All posts by csb10.top

Nasir Jamshed, the former Pakistan opener, and one other man have been arrested* in the UK in relation to the ongoing investigation into alleged corruption in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The National Crime Agency (NCA) released a statement on Tuesday saying that it was “working closely” with PCB and ICC anti-corruption units and that both men had received bail.The NCA statement said: “Two men in their thirties have been arrested by National Crime Agency officers in connection with bribery offences as part of an ongoing investigation into international cricket match spot-fixing.”The men were arrested on Monday 13 February and have been released on bail until April 2017 pending further enquiries.”As part of the ongoing investigation we are working closely with the Pakistan Cricket Board and International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption units. The Pakistan Cricket Board has launched its own investigation which has resulted in the suspension of three players.”Jamshed was arrested on the same day that he was provisionally suspended by the PCB, the third player to face that fate after the allegations first emerged. Pakistan openers Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif were provisionally suspended from the PSL last week over alleged breaches of the anti-corruption code. Three other players were questioned by anti-corruption officers in relation to the investigation: Mohammad Irfan, Zulfiqar Babar and Shahzaib Hasan. None was suspended and they were cleared to continue playing at the PSL.The next step for the PCB is to issue show cause notices to the suspended players and initiate a disciplinary inquiry into the breaches of the code. Any inquiry, in the shape of an independent tribunal, is likely to be headed by a retired High Court or Supreme Court judge.”We had a lot of evidence on which we based our decision,” Najam Sethi, the PSL chairman, said on his talk show on , before the announcement of the arrests. “We know what we are doing. We have all evidence. We had this for a while, we had information – we cannot talk about stuff right now but a charge sheet will be given to players soon.”We had definite information, and not just us, we were collecting it. We knew it was happening, we had identified a few players and then at final stages we knew the ICC had some information as well and when we compared it the information was the same, then we decided to act on this.”Sethi said the PCB investigation into alleged corruption had begun before the PSL’s second season began.”You will know in 3-4 days what the plans were, what they were going to do, we have these players’ phones in which there is more information. Who they were in touch with, what they talked about, their text messages, WhatsApp messages.”We had an idea this was happening. We had also infiltrated into Pakistani bookies and we had some information from there as well before we got here. The league was huge last year and we knew it would attract bookies. We were waiting for it and we knew some players outside the PSL would be involved in it.”We suspended Nasir Jamshed as well, about whom we know what role he played. We nipped it in the bud.”*18.15 GMT – This story was updated with new information

The IPL 2017 player auction is likely to take place in the third week of February following a delay from the originally proposed date of February 4. Although the BCCI has not issued a final date yet, franchises understand it would be anywhere between February 20 and 25. Last November the IPL Governing Council decided to schedule the IPL 2017 tournament between April 5 and May 21.At that time, the player auction was slotted in tentatively for February 4 but that was ruled out as soon as the Supreme Court of India dismantled the BCCI house at the start of the year by removing its president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke and imposing various restrictions on the remaining eligible office bearers at the board. Although the BCCI management under its chief executive officer Rahul Johri was ready to stick to the timelines drawn last November, the court’s delay in appointing the committee of administrators put the IPL decisions on the backburner.However, with a four-member committee of administrators taking charge on Monday, the IPL is back on the priority list. The committee of administrators met with the BCCI management team to discuss the immediate decisions that need to be taken concerning IPL.”The Committee of Administrators (COA) met the concerned BCCI officials today to take stock of the urgent and important matters mainly concerning the successful conduct of IPL 2017,” a BCCI media release said. “The committee of administrators assured the franchises that it was overseeing the preparations for IPL and the ‘operational timelines’ will be sent out shortly.”On their part, the franchises have remained patient throughout the delay. Officials at several franchises said the main reason behind their confidence was the court had always made sure that cricket was never affected, both domestic and international. Also, the delay in the auction, one franchise chief executive officer said, would be an advantage because teams could scout for domestic talent in the ongoing Inter-State T20 tournament which finishes on February 18.If there is one thing the franchises are keen to get their hands on is the player roster – the final pool of players that will enter the auction. Normally the franchises get the roster two weeks ahead of the auction.”If we get the roster we can start making a shortlist of players we are after as then we come to know their availability which is always a big determining factor on which players teams pick,” one franchise CEO told ESPNcricinfo.This will be the last year of IPL before teams overhaul their rosters for the 2018 season. All existing player contracts will expire after IPL 2017 and it is expected most players will go under the hammer at the mega auction ahead of the 2018 season. There has been no decision yet on the player retention rules though.The current cycle of broadcasting rights, currently held by Sony Pictures Network India (SPNI), will expire after IPL 2017. Last September, the BCCI had announced that the next cycle of IPL rights would be sold via an open tender process. Eighteen companies including Facebook and Twitter bought the invitation to tender doucment for television and digital rights. The bids were meant to be opened on October 24, but the Lodha Committee deferred the process until the BCCI complied with the court order of July 18 last year.

ScorecardLuke Ronchi struck seven fours and four sixes in his 39-ball 79•Getty Images

Half-centuries from Michael Papps and Luke Ronchi helped Wellington record their first win of the 2016-17 Super Smash at the Basin Reserve. Having posted 173 for 5 after electing to bat, they bowled Auckland out for 140 with four balls left.Brent Arnel and Anurag Verma, the seamers, picked up three wickets apiece to consign Auckland to their first loss of the season. They were still placed No. 1 in the six-team table, two points ahead of second-placed Central Districts.Wellington were reduced to 14 for 3 in the fourth over when Grant Elliott was dismissed. The loss of wickets hardly seemed to affect Papps and Ronchi, who added 115 for the fourth wicket in just 11 overs to drive the innings forward. Matt Taylor’s unbeaten 20, consisting of two fours and a six, helped finish off the innings on a high.Auckland lost wickets in clusters – they first lost Rob Nichol and Jeet Raval in the space of eight deliveries. Then, Mark Chapman and Colin de Grandhome were dismissed in the space of three balls. Then the triple-strike of Colin Munro, who top scored with 38, SM Solia and Tarun Nethula in the 17th over nearly completed a batting collapse.Jeetan Patel, the offspinner, hammered the final nail when he sent back Donovan Grobbelaar for 26 to complete the 33-run win.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMohammad Shahid took another three-wicket haul as Dhaka Dynamites climbed to first place•BCB

Defending champions Comilla Victorians will go into the Chittagong leg of the BPL – beginning on November 17 – as the only team without a win, after they lost their fourth consecutive game. This time, the Dhaka Dynamites defeated them by 33 runs.This was Dhaka’s third win in four games, and most of their success has come on the back of strong starts by their openers – a combination of the legendary Kumar Sangakkara and the young Mehedi Maruf. This was true once again, as Maruf’s 60 set up Dhaka’s formidable 194 for 5 before their spinners dominated the Comilla batsmenIt was his second fifty in the BPL, and came off 31 balls, starting with a scythe over point off Mashrafe Mortaza in the third over. Sangakkara struck two fours and a six in his 12-ball 20, before falling in the fourth over.But Maruf’s aggression was unabated. He found boundaries quite regularly and then lofted Nabil Samad for two massive sixes over midwicket, with one of them landing in the grandstand. He added 84 runs for the second wicket with Nasir, who chipped in with 43 off 35 balls with five fours.Afghanistan legspinner Rashid Khan – who finished with 3 for 28 in his four overs – removed Ravi Bopara and Maruf in the 16th over, but that didn’t stop Dhaka captain Shakib Al Hasan from blazing 36 runs in 16 deliveries with Dwayne Bravo for the fifth wicket. Shakib struck two sixes in his 13-ball 24.Comilla’s chase began with intent – Imrul Kayes hit three fours in his 11-ball 19. But they ended up losing three wickets in consecutive overs, after Kayes was removed in the fourth. In the very next over, his new opening partner Jashimuddin was caught at deep square leg for ten, and Ahmed Shehzad – playing his first game – struck two consecutive sixes before getting stumped off the last ball of the sixth.They played two more overs before repeating the pattern. Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Ryan ten Doeschate, Rashid Khan and Al-Amin were all dismissed in the space of three overs, to leave Comilla reeling at 74 for 7 at the end of the 11th over. Medium-pacer Mohammad Shahid accounted for the last two wickets in that collapse, in his first over.Mashrafe provided entertainment towards the end, including slamming Shakib for four sixes in the penultimate over. But it was never going to be enough for Comilla.

ScorecardFile photo – England Women’s left-arm spinner Alex Hartley finished as the leading wicket-taker in the five-match series, with 13 dismissals•WICB Media/Athelstan Bellamy

Left-arm spinner Alex Hartley’s career-best 4 for 24 subdued a powerful West Indies Women’s batting line-up to 155, paving the way for England Women’s series-clinching five-wicket victory in the fifth ODI in Kingston. Natalie Sciver’s unbeaten 58 eased the side home in the 39th over.The result took England’s points tally in the ICC Women’s Championship to 23, leaving them one win away from confirming their direct qualification in next year’s Women’s World Cup, a target they will look to achieve on the tour of Sri Lanka next month.Hartley accounted for West Indies’ senior batsmen in her haul, dismissing Deandra Dottin, Merissa Aguilleira, captain Stafanie Taylor and Shemaine Campbelle. Dottin fell in the 23rd over, bringing an end to a promising third-wicket partnership of 37 with Taylor after West Indies got off to a slow start. Aguillera fell four overs later.Hartley then went on to sap any momentum West Indies could have gained in the slog overs by dismissing Campbelle and Taylor in the 41st and 43rd overs. Taylor fell for 57 off 101 balls, with three fours and a six, having steered the side to 137 with little support from the other batsmen, and the innings lasted only five more overs after her wicket as the last five wickets fell for 24. Hartley took her second four-for in the series and finished as the highest overall wicket-taker with 13 wickets in five matches, a record for England in a bilateral one-day series.While West Indies’ batsmen had failed to put together a half-century stand, England built their chase around the 56-run partnership for the third wicket between captain Heather Knight and Sciver. England were 56 for 2 in the 17th over when the pair came together and by the time the stand was broken, at 112 in the 29th over, they were firmly in control of the chase. Sciver’s unbeaten 58, her sixth ODI fifty and second in the series, came off 74 balls and included six fours.Knight said: “To come to the Caribbean and beat the ICC Women’s World T20 champions on their home patch, in tough conditions, and with a couple of set-backs along the way, shows how much character, desire and talent there is within this squad.”Throughout the five matches, momentum has constantly shifted between the two sides, which shows how evenly matched the teams are.”

Middle-order batsman Babar Azam and left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz earned maiden Test call-ups, for the first Test against West Indies in the UAE. Azam’s selection came right after he scored three consecutive centuries in Pakistan’s 3-0 ODI whitewash over West Indies.Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Hafeez and Shan Masood were the players left out of the group that went to England this summer, as Pakistan named a 14-man squad for the Dubai Test from October 13. Younis Khan had already been ruled out of the fixture, Pakistan’s maiden day-night Test, because he was recovering from dengue.The squad contained only five specialist batsmen in Azhar Ali, Sami Aslam, Azam, Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq, meaning Pakistan are likely to play Sarfraz Ahmed at No. 6, and allrounder Nawaz at No. 7 or go in with five specialist bowlers.Chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq acknowledged that Pakistan have been struggling to find quality allrounders and hoped Nawaz could be the answer. “We have been searching for one who can bat in the lower order and bowl as well. And if you look at Nawaz, he has got a good first-class record. It shows he has been promising with the bat and has competed as a bowler.”Nawaz has 1440 runs and 44 wickets, including three centuries and a seven-wicket haul, across 29 first-class matches.

Changes to the Test squad

• Out – Younis Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Hafeez, Shan Masood

• In – Babar Azam, Mohammad Nawaz

Azam, 21, was picked in the squad after a prolific run in one-day cricket for Pakistan this year, scoring 656 runs in 11 innings at an average of 59 and strike rate of 95. He made his ODI debut in the home series against Zimbabwe in May 2015, and has 886 runs in 18 matches. Azam averages 41.13 in first-class cricket, having scored 1522 runs in 41 innings for five different teams.Hafeez played three Tests on the tour of England, making 102 runs in six innings, before he was dropped for the last match at The Oval, which Pakistan won to draw the series 2-2. He played the one-off ODI against Ireland and the first one against England before he suffered a leg injury and returned home. After recovering Hafeez was asked by the selectors to play in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy, Pakistan’s first-class competition, and he made 68 in both innings of his first game for Sui Northern Gas Pipelines.Inzamam said this was because they didn’t want the players sitting on the bench for too long. “Those who are good but weren’t able to perform in England, we made them to play in first-class cricket. We didn’t want them to waste their time on the bench but rather they play some cricket get themselves back into form.”Hafeez earned a spot in the PCB Patron’s XI against the West Indians in Sharjah, but he made a duck in the first innings and was left out of the Test squad.This meant Pakistan were going into the series with only one specialist opener – Aslam. The selectors felt with Azhar having performed the role in their most recent Test and with it being a home series, they were covered.”See this is our home series and if we need anyone we can bring them over,” Inzamam said. “And if you recall, in the England series, it was Azhar who opened the innings so it’s fine. He knows he will open again.”Squad Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Imran Khan, Mohammad Amir, Rahat Ali, Sami Aslam, Sarfraz Ahmed, Sohail Khan, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar, Babar Azam, Mohammad Nawaz

New Zealand’s ODI squad has received another blow as fast bowler Mitchell McClenaghan has been ruled out of the five-match series against India with a pelvis injury. Adam Milne is also unlikely to make the squad, having not fully recovered from an elbow surgery.”Mitch is out with a pelvis injury which he suffered earlier in the year. He is recovering well but won’t be available for the coming tour,” a New Zealand Cricket spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo.McClenaghan has not played an ODI since suffering a hairline fracture above his left eye against Pakistan in Wellington earlier in the year.After recovering from that injury, he returned to New Zealand’s squad for the World T20 in India, and took four wickets in four matches at an average of 21.75.McClenaghan was also a regular inclusion for his franchise Mumbai Indians in the IPL, finishing as the side’s highest wicket-taker with 17 wickets in 14 games at an average of 25.64, before picking up the pelvis injury while representing English county Middlesex in the NatWest T20 Blast in June.New Zealand begin the ODI series on October 16 in Dharamsala.

ScorecardKatherine Brunt claimed a hat-trick to rout Lancashire•Getty Images

England seamer Katherine Brunt took a hat-trick as Yorkshire brushed Lancashire aside to claim their first Kia Women’s Super League win.Brunt mopped up the Thunder tail as they were 71 all out in 15 overs chasing 167, after Alex Blackwell’s 59 had underpinned the Diamonds’ 166 for 6 at Emirates Old Trafford.Unfortunately, neither side will be at Finals Day, after slow starts to the competition. Yorkshire have one fixture remaining.Brunt had Laura Newton caught at mid-on before trapping Kate Cross and Nalisha Patel lbw in a 95-run bonus point win, having also hit a breezy 36 in Yorkshire’s total, the second highest score of the competition.Blackwell shared 47 and 69 for the third and fourth wickets with compatriot Beth Mooney and Ashes rival Brunt as the Diamonds recovered from 16 for 2 in the fourth over having elected to bat.Blackwell hit five fours and two leg-side sixes, off Natalie Brown and Cross.The Red Rose were hurt by ill-discipline in the field, as they were last Friday when they conceded eleven wides during a defeat to Southern Vipers at Blackpool.Here, they were penalised six penalty runs for failing to bowl their overs in time, and they were very close to conceding 12 given they only just started the 19th over inside the 7.15pm cut-off time.Lancashire were on the back foot early in their chase when West Indian Hayley Matthews steered Ismail to slip as they slipped to 4 for 1 in the second over.Ismail and Brunt helped to restrict the hosts to 31 for 1 after six, although captain Amy Satterthwaite ended the power play with successive boundaries off Katie Levick’s leg-spin.But Lancashire’s chances of a second win in their last match were up shortly afterwards as they lost three wickets in eleven balls to slip to 40 for 4 in the ninth.Hazell bowled Emma Lamb, Levick had Danni Wyatt stumped and Ismail bowled captain Satterthwaite.The Thunder reached halfway at 51 for 4, needing 116 more, before Threlkeld was controversially reprieved after being run out off a no ball.West Indian Deandra Dottin hit an above-waist high full toss to deep square-leg, where Brunt took a superb one-handed catch.With Threlkeld scrambling to get back in her ground at the non-striker’s end, she was run out before the umpires ruled the ball had become dead.Thankfully, it did not matter as Hazell struck three times in five balls in the 12th and 14th overs, leaving the score at 69 for 7.She had Threlkeld caught at mid-off before bowling Natalie Brown and Dottin for 25 in the space of three balls. Then came Brunt’s magical end.

The advantage of being a home team is you have a better understanding of conditions than your opposition, but that may not be the case when South Africa host New Zealand next month. Kane Williamson’s men will have spent a significant amount of time in the country ahead of their two-Test series, thanks to a training camp at the University of Pretoria’s High Performance Centre organised by former New Zealand player Kruger van Wyk.The wicketkeeper-batsman, originally from South Africa, had retired from cricket in December and returned home to take charge of the University’s cricket program, which he himself had come through. Van Wyk has an intricate knowledge of the High Performance Centre, which is home to CSA’s National Academy and hosts several other elite sports teams at its state-of-the-art facilities. He knew it would be the ideal place for New Zealand to prepare for the four Tests they play in southern Africa – two in Zimbabwe, two in South Africa – this winter.”I know what it’s like to tour, to want to get the best preparation and I had no doubt that we could help them with that,” van Wyk said. In particular, he has focussed on giving New Zealand the kinds of surfaces they will encounter in Bulawayo, Durban and Centurion, which are all expected to be slow and low at this time of year. “It’s important that they [the pitches] are similar to the Zimbabwe ones, similar to the ones they’ll get here. As a player, whatever you need, you get. That’s our motto. Whatever you guys need, we’re going to give it to you and give it at a high level of professionalism as well, so I hope the boys enjoy it as well while they’re here.”With New Zealand’s every need being met, van Wyk’s loyalties were a subject of discussion and he made no attempt to hide where they lie. “I think it’s going to be an awesome series. It’s very clear who I want to see do well. These are the guys who I played for, and my priorities, even though I’m coaching and living in South Africa at the moment, it’s still with the New Zealand side,” he said. “I’ve played Test cricket for New Zealand and I’m proud of that. But I think it’s going to be a hell of a good series and I’m so excited about seeing that and I really believe this is a good opportunity to get a double Test series victory.”Key to New Zealand’s recent success has been their team culture, which is centered on the collective and has exuded a fun-factor for all involved. For van Wyk, that is the difference. “It’s been wonderful, actually. I think there’s been such a new life blown into cricket in New Zealand and that was just through the culture in this side. Mike [Hesson, the coach] and Baz [Brendon McCullum] and Kane and a lot of the senior players must take massive credit for this. They’ve done some wonderful things for the image of the game and just the way they’ve played as well. That’s the best way to get fans back, to get all these sorts of things back, ex-players, and their performances have been outstanding and I know it will only grow under Kane and Mike as well.”That culture exists even among those, like van Wyk, who have left the New Zealand fold. “As a coach, and as an ex-player, I think a lot of it is about giving back to the game, giving back to the people who’ve always been good to you. I am extremely thankful towards New Zealand cricket who’ve always been good to me and it’s time to give back,” he said. “Tukkies [University of Pretoria] was an institution that put a lot of time and effort into my development when I was a youngster here, so it’s the best of both worlds.”

ScorecardGareth Batty continued his fine form to cement Surrey’s position•Getty Images

Everything about Surrey oozes a Division One club. The Kia Oval is a magnificent modern cricket ground, constantly being refined, and has a guarantee of Test matches the envy of every other international ground bar Lord’s. Nowhere else consistently gets as many through the gates at T20 games: over 100,000 every summer. The club’s annual turnover is £25 million, seven times that of the poorest of the 18 first-class counties.All that is missing, then, is results. Not since Graham Thorpe retired, 11 years ago, has a home-grown Surrey cricketer played for England in a Test. All the while, Surrey have spent more years than they would care to reflect – five of the past seven seasons – in Division Two: less the Manchester United of cricket, as they once liked to consider themselves, than the Queens Park Rangers, floundering despite huge spending.Last season Surrey waltzed to promotion, and so returned to what they would consider their rightful place. But their return to Division One has been grim: three draws and four defeats in their opening seven games. This is not quite an accurate reflection of how Surrey have played: they almost clinched a come-from-behind win at Trent Bridge, endured the agony of a one-wicket loss at Taunton and have suffered rain at inopportune times.Injuries have not helped, either: Mark Footitt and Matt Dunn are still out, and Stuart Meaker. Zafar Ansari and Ravi Rampaul have also been detained at various times. Missing from this game are Jason Roy, on England white ball duty, and Sam Curran, encumbered by A level examinations. Yet all these caveats cannot disguise the underlying truth: that a club with Surrey’s wealth ought to be performing better.Still, this might just have been their best day of the season. The washout of two-thirds of the second day had threatened to consign Surrey to another draw, already of limited value in their attempt to salvage their Division One place for next year. Not, though, with the side in such zesty mood, evident from Rampaul’s in-jagger to snare Brendan Taylor in the third over of the day.Deep into his 39th year, Gareth Batty might just be in the form of his life. In Surrey’s agonising defeat at Taunton, their last first-class game, he took ten wickets in the game. Here he added four more, perfectly exemplifying the subtle chicanery of the orthodox offspinner. A slightly quicker delivery turned and bounced just enough to defeat Michael Lumb’s attempted cut, a particular source of satisfaction, and then the tail heaved limply to fielders, complicit in their own downfalls.Yet, for all Batty’s skill, the most memorable dismissal was that of Samit Patel. Lumb pushed Batty into the offside, and called for a sharp single. Patel was slow replying, and stood motionless and aggrieved while Lumb ran past him, to consign him to his fate while the bails were removed at the striker’s end: run out by virtually the entire length of the pitch. For comic value it fell some way short of Patel’s fall onto his own backside three years ago against Derbyshire, but for his team the consequences were stark.Surrey had mustered a lead of 141, and a position that could have been designed for a return of the Surrey strut. But the ostentatious care with which the openers approached their task – the first 20 overs brought only 41 runs – betrayed the anxiety that has engulfed the club in their underwhelming start. At times more entertainment was to be found in the rooms at The Oval, which were staging trials for the BBC’s talent show The Voice, than in some funereal batting.But Surrey’s supporters had reason to find their own voices in the evening session. Kumar Sangakkara’s exquisite driving imbued the innings with impetus; he forged a 92-run stand with Arun Harinath, who grew increasingly assertive, before, in characteristically unselfish style, getting a leading edge for 83 as Surrey moved towards a declaration.After a rather painstaking effort from Gary Wilson – some members even ironically applauded him getting off the mark, from his 13th delivery – Steven Davies’ arrival was accompanied by the evening sun and the first hints of violence: he smeared his fourth delivery, off Matthew Carter, for an emphatic six over midwicket.In the Adam Hollioake years, such intent would surely have come before the end of the evening, giving Surrey a few overs to prey on any raw Nottinghamshire wounds. Still, with a hearty lead, now worth 385, and a pitch showing glimpses of deterioration, Surrey look well-equipped to prise out ten wickets tomorrow, and so regain a little of their lost swagger.