The ICC has told its members to not issue NOCs to their players until the issue is resolved

Peter Della Penna23-Mar-2023Days after Major League Cricket’s (MLC) landmark player draft, a sanctioning dispute between USA Cricket and league organisers threatens to disrupt the start of the tournament this July. The dispute has reached the ICC, who has told its members to not issue NOCs to their players until the issue is resolved.In this latest manifestation of the age-old tradition of administrative strife on US soil, it has emerged that USA Cricket has not yet sanctioned either the MLC or Minor League Cricket (MiLC), the tournaments that are seen as the next big step in the evolution of the game in the country. That did not prevent the MLC from announcing a host of big-name foreign signings – including Aaron Finch, Marcus Stoinis and Quinton de Kock – in a draft in Houston on Sunday. But concerns are growing, especially as the ICC is currently classifying the events as “disapproved”.USA Cricket has previously given sanction to MiLC, for both 2021 and 2022, but in a communication recently sent out by the ICC’s operations department to Members, officials have flagged the issue for overseas players wishing to play in both competitions.”Members may be aware of the following two events that are proposed to be played in the USA,” the ICC said of the events, both administered by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE), the parent company which signed a 50-year commercial rights agreement with USA Cricket in 2019.Related

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“Applications for sanction have been submitted to USA Cricket, but these events have not yet been sanctioned by USA Cricket. Consequently, without a sanction from the host member, both events are currently deemed to be Disapproved Cricket and as such, Members should not issue NOCs to their players to participate in either event.”On March 1, in a statement from USA Cricket, the interim board chairman Atul Rai said that the board of directors were “concerned about the plight of the players and the owners” of MiLC, though what exactly those concerns are has not been specified.”However, they are equally concerned about the operations of Minor League by ACE without any accountability and its failure to follow the USA Cricket guidelines, not to mention the lack of communication,” the statement continued. “USA Cricket has sent a letter to ACE that includes several questions on Minor League operations by ACE that we hope to get a quick response timely to allow for sanctioning of the event.”Rai was on the board in 2019 and voted in favour of signing the commercial partnership with ACE at the time. Then board chairman Paraag Marathe was the main driver of the deal and rubber-stamped the tournament going ahead in 2021 and 2022. Rai left the board in February 2020, but won an election to return in September 2022 and immediately replaced Marathe as chairman. Rai’s stance toward ACE and MLC seems to have changed in his second term.Observers see this dispute as a negotiating ploy by USA Cricket to revise terms of the original short-form agreement signed with ACE in 2019. In that agreement, ACE keeps 95% of all gross revenues generated by MLC while USA Cricket receives the remaining 5%.Organisers say, however, that the tournament is on course to begin its inaugural season on July 13, as is MiLC for a third season from June 10.”We are aware of the recent letter that the ICC sent to its membership regarding the status of MiLC and MLC,” MLC tournament director Justin Geale told ESPNcricinfo. “We don’t believe the letter was a warning at all, inasmuch as it was merely factual informational that the events are not yet sanctioned as the member boards need that confirmation in order to issue NOCs to the players.”We have been in regular communication with all concerned parties regarding the ICC sanctioning of these events for the past several weeks. These events already have the necessary sanctioning from USA Cricket under our agreement with them, and the completed ICC sanctioning applications for MiLC and MLC are presently with USA Cricket.”We have been assured that they will be processed in a speedy manner once received by the ICC. We believe that the recent staffing changes at USA Cricket may have contributed to any delays. However, we fully expect the events to receive complete sanctioning in the coming days, as all parties agree that MiLC and MLC are very important to the growth and development of cricket in the US.”Geale’s reference to staffing changes alludes to the resignation of USA Cricket’s interim CEO Vinay Bhimjiani over the weekend, after five months in the role.Rai told ESPNcricinfo that there were other outstanding issues that had prevented them from moving forward on the sanctioning. This includes USA Cricket’s desire for more favourable revisions from the short-form agreement, before signing a finalised long-form agreement between the two parties.”The board appointed a five-member working group to negotiate the terms of the Long-form agreement and they have started the conversation as I understand,” Rai told ESPNcricinfo. “I am not part of that committee and since the CEO resigned, he is no longer involved in the negotiations. Therefore, any sanctioning or approval will have to come as a recommendation from the committee to the board.”As for the 50-year commercial partnership agreement, the working group had sent a letter to ACE outlining the areas of problems in the contract as well as the failures. While there was a response from ACE, I believe that there is much to be discussed before any final agreement can be reached.”

Anamul was the best batter of the week while Al-Amin Hossain and Mukidul Islam impressed with the ball, picking up five-fors

Mohammad Isam05-Apr-2023

Key takeaways – Abahani maintain clean slate

Abahani remained the only team with a 100% win record after they won two matches this week. Defending champions Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club lost to Mohammedan Sporting Club while Legends of Rupganj, who had won their first five games, dropped points against Rupganj Tigers Cricket Club. Prime Bank Cricket Club, who lost to Abahani by 141 runs, fell well back in the race.

Best batter – Anamul Haque

Anamul struck centuries against Dhaka Leopards and Prime Bank, making 107 and 153 in the two games respectively. He has already scored three centuries in the season, equalling his personal record from the 2019 and 2022 seasons. He has now scored 14 hundreds in the List-A era of the league.

Best bowlers – Al-Amin Hossain and Mukidul Islam

Al-Amin Hossain and Mukidul Islam took five-wicket hauls this week, leading Legends of Rupganj and Rupganj Tigers, respectively, to victories. Among those who took four-wicket hauls this week, Parvez Rasool added some runs to help his side Dhanmondi Club to a win, too.

Best match – Brothers Union vs City Club

City Club’s Nos. 10 and 11, Ifran Hossain and Asif Hasan, struck the winning runs with one ball remaining to help their team to a one-wicket win against Brothers Union. Brothers Union took regular wickets but Towfiq Khan and Rafsan Al Mahmud made important runs to get City Club towards the 220-run target, which they pulled off right at the close.

Points to ponder

City Club have won their last three games after losing the first four. Mohammedan Sporting Club, one of the most successful teams in the tournament’s history, are languishing in eighth place with five points. Dhaka Leopards remain the only winless team after seven rounds.

Players to watch – Anamul Haque and Robiul Haque

Anamul should re-enter the national selectors’ radar with his big scores, particularly the 153 against Prime Bank. Among the bowlers, Robiul Haque and Mukidul have shown match-winning abilities quite consistently.

Devon Conway’s unbeaten 92 and MS Dhoni’s late sixes took CSK to 200 but it didn’t prove enough

Vishal Dikshit30-Apr-20232:12

Moody reckons Conway among the IPL’s best overseas buys of all time

Punjab Kings 201 for 6 (Prabhsimran 42, Livingstone 40, Deshpande 3-49, Jadeja 2-32) beat Chennai Super Kings 200 for 4 (Conway 92*, Gaikwad 37) by four wicketsA last-ball thriller that ended with Sikandar Raza pulling Matheesha Pathirana for three quick runs stunned a Chepauk crowd that may have expected their team to return home with a win and get closer to the top of the table. Chennai Super Kings had almost everything going for them; Devon Conway walloped an unbeaten 92, MS Dhoni stretched their total to 200 with two sixes to end the innings, and they strangled Kings’ chase through the middle overs, but lost despite largely being ahead through the final over thanks to Pathirana’s accuracy.With nine to win off the last over, Raza and Shahrukh Khan couldn’t hit a single boundary against Pathirana’s dipping deliveries. After a single, a leg bye, a dot ball and two twos off Pathirana’s yorkers and slower balls, Kings needed three off the last ball. Raza shuffled across and pulled a short-of-length slower ball over square leg, landing it right in between deep fine leg and deep midwicket to secure three and seal victory with his arms aloft.The two points took Kings to 10 points alongside three other teams, and to fifth place on the table, just behind Super Kings on net run rate.Sikandar Raza celebrates after taking Kings to a tense win•BCCI

Livingstone turns tables at the right time

Super Kings were favourites when Liam Livingstone and Sam Curran struggled to score freely off Pathirana and Maheesh Theekshana. With 72 to win off 30, Livingstone got to face Tushar Deshpande and belted three sixes in four balls with four leg byes in between. Even though he fell off the fifth ball of the over, Kings still had Jitesh Sharma and Shahrukh to come, and the 24-run over brought their equation down to 48 off 24.Curran and Jitesh slammed straight sixes off Ravindra Jadeja in the 17th, but Pathirana was going to bowl two of the last three overs. He removed Curran’s off stump with a stunning, full delivery that swerved past his outside edge, and with 22 needed off 12, Kings went after Deshpande in the 19th to try and ensure they didn’t leave too much for the last over. Jitesh lofted the first ball over cover for four and got out to a contentious decision two balls later when substitute fielder Shaik Rasheed caught him at the wide long-on boundary while almost touching the boundary cushions with his foot. With 15 required off eight, Raza edged his first ball for four to make it a 13-run over.Even though Pathirana sent down an excellent last over, Raza manipulated the field perfectly to pick ones and twos and sealed the match with a hard-run three.

Boundaries rain in Kings’ powerplay, but not beyond

Kings came out all guns blazing in a steep chase. Shikhar Dhawan danced down off the second ball and went on to smash 21 off nine balls in Akash Singh’s first two overs. Prabhsimran Singh took on Theekshana’s carrom ball at the other end in a 12-run fourth over, and Kings raced to 46 for no loss in four overs.Dhawan sliced Deshpande to short third in the fifth over to fall for 28, but Prabhsimran kept his foot on the pedal with at least one boundary an over before being stumped off a 100kph Jadeja delivery in the ninth. It was then that Kings went through a slowdown, with Atharva Taide managing just 13 off 16 before falling to Jadeja in a three-run 11th over. Livingstone and Curran struggled to score freely off the Sri Lankan duo, scoring just 22 runs in overs 12 to 14, which pushed the asking rate beyond 12. But Livingstone soon broke the shackles against Deshpande, and Kings were back on track.Devon Conway made 92 not out, his fifth half-century in his last six innings•BCCI

CSK make quick start on a slow pitch

The Kings bowlers had to bowl in the unforgiving Chennai heat, and they were made to sweat further by Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway. Gaikwad showed excellent timing whereas Conway took the aerial route more often, such as when he hit Curran for back-to-back boundaries down the ground in the sixth over, which went for 16. Super Kings, who have lost the fewest wickets in the powerplay this IPL, finished the phase on 57 for 0.

Conway smashes fifty, Dube promoted to take on spinners

Spinners were always going to be in focus at Chepauk. Rahul Chahar, Kings’ lead spinner, was introduced in the powerplay and the openers hit a six each off him down the ground to push the run rate towards nine. Conway also reeled off consecutive fours off Raza’s flat offbreaks before the bowler unleashed a legbreak to have Gaikwad stumped for 37.Super Kings promoted Dube to counter the spinners, and he also pulled Kagiso Rabada for six soon after Conway reverse-swept Raza to raise a 30-ball fifty.

Conway bosses the middle overs

At 121 for 1 after 13, Kings brought back Arshdeep Singh, who struck when Dube holed out to long-on while attempting his third six. Super Kings kept sending out left-hand batters – Moeen Ali came in next – and they kept attacking the spinners. Conway and Moeen lapped up Livingstone for a 16-run 15th over, and Conway hit two more fours with sweeps off Chahar, before Arshdeep and Rabada slowed things a little with 11 boundary-free balls in the 18th and 19th overs.

The Dhoni show

Once looking set for 200, Super Kings were 185 with an over to go. Two hundred looked even more distant when Jadeja fell off the first ball of the 20th and Dhoni managed just one off his first two balls. But once Dhoni got the strike back, he smoked two sixes to end the innings, an uppercut and a leg-side whack off a low full-toss from Curran. Conway stayed unbeaten on 92 off 52 with 16 fours and a six.

Haider Ali sparks for Derbyshire but hosts cruise chase for third successive win

ECB Reporters Network04-Jun-2023Wayne Madsen fell six runs short of becoming the first man in T20 history to score six successive fifties as his Derbyshire side were comfortably beaten by seven wickets by a revitalised Yorkshire in today’s Vitality Blast clash at Headingley.England’s Dawid Malan then starred in the chase with a superb 81 not out off 57 balls, Yorkshire winning with 10 balls to spare.Madsen’s 44 off 26 in the Falcons 166 for 8 batting first means he remains one of seven players worldwide to have scored five fifties in a row in this format. Jos Buttler, Virender Sehwag and David Warner are on the list.Pakistan overseas opener Haider Ali’s belligerent 74 off 47 balls was the feature of Derbyshire’s innings having been inserted, and also his best score for the county in all cricket since arriving in April. But Haider and Madsen falling in quick succession meant the innings lost crucial momentum from 147 for 2 in the 17th over.That paved the way for the Vikings to win their third successive North Group fixture, backing up last week’s successes over Nottinghamshire and Lancashire.After three wickets for Ben Mike, Malan continued his excellent form with a third fifty in a row and could yet expand that aforementioned list of seven over the next week. The left-hander shared 83 inside 10 overs for the first wicket with Adam Lyth, who made 31, and continued on with almost effortless class in hitting nine fours and three sixes.Both teams came into this fixture having had identical seasons – winless in the Championship, having lost their first three games in the Blast before winning their last two last week.Yorkshire started well, with Derbyshire limited to 19 for 1 after four overs, including Mike getting Luis Reece caught scooping. But Haider counterattacked with success and ensured 40 runs came off the next four overs, playing confidently on both sides of the wicket in excellent batting conditions.Tom Wood fell to legspinner Jafer Chohan’s first ball in the ninth over – 59 for 2 – as he was brilliantly caught at a wide short third-man by a diving Will Luxton following a reverse sweep. But that strike only served to bring Madsen to the crease.Both Haider, who reached 50 off 35 balls, and Madsen struck the ball cleanly during an 88-run partnership inside nine overs, though the wind was quickly taken out of Derbyshire’s sails.Madsen drilled David Wiese into the covers to end his shot at history, leaving Derbyshire 147 for 3 in the 17th over, before Haider was smartly caught by Wiese off Mike in the next. Mike also bowled a reverse sweeping Leus du Plooy before another three wickets fell in the last eight balls to give Yorkshire the definite advantage at halfway.And it didn’t take long for the result to become obvious as Lyth and Malan were quickly into their stride. Malan pulled seamer Zak Chappell for six over square leg and dominated the powerplay as 54 came from the first six overs.Unlike Yorkshire, Derbyshire’s bowlers just couldn’t drag things back as they suffered defeat number four of the campaign.Malan pulled his second six off George Scrimshaw’s pace early in the eighth over, a vicious shot over midwicket to take him into the 40s, and by the time he reached 50 off 35 balls in the 11th over, Yorkshire were 103 for 1. Lyth had been bowled slog-sweeping at Wood’s offspin before Will Luxton fell cheaply having miscued a pull at Scrimshaw to square leg, leaving the score at 110 for 2 after 12.Yorkshire’s target was reduced to 42 off the last five overs at 125 for 2, and a couple of lusty blows from Namibia international allrounder Wiese ended Malan’s hopes of a sixth career T20 century but more importantly gave the hosts another two points.Wiese actually fell for an entertaining 30 to Chappell, but it was nothing more than a consolatory wicket at 158 for 3 in the 18th over. That allowed Mike to clinch the win with a straight six off Zaman Khan in the 19th over.

Freya Kemp returns from injury in the England A squad and 17-year-old Mahika Gaur has been called up

Valkerie Baynes20-Jun-2023Alice Capsey will have to wait to make her Test debut, while Freya Kemp makes a return to international action from injury after both were named in the England Women A squad for their first T20 against Australia A.Capsey and fellow allrounder Alice Davidson-Richards, who made her Test debut against South Africa at Taunton last year where she scored a century, were trimmed from England’s Test squad ahead of the Ashes opener at Trent Bridge from Thursday and instead selected for Wednesday’s T20 at Loughborough.Kemp, the 18-year-old allrounder, returned early from England’s tour of the Caribbean in December with a back stress fracture. She returned in a batting-only role for Southern Vipers in the Charlotte Edwards Cup earlier this month.Related

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Kemp earned her international debut during the last English summer and soon made her mark against India by becoming the youngest England player, male or female, to make a T20I half-century. She went on to be named the Women’s Young Player of the Year by both the PCA and the Cricket Writers’ Club, and was awarded an England central contract.Davidson-Richards played for the England A side which pushed Australia in last week’s drawn red-ball warm-up over three days. Led by centuries from Lauren Winfield-Hill and Paige Scholfield, England A reached 562 in their only innings after bowling Australia out for 284 in their first innings. Both have been named in the England A squad for the first T20.Capsey, meanwhile, played for the England side which amassed 650 runs – including 510 in a day with Tammy Beaumont retiring on 201 – before drawing with Australia A.Mahika Gaur, the 17-year-old allrounder who has represented UAE at Under-19 level and plays regional cricket for Thunder, trained with the senior England group during their preparation camps earlier this month and was also selected for England A alongside Bryony Smith of South East Stars and Southern Vipers’ Linsey Smith.England A, coached by Jon Batty, will play Australia A in three T20s on June 21, 23 and 25 followed by three 50-over matches on June 28 and 30 and July 2.England Women Head of Performance Pathways, Richard Bedbrook said: “The A-side pushed the full Australian team hard during the three-day warm up and with a number of quality individual performances, we’re very excited to continue competing across the T20 format against the Australian A-side.”England Women’s A squad for first T20: Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Alice Davidson-Richards, Freya Davies, Charlie Dean, Mahika Gaur, Sarah Glenn, Bess Heath, Freya Kemp, Paige Scholfield, Bryony Smith, Linsey Smith, Lauren Winfield-Hill.England Women’s Test Squad: Heather Knight (capt), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Kate Cross, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Danielle Gibson, Amy Jones, Emma Lamb, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Issy Wong, Danielle Wyatt

Four out of the first seven women’s games have been abandoned without a ball being bowled

ESPNcricinfo staff and ECB Reporters Network05-Aug-2023Rain wiped out both women’s fixtures in the Hundred on Saturday without a ball being bowled, meaning four of the first seven women’s games have been abandoned.Manchester Originals and London Spirit, who suffered washouts against Welsh Fire and Oval Invincibles, respectively, in their opening fixtures, were unable to get on the field at Emirates Old Trafford on Saturday morning, with the game called off shortly after midday.Birmingham Phoenix and Trent Rockets both lost their opening games – against Northern Superchargers and Southern Brave respectively – and their fixture at Edgbaston was called off shortly before 4.30pm on Saturday, after heavy rain in Birmingham.”If we would have played two games and won one and lost one, we would be in the competition and at least we would have played,” Stephen Parry, Originals’ head coach, said. “The good news is that we’ve got two points – and that’s the best start the Originals have ever had.”It isn’t the way we wanted to get the points but I’m really looking forward to seeing the girls go out there and show their skills, because they’ve been absolutely fantastic.”Parry said that Originals’ preparation has been affected throughout the build-up to the Hundred: “We had a training session at Ramsbottom and that was rain-affected; the rain has been with us for two weeks. But the attitude and energy of the girls has been second to none and I’m really pleased how they’ve gone about their business.”Emma Whiteman, London Spirit’s team manager, said: “We just want to play and it’s hugely disappointing that this has happened again.”We’ve always said we need to adapt to whatever conditions are presented, whether that is the opposition or the good old British weather, so we’re training now and hopefully we’ll get going together on Tuesday.”The weather also accounted for both of the scheduled fixtures in the men’s 50-over domestic competition on Saturday. Middlesex versus Surrey was washed out at Radlett, while Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire took a point each from their fixture at Trent Bridge.

Cricket South Africa also announces a six-team professional domestic system for women

Firdose Moonda22-Aug-2023CSA has announced equal international-match fees for their men and women’s players, joining New Zealand and India in establishing parity across genders. The landmark announcement comes on the same day that CSA unveiled a six-team professional domestic system for women cricketers, as part of the legacy projects following the successful hosting of the Women’s T20 World Cup in February. The new match fees will be in place from next month, when South Africa’s women’s team tours Pakistan.The new domestic structure takes its framework from the existing 16-team, two-tier set-up, which is divided into a top six and a bottom ten, with the latter being split into two groups of five each with a promotion-relegation system in place. The same set-up will continue, but the top-six teams will now have the resources to contract 11 players – up from six in previous years – at pay rates that are on par with the highest-paid male cricketers in Division 2, and will be able to employ a full-time coaching staff. CSA will subsidise four backroom-staff positions for each of the six sides, and require two of them to be female.The top six teams will compete in a 50-over and a 20-over competition, with the shortest-format matches likely to be played on the same days as the men’s competition to increase visibility. Cricket becomes the first team sport in South Africa to professionalise the women’s game at domestic level, thus earning the praise of the country’s sports minister Zizi Kodwa.Related

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“What we are celebrating today is not about monetary value but about leadership and political will,” Kodwa said at the unveiling of the six teams in Pretoria. “In the first week of our appointment, we met with the top five [sports] federations in the country, and we stressed this point. You seem to be the only federation who understood what we said. How I wish others are listening as we speak now.”For the 2023-24 season, the top six teams will be Titans, Lions, Dolphins, Western Province, Free State and Garden Route Badgers. Four of the six – Titans, Lions, Dolphins and Western Province – also have men’s teams in South Africa’s domestic first division, while both Free State and Garden Route Badgers are top tier women’s teams only.For Free State, who are based in Bloemfontein, this is particularly significant. They occupy an important geographic area in the country’s central region, and have faded into the cricketing periphery in recent years with no team in the men’s top division and no SA20 franchise in their area. Garden Route Badgers are located in Oudtshoorn, an inland town in the Western Cape known for ostrich farming, and are exploring the possibility of moving to a stadium in the coastal town of George.While the top six teams will receive most of the benefits of the new initiative, teams in the bottom ten will also see changes – most notably the increase in fixtures. In previous seasons, those teams competed only against the four other teams in their group; but from this season, they will also play cross-pool matches. CSA is still finalising the logistics of this but it is likely to take a tournament-style approach, with teams based at one venue for a few weeks.Players from both divisions will also be exposed to elite-level international coaching and talent. This season, CSA is planning camps for women’s teams with SA20 sides; next season, the board hopes to have women’s exhibition matches in the SA20, and the season after that, it is aiming for a women’s T20 franchise league.This expansion in the women’s game is estimated to cost CSA R40 million (approx. US$2.1 million) over three years, but it has received some support from the government to cover the costs. The Department of Sports, Arts and Culture has pledged R15 million (US$800,000) to CSA for the same period.