.”

The role will have Moody overseeing Sri Lanka’s international programme and domestic tournaments

Andrew Fidel Fernando01-Mar-2021Tom Moody has been appointed Sri Lanka’s director of cricket, a broad new role that will have Moody overseeing Sri Lanka’s international programme and domestic tournaments. The appointment was made on the recommendation of Sri Lanka’s new technical advisory committee headed by Aravinda de Silva.The role will see Moody spend at least 300 days in Sri Lanka over the next three years focusing on “analysis of the future tour programme, focusing on the domestic tournament structure, player welfare, education and skill development, coaching and support staff structure, high performance, and data analytics”.Moody had been Sri Lanka’s coach between 2005 and 2007 – years in which Sri Lanka tasted considerable success in the Test format and became World Cup runners-up. Since then he has been a coach at the IPL, the Caribbean Premier League’s director of cricket and has had several other high-profile positions.”Tom has worked with Sri Lanka Cricket in the past and has shown results, and I am sure with his working knowledge of the system, Tom will add greater value to our game,” SLC’s CEO Ashley de Silva said.On why Moody was specifically sought out for the role, Aravinda had told ESPNcricinfo that his committee needed “someone responsible and neutral working on certain areas with an open mind, who understands the culture, the players, the country’s culture, someone who’s been around. We need to blend and get the administrative side as well as the cricketing side.”Tom has got a lot of experience and understands more things about what some of the other countries are doing right, and we need to get the best things out of those countries that will suit our culture and then implement those.”Kumar Sangakkara and Muttiah Muralitharan, who played under Moody during his tenure as coach, are also on the advisory committee.Moody starts his role on March 1. His contract runs for three years.

In an inexperienced attack, Chahar had to take on a new role and with the series on the line he delivered a record-breaking performance

Karthik Krishnaswamy10-Nov-20196:56

Laxman: Chahar more versatile with his variations now

New-ball swing is what Deepak Chahar is known for. It’s the skill that has earned him a place in India’s T20I team.New-ball swing has defined Chahar to the extent that 493 of the 616 balls – that’s 80% – he has bowled for Chennai Super Kings have been in the powerplay overs. His IPL captain, MS Dhoni, often gets him to bowl three straight overs in the first six.Before Sunday’s game against Bangladesh in Nagpur, Chahar had bowled a similar proportion of his deliveries in the powerplay (96 out of 126, or 76%) for India as well. His most memorable performance in six T20Is had been a three-wicket haul against West Indies in Guyana, a trademark display of swerve and control with the new ball.On Sunday night, everything changed.India were defending 174 in dewy conditions, with an inexperienced attack and no sixth bowler. Their fifth bowler was Shivam Dube, a seam-bowling allrounder known more for his batting and playing only his third T20I. In the circumstances, Chahar was one of the two “senior” members of the bowling attack alongside legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal.ALSO READ: Chahar’s best is also world’s best in men’s T20IsGiven the composition of the attack, Chahar couldn’t slot into his usual role of powerplay specialist. His captain Rohit Sharma told him he would have a more flexible role.”The plan was that I would get the responsibility of bowling the main overs,” Chahar said during the post-match presentation. “Usually I bowl with the new ball, but Rohit said I’ll bowl the crucial overs today, whenever the team needed me to bowl. I’m happy that the management gave me this responsibility on this stage.”Given the amount of dew around – towels were being employed between deliveries even during India’s innings – swing was out of the picture. In any case, Chahar only got one over in the powerplay. It was a challenge for him to show he had other tricks up his sleeve.Deepak Chahar was the man of the moment•BCCI

He came out of the challenge with the best figures in T20I history. Big wicket hauls in T20 cricket can be misleading, particularly when they involve clusters of tail-end dismissals; the hat-trick that ended Bangladesh’s innings will go into all the headlines, but Chahar’s best work came before that.The most impressive feature of his display was the control he showed over his variations. We’ve seen his knuckle ball and slower bouncer in the past, but we haven’t necessarily seen him execute them so well with a wet ball.”The ball was wet, which made it difficult,” Chahar said in an interview with Chahal on . “But I have played so much in Chennai that I am used to it. In Chennai, there is a lot of dew and the humidity means you sweat a lot too. So I know how to keep my hands clean, use a bit of dirt to dry my hands, so playing in Chennai helped me a lot today.”Chahar understood that he could make life difficult for the batsmen by bowling into the surface on a slightly two-paced pitch, and as a consequence, 11 of his 20 balls were pitched either short or short of a good length, according to ESPNcricinfo’s data. Some of these balls skidded through, some of them gripped and slowed down, and Bangladesh’s batsmen never looked in control against this mode of attack.Chahar stayed away from the fuller lengths, by and large, and as a result didn’t bowl a single full-toss on a day when the other fast bowlers, from both sides, sent down ten between them.When he did bowl full, however, Chahar made a big impact. There was the wide-ish tempter, slanting across the left-handed Soumya Sarkar and landing just short of a driving length, that resulted in a catch to mid-off in his first over, the third of Bangladesh’s innings. There was the yorker to end Bangladesh’s innings and complete Chahar’s hat-trick. And in between, there was the ball that dismissed Mohammad Mithun in a match-turning 13th over.The over began with Bangladesh favourites to win, needing 69 from 48 balls with two set batsmen at the crease and eight wickets in hand. Mohammad Naim had taken Dube’s first two overs apart, and had shown brilliant footwork to rattle the experienced Chahal, whose figures at that stage read 3-0-38-0. India needed someone to give them some control, and Rohit threw the ball to Chahar.He responded brilliantly. Chahar beat Mithun twice in four balls with short-of-a-length cutters that skidded through low. Then, off the last ball of the over, he made clever use of the crease, going close to the stumps in order to create an angle away from the right-hander. Out came a knuckle ball floating away from off stump. Mithun had to reach out towards the ball and generate all the power himself, and there was no way he was going to clear the off-side boundary on one of the largest outfields in the country.That delivery ended a 98-run stand for the third wicket. That over ended with Chahar’s figures reading 2-0-3-3. Then Mushfiqur Rahim, trying to dab Dube to third man to get off the mark, fell off the first ball of the next over. The match had turned in the space of two balls.

Opening batsman M Vijay and left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav were dropped from the squad

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Aug-20181:57

‘Vijay’s exclusion is slightly perturbing’ – Chopra

Batsmen Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari have been called up to India’s Test squad for the final two matches in England. Opening batsman M Vijay, who was out for a pair at Lord’s and then dropped from the XI at Trent Bridge, and left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav, whose selection in the second Test had raised eyebrows, have been dropped.It is understood that Vijay’s poor form – six single-digit scores in his last 11 innings – has prompted the team management to think about grooming a younger opener. At 34, Vijay’s international future now looks uncertain.Kuldeep has been sent back home to play for the India A team in two four-day matches against Australia A in Visakhapatnam. The decision is believed to be made because of the conditions in England, where one spinner in the XI has usually sufficed. India coach Ravi Shastri told the media at the end of the Trent Bridge Test that offspinner R Ashwin, who was suffering from a hip injury, would be fit in time for the next Test in Southampton starting August 30. There is also left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja in the squad.”Ashwin will be okay,” Shastri said. “The fact that he bowled 20-25 overs clearly suggests it [the hip injury] is not that bad. This break will be ideal for him. If there was a Test match starting in three days’ time, then it would have been a problem.”1:39

The Prithvi Shaw story

The 18-year old Shaw captained India to the Under-19 World Cup title in February and has since been part of India’s A teams. He also has an IPL contract with Delhi Daredevils. Vihari, meanwhile, has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket, and the 24-year old averages 59.79 from 63 first-class matches. No one currently playing first-class cricket has a has a better average.Both men are in good form as well, having each struck centuries against South Africa A in Bengaluru at the start of August. They were also part of the A team in England last month, when Shaw was especially effective as an opening batsman, scoring 188 in a four-day game against West Indies A. That is his highest score – he has seven centuries in all – in 14 first-class games since making his debut for Mumbai in January 2017. Vihari began his career with Hyderabad but has now moved to Andhra, a team he now captains. Among his 5142 runs are 15 hundreds and 24 fifties, including a highest score of 302 not out.Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was ruled out of the first three Tests with a lower-back issue, was absent from this squad as well. Having aggravated the injury while playing the third ODI against England in July, he has been undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. BCCI’s release announcing the squad did not contain any updates on the fast bowler’s fitness.India squad: Virat Kohli (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Karun Nair, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hanuma VihariIndia A squad for four-day matches against Australia A: Shreyas Iyer (capt), Mayank Agarwal, R Samarth, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ankit Bawne, Shubman Gill, KS Bharat (wk), Shahbaz Nadeem, Kuldeep Yadav, K Gowtham, Rajneesh Gurbani, Navdeep Saini, Ankit Rajpoot, Mohammed Siraj

ECB Reporters Network13-Jul-2017
ScorecardRyan ten Doeschate produced the innings of the night•Getty Images

South African spin bowler Simon Harmer led a parsimonious attack in defending a total of 170 to give Essex their first win of the NatWest T20 Blast campaign.Harmer, who has taken the red-ball domestic cricket by storm with 47 Specsavers County Championship wickets to date, added three more white-ball victims to his tally as his 3 for 39 from four overs ended Essex’s two-defeat start to the campaign.It was a fine response by Essex as they recovered from the shock of losing Tamim Iqbal who had abruptly returned to Bangladesh after only one match in unexplained circumstances.Harmer was backed up by a fine spell by Pakistan paceman Mohammad Amir, who posted outstanding figures of 1 for 17 from his 24 balls. Paul Walter took two wickets in the final over to finish with 3 for 28.Somerset were undone by two wickets in five balls by Harmer mid-innings and were unable to keep up with the required run rate, falling short by 22 runs.Essex had struggled to penetrate some outstanding Somerset fielding and were indebted to Ryan ten Doeschate’s 37-ball 56 and some lusty late hitting by Ashar Zaidi, who included three sixes in his 35, for setting what turned out to be a matchwinning total.Chasing 171, Somerset lost Johann Myburgh to a top-edge that lobbed to Harmer at backward point to give Jamie Porter his first T20 wicket.

‘I’d like to see top order get going’ – ten Doeschate

Ryan ten Doeschate (Essex captain):
“I’d like to see the top-order get going a little bit. It’s crucially important in T20 cricket. But we’ve relied heavily on the top three in the past – someone like Tom Westley has been leading run-scorer at the club for the last three or four years. It wasn’t a typical Chelmsford pitch – you couldn’t hit through the line easily – and the second half of the game with the ball was our best showing for a long time.”
Matt Maynard (Somerset director of cricket):
“This was probably the hardest game to try and get our batting form back. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned about it. If you start doubting yourself then things creep into your game. If you see the ball in the right area you’ve just got to try and hit it out of the park. But, look, we’re two games in, Essex were in the same position as us before this game and there is a long way to go.”

Two wickets in the eighth over for Harmer knocked the stuffing out of Somerset’s reply after they had reached 47 for 1. He had Jim Allenby caught in the covers by ten Doeschate and Peter Trego pouched on the long-off boundary by Tom Westley.Steven Davies was next to go when he swished at a wide one down legside from Ravi Bopara and was caught behind. Suddenly Somerset were 58 for 4 and nine overs gone.Like Essex, Somerset were struggling to get the ball away on a slow pitch, but Adam Hose and James Hildreth tried the aerial route with straight sixes off Zaidi and Bopara respectively. But when Hildreth attempted to do the same to Harmer he was caught by ten Doeschate diving forward on the long-leg boundary for 27.Hose got a bottom edge to Amir to give James Foster his second catch behind and Lewis Gregory was caught behind for a belligerent 23 off 12 balls. But time and overs were running out for Somerset. They required 36 from 12 balls with Amir restricting them to just eight from the penultimate over.Craig Overton went for broke but was caught at cow corner by Dan Lawrence before Tim Groenewald was held by Zaidi to give Walter two wickets in the final over.Essex had looked in some trouble themselves from the start of their innings and were 36 for 3 in the sixth over after being put in.Lawrence started the rot when he lost his off-stump going for an ungainly heave against Gregory. He was followed swiftly by Varun Chopra who was reprieved by Hose’s dropped catch at deep mid-on, but next ball skied Craig Overton and Groenewald took the catch at short third man. And Westley departed when he played over a slower delivery from Groenewald.Bopara and ten Doeschate set about a repair job, turning singles into twos, with the captain upping the tempo with a straight six and a one-bounce four off successive balls from Roelof van der Merwe.Lewis Gregory celebrates an Essex wicket•Getty Images

But when the partnership had reached 50 inside six overs, Max Waller took a brilliant return catch low to his left to remove Bopara for 24.Essex became bogged down in the middle overs before Zaidi pulled Waller for successive sixes over the short midwicket boundary and out of the ground.Ten Doeschate hooked Overton for four before pushing a two into the on-side to reach fifty off 34 balls that included five fours and a six. But he departed in the penultimate over, caught on the long-off boundary by Overton diving forward.Zaidi launched his third six over midwicket in the same over, but was caught out of his ground for 35 when James Foster hit the ball straight back to van der Merwe who turned and removed the bails. But Essex’s total proved to be enough.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that the BCCI’s constitution was incapable of achieving the values of transparency, objectivity and accountability, and these could be attained only by changing it

PTI03-May-2016The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that the BCCI’s constitution was incapable of achieving the values of transparency, objectivity and accountability, and these could only be attained by changing it.”The inherent constitution of the BCCI is such that it is highly incapable of achieving the values of transparency, objectivity and accountability [such] that without changing its structure it can’t be done so,” a two-judge bench comprising Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justice Ibrahim Kalifulla said, while hearing a matter related to the implementation of reforms suggested by the three-member panel led by Justice RM Lodha.The court’s remarks were made after the views presented by senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, who was appointed amicus curiae to assist the court on how the recommendations of the Lodha committee, which favoured large-scale structural reforms to the BCCI, could be implemented.Subramanium said that if the constitution of the BCCI does not allow the values to be achieved then it could be said to be illegal as the cricket board is discharging a public function.”You discharge a public function but you want to enjoy private status,” Subramanium said. “If you have a public persona then you have to shed the private persona. This cannot be done. It [the BCCI] selects the national team for the country, it cannot be a private society. It is a public entity.”Justifying the reforms suggested by the Lodha panel, Subramanium said the board would not have had the need for these recommendations if it had adhered to the constitutional values. Subramanium added that the BCCI is the beneficiary of the recommendations as implementing them will help ensure credibility of the institution.”[The] Recommendations are in the right directions and the steps are in the right direction to ensure that constitutional values are adhered to ensure institutional integrity,” he saidThe court also asked Subramanium’s views on the ‘one state, one vote’ recommendation that has drawn opposition from the BCCI’s affiliated state associations. The court asked the amicus curiae what he made of the suggested reform that allows states which were earlier deprived of voting rights to exercise them, while removing the individual voting rights of members in states like Maharashtra and Gujarat, which have more than one association. Subramanium said the only ground which connected the two aspects was parity and every state should have been given an equal opportunity.Subramanium also suggested that franchise members should be included in the IPL governing council to bring in more transparency. The bench then asked for the BCCI’s response on legalising betting after Subramanium supported the recommendation.Senior advocate KK Venugopal, who represented the BCCI, said a law has to be passed to legalise betting and such a measure was not feasible as every state has its own laws relating to betting and gambling.

The BCCI is believed to be working on a back-up plan for the trouble-hit tour of South Africa in November and December. It could involve hosting an ODI tri-series with Pakistan and Sri Lanka

Amol Karhadkar13-Sep-2013The BCCI is believed to be working on a back-up plan for the trouble-hit tour of South Africa in November and December. It could involve hosting an ODI tri-series with Pakistan and Sri Lanka and the details are likely to be discussed in Chennai on Saturday, when officials from the three boards attend an Asian Cricket Council meeting.The ACC meeting is scheduled two days before Cricket South Africa chief Haroon Lorgat and BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel meet in Dubai on the sidelines of an ICC board meeting to try and resolve the impasse over India’s tour of South Africa.If a tri-series is organised, it will effectively replace the limited-overs leg of the bilateral series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the UAE, but it would also mean either a cancelled or severely curtailed India tour of South Africa.Sri Lanka and Pakistan are set to play two Twenty20 internationals, five ODIs and three Tests from December 11 to January 20. The limited-overs leg concludes on December 27.India’s calendar includes a short series against West Indies in November and a tour of New Zealand from January 19. The only option for CSA is to host India for two Tests, three ODIs and a Twenty20 international from December and ending with the New Year’s Test. A tri-series in India would cut into this space.PCB chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed and SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga are expected to represent their boards at the ACC meeting. The ACC is headed by BCCI president N Srinivasan. The CEO of ACC, Syed Ashraful Haq, has also arrived in India.The schedule for India’s tour of South Africa was announced by CSA on July 8 but it immediately fell into problems and the schedule has not been endorsed by the BCCI. Though there has been no official statement, it appears the sticking point seems to be CSA’s appointment of Lorgat as its chief executive despite a series of run-ins between Lorgat and the BCCI during his tenure as ICC chief.

ESPNcricinfo previews the final game in Group C between Sri Lanka and South Africa

The Preview by Firdose Moonda21-Sep-2012

Match facts

September 22, 2012
Start time 1530 local (1000 GMT)Morne Morkel and the South African attack will be hoping conditions remain favourable for bowling•AFP

Big Picture

Both sides have got their bullying out of the way, having beaten Zimbabwe by 82 runs and 10 wickets respectively, and Sri Lanka and South Africa are now ready to do business. That may sound odd considering that both having both already qualified for the Super Eights but neither have been challenged properly yet and will want to test themselves before a tough next round.Sri Lanka will be happy with the form of one of their most important bowlers, Ajantha Mendis. His 6 for 8 are figures unlikely to be repeated but Mendis showed he is back in a big way. He deceived the Zimbabwe batsmen with an assortment of carom balls and googlies and while the South African line-up may not be so easily hoodwinked, some of them are known to have a weakness against spin.South Africa’s middle order remains untested after only Richard Levi and Hashim Amla batted against Zimbabwe and they are yet to face any pressure, a catalyst for some of their worst major tournament showing. Sri Lanka will look to target that area of the opposition’s game because every other part of it seems solid.South Africa’s seamers were effective on the Hambantota pitch and even though their spinners were not called into action too much, they have enough options available to them to be able to afford one bowler having a bad day. The hosts have similar variation in their ranks, with enough allrounders to have all bases covered and with the advantage of their middle order having had a decent run.By all accounts the match-ups between the teams pre-empts a much closer contest than the group has seen so far. Even though it will not be decisive in terms of who the team play in the next round it will be important in determining who has more might for the big duels ahead.

Form guide

South Africa WLWWW (completed matches, most recent first)

Sri Lanka WLLWL

Watch out for

After captaining Sri Lanka to series defeats in South Africa last summer, Tillakaratne Dilshan may be pleased to see them on his home turf. Relieved of the armband and with a new opening partner, Dilshan seems to be enjoying his freedom and looked ominous against Zimbabwe. He had the full range on display, including the “Dilscoop” and will want to show South Africa some of what he is capable of but did not manage to do earlier in the year.Dale Steyn started the tournament with a delivery that measured 140 kph on the speed gun and does not show any sign of slowing down. Although Steyn called the Hambantota conditions “slippery” he acknowledged that it made a welcome change to play on a subcontinental pitch that has something in it for the seamers and will want to exploit that while it lasts.

Team news

Sri Lanka have an injury worry with their strike spinner, Ajantha Mendis, picking up a side strain after the Zimbabwe game. His fitness will be assessed on the day of the game. If he sits out, the offspinner Akila Dananjaya could be in line for his international debut.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Dilshan Munaweera, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 4 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 5 Lahiru Thirimanne, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Jeevan Mendis, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Shaminda Eranga, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Ajantha Mendis/Akila DananjayaSouth Africa will also not have many reasons to change a winning XI, unless the stomach bug returns. After giving Zimbabwe a work over in their opening match, South Africa’s bowling attack would seem to need no tinkering. Their middle order remains untested and either Faf du Plessis or Justin Ontong could be brought in but they may want to give the current XI a run against tougher opposition.South Africa (probable): 1 Richard Levi, 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 AB de Villiers (capt & wk), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Farhaan Behardien, 7 Albie Morkel 8 Johan Botha 9 Robin Peterson 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Dale Steyn

Pitch and conditions

Both batsmen and bowlers have described the Hambantota surface as difficult to get in on but have admitted that there remains something in it for the quicks. Another hot, humid day awaits with temperatures around 28 degrees Celsius and a bit of rain about for the afternoon and evening so the bounce and carry seen so far will likely stay around on the same pitch used for the first match – one that took much more turn than the one used last evening.

Stats and trivia

• Ajantha Mendis’ six wickets against Zimbabwe on Tuesday saw him leapfrog Lasith Malinga as the highest wicket-taker for Sri Lanka in T20s. Mendis’ 46 wickets have come at an average of 9.84.
• South Africa have the best win-loss record of all teams in T20s. They have played 48 matches, won 31 and lost 16.
• Mahela Jayawardene needs six more for 1000 runs in T20 internationals.
  

  Quotes

  “South Africa are a good unit, but probably their lower middle order a little inexperienced. What we need to do is focus on our strengths. If we play to our strengths we’re going to give them a very good game rather than falling into their trap.””I don’t think there will be any drop in intensity for the Sri Lanka game. We’re in the beginning stages of a very, very big event, a tournament that we really want to win. You have to play well in every game and improve in every game.”