All posts by n8rngtd.top

It is dangerous to judge a Test pitch two days before the match starts, but the Dunedin surface had certainly caught the attention of the South Africans on Monday

Firdose Moonda in Dunedin06-Mar-20172:54

Moonda: Playing Morkel a gamble

It is dangerous to judge a Test pitch two days before the match starts, but the Dunedin surface had certainly caught the attention of the South Africans on Monday. The pitch looked “juicy” in the words of Dean Elgar, so much so that the self-confessed pie-chucker joked it “looks like I might have to bowl off a long run-up as well”, and the sky was heavy with moisture.But the visitors will be wary of allowing those visual cues to have too much of an influence on their selection because, as hometown man Neil Wagner warned, looks are deceiving in Dunedin.”It’s one of those wickets where it doesn’t always assist the fast bowlers. You’ve just got to show a bit of patience and sort of know the area to bowl,” he said. “When you put it there consistently for long periods of time, sometimes it’s just longer than other grounds, there’s always a bit of reward for you.”The ideal length is fuller than Wagner and most of the South Africa attack’s default of short, but it is the length that comes most naturally to Vernon Philander which is why he will lead the bowling effort. “I’m glad he’s on my side and I don’t have to face him with the new ball. That’s a blessing. He’s going to be a massive asset,” Elgar said. “His length will suit New Zealand conditions especially with the overhead and a bit of rain around.”The forecast for the first three days of the Test is fine, but with rain moving in over the weekend. Again, Wagner had some advice, this time about being about over-reliant on movement. “Sometimes it looks like it should swing – if it’s cold it doesn’t – and other times when you think it wouldn’t swing it does swing. That’s the beauty of this ground.”So South Africa will also want something else from their bowlers, something different, maybe some extra effort to generate some bounce and in that department two candidates stand out: Morne Morkel and Duanne Olivier. They are both tall, aggressive and capable of finding reverse swing which could confine Chris Morris and Wayne Parnell to the bench for now. There is probably a temptation to play both Morkel and Olivier but with South Africa unlikely to go into the game without their sole specialist spinner Keshav Maharaj, it is more likely the pair are competing for one spot.Duanne Olivier may move down the pecking order with Morne Morkel fit again•Gallo Images

Olivier comfortably topped the first-class wicket charts this season and made an impressive debut against Sri Lanka at the Wanderers. That should give him a good chance of retaining his place, especially as Morkel has not played a Test in more than a year and has only played two List A games back in South Africa after recovering from his back injury, but the early indications are that Morkel’s experience will win out over Olivier’s potential.”I think Morne’s very hungry. The last five months he’s had a lot of time to think about his game and do a lot of rehab and try and get his injury correct. He’s raring to go and he wants to play for South Africa again,” Elgar said. “He’s another bowler I don’t have to face too much. I just have to face him in the nets. It’s only seven minutes of your day, luckily.”Elgar also does not look forward to fronting up to Morkel for another reason as well, which has nothing to do with the 70 Test caps Morkel has over Olivier. “He has that knack against left-handers with his skill,” Elgar said.The three batsmen Morkel has dismissed most in Test cricket – Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss and Michael Hussey – are all left-handed. New Zealand have six left-handers in their squad, including their two openers, Tom Latham and Jeet Raval, and their No.5 Henry Nicholls. If South Africa are searching for a psychological advantage that could be it and Olivier may have to wait his turn, although South Africa are not revealing their hand just yet.Olivier, not Morkel, was tasked with media duties on Monday, which is usually the domain of those in the starting XI, but he seemed to accept that he knows he is in a queue. “If I play it will be a great opportunity. If I don’t of course I understand,” he said.But he also gave the selectors one more hint that he should be their preferred choice at a venue that demands discipline from bowlers, similar to that of the Bloemfontein pitch where Olivier has spent most of his career. “Back home there are certain grounds where you need to bowl fuller as well and I’m confident doing that,” he said. “I’ve spoken to Marchant de Lange at my franchise, who has also been here on a tour and he told me to try and bowl a fuller length because if you don’t is sits up and it’s easy to score.”

Fast bowler to visit specialist in London after limited role for Lancashire this season

Matt Roller23-Jun-2023Saqib Mahmood will visit a specialist in London next week amid concerns that a stress reaction in his back could rule him out for the rest of the English summer.Mahmood, who has played for England in all three international formats, has only played five games for Lancashire this season, two in the County Championship and three in the T20 Blast.He has not played at all in the last month due to injury and ESPNcricinfo understands there is concern that he could miss the rest of the season, including Lancashire’s Blast and Championship campaigns and the Hundred, where he is under contract with Oval Invincibles.Lancashire anticipate that his consultation at the start of next week will provide a clearer indication on the exact nature of his injury and the timeframe for a potential return. The club declined to comment when contacted.Related

• Saqib Mahmood suffers recurrence of back stress fracture

• All-round Mousley drives Bears into Blast quarter-finals

• Saqib Mahmood ruled out of season with back stress fracture

• Saqib Mahmood marks injury comeback with three wickets in Lions win

• Saqib Mahmood happy to be back in the dirt after year of hurt

Another injury would be a cruel blow for Mahmood, who missed all but one game of the 2022 season with a lower-back stress fracture which was diagnosed weeks after he made his Test debut for England in the Caribbean.He made his competitive comeback for England Lions in Sri Lanka earlier this year, and was then part of the ODI squad on England’s tour to Bangladesh, returning figures of 0 for 41 from his nine overs in his only appearance.There is some positive injury news for Lancashire, with Richard Gleeson included in a matchday squad for the first time this season after a wrist injury ahead of Friday night’s fixture against Derbyshire. Steven Croft also returns following a calf injury.Lancashire sit fourth in the North Group of the Blast as the preliminary stages approach their climax, with a game in hand on third-placed Nottinghamshire. All three of their remaining fixtures are at Emirates Old Trafford, where they have a 100% record this season.

Nic Maddinson, who will cruelly miss the showdown with New South Wales, is another who has blossomed under coach Andrew McDonald

Alex Malcolm26-Mar-2019The debate over whether a team of individuals would be more successful than a uniform team is age-old. But as Victoria set themselves to host the Sheffield Shield final, and potentially win a second title for the season, their formula of allowing individuals to prepare themselves and express themselves is holding sway in the debate.No two players embody that better than Marcus Harris and Nic Maddinson.Harris enters as one of the headline acts. He became the first man in four Shield seasons to pass the much-vaunted 1000-run mark last week, just hours before Tasmania captain Matthew Wade matched him.Maddinson’s absence from the final through injury is an injustice. A broken thumb will keep him out of a game he richly deserves to play in. But his three centuries in just five games for his new state were pivotal in helping Victoria finish top of the table and host the final against his former state New South Wales.Yet, it wasn’t long ago both men were in very different places. The pair played in the same Shield final in 2014, when New South Wales hosted Western Australia in Canberra, and contributed just 14 runs between them for the match for their respective states.

2018-19 State Cricket Award winners

Sheffield Shield Player of the Year: Scott Boland (VIC)
Men’s Spirit of Cricket Award: Tasmania
Women’s Spirit of Cricket Award: Tasmania
CA Umpire Award: Paul Wilson
Taverners Australia Indigenous Cricketer of the Year: Scott Boland (VIC)

Harris left WA in the winter of 2016, leaving Justin Langer to famously, and as both acknowledge, accurately state, “he was mediocre with flashes of brilliance.” He has now become the most consistent opener in Australian domestic cricket and a Test match player.Maddinson was let go by New South Wales at the end of last season. Although he won’t play this week, his career-best form in red-ball cricket for Victoria has ensured the Blues have to become just the fifth team in history to win a Shield final away from home.Harris feels that Maddinson has benefitted from a change of environment in the same way he did.”It sort of feels a bit similar to what I did coming over from WA,” Harris said.  “Just when you come somewhere different, and a new experience somewhere different it frees you up a little bit. You can just tell by the way that he plays and Maddo’s personality and the way that he bats, I think being free and expressing himself, I think everyone has seen how good he can be. I think he might have unlocked that a little bit by coming down here. People just let him do his own thing and that’s probably shown in his cricket.”Harris gives great credit to his coach Andrew McDonald, who has created an environment that allows for such freedom.”I think just how he understands all the players and gives us the freedom to play how we want to play and express ourselves,” Harris said. “He understands the battles of cricket and how everything works. And he’s a great tactician. He works really hard behind the scenes. People probably wouldn’t realise but he looks back through all the games and he plans pretty well.”Harris has been one of McDonald’s shining lights. The sheer consistency and volume of runs he has scored has been testament to that. But McDonald does not wish to take much of the credit for Harris’ outstanding 1000-run seasonm saying the timing of his move from Western Australia made for the perfect marriage.”He was starting [already] to mature,” McDonald told ESPNcricinfo.  “He had 40-odd Shield games before he had ventured across. That’s a lot of learning that’s gone on over in the West.”Our environment gives guys space. I think he’s enjoyed that extra space to go about his work and potentially not to be told what to do or intervened too often around what he does. I think he’s been a nice fit for the group. I think one thing to take into consideration is that he’s been just as good for our group as what we’ve been to him.”McDonald’s philosophy, in conjunction with his assistant coaches, is based around putting the responsibility in the hands of the players themselves.”Sometimes when you break that chain of learning down and you intervene too quickly as a coach you stall the individual’s ability to problem solve themselves,” McDonald said. “And that’s one of the great things that we always talk about is the ability for players to problem solve in the middle on their own under extreme pressure. We try to coach that way. We don’t want to try and break that opportunity down for the player too soon.”We do like to give the players space and the ability to go away and think about it and problem solve themselves and come back and share some ideas and share some options with each other as opposed to really thinking as a coach that we know best.”Harris credits a discussion about goal-setting and execution with Australian Olympic 400 metre champion Cathy Freeman during the pre-season as a clarifying moment of self-discovery and maturity for his game. Harris sought Freeman’s help completely independent of the Victoria programme.Likewise, Maddinson spoke glowingly of the fact he was not being “micromanaged” in Victoria immediately after scoring a century against Queensland, having been allowed to get away from training for a few days in the lead-up following a lean BBL campaign.”We’d never had him coming out of a Big Bash campaign coming into a Shield game,” McDonald said.  “He said I wouldn’t mind some time away. We said no problems, we think that’s a good thing. He had limited hits leading into that Shield game. He knew that’s what he needed and he got the reward for that as well. And that’s sometimes the conversation the coach needs to have with the player. It’s not one size fits all and Maddo was given time away while some of the group wanted some time in the nets and needed that as part of their preparation.”Cutting through all of it, I think it’s that individual approach to each player I think that may have helped Maddo and Marcus.”McDonald was at pains to point out that both men had come to Victoria with years of first-class experience under their belts, almost ready to mature and ripen after the learning foundations had been put in place. However, Victoria’s results speak for themselves. This will be their fourth Shield final in five years with an ever-changing squad.”It’s validation that it’s working for this group,” McDonald said.  “That’s not to say that it will work for another group or at a different point in time, and the group may evolve. But at the moment we feel as though if we can continue to manage players with that individual mindset and prepare them individually the best we can and then collectively come together for the game, then everyone is prepared and everyone knows where we’re heading and hopefully the results take care of themselves. And touch wood we hope that unfolds during the week ahead.”

Five needed from six with three wickets in hand. Easy? Not on the night. It was high drama as Super Giants scraped through against Royal Challengers

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Apr-2023A high-scoring match lit up by a 15-ball half-century from Nicholas Pooran came down to the final over with Lucknow Super Giants needing five runs to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore, with three wickets in hand. There was already drama in the air, with Ayush Badoni dismissed hit-wicket – his bat hitting the stumps after he had one-hand-scooped a six – and Royal Challengers incurring an over-rate penalty that meant they’d only be allowed four fielders outside the 30-yard circle. A highly eventful final over followed, with Harshal Patel coming within inches of winning the match for Royal Challengers before Super Giants prevailed by one wicket, the fourth time the IPL had witnessed that victory margin. Here’s how it unfolded:19.1: Harshal to Unadkat, 1 run
Yorker on off but Unadkat gets it out to mid-off.19.2: Harshal to Wood, OUT
Harshal castles Wood! It’s that dipping slower ball and it has done Wood in! Crashes into middle-stump!
Mark Wood b Patel 1 (2b 0x4 0x6 6m) SR: 5019.3: Harshal to Ravi Bishnoi, 2 runs
Full outside off, Bishnoi digs it out through point and they get two! He found the gap and they ran hard for their lives!
Harshal also becomes the 16th Indian bowler to get 100 IPL wickets.
Ravi Bishnoi is the new batter, by the way.19.4: Harshal to Ravi Bishnoi, 1 run
Banged in short and Bishnoi pulls it to deep square and now LSG need 1 off two deliveries. Scores are level!19.5: Harshal to Unadkat, OUT
Holes out at long-on! Banged in short and Unadkat went for the pull. Picks up Faf du Plessis, who takes it reverse-cupped before switching it to a more normal hold.
Jaydev Unadkat c du Plessis b Patel 9 (7b 1×4 0x6 19m) SR: 128.57Here’s Ashish from the ground – It’s gone absolutely crazy the moment Faf took the catch. He bobbled, but hung on. LSG surely the more nervous team at the moment. The roof has gone off at the M Chinnaswamy.What has happened here?! Harshal looks to run out the non-striker! But he misses and then has a throw at the stumps but it won’t count! Because you can’t throw after attempting to run the non-striker out. Harshal will bowl again!One needed off one. One wicket left. Will LSG win? Or will we have a Super Over? Harshal Patel to Avesh Khan. BRING IT ON!19.6: Harshal to Avesh Khan, 1 bye
Harshal beats Avesh but he sets off for the run. DK fumbles! And they get the single away! LSG win amid high drama! Karthik didn’t collect cleanly and Bishnoi was already halfway down after throwing his bat while setting off only. The fumble means Avesh got through to the other end. Avesh throws his helmet as the celebrations begin.

Mohammed Siraj has lost his place to Arshdeep Singh in India’s 15-man squad

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jan-20256:08

Rohit: We have all bases covered in the spin attack

Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav have been named in India’s provisional 15-man squad for the Champions Trophy, which begins on February 19. The same squad will take on England in three ODIs in early February, with Harshit Rana coming into the set-up as back-up for Bumrah, who may not be ready for the first two matches of the bilateral series.There were injury concerns over both Bumrah and Kuldeep ahead of the selection on Saturday, with Kuldeep not having played any competitive cricket since his hernia surgery in November, while Bumrah had suffered a stress-related injury during the fifth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Kuldeep has been building up his bowling load at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru and is understood to be bowling 10-12 overs at a go.The 15-man squad will be led by Rohit Sharma, with Shubman Gill as his vice-captain, and also includes Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was picked for the first time in ODIs. He is likely to be the reserve opener for the Champions Trophy.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

With Virat Kohli the No. 3, the middle order has the same look as the squad for the 2023 ODI World Cup with Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul retaining their spots, along with allrounders Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. Apart from Rahul, Rishabh Pant is the other wicketkeeper in the 15, preferred ahead of Sanju Samson who did not take part in the recent Vijay Hazare Trophy. Washington Sundar is the fourth allrounder in the squad, which includes only four specialist bowlers.Mohammed Shami, who was recently named in the T20I squad for the upcoming home series against England following a long injury layoff, was also named in the Champions Trophy squad. He last played international cricket at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where he was the tournament’s highest wicket-taker with 24 wickets.Related

• India's CT25 squad takeaways: Future focus on Gill, Siraj left to wait and watch

• Rohit on BCCI making domestic cricket mandatory: 'You hardly have any time'

• Bumrah to test Champions Trophy fitness by playing third ODI against England

• Cummins, Hazlewood included for Champions Trophy

• Back injury rules Nortje out of Champions Trophy

Mohammed Siraj did not find a place in the 15, with the left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh earning a spot after finishing as the highest wicket-taker in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and impressive performances in international cricket – he was the top wicket-taker in India’s ODI series in South Africa in 2023.The final squad for the Champions Trophy must be submitted to the ICC by February 11.India play three bilateral ODIs against England on February 6, 9 and 12 – their first 50-over games since the tour of Sri Lanka in August last year – before the Champions Trophy. India are in Group A in the Champions Trophy and begin their campaign against Bangladesh on February 20, after which they play Pakistan on February 23, and New Zealand on March 2. India play all their matches in Dubai because their government refused to let the team travel to Pakistan.

India squad for Champions Trophy 2025

Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill (vice-capt), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja

The Australia captain stepped away from the game in August but is motivated by what’s ahead

Andrew McGlashan15-Jan-20232:17

Lanning: ‘Learned a lot over the last six months, but now I’m ready to get back’

Meg Lanning’s break from the game gave her a chance to feel normal and while she isn’t putting a time frame on how long her career may continue as she returns to international cricket she is motivated by what she can still achieve in the game.Lanning stepped away after Australia’s Commonwealth Games gold medal victory in August which completed a Grand Slam of triumphs alongside the Ashes and ODI World Cup, to go with the 2020 T20 World Cup.She spent time traveling and also worked in a café “making coffee and washing dishes” before returning to action for Victoria earlier this month ahead of the series against Pakistan which begins in Brisbane on Monday and leads into the T20 World Cup in South Africa.”Initially I wasn’t too sure how it was going to pan out,” she said. “I just wanted to switch off from cricket, get away a little bit, give myself a bit of time to think and work out where I wanted to be.Related

• Litchfield and Lanning lead Australia to comfortable win

• Clark praises 'brave' Lanning as Australia captain returns

• Wareham returns for Australia's T20 World Cup campaign

• Jonassen's emotion at Lanning's comeback message

“Became pretty clear that I still wanted to play cricket and loved the game, just needed some time to be able to feel normal, have a bit less structure around what I was doing. Having done that, I feel really refreshed and ready to go.”I feel like I’ve got a lot left in the game, both from an individual point of view and with the team. I’m not sure what the future holds but would certainly love to keep playing as long as I can.”Getting away from the highly organised and routine-driven nature of professional sport was key for Lanning, who took the Australian captaincy at just 21, and she savoured the very different tempo of serving lattes and flat whites.”Gave me a bit of different perspective on things,” she said. “Just going in and not knowing what the day will look like – could be busy, could be quiet – and having different conversations with the customers, actually found that really cool. Having that little bit of freedom, a little less structure, going with the flow a little more, not getting too worried about things. Working at the café allowed me to do that and had a lot of fun.”She said that the T20 World Cup title defence had not been a specific target for a return but once she confirmed to herself late last year that she wanted to continuing playing – and captaining – it became her focus. She made 29 and 61 in two WNCL for Victoria and now has three ODIs and three T20Is through the rest of this month.”I came to the conclusion over a bit of time, but guess there was a moment a few months back where [playing on] was definitely something I want to doing,” she said. “I love the game, have done as long as I’ve been playing, and there’s a fair bit is still want to archive. Once I came to that conclusion I started to work towards where I might come back and what that might look like. The break was certainly something I needed.”Lanning added she had been given a lot of support from various people during her time away from the game and admitted she had been a “pretty guarded” person through much of her career but emphasised that everyone’s situation is different.”I’ve certainly learned a lot over the past six months…talking to people and how much that can help work through what you might be thinking about,” she said. “You never know what people are going through behind the scenes, that’s something that’s important to recognise. Everyone deals with things in different ways.”I never thought I’d take a break a game, it wasn’t something I anticipated would happen, I was just playing and really loving the game and it’s always what I’ve done. But it’s confirmed to me that I do love playing the game, it’s brought me a lot of joy over the years. It’s listening to what your feelings are and going with what you feel is best.”Moving forward hopefully it’s something I can continue to do, I certainly don’t have everything worked out, but am committed to seeing what happens and learning along the way.”

As the playoff competition intensifies at the top of the table, there’s going to be a race at the bottom too – between Kings XI Punjab and Rising Pune Supergiants, for who will not finish last

The Preview by Vishal Dikshit20-May-2016

Match facts

Saturday, May 21, 2016
Start time 1600 local (1030 GMT)

Big Picture

As the race for the playoffs intensifies, there’s going to be a race at the bottom of the table too – for who will not finish last. Kings XI Punjab and Rising Pune Supergaints will kick off the weekend double-bonanza with their last games of the season. Both sides’ journeys have had several similarities, but there was contrast in their respective previous matches.Supergiants created a cavity in Delhi Daredevils’ chances of qualifying with a 19-run win in a rain-hit match. Ashok Dinda’s swing fetched him three wickets in a frugal spell, Adam Zampa and R Ashwin found substantial turn, and Ajinkya Rahane scored at the top, as usual. Supergiants handed an IPL debut to Deepak Chahar, and might consider giving chances to their other unused players – Ishwar Pandey, B Aparajith and Ankush Bains.Going by form, Kings XI appear weaker, and their confidence would have been dented further after being pummelled by Royal Challengers Bangalore. Kings XI’s batsmen were never the incisors of their jaw and they were blunted further by almost being bowled out in a 15-over match. Bowling had been their core competence and that too took a beating in their previous two matches. Kings XI will now need more than a root canal to rise from the bottom.Apart from pride and the two points to play for, both teams can bring out their fearless and unrestrained games to ensure they don’t finish last.

Form guide

Rising Pune Supergiants WLLLW (last five matches, most recent first)
Kings XI Punjab LLWLW

In the spotlight

Adam Zampa, in his first IPL season, has chewed his way to the top 15 wicket-takers’ list despite having played just four matches. He has extracted turn, flighted the ball and hasn’t given batsmen much room. He also has the only five-for of the season; his best of 6 for 19 coming against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Zampa has 11 wickets in all at an economy rate of 6.38, and has struck every seven balls. He could prove to be dangerous against Kings XI too, who have only one frontline left-handed batsman – David Miller.Hashim Amla has batted five times in IPL 2016, but has only one substantial score. Even that 56-ball 96 was eclipsed by a solid show by the Sunrisers Hyderabad batsmen in Mohali, only five days ago. With an in-form M Vijay as his opening partner, Amla would want to end his first IPL sojourn with another strong show before heading to the West Indies for a tri-series.

Team news

After giving Chahar a chance in their previous match, Supergiants could draft in a few more of their inexperienced players, or even consider bringing back Peter Handscomb or Albie Morkel.Rising Pune Supergiants (probable): 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Saurabh Tiwary/B Aparajith, 4 George Bailey, 5 Thisara Perera, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Irfan Pathan/Rajat Bhatia, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Adam Zampa, 10 Ashok Dinda 11 RP Singh/Ishant Sharma/Ishwar PandeyAs if to give competition to Supergiants’ injury list, Kings XI recently bid goodbye to Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis, who are back in Australia. They could bring back Anureet Singh after KC Cariappa leaked 55 in three overs against Royal Challengers.Kings XI Punjab (probable): 1 M Vijay (capt), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 4 Farhaan Behardien, 5 Gurkeerat Singh, 6 David Miller, 7 Kyle Abbott, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Mohit Sharma 10 Sandeep Sharma, 11 Anureet Singh/KC Cariappa

Pitch and conditions

Cyclone Roanu, which is causing devastation in Sri Lanka, is hovering around the Bay of Bengal, not far from Visakhapatnam. Even though the sun is expected to come out on Saturday, rain interruptions cannot be ruled out.

Stats and trivia

• M Vijay is only the second Kings XI captain to hit three 50-plus scores in a season after Adam Gilchrist in 2011
• Adam Zampa’s bowling average of 7.54 is the best for any bowler to take at least 10 wickets in an IPL season

David Richardson, the ICC’s chief executive, has indicated that cricket’s governing body has come around to the idea of cricket becoming an Olympic sport

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Mar-20172:51

‘T20 is a natural fit in the Olympics’ – Sandusky

David Richardson, the ICC chief executive, has indicated that the governing body has come around to the idea of cricket becoming an Olympic sport, and that it is close to making a decision on whether to apply to the IOC for involvement in the 2024 Games.The question of cricket’s inclusion at the Olympics has long been fraught with difficulties but, speaking at the SportPro conference in London, Richardson reportedly gave his backing to the move, which would likely take the form of a T20 tournament featuring six to eight teams.”We need to make a decision by July this year so we can make an application in time for September, when, as I understand it, the IOC will consider new sports for 2024,” he said. “I think the majority of the members – and certainly myself – think the time is right and we’ve come to the conclusion that the overall benefit to the game in terms of globalising and growing it, outweigh any negatives, so I’m hoping.”The host city for the 2024 Olympics has yet to be determined, with only Los Angeles and Paris left in the running (Rome, which has withdrawn from the bidding process, had previously given its backing to cricket being played). Cricket has only featured at one previous Olympics, the 1900 Paris Games.”T20 is the ideal format and we’d say even better than rugby sevens as it’s actually one of the mainstream formats of cricket,” Richardson said. “Neither LA or Paris would be a disaster for us, in fact both would be opportunistic, especially the US option.”The BCCI has been seen as the major obstacle within the ICC. The ECB was previously opposed to the idea, fearing it would clash with the English season, but the new chairman, Colin Graves, signalled a change in stance after taking office in 2015. Making cricket part of the Olympic programme has been seen as a way to gain access to increased funding and help spread the game globally, with the MCC a consistently strong advocate.Richardson said the IOC had decreed the best players must be involved if cricket is to win inclusion – “They’ve told us we mustn’t send beach cricket or six-a-side teams, it must be a format played at international level and it must be our top players” – and mooted the possibility of regional qualifying tournaments to decide which countries get to take part at the Olympics. He also suggested that England would be able to compete as Great Britain and potentially select Scottish or Irish players.”From an ICC perspective, the fixture calendar is the most challenging part of it,” he said. “In the northern hemisphere, the Olympics are held in the English summer, so that’s a problem for them if they’ve got an Ashes series on. So there will be issues and England in the past have said ‘are we sure we want to go down this route?'”

West Indies not close to finalising the squad for the T20 World Cup, concedes head coach

Deivarayan Muthu08-Aug-2022West Indies are yet to figure out their team combination and preferred style of play for the upcoming T20 World Cup, their head coach Phil Simmons has admitted.Whether T20 stalwarts Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine will be available for that tournament or not is still unclear, while Evin Lewis, Fabian Allen and Sheldon Cottrell have all been left out of recent squads because of different reasons. Keemo Paul and Romario Shepherd were also unavailable for some games in the white-ball series against India because of injury.Related

• 'I know this was coming' – Russell responds to Simmons on non-availability for West Indies

• Phil Simmons: We can't beg people to play for West Indies

• Axar, Bishnoi and Kuldeep lead India to 4-1 series win

• Hardik 'more than happy' to take over full-time captaincy

• Obed McCoy ready to break his World Cup curse

West Indies’ team management, perhaps, missed a trick by not pairing up Akeal Hosein, the left-arm fingerspinner, with Hayden Walsh Jr, the legspinner, in the T20Is against India. In contrast, India played three spinners in the first T20I in Tarouba, and in the final game in Lauderhill, to take advantage of the slow, two-paced tracks. Off-spin-bowling allrounder Roston Chase, who was also West Indies’ anchor in the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE, has since dropped down the pecking order. And until the home series against India, Shimron Hetmyer was out of the squad on fitness grounds.The three-match T20I series against New Zealand, which begins with the first match in Kingston on August 11, will be West Indies’ last before they announce their squad for the T20 World Cup, for which they by competing against Zimbabwe, Scotland and Ireland in Group B in the first round.”It’s difficult,” Simmons said after West Indies suffered an 88-run drubbing in the final T20I against India. “But I think we have three more matches [against New Zealand]. After that we will sit down and make decisions as to who fits into the way we want to play.”I think the three matches will be important for a lot of players as well as some players who will be rested. But, in general, after that we will have to make a decision.”West Indies’ batting was particularly poor in Florida, where they were dismissed for 132 and 100 in the two T20Is. Simmons called for greater game awareness and application from his batters. I think the major lesson is that we gave away our wickets a little bit too cheaply,” he said. “And if we continue to bat [deep], we will be up there with the run rate, but we keep losing too many wickets and we’ve got to learn from this series.”The main thing is we need to bat in a format. We need to be able to bat for the six overs [of the powerplay] and know how we are batting in that. We need to stop losing wickets and once we stop losing wickets, we’re going to make big scores. We have the players – Hetty [Hetmyer] showed he is back to form, we have Rovman [Powell], we have [Nicholas Pooran], who has done a little bit as we went on in the series, but nobody has been consistent throughout the series. So, I think that is what we need now – consistency and understanding the situation of the game and knowing how we play that.”Obed McCoy went from returning the best T20I figures by a West Indian to conceding the most runs by a West Indian in T20Is•Associated Press

There are concerns for West Indies on the bowling front too and against top teams like India, they need to fire with both bat and ball, Simmons stressed.”It’s always going to be difficult playing against India. It’s the best T20 team in the world – man for man,” Simmons said. “But we showed in glimpses that we are capable of competing – sometimes with the ball and sometimes with the bat. Probably, we never put everything together. That’s the lesson we are going to take from this. We have to put everything together on the day to beat the top teams.”After taking 6 for 17 in St Kitts – the best figures by a West Indies bowler in T20Is – left-arm seamer Obed McCoy went in the other direction, leaking 66 runs in the first T20I in Florida, the fourth of the series – the most runs conceded by a West Indies bowler in a men’s T20I. Simmons, however, backed McCoy to bounce back against New Zealand.”We all know that he has excellent skills,” Simmons said. “But there’s a lot of bowlers around the world who have excellent skills and go for runs on one day and bowl well the next day. It’s how he comes back from it. He’s shown that he can bowl; so, he will come back from it.”

The same group will play the T20 tri-series against Pakistan and Bangladesh in Christchurch

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Sep-2022Fast bowler Adam Milne has been included in New Zealand’s squad for the T20 World Cup after missing recent tours due to an Achilles problem.Milne was part of last year’s tournament in the UAE after being called up as a replacement for Lockie Ferguson. During a career interrupted by injuries, he has taken 32 wickets at 26.68 in 31 T20Is. He forms the frontline pace options alongside Ferguson, Tim Southee and Trent Boult.New Zealand coach Gary Stead said they will want to see how Milne went in the tri-series against Pakistan and Bangladesh early next month, but was confident he would be ready for the World Cup.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“We’ve had a lot of conversations with Adam and the medical crew around him and we are confident that if everything goes well for him that he’ll be available for the tri-series games beforehand,” Stead said. “I guess that’s ultimately a final test for him to make sure he’s where we want to be. We believe he’ll be ready and that’s why he was selected.”Also included in the 15-player squad are Finn Allen and Michael Bracewell who will appear at their first World Cup. Devon Conway will be the frontline wicketkeeper while Mark Chapman and Ish Sodhi retain their places.There is no specialist back-up for Conway with the gloves, but Stead indicated that Allen or Glenn Phillips could step in if needed at short notice.”We felt that in the last World Cup that Devon did a really admirable job and you expect in Australia that probably even less balls will go through to the keeper,” he said.Allen, the hard-hitting opening batter, has made a promising start to his international career and already has a T20I hundred – 101 off 56 balls against Scotland – while striking at 169.54 from his 13 matches.Stead said that he had a first-choice 12 in mind for the World Cup, but the tri-series will be used to fine-tune plans including the combination they go with at the top of the order with Allen, Conway, Kane Williamson and Martin Guptill all options to open. Daryl Mitchell will be used in a middle-order role.”I’ll hold those cards close to my chest on what we will do [with opening], but think we’ll see during the tri-series we’ll be trying a few different people there,” he said.Kyle Jamieson was not considered for selection as he continues his recovery from the back injury he picked up in England.Guptill will become the first New Zealander to appear at seven men’s T20 World Cups.The same squad will play the T20 tri-series involving Pakistan and Bangladesh which will be staged early next month in Christchurch although extra players may be called in to manage workloads of those heading to Australia.”Along with the all-important game time, those matches will be a great chance to refine our combinations and game-plans ahead of our departure to Australia,” Stead said.New Zealand open their T20 World Cup campaign against hosts Australia, at the SCG, on October 22.