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Leicestershire have announced that Phillip DeFreitas will be their new captain for the 2003 season.The 36-year-old former England all rounder has accepted the invitation to lead the side next summer after Iain Sutcliffe declined the opportunity to succeed Vince Wells as captain.Leicestershire general manager, Kevin Hill, said: “The management committee unanimously approved the cricket committee’s recommendation to invite Phillip DeFreitas to be captain for 2003.”I have the highest regard for Phillip both as a player and a person. He is a strong leader and I look forward to working with him.”DeFreitas, currently on a cricketing tour in Barbados said: “I am extremely proud and honoured to be appointed captain of Leicestershire. We have a lot of talented players and I am looking forward to us achieving the success the club and its supporters deserve.”DeFreitas, who has played in 44 Tests and 103 one-day internationals, is in the final year of a four year contract at Grace Road. Last season he scored 609 Championship runs took 51 wickets and also joined the elite group of players who have achieved a career double of 10,000 runs and 1,000 wickets.

England are facing an innings defeat in the second Test at Adelaide after Australia’s bowlers ripped out three of their top batsmen for just 36 runs in the final session of the third day. It followed Steve Waugh’s declaration on 552 for nine, a lead of 210 runs.A partnership of 242 between Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn set up a commanding position for Australia. They started the day watchfully to build on the foundations laid by openers Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer. Ponting crafted a magnificent 154 to put Australia into the lead, and in doing so proved how mature a batsman he has become. His innings up until his century included just four boundaries against accurate bowling.The two batted through the first session, putting on 94 runs. Martyn played a supporting role, until just five runs short of century he got a short one from Stephen Harmison which flicked his gloves and went via his thigh into the waiting hands of Nasser Hussain. It gave Harmison his first Ashes wicket and England the breakthrough they needed. The right-hander had been troubled with the short ball all day. Andrew Caddick had hit him on the helmet and Harmison struck him twice on the upper body.His departure brought Steve Waugh to the crease. The Aussie captain started briskly at better than a run a ball, prompting Ponting to raise the tempo as well. Trying to match his captain, he fell victim to Craig White, who dug in the first ball of a new spell for Ponting to pull, finding Richard Dawson on the mid-wicket boundary. White then dismissed his brother-in-law, Darren Lehmann, the hometown hero who was looking to justify his position at number six. The left-hander slashed to Andrew Flintoff, who was subbing for Hussain, in the slips. He juggled the ball before claiming the catch.Waugh, after making 35 off 39 balls, mistimed a cut for Mark Butcher to take a great catch in the gully. Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne then survived until tea. Warne made 25 before he tried to drive Dawson and the 22-year-old off-spinner caught him in his follow through. Andrew Bichel, hoping to keep his place over Brett Lee for the next Test, crafted a decent 48 with some magnificent shots off both the front and back foot, giving Gilchrist good support. Eventually, trying to push a Matthew Hoggard delivery to leg, he edged the ball back on to his stumps. His dismissal gave Hoggard his first wicket of the series after toiling hard through Brisbane and Adelaide.Jason Gillespie came out to a thunderous roar but Gilchrist, trying to force the pace, was immediately caught behind off Harmison, prompting the declaration.Showing signs of tiredness after a day’s fielding, Marcus Trescothick was trapped lbw by a Gillespie special without scoring. It was the seventh time the 27-year-old had fallen to Gillespie, and the bowler’s 50th Test wicket in Australia. Glenn McGrath then snared Butcher, plumb lbw for four. McGrath was so confident of the wicket, he did not even turn to see Steve Bucknor’s decision.As he had done on day one, Waugh called up Bichel to bowl the last over of the day. After beating Hussain with his first ball, he dismissed the England captain with his second, a beauty which clipped the top of the off stump. Michael Vaughan remains unbeaten on 17. Rain is forecast overnight and for tomorrow, but with two days of the match remaining England’s chances of survival look slim indeed.

Somerset County Cricket Club have just held their Youth Presentation Evening in the Colin Atkinson Pavilion at the County Ground.Among the guests of honour at the occasion were the 2003 captain Mike Burns who made the presentations, Somerset coach Kevin Shine, Assistant Coach Mark Garaway, Chairman of Cricket Vic Marks and Mrs Jackie Corner.Well over 180 young cricketers who have played for the Somerset representative teams between the ages of Under 11 and Under 17 were present at the occasion, along with all the team managers and coaches.Chairman of the Somerset Cricket Board Youth Committee Pat Colbourne welcomed everybody who was present to an evening which was held to celebrate the successes of the various age groups.The presentation that were made were:The NAYC Under 19’s Two Day Competition Cup was presented by Mike Burns to Richard Timms who played a major part in helping the team to their success.The Tony Corner Memorial Cup for the Under 17 Player of the year was presented to James Hildreth.The Len Creed Memorial Cup for the Under 16’s was presented to Simon Marchant.The Tony Corner Cup for the Under 15 Player of the year was presented to Robin Lett.The Tony Corner Cups for the 2002 district competitions were presented to:Under 11’s -The South WestUnder 12’s -The South WestUnder 13’s- The South WestUnder 14’s- The South WestUnder 15’s- The North West.The Somerset County Cricket Club Youth Presentation evening was a great success and with so much emerging talent the future of cricket in the county looks very bright indeed.

Heavy rain that swept through the country on Monday put a stop to Hampshire 2nd XI’s good start in the ECB Second XI Trophy Final against their Kent counterparts on Monday at the Rose Bowl.Asked to bat first under dull and overcast skies and on a damp outfield from the morning showers, Hampshire rose to the challenge, courtesy of a spirited innings from Alex Morris, who hit 38 in just 31 balls.But he became the first of James Hibberd’s two wickets in successive deliveries as Morris was bowled going for an expansive drive, and then Lawrence Prittipaul edged his first delivery to first slip.Hibberd, a Southampton born all-rounder who still plays local club cricket for Southern Electric Premier League side Calmore Sports is one who perhaps has slipped the Hampshire net, after playing twice in the Under 19 Championship winning side of 1999.Earlier, skipper Jason Laney was dismissed after making just four but James Adams and Morris ensured Hampshire got off to a good start nonetheless, and they will be looking to advance when play, weather permitting, resumes in the morning at 11:00am.

The delayed Women’s ODI World Cup will go ahead as scheduled across the original six venues in New Zealand, starting March 4 even as the hosts’ bilateral series for the rest of the season have moved to a condensed list of grounds in the wake of a community outbreak of the Omicron variant that put the nation under enhanced Covid-19 restrictions on Sunday.The affirmation on the World Cup sticking to the original schedule came from Andrea Nelson, the CEO of the event, 35 days out from the start of the tournament. “We did look at multiple contingency plans over the last 12 months as you can well imagine. But the plan is to retain the schedule as it is with the six venues,” Nelson said at a virtual media roundtable organised by the ICC on Friday.”The contingency measures we’re putting in place relate to kind of partaking the travel between those venues as much as possible. One of the factors [of hosting a multi-team cricket event] in New Zealand is that our venues are very different to, for example, some of the venues in the subcontinent or the UK. For those that have watched cricket in New Zealand, we’ve got grass-bank stadiums, [and] smaller stadiums that don’t have hotels built into them. So it’s a very different environment to how some of it have been staged recently.”Related

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The eight-team, 31-match tournament is slated to be played at Mount Maunganui, Dunedin, Wellington, Auckland, Hamilton and Christchurch. Though domestic and bilateral international cricket in the country is now set to be played behind closed doors, the Women’s ODI World Cup organising committee is keeping “all options open” for fans.New Zealand moved into the ‘red’ setting of a traffic-light system late on Sunday after cases emerged on both North and South Island. Though the measures introduced in its wake don’t amount to a lockdown, there is a limit of 100 vaccinated people at any event. The country’s border arrangements require all overseas arrivals to stay in the government’s Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) facilities for a mandatory ten days, with the World Cup teams all having had their stints approved before a recent pause to the system. India, who arrived in New Zealand on January 26, became the first participating team at the World Cup to enter the MIQ.The Women’s World Cup was originally scheduled for February-March 2021, but was pushed back by a year•International Cricket Council

“In terms of the delivery of the event for the players, it has not brought about any changes because we had been planning alongside the ICC for the safest possible tournament,” Nelson added. “So there are no significant changes to the way we deliver it for the players. Predominantly, the changes are related to the spectators inside the stadium.”New Zealand has moved to a traffic-light system… And broadly speaking, that puts at the moment attendance [which] can be only in groups of 100. So the work we’re undertaking at the moment is how many groups of 100 can we fit within each stadium. And we’re working through a bit of detail on all that … But really, the message is: we set out to kind of create a fantastic platform for these athletes to perform on, and we remain fully committed to doing that.”The Women’s ODI World Cup was originally scheduled for February-March 2021, but was pushed back a year owing to the pandemic. Asked if she deemed any circumstances at present for the tournament to be postponed a second time, Nelson said all plans were on track: “The first team is on the ground already. The next team arrives next week. Plans have well advanced. There’s no information [on a potential postponement] we have at the moment.”On Thursday, the NZC made several changes concerning venues for its upcoming international season to reduce risks of exposure to the Omicron variant. All of India Women’s six limited-overs matches were moved to the John Davies Oval in Queenstown. Earlier, McLean Park in Napier was to hold the one-off T20I and the opening ODI, the Saxton Oval in Nelson was slated to stage the second and third ODIs on February 14 and 16, and the final two ODIs were to be played in Queenstown on February 22 and 24.South Africa men’s upcoming visit for two Tests was also limited to Christchurch after they were originally scheduled to play one Test there and the other in Wellington. All three men’s T20Is against Australia will now be restricted to Napier, and Netherlands’ visit for a men’s white-ball tour will be split between Mount Maunganui, which will be hosting the one-off T20I and an ODI, and Hamilton, where the remaining two ODIs will be played.

India head coach Rahul Dravid has said the team management will have conversations with Rishabh Pant over his shot selection, even as they continue backing his natural aggression with the bat. Pant was out for a duck in India’s second innings in Johannesburg, edging Kagiso Rabada behind after charging out of his crease.”We know Rishabh plays positively and he plays in a particular manner and that has got him a little bit of success,” Dravid said in his post-match press conference. “But yeah, of course there are times when we’re going to have some level of conversations with him around, just a little bit of maybe just selection of the time to play that [shot].”No one’s ever going to tell Rishabh not to be a positive player, not to be an aggressive player, but sometimes it’s just a question of picking and choosing the time to do that. I think when you just come in, maybe giving yourself a bit more time might be a little bit more advisable, but look, in the end we know what we’re getting with Rishabh – he is a really positive player, he’s someone who can change the course of a game very quickly for us, so you naturally won’t take that away from him and ask him to become something very different. Sometimes it’s just about figuring out what is the right time to maybe attack or maybe play out a slightly difficult period that sets the game up for you or sets the innings up.”He’s learning. He plays in a particular way, so it’s always something that he’s going to keep learning, he’s going to keep improving and keep getting better.”Related

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On a challenging pitch characterised by uneven bounce, India were neck-and-neck with South Africa for three-fourths of the Test match before the hosts pulled away in a fourth-innings chase of 240, their captain Dean Elgar steering them home with an unbeaten 96. Dravid felt the result could have gone differently had India put up a bigger first-innings total after winning the toss.”It’s been challenging wickets for both the teams,” he said. “This fourth innings was probably their best innings as well. The wickets have been a little challenging, I will give that to the batsmen, but yes, honestly we pride ourselves on wanting to do better and wanting to get better, so yes, as a batting unit we can certainly look to maybe seize a few key moments and when we get those partnerships, maybe make them a little bit longer.2:54

Cullinan: ‘I thought India’s batters were too loose’

“There could have been phases in the first innings where it was challenging, the ball was tending to kick up a little bit, but we could have probably got maybe 60-70 runs more, it probably could have made a significant difference in this game.”So yes, certainly we would like to bat a little bit better, maybe some of the guys who got starts could have converted those into, say, hundreds. That was a difference in the first game – we had [KL] Rahul who went on to get a hundred for us and we ended up on the winning side. Second game, they had someone who ended up on 96 at the end of the game and they ended up on the winning side, so it really shows you the importance of, on these kinds of wickets especially, one of your batsmen going on and making a big score.”It’s not easy batting conditions, so if one of your batsmen who gets set can go on and make a significant score, that certainly adds those 60-70 runs to the total, which sometimes prove to be the difference in the end.”‘We had their backs’ – Rahul on Pujara-RahaneIndia’s captain for the Test match, KL Rahul, also felt his team had fallen 60 to 70 short in that first innings.”I think if I have to be really harsh, it’s the first innings, after winning the toss we could have put 60 or 70 more on the board and gone in [to the second innings] with 50-60 lead,” Rahul said at the post-match presentation. “That would have been really crucial for us in the second innings.”Apart from Rahul, no batter managed to get to 50 in that innings, with the second-best score coming from No. 7, R Ashwin, who hit a counterattacking 46 to lift the side to 202. That was to remain the lowest innings total of the match.Dean Elgar solidly carried South Africa past KL Rahul’s India•AFP via Getty Images

India had a wobble the second time around too, going from 155 for 2 to 184 for 6, before Shardul Thakur hit a vital cameo to follow up bowling figures of 7 for 61, the best Test figures for an India bowler against South Africa.Rahul was all praise for Thakur. “Shardul has had a great Test match. In the few Test matches he’s played, he’s really created that sort of impact and won us games. Really happy with the way he’s bowled and with the contribution that he had with the bat as well, it was really crucial for us and gave us a change to win the Test.”Before Thakur, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane did the bulk of the work in India’s second innings, hitting brisk half-centuries in a stand of 111 for the third wicket. The partnership came at a time when the pair’s places in the side were potentially under pressure, with both batters having endured extended periods of poor form.The team’s official stance, however, has always been to back both batters publicly, and Rahul maintained that stance.”They’ve been great players for us, they’ve done the job for the team over the years. They’ve obviously been under the pump a little bit but in the team we really believe Pujara and Ajinkya are our best middle-order batsmen and they prove that time and again,” he said. “So we really had their backs and to go out there and put up a performance like that it really shows the mindset they are in and the fighters they are. We always knew they could do something like that. Hopefully that gives them a lot of confidence and they can do out in the next game and put in an even better performance.”

With 82 ODI wickets in 48 matches, he stands a chance to be the fastest New Zealander to 100 ODI scalps, but it is possible Mitchell McClenaghan may not even take a shot. His request to be released from a central contract to pursue a future in overseas T20 leagues has been accepted by New Zealand Cricket. This was almost a formality after McClenaghan had been picked up by Durban Qalandars in the new Global T20 league in South Africa. McClenaghan expects to play in the Big Bash League, which begins three days after the South African league ends on December 16.While McClenaghan, 31, stays eligible for selection for New Zealand whenever available in the future, it is hard to envisage a time when he won’t be busy playing in the T20 leagues. He has been an integral part of Mumbai Indians in the IPL, St Lucia Stars in the CPL and Middlesex in county cricket. Add two more leagues to his commitments, and the only time he might have left to play for New Zealand is in world events. A precedent of such a return is Daniel Vettori’s participation in the 2015 World Cup.Lockie Ferguson picked up the contract vacated by McClenaghan. New Zealand, top-ranked in T20Is and on No. 5 in ODIs, have a big limited-overs home summer lined up with Test series being cut to two each to make space for more limited-overs cricket. New Zealand are supposed to play 13 bilateral ODIs, six bilateral T20 internationals and a triangular series of T20Is with Australia and England. They will play only four Tests.”Some new playing opportunities have arisen in the past few weeks, which mean my circumstances have changed,” McClenaghan said. “I’m very grateful for the respect, understanding and goodwill which has underpinned my request to be released from my NZC contract. I’ve worked closely with NZC throughout the process, while also making it clear I still harbour ambitions of playing for New Zealand in the future.”The general manager of NZC High Performance, Bryan Stronach, suggested more releases are not unimaginable. “We have to recognise that, as the T20 game matures, specialists will want to explore the different opportunities that become available – and I think Mitch’s case is symptomatic of that,” Stronach said. “This agreement has been reached amicably and mutually; all parties understand the change in Mitch’s circumstances, and he is released from his contract with our best wishes.”Unable to match the offers made by the global leagues, NZC remains flexible in its contracts when a player wants to choose leagues over international cricket. It means McClenaghan could have stuck with his national contract and obtained no-objection certificates whenever he wanted to play in other leagues, but that would mean being available for New Zealand in every small break between his leagues commitment.

Batsmen Nadia Gruny and Shebani Bhaskar anchor a USA batting unit ready to resume international competition for the first time in more than five years after they were named in a 14-player squad for the ICC Europe T20 Qualifier this August. The squad was picked after the conclusion of a series of trials held in Indianapolis from June 9-11, organized by ICC Americas staff, as they continue to oversee USA’s cricket operations while the USA Cricket Association is under suspension.Gruny was USA’s leading scorer at their last international competition in 2012 when they finished runner-up to Canada by virtue of the net-run-rate tiebreaker at that year’s ICC Americas T20 Championship in the Cayman Islands. Gruny, 33, most recently captained a USA Women’s XI last September in Philadelphia against a touring MCC Women’s side featuring former England players Charlotte Edwards and Claire Taylor.Bhaskar was also part of the USA Women’s XI that played against the MCC in Philadelphia, though this will be her first time playing for USA since the 2011 Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Bangladesh. Only 17-years-old at the time, Bhaskar was USA’s leading scorer at that event with 139 runs in six matches, including a top-score of 72 for USA’s only victory, a one-run win over Zimbabwe in which Bhaskar’s direct hit from cover resulted in the game-ending wicket.

USA Women’s T20 squad

Neha Anand, Candacy Atkins, Claudine Beckford, Shebani Bhaskar (wk), Sugetha Chandhrasekar, Nadia Gruny, Uzma Iftikhar, Triholder Marshall, Samantha Ramautar, Akshatha Rao, Erica Rendler, Sindhuja Salguti, Sindhu Sriharsha (wk), Onika Wallerson

The other big name to return for USA is former West Indies Test player Candacy Atkins. The 33-year-old starred for USA in the buildup to the 2011 Women’s World Cup Qualifier but ultimately boycotted the team’s participation, along with several of her team-mates, for what they claimed was discriminatory treatment from the USA Cricket Association by way of tour stipends that were far less than those provided to men’s touring squads. However, Atkins came back to captain USA less than six months later at the 2012 ICC Americas Women’s tournament.One other player with international pedigree, but still relatively new to the squad is former India A and India U-21 batsman Sindhu Sriharsha. The opener played for a USA team captained by Gruny against Pakistan in a two-match bilateral series in November 2015 held in Florida.Of the five players yet to play a full-fledged international for USA, three of them – Sindhuja Salguti, Sugetha Chandhrasekar and Onika Wallerson – played as part of the USA XI that took on the MCC Women last year. Wallerson formerly represented Guyana in the West Indies domestic women’s competition before migrating to the USA. The other two, Neha Anand and Uzma Iftikhar, have a chance to play for USA for the first time against any competition.USA will face Netherlands and Scotland in the double-round robin Europe T20 Qualifier scheduled to be held in Scotland from August 14-19. The ICC announced last year that USA would be given a wildcard entry to the tournament since there is no Americas qualifier. The top two teams will advance to the global qualifier for a chance to go to the 2018 Women’s World T20 in the West Indies.

ScorecardPaul Horton scored a half-century as Leicestershire batted on•Getty Images

Derbyshire ended a run of three consecutive defeats in the County Championship as their Division Two match against Leicestershire at Derby ended in a tame draw.Leicestershire batted on in their second innings for 57 overs before declaring on 217 for 3, which included half centuries for openers Paul Horton and Harry Dearden. A target of 304 in 33 overs was never realistic and the inevitable draw was agreed with Derbyshire 42 without loss from 10 overs.There was always a chance the game would end in stalemate on such a lifeless pitch but the day began promisingly for Leicestershire, who took the last two Derbyshire wickets in 11 balls. Clint McKay struck with the third delivery of the day, which moved away just enough to take the edge of Rob Hemmings bat, and Tony Palladino gloved a pull to give Zak Chappell his fourth wicket.A lead of 86 was increased to 183 at lunch by Horton and Dearden, although Horton was given a life on 8 when he was dropped at first slip by Wayne Madsen off Tom Taylor.Horton completed his first fifty of the season before he was caught behind off Taylor and Dearden fell to a stunning piece of fielding by Billy Godleman, who threw the ball up at long-on to avoid taking it over the rope before completing the catch.He took a more straightforward one to dismiss Mark Cosgrove and give Jeevan Mendis his eighth wicket in the game but the Sri Lankan’s match figures of 8 for 283 were the most expensive in Derbyshire’s history.The game almost ground to a halt after Cosgrove’s departure with Colin Ackermann and Ned Eckersley scoring only 43 runs in 13 overs while Derbyshire slowed down the over rate.Leicestershire finally declared three overs after tea leaving Derbyshire to score at more than nine an over to pull off what would have been an astonishing victory and the players shook hands with 23 overs still to bowl.

England have suffered a blow ahead of the Women’s World Cup with the news that their captain, Heather Knight, has suffered a stress fracture in her left foot and is expected to be out for five-to-six weeks.Knight should be fit to return for the tournament, which starts in seven weeks’ time on June 24 with England playing India, but the injury could hamper her preparations. She will wear a protective boot for the first stage of her recovery, before returning to light training, with a goal of being ready for England’s World Cup warm-up match against Sri Lanka on June 19.England have been focused on this tournament since Knight was appointed as Charlotte Edwards’ replacement at the start of last summer. Speaking at the unveiling of England’s new kit on Tuesday, she was excited about the challenge of trying to win a global trophy for the first time since the 2009 Women’s World T20.”It’s been a long time coming, but it’s going to come round pretty quick now, and what a summer it’s hopefully going to be,” Knight said. “There’s nothing better than a home World Cup and being able to captain in it, so as a team we are pretty excited.”Knight and the coach, Mark Robinson, have enjoyed a successful 12 months working together, with four limited-overs series wins from four, and England will go into the Women’s World Cup ranked as the No. 2 ODI side in the world, behind reigning champions, Australia.However, England’s recent record in global tournaments has not been impressive, despite the advent of professionalism in 2014, and Robinson has suggested they still have improvements to make. The injury to Knight – whose all-round importance is emphasised by her averaging 38.75 with the bat and 19.00 with the ball as captain – is particularly unwelcome ahead of a competition she believes will be the “most scrutinised ever” for the women’s game.Heather Knight has led England to four series wins from four since being appointed captain•Getty Images

“It’s a massive opportunity for women’s cricket to put the sport out there and show how far the game’s come, and I think it’s going to be the most publicised and scrutinised World Cup ever,” she said. “As a team we are in a good place for that. It’s going to be slightly alien I think, the things we’ll come across, but we’ve worked hard in the last year to be ready for that added pressure and expectation, [and] that’s a good thing for our sport.”A positive for England in recent days has been the return to action of wicketkeeper-batsman Sarah Taylor, after almost a year away from the game, and Knight was encouraged by her progress and potential World Cup availability.”She’s done massively well to make that trip to Abu Dhabi and was involved in a lot more than we thought she would be. Seeing her back on a cricket pitch was really brilliant. She would still walk into any team in the world and we’d love to have her. She’s taking it one step at a time. The signs are positive, and we’ll see how it goes leading up to the World Cup”It’s brilliant that it is becoming easier to talk about [mental health], it’s made it a lot easier for a number of people. To see Sarah addressing those issues is good to see, it puts cricket in perspective a little bit. Mental health, and health in general, is a lot more important.”