Category Uncategorized

England batter hits 78 off 47 to put the Strikers to the sword

AAP23-Dec-2021English batter Ben Duckett slammed his highest BBL score to propel Brisbane Heat to a 39-run thrashing of Adelaide Strikers.Duckett top-scored with 78 from just 47 balls as the Heat posted an imposing 7 for 208 at Adelaide Oval. In reply, the Strikers made 8 for 169 and were never in the hunt after losing both opening batters in the initial nine balls.The Strikers’ Jonathan Wells made a fighting 55 from 41 deliveries but they remain in the mire with just one win from five games. The Heat, though, made a massive move up the ladder, jumping from seventh to fourth spot with their second win.Duckett’s blazing knock was instrumental in the victory – he cracked 10 fours and two sixes and featured in a superb partnership with Sam Heazlett (49 from 30 balls). The pair added 114 runs in just under 11 overs before departing in consecutive balls from Rashid Khan.Rashid was denied his second BBL hat-trick and finished with 3 for 34 but the damage had been done by Duckett and Heazlett, who struck three sixes and three fours.The pair cashed in after a rapid start – their partnership started at 3 for 74 after seven overs. After winning the toss, the Heat opener Chris Lynn smacked 10 runs from four Wes Agar balls before being caught behind from the fifth when trying to guide to third man.His replacement Tom Cooper made 16 but also lasted just five balls – he hit two fours and a six from Peter Siddle before the Strikers captain trapped him lbw with an excellent yorker.The wickets failed to halt the attack of Max Bryant, who steered the visitors to 2 for 64 at the end of the six-over powerplay. But in the next over, his 20-ball knock featuring five fours and a six ended when caught on the midwicket boundary from Rashid’s bowling.The Heat were 3 for 94 after 10 overs and Duckett and Heazlett then accelerated, reaching a 100-run partnership in just 61 balls.The run chase stumbled early. Opener Matt Short smacked two sixes from the first two balls, a two from the next, and then feathered an edge to wicketkeeper Jimmy Peirson from spinner Matt Kuhnemann.And on the ninth ball of the Strikers’ innings, Jake Weatherald was bowled by paceman Mark Steketee (3 for 27) in a horror start for the home side.Wells and Matt Renshaw steadied but after 10 overs the Strikers were 2 for 82 and well off the pace. Renshaw was dismissed in the 12th over and Wells, who hit six fours and a six, was out in the 13th to sap all of the Strikers’ momentum.Tom Kelly made 27 from 22 balls and George Garton hit three sixes in his 19 from five deliveries but became Kuhnemann’s third victim, while the Heat allrounder James Bazley finished with 2 for 27.

Richardson pulls out due to the impending birth of his first child

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Aug-2020Royal Challengers Bangalore have named legspinner Adam Zampa as a replacement for fellow Australian Kane Richardson for IPL 2020, which kicks off on September 19 in the UAE. It is understood that Richardson has pulled out of the tournament due to the impending birth of his first child.Zampa’s entry bolsters a spin attack that already includes India internationals Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar. Moeen Ali, Pawan Negi and the uncapped Shahbaz Ahmed are the other spin options in the Royal Challengers squad.”We are disappointed to not have Kane’s skills with us this IPL as he certainly on top of his game,” Mike Hesson, Royal Challengers’ team director, said. “However once we found out Kane and Nyki’s baby was due during the IPL, it’s an exciting time and we were fully supportive of Kane wanting to be at the birth of the first child. When looking at our squad for UAE conditions we felt it was an opportunity to bring in another quality legspinner in Adam Zampa to provide cover for Chahal and also give us extra options if conditions suit spin as expected during the tournament.”This will be Zampa’s second IPL franchise; he had previously played for the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant, taking 19 wickets in 11 matches at an economy rate of 7.54. The haul included 6 for 19 – the best IPL figures by a spinner.Zampa, who had listed his base price at INR 1.50 crore (AUD 276,000), was earlier unsold at the December 2019 auction. Both Zampa and Richardson are currently in the UK for three T20Is and three ODIs against England. The tour ends on September 16, three days before the start of IPL 2020.A regular in Australia’s limited-overs squads, Zampa had an impressive BBL 2019-20, picking up 20 wickets in 12 matches at an economy rate of 7.20 for Melbourne Stars. At Royal Challengers, he will line up alongside his ODI captain Aaron Finch and the uncapped wicketkeeper-batsman Josh Phillipe.

Australia coach delighted to have Steven Smith and David Warner back ahead of World Cup and Ashes in England

Melinda Farrell18-May-2019As Australia commenced their World Cup preparations on English soil, coach Justin Langer admitted the personal welfare of Steven Smith and David Warner would require sensitive monitoring and handling over the coming months.The two players joined in the centre wicket practice at Whitgift School, in the suburbs of south London, with a small media contingent and a few dozen fans, mainly children in whites, sat on the grassy banks. It was a quiet and even genteel start to a gruelling four-month tour that will incorporate World Cup and Ashes campaigns and Langer knows more hostile crowds and greater scrutiny will greet Smith and Warner now they have served the bans handed to them in the wake of last year’s Cape Town ball tampering affair.”Well we can’t control the crowd,” Langer said. “What I do know? It may ramp up, it may heat up, but it won’t be any hotter than it was 12 months ago. I’ve never seen anything like it so the boys are very well prepared. They’ve paid a heavy price and we’re expecting always to come here and to face the fire and we’re ready for that.”What we’ve got to understand is that they’re human beings as well. There’s not too many I’ve met in my life who like being booed or heckled or disliked so… they’re human beings. We’re going to have to care for them, we’re going to have to put an arm around them and make sure they’re going okay. But what people say, whether it’s in the crowd or social media or wherever, there’s nothing they can do about that, they can’t control it but what we can do is keep an eye on them and make sure they’re going okay as people as much as cricketers.”ALSO READ: Finch ponders tactics to counter run-festsSteven Smith bats during Australia training•Cricket Network

Aside from the expected questions from the media there was little evidence of any lasting effects of a turbulent 12-month period, punctuated by severe recriminations and introspection throughout Australian professional cricket. But Langer suggested both players have shown an understandable eagerness to finally put their exile behind them, from their return to the squad for warm-ups against New Zealand to the squad’s visit to the World War One battlefields of Gallipoli, where they broke their journey to England.”Dave’s got that look on his eye, he’s really hungry, he’s a great player as we all know, he’s so dynamic, he brings so much energy, and that’s what we ask from our players, Langer said. “You watch Glenn Maxwell field or bowl or bat – he brings the energy. Dave Warner always brings energy to the contest. It’s really nice to have him back.””I watched Steve Smith batting against New Zealand in those three practice games, he’s literally a master of the game, so it’s nice to have him back. It’s been hilarious for me because whether on the ANZAC cove or in the lunch room or we’re in the bus playing cards, he’s just shadow batting the whole time. He’s literally – he loves batting, he’s shadow batting on the sand, he’s shadow batting in the shower – I’m not joking. You should see him, he just loves batting. From that point it’s great to have him back.”From a broader perspective, it’s nice to have them back as well, they’ve had 12 months to have a good think about a mistake they and the team made. I’m sure they’ll be better people for that.”Aside from his surprising knowledge of Smith’s daily ablutions, Langer believes both players are physically ready as they continue to progress from elbow surgeries earlier this year, although he admitted they are still at partially restricted in the field.”They both fielded in the three [World Cup warm-up] games against New Zealand. Steve’s in literally career best shape. I mean you just saw a 2K time trial, he’s in great shape and Dave Warner is always elite fit. So in terms of their throwing, they’re building it up. Where they’ve come from, from surgery, I’m really proud of them and they’re up and running. Are they going to throw like Andrew Symonds or Ricky Ponting? Probably not at the moment but they’re certainly working towards that.”Last week in Brisbane, [Smith] batted beautifully, he played an unbelievable shot off Nathan Coulter-Nile there – it was like watching Sachin [Tendulkar] bat. He’s in pretty good shape I think.”Steven Smith, Justin Langer and David Warner during the Australia World Cup squad’s trip to Gallipoli•Cricket Australia

Of greater concern to Langer is the task of getting his side prepared for their first World Cup match against Afghanistan in Bristol, the reason for their match scenario practice, which saw bowlers asked to simulate specific stages of an innings. After a difficult home summer, Australia embarked on an eight-match winning streak in India and Pakistan and they now have two warm-up games in England to settle on a starting side. The main selection questions centre on how to fit Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja and Warner into the top three while Coulter-Nile appears to be favoured as the third seamer in an attack also featuring Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.The coaching staff will be bolstered by World Cup winners Ponting and Brad Haddin and, while England’s batting has dominated the local cricket headlines, Langer is adamant that Australia won’t be drawn in to changing their tactics.”We’ve been hearing it for 12 months. We’ve shown if we stick to the formula then we’ll have some success. It’s as simple as that. And when it comes to playing India and England it’s just like match play, we’re just going to have to compete harder and be ready for them. In terms of scores, a lot will have to do with the grounds we play on, the conditions, whether we’re chasing or setting, all those sorts of things but we’re really clear on the game plan. We showed in India and Dubai that, if we stick to it, we’ll score big enough scores to win games of cricket.”We love our cricket and we’ve been good at it. When everyone says we’ve got to start playing like England or start playing like New Zealand or start playing like India, no – we’ll keep playing like Australia because we’ve won four of the past five World Cups and that’s something to be proud of.”The boys are aware of it and we know if we stick to the Australian way of playing great cricket… history has shown we’ll be pretty good.”

England Lions have been hit with further withdrawals after Essex’s Dan Lawrence suffered a hand fracture while batting in the nets ahead of the third unofficial Test against West Indies A

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Feb-2018England Lions have been hit with further withdrawals after Essex’s Dan Lawrence suffered a hand fracture while batting in the nets ahead of the third unofficial Test against West Indies A, starting on Monday. The injury, which will rule Lawrence out of the one-day series to follow, means a Lions debut for Sam Northeast, who only arrived in Antigua on Sunday but goes straight into the starting XI.Northeast, 28, recently completed a move from Kent to Hampshire and is highly regarded on the county circuit – although curiously he has never represented the Lions, despite long being touted as an England prospect. He was due in the Caribbean for the one-day series but has now been drafted into four-day squad.Lawrence’s place for the one-dayers has been filled by Warwickshire batsman Sam Hain. Lawrence was not involved in the first two first-class games against West Indies A, both of which the Lions lost, but had been due to come into the side after Liam Livingstone suffered an ankle injury and was forced to go home early ahead of his maiden Test tour with England.However, he was struck on the right hand during net practice on Saturday, with X-rays subsequently revealing a fracture. He joins Livingstone in leaving the tour early, along with Ben Foakes and Mason Crane, who were scheduled to depart after the second Test.Northeast left Kent after refusing to extend his contract over the winter, citing Division One cricket and the chance to press his case with England as a reason for moving to Hampshire. He will be one of three debutants in the Lions team at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, with Northamptonshire quick Richard Gleeson – an injury replacement for George Garton – and Somerset spinner Dom Bess also coming in.Hain, who will also be involved in the North-South series, comes into contention for the three one-day matches, starting on March 6. The Lions have already had to make changes to the squad, with Toby Roland-Jones and Matt Critchley coming in for the injured Tom Helm and Liam Dawson, who has signed up for the Pakistan Super League.England Lions XI to play West Indies A in third unofficial Test: Keaton Jennings (capt), Haseeb Hameed, Nick Gubbins, Joe Clarke, Sam Northeast, Alex Davies (wk), Paul Coughlin, Dom Bess, Jack Leach, Saqib Mahmood, Richard Gleeson

Centuries from B Indrajith and captain Abhinav Mukund led Tamil Nadu’s frenetic push for runs on day four, before they declared 255 ahead

The Report by Arun Venugopal in Rajkot04-Jan-2017
ScorecardFile photo – Abhinav Mukund scored his 26th first-class ton•PTI

Centuries from B Indrajith and captain Abhinav Mukund led Tamil Nadu’s frenetic push for runs, before they declared their innings late on the fourth evening 255 ahead; they were pushing for an outright win, having conceded the first-innings lead on the third day. Facing five tricky overs before stumps, Mumbai’s openers, Praful Waghela and 17-year-old debutant Prithvi Shaw, defended stoutly to end an absorbing day on 5 for 0.Mumbai’s first-innings total was revised to 411 when they were awarded five penalty runs due to Tamil Nadu’s batsmen running on the pitch in the 74th over. That meant their target became 251 from the 256 Tamil Nadu had set.Having entered the fourth day with a 101-run deficit, Tamil Nadu had to make the play and they didn’t falter. Their top order ensured there was no let up in momentum at any stage, and by the time the innings was declared close, their run-rate was 4.56. Mumbai’s fielding, on the other hand, was patchy after it was put under pressure once too often.Tamil Nadu bristled with intent right from the outset, with openers Abhinav and debutant Ganga Sridhar Raju alternating between running tight singles and scoring fluent boundaries. Raju played a few cuts and a cute-looking tuck off his pad, while Abhinav unfurled the upper cut, one of his favourite strokes, for a four.They showed restraint wherever necessary, though. When Abhishek Nayar tried to tempt Raju outside off, the batsman left well and played out a maiden. However, in the 13th over, when Raju was tempted the second time, he slashed at Nayar but the ball went over a wide second slip. Meanwhile, Abhinav, unlike in the first innings, stood well outside the crease to neutralise the swing, and drove powerfully whenever the ball was in his range.While the run rate hovered around three in the first half of the morning session – Tamil Nadu were on 60 for no loss in 20 overs – Indrajith’s arrival, after Raju was trapped in front by Balwinder Sandhu, amped up the innings. Indrajith, promoted ahead of Kaushik Gandhi, threw Mumbai’s spin duo – offspinner Akshay Girap and left-armer Vijay Gohil – off gear. While he didn’t predetermine the charge, he often stepped out to drive the ball, and in the process played with the bowlers’ lengths and minds. When they adjusted by landing the ball short, he went back and whipped it powerfully off his hips.Strangely, Mumbai didn’t persist with their seamers enough in the first session – although Sandhu bowled 10 overs, Nayar and Shardul Thakur, their most successful bowlers in the first innings, bowled only four and five overs respectively. Mumbai coach Chandrakant Pandit later reasoned that they had to be discontinued as they weren’t able to check the flow of runs. Abhinav and Indrajith, meanwhile, wiped out the deficit and took Tamil Nadu to 124 for 1, with Indrajith scoring 41 at nearly a run-a-ball by lunch.Mumbai spread out the field in the second session – at one stage, they only had four fielders not in deep positions – and introduced part-time spinners like Siddhesh Lad. They also bowled wide of off stump and the left-arm spinner Gohil tried to land his deliveries on the rough outside leg stump in an attempt to choke the scoring. While they strung together a few quiet overs, Tamil Nadu invariably managed to find release through a few boundaries. Mumbai were also hurt by their fielding lapses, as Abhinav was let off twice in successive deliveries in the 42nd over. First, Tare missed a stumping off Gohil, who then fluffed a return chance off the next delivery.Abhinav completed his fourth hundred of the season, and, by the time he slashed a catch to slip in the pursuit of quick runs, he and Indrajith had put on 185 runs. Dinesh Karthik walked in at No. 4, and his fidgety, street-smart presence accelerated the pace of scoring. An over after he was warned for running on the pitch, Karthik carted Sandhu for three slog-swept boundaries. Karthik also forced the fielding side to make mistakes by attempting a few impossible runs; on one occasion, he had backed up too far and had given up, but the throw from backward point missed the stumps at the non-striker’s end.Indrajith, meanwhile, completed his fourth first-class hundred, and an over after Karthik’s dismissal – his uppish cut off Sandhu was caught at point – had a reprieve as his miscued hoick was dropped by Lad. Vijay Shankar came in next and tonked the bowling, too, but, during a tense passage of play that was marked by frequent conversations involving players from both sides and the umpires, he was penalised for having run on the danger area. That, however, didn’t seem to affect Shankar and Indrajith, who scored the bulk of the 39 runs that Tamil Nadu made in the last four overs they faced before the declaration.

Mitchell Johnson has admitted to contemplating retirement after watching several of his mates shuffle out of the dressing room

Daniel Brettig14-Oct-2015As he watched Ryan Harris, Michael Clarke, Chris Rogers, Shane Watson and Brad Haddin shuffle out of the dressing room for the final time, Mitchell Johnson wondered whether he should join them. Seriously drained after a year in which he could not follow up World Cup success with retaining the Ashes, he pondered the possibility of retirement.

‘I don’t think it’s the best preparation’

Mitchell Johnson has questioned Australia’s preparation for the New Zealand Test series, with only a two-day red-ball camp in Sydney offering relevant practice before the squad assembles for the Gabba.
The postponement of the Bangladesh tour means Australia’s Test players are warming up in the Matador Cup 50-over tournament but are then subject to a round of day-night Sheffield Shield matches with the experimental pink ball before the first two Tests of summer are played in daylight with the red ball.
Johnson’s scepticism about the day-night concept is well known. While he hesitated to comment too freely on the Adelaide match at this point, he questioned the wisdom of switching from red to white to pink to red ball again ahead of what is shaping as New Zealand’s best chance to unseat Australia at home since they last did so in 1985.
“I don’t think it’s ideal us playing a day-night Shield game coming into a three-Test series, two with a red ball and one with a pink ball,” Johnson said. “I don’t think it’s ideal, especially guys missing out on Bangladesh, they’re probably needing to bowl with a red ball and we’re playing this now, then going down to Tassie to play with a pink ball.
“I don’t think it’s the best preparation, but I guess that’s why we have this camp as well to get a bit of a feel with the red ball again.”
Earlier in the year Johnson responded to questions about the pink ball by saying: “One thing is I love the tradition of Test cricket, things like the Baggy Green and little things like wearing the woollen jumper. We had an option to change that but we wanted to keep that as a tradition. I think tradition in the game is very important.”

But, in the six weeks since the Ashes have passed, Johnson has found himself feeling the old urge to train, to compete, and most importantly to bowl fast. He is now eager to do so once more, as the senior pro in what has now become a young and much changed team. Johnson has clear ideas on how and how much he should be used, and has set his sights upon matching the wickets tally of his mentor Dennis Lillee.”It definitely has crossed my mind, especially with the guys retiring,” Johnson said at Australia’s training camp in Hurstville. “A lot of those guys I played a lot of cricket with [have moved on] and it definitely makes you question yourself. I definitely have questioned myself in the six weeks I’ve been home, but I had that desire when I saw the young guys out there performing and it really urged me and pushed me to get out there and play. I actually went for a run and was pushing myself.”Brett Lee changed it a little bit because he played for a while longer. Speaking to some other people like Dennis, he seems to think I can go for a few more years as well. It depends on the individual to be honest, I had that year out of the game really with my toe injury, I was a late starter to the game. So I think it’s more mind than anything, my body’s still holding up pretty well.”I’ve had little niggles here and there but i’m able to get through them. It’s more mind. I’m really looking forward to the summer, getting back on fair wickets with a bit of pace and bounce, good for batting and for bowling. I’d love to get a few wickets and get that tally back up again.”At the end of a two-year period in which he played 18 of a possible 19 Tests besides sundry ODIs and Twenty20 fixtures, Johnson’s body was holding up reasonably. But his mind had begun to waver – even though he felt he had stored up enough mental energy for the Ashes campaign, he found himself getting drained midway through the series, not helped by the constant toll of English crowds and batsmen.”I was definitely worn down physically but I think I can always manage physically though,” Johnson said. “It’s more mentally that I felt myself really drained even through the England tour at times. Constantly getting hammered by the crowds does take its toll, but also the long year we’ve had with the World Cup. It was a huge build-up, to win that and then I went to IPL and played there. Was pretty flat throughout that, and then got to the West Indies and started to pick up a bit.”The Ashes always takes it out of you anyway, it’s such a huge occasion, and was definitely great to get back home after that. I personally think if I’d played that one-day series there was a chance of burnout or injury, that’s how I felt within myself. That’s why I missed that one-day series, getting fresh to be ready for a big summer and hopefully be in really good form and play really good cricket.”I know New Zealand are going to be a tough opposition, then we’ve got a few Test matches after that against West Indies then over to New Zealand. So it’s a really hectic time, but the little break I’ve had has definitely freshened me up and I’m ready to go.”There were other issues that had crept into Johnson’s mind as well. The handling of Haddin’s exit from the team rankled, and so did the haziness that often surrounded how Johnson was to be used in the bowling attack. Seldom was he able to simply charge in at top pace and intimidate as he had done against England two years ago, as much for the fact that there was no Harris or Peter Siddle keeping things tight at the other end as anything else.Johnson will be speaking with the coach Darren Lehmann and the new captain Steven Smith about this concept. Already it appears Lehmann understands the need for control as well as pace, stating that Australia will retain an allrounder throughout the Test summer while also picking their most balanced attack to keep the scoreboard tight.”I spoke to Boof about it, it’s something I thought about,” Johnson said. “I think it works best if I bowl short spells and I can bowl that high 140s or mid 140s, then I think that’s the plan we should go with. I’m going to sit down and speak with Boof and Smithy about that and see what they think.”But I’ve always got a plan B and I think I learned that a lot more over in England to have a plan B, just try to use the ball a bit more in certain conditions. You can’t always blast teams out but when that time’s right I’m definitely still putting my hand up for that role.”That sort of outspokenness can be expected more often as Johnson begins the final phase of his career. No longer one of many 30-somethings in the Test team, he is now an elder statesman, a leader and a keeper of tradition. There is much he can pass on to a young team before he is done.

Nadeem Ghauri, the banned Pakistan umpire, has criticised the PCB’s decision as “one-sided”

Umar Farooq14-Apr-2013Nadeem Ghauri, the Pakistan umpire banned for four years by the PCB, has criticised the board’s decision as “one-sided”. Ghauri was punished after the PCB’s integrity committee found him guilty of being willing to accept money for favourable umpiring decisions.The allegations against him, Ghauri said, were baseless. They surfaced during a television sting operation, broadcast by , last year, which claimed to have “exposed” several first-class umpires from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan who were allegedly willing to give decisions favouring players for a fee. Ghauri and his umpiring colleague Anis Siddiqui were banned for four and three years respectively by the PCB’s integrity committee.”It’s a one-sided decision and I am not happy with it,” Ghauri said during a press conference at his residence. “I didn’t compromise my integrity and didn’t even enter any deal with them but still they have slapped me with this ban. They [PCB] didn’t give me a chance to [explain] my version properly. I will request the chairman and will appeal that I should get justice.””I don’t think it’s true,” Ghauri said of the claims made by the sting operation. “I was actually referred by Nadir Shah (a Bangladesh umpire) with regard to a cricket league in Sri Lanka. They were offering me a lucrative package for umpiring and I brought everything to PCB’s notice.”I was not under any contract with the PCB and we were trying to make some money through these leagues for livelihood without knowing that I am actually being trapped.”Both umpires, as a result of the bans, cannot officiate in any form of cricket and will not be considered for any role in Pakistan’s regional associations. The bans took effect on October 11, 2012, the day the PCB began its investigation.Ghauri, 50, played one Test, against Australia in Sydney in 1990. He also played six ODIs and 147 first-class games. He was part of the ICC’s Elite Panel of Umpires and the PCB’s international panel in an umpiring career that spanned 13 years. “I have 10 clean years between 2000 and 2010, before being demoted from the ICC panel,” said Ghauri, who was also among the injured during the terrorist attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore in 2009. “I have served my life for Pakistan and the PCB should have taken my past into account before making the judgement.”I am waiting for the documents. I will send an appeal to the chairman and will ask him to show me the videos, there should not be a one-sided decision,” Ghauri said, adding that, during the sting operation, he was only sharing his experience as an umpire over Skype.”And in two minutes you can’t compromise your integrity. They trapped us by offering a contract in the Sri Lankan league. This league did happen but their own umpires supervised it in Sri Lanka.”

Report from day 3 at Edgbaston

George Dobell at Edgbaston14-Apr-2012If Somerset go on to win this game, Jim Troughton will surely rue a remarkable, uncharacteristic error in the field. Troughton, the Warwickshire captain and a fielder of some repute, spurned a simple catch at mid off that allowed Somerset, for perhaps the first time in the match, to seize the initiative. It was the sort of chance that Monty Panesar might have taken with one hand behind his back. While balancing on a ball. Blindfolded. In the dark.Buttler was on just seven at the time and his partnership with Nick Compton worth 12. Mistiming a drive off Keith Barker, Barker saw the ball go straight to Troughton at groin height only for the fielder to inexplicably put it down. The pair subsequently extended their sixth-wicket partnership to 167 with Buttler contributing a fluent 93. It could prove the turning point of this game.Not that Warwickshire are out of it yet. Set 259 to win, they have made excellent progress through a third-wicket stand of 80 between William Porterfield and Ian Westwood. Porterfield, in particular, has impressed with his shot selection and calculated aggression. He has not scored as heavily as he would have liked since joining the club from Gloucestershire ahead of the 2011 season – he averaged only 25.34 in the championship last year – but this could well prove to be his best innings for Warwickshire.It would be foolish to presume anything, though. This intriguing game has been characterised by its ebbs and flows with neither side able to take their opportunities. It is sad to report, then, that so few have seen it. While there is much debate over the need for championship cricket on Saturdays, there remains very little evidence that there is a market for it. Over the last few years, Saturday attendances for championship cricket have been pitiful. The coverage in Sunday papers is hardly extensive, either.Those that were at Edgbaston for the third day witnessed a demonstration of the considerable talents of 21-year-old Buttler. While he is nowhere near the finished article – a propensity to flirt outside his off stump would be exploited at Test level – he plays strokes that hint at something quite special. He sweeps and slog-sweeps unusually well and hits his cover drive with eye-catching force. He fell seven short of a third first-class century when he played across a straight one.Compton, by comparison, has more prosaic charms. In an age when most batsmen look to go forward and dominate, he is happy to go back, across and defend. He cuts particularly well, though and, having taken 61 balls over his first 50, showed his patience by taking a further 128 over his second. This – the 13th first-class century of his career – was an admirable innings that frustrated the Warwickshire attack immensely and earned his side a decent chance of victory.Buttler’s dismissal sparked a decline, however. Somerset lost three wickets for five runs in 12 balls, with the deserving Chris Wright winning reward for his line and persistence as Compton, back instead of forward, was bowled. Adam Dibble, inevitably nicknamed ‘Officer’ and another in the abundant stream of young Somerset talent, added a brisk 43 to the total, but won little support. It will have been a painful irony to Warwickshire that Vernon Philander’s innings was ended when Troughton, running back from mid off, took an outstanding, diving catch.Warwickshire, opting to take a positive approach and bludgeon some of the shine from the new ball, promoted Neil Carter to open their second innings. It worked, too, with Carter carving successive fours off Steve Kirby and surviving a tough chance to Arul Suppiah, at long off.The introduction of spin brought immediate reward, however, as Carter drove to cover and, when Kirby was brought back on for the next over, he dismissed Varun Chopra off an ambitious top-edged pull. At that stage, with 216 more required and a top-order that was far from prolific last year, Warwickshire were in some trouble.But Porterfield, driving beautifully through the covers, pulling powerfully and using his feet to negate the spin of George Dockrell, revived the home side and has set up a fascinating final day. Troughton may well have a chance to redeem himself.

Carlton Baugh has replaced Devon Thomas as the wicketkeeper in the West Indies squad for the first two one-dayers against Pakistan in St Lucia

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Apr-2011Carlton Baugh has replaced Devon Thomas as the wicketkeeper in the West Indies squad for the first two one-dayers against Pakistan in St Lucia. Thomas has been diagnosed with chicken pox. Baugh will join the squad in Barbados for the ongoing pre-series camp.Baugh’s call-up is another setback to Denesh Ramdin’s hopes of mounting a comeback. Baugh was part of West Indies’ World Cup 2011 squad but had to pull out of the tournament with a hamstring injury sustained during the warm-up game against Sri Lanka. His place was taken by Thomas who played all of West Indies’ seven games in the tournament. Thomas was also part of the squad for the tour of Sri Lanka last year as second-choice wicketkeeper behind Baugh.West Indies meet Pakistan in the first two games of the five-match ODI series at the Beausejour Stadium in St. Lucia on April 23 and April 25.

The Indian income-tax department is believed to be acting on information of certain IPL players receiving illegal payments from their employers

Ashok Malik23-Apr-2010The Indian taxman’s scrutiny of the mess surrounding the IPL is not necessarily limited to the league’s officials, franchise owners/managers and partner companies. It is understood the income-tax department is also acting on information of certain players receiving illegal payments from their employers.A specific episode under assessment goes back to August 2009, when the IPL announced an amnesty scheme for players linked with the unauthorised Indian Cricket League (ICL). Former ICL players who had no international cricket experience were allowed to be signed on by IPL franchises for an annual fee of between Rs 8-20 lakh ($18,000-45,000).There are reports that at least two franchises breached this salary cap and paid individual players in excess of IPL stipulations. The extra payment was made in cash. It is believed in some cases the quantum of ‘black money’ payments was substantial and almost doubled the cricketer’s fee.The IPL imposes salary caps on various categories of cricketers. The ICL amnesty scheme is one example. Players from the Indian squad that won the 2008 ICC Under-19 World Cup were also restricted in what they could earn in a season, depending on their first-class or international experience.Yet, as became evident during the recent Ravindra Jadeja investigation, this regulation was not considered sacrosanct. The Rajasthan Royals cricketer admitted to negotiating with two franchises to play IPL’s third season for a fee of Rs 2 crore ($450,000). Under the IPL rules, he was entitled to only Rs 40 lakh ($90,000). It is unclear how the incremental payment would have been made, had the deal gone through.Suspicions of a tax dodge by cricketers, with the active collaboration of their franchises, may only be the tip of the iceberg. The issue of salaries and salary ceilings is likely to enmesh the IPL in greater controversy in the coming months. In some respects, it is a microcosm of all that is wrong with the manner in which the league has been run. There are perceptions of the law having been broken – as in the case of the cricketers under scrutiny – as well as conflict of interest issues. Whether irregularities or merely angularities, the IPL will need to address these.When the IPL began in 2008, each team was allowed to spend $5 million a year to hire cricketers. For the 2011 season – and beginning with the big auction planned for October 2010, which will see franchises populate their squads for the 2011-13 period – this limit has been raised to $7 million.The idea behind a salary cap was to equalise competition and not give an opportunity to any one franchise, with extensive cash resources, to buy out the best players and use money power to dominate the tournament.The logic was strong and the precedent of the English Premier League (EPL) was there to learn from. In the EPL, teams like Aston Villa and Fulham tend to do well and finish in the first half of the table – but they never win. On the other hand, a Manchester United and a Chelsea are in serious contention for the title year after year. The difference between the two sets of teams is their bank balance.At least in the early years of the IPL, the league authorities were concerned about games or even a full season becoming lopsided and final positions predictable. Today this ‘equalisation’ principle is in danger of being subverted by not just cash payments – over and beyond official salaries – but also other perquisites offered by some franchises to key cricketers. This has been particularly so in case of franchises wholly or largely owned by business corporations.BCCI officials have been worried about instances of regular ‘jobs’ being offered to cricketers by the mother company of their franchise. Earlier this week, another conundrum was thrown up when England batsman Kevin Pietersen was announced as the ambassador of the Whyte & Mackay brand of whiskeys.At one level, this is a perfectly understandable endorsement arrangement. Pietersen is one of the finest cricketers in the world. He has name recall in India, is of South African origin and plays for England. All of these are markets Whyte & Mackay executives said they were focused on, and the Pietersen stamp would help.However, Pietersen bats for the Bangalore Royal Challengers in the IPL. The Bangalore IPL franchise has been bought by the same business group that owns Whyte & Mackay. Is there a conflict of interest here?It’s a tricky question and it is plausible that the two motivations – hiring Pietersen as a player for a cricket team and as an ambassador for a whisky brand – are different.Nevertheless the IPL is also at the cusp of fervid inter-season lobbying and negotiation as teams try and retain talent and persuade star cricketers to possibly drop out of the October auction and stay on with the old franchise. Salaries will be discussed; the equivalent of loyalty bonuses and golden handcuffs could figure in the conversation.How does Pietersen’s endorsement of a sister brand of the Royal Challengers fit into this? Will it give other cricketers and other franchises ideas? How does it square up with IPL’s ‘equalisation’ norm? At some stage before Season IV, those questions will have to be clarified.