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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.

New Zealand coach pleased with Kyle Jamieson prioritising Tests by not putting his name in IPL auction this year

ESPNcricinfo staff04-May-2022New Zealand coach Gary Stead is confident that Kane Williamson will be able to withstand the rigours of Test cricket when he returns from a long-standing elbow problem against England next month.”Absolutely, yep,” Stead said when asked if Williamson would be ready for the start of the series. “He’s going really well. Been talking to him regularly the last week or so and he has no issues at all, training almost completely unrestricted now.”Still just being careful around the overloading side of it so if that means he has a really big day batting just making sure he’s not doing too much the next day. It will be an ongoing thing probably for the rest of his career that we will need to keep managing.”Related

• Jamieson on sitting out IPL auction: 'About time to work on my game'

• Bracewell earns NZ Test call-up for Eng tour; Williamson nears return

• New England captain Stokes calls for team to revive Test fortunes

Williamson has missed New Zealand’s last five Tests, and sat out the entire home season due to the tendon injury in his left arm. His recovery was very carefully managed by the NZC medical team, which included being limited to 20-minute batting sessions. He has now returned to the action in the IPL with Sunrisers Hyderabad – where he is averaging just 24.37 at a strike-rate of 99.48 – and as soon as his participation there is finished, will be heading to England for the three-match series.One remaining unknown for Williamson – and the other New Zealand Test players at the IPL – is how long they will have to prepare for the first Test once they reach England. They will certainly miss the two warm-up matches In late May, and if any are involved in the final on May 29, they would likely arrive just three days before the Lord’s Test on June 2, although it is a balancing act New Zealand have been through before.”That may cause us some discussions if we have a number of players who are in [the final] but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Stead said.One key player who will benefit from the full warm-up period in England is fast bowlerKyle Jamieson as he opted not to put his name forward for this year’s IPL auction after bagging a US$ 2 million deal with Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2021.”Think it’s a very brave move for someone of Kyle’s age to make,” Stead said. “He’s had some experiences there and worked out what he needs as a cricketer. He wants to play all forms for New Zealand if he can, but Test cricket being the pinnacle for him is really important to him.”He identified that, we had some conversations, and I think to not put his name in the hat was something not many cricketers would do. But I congratulate him on looking after what he thinks he needs to play Test cricket.”New Zealand, who beat England 1-0 last year ahead of the winning the World Test Championship final, will be facing a side going through upheaval in the format, and now under new captain Ben Stokes.Stead, who was Canterbury coach when Stokes made a brief appearance for them in 2017 during his ban from international cricket, is hopeful his team can make life tough as soon as the series gets underway.”I imagine there will be an immediate steel to their group,” Stead said. “Think the abrasive way he plays will probably have a rub-off to the group as well. Part of what we will be trying to do is making things very, very hard for Ben Stokes as immediately as we can. And if we can do that then hopefully that might nullify the strength of the English.”But they are still a quality team. You look through the list, there’s world-class players throughout the team so it’s certainly not that we are going over there expecting just to roll them over.”

James Pattinson, meanwhile, has been ruled out of the third Test with a rib injury

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jan-2021Players on both sides of the ongoing Australia-India series have spent an extended period of their lives – up to six months for some – moving from one biosecure bubble to another, but Nathan Lyon believes it’s a “very small sacrifice” they’re making to play cricket in the times of Covid-19.Amid reports that India are unwilling to submit to another period of hotel quarantine if the fourth Test stays in Brisbane, Lyon said the players would simply have to “suck it up and get on with it”.Related

• Fresh report casts doubt on Brisbane Test, but Cricket Australia says it's not heard from BCCI

• Ajinkya Rahane: Stay in bubble 'challenging' when 'life outside in Sydney is completely normal'

• Tim Paine: 'Tension starting to boil under the surface' as India's tour nears close

• In the spotlight: Rohit Sharma's batting spot, Umesh Yadav-shaped bowling hole

• 'Nothing formal from BCCI' on Brisbane Test switch, says Cricket Australia chief executive

There is still some doubt over who will host the fourth Test, but Lyon – echoing the words of his team-mate Matthew Wade yesterday – said Australia were fully expecting it to stay with Brisbane.”To be honest, I’m not even thinking of a plan B or not playing at the Gabba,” Lyon said in a media interaction on Monday. “I 100% think we’re going out there and planning and preparing for the Gabba.”To be honest with you with regards to the quarantine I know there’s a few people from both squads who’ve been in a bubble for close to six months now, but in my eyes it’s a very small sacrifice for us to get out there and play the game that we love and put a lot of smiles on a lot of people’s faces around the world, so in my eyes, we just have to suck it up and get on with it and get out there and play cricket for our respective countries and make sure that we’re playing a really competitive brand of cricket.”Asked for his views on the severity of the restrictions that have been placed on the players, Lyon reiterated his view that they would simply have to “stop complaining” – though he empathised with the five India players who are under investigation for a possible breach of bubble safety.”To be honest with you, it’s all been okay in my eyes,” Lyon said. “As I said before, we just need to suck it up and get on with it. People make mistakes, we get that, but it’s just about making sure that we go out there and we worry about what’s happening and try and make sure that we prepare the best way we can for the Test match, and not looking to anything else the media is blowing up at all.”We’ve got to listen to the advice of our medical people, here at Cricket Australia we’re very lucky that we’ve got an amazing medical team, but to be honest with you, let’s just suck it up and get on with it and stop complaining.”James Pattinson has been ruled out of the third Test with a rib injury•Getty Images

The third and fourth Tests are set to be the 99th and 100th of Lyon’s career. The offspinner is also only six short of 400 Test wickets. With the series locked 1-1, however, Lyon said the milestones weren’t at the forefront of his mind.”It’s probably more about winning the series for me,” he said. “Obviously one-all, so if I can play my role and make sure that we win this series against a pretty amazing Indian side, so it’s more about the series for me. Those milestones will be nice to look at, at the end of my career, it’s obviously pretty amazing that a couple of them are just around the corner personally, but for me it’s more about making sure that we come out and [I] play my role, personally, but hopefully we can sing the song (Under the Southern Cross, which Australia’s players sing after winning Test matches) twice, and that will top off my milestones which are just around the corner.”Pattinson ruled out of third TestAustralia fast bowler James Pattinson has been ruled out of the third Test against India in Sydney after injuring his ribs in a fall. According to a Cricket Australia statement, the incident occurred while Pattinson was on his personal property during “approved leave from the Melbourne hub”, where both teams were stationed between Tests.No replacement has been named for Pattinson in Australia’s extended 18-member squad for the Tests. He has not played in the series yet, but “will be assessed further leading into the Brisbane Test”, which is scheduled to begin on January 15. Sean Abbott and Michael Neser are the back-up pace options in the squad, behind the first choice trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood.

Fourth consecutive title for champions, but they are forced to fight all the way as Maxfield takes seven

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Sep-2019 Berkshire 164 (Morris 89, Hemmings 4-21) and 97 for 9 (Maxfield 7-48) beat Staffordshire 150 and 110 (Nugent 5-40, Rishton 4-42) by one wicket.Berkshire held their nerve to win the Minor Counties Championship for a record-equalling fourth successive season after they scrambled a one-wicket victory over Staffordshire on the third day of the final at Banbury.Berkshire were set just 97 to win but that modest target looked like being beyond them when they slipped to 87 for 9 with Staffordshire seamer Tim Maxfield taking seven of the wickets.But Staffordshire could not dislodge Berkshire opener Jack Davies who batted throughout the innings for 42 not out.With the support of last man Mungo Russell, Davies managed to whittle down the runs, striking Rob Hemmings for an important boundary, taking a single off the same bowler to level the scores and then clinching victory in a remarkable low-scoring final by taking the winning single off Maxfield.Berkshire’s win equalled Devon’s record of four successive Championships under the captaincy of Peter Roebuck between 1994 and 1997 and gave them their seventh national title in four season to go with four Western Division crowns.Defeat was hard on Maxfield who finished with career-best figures of 7 for 48 in a brave effort from Staffordshire, the Eastern Division champions.Ball dominated bat throughout the match on a pitch that helped the seamers and only one batsman, Berkshire’s Richard Morris in the first innings, made 50. Davies was the only other batsman to top 30.There were 13 LBWs in the match, ten of them against Berkshire with five in each innings.Berkshire began the day needing 73 more runs for victory and Staffordshire requiring seven more wickets.The equation became 73 runs with six wickets in hand after Manraj Johal bowled Middlesex T20 batsman Dan Lincoln without addition to the overnight total.Maxfield then bowled Berkshire captain James Morris and Johal trapped Andy Rishton LBW to make it 40 for 6.But the experienced Chris Peploe (15) and Tom Nugent (13) supplied valuable lower-order runs in important partnerships with Davies for the seventh and eighth wickets which got Berkshire to within 16 of their target.Maxfield then had Nugent and Luke Beaven LBW but Davies, who is on Middlesex’s books, and Russell held firm for 23 balls while they scraped together the last ten runs.

Gloucestershire returned to the top of the South Group after scrambling to a four-wicket win over Sussex Sharks in the Vitality Blast at Hove

ECB Reporters Network01-Aug-2018

ScorecardGloucestershire returned to the top of the South Group after scrambling to a four-wicket win over Sussex Sharks in the Vitality Blast at Hove.A slow pitch was perfect for their pace-off attack who set up their fifth win from seven games by restricting Sussex to 127 for 8 after Luke Wright had won the toss.Spinners Rashid Khan and Danny Briggs bowled with predictable accuracy to share four wickets but Gloucestershire, having been briefly displaced as leaders by Somerset’s win earlier in the day, enjoyed the extra pace provided by the rest of the Sussex attack and reached their target with ten balls to spare.Sussex never recovered from a poor powerplay when they slumped to 27 for 4. Phil Salt (1) was run out by Michael Klinger’s direct hit from mid-wicket before David Payne picked up two wickets in seven balls including Wright (16) who hit four boundaries before mis-timing a drive to mid-on.When Michael Burgess fell for a single to Andrew Tye the Sharks were reeling but Laurie Evans briefly revived their hopes with 46 from 36 balls. Evans was just getting into his stride, having taken Kieran Noema-Barnett for a six and two fours in the 13th over, when he holed out to long-on in the 14th off former Sussex slow left-armer Tom Smith.Sussex didn’t find the boundary again until Jofra Archer cleared the ropes off the penultimate ball of the innings, the only boundary not scored by either Wright or Evans.Archer’s unbeaten 26 gave Sussex a glimmer of hope but even he was becalmed by an excellent attack with Payne and the experienced Tye outstanding. They were backed up by a tigerish Gloucestershire fielding display.Sussex needed early wickets to have any chance and Khan struck with his first ball when Klinger (13) edged behind in the fifth over before deceiving Ian Cockbain (4) with a ball that skidded on in his next over. When Miles Hammond (35), who hit five fours and a six, was lbw to Danny Briggs trying a switch-hit, Gloucestershire had lost 3 for 16 in 3.2 overs.Noema-Barnett (16) hit Briggs for two sixes but was bowled off a bottom edge in the same over and when Archer returned to the attack in the 15th over he immediately had Howell (13) taken at point.Jack Taylor settled Gloucestershire nerves by hitting successive boundaries off Jordan in the 17th over to effectively settle the outcome and although Higgins (21) holed out to deep cover in the 19th over Gloucestershire were only three short of their target and Gareth Roderick drilled the next ball to the long-on rope to seal a deserved victory.

ESPNcricinfo previews the second ODI between England and South Africa at the Ageas Bowl

The Preview by Andrew Miller26-May-2017

Match facts

May 27, 2017
Start time 11am local (1000 GMT)2:32

Morgan’s innings was the game-changer – Amla

Big picture

With due respect to their recent triumphs over West Indies and Ireland, Wednesday’s emphatic win over South Africa, the No.1-ranked team in ODI cricket, was the result that Eoin Morgan’s men needed to rubber-stamp their credentials as favourites for next week’s Champions Trophy.For months on end, almost since the moment of England’s white-ball awakening after the 2015 World Cup, this is a team that has scotched all pre-conceptions – so much so that even the captain of one of the few teams to have got the better of them in recent times, India’s Virat Kohli, was yesterday forced to concede that England have “no weaknesses” going into a tournament that surely counts as their most outstanding opportunity to lift that elusive 50-over global trophy.Well, they have perhaps one weakness. Despite being passed fit to play at the Ageas Bowl following a scan on his knee, the sight of Ben Stokes, the team’s talismanic allrounder, limping from the pitch during the Headingley contest was enough to make both the management’s and marketing men’s blood run cold.Stokes, the newly-crowned MVP in his maiden IPL season, is utterly fundamental to the balance of England’s first-choice XI. With his tub-thumping presence in England’s top six, England have the luxury of including two spinners and four genuine quicks in what is surely the most versatile (if not necessarily the most incisive) attack in the competition. Without him, the choices become more stark – sacrifice a spinner to shore up the batting firepower (and Jonny Bairstow, to be fair, is just gagging to get involved), or trust the occasionally mercurial Moeen Ali to front up with bat as well as ball, as he did to fine effect with a match-turning 77 from 51 balls in the opening ODI.Mind you, these are not the sorts of worries that England are used to addressing on the eve of a global tournament. To cast one’s mind back to the horrors of the 2015 World Cup, for instance, is to be reminded of an era when Stokes’ temperament wasn’t trusted, when Gary Ballance’s ballast at No.3 was preferred to the long-levered walloping of Alex Hales, and when Jos Buttler was treated as an orthodox wicketkeeping No.7, rather than a order-roving deliverer of batting hellfire.None of this is to say that England are either shoo-ins for the Champions Trophy, or even out of sight in this still-to-be-settled three-match series against South Africa. But the underlying truth of their 72-run win in Wednesday’s opening match is that England didn’t actually play to their absolute potential, but still rolled out handsome winners – thanks as much to South Africa’s exhaustion in the closing overs of the run-chase, as much as anything else. As Kohli succinctly put it, “for them it’s all about attack, throughout the 50 overs, which is exciting for the fans and challenging for the opposition.”As for South Africa, there were plenty of reasons for optimism in the midst of their opening defeat. Hashim Amla showed enduring form at the top of the order, Faf du Plessis played a strong hand as well, while AB de Villiers showed glimpses of his true self before his 45 from 38 balls was undermined by wickets tumbling at the other end.But they’ll need their bowlers to regroup quickly if they are to restore their challenge in this series – not least the legspinner Imran Tahir, whose nine wicketless overs were milked for 68 runs at Headingley, a rare toothless day for one of his side’s most enduring one-day weapons.Quinton de Kock and Kagiso Rabada are two other players to factor into South Africa’s challenge. Both are too good to fail for long, as de Kock in particular showed during England’s last ODI campaign against South Africa in February 2016, when his twin centuries helped turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win.It’s all food for thought as two of the best ODI teams in the world fine-tune their preparations. But, both sides know, there’s a far bigger prize than the Royal London trophy up for grabs in the coming weeks.Ben Stokes had to leave the field at Headingley after feeling pain in his knee•Getty Images

Form guide

England WWWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa LWLWL

In the spotlight

There’s surely no pressure being exerted from the England management, who know full well what Jason Roy is capable of, but there’s little doubt either that he is stuck in a bit of a fallow patch of form at present. His maiden IPL stint with Gujarat Lions was a disappointment – just three appearances and a top score of 31 – and following scores of 0 and 20 against Ireland, he chose to return to Royal London Cup duty with Surrey, rather than head back out to the nets in India. His game remains in good working order – one scorching straight drive off Tim Murtagh at Lord’s was a reminder of how effortlessly powerful his game can be. But he could do with a score going into the Champions Trophy.Roy, however, wasn’t the only stroke-playing international batsman to suffer a rough time at this year’s IPL. AB de Villiers fell a long way short of the standards that he expects of himself, and that his adoring fans at Bangalore Royal Challengers expect of him too. He produced flashes of his most brilliant self – not least in making 89 not out from 46 balls against Kings’ XI Punjab – but more often than not he appeared weighed down by the collective malfunction of RCB’s storied batting line-up. He looked a touch jaded in the Headingley ODI, if truth be told. And, shock horror, he even produced a fumble in the outfield. South Africa desperately need him to build on the relative success of his cameo in the first ODI.

Team news

Stokes was declared fit to play in the second ODI after taking a full part in England’s training on Friday. But nevertheless, having bowled just two overs in Wednesday’s opening rubber, and with a heavy IPL workload behind him, there must have been a temptation to protect such a talismanic figure with less than a week to go until the Champions Trophy opener. Jonny Bairstow is in the form to deputise supremely with the bat, even Stokes’ absence would have left England’s bowling options a touch stretched. David Willey was the obvious addition to the fast-bowling ranks.England: (probable) 1 Jason Roy, 2 Alex Hales, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jos Buttler, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Liam Plunkett, 11 Mark WoodFew reasons for wholesale changes in South Africa’s line-up, despite the eventual size of their defeat at Headingley. It’s a case of improving what they’ve got, rather than reinforcing what they lacked. However, there may be a temptation to find room for Morne Morkel and his aggressive line of attack in light of the relative success that the short ball had against England’s top-order – Joe Root, for one, fell victim to a top-edged bouncer from Andile Phehlukwayo.South Africa: (probable) 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 AB de Villiers (capt), 5 JP Duminy, 6 David Miller, 7 Wayne Parnell, 8 Chris Morris, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Andile Phehlukwayo/Morne Morkel, 11 Imran Tahir

Pitch and conditions

The weather is gleaming and runs are all but guaranteed on a surface that rarely fails to offer plenty for the bat. Only once in the last seven ODIs at the Ageas Bowl, dating back to 2012, has the side batting first made less than 287, while New Zealand racked up a hefty 359 for 3 back in June 2013, thanks to Martin Guptill’s 189 not out.

Stats and trivia

• On the last 10 occasions that they have batted first in ODIs, England have racked up a formidable run of totals: 324 for 7, 444 for 3, 302 for 9, 309 for 8, 350 for 7, 321 for 8, 296 for 6, 328, 328 for 6 and 339 for 6. An average figure of 334 for 7.
• Amla needs another 47 runs to reach 7000 in ODIs. He has 12 innings in which to get there ahead of Virat Kohli and continue his record of being fastest to 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000 and 6000.
• Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali both need four more wickets to reach 50 in ODIs.

Quotes

“”You get guys batting at 4 and 5 coming late in the game and getting a hundred, that’s why Morgan’s innings was a game-changer.”
“Batting at No. 7 is one of the hardest jobs going because you don’t know whether to shoot or not. [Moeen] was very calm and composed in what he did, gave himself some time at the crease and was able to take the game to South Africa at the end.”
England captain Morgan praises Moeen Ali’s game-turning innings at Headingley

The BCB has lifted the temporary suspension of fast bowler Shahadat Hossain, imposed last year, on humanitarian grounds

ESPNcricinfo staff10-May-2016The BCB has lifted the temporary suspension on fast bowler Shahadat Hossain on “humanitarian grounds”. Shahadat will be eligible to play domestic cricket but not international cricket until his legal problems are resolved; he is likely to play in the ongoing Dhaka Premier League.”The BCB’s disciplinary committee has taken the decision to withdraw the playing ban on Shahadat from humanitarian considerations following an appeal by the player,” BCB chief executive Nizam Uddin Chowdhury said. “The ruling, effective from today, is applicable for participation in domestic cricket only. He will not be considered for national team selection until his legal issues are settled.”Shahadat expressed his gratitude to the board and said that he was “fully fit”, although he hasn’t played competitive cricket for over a year.
“I felt really bad missing out on so much cricket, but I am thankful to the BCB for letting me play, and always helping me in my bad times,” Shahadat said. “I tried to work on my fitness even when I was in jail. Now I am fully fit and I can bowl at my full strength. It is still not confirmed for which club I will play. I have been training for a long time with Mohammedan Sporting Club, so I could play for them. Or it could be any other club too.”Shahadat had been suspended in September 2015 after a case was registered against him and his wife under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act on charges of assaulting their housemaid. They were arrested on October 5 and were granted bail in December.Shahadat had appealed to the BCB in April this year for permission to play in the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League, but the board’s disciplinary committee turned him down. AJM Nasir Uddin, the disciplinary committee chairman, had also said Shahadat would remain suspended unless the court dismissed the case. His name had been listed in the B+ category of the tournament roster subject to withdrawal of the suspension.Shahadat’s last appearance for Bangladesh was in May 2015, in the second Test against Pakistan in Mirpur. He bowled only two balls in the first innings before suffering a knee injury that ruled him out for six months, during which time he was charged for assault and suspended.

Sri Lanka have declined Pakistan’s proposal to play a day-night Test during their December-January tour to the UAE

Andrew Fidel Fernando16-Aug-2013Test cricket will continue to await its first day-night encounter after Sri Lanka’s team management declined Pakistan’s proposal to play a day-night Test during their year-end tour to the UAE. Sri Lanka Cricket cited its players’ lack of practice with the pink ball as the source of their reluctance.”Since the national team players have not practiced under lights and with the new pink ball, the executive committee decided to stand by the decision taken by the national team management, to inform PCB that SLC is not willing to play a day-night Test match as requested by PCB,” a SLC release said.SLC president, Jayantha Dharmadasa, had been positively disposed to the idea of Sri Lanka being part of the first day-night Test, but others closer to the team had strong reservations. The series against Pakistan will be Sri Lanka’s first Test outing against a top-eight opposition in almost a year, and SLC’s decision is understood to have also been influenced by their desire to safeguard their team’s chances in an important series.PCB spokesman Nadeem Sarwar had told ESPNcricinfo that the PCB’s interest in pioneering day-night Tests was grounded in an attempt to revive interest in the longest format. “The major aspect in our discussion with SLC is the correspondence on the colour and brand of the ball. The venues are definitely ideal and there is no dew factor involved in December and January,” Sarwar had said.MCC has trialled day-night first-class matches, with a view to fine-tuning the colour and characteristics of the ball in order to make it fit for international cricket. Day-night Tests are not only likely to stoke viewer interest in the format, but as a result, the matches are also expected to be more lucrative for broadcasters and advertisers. Last year, the ICC approved day-night Tests, but left it to member boards to agree on the hours of play, and the colour and brand of the ball. Only the PCB has so far shown interest in playing day-night Tests. It has also experimented with day-night long-form cricket twice by playing the first-class Quaid-e-Azam trophy final in January 2011 and December 2011 under lights with an orange ball.Sri Lanka’s tour of Pakistan begins in December, and comprises of two Twenty20s, five ODIs and three Tests. Either Abu Dhabi or Dubai would have hosted the day-night Test, if SLC had agreed to it.

MS Dhoni feels India’s batsmen have contributed well as part-time bowlers in the absence of a genuine allrounder in the squad

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Sep-2012MS Dhoni feels India’s batsmen have contributed well as part-time bowlers in the absence of a genuine allrounder in the squad. Dhoni also said conditions in Sri Lanka had changed over the years and there wasn’t much help for spinners during India’s limited-overs tour to the country in July and August.”We are a team who rely strongly on batting. But some of the top batsmen play the role of part-timers,” Dhoni said after arriving in Colombo for the World Twenty20. “In T20 cricket, part-timers are very important. Our part-timers have been doing well.”We also don’t have a genuine all-rounder so we have to rely on part-time bowlers who are specialist batsmen. Yuvraj [Singh] is one and we have Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina. They will chip in an over each and that makes it a lot easier for us.”Dhoni was pleased to have Yuvraj back in the side but refused to comment on his selection soon after recovering from a rare cancer. “It’s a selection matter. But I am happy that he is in the team as he is a champion player and a match-winner. He also brings a balance in the team as in T20 cricket you don’t include a fifth bowler.”India will be based in Colombo during the World Twenty20. Dhoni said playing at one venue would help but also felt that conditions could still change as the tournament progressed. “We won’t be travelling much. We can put in a bit more effort in the net session and skill-oriented session.”I feel the conditions in Sri Lanka have changed a lot in the past years. When we came here in 2005, the wickets were different and when we came here last time [in July 2012], the wickets were different. The spinners did not get much help from the pitches in the five ODIs and one T20 we played here in our last tour.”If a ground is hosting many matches, then it will slow down and the spinners will get help. So we have to see the conditions and plan accordingly.”

Simon Taufel has referred Phil Hughes’ lbw dismissal in the first Test between Sri Lanka and Australia to the ICC as a serious question mark against the accuracy of Hawk-Eye, the ball tracking technology

Daniel Brettig in Galle02-Sep-2011Simon Taufel, the senior international umpire, has referred Phil Hughes’ second innings lbw dismissal in the first Test between Sri Lanka and Australia to the ICC as a serious question mark against the accuracy of Hawk-Eye, the ball tracking technology. Taufel and the officiating umpires Richard Kettleborough, Aleem Dar and Tony Hill have have also sent the relevant footage of the incident to the ICC’s cricket operations department.Hughes was given out lbw on the second evening when he attempted to sweep Tillakaratne Dilshan. Replays indicated that the delivery had spun appreciably from around middle stump towards off, but the Hawk-Eye predicted path had the ball going straight on with the angle from round the wicket to to strike leg stump.Though he reviewed the decision, Hughes was sent on his way by umpire Kettleborough after consultation with third umpire Hill who is obliged to grant significant weight to the original decision made on the field when he decides whether to reprieve or dismiss a batsman.In Galle to conduct a third umpire accreditation seminar, Taufel has observed the first two days of the Test in part to assess the impact of technology’s inconsistent use and accuracy, having umpired in England’s home series against India under vastly different playing conditions and technological aids.Taufel told ESPNcricinfo that more needed to be done to prove the veracity of devices such as Hawk-Eye, HotSpot and Virtual Eye via independent testing that sits outside the views of broadcasters and suppliers.”Why can’t we tap into technology if the match official is missing a piece of information, and is it right that the match official has to make a decision before technology can be used?” Taufel said. “That’s a fundamental question I think we’re still working through. Under the current system we’re encouraged to make decisions and if a player feels they disagree with that then they’ve got the right to review. But if they get that wrong twice, then we can’t use technology anymore in that innings for that particular team.”They’re the parameters we’re working with and that’s the value we want to promote within the sport – do we just want to get the obvious mistake fixed up or do we want to get as many decisions right as possible? What are the technology tools we have to achieve that, and then how accurate are those tools? Have we really investigated that from an independent perspective, and have we got a categorical answer with that? Is it reliable on the day, rather than just relying on the provider of that technology to say ‘it is x-amount accurate and the result is right’ and we just take that on face value?”The third umpire’s job in particular has become increasingly difficult as each series brings a different set of parameters for reviewing decisions, and the technological means by which they may be reviewed. Taufel said players had also become confused on the field by the transient nature of rules relating to referrals and technology.”From the training perspective we did with the third umpire accreditation module it is very difficult, because there is no consistency of inputs,” Taufel said. “How do I train and develop a third umpire when I don’t know what technology tools are going to be available on the day?”From an umpiring perspective, as a third umpire, it is incredibly challenging here [in Sri Lanka] because the frame rates used by Ten Sports per second will be different to the ones used by Sky in Britain. There’s ultra-motion available in the UK, there’s none of that here. We have Hotspot in the UK, we don’t have Hotspot here. The camera rates used by Hawk-Eye here would be different to the camera rates used there.”Therein lies the challenge of consistency – how can you possibly expect consistent outputs if you’ve got inconsistent inputs? We’ve also noticed the players are somewhat confused as to what they can challenge and what they can’t. In the UK they couldn’t challenge lbws, they could only challenge caught decisions. Here we’ve gone back to a different system where you can challenge both.”Surely that’s got to be difficult for the players and the match officials to keep adjusting from series to series. Our message as umpires was rather strong at the ICC cricket committee meeting where we said, we either want to use everything or nothing at all, let’s try to make it consistently easier for everybody. That’s what we want to work towards.”