All posts by csb10.top

The emergence of Alex Carey, Marnus Labuschagne and Ben McDermott as players of national interest has been confirmed by their inclusion in Cricket Australia’s national performance squad for 2017.Carey enjoyed a strong season as wicketkeeper for a South Australian side that made the Sheffield Shield final for a second consecutive season, while Labuschagne enjoyed a strong season for Queensland and McDermott produced one of the innings of the Big Bash League for the Hobart Hurricanes against the Melbourne Renegades.At a time when the national selectors are looking ardently towards youth, the trio will be aware of their standing when reminded of the fact that three members of last year’s squad – Matt Renshaw, Hilton Cartwright and Sam Heazlett – all went on to play for Australia during the 2016-17 season.”It’s been really pleasing see three players from the 2016 National Performance Squad go on to play international cricket in the past 12 months,” the national talent manager and selector Greg Chappell said. “In Matthew Renshaw and Hilton Cartwright at Test level, and Sam Heazlett at ODI level, the NPS program is having a real impact in developing Australia’s emerging talent into cricketers capable of playing at the game’s highest level.”There is a wealth of talent in this squad, and a nice balance between players with domestic experience pushing to play for Australia in the near future, and players who we believe can make the step up from underage championships, to domestic level and hopefully international cricket over the next couple of years.”Pace bowlers will be the first to arrive at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane on May 8, before the full intake begins on May 29. The players will be sent to the Snowy Mountains for a boot camp before other keynote events including a five-day spin camp in June, a visit to the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai in July and a fielding and wicketkeeping camp in August.”Our spin camp has been running now for a number of years, and each year I see it getting better. We have international conditions, international spinners and international coaches coming through as part of that particular program as well,” the NPS head coach Troy Cooley said. “With the facilities we have, we can replicate Indian conditions and Australian conditions, and it really is a good opportunity for both batsmen and bowlers to develop their game outdoors in the sun.””We’ve done some excellent work with the State Talent Managers and the National Selection Panel to select this squad, and we have another talented group of young players. Our role in this important pathway program is to value-add to the hard work the States are doing with these players.”Our facilities are world renowned, and provide plenty of opportunities for cricketers to learn and develop their craft in a multitude of different conditions to not only improve on their current skills, but replicate the touring life of an international cricketer.”There are several specialist camps as part of this year’s program, including a boot camp in the Snowy Mountains to test our players’ adaptability and resilience away from the game, and a trip to the MRF Academy which adds a real international flavour to the program, and further sub-continent experience.”National Performance Squad 2017: Alex Carey, Jackson Coleman, Michael Cormack, Brendan Doggett, Jake Doran, Daniel Fallins, Jordan Gauci, Ryan Gibson, Ryan Hadley, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Lewin Maladay, Ben McDermott, Tom O’Donnell, Ben Pengelley, Henry Thornton, Param Uppal, Mac Wright

Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, says that the launch of All Stars Cricket, a major grassroots initiative for children aged between five and eight, is about creating a new generation of fans in order to sustain the sport into the future.From midday on Monday, parents have been able to sign up their children online to become All Stars in an ECB scheme that aims to introduce the game to 50,000 boys and girls across the country.”I think we’re in a world of competition from many sports,” Vaughan told ESPNcricinfo. “I do think cricket has sat back for many years and expected people to come and play the game. This is a project that takes the game to parents and kids.”The need to engage young children with cricket has never been more pressing as cricket has lost out to a range of individual pursuits that have been galvanised by Olympic coverage and social media interest, and by the effects of a social environment less naturally attuned to team sports.”You only have to look to the left and see the Olympic Stadium,” Vaughan said during the launch event at the ArcelorMittal Orbit in Stratford. “Who’d have thought many years ago that kids would have seen BMX racing on TV, or taekwondo? These kids have been inspired by the Olympics because they’ve seen the game. And that’s really important, that cricket gets seen more.”If one or two England players are made in the next ten years then great, but this is more about creating the cricket fan. I would hope that any youngster who comes through the programme, whether they play or not, they are going to like the game. And that’s what I call spreading the wings of the game. The more we can grab kids of a younger age, the more their wings are going to be spread later in life, and that can only be good for the game.”A clue to the ECB’s priorities comes in the fact that the media release prior to the launch came with enthusiastic quotes not from the MCC or any traditional cricketing body, but from the CEO of Mumsnet, Justine Roberts, who spoke on behalf of parents in celebrating: “Fun sporty activities that their children will love.”

ECB close to Olympic Stadium World Cup deal

Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive, believes a deal is close to being secured to host World Cup matches at the Olympic Stadium in East London during the 2019 event.
Negotiations have been ongoing for some time, and are believed to revolve around two group-stage fixtures, one of which will feature England, and could be played in front of a capacity audience of 66,000 – double the size of Lord’s.
“It would be an amazing statement,” said Harrison. “60,000 people in a ground in the UK watching World Cup cricket. It’s making a statement about what cricket means in this country.”

“We’re trying to make a very early connection with girls and boys around the country, which if you get that right, the return on that time and investment is over a lifetime,” ECB chief executive, Tom Harrison, told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s a fantastic way for us to demonstrate how we are trying to broaden the appeal of cricket around the country, through our club network, county boards and ultimately also through communities that we don’t reach through cricket clubs.”The initiative has been almost two years in the making since the ECB appointed Matt Dwyer, who had successfully promoted the game at age-group level in Australia, as its director of participation and growth.Upon sign-up, participants will receive a cricketing backpack including a bat, ball and everything they need to try the game for the first time. They will then start an eight-week programme at their local centre in May where they will be introduced to the game in “a fun and safe environment”.As a gesture towards educational advantages, children will also learn the social development skills that team sport brings.Each session of the eight-week programme – developed with input from Andrew Strauss and the England performance team – aim to give children the basic skills they need to develop a lifelong love of cricket.Participating centres will receive free All Stars kits, volunteer training and support via a central marketing campaign, celebrating ‘Big Moments’ as children take their first steps in the game. The programme reflects ECB’s strategic framework for growing the game at every level.The project is part of the ECB’s wider ‘Cricket Unleashed’ programme, which aims to re-establish the sport’s relevance to all sections of society. ESPNcricinfo gave more details on the scheme last monthThe ECB has promoted All Stars at a series of meetings in county clubs around the country. Some of those already running successful youth cricket have reservations, bemoaning the fact that they will have no choice but to join a more expensive and glitzy marketing-led scheme.With cricket participation levels down, however, after a decade without free-to-air coverage, and with all team sports feeling a fall in numbers, and pressure on facilities, All Stars comes at a crucial moment for English cricket.Dwyer said: “We have big ambitions to significantly grow the game and this programme is all about putting a bat and ball in the hands of more children at an earlier age. First and foremost, we want to make playing cricket a fun and enjoyable experience for children and give them a passion for the game to last a lifetime.”Drawing kids to the game at an early age will develop more players, create more fans and show the power of cricket in developing physical and social skills.”We also want to make sure that parents have a great first experience at the club and give them the chance to have an hour back with their kids every week. We will be encouraging parents to get involved with sessions, whatever their prior knowledge of the game.”Within weeks of unveiling the programme to clubs we had 2,000 of them sign up to deliver All Stars Cricket and this summer we hope to have 50,000 kids trying the sport all over the country through this exciting nationwide programme.”England men’s and women’s stars Jonny Bairstow and Lauren Winfield joined Vaughan at the event’s launch on Monday evening.Additional reporting by Andrew Miller

Pierre de Bruyn has warned his Leicestershire players that complacency will not be tolerated under his leadership.De Bruyn has ruffled a few feathers at Grace Road since his appointment as the county’s new head coach following the departure of Andrew McDonald at the end of 2016 season. But he is unapologetic about challenging attitudes at a club he feels has been coasting for too long and said he is prepared to deal with some unhappy senior pros as a consequence of producing more opportunities for younger players.”The club has underperformed massively,” de Bruyn said. “The fact is, we’ve been at the bottom of the Championship for a few years and, though we showed some signs of improvement in red-ball cricket, we’ve been very poor in white-ball cricket. We can’t accept that. It’s time to take a look at ourselves. We owe the supporters better.”If we are serious about taking the club forward, we are going to have to have some tough conversations. If any of the senior players are complacent, I don’t mind challenging them and I don’t mind putting myself under pressure.”If you have a squad of 25 players, more than half will not be playing and that means that some of them will be unhappy. But I want to focus on this club producing England players again and, in the likes of Zak Chappell and Ned Eckersley, we have guys with the talent to do that. We can’t be accepting batsmen averaging in the mid-20s any more.”That would appear to be a reference to Angus Robson. He was the club’s highest Championship run-scorer in 2014 and second highest in 2015, but endured a tougher 2016, averaging 27.11 with a top score of 84. As a consequence, it seems he can no longer be assured of his place.”I don’t blame him if he feels his position is under threat,” de Bruyn said. “We have a big squad and competition is fierce. He has played more than 50 games and only made two centuries. He has had more than fair opportunity and there’s no doubt he had a poor season. Averaging 27 in Division Two is not getting us promoted. I told him to go away and focus on making hundreds. I hope it drives him to work harder. I hope he comes back motivated and ruthless.”But it’s not just him. Our top order – the likes of Paul Horton and Mark Pettini – failed to score the runs we needed in limited-overs cricket and we need to do better.”I am keen to create opportunities for younger players. Lewis Hill made a century at The Oval a couple of years ago [in his second first-class game], Harry Dearden is young and promising and we’ve signed Callum Parkinson, who is another who could go a long way in the game.”Senior players will be treated fairly and respectfully, but places are up for grabs and that’s exciting.”Leicestershire’s first-class performances actually improved in 2016. After three successive seasons in which they had finished bottom in Division Two, they rose to seventh (and, but for a late season slide, it could have been better), though they continued to struggled in the shorter formats. They were bottom of the North Group on the NatWest T20 Blast and second from bottom of the North Group in the Royal London Cup.

As he surveys Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium on the eve of Australia’s warm-up match against India A, there is a chance Darren Lehmann is casting his mind back to the first time he played at the ground. In the equivalent fixture on Australia’s 1998 visit – their first full tour of India in 12 years – Lehmann was one of 10 Australian fielders held spellbound by a ferocious Sachin Tendulkar double-century.Tendulkar led the local XI, and chose the occasion to strike the first blow in a battle he would ultimately win comfortably against the Australians in general and Shane Warne in particular. There was nothing subtle about the way Tendulkar took to Warne, hammering the visitors’ most accomplished bowler to such an extent that he finished the innings with the ugly figures of 0 for 111 from 16 overs.The awestruck Australians proceeded to stumble to an unexpected defeat, leaving their captain Mark Taylor to realise that the calculated assault on Warne had set the scene for a difficult and unsuccessful tour.”Warney’s a bit like all of us,” Taylor said at the time, “we need to improve. I think they’d be his worst figures in his first-class career. You don’t need me to tell you he’s been a great bowler for a number of years, but it shows that if you don’t bowl well and a side attacks you, you can go for runs.”Certainly Tendulkar did not look back, using the Mumbai platform to launch into one of his greatest Test hundreds in Chennai, before the entire Indian batting line-up laid waste to Warne at Eden Gardens. The episode is the most celebrated but far from the only example of Australian spin bowlers being targeted early in an India tour, building doubts in the minds of bowlers, team-mates and even selectors.Trevor Hohns and Darren Lehmann will have to be wary of second-guessing their selections, even as Australia’s spinners will have to respond effectively when they come under attack from India•Getty Images

A decade later, Bryce McGain pulled out of Australia’s India tour party due to a shoulder injury on the eve of a warm-up fixture in Hyderabad. McGain’s misfortune left Jason Krejza as the only full-time spin bowler on tour, a likely debutant in the first Test, and with a big target on his back for an invitational batting line-up featuring a young Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj Singh.What followed was another calculated mauling of the spin bowler by batsmen fleet of foot and aggressive of intent. Krejza, feeling the pressure, dropped repeatedly short, and was brutalised to such an extent that he returned the figures of 0-199 from 31 overs, spread across two innings.It was a return that troubled the selectors to such an extent that they summarily ruled Krejza out of the first Test. Then chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch was on duty in Hyderabad and offered a simple verdict down the phone to the rest of the panel back home: “We can’t pick him; they have absolutely slaughtered him in the tour game.”Instead, the tourists opted to include the Victorian captain Cameron White, flown in to replace McGain despite barely bowling his skiddy leg breaks in the Sheffield Shield the previous season. White was ineffective, Krejza unwanted. when the selectors finally decided to give Krejza a belated chance in the final Test, he harvested 12 (albeit expensive) wickets, posing a far greater threat than others had done before him.These lessons have hopefully not been forgotten by Lehmann, nor by the spin bowlers likely to feature in Mumbai over the next three days. Steve O’Keefe, Nathan Lyon, Ashton Agar and Mitch Swepson can expect to be attacked, and will need to be ready to respond effectively rather than thinking in purely practice mode.Likewise, the captain Steven Smith and the selectors on duty in Lehmann and Trevor Hohns should be wary of second-guessing themselves on the basis of a warm-up fixture. Perceived threats will be attacked by the hosts, in the hope of spinning the visitors off their axis. Resilience will be required, both with the ball and at the selection table.

Julie Hunter, the Australia women’s fast bowler, announced her retirement from cricket at the conclusion of Hobart Hurricanes’ Women’s Big Bash League campaign on Wednesday.The 32-year-old, who was part of two World T20 winning squads – in 2012 and 2014 – and the victorious World Cup winning team of 2013, had retired from one-day internationals in October last year.”It has been amazing playing with this group of girls for the past couple of years and I’ll walk away with a purple heart,” she was quoted as saying by the Hobart Hurricanes website. “This team is headed in a great direction and I’m proud to have been part of that.”I love the game and still get that nagging thought of ‘just one more?’ But I’ve reached the point where I can’t give it everything, so for me I can no longer give enough to keep going. A team-mate just reminded me what a huge career it has been and I’m certainly proud of what I have achieved and had the privilege to be a part of – I’ll take those moments and the friendships with me.”Hunter, who made her debut in 2010, played 24 ODIs and 32 T20Is in which she picked up 24 and 33 wickets respectively. She was also a key member of Hurricanes, helping them qualify for two semi-finals back-to-back.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDifferent crowd, different context, similar result. Australia returned to the scene of their 2015 World Cup final hiding of New Zealand and duly inflicted another enormous defeat on the visitors, completing the first clean sweep of a Chappell-Hadlee series in a decade, in front of a far smaller gathering than last time.Only 20,591 spectators were on hand to see the heavy lifting done by the vice-captain David Warner, who soared to his second ODI hundred in as many innings and seventh of the year, in conditions far more challenging than those prepared for either of the first two matches of the series.Warner’s innings was all the more laudable for the fact that most batsmen found scoring difficult on a slow and capricious pitch. After his 156, the next best score on either side was a doughty supporting hand of 37 by Travis Head, part of the only century stand of the match.On a chilly December day in Melbourne, the visitors had bowled with accuracy to some nifty plans devised by the captain Kane Williamson, notably catching out Aaron Finch and Steven Smith with a fielder placed at a shortish square leg. However Warner endured through the difficult passages and accelerated during a rearguard stand with Head, reaching his century, then going on to guide the Australians to a total that proved well beyond New Zealand.Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood both proved fiendishly difficult to counter in the evening, while Head made a further contribution to the match with the wickets of Martin Guptill and BJ Watling. James Faulkner chimed in with the vital dismissal of Williamson. The failure of New Zealand’s batsmen to make any impression on the scoreboard undermined some decent work earlier in the day by their bowlers, Warner’s excellence excepted.Trent Boult performed nicely for New Zealand, while the recalled Lockie Ferguson again demonstrated the high pace he is able to generate from a fast-arm action. It was Ferguson who came closest to dismissing Warner early on, but Henry Nicholls was unable to cling onto a difficult, diving outfield chance when the opener was on 18.The hosts had gone in with an unchanged team for the third match, retaining their fast bowlers Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins while also continuing to ignore the all-round skills of Glenn Maxwell. New Zealand had to leave out Jimmy Neesham due to continued pain in the arm that was struck by Starc in Canberra, while also recalling Ferguson at the expense of Matt Henry.Mitchell Starc blasted out Henry Nicholls and Colin Munro with lethal reverse-swinging yorkers•AFP

While the new ball did not swing a great deal, Boult bowled the ideal lines to coax Finch and Smith into false strokes towards the leg side that were snapped up by Nicholls. Smith’s wicket was a particular source of satisfaction after his tall scores in the first two matches of the series.George Bailey, again showcasing his backside-to-the-bowler stance, hung around to add 62 with Warner, but when his dismissal by Colin de Grandhomme was swiftly followed by Mitchell Marsh being bowled off bat and body, the Australians were in difficult straits.Warner was able to find a useful ally in Head, who struggled with timing but was at least able to rotate the strike and form a partnership, ultimately worth 105. That stand gave the hosts something to work with, and Warner was able to push on further once he passed three figures, surging beyond 150 and only being dismissed via a run out on the final ball of the innings.Matthew Wade and James Faulkner had provided some support at the back end of the innings, ensuring Australia were able to set New Zealand a total of good value on a sluggish pitch and expansive outfield. Guptill and Tom Latham made a fair start to the chase, reaching 44 in good time before Pat Cummins coaxed Latham into granting another catch to square leg, this time patrolled by Faulkner.Williamson was pinned in front of the stumps by Faulkner from around the wicket, and two overs later Guptill cracked Head’s very first ball into the outstretched hands of Bailey at cover. Nicholls was comprehensively yorked by Starc, and when Watling was found to be lbw to Head on a DRS review the game was all but up.Smith ended the match with another ripping catch, this time diving to his right at slip. While a vast match and series victory over a New Zealand side lacking both confidence and sharpness, this was no World Cup final. By their restrained celebrations it was clear that both Australian players and spectators alike were well aware of this fact.

USA coach Pubudu Dassanayake has praised his side for bouncing back after two losses at the end of the group stage to claim the WCL Division Four title last Saturday in Los Angeles and believes that USA will be one of the teams promoted from the Division Three tournament, due to be held in Uganda next year.”I took this job to take in that challenge that I want to win tournaments,” Dassanayake told ESPNcricinfo. “I wouldn’t have settled for runner-up in the final. The first five games in the league round, I was not that happy the way we fielded and some of the things that happened on the field. We had long, long chats in team meetings.”In the final, when I saw everybody putting that extra effort on the field doing the small things right to win the game, that was the number one moment for me. As a coach, when you set up a plan and the whole team is buying into it and doing that thing on the field, that’s a fantastic feeling. So a lot of credit to the boys and I’m very happy how things went in the final.”USA beat Oman by 13 runs in the tournament final, their second win of the tournament against a side that had made a splash at the World T20 earlier this year. In the league stage, USA beat Oman by eight wickets with more than 20 overs to spare but Dassanayake felt the win in the final was more impressive.Having opted to bat first, USA were 5 for 3 before fighting their way to 208. They went on to defend their total in the absence of two injured frontline bowlers, Ali Khan and Danial Ahmed. Khan’s replacement, Jessy Singh, was named Man of the Match for his 3 for 29 and 37 not out at No. 10, while Ahmed’s spin fill-in Prashanth Nair contributed a key spell of 1 for 37.”I’m very happy how especially Prashanth and Jessy performed because they were a few of the guys who really put a lot of hard work in training,” Dassanayake said. “They stayed behind after the Auty Cup and worked hard, not only batting and bowling but fitness. I was kind of uncomfortable leaving those guys out when the big names came back into the team but it’s fantastic that they got the opportunity and proved they belonged in the final XI. As a coach, you can’t ask for better when you see people work hard and then come in and perform.”I keep saying that USA has one of the best fast-bowling units. Even some of the guys who didn’t make the 14, they are good enough coming into any of these Associate teams. So we are lucky to have that but it’s good to have the competition. That’s how you lift up the level of the game. Everyone understands if you work hard and do things right, you can find a place in the team. That’s how I want to see this team growing. There’s a lot of examples and a lot of competition within the team and that’s a good sign for us moving into Division Three.”Dassanayake was also pleased with how USA’s captain Steven Taylor’s leadership progressed over the course of the tournament. Taylor turned 23 on Wednesday and was the youngest player in USA’s squad though he has played for the side since 2010. Dassanayake said there are still some growing pains to work through but he was happy with how Taylor learned from mistakes.Dassanayake on Steven Taylor: ” I think he’s going to be a top captain in the coming days”.•Peter Della Penna

“Overall I’m very happy how Steven performed from the bat, ball and as a captain,” Dassanayake said. “This is his first tour as a captain and there were downs as well during this tournament but for a leader it’s all about taking gambles and you stand for your decisions. He’s a character like that and I think he’s going to be a top captain in the coming days.”Lots of credit for him also winning the final defending 209, getting the bowlers and field settings right, keeping the team together. Some of those things didn’t happen in the beginning of the tournament but I think he’s gaining knowledge in how to lead the team. I’m looking forward to the future with Steven as a captain.”When asked if Taylor overbowled himself compared to the specialist bowling options – his 44 overs in the league stage were the most by a USA bowler and he finished with 49 overs, second only to Timil Patel for the side, and took six wickets – Dassanayake highlighted the USA captain’s all-round skills and labelled him the team’s top offspinner. Dassanayake said, however, that a better effort can be made to ensure specialist bowlers complete their full quota.”I think the main idea is that whoever plays as a bowler, we need to get their maximum [overs] for sure, but at the same time there are situations where the left-hander comes in and he’s [Taylor] our main offspinner,” Dassanayake said. “Even though Steven is our sixth bowler, he’s come into our top bowling unit. I don’t mind him sharing some overs with the main bowlers because of the quality he has as an offspinner.”USA will now have approximately five to six months to prepare for WCL Division Three, which according to sources is likely to be held in April or May of 2017. Along with Oman and Uganda, USA will take on Canada, Singapore and Malaysia in the hopes of securing another top-two finish and a promotion to Division Two.The side had three prior cracks at advancing from Division Three – in 2011, 2013 and 2014 – and failed on each occasion with the first and last attempts resulting in relegation back to Division Four. Dassanayake is aware of the challenge that lies ahead of the USA squad is confident that he can lead a change in fortunes.”Those four teams, and including Oman and USA, they all have played lots of cricket in Division Three and even some teams in Division Two and One,” Dassanayake said. “So I don’t think we can relax for any of these games.”But the confidence that I have, especially seeing the team in the final and the quality of cricket we played, fixing a few issues in the batting order and maybe in the bowling department also, I think we’ll be one of the teams going into Division Two from Division Three. I have that confidence but at the same time we have a good six months to sort out things that need to be corrected. I think this team will go into Division Three with lots of confidence to move into Division Two.”

R Samarth’s maiden first-class double-century was the highlight of Karnataka’s dominant batting performance against Jharkhand in Greater Noida. Karnataka had gone into stumps on the opening day on 248 for 3, with Samarth on 118 and Kaunain Abbas on 28. On Friday, Samarth scored 235 and Abbas made 55, while every batsman who followed came good as Karnataka piled on 577 for 6 before declaring. Jharkhand ended the day on 9 for no loss, trailing by 568 runs.After the Samarth-Abbas stand ended, having realised 115, Samarth and Stuart Binny (97) added 185 for the fifth wicket. Samarth added another 46 with CM Gautam, the wicketkeeper, before being dismissed. Gautam remained unbeaten on 36, and Shreyas Gopal was 21 not out when the declaration was made.Rajasthan came up with a strong reply to Assam’s first-innings total of 195 to gain a 13-run lead in Visakhapatnam. Rajasthan had bowled Assam out for 195 after Pankaj Singh’s 24th five-wicket haul on the opening day.Starting their innings afresh on the second day, Rajasthan ended on 208 for 3, with Mahipal Lomror unbeaten on 84. Rajasthan lost Manender Singh with just 8 on the board. Lomror and Vineet Saxena then joined hands for a 76-run second-wicket stand. Lomror added 75 more for the third wicket with Ashok Menaria (44), before taking the side to stumps in the company of Rajat Bhatia (28 not out). Arup Das, Abu Nechim and Pallavkumar Das took a wicket apiece.At the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, Odisha’s bowlers combined to give them the first-innings lead, bowling Saurashtra out for 186. Odisha had been bowled out for 228, despite opener Sandeep Pattnaik’s century, after which Saurashtra had gone into stumps on the first day at 4 for no loss.New-ball bowlers Basant Mohanty and Suryakant Pradhan and left-arm spinner Dhiraj Singh took all 10 wickets to keep Saurashtra to 186. Mohanty took 4 for 58, while Pradhan and Dhiraj took three each. Jaydev Shah, the Saurashtra captain, top-scored with 64, and Chirag Jani scored 45, but there was no other contribution of note. Although Dharmendrasinh Jadeja resisted with an unbeaten 28 at No. 10, it wasn’t enough to give them the lead.Odisha lost first-innings centurion Pattnaik and their captain Govinda Poddar early in the second innings, and went into stumps on 62 for 2, leading by 104 runs.

John Gleeson, the former Australia spinner, has died at the age of 78 in Tamworth, New South Wales.Gleeson was Australia’s 242nd Test cricketer and played 29 matches between 1967 and 1972. He took 93 wickets at an average of 36 with three five-wicket hauls. Gleeson also claimed 430 first-class wickets in a 116-match career between 1966 and 1975, predominantly for New South Wales.”He’s sadly passed away in the Tamworth hospital, aged 78,” the former Australia captain Ian Chappell relayed to viewers during Channel Nine’s coverage of a Matador Cup game.Gleeson was one of the early unorthodox spinners, delivering with an unusual action like Australia’s Jack Iverson before him and Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis decades later. “The folded finger-spinner they called him,” Chappell said. “He came from Tamworth, started out his cricket life as a wicketkeeper and he fiddled around flicking these balls … I think he started with a table tennis ball, and developed into a very fine finger spinner.”I spoke to him the other day, he’d come to grips with his situation and his last words were to me, ‘Don’t fret, mate, I’m in good shape’.”A late starter to first-class cricket at 27, Gleeson had honed his method for years prior, experimenting with various grips in backyard cricket ater being partly inspired by fellow “mystery” spinner Iverson. “The first time I saw it was a photograph in a 1951 Sporting Life magazine,” he said of Iverson’s grip in a 2008 interview. “I would bowl with the same grip with a tennis ball in backyard cricket, with a jacaranda tree as the wicket. It was quite natural for me to bowl a legspinner even if it looked like an offspinner – it was basically a reverse wrong’un: looks like an offspinner but is a legspinner.”Gleeson worked his way into the New South Wales state side and ultimately the Australian Test team after impressing Richie Benaud in a net session in the summer of 1966-67. He always remained somewhat miffed by the hype that surrounded his bowling style, which was a forerunner to other more lateral methods of spinning the ball that would follow in later years around the cricket world. His path to the Test side was to be smoothed by another net session, in Adelaide where he bowled to the then selection chairman Sir Donald Bradman.”He stood there, in his suit, at the batting crease, without a bat. I ran up and bowled. To get the ball to turn a fair bit I had to bowl a lot slower than I normally did,” Gleeson said. “I bowled him that ball [an off break] and he tried to let it hit the net, but it went the other way, flew up, and hit him on the hip. His eyes lit up and he just picked the ball up and threw it back to me. Next ball, I bowled him the wrong’un and then he wasn’t quite sure which way to go as he wasn’t reading from the hand.”James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, said: “John captured the imagination of cricket fans everywhere as he bamboozled batsmen with his odd bowling grip, borrowed from another mystery Australian spinner, Jack Iverson.””We were deeply saddened to hear of John’s passing and are truly appreciative of his contribution to the game, which, beyond his distinguished playing career, included time as an administrator with World Series Cricket. As a cricketer, he will be remembered as someone who played for his country at the highest level and, with his unique skills, had the ability to regularly dumbfound the best batsmen in any team.”

The Federation of International Cricketers’ Association (FICA) is threatening legal action against the Masters Champions League (MCL), a T20 tournament for retired players, over non-payment of dues following its inaugural season earlier this year.The MCL was intended to be staged over the next two years as well, but with FICA now threatening litigation on behalf of up to 50 players over what they term “the systematic non-payment of players,” and questioning the integrity of the tournaments organisers, the MCL could turn out to be a one-off event.Confirming the players’ intention to sue the organisers, GM Sports whose parent company is chaired by Zafar Shah, for unpaid fees, Tony Irish, the executive chairman of FICA, also called for the formation of “an an international dispute resolution body and contract enforcement mechanism in cricket.””It’s pretty obvious the organisers of the MCL have lost credibility,” Irish told ESPNcricinfo. “The failure to honour contracts sends a strong message. It is not a straightforward process to bring legal action, but we ensured there were proper player contracts in place and we are looking to coordinate a class action on behalf of 40 or 50 players.”We have given the organisers several deadlines and these have not been met. If they want to hold an event next year, they have a lot of ground to make-up. I think players will look at what happened in the first year and draw their own conclusions.”Despite several undertakings from Mr Shah that outstanding player payments would be made, under a payment plan proposed by MCL, many players have still not received payments due to them several months after the event. Some players have received less than 25% of their fee for an event that finished in February.”It’s also extremely disappointing that the event organisers have now taken to simply ignoring attempts by FICA, players and player agents to address the situation.”The MCL was beset with issues from the start. Struggling to define what constituted “retired” to the satisfaction of some Full Members boards, some players were withdrawn from the event after playing the initial games without No Objection Certificates.The cricket boards of Pakistan, South Africa and West Indies, were especially upset as they suggested the league, taking place at the same time as their own domestic events, threated to weaken their competitions and was attracting players who had no intention of retiring.While broadcast audiences were not insignificant, the rights had – in the vast majority of territories and on the vast majority of platforms – been given away for between two and three years in order to develop interest in the tournament. For that reason, it raised little revenue in the first year and promises to raise little more if held again.Complaints from players about non-payment began as soon as they gathered in Dubai for the first matches. Having been promised payment on arrival, there were various threats made to pull out of games only for an agreement to be reached at the last minute. ESPNcricinfo understands that some players were paid little over 10% of what they were promised, with others paid 25% and many paid 50%.While ESPNcricinfo understands that at least three of the six teams involved in the inaugural event did not have a clear ownership structure – franchise papers had not been signed – there is little disputing who is responsible for the payments. The terms of the player contracts state that the organisers, GM Sports, guaranteed to underwrite all agreements.GM Sports, a subsidiary of Grand Midwest Hotels, is owned by Zafar Shah. He declined to comment when contacted by ESPNcricinfo though he has previously given assurances that all payments will be made and that he is waiting for payment from sponsors and team owners. It is understood there is also an on-going attempt to refinance the league ahead of a second season.”We want to see an opportunity for such leagues and we want to see more opportunities for players,” Irish continued. “And that’s why we helped draw-up these contracts and put in place the anti-corruption safeguards you would expect at major events. We wanted to see that everything was done properly. So we feel the set-up of the event was not a worry. The problems have occurred when it has come to payment and, under the terms of the contracts, GM are responsible.”Systematic breaches of professional player contracts in cricket, such as this, are unacceptable. The MCL was an approved cricket event, under the jurisdiction of the Emirates Cricket Board.”As part of the ongoing work on the global structure of the game, we will be proposing an international dispute resolution body, and contract enforcement mechanism in cricket. Players, boards, clubs and leagues would all benefit from such a mechanism.”Some suppliers complained the ICC also failed to conduct due diligence into the event before authorising it. While the ICC said that it was the responsibility of the Emirates Cricket Board to grant such authorisation, they appear to be at odds with their own criteria (Section 32 of the ICC operating manual) which suggests that: “The ICC will decide whether or not a match or event is approved where: the match or event is taking place in the territory of an Associate or Affiliate Member, and does not involve any team that is under the jurisdiction of a Full Member.”Clive Hitchcock, the ICC’s senior operation manager, also appeared to tacitly admit to having approved the tournament in an email sent to boards in January. In it, he stated: “Our decision not to issue a Disapproved Notice was based on the application from MCL which clearly stated that it was an event for retired players only.”