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Both squads need to undergo a mandatory six-day quarantine upon arrival in the city on January 27

Nagraj Gollapudi26-Jan-2021India and England will get just three days to train before the first Test of the four-match series starts on February 5 in Chennai, as both squads need to undergo a mandatory six-day quarantine upon arrival in the city on January 27.A 32-member English contingent led by Joe Root will land on Wednesday morning, from Sri Lanka, while the India players are scheduled to arrive in the city in batches through the day. Root and co. will link up with the trio of Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Rory Burns, who landed in Chennai over the weekend.Despite the Indian government permitting spectators up to 50% capacity for outdoor sports, the first two Tests, to be played in Chennai, are set to be behind closed doors with the BCCI and the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) deciding to take a “preventive measure”.The BCCI has booked out a hotel exclusively for both teams to ensure a bio-secure environment. Players are allowed to have their families with them, but no one can step out of their rooms during the initial six-day quarantine. Once the mandatory testing process has been completed, both teams can use the swimming pool at the hotel, for which the TNCA is understood to have got special permission from the local government authorities.Teams and families cannot exit the bubble during the series and would need to restrict their movements between the hotel and the ground. To ensure the player bubble remains secure, the TNCA has created three zones to demarcate boundaries for all stakeholders. Zone 1 is restricted to both teams, support staff, match officials and team-liaison officers. Zone 1A will contain players’ families and net bowlers. Zone 2 is meant for TNCA office bearers and BCCI officials, who can’t step onto the ground. Zone 3 will be outside the stadium, comprising security and police manning the venue.The four-Test series is part of the ICC’s World Test Championships (WTC). While India remain favorites to make the WTC final after their historic triumph in Australia, England are still in the hunt along with New Zealand and Australia. England’s 2-0 win in Sri Lanka will give the side the belief that they could challenge India despite Virat Kohli’s team having defeated the visitors 4-0 last time around, in 2016.Root said on Monday that it would be “strange” to be cooped in the room for nearly a week upon arrival in India. “It’s going to be strange,” Root had said in Galle after England’s series win. “We’ve got to be quite realistic: we are going to have seven or eight days with no cricket now, with six days in quarantine. Then we will have three very important days of preparation ahead of the series.”The England tour is the first international series being hosted in India during the pandemic. South Africa had to abort their limited-overs series last March as the Indian government imposed the first national lockdown to counter the spread of the virus. India is second on the global list of countries to report most number of Covid-19 cases, with the count inching close to 11 million officially.

Heroics at Headingley and Lord’s top the table as PCA mark 50th anniversary

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Oct-2019Ben Stokes’ heroics at Headingley and Lord’s this summer have been voted as the sport’s greatest performances in half a century, in a poll conducted to mark the 50th anniversary of the Professional Cricketers Association (PCA).More than 1000 cricket fans were surveyed by the PCA and NatWest ahead of tonight’s PCA Awards in London, at which Stokes has been shortlisted for the prestigious Players’ Player of the Year award.And Stokes’ masterful 135 not out in the third Ashes Test at Headingley, which followed on from a vital spell of 3 for 56 in Australia’s second innings, has sealed top spot in the poll, ahead of his unbeaten 84 in the World Cup final against New Zealand, with which he carried England into the decisive trophy-winning Super Over.”When you are out there and trying to win the game you are in such a bubble you don’t let anything else get into that bubble,” Stokes told the PCA, as he recalled the events of that one-wicket win at Headingley.”Obviously, you are aware of the atmosphere and the situation and the crowd but then when I eventually hit the winning runs it, the feelings I had, just went and it was ‘oh my god, this is incredible’.”I was actually in the moment like everyone else was at that time, taking in the atmosphere, taking in the noise and looking around because everybody who was there in that ground on that day lived the same emotions as I did throughout that whole day, so to be able to take it all in and share that moment with them out there was pretty cool and something I’ll never forget.”Stokes’ twin performances pushed Andrew Flintoff’s matchwinning heroics at Edgbaston in 2005 into third place on the poll, with Ian Botham’s original Headingley miracle, his 149 not out in 1981, in fourth spot.Stuart Broad’s 8 for 15 against Australia, at Trent Bridge in 2015, was named at No.5, and Stokes even featured for a second time in the top ten, courtesy of his remarkable 258 from 198 balls at Cape Town in January 2016.In addition to voting on their favourite performances, the respondents to the survey also indicated an uplift in interest in cricket thanks to the events of a memorable summer. Fifty-four percent of female respondents said they were more inclined to follow cricket on television or radio, while 46 percent are likelier to attend a match. Among 16 to 24-year-olds, 54 percent showed a greater interest in playing the game.Reflecting on his memories of England’s World Cup win, Stokes added: “It will be something I will look back at in 15-20 years’ time and truly understand and appreciate what those two occasions meant and what they did for cricket.”We did not just want to win the World Cup and the Ashes this summer, we wanted to win over the country in terms of what we do with our cricket. We wanted to reach out to new fans, we wanted more people to take up cricket on what we could potentially achieve.”We have won the World Cup and had a brilliant summer which is what we wanted but I am also 100 percent convinced we have created new fans, inspired the next generation of England players and got people watching cricket again to a bigger extent than any of us could have imagined.”The PCA/NatWest Greatest Cricket Performances1. Ben Stokes: 3-56 & 135 not out v Australia, Headingley 2019

2. Ben Stokes: 84 not out v New Zealand, Lord’s, World Cup Final 2019

3. Andrew Flintoff: 68, 3-52, 73 & 4-79 v Australia, Edgbaston 2005

4. Ian Botham: 149 not out v Australia, Headingley 1981

5. Stuart Broad: 8-15 v Australia, Trent Bridge 2015

6. Alastair Cook: 71 & 147 v India, The Oval 2018

7. Ben Stokes: 258 v South Africa, Cape Town 2016

8. Bob Willis: 8-43 v Australia, Headingley 1981

9. James Anderson: 2-54 & 3-45 v India, The Oval 2018

10. Jos Buttler: 110 not out v Australia, Old Trafford 2018

Dawid Malan’s omission meant another new-look cordon for England and his replacement at second slip had an interesting day

Andrew Miller at Lord's10-Aug-2018It’s not just the covers that were doing the Hokey Cokey on the second day at Lord’s. In, out, in, out … the same applied to England’s slip cordon, freshly reconstituted for this Test after Dawid Malan’s own drops caused him to be dropped after the Edgbaston Test, but still every bit as erratic as this week’s weather.Take the new incumbent, Jos Buttler – England’s one-day wicketkeeper, so a reasonably safe pair of hands, you might have thought. Not quite as safe as Chris Woakes clearly hoped, as he achieved the remarkable feat of dropping, then catching, consecutive batsmen in consecutive overs.”Nope!” was James Anderson’s succinct response, when asked afterwards if he’d ever seen anything like it before.All was just about well by the end of it all, especially with Virat Kohli among Woakes’ second-gasp victims. But as if England’s task of forcing victory had not been made sufficiently complicated by the rain, this was another self-harming display from their close catchers. Unlike at Edgbaston, however, India – and Kohli in particular – were unable to pay them pay for their profligacy.Graphic: Jimmy Anderson has had exceptional returns in Tests over the past three years•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“Get in the ****ing mitts!” Woakes was lip-read as having said after the second of his drops – a flying but fair chance as Hardik Pandya fenced high to Buttler’s right at second slip. Whether that was a specific request to re-arm Buttler with the keeper’s gauntlets or just an understandable expression of annoyance, only Woakes will know.But, by God, he’d worked hard to earn the rewards that England’s cordon were once again squandering. Back in the side after injury, and back at a venue where he had hoovered up 14 wickets at 10 in two previous Tests, he put his winter woes in Australia behind him with the sort of ball-on-a-string spell of outswing that briefly threatened to outshine even Anderson, England’s pastmaster of such methods.1:35

England’s best catchers aren’t in the slips – Hussain

None of India’s batsmen could lay a bat on him – except, of course, when they did, and then it was in the lap of the gods as to whether the chance stuck or wriggled to safety.”It was frustrating because, though we were forced to change the slip cordon, they’ve worked hard again this week, and we want to be taking as many chances as we can,” said Anderson, whose five-wicket haul (blessed with no missed chances) proved instrumental in restricting India to a paltry 107.”It’s an area to improve but thankfully [Jos] made up for both mistakes straight away and credit to him for keeping his focus. Often your head can drop when you drop a catch, but he kept his cool and took the two he needed to.”There’s nothing worse as a bowler when you’re working hard to create chances and they get dropped. But no-one means to drop a catch. We know they are working hard, more so in England when the ball is moving around, it can wobble a bit. But we’ll keep working on it to get that slip cordon nailed down so we don’t have to worry about it too much.”Joe Root, England’s captain, was also guilty of gifting a let-off, to Ajinkya Rahane on 5, as he brought himself into fourth slip with Stuart Broad finding his groove from the Nursery End. Little wonder that, when Sam Curran joined the fray, he chose to bypass his fielders by curling a beauty through Dinesh Karthik’s flimsy defences.”It’s a five-match series and it’s a long way to go,” said Rahane, India’s vice-captain, at the close of play. “In this series you can’t be too harsh on yourself as an individual and team. You back your ability and team is backing you and every individual. We have to go out there and give our best with each and every innings. We have to forget about this innings. Next innings, we have to go and bowl well, get them out and bat well again.”His words would have applied equally to England’s Buttler-fingered fielders. But in the final analysis, those slips in the slips slipped out of the mind’s eye. In spite of everything that the weather has thrown at Lord’s over the past two days, and in spite of their fielders’ continued frailties, England have got their foot on the throat of this contest, and the series.

ESPNcricinfo previews the third ODI between England and South Africa at Lord’s

The Preview by Alan Gardner28-May-2017

Match facts

May 29, 2017
Start time 11am local (1000 GMT)David Miller and Chris Morris contemplate failing to score seven off the final over at the Ageas Bowl•Getty Images

Big picture

After the liveliest of finishes, a dead rubber. England’s resurrection at the Ageas Bowl condemned South Africa to their first defeat in a bilateral ODI series since 2015 but there will still be interest in the third match, at Lord’s, thanks to the imminence of the Champions Trophy, which begins on Thursday.South Africa could look back on Saturday’s two-run defeat and legitimately wonder what went wrong. Having made good use of the overcast conditions after winning the toss, the fact England had been 13 for 1 after five overs of their innings looked like being the key difference between two hefty totals. Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers and David Miller had all weighed in and, with ten balls to go, the chase appeared to be well in hand.Jake Ball and, in particular, Mark Wood ensured that would not be the case. England had to scrap with every fibre to defend 330 – which gives an indication of where their strengths lie – but the fact they managed to pull it off, without their senior ODI bowler in Chris Woakes and with Ben Stokes only delivering three overs, will add to the sense of optimism around the team.Stokes’ importance was illustrated with bat in hand, though South Africa could again reflect on the fact England’s centurion might have been caught off the first two balls he faced. He cashed in his good fortune and left South Africa ruing their luck (as well as their catching). England have now won eight ODIs in a row – two short of their best run – and may feel they are yet to properly click.For both teams, the fine-tuning will continue on Bank Holiday Monday. England will rotate after deciding to rest Stokes, Woakes and Moeen Ali due to minor injuries*, while South Africa still have questions about their preferred XI. De Villiers was indignant at the way the umpires at the Ageas Bowl raised questions about the state of the ball, and he will hope to retrain the focus by getting a win on the board before the Champions Trophy.

Form guide

England WWWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa LLWLW

In the spotlight

There may still be question marks over England’s bowling but, with the batsmen regularly throwing up 300-plus scores, they at least have the cushion of big runs to defend. Liam Plunkett has capitalised on this in 2017, with only Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan taking more than his 20 wickets so far. Plunkett’s experience and skill – particularly in delivering the ball cross-seam – has been apparent in both games against South Africa, his dismissal of AB de Villiers on Saturday potentially a match-winner. With Woakes missing, he is effectively the leader of the attack.Although David Miller was not quite able to finish off the chase, his performance in the second ODI demonstrated his increased importance to South Africa. During the last ten overs, he faced just two dot balls, making light of a slow pitch and two old balls – conditions de Villiers felt made England favourites to defend the target after Quinton de Kock fell with 120 still needed. With JP Duminy lacking form and Farhaan Behardien seemingly ill-equipped as a finisher, Miller brings clinical power to the middle order and could allow them to play another allrounder.

Team news

England have called up Steven Finn, Toby Roland-Jones and Liam Dawson* after deciding not to risk Stokes, Woakes and Moeen at Lord’s. The likelihood is that England will give game time to members of their Champions Trophy squad, however, with Jonny Bairstow the next batsman in line and David Willey offering another all-round seam option.England: (probable) 1 Jason Roy, 2 Alex Hales, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Adil Rashid, 8 David Willey, 9 Liam Plunkett, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Jake BallSouth Africa made three changes for the second ODI and could make as many again at Lord’s. De Villiers has previously said Morne Morkel will get a game, while Keshav Maharaj will hope for a second outing after seeing three catches dropped off his bowling on debut. Could Morris or Wayne Parnell provide an alternative to Behardien at No. 6?South Africa: (probable) 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 AB de Villiers (capt), 5 David Miller, 6 Chris Morris, 7 Wayne Parnell, 8 Andile Phehlukwayo, 9 Dwaine Pretorius, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Keshav Maharaj/Imran Tahir

Pitch and conditions

England racked up 328 for 6 against Ireland earlier this month, with Lord’s surfaces tending towards batsmen-friendly. The possibility of showers breaking up the afternoon may encourage whoever wins the toss to chase for a third match running.

Stats and trivia

• South Africa have lost all three of their ODIs at Lord’s, all against England. The most recent was a six-wicket defeat in 2012.
• Hashim Amla needs another 23 runs to reach 7000 in ODIs. He has 11 innings in which to get there ahead of Virat Kohli and continue his record of being fastest to 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000 and 6000 runs.
• Stokes and Moeen Ali both need three more wickets to reach 50 in ODIs.

Quotes

“It’s unbelievable really. I don’t know how to explain it. To have won it without taking wickets is an unbelievable effort.”
“There’s a lot still to play for at Lord’s and I think if we play a similar hand there, that’s all we want. A win will be great.”
AB de Villiers targets another good performance – and a better result*6pm BST – This story was updated with news of changes to the England squad

Ben Stokes has undergone surgery to address a cartilage tear in his left knee after pulling up injured during the first Test against Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff24-May-20162:03

Stokes undergoes surgery for torn knee cartilage

Ben Stokes has undergone surgery to address a cartilage tear in his left knee after pulling up injured during the first Test against Sri Lanka.The ECB said that “full details on his rehabilitation will be confirmed in due course” but if the problem has not developed into a more serious injury then it should be around six weeks. That would leave him on track to return for the Test series against Pakistan which starts on July 14.Stokes felt his left knee lock up while bowling on the second afternoon of last week’s Headingley Test, and though he returned to the field to bowl four more overs, he played no part in the closing stages of England’s commanding innings-and-88-run victory.With Stokes suffering a knee problem – which he tweeted last night that he has managed to play through until now – it will bring back uneasy memories of the latter stages of Andrew Flintoff’s career. It was a torn meniscus in his knee that hampered Flintoff and, while there is no indication that Stokes’ injury is as serious, it will be a concern for England that such a young player has been hit by such an injury.The second Test against Sri Lanka will be the first that Stokes has missed since being recalled against West Indies in April last year and is a blow to Durham, his county, who have struggled to sell tickets for the match and would have still been hoping for some late interest with the presence of a local star although the club tweeted on Tuesday that it was experiencing a rush of interest in tickets.Chris Woakes, the Warwickshire allrounder, has been called into the squad to replace Stokes and is now likely to slot straight into the team having taken 9 for 36 for his county yesterday before leaving to join England in Durham.

West Indies A tightened their grip on the four-day game in Mysore after their spinners ran through India A’s lower order on the third day

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Sep-2013
ScorecardVeerasammy Permaul took 5 for 85 as the home side capsized•BCCI

West Indies A tightened their grip on the four-day game in Mysore after their spinners ran through India A’s lower order on the third day. The home side lost their final seven wickets for 61 runs as Nikita Miller and Veerasammy Permaul showed off the depth in West Indies’ spin stocks and wrested a 184-run first-innings advantage.Miller, who bowled an unchanged spell of 26 overs either side of lunch, told the , “It’s a pitch where you don’t want to bowl too slow because the batsman will have enough time. You want to bowl slightly fast. That was the plan and we executed it.”We don’t want to give the Indians the upper hand,” Miller said. “So, we are looking at getting some more runs on the board, get a decent lead and take it from there.”Manpreet Juneja, the Gujarat batsman, followed up his recent impressive outings against New Zealand A with an 84 that steadied the hosts but his dismissal sparked a collapse that put the visitors in charge. India had moved on to 184 for 3 before Juneja was trapped lbw by left-arm spinner Permaul. The rest of the batsmen were clueless against the spinners, with only the wicketkeeper-batsman Rohit Motwani providing any resistance. He was unbeaten on 28 as the visitors ripped through the tail to secure a lead that big enough to allow them the option of enforcing the follow-on, an option they didn’t take.That lead was stretched further by an aggressive 68 from Kieran Powell, who dominated an opening stand of 112 with Kraigg Brathwaite. Offspinner Parvez Rasool, who was the most successful bowler in the first innings, then struck twice as West Indies ended the day on 130 for 3, ahead by 314.Juneja, however, remained undaunted by the prospect of a tall final-day chase. “I think it is possible (India A win),” he said. “West Indies is on top as of now. If we have a decent target in sight, we might just go for it.”

Warwickshire secured their first County Championship title since 2004, taking less than half the third day at New Road to take the remaining eight wickets in Worcestershire’s second innings

George Dobell at New Road06-Sep-2012
ScorecardChris Wright dismissed Alan Richardson to complete victory over Worcestershire and secure Warwickshire the title•Getty Images

It was perhaps fitting that Chris Wright should take the wicket that secured the 2012 County Championship title for Warwickshire. Wright, offered a lifeline in professional sport by Warwickshire just over a year ago after he was released by Essex, has bowled with pace, persistence and skill this season and provides an excellent example of what can be achieved in a supportive, positive environment.But perhaps it was the influence of absent friends that was most telling at New Road. The spirit of Bob Woolmer, who died in 2007, and Neal Abberley, who died in August 2011, lives on in a side and a coaching team that are built in their image and steeped in the character of the club both men served as coaches with such distinction.Woolmer was at the helm as coach for the majority of the most successful period in Warwickshire’s history, between 1993 and 1994 (he was replaced by Phil Neale early in 1995) while Abberley, in whose memory a game will be staged at Knowle and Dorridge Cricket Club on Sunday, served Warwickshire, first as a player and then as a coach, from the early 1960s until his death. Hardly a player at the club has not felt the influence of one or both. Ian Bell and Ashley Giles, in particular, credit Abberley’s advice as a batting coach as the defining influence on their careers.It is hard to define exactly what that influence is. It is more than technical skill – though that is one aspect of it – and it is more than commitment – many players at many clubs are committed to their team. It is a combination of those things and of unity of purpose, too. It comprises values of sportsmanship, honour, belief in the self and the team and, most of all, a never-say-die attitude. Some of those values may seem anachronistic in the modern world, but they retain currency in county cricket.Every member of the Warwickshire coaching staff – director of cricket, Giles; bowling coach, Graeme Welch; assistant coach and academy director, Dougie Brown and batting coach and, odd though it sounds, groundstaff member, Tony Frost – were on the books in those glorious years of the mid-90s, the period when Woolmer and Abberley, in their very different ways, combined to catapult a club that had enjoyed only moderate success to one that used to delight in calling itself ‘the Manchester United of cricket’. Among the young players starting on the club’s development path were the current captain, Jim Troughton, and Bell. Chris Woakes recalls Warwickshire winning a Lord’s final as one of his earliest childhood memories.So it was no surprise when Troughton, moments after the trophy was won, said: “I want to officially dedicate this Championship to Neal Abberley. A lot of what has been achieved in the last five years is down to his influence and it needs to be recognised.”They were sentiments echoed by Giles. “Abbers was the heart and soul of the club,” he said. “He was someone who gave their life to the club. He was here for 50 years and died while still in service. I certainly wouldn’t be here without him. He was the coach who taught me a hell of a lot about myself and my game and also as a mentor when I took over the job as coach.”This was the seventh occasion on which Warwickshire have won the Championship – four of them in the last 20 years – and, with the CB40 final against Hampshire still to come, they may yet win the double.But counties are not judged purely on winning trophies. They must also be judged on their record of producing players for England. So, with three men – two of whom (Bell and Woakes) graduated through every step of the club’s youth development scheme – currently absent on England duty, Warwickshire must be judged high achievers by whichever unit of measurement you apply.Four other members of the side that played in this match against Worcestershire – Troughton, Ian Westwood, Richard Johnson and Tom Milnes – have also come through Warwickshire’s academy. So, tellingly, did the one man who offered meaningful resistance for Worcestershire on the last day of this game: Moeen Ali. His unbeaten 72, studded with elegant strokes and well-judged leaves, delayed Warwickshire until just after lunch but never, for a moment, did it seem they could be denied a result that also leaves their Midlands neighbours as good as relegated.Other members of the team are the results of wise recruitment but any suggestion that Warwickshire ‘bought’ this title would be erroneous. The likes of Keith Barker, Chris Wright, Varun Chopra and Boyd Rankin were unproven in county cricket when Warwickshire acquired them, while Rikki Clarke came with considerable baggage. Success can be achieved as a result of either good development, recruitment or coaching: Warwickshire have excelled in all three departments. The successes of Chopra and Wright should be the source of considerable reflection at Essex, too, who allowed special talents to go to waste.Ashley Giles paid tribute to former Warwickshire player and coach Neal Abberley after seeing his side secure the Championship trophy for the first time in eight years•Getty Images

It is worth reflecting on the club that Giles inherited at the end of 2007. Warwickshire had been relegated in both leagues – first-class and 40-over – players were heading for the exit – Mark Wagh and Moeen Ali had both departed for other counties; Dougie Brown and Nick Knight had retired – and morale was low. It was, arguably, the lowest point in Warwickshire’s history. The ground, decaying and outdated, represented the club all too accurately. It was a wretched environment.But rock bottom can provide a strong foundation. Giles, bringing the same attributes to coaching that he brought to his career as a player, patiently rebuilt, recruited and nurtured a team that have gradually improved. They achieved promotion in 2008, escaped relegation in 2010 by the skin of their teeth but won the CB40, narrowly missed out on the title in 2011 and, but for a one-wicket loss against Somerset this season, have looked every inch the best team in the land. No-one can say they do not deserve this success.The efforts of other non-playing members of staff has been vital, too. It was Welch who suggested bringing Wright to the club and Welch who coaxed the best out of Wright, Barker, Clarke and Rankin. Until Welch’s influence, none of them had come close to fulfilling their potential as bowlers.The contribution of Colin Povey is worth noting, too. Povey, the chief executive since Dennis Amiss’ retirement at the end of 2005, inherited a decaying ground, a staff that had grown complacent and cosy, and a team on the decline. He promised a redeveloped ground and a team that consistently challenged for trophies and he has delivered on both counts. Criticism of administrators in sport is often facile and Povey, with his abrasive style and demanding methods, will never be to everyone’s tastes. But Warwickshire owe him plenty.Depth is the key word for Warwickshire. Just as, due to international call-ups and injury, they have been obliged to utilise 19 players without unduly diluting the strength of their team, so they have proved almost impossible to kill-off in games. Often it would be the efforts of men coming in as low as seven, eight and nine who would revitalise a game with match-changing innings. This is a squad bursting with allrounders. Tellingly, Jeetan Patel, who appeared a modest overseas player at the start of the year, produced an unbeaten 43 from No. 10 to win Warwickshire a game against Somerset in April that appeared to have been lost.It was telling too, that despite losing the bowling of Woakes, Rankin and Clarke to injury for much for the season – the men who bowled them to within touching distance of success last year – they found new wicket-takers: Barker and Wright, unheralded in April, claimed 112 wickets between them at a cost of just above 20 apiece. The catching of Tim Ambrose, back to his best with bat and gloves, and Clarke, surely the best slip catcher in England, supported them superbly.This may well be just the start of their success, too. Such is the depth of this squad, the age range of the team and the strength of the recruitment, coaching and development system, that it would be no surprise if Warwickshire repeated this triumph next year. The talk at Edgbaston is of legacy.

Shahid Afridi, the former Pakistan captain, and Kamran Akmal, the wicketkeeper, have not been awarded central contracts by the PCB

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Aug-2011Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal do not figure in the latest list of PCB central contracts. Younis Khan, who was banned for disciplinary reasons following a winless tour of Australia in 2009-10 and was out of last year’s list, has been awarded a Category A contract this time along with current captain Misbah-ul-Haq, allrounder Mohammad Hafeez, spinners Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman, and fast bowler Umar Gul – the only player retained in the top category from last year’s list.

List of contracted players

Category A
Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Gul, Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman

Category B
Abdul Razzaq, Imran Farhat, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Wahab Riaz, Taufeeq Umar

Category C
Junaid Khan, Tanvir Ahmed, Hammad Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed, Sohail Khan, Adnan Akmal, Yasir Shah, Rameez Raja, Sharjeel Khan

Stipend Category
Mohammad Talha, Aizaz Cheema, Zulfiqar Babar, Raza Hassan, Mohammad Ayub Dogar

Afridi had retired “conditionally” from international cricket following his removal as captain after the tour of West Indies, while Kamran, who also was in Category A last year, has been ignored since the World Cup. Afridi was involved in a legal battle with the Pakistan board after he hinted at differences between him and coach Waqar Younis during the West Indies tour; these were confirmed by Waqar and team manager Intikhab Alam in their tour report. Afridi has said he will not go back on his decision as long as the present PCB regime remains in power.Middle-order batsman Umar Akmal and opener Imran Farhat were retained in Category B. Also included in that grade werere Abdul Razzaq, demoted from grade A last year, middle-order batsmen Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali, who have been impressive finds for Pakistan in the last couple of years. Left-arm seamer Wahab Riaz, who took a five-for against India in the World Cup semi-final, also featured in grade B.As expected, there was no place for Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir and Salman Butt , the three cricketers banned for their involvement in the spot-fixing controversy, while Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Yousuf and Danish Kaneria, who were not picked for the World Cup, have been ignored. Malik and Kaneria are yet to be cleared by the PCB’s integrity committee. Kaneria has not played for the national team since August 2010, after the PCB tightened its anti-corruption programme following the spot-fixing controversy and Kaneria’s own entanglement in a corruption case in Essex. Kaneria was cleared by a police enquiry in Essex, but is yet to be cleared by the PCB; he has petitioned against his continued non-clearance.”As long as Malik and Kaneria are not cleared by the PCB integrity committee, a meeting of which is scheduled for August 15, they will not be considered for the contracts,” Intikhab, also the PCB’s director, said at a press conference in Lahore.In Category C were seamer Tanvir Ahmed, who picked up six wickets on Test debut against South Africa, wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal, and the trio who have been picked in the squad for the tour of Zimbabwe – Yasir Shah, Sohail Khan and Rameez Raja. Aizaz Cheema, who has also been picked, was placed in the stipend category.The contracts are for a duration of six months – July 1 to December 31 this year.

Michael Comber and Adam Wheater, both aged 20, were the Essex heroes as the
home side beat Northamptonshire by five wickets in their Clydesdale Bank 40
clash at Southend

08-Aug-2010

ScorecardMichael Comber and Adam Wheater, both aged 20, were the Essex heroes as the
home side beat Northamptonshire by five wickets in their Clydesdale Bank 40
clash at Southend.They came together with Essex struggling on 100 for 5 in the 22nd over in
reply to a total of 215 for 6. But both displayed a cool head on young shoulders to see their side home with nine balls to spare.Comber, making his debut in the competition, made 52 while Wheater finished on
55. Both completed their half-centuries from 47 balls, Comber reaching his with an
on-driven six against paceman David Willey. He also dealt out similar punishment to off-spinner James Middlebrook and also struck two fours.Wheater’s innings included five fours as he and Comber excelled in their
running between the wickets. Their performance came after Essex had got off to a terrible start, losing Mark Pettini and Grant Flower without a run on the board. Lee Daggett was the man who plunged them into early trouble, having Pettini caught behind with his second ball and trapping Flower lbw with his next delivery.Ravi Bopara and Matt Walker repaired the damage with a partnership of 87 that
was broken when Middlebrook, playing against his former county, accepted a
simple return catch. Walker made 39 before Bopara and James Foster were both dismissed immediately after the total passed 100.Bopara fell lbw to Middlebrook for 42, having hit the previous ball for six,
while Foster became a victim of spinner Tom Brett. But their removal from the scene only paved the way for Comber and Wheater to come together and steal the glory.Earlier, Northants made steady but unspectacular progress. Opener Mal Loye
needed 77 balls to make 55 before he was dismissed by Bopara. The main impetus was provided by Stephen Peters, another former Essex player, and David Sales.Sales made 36 from 34 deliveries before he was superbly caught low down at deep
square leg by Flower, while Peters was within four of his half-century when he
was caught at deep long off by Bryce McGain. His 53-ball effort contained just
three boundaries. During it Peters was hit on the arm and was unable to take any further part in
the match as he handed over the captaincy to Sales.

The suspension was backdated to commence on April 11, which was the date of the provisional suspension order, so Bracewell is eligible to play now

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Nov-2024Doug Bracewell, the New Zealand seamer, has been suspended for one month by the country’s Sports Tribunal for “the presence and use” of cocaine and its metabolite benzoylecgonine.Bracewell “was provisionally suspended without opposition” on April 11 this year following an
“adverse analytical finding” from an in-competition test on January 13 at the Super Smash match between Wellington Firebirds and Central Stags in Wellington, the tribunal said in a statement.The statement added that Bracewell had “admitted using cocaine but maintained that his use occurred out-of-competition, being prior to midnight on the day before the match, and that it was unrelated to sport performance”. The Sport Integrity Commission did not accept that and “contended that the use must have occurred in-competition”.Following that, expert evidence on the matter was filed by both the Commission and Bracewell, and a hearing before the tribunal was scheduled for December 11 and 12. But last week, on November 11, “counsel filed a joint memorandum in which the Commission indicated that, having considered all the evidence filed in this proceeding, on balance, it accepted Mr Bracewell’s position”. As a result, it was “agreed that the appropriate sanction was a period of ineligibility of three months, which would be reduced to one month, as Mr Bracewell had satisfactorily completed a Substance of Abuse treatment programme approved by the Commission”.The tribunal subsequently imposed an “ineligibility period of one month”, which was backdated to commence on April 11, which was the date of the provisional suspension order.Bracewell, 34, has played 28 Tests (74 wickets), 21 ODIs (26 wickets) and 20 T20Is (20 wickets) after making his international debut in October 2011. He last played for New Zealand in a Test match against Sri Lanka in Wellington in March 2023.A Central Districts player right through his domestic career, Bracewell recently opted out of a contract with the club to become a freelancer. He is next expected to be in action at the Abu Dhabi T10 league, where he is a part of New York Strikers, and then at the SA20 early next year as part of Joburg Super Kings.