Will the selectors also persist with Taskin Ahmed, Abu Hider and Mehidy Hasan after sub-par performances in the Nidahas Trophy in March?

Mohammad Isam19-May-2018Bangladesh’s selectors were left with hard decisions to take ahead of Sunday’s squad announcement for the T20Is against Afghanistan in India next month. Most of their selections will be based on the performances in the Nidahas Trophy that was played in Sri Lanka in March.Imrul Kayes, Abu Jayed, Ariful Haque and Nurul Hasan didn’t get a game during the Nidahas Trophy, while Soumya Sarkar, Taskin Ahmed, Abu Hider and Mehidy Hasan also had sub-par performances. Soumya made just 50 runs in five innings while Taskin, Mehidy and Hider combined to take just three wickets.Soumya, who lost his central contract in 2018, could still retain his spot, with the team management having shown faith in his T20 ability. Mohammad Mithun, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Afif Hossain and Zakir Hasan are possible inclusions. However, Afif and Zakir, who made T20I debuts in February, aren’t in the 31-member preliminary squad.The selectors are also likely to persist with Mehidy; uncapped Naeem Hasan is the only other specialist offspinner in the training camp. Abul Hasan, who showed some form in the death overs in the BPL, and Yeasin Arafat have outside chances among the bowling group.Meanwhile, among those in the preliminary squad, Sabbir Rahman is likely to be picked on his international form. His most recent score was a 50-ball 77 in the Nidahas T20 Trophy final. Sabbir, was banned from domestic cricket after assaulting a fan during a first-class game earlier in the season, has been working on his batting technique and fitness.”I have been out for two months, having missed the DPL and BCL,” Sabbir said. “I worked on my fitness and batting technique. I feel staying out of the game can be a positive thing. I spent time with my family. My mother was sick, so I was with her.”Confidence is a big factor. All the techniques are in place when runs are scored. There are no faults. Everything is in place. I get out playing a good shot when I am not scoring runs, and then there are questions about technique. There can be technical and temperamental issues but as far as I am concerned, there’s nothing greater than scoring runs.”

Ben Duckett showed a glimmer of form with his second half-century of a disappointing season as Northants sought their first Championship win

ECB Reporters Network20-Jun-2018
ScorecardBen Duckett, Luke Procter and Richard Levi all made half-centuries as bottom-of-the-table Northamptonshire made 282 against Gloucestershire on the opening day of the pink-ball Specsavers County Championship match at Wantage Road.After being bowled out with 13 overs left in the day, Northants swung the new ball around as the floodlights took effect and struck in the final over of the day with Steven Crook trapping Chris Dent lbw for 11 and Gloucestershire closed 25 for 1.Until that wicket, Gloucestershire had fought back fairly well into the day after handing Northants easy runs early in the innings. But two mini-collapses prevented that early initiative being converted into a commanding total and had Dent survived with Benny Howell to the close, Gloucestershire, having elected to bowl, may have felt the more content with their day.The visitors began the day terribly with the new ball and gave Northants a racing start with Duckett and Procter adding 97 runs in the first 16 overs. Duckett in particular feasted merrily to reach fifty in just 44 balls with nine fours – five of them in successive deliveries in the third over of the game bowled by Matt Taylor – for his first half-century in the Championship this season.But Taylor returned and, after lodging his second half-century of the season, Duckett chased a full wide delivery to edge behind for 52, Ricardo Vasconcelos steered a catch to first slip off the same bowler for a nine ball duck and Alex Wakely was caught and bowled by Kieran Noema-Barnett for just 3 as Northants lost three wickets for 13 runs in five overs.Just after lunch, Procter went to fifty in 93 balls with nine fours but having got to 70, top-edged a pull against Taylor and James Bracey ran back from slip to claim the catch. It was Taylor’s third wicket, none of them terribly deserved, and he went on to claim 4 for 70 in 12 overs.The wicket of Procter brought about the second Northants collapse as three wickets went down for 34 runs in eight overs. Adam Rossington lazily cut Taylor to first slip and Levi, having struck 13 fours in reaching 63 with a number of eye-catching strokes, pushed forward and was caught behind giving Ryan Higgins his first wicket before Northants settled to 247 for 6 at tea.Saif Zaib fell in the first over of the evening session, trapped lbw by Noema-Barnett and after Rory Kleinveldt received a far more questionable lbw decision to fall for 9, Higgins removed the final two wickets – Crook caught a slip and Brett Hutton caught behind – to finish with 3 for 52.

Gupta’s eight-month doping ban will only end on September 14, six days after the conclusion of the Duleep Trophy

Saurabh Somani23-Jul-2018In June, the BCCI imposed a retrospective doping ban on Punjab wicketkeeper-batsman Abhishek Gupta, having confirmed he had tested positive for a prohibited substance during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in January. Gupta’s eight-month ban is set to expire on September 14.On Monday, Gupta was included in the India Red squad for the forthcoming Duleep Trophy, which is scheduled to be played between August 17 and September 8.Genuine oversight or plain ignorance? It could be either, but the selectors first named Gupta in the India A squad before another BCCI release arrived, close to seven hours later, confirming that they had replaced him with Vidarbha’s Akshay Wadkar.”It was brought to notice by the BCCI Anti-Doping team that Mr. Abhishek Gupta who was initially added in the India Red squad is serving an 8-month ban for a doping violation,” the release said. “His ban is set to end on the 14th of September, 2018. The Senior Selection Committee has reached a consensus that Mr. Akshay Wadkar will be included in the India Red team as Mr. Gupta’s replacement.”Wadkar, 24, has only played six first-class matches, all of them during Vidarbha’s run to the 2017-18 Ranji Trophy title. He has scored 395 runs at an average of 65.83, with three fifties and a hundred, which came in the final against Delhi.The three squads for Duleep Trophy were part of the various selections finalised by the selectors in Kolkata on Monday. Also picked was the India A squad for two four-day games against South Africa A, the India A and India B squads for a quadrangular series that will also involve South Africa A and Australia A, and three squads for the Duleep Trophy – India Blue, India Red and India Green.Gupta was handed a retrospective eight-month ban in June, after a urine sample he provided as part of the BCCI’s testing programme was found to contain terbutaline, which is among the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) list of prohibited substances. This test was conducted on January 15, during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.Gupta had admitted to taking the banned substance, saying he did so inadvertently, as part of medication he had been prescribed. The BCCI was satisfied with Gupta’s explanation and back-dated the start of his eight-month ban to January 15.Gupta, 27, made his senior debut for Punjab last October, and has since played six first-class, six List A and nine T20 games. He has scored 471 first-class runs at an average of 52.33, with two fifties and a double-hundred on debut against Himachal Pradesh.IST 1040 The story was updated after the selectors named Wadkar as Gupta’s replacement

The visitors put behind the horror Test series to begin the limited-overs leg with a resounding win

The Report by Mohammad Isam22-Jul-2018CWI

A 48-run win in the first ODI took Bangladesh out of the hopeless pit they had dug themselves into during the Test series, and it took the combined effort of four senior players to pull them out.Tamim Iqbal’s 10th ODI hundred and his 207-run stand with Shakib Al Hasan (97), and Mushfiqur Rahim’s end-overs sixes raised their highest total on tour, 279 for 4 in 50 overs, after electing to bat.Mashrafe Mortaza, who nearly didn’t tour because of his ill wife, provided the perfect follow-up, taking four wickets and making a statement with his thunderous leadership to give the visitors some joy four weeks into what has been a horror tour.West Indies were in it till the 35th over, but spectacularly unravelled. Needing 140 from the last 15 overs with six wickets in hand, they eventually finished with 231 for 9, with the last wicket pair of Alzarri Joseph and Devendra Bishoo adding an unbroken half-century stand to delay the inevitable. Shimron Hetmyer’s 52 was the highest of the innings.The turning point was the show by Bangladesh’s seniors. Tamim and Shakib, who promoted himself to No. 3, put together their highest-ever partnership, beating their previous best of 144, achieved against Sri Lanka. This helped Bangladesh set up a strong platform, even if there were times where they could have looked to score a touch faster.From the second over till the 35th, Tamim and Shakib batted at a run rate of 4.7 for 33.3 overs. They took almost seven overs to find the first boundary, but then showed awareness of the conditions to play tactfully. During this period, both Tamim and Shakib reached fifties amid four dropped chances. But after Shakib struck Jason Holder for two fours in the 35th over, Bangladesh went through the next 10 overs without a single boundary.They put together Bangladesh’s only second 200-plus ODI partnership, apart from setting the record highest partnership at the Providence Stadium, against West Indies overall. When Mushfiqur carved three fours and two sixes in his 11-ball 30, it gave the innings the end-overs impetus.The West Indies quicks leaked 53 runs in the last three overs. Andre Russell, playing his first ODI after nearly three years, conceded 31 in two of the last three, while Holder went for 22 in the 49th. West Indies, however, would be disappointed with the five dropped chances: Gayle putting down thrice, Ashley Nurse and Hetmyer put down one each.West Indies’ reply kick-started with Evin Lewis’ pulled six in the third over, but he didn’t last long. Gayle was next to go, left stranded by Hetmyer after an uncharacteristic 40 off 60 balls where he surprisingly wasn’t averse to taking singles and rotating the strike. His knock featured a four and couple of straight sixes, but the Bangladesh bowlers held him back. Gayle also survived a plumb lbw shout as Bangladesh decided not to take the review, which would have ended his innings on 18.Jason Mohammed couldn’t withstand the pressure by spin; he was Mehidy Hasan’s only wicket in his impressive 10 overs. Hetmyer, upon reaching fifty, got caught at cover trying to drive Mustafizur Rahman in the 36th over, before Rovman Powell edged an away-swinger for a first-ball duck. This proved to be the gamechanger.

Peter Trego also played a key role with Somerset with 60 off 31 balls after Tom Barber had knocked over three quick wickets

ECB Reporters Network29-Jul-2018
ScorecardElectrifying half-centuries from Peter Trego and Lewis Gregory led Somerset to a total of 229 for 6 and a 38-run Vitality Blast win over Middlesex under the DLS system at Taunton.Trego smashed 60 off 31 balls, including 24 off an over from Ashton Agar, to relaunch his side’s innings after left-arm seamer Tom Barber had taken three wickets in an over to reduce them to 29 for 3.Skipper Gregory then took up the attack with an even more destructive 62 off 28 deliveries, receiving good support from Corey Anderson (41 not out) as the Middlesex bowlers were dispatched to all parts of the ground.In reply, the shellshocked visitors had made 88 for 4 from ten overs when rain interrupted their innings for the second time. They faced a revised target of 213 from 18 overs, with a required run-rate of around 16 an over, and, despite a 29-ball fifty from Stevie Eskinazi, fell well short at 174 for 6.After losing the toss and making a bright start, Somerset looked to have slipped into trouble when Barber, generating good pace, removed Steve Davies, Johann Myburgh and James Hildreth in the third over of the innings.But Trego and Tom Abell set about rectifying the damage with panache, Trego leading the way with seven fours and three sixes in a typically savage onslaught before falling in the 11th over with the total advanced to 112.Abell followed for a comparatively sedate 31, but the importance of his stand with Trego was emphasised when Gregory and Anderson had the freedom to cut loose from the start of their innings.Gregory was in magnificent form, striking eight fours and four sixes, and outshining the powerful Anderson, who still managed to contribute three sixes in his 24-ball innings.Max Waller began the Middlesex reply with a wicket-maiden, the legspinner having Max Holden caught at extra cover for a duck.Gregory then cemented his claim to Man-of-the-Match by dismissing Nick Gubbins and Eoin Morgan in his first two overs as their side reached 50 for 3 at the end of the six-over Powerplay, actually one ahead of Somerset at the same stage.Paul Stirling had looked the one early batsman capable of making a game of it before he fell for 30 to a sensational boundary catch by Jamie Overton, catching the ball, releasing it as he fell back over the rope and re-entering the playing area to grab it.Just before the rain first arrived, with Middlesex 74 for 4, a spectator was struck by a six from Eskinasi off Roelof van der Merwe. Medical staff were quickly on the scene and as the players looked on with obvious concern the drizzle increased and sent them to the dressing rooms.After a short delay the game resumed, only to be interrupted again after a couple of overs by a heavier downpour. The final session saw Gregory remove John Simpson for 29 and Eskinazi for a valiant 55 off 32 balls, for figures of 4 for 28.

Several players were recalled for the three-ODI series and two uncapped spinners were picked for the five T20Is against South Africa

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Sep-2018West Indies have named Shemaine Campbelle, Natasha McLean and Shakera Selman in their 13-member squad for the three-match ICC Women’s Championship ODI series against South Africa that is scheduled to begin on September 16 in Barbados.Uncapped spinners Karishma Ramharack and Sheneta Grimmond were the two additions to the squad that will play five Twenty20 Internationals against South Africa from September 24 to October 6. The series will serve as a prelude to a three-match series against India later in October that will lead up to the World T20 in November. West Indies, who won the 2016 edition of the tournament, will look to defend the title at home.”As we approach the ICC WWT20, both the ODI and T20 series will be key as our preparation continues towards the tournament,” West Indies women chairman of selectors Courtney Browne said. “After a disappointing tour of New Zealand, our players now have the opportunity to be highly competitive in familiar conditions.”Campbelle, a 25-year old wicketkeeper-batsman, last made an international appearance during the 2016 tour of India, and made her way back to the national squad with strong domestic performances. McLean, 23, hasn’t played an ODI for West Indies since September 2014. Selman, the 29-year old fast bowler, returned from an injury that kept her out of the side that toured New Zealand in March.Several players from that tour, on which West Indies lost both the ODI and the T20I series, were dropped. Britney Cooper, Reniece Boyce, Kyshona Knight, Akeira Peters and Tremayne Smartt were left out, while 17-year-old Qiana Joseph, who debuted during the 2017 World Cup and played only two one-dayers since, found a place in the ODI squad.ODI squad: Stafanie Taylor (capt), Merissa Aguilleira (wk), Shemaine Campbelle, Shamilia Connell, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Qiana Joseph, Kycia Knight, Hayley Matthews, Natasha Mclean, Chedean Nation, Shakera Selman, Anisa MohammedT20I squad: Stafanie Taylor (capt), Merissa Aguilleira (wk), Shemaine Campbelle, Shamilia Connell, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Qiana Joseph, Kycia Knight, Hayley Matthews, Natasha Mclean, Chedean Nation, Shakera Selman, Anisa Mohammed, Sheneta Grimmond, Karishma Ramharack

Cricket Association of Bengal president also speaks of ‘appalling’ manner in which Ravi Shastri was picked as India coach

Sidharth Monga30-Oct-2018In a letter to the BCCI’s office bearers, Sourav Ganguly, the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), said he has a “deep sense of fear and worry” about how cricket is being run in India and that the game’s popularity is “in danger” because of the current administration.In his letter, which ESPNcricinfo has accessed, he has also spoken publicly for the first time about the “appalling” way in which Ravi Shastri was selected as the national team’s head coach. He also criticised the handling of the recent sexual harassment case and the changing of playing conditions in domestic cricket in the middle of the season.

Change in independent committee

Veena Gowda, the independent member on the BCCI’s internal complains committee, has replaced PC Sharma on the independent committee put together to probe into allegations of sexual harassment against the BCCI CEO Rahul Johri. The BCCI statement on its website did not give a reason for the change but Vinod Rai, head of the the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA), told the that Sharma, a former Central Bureau of Investigation director, is in a “minor” conflict of interest. Sharma’s son-in-law is a BCCI employee, the paper reported.
The BCCI has also uploaded the terms of reference for the committee on its website, which made clear that the committee was free to probe into allegations that pertain to a time outside Johri’s tenure with the board. An email address will soon be set up to invite any person “desirous of placing any fact before the committee”. The first meeting of this committee will be held in Mumbai, where the CoA will share with the committee all it knows about the case.

Two of these three decisions – made with the blessings of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) – directly involved Ganguly, and possibly overruled him.Ganguly was on the Cricket Advisory Committee that selected Shastri as India’s coach after the bitter falling out of captain Virat Kohli with incumbent coach Anil Kumble. First, the deadline for the application was extended, allowing Shastri to apply. After the interviews, Ganguly said in a press conference he wanted to give Kohli some time to think about his demand. However, the CoA and the BCCI announced Shastri’s appointment the same evening. The first press release said Rahul Dravid and Zaheer Khan had been appointed batting and bowling consultants, but neither Dravid nor Zaheer ever got to work with the team.”My experience in the matter of coach selection was appalling,” Ganguly wrote. “The less said the better.”Ganguly is also the head of the BCCI technical committee, which has traditionally framed rules, regulations and playing conditions for the domestic game. But their recommendations on how to include north-eastern state teams into Ranji Trophy were also overlooked. “Cricketing rules are changed in the middle of a season, which has never been heard of,” Ganguly wrote. “Decisions made in committees are turned around with complete disrespect.” There have been other cases of qualification criteria being changed mid-tournament in domestic cricket this year as well.Another important recommendation of the committee was to favour day-night Test cricket, but the BCCI CEO Rahul Johri said that plan was put on hold because the team management was against it. Consequently, for India’s tour later this year, Cricket Australia has scheduled an all-day Test in Adelaide for the first time since 2014.Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri share a laugh•Getty Images

Ganguly was also critical of the manner in which the charges of harassment against Johri was being handled by the CoA. After an anonymous sexual harassment complaint against Johri popped up on Twitter on October 12, a divided CoA constituted an independent committee on October 30 to investigate the allegations. There had also been murmurs of an internal complaint against Johri, but the CoA neither acknowledged nor denied them until it asked this committee to look into internal complaints as well.Johri was first given a week to explain himself; Diana Edulji, one half of the CoA, wanted Johri to resign before any such probe, but Vinod Rai constituted the independent committee, which was then revealed to include a member, PC Sharma, whose son-in-law was a BCCI employee.”I don’t know how far it’s true, but the recent reports of harassment has really made the BCCI look very poorly,” Ganguly wrote in his letter. “More so the way it has been handled. The committee of CoA from four has come down to two and now the two seem to be divided.”Ganguly used strong language to describe the state of cricket administration in India. “I write this mail to you all with the deep sense of fear as to where Indian cricket administration is going,” he wrote. “Having played the game for a long period of time, where our lives were ruled by winning and losing, and the image of Indian cricket was of paramount importance to us. We wake up looking at how our cricket is faring even now.”But with deep sense of worry, (I used the word worry) I beg to state that the way things have gone in the last couple of years, the authority of Indian cricket to the world and the love and belief of millions of fans is on the way down.”Indian cricket with its massive following has been built over the years of hard work from superb administrators and greatest of cricketers who have managed to bring thousands of fans to the ground. I, at the present moment, think it’s in danger. Hope people are listening.”Ganguly’s comments came on a day when it was revealed that the CoA had identified the CAB as one of the state associations “partially compliant” with the Supreme Court order of August 9 that had directed all BCCI members – states – to follow the new constitution created on the basis of the Lodha Committee’s recommendations.

It will help with the day-to-day activities of the Competent Authority, which is currently heading up the SLC until fresh elections take place

Madushka Balasuriya12-Nov-2018Sri Lanka’s sports ministry has appointed a five-member advisory committee to assist in Sri Lanka Cricket’s day-to-day operations, until yet-to-be-announced board elections are held. It is expected to share duties with the sports ministry-appointed Competent Authority, which has been heading up SLC since June 1.Comprising president’s counsel Dinal Philips, Samantha Rajapaksa, Mohamed Hisham Jamaldeen, Ranil Pathirana and Lasantha Wickremasinghe, the committee has been mandated with “inculcating corporate and operational efficiency.”An SLC release said: “The new committee will provide guidelines for the SLC management to continue its operations unhindered, whilst it will also focus on inculcating corporate and operational efficiency to SLC operations, going forward”The appointment of this advisory committee – effective November 9 – comes on the heels of three other committee appointments last week, though SLC confirmed that each committee would retain a degree of autonomy and exist independent of each other.”The recently appointed Cricket Advisory Committee, Tournament Committee and the Umpires Committee will co-exist independently and are authorised to take decisions, without interference from any parties on cricket-related matters,” the release concluded.SLC elections have been delayed indefinitely since May 31 after a Court of Appeal found that SLC election protocol had been flouted in the run-up to the elections. While the court subsequently lifted the ban, elections failed to materialise in the months since. The ICC has set a deadline of February 9, 2019 for the SLC to hold its elections.

West Indies pacer gets two demerit points for shoulder contact with Imrul Kayes, taking his tally to five and forcing the suspension

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Nov-2018West Indies fast bowler Shannon Gabriel has received a one-Test suspension from the ICC, following an incident in the Chattogram Test wherein he made physical contact with Bangladesh’s Imrul Kayes. This means Gabriel will not be available for the second Test of the series, which will be played in Mirpur form November 30.In the eighth over in Chattogram, Gabriel and Kayes made shoulder contact while the bowler was in his follow-through. This happened as the batsman was looking for a single on the leg side and didn’t have the bowler in his line of vision. Gabriel was warned by Aleem Dar but, in his next over, the 10th of the innings, he appeared to have nudged Kayes’ shoulder again, which was accompanied by a verbal exchange between the two.Gabriel received two demerit points – and was fined 30% of his match fee – for the incident, taking his tally of demerit points to five. He had picked up three demerit points during the Jamaica Test against Pakistan in April 2017. Then, too, Gabriel had made contact with a batsman, in that case Sarfraz Ahmed at the non-striker’s end while collecting his cap from the umpire.As per ICC regulations, if a player reaches a tally of four demerit points within a 24-month period, he or she receives a suspension. Each point stays on the player’s record for 24 months from the date of sanctioning, and suspensions are handed out when four, eight or 12 points are aggregated. That means that if Gabriel receives three more demerit points for any reason before April 2019 – which is when his Jamaica transgressions will be wiped from his record – he will receive a longer suspension. The two demerit points he has received for the latest incident will stay on his record till November 2020.An ICC statement said Gabriel admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee David Boon, so there was no formal hearing. The charge against him was brought by the match’s umpires, Aleem Dar, Richard Illingworth, Ruchira Palliyaguruge and Masudur Rahman.

The New Zealander scored 95 and then bagged five wickets in a superb display against Melbourne Stars

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Dec-2018New Zealand allrounder Sophie Devine produced a stunning all-round display as she became the first player in WBBL to score a half-century and take five wickets in the same match.She only came up five runs short of a century, clubbing 95 off 60 balls for Adelaide Strikers – an innings that included five sixes – adding 131 for the third with Bridget Patterson before falling to the last ball of the penultimate over.That was far from the end of her day, however, as she then cut off a brisk start from Melbourne Stars in their chase by removing the dangerous Lizelle Lee. The five-wicket bag was completed in her final over when Nicola Hancock was caught behind.Devine’s figures of 5 for 41 were the fourth best in the WBBL. Two years ago she scored an unbeaten 103 against the Hurricanes.In 2015 Grace Harris scored 103 off 55 balls opening for Brisbane Heat before taking 4 for 15 in two overs.