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Jesse Ryder and Doug Bracewell will not be considered for selection for New Zealand’s third ODI against South Africa because they broke team protocol after the defeat in Napier

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Mar-2012Jesse Ryder and Doug Bracewell have been dropped for New Zealand’s third ODI against South Africa after they were found to have broken team protocol following the defeat in Napier. Ryder and Bracewell went out to a hotel after the match and became involved in an argument with a patron.In a statement NZC said the players had “compromised their preparation” for the third one-dayer by their actions. “Team protocols dictate that players who are rehabilitating from injury should not consume alcohol and unfortunately both players went to a Napier hotel following the conclusion of the match,” the board said in a release. “Also, while at the hotel both players verbally reacted to taunts from a member for the public.”Bracewell was being treated for a tight hamstring, while Ryder split the webbing of his hand during the Napier match. Ryder had only just returned to the New Zealand squad after recovering from a calf injury, which had kept him out of the team since the tour of Australia in December. He made 52 in the third Twenty20 against South Africa, and 0 and 6 in the first two ODIs.”Further to the issue of breaking team protocols related to their preparation, we are disappointed they [Ryder and Bracewell] become involved in a verbal argument with a patron,” New Zealand team manager Mike Sandle said. “Despite the fact that the players were goaded, and they didn’t allow the situation to escalate past a short exchange of words, we expect players to walk away.”Both players have apologised for their actions and said they fully understood the consequences. They know they have let down fans and team mates alike.”While this is Bracewell’s first such indiscretion on the international circuit, that is not the case for Ryder. In August 2010, Ryder was fined for “intoxicated and rowdy” behaviour at a hotel during an indoor cricket tournament and he said he had feared for his career while NZC were investigating the incident. The most serious of Ryder’s indiscretions was in 2008, when he put his right hand through a glass window during a late-night session at a Christchurch bar. In January 2009, NZC said Ryder had given up alcohol after another incident, which resulted in him missing an ODI against West Indies. Edited by George Binoy

Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, will not seek to renew his term of office once it ends on June 30, 2012

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Nov-2011Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, will not seek to renew his term of office once it ends on June 30, 2012. Lorgat will have led the ICC for four years by the time he steps down after the 2012 annual conference scheduled in Kuala Lumpur.Lorgat was offered a three-year extension to his initial three-year term, which ended in June 2011, but he accepted an extension of only one year. “My sense is to step aside after having delivered a successful ICC Cricket World Cup and the new global ICC strategy which is now in place,” Lorgat said. “In 2010, I felt there was much work for me to complete during 2011 which included protecting the integrity of the game and restoring the reputation and image of the ICC.”Having dealt decisively with the spot-fixing issues, delivered a highly successful ICC Cricket World Cup and adopted a new global strategy, I feel the time is right to move on.”I am hopeful that the independent governance review currently in progress and due to be published after the next board meeting would find acceptable outcomes and thereby leave a legacy for future generations.”Although disappointed that the Test World Championship will not be played in 2013, I am confident that with the strategic restructures we have undertaken, all three formats can be sustained at international level.”The ICC’s nominations committee will use an executive recruitment agency to advertise and identify a successor for Lorgat. ICC vice-president Alan Isaac will manage the recruitment process.Sharad Pawar, the ICC president, said Lorgat had helped the ICC overcome several challenges during his term. “Haroon Lorgat has steered the ICC through some tricky situations, such as the rescheduling of the 2008 ICC Champions Trophy, the location of the ICC headquarters in Dubai, the response to the Lahore attack, several doping issues, the recent spot-fixing hearings and the highly successful ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.”I am satisfied that his contribution to the ICC and to cricket leaves us in a solid position.”

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has formed a task force to advise the board on how to improve domestic cricket in Pakistan

Umar Farooq14-Dec-2011The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has formed a task force to advise the board on how to improve domestic cricket in Pakistan. The team will study and review the existing structure of domestic cricket, consider its weaknesses and strengths and will make recommendations within two months. The recommendations of the team, though, will not be binding on the PCB.The team is made up of familiar names in Pakistan administration: former Pakistan captains Javed Miandad, Intikhab Alam, Zaheer Abbas and Moin Khan, and former players Sarfraz Nawaz, Iqbal Qasim, Imtiaz Ahmed and Zakir Khan, who is director of domestic cricket in Pakistan. Alam, who has been both a coach and manager of the national side and is now both the director of international cricket for the PCB and director of academies, will be chairman of the task team. Wasim Akram, the former Pakistan captain, was also approached to be a part of the team but declined because of other commitments.Some of the members of the team have questioned why it has only been given a recommendatory role.Nawaz said the team members would use their experience to determine why Pakistan’s domestic cricket was not producing more world-class cricketers. “The board want our input and we are ready to use the best of our experience to give them that. It is their responsibility to either implement it or not,” Nawaz told ESPNcricinfo.”There is definitely some problem with our existing domestic structure that is hampering the quality of our players. We have to sit down and discuss it right from the start. All the members of the team have rich experience of playing the game. Most of the members have played ample first-class cricket in different eras and understand the structure. I think the quality is missing and that is why we are not producing world-class cricketers. So we have to sit and pen down the differences in the structure of domestic cricket over the years and look for flaws that need to be fixed to get back the quality we had on our circuit.”The structure of domestic cricket in Pakistan has seen several changes over the last six decades. The period from 2001 to now has been the most inconsistent, with changes made every two years. The present structure starts with the inter-district Under-19 tournament, then has the inter-district senior championship followed by the National Under-19 event. After that there is the Patron’s Trophy grade II and then the country’s premier first-class event the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. The format of QEA has remained intact from last season, with 22 first-class teams – both regional and departmental outfits – competing in a two-league structure. The one-day tournament is the next event, followed by the Pentangular Cup: a first-class tournament among provincial teams and sometimes featuring a combination of provincial teams and top teams from QEA – again an inconsistent format. The season ends with the Twenty20 Cup played among all the 13 regional teams.Nawaz said the returns the board were getting from domestic cricket were not equivalent to their spendings. “The PCB has invested a huge amount in domestic cricket but the output isn’t a quality one,” he said. “Most of our current players aren’t in the same class as Wasim [Akram], Javed [Miandad] or Waqar [Younis]; they end up playing a maximum of two years of international cricket. We want to produce players who can play international cricket for at least five to ten years on their own abilities.”We will be studying the structures of most of the successful playing nations and will come up with feasible and the best recommendations for domestic cricket. After that it is the PCB’s responsibility to take up our suggestions and implement them.”Iqbal Qasim, who is now head of sports for the National Bank of Pakistan, also said there were faults in Pakistan’s domestic cricket. “It’s a good sign that the board have at least realised there are flaws and the system requires evaluation,” Qasim told ESPNcricinfo. “Every member in the body has huge experience of domestic cricket and I hope the team can come up with the best recommendations that are helpful for Pakistan.”

James Taylor, the Leicestershire batsman, will captain England Lions in their four-day and one-day matches against Sri Lanka A next month

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jul-2011James Taylor, the Leicestershire batsman, will captain England Lions in their four-day and one-day matches against Sri Lanka A next month. The squads include Scott Borthwick, the Durham legspinner, Nottinghamshire batsman Alex Hales while Ben Stokes, the Durham allrounder, is included for the one-day matches.Taylor takes over the Lions captaincy from James Hildreth who led them on the tour of West Indies and against Sri Lanka, at Derby, earlier this season. Taylor has already faced Sri Lanka A for Leicestershire and scored an unbeaten 168 in the recent four-day match with began their tour. When he faced the full Sri Lanka team in May he scored an excellent 76 in tough conditions.However, the really interesting selections are those players who haven’t appeared for the Lions before. Borthwick has moved ahead of Adil Rashid as a legspinning allrounder after taking 19 wickets at 30.57 in the County Championship along with scoring 348 runs at 38.66.Hales has impressed at the top of the order for Nottinghamshire and has made 592 runs in the Championship, including a career-best 184 along with 214 runs in the CB40 and 409 in the Friends Life t20 at a strike-rate of 149.81. The other new faces in the squads are Joe Root, the 20-year-old Yorkshire batsman, an interesting choice as he has yet to score a first-class hundred, and pace bowlers Jack Brooks and Stuart Meaker from Northamptonshire and Surrey respectively.Stokes, meanwhile, may already have played for England this season if it hadn’t been for an untimely broken finger after he began the summer in fine form. Overall he has 609 Championship runs included three hundreds – one a career-best 185 – and has chipped in with 17 wickets.It isn’t just fresh faces who make up the squads, however, with Ravi Bopara included in both parties and Steven Finn for the three one-day matches along with Warwickshire allrounder Chris Woakes who has played ODI and Twenty20 cricket for England.The four-day match takes place at Scarborough from August 2-5 with the three one-day games on August 12, 14, and 16 at New Road and Wantage Road.Four-day squad James Taylor (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Ravi Bopara, Scott Borthwick, Jack Brooks, Jade Dernbach, Alex Hales, James Harris, Craig Kieswetter, Stuart Meaker, Samit Patel, Joe Root.One-day squad James Taylor (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Ravi Bopara, Scott Borthwick, Danny Briggs, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, James Harris, Stuart Meaker, Chris Nash, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes.

Stuart Meaker took five wickets as Surrey seized the initiative on day two ofthe County Championship match against Division Two leaders Northamptonshireat Wantage Road

01-Sep-2011
Scorecard
Stuart Meaker took five wickets as Surrey seized the initiative on day two ofthe County Championship match against Division Two leaders Northamptonshireat Wantage Road.Paceman Meaker took career-best figures of 5 for 37, including three wicketsin the 58th over alone, as the hosts collapsed from 178 for three to be bowledout for just 194. Rob Newton top-scored with 80 from 162 balls for Northamptonshire before Surrey closed on 115 for 3 to have an overnight lead of 190.Northamptonshire began the day on four without loss – 265 runs behind theiropponents’ first-innings total – with openers Newton and Kyle Coetzer bothresuming on one. But Scotland international Coetzer was to last just two balls before he wastrapped leg before wicket by South African veteran Zander de Bruyn for one.Alex Wakely made it to 29 before he was caught by Surrey wicketkeeper StevenDavies off a good delivery by Meaker. Newton went on to complete his half-century off 105 balls in the third over before lunch but David Sales perished on 23 in the fifth over of the afternoonwhen he was pinned lbw by Tim Linley.Northamptonshire captain Andrew Hall walked on 36 when he edged his attempteddrive off Meaker to Davies, and this triggered a dramatic collapse. Wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien followed him back to the pavilion with the next ball when Meaker’s yorker clattered into his stumps. Meaker struck again three balls later when De Bruyn took a catch at second slipto dismiss James Middlebrook for a duck. He then sealed the fourth five-wicket haul of his first-class career and his fourth wicket in just seven deliveries when Newton finally departed by nudging him to Davies.Chaminda Vaas made just a single before being caught at short leg by Jason Royoff India spinner Pragyan Ojha. And with Stephen Peters absent hurt with a back injury the innings ended when Linley bowled David Burton (six) to give Surrey a first-innings lead of 75.They then lost their captain Rory Hamilton-Brown cheaply for 22 in the seventhover when he was caught by O’Brien after playing loosely off Vaas. Hall brought himself on with six overs to go and he had Mark Ramprakash caught leg before after he had plundered 38. Middlebrook then bowled nightwatchman Linley for a duck before Davies and De Bruyn survived until the close and will resume tomorrow on 41 and two respectively.

The England & Wales Cricket Board could be forced to put next summer’s disputed West Indies Test back out to tender

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jun-2011The England & Wales Cricket Board could be forced to put next summer’s disputed West Indies Test back out to tender, after they appeared to undermine their own bid process by accepting an offer from Glamorgan that was up to 40% less than the £1million put forward by the MCC.In a situation described by one board spokesman as “very delicate”, the ECB’s apparent desire to bolster the appeal of Test cricket in Wales has hit a number of stumbling blocks, with last month’s Test against Sri Lanka resulting in a reported loss of up to £1.5million.Glamorgan bid a hefty £2.5 million for the Sri Lanka Test, but a combination of poor weather and spectator apathy left their chairman, Paul Russell, talking of a “conceptual difficulty” in marketing the game outside of England.A meagre 922 spectators witnessed England’s remarkable victory on the final afternoon of the match, and the size of the loss has raised concerns that the county would not be able to bear the costs of hosting another five-day Test in 2012.The simple solution would be for Glamorgan and MCC to instigate a straight swap, with Lord’s taking over the West Indies rights for 2012, and Cardiff picking up the visit of New Zealand in the Ashes summer of 2013. However, with MCC themselves nursing a loss of £2.5 million for 2010-11, their own preference would be for the process to be put back out to tender. Given the current economic climate, they could expect to gain the rights for a knock-down price.According to Hampshire’s chairman, Rod Bransgrove, whose own county hosts their first Test match at the Rose Bowl on Thursday, the problem of marketing five-day cricket might not be limited to Glamorgan. He suspected that, in the long term, the ECB’s current preference for seven Tests a summer might have to be reconsidered.”I do think that seven Test matches every summer is a big ask,” Bransgrove told ESPNcricinfo. “Audiences are beginning to show us that’s a difficult quantity to sustain. But I do think that there is ample international cricket to go round the nine grounds that we now have, even if it means that everybody won’t have everything they want every year.”The one surefire crowd-puller remains the Ashes, with Durham already selling tickets for their 2013 contest to ease their cash-flow problems, even though the dates of the series have yet to be announced. However, the arrival of India in the second half of this summer promises to be a windfall for the cash-strapped counties, with ticket sales already topping 700,000.

England under Charlotte Edwards are looking forward to winning back the World Twenty20 title

20-Sep-2012England’s women conceded their World Twenty20 title in 2010 but remain favourites to win it back this year, given their extraordinary run of success in the format over the last two years.Their captain, Charlotte Edwards, will be leading the side in the tournament for the third time, having lifted the trophy in the inaugural event in 2009.Speaking to Alison Mitchell on ESPNcricinfo, Edwards said that the 2010 defeat had made her stronger. “It’s made me more hungry for success and I think that has probably come out in the team as well. They are really hungry to win back this Twenty20 trophy.”She described the 2010 tournament as a turning point for England’s T20 cricket. “We came home, had a good look at what we were doing and realised we needed to change a few things, and from there we set up a brand of cricket that has worked really really well for us.”Since failing to qualify for the World Twenty20 semi-finals in West Indies, England have lost only four of their 32 T20s – a run that included a streak of 19 consecutive wins. They arrived in Sri Lanka on the back of a 4-1 victory against West Indies at home.Edwards said she looked at Australia, India, New Zealand and West Indies as England’s main threats for the title in 2012.”This is an exciting time to be part of the women’s game,” she said, about the crop of promising players around – among them Australia’s Ellyse Perry, Danielle Wyatt and Sarah Taylor of England, and Harmanpreet Kaul of India. “This World Cup is an opportunity for those youngsters to really shine.”Edwards said she demanded a lot of her players, but only as much as she did of herself. “I’m hard but I’m fair. I set very, very high standards but I’m part of the team. I’m not a person who sits up there dictating to the rest of the girls. I’m part of it. I’m one of the girls and I really enjoy their company. I really enjoy other people’s success, and hopefully that comes through in our cricket.”Having Mark Lane as England’s coach helped, Edwards said, because the two constantly challenged each other. “I think we complement each other really well. We’re quite similar in a lot of ways. He’s a really funny man who makes everyone really relaxed and we both challenge one another, I think that’s really important. It’s not about ‘what I say goes’ or vice-versa. Most importantly we’ve got brilliant players. We’ve got some world class players who are really doing the business at the moment.”

The PCB committee tasked with finding the new Pakistan head coach has shortlisted five names for the position out of a list of thirty-four applicants

Umar Farooq29-Sep-2011The PCB committee tasked with finding the new Pakistan head coach has shortlisted five names for the position out of a list of thirty-seven applicants. Twelve foreign and 25 local coaches had applied for the job.The three-man committee appointed to select Waqar Younis’ successor, comprising ex-Pakistan players Zaheer Abbas, Intikhab Alam and Naushad Ali, met for the second time in Karachi to sort the list of the candidates for the role. Earlier this month the board had advertised for the job of Pakistan coach, setting a deadline of 15 days for those wishing to apply.”I can’t disclose the names but the response was encouraging,” Alam, the committee head, told the media after an extensive two hour meeting. “It was comprehensive meeting where we actually shortlisted five candidates out of the nine foreign and 25 local who sent their CV for the role.”The committee will now hand the list back to the PCB before calling the candidates for interviews. “I can’t reveal the name of the shortlisted candidates as our actual task is to make a recommendation [about the head coach] to the PCB and its PCB’s prerogative to take a final decision,” Alam said.The committee was appointed on August 29 following Younis’ announcement that he would quit after the tour of Zimbabwe for personal and health reasons. There have been divided opinions on whether Pakistan should go with a local or foreign coach, with Abbas and Raja favouring the former while Alam said a foreign coach was something Pakistan should consider, though the most qualified person should get the job. “In my own opinion, if anyone in the country is highly qualified, then he should be given a chance. But without revealing more details on the candidates, I only can confirm that the list includes both foreign and local coaches and after getting the nod from the PCB we will go on to interview the coaches.”Alam also suggested Pakistan might have to appoint an interim coach for their ‘home’ series against Sri Lanka in the UAE (Pakistan are scheduled to leave for the UAE on October 15). “I know the time is bit short but it’s up the PCB. Either they want to go with the interim coach for the Sri Lanka series as our only task is to make a recommendation about the new coach as PCB has the ultimate prerogative to name the coach.”

England bounced back from the disappointment of losing the one-day series with a four-wicket victory in the opening Twenty20 international as Lydia Greenway guided them home 10 balls to spare at Adelaide

The Bulletin Andrew McGlashan at Adelaide Oval12-Jan-2011
ScorecardLydia Greenway hit an unbeaten 39 to secure victory•Getty ImagesEngland bounced back from the disappointment of losing the one-day series with a four-wicket victory in the opening Twenty20 international as Lydia Greenway guided them home 10 balls to spare at Adelaide. Greenway gained important support from Suzie Rowe and despite a flurry of wickets in the closing overs England had enough in the tank.Greenway, a vital source of experience in the absence of Claire and Sarah Taylor, added 43 for the fourth wicket with Rowe after Australia had made inroads, but the home side fought back and when Fran Wilson was bowled by Sarah Coyte they still had a chance. However, Greenway was gifted another boundary when Lisa Sthalekar misfielded at cover and the victory came with four wides down the leg side.Ellyse Perry was taken for 13 off the opening over with Charlotte Edwards (16) collecting boundaries off the first two balls of the innings. England were well ahead of the required rate when Edwards gave her innings away by reverse sweeping to cover.Laura Marsh scored at a run-a-ball before falling to Lisa Sthalekar’s first delivery and Danielle Wyatt (16) was well stumped by Alysaa Healy to leave England 3 for 59 in the ninth over. The chase was being throttled, but England found crucial momentum when firstly Greenway and then Rowe struck sixes over the leg side. Suddenly the required rate was back to a run-a-ball and England resorted to tip-and-run batting.Australia didn’t give up, though, and Perry returned to have Rowe lbw and Coyte struck twice in the 17th over including a fine yorker to remove Wilson for a duck but Greenway remained cool until the end.England made a poor start in the field with two early dropped chances, but pulled their performance around with a strong emphasis on spin. Isha Guha was the only pace bowler used during the innings as the visitors tried to take the pace off the ball.Holly Colvin, the left-arm spinner, removed Shelley Nitschke (17) with Greenway taking a fine catch in the deep then Colvin held onto a sharp caught-and-bowled when Leah Poulton (26) chipped a full toss straight back to her.At 3 for 63 the innings was stuttering before the experienced pair of captain Alex Blackwell and Sthalekar produced an important partnership of 58 in eight overs. Both players found the boundary twice and ran hard between the wickets, but in the end Australia made too many mistakes in the field.

West Ham United boss David Moyes is desperate to sign a new striker target as news emerges on Aston Villa star Ollie Watkins, as per insider reports.

The Lowdown: Irons eye striker…

The Irons and Moyes, reportedly convinced that Atalanta striker Duvan Zapata had signed in the late hours of January, thereby ending West Ham’s long search for a forward, were left bitterly disappointed (The Evening Standard).

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Phone calls to the Colombian’s representatives were unanswered with the 31-year-old going AWOL, leaving Moyes stranded without a senior back-up option for the second half of 2021/2022.

Their quest to add a new central striker now continues into the next summer transfer window, and according to club insider Claret & Hugh, the Hammers boss is very keen on Premier League star Watkins.

The Latest: Moyes sets sights on Watkins…

Moyes has allegedly been ‘seriously tracking’ the 26-year-old in his quest to finally fill the striker’s position.

Watkins is the Scotsman’s top target, and despite Steven Gerrard’s side being adamant they won’t sell, it is believed that won’t stop West Ham from attempting a move.

A ‘key London Stadium insider’ told C&H: “It’s become clear Villa are not interested in selling the player but that won’t stop us trying.”

The Verdict: Move on…

There are various stumbling blocks to this move, not just Villa’s strict no sale stance, but also the fact he could cost around £60 million, according to reliable reporter Luke Hatfield.

Moyes’ interest is certainly understandable given Watkins’ status as a fairly young England international with proven goalscoring ability over the last few seasons.

He’s also been called ‘unbelievable’ by Villa pundits like Dan Bardell (via This is Futbol), but given the appear to make West Ham’s life difficult in attempts to land the striker, it could be best to move on for now and look at alternatives.

In other news: West Ham insider makes contrary Rice claim in big boost for Moyes, find out more here.