Umesh Yadav will replace the fast bowler in India’s squad

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Sep-2019Jasprit Bumrah, India’s No. 1 fast bowler, has been ruled out of the Test series against South Africa, which begins in Visakhapatnam on October 2. Bumrah has suffered a “minor stress fracture in his lower back,” according to a BCCI press release. The injury came to light “during a routine radiological screening.”Umesh Yadav will replace Bumrah in India’s Test squad. The emergence of Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami as India’s first-choice fast-bowling combination has reduced Umesh’s opportunities of late, limiting him to only five Tests since the start of 2018. In his second-to-last Test, however, he picked up a career-best match haul of 10 for 133 against West Indies in Hyderabad.

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Bumrah’s injury is a significant blow to India. Since his Test debut in January 2018, he has quickly established himself as one of the world’s most dangerous fast bowlers, picking up 62 wickets in 12 Test matches at an average of 19.24. He already has five-wicket hauls in each of the four tours he has been on – South Africa, England, Australia and the West Indies – and the series against South Africa was to be his first at home.This is the second time Bumrah has had to miss Tests due to injury. A thumb injury, picked up during a T20I against Ireland in Malahide, forced him to miss the first half of India’s tour of England last year, including the first two Tests. The stress fracture, though, will worry India a little more since it was not sustained on the field of play.India have been mindful of Bumrah’s workload, resting him from the limited-overs legs of their tours of Australia, New Zealand and the West Indies earlier this year.Some, though, believe it will help Bumrah’s fitness to play as much cricket as possible.”Bumrah should play as many games as possible, I always endorse that,” the former India quick Zaheer Khan told when asked what the best way to preserve Bumrah would be. “More matches you play, more experience you get. That bowling rhythm and fitness is very important. You have to strike that right balance.”The way Bumrah has evolved in such a short span of time has been remarkable. He is a thinking bowler. You can achieve such success, when you keep improving, keep thinking, keep upgrading.”

The 16-team tournament will last 24 days, with the final scheduled for February 9

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Oct-2019Hosts South Africa will kickstart the 2020 U-19 World Cup on January 17, when they take on Afghanistan in Kimberley. The schedule for the 16-team tournament, to be played over 24 days across eight venues, was announced by the ICC on Thursday. Apart from Kimberley, the games will be played in Benoni, Bloemfontein and Potchefstroom with the final scheduled for February 9. There is free entry to all matches.Along with Afghanistan, South Africa have UAE and Canada in Group D. Defending champions India are in Group A, slotted with New Zealand, Sri Lanka and first-time qualifiers Japan. Australia, the runners-up of the 2018 edition, are paired up with England, West Indies and another first-time team Nigeria in Group B while Group C sees Pakistan being joined by Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Scotland. From each group, the bottom two teams will fight in the Plate tournament while the top two teams will proceed for the Super League stage.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Potchefstroom’s JP Marks Oval will play host to both semi-finals and the final. There are also warm-up games scheduled between January 12-15 in Johannesburg and Pretoria.Japan and Nigeria qualified for the tournament after emerging as champions of the East Asia Pacific and Africa regions. The other three regional qualifiers are Canada (Americas), UAE (Asia) and Scotland (Europe). With four titles, India have won the most U-19 World Cups. Australia have won three times, Pakistan twice while England, West Indies and South Africa have won once each.

The series opener on December 6 will now be played in Hyderabad, while Mumbai will host the game on December 11

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Nov-2019The BCCI has swapped the venues for India’s first and third T20Is against West Indies. The series opener, on December 6, will now be played in Hyderabad, while the Wankhede will host the third and final game on December 11.It is understood that on Friday Mumbai Cricket Association secretary Sanjay Naik along with former MCA president Ashish Shelar updated the BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah about Mumbai police’s inability to provide adequate security on December 6, which is the anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition as well as Ambedkar Jayanti. Accordingly, the BCCI requested Mohammad Azharuddin, the president of Hyderabad Cricket Association, who readily agreed to the swap.”The BCCI has agreed to swap the dates of the Mumbai [December 6] and Hyderabad [December 11] games. We were able to carry out the swap after HCA president Mohammed Azharuddin agreed,” a senior MCA official was quoted as saying by PTI.Last year, the fourth India-West Indies ODI was also moved from the Wankhede to Cricket Club of India’s Brabourne Stadium due to administrative issues at MCA.

Most of the other major venues have been updated well enough to host international cricket again

Umar Farooq in Rawalpindi15-Dec-2019Day 1: 68 overs of play
Day 2: 17.5 overs
Day 3: 5.2 overs
Day 4: Called off without a ball (teams remained at hotel)
Day 5: Predictable draw
Nine sessions of the Rawalpindi Test were effectively washed out but a full house still turned up for the final day’s play and they were treated to a remarkable innings from Abid Ali. The 32-year old became the first male cricketer to score a century on both his Test and ODI debuts but even his performance couldn’t distract from the fact that the return of Test cricket to Pakistan – the end of 10 years of exile – literally turned into a washout.No ground outside of Rawalpindi and Karachi was considered to host the Sri Lanka Tests, although originally the series itself was expected to take place in October, the best time for cricket in Pakistan.So, over the last four days as rain doused the prospect of an outright result, the PCB has been under the spotlight for their choice of venue. The last 10 Test matches played in northern Punjab in the month of December have all failed to produce a result with an exception of one game against Zimbabwe in 1993. There was one Test in Faisalabad which was abandoned without a ball bowled. Another, in Gujranwala, had weather that was good enough for only 36 overs of cricket.Even so, Rawalpindi was the best option available to the PCB. Multan, Faisalabad and Peshawar have not been upgraded well enough to host international cricket again. Lahore and Karachi do but one city is experiencing heavy smog and the other will host the second Test on Thursday.In the aftermath of the 2009 attacks, logistics – direct flights in and out – and security clearances play a huge part in any match that is played in Pakistan. PCB had prioritised getting Lahore and Karachi ready first and had only recently invited ICC security consultant Reg Dickason to assess the state of affairs in Rawalpindi. Multan is next on the list; it is currently being considered to host four games in PSL 2020. Peshawar is already under renovation. Faisalabad, however, is yet to receive much attention.

Offspinner withdrawn from Thunder squad, is ineligible to bowl for at least 90 days in Cricket Australia-run competitions

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jan-2020Offspinner Chris Green has been suspended from bowling due to an illegal action, Cricket Australia announced on Wednesday.Green was withdrawn from the Sydney Thunder squad for their Big Bash League match against the Melbourne Stars, scheduled for later in the day. Thunder are fourth on the points table, while the Stars are at the top.He was reported by umpires Nathan Johnstone, Mike Graham-Smith and third umpire Paul Wilson, after the match between the Thunder and Stars at the Sydney Showground Stadium on January 2.Green will be unable to for a minimum of 90 days in CA-run competitions, effective immediately. After the 90-day suspension has elapsed, Green will be eligible to undergo testing once again with a view to returning to bowling. He will be permitted to play as a batsman should the Thunder or Cricket NSW desire and can also play premier cricket (including bowl) under the supervision and with the consent of Cricket NSW during his suspension.So far, Green had played in each of the Thunder’s seven matches in BBL 2019-20, and had the second best economy rate among Thunder’s bowlers, with 7.55. He picked up only three wickets, but his miserly economy rate has been among his chief strengths.In December, he had the best economy rate of any bowler in T20 cricket in the past year, giving up runs at just 6.57 per over.Green had been picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders at his base price of INR 20 lakh in the IPL auction on December 19, and in November last year, he had signed the longest deal in BBL history, with Thunder snapping him up for six seasons.Once he was reported, Green underwent testing at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane on January 5 under the guidance of Dr Luke Kelly. Results from the test were made available to Cricket Australia on Wednesday, which showed Green to have an illegal bowling action.Peter Roach, CA’s head of cricket operations, praised the bowler and the franchise for their cooperation in the matter, and how they had handled it.”We’d like to commend Chris and the Thunder for the way they have approached this process with complete cooperation and respect,” he said. “Chris undertook testing at the earliest possible time and satisfactorily replicated his bowling action in the controlled environment. We look forward to working with Chris in the coming months and conducting further testing once the suspension period has elapsed.””Gutted I couldn’t be out there with my Thunder team-mates tonight,” Green tweeted. “Whilst the news surrounding my action is disappointing, I respect the process and the results of the test. Perspective is a powerful thing with what is currently happening in our country.”Through the help of my coaches, I will be doing everything I can to get back to doing what I love with ball in hand. I would like to thank everyone for their messages, I am very fortunate to have the best people and fans around to support me. Work starts tomorrow.”

Quetta failed to make a formal complaint against Peshawar within the 48-hour window

Danyal Rasool24-Feb-2020Peshawar Zalmi will have no case to answer for alleged ball-tampering during their game against Quetta Gladiators, after the PCB confirmed that Quetta had failed to formally make a complaint. Quetta captain Sarfaraz Ahmed’s claim they had reported what they perceived as ball-tampering by Peshawar has been refuted by the PCB, who in a press release stated Quetta had not filed the complaint through the “correctly stated procedure”.Following the conclusion of the match between Quetta and Peshawar on Saturday, Sarfaraz said his side believed Peshawar had altered the condition of the ball, and they were taking the matter up with the match referee and the PCB. “As far as ball-tampering is concerned, we have followed the protocols of [the] PCB and submitted our report on the matter,” he said. Team manager Nabeel Hashmi, who was with Sarfaraz at the press conference, appeared to clarify the comment, suggesting a formal complaint had not been made.The procedure to file a formal complaint was never followed though. Quetta wrote their complaint on the match evaluation form, which is not the platform to lodge formal complaints. Instead, the PCB pointed out, “all Reports must be completed on Form “Rep 1″ (or such other form as may be made available for such purpose by the PSL from time to time). All Reports must be signed and dated by the person lodging the Report.”That needed to be done within 48 hours of the conclusion of the game, which Peshawar won by six wickets. With that time having now lapsed, the window of opportunity available to Quetta to make a complaint has closed.”The Pakistan Cricket Board today confirmed match referee Roshan Mahanama has not received an official complaint from Quetta Gladiators against Peshawar Zalmi for changing the condition of the ball…” the PCB media release said.The PCB made clear they will not recognise Sarfaraz’s public comments as an official complaint, and were not happy with the manner in which Quetta had handled the matter.”We are aware that a statement on changing the condition of the ball has been made without providing any concrete evidence or lodging a formal complaint through the correctly stated procedure,” Wasim Khan, the PCB CEO, said.”In this case, this should have been submitted to the match referee by 6pm on Monday, 24 February. Such irresponsible statements without formal follow-up will only effect the integrity of the event and cast doubts on international cricketers, and, as such, I request the players to use caution and show responsibility.”A source at Quetta Gladiators told ESPNcricinfo that they had no intention to formally complain, insisting Sarfaraz’s comments had been misinterpreted. Quetta merely wanted to raise awareness of the issue, and to ask umpires to pay more attention to the ball’s condition, which would explain why they included their remarks on the umpire evaluation form instead of lodging a complaint to the match referee.The PSL resumes in Multan on Wednesday, where Multan Sultans will take on Peshawar. Quetta next play in Rawalpindi against Islamabad United.

“I think we can (take confidence from recent form). India were the No.1 ranked team and we beat them two-nil,” he said

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Mar-2020New Zealand coach Gary Stead has called Australia a “benchmark” that they try and aspire to and has welcomed more white-ball fixtures against them in the coming years.”I look at what’s coming ahead in the next few years, and I do see that we are playing Australia in white ball cricket reasonably regularly.. They are a great team, we respect them a lot for the way they play their cricket. That’s ultimately, sometimes, they set a benchmark for us to aspire to,” he said.New Zealand were thrashed three-nil in the Tests in Australia in December, but subsequently whitewashed India in ODIs and Tests at home, although they themselves were on the wrong side of a T20I whitewash that preceded those. On the back of those results, Stead believes New Zealand come to Australia a confident side.”I think we can (take confidence from recent form). India were the No.1 ranked team and we beat them two-nil in our home conditions and played really well in the ODis series prior to that as well. I think we have played some really good ODI cricket in the last three or four years and hopefully we can continue that on”Australia, on the other hand, are coming off a three-nil hammering in the ODIs in South Africa, before which they were beaten two-one in India, despite having taken a lead in the series opener. But Stead expects Australia to be a different beast at home, and certainly “never vulnerable”.”I think Australia are never vulnerable at home,” he said. ” It’s one of the toughest places to come and play in world cricket I guess as well. Their reputation, and the record that they have I guess, you see the record and that’s why they do have that reputation. And so, I mean, they have come off being beaten in South Africa, but all a lot of teams struggle away from home, and I guess no different for us, that’s going to be our biggest challenge.”It is an unusual time for ODI cricket as it takes the backseat for most teams in terms of importance with the World Cup still more than three years away, and with the Test Championship and the T20Is – given the T20 World Cup later this year – taking priority. The timing of the Australia-New Zealand series was questioned by former Australia captain Michael Clarke who called it “token games of cricket”, and head coach Justin Langer admitted that Australia have some weary players, but Head was quick to dismiss the “some games are not important” argument.”I think every game you play for your country is an important game, so I don’t sort of buy into the it’s not important sort of series,” Stead said.
“You can make your importance out of these series and what you do, and how you play, and who you select, and what you are looking for as well. So for us, every opportunity we get to play for New Zealand, it is a proud moment and certainly go out there and try and win every game we play.”Stead also felt that though the formats are different and the conditions may not be the same as the current ODIs come the T20 World Cup, any information that they can gather playing on Australian grounds could be beneficial.”It is a different format, but I guess the more information you can get, and the more intel you can get on all the grounds, the good thing is. I’m not sure if the pitch conditions will look the same in the T20 time. So you take all those factors in. you can look at the Big Bash, and scores and things that go on there and who is successful at different grounds before you come to making your final decisions. But I guess ultimately we select the 15 that we think can do the job here, and we’ll do that for the World Cup as well.”

A framework has also been drawn up to manage athletes who contract Covid-19 when sport resumes

Daniel Brettig01-May-20201:42

Tait: Legalised tampering might be chance for cricket to move forward

Shining the ball with saliva or sweat will be restricted in Australia under a framework released by the federal government about the staged return of both professional and recreational sport amid the coronavirus pandemic.The guidelines, drawn up by the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in conjunction with medical experts, sporting bodies and federal and state governments, outline a staged return to play at all levels, hastened by the desires of the winter football codes in particular to return in time to salvage some of their seasons. Cricket Australia’s chief medical officer John Orchard was involved in the preparation of the framework.They will have international implications, and follow the revelation on ESPNcricinfo last week that cricket administrators were actively considering the possibility of allowing the ball to be polished with artificial substances to reduce the risks associated with using saliva on the ball and then passing it around the field of play.ALSO READ: Cricket to consider legalised ball-tampering in wake of coronavirusUnder the AIS framework, restrictions on sport are currently outlined as being at “Level A” restricting all training except that of the individual kind. But there will soon be a move to “Level B”, potentially little more than a week from now, which will allow the following: “Nets — batters facing bowlers. Limit bowlers per net. Fielding sessions — unrestricted. No warm up drills involving unnecessary person-person contact. No shining cricket ball with sweat/saliva during training.”The third and final “Level C”, to be permitted later in the year, is outlined as: “Full training and competition. No ball shining with sweat/saliva in training.”These step by step returns will run alongside government decisions about when and how. The NRL is set to be the first sport to return to action, having flagged a May 28 return date for the competition, which will be reduced to 20 rounds. The AFL is currently debating some of the logistical issues around its own return.Intriguingly, cricket as a non-contact sport may actually be permitted to return before the winter codes, leaving the northern states open to play. The Australian team’s next scheduled matches in Australia were slated to be as part of a limited-overs series against Zimbabwe in August.”Sport makes an important contribution to the physical, psychological and emotional well-being of Australians,” the framework report states. “The economic contribution of sport is equivalent to 2-3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating effects on communities globally, leading to significant restrictions on all sectors of society, including sport. Resumption of sport can significantly contribute to the re-establishment of normality in Australian society.How would you shine the cricket ball in the time of Covid-19?•Getty Images

“The principles outlined in this document apply equally to high performance/professional level, community competitive and individual passive (non-contact) sport. The AIS Framework is a timely tool for ‘how’ reintroduction of sport activity will occur in a cautious and methodical manner, to optimise athlete and community safety. Decisions regarding the timing of resumption of sporting activity (the ‘when’) must be made in close consultation with Federal, State/Territory and Local Public Health Authorities. The priority at all times must be to preserve public health, minimising the risk of community transmission.”Standards for a return to elite sport are also a part of the report, which dictates how athletes contracting Covid-19 may be dealt with, and precautions that will continue to need to be taken even after full competitive sport is permitted to resume.”The resumption of sport and recreation activities will be a complex process. A careful stepwise process needs to be implemented to ensure the safety of athletes and other personnel and the wider community,” the report states. “Preparation for resumption includes education of the athletes and other personnel, assessment of the sport environment and agreement on training scheduling to accommodate social distancing.”The approach to training should focus on ‘get in, train, get out’, minimising unnecessary contact in change rooms, bathrooms and communal areas. Prior to resumption, sporting organisations should have agreed protocols in place for management of illness in athletes and other personnel. Special consideration should be made for para-athletes and others with medical conditions as they may be more vulnerable to COVID-19 infection. Clubs and individuals should apply a graded return to mitigate injury risk, understanding that sudden increase in training load will predispose to injury.”Individuals should not return to sport if in the last 14 days they have been unwell or had contact with a known or suspected case of COVID-19. Any individual with respiratory symptoms (even if mild) should be considered a potential case and must immediately self-isolate, have COVID-19 excluded and be medically cleared by a doctor to return to the training environment.”Athletes returning to sport after COVID-19 infection require special consideration prior to resumption of high intensity physical activity.”Australia and New Zealand have been two of the world’s least-affected countries in the coronavirus pandemic. After being one of the first nations exposed to the virus, border closures, social distancing measures and business and large scale gathering shutdowns have helped to bring the virus to a standstill relative to events in the UK, United States and India.The full report can be found here.

No team has ever won at Emirates Old Trafford after choosing to bowl first

Matt Roller24-Jul-2020Kraigg Brathwaite has defended his captain Jason Holder’s decision to bowl first for the second match in a row, despite England putting themselves into a commanding position in the deciding Test in Manchester.No team has ever won at Emirates Old Trafford after choosing to bowl first, and the team that batted first in the last four Tests at the ground went on to win. With that in mind, and after his call to bowl first last week backfired, it was a surprise that Holder again opted to field on Friday, not least with offspinner Rahkeem Cornwall included ahead of seamer Alzarri Joseph.ALSO READ: Pope, Buttler stand shores up England effortHolder said at the toss that there was “a little moisture in the surface” and that the overhead conditions had played a part in his decision. The wicket of Dom Sibley, trapped lbw by Kemar Roach, in the first over of the day seemed to vindicate his call, but with England closing on 258 for 4 thanks to a unbroken 136-run stand between Ollie Pope and Jos Buttler, there are valid questions for Holder to answer.”It’s been a pretty even day,” said Brathwaite in a virtual press conference, defending Holder’s decision. “We had a plan to bowl first. There was moisture in the wicket, and we thought as a team we wanted to utilise it.”They got a good partnership, but I don’t think we’re out of it, to be honest. Once we come out tomorrow and control the scoring rate, build that pressure, then I think we can get some wickets in the morning.”With both Saturday and Monday’s play in doubt due to rain, West Indies may find themselves needing to bat well only once in order to save the game, but Brathwaite denied that the forecast had an influence in their plan to bowl first, and refuted the idea that Holder was playing it safe.”I wouldn’t say that: we saw some moisture in the pitch,” he said. “Our plan was to get wickets early and put them under pressure. I wouldn’t say it was because of the weather as such.”The inclusion of Cornwall in particular seemed to be at odds with the decision to bowl first. West Indies had relied on Roston Chase as their main spinner throughout the series, bowling tight lines and keeping things tight, but instead picked Cornwall, a more attacking bowler, but denied him the chance to bowl last on a wearing surface.And while he took an excellent reaction catch in the slips and bowled some dangerous balls, Cornwall struggled to tie England down, leaking 3.38 runs per over. “He was unfortunate not to get a wicket, but I thought he had a decent start,” was Brathwaite’s unenthusiastic analysis.Brathwaite suggested in particular that early wickets once play is able to resume would be crucial, with England leaving out Zak Crawley and changing the balance of their side in order to compensate for Ben Stokes’ quad muscle injury, which has left him playing as a specialist batsman.That means Chris Woakes, who has averaged just 12.6 with the bat since his hundred against India at Lord’s in 2018, finds himself due to bat at No. 7, perhaps giving West Indies encouragement that one wicket could bring a flurry.”Early wickets will be crucial with the new ball, the harder ball,” Brathwaite said. “But [even] if we don’t get early ones, if we stay in it, there’s one less specialist batsman – Woakes can still bat – but two or three wickets could happen.”We’ve got to be very disciplined when we start out in the first session. The harder ball on the surface is always good [so] I think the new ball’s crucial for us. Once we build that pressure with some tight overs, we’ll get some wickets early.”

He also believes the current Test team under Virat Kohli is the best-ever India team

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Aug-2020Sunil Gavaskar, the first man to 10,000 Test runs, was a batting template for an entire generation of Indian cricketers. He’s pleased that the next generation is raising the bar further. In an interview on ‘s E-Inspiration series, Gavaskar praised Rohit Sharma’s attacking style in particular, saying he would have loved to have been a free-flowing opener like Sharma.Since the start of 2015, Sharma has averaged 62.36 in 97 ODI innings and strikes at 95.44, with 24 centuries during that period. He is also currently the only batsman to have made multiple double-centuries – three – in ODI cricket, and is part of one of the most prolific ODI partnerships in history alongside Shikhar Dhawan. In the last home season, India transitioned him into a Test opening role as well, where he made a boisterous start with three centuries in five games.Gavaskar himself had a successful career as an ODI opener, finishing with an average of 35.13 in 108 matches. And while a strike rate of 62.26 was not automatically frowned upon during his playing time, he suggested that more belief in his own abilities might have made him score at a faster rate.”The way you see a Rohit Sharma opening the batting in one-day cricket, Test cricket smashing from the first over,” he said. “That is what I wanted to play. Circumstances and, of course, lack of confidence in my ability did not allow me to do that. But when I see the next generation doing it, I am absolutely over the moon, I love watching the next generation because there you see progress. You see how they are setting the bar higher for the next generation.”On a related note, Gavaskar said that the current Indian Test team under Virat Kohli is the best they’ve ever had. India are currently third in ICC’s Test rankings, one rating point behind New Zealand, and two behind Australia who are No. 1. They do, however, have a 64-point lead at the top of the World Test Championship standings as they brace for a Test series against Australia at the end of the year.Virat Kohli receives the ICC Test mace from Sunil Gavaskar•ICC

“I believe this team is the best ever Indian Test team in terms of balance, in terms of ability, in terms of skills, in terms of temperament. Can”t think of a better Indian Test team,” Gavaskar said. “This team has the attack to win on any surface. It doesn’t need any help [from] conditions. They can win on any surface. Batting-wise, there were teams in the 1980s that were pretty similar. But they didn’t have the bowlers that Virat has.”Much of India’s recent success in Tests, particularly the series win in Australia last year, has been credited to a potent and versatile bowling attack. The fast bowlers have near-identical numbers to the spinners under his captaincy, to the degree that no other Indian captain has ever had. The roster was part of the management’s plan to develop a bowling attack that would work anywhere in the world, and has made India a strong threat in overseas Tests. What’s left now, suggested Gavaskar, is a more rounded batting line-up.”[…] Without a question, India has got such a varied bowling attack today and that is so essential. There is a saying that if you don’t take 20 wickets, you won’t win a match. We have got the bowling to take 20 Australian wickets on one run less than what India has scored. You need to score runs also. We saw that in England in 2018. We saw that in South Africa in 2017 when we went there. (India lost both series)”We got 20 wickets every time but we didn’t score enough runs. But now I think we have also got the batting to be able to score more runs than Australians.”