All posts by n8rngtd.top

The former West Indies opener has chosen not to extend his contract, and believes it is time for him to move on from the post

Nagraj Gollapudi19-May-2019Phil Simmons will step down as Afghanistan coach after the World Cup. The former West Indies opener, who was appointed to the position in December 2017, said the time was right for him to move on as the target he had been given – of helping Afghanistan qualify for the World Cup – had been achieved.Simmons is understood to have communicated his decision to the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) on Saturday. His contract, which runs until the end of the World Cup, would likely have been extended given Afghanistan’s results during his tenure, including their tournament win in Zimbabwe at the World Cup Qualifier last March.”I have thought about it and I have actually given the ACB my notice that I will not be renewing my contract,” Simmons told ESPNcricinfo. “I will move on to something different once my contract expires on July 15.”I signed up originally for 18 months and I think I have done a lot in this period. It is time for me to move on to something else now. To want to get to the World Cup – that was ACB’s goal at the time they appointed me. My goal is always to leave things better than when I joined: the way we practice, the way we think about the game, the way we assess other teams. I’ve tried to help the players in all those areas.”Simmons’ decision to not extend his contract came close on the heels of the ACB’s much talked-about change in the side’s leadership, which brought an end to Asghar Afghan’s four-year captaincy reign across formats. Gulbadin Naib was appointed ODI captain, while Rahmat Shah and Rashid Khan were put in charge of the Test and T20I teams respectively. Rashid and Mohammad Nabi, the two global superstars of Afghanistan cricket, had strongly criticised the move, tweeting in support of Afghan. Nabi said it wasn’t “the right time” to change the captain, and credited Afghan for helping the team “gel” well. Rashid, who has also been the ODI vice-captain, called the move “irresponsible and biased”.Simmons revealed that neither the ACB nor the national selection committee had consulted or alerted him to the changes, catching him off guard.”No, I was not aware of it. I was not given any reasons. It was the decision of the Afghanistan Cricket Board and the selectors,” Simmons said. “How can I take it? I can’t change it. So I have to just get on with what I have to do and make sure the squad is preparing in the same way I wanted them to prepare barring the [captaincy] change.”

How our ball-by-ball commentary captured the West Indies allrounder sending chills down the New Zealand team’s backs in the final couple of overs

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jun-2019..47.1 Henry to Brathwaite, 2 runs, miscued pull but he has managed to drag it to deep square’s right. Too early through this shot as he tries to drag the short ball from wide outside off47.2 Henry to Brathwaite, SIX, clears long-on! Flat-bats it and hardly gets height on this, but he’s got plenty of distance. Literally swipes from above waist heightWATCH on Hotstar (India only) – Gayle smashes 8747.3 Henry to Brathwaite, SIX, and another! It is no longer a clear New Zealand advantage! Low full toss wide outside off. Reaches out and gets bat – just enough bat – to get it to land on the padding at deep backward point!Carlos Brathwaite smashes a six over point•Getty Images

47.4 Henry to Brathwaite, SIX, it is too full! It is too far outside off! Knee high full toss with lots of width and he smokes it over wide long-off! Unreal. How does he keep finding himself in these situations, and doing this? Three in a row.47.5Henry to Brathwaite, FOUR, top edge clears the wicketkeeper! Heart in the mouth, but the fortune is all his, it seems! Bouncer cramps him at the chest. He has no control over this shot. But it’s trickled through to the third man boundary. 24 off the over!47.6 Henry to Brathwaite, 1 run, lofted to third man’s right and he will keep strike! Short outside off and he holds his composure48.1 Neesham to Brathwaite, no run, short of a length outside off, watchfully tapped to extra cover48.2 Neesham to Brathwaite, no run, beaten! Whew. Short and wide outside off. Backs away and has a swipe but it some distance away from connection48.3 Neesham to Brathwaite, no run, beaten again. Short and wide outside off. Once again he’s gone for the pull. Misses again48.4 Neesham to Brathwaite, 2 runs, pulls out to deep midwicket and comes back for the second! What. An. Innings. He doesn’t get to do a lot very often, down at No. 8. But every time he finds himself in this situation, he shines through. A hundred. An unlikely win in sight. Takes his helmet off, blows a kiss. Back to it.48.5 Neesham to Brathwaite, no run, legcutter, short and spinning past off stump as he shapes to pull and is deceived again. Beaten. This is a great over from NeeshamCarlos Brathwaite is consoled by Ross Taylor•Getty Images

48.6 Neesham to Brathwaite, OUT, has he done it? No! Boult plucks it at long-on! Two drops for Boult since the last game, but he’s held on when it’s mattered! They’re checking for no-ball…it’s well behind the line. This is heartbreak for Brathwaite. So close. Short ball at middle, he pulled it, but slightly from under again. Ended up slicing it, with no room. It was to Boult’s right. He leaped, he held on, he balanced on his right foot. That is solid work under pressure. Both batsmen on their knees, and then Brathwaite gets up with a smile. He did his all, and then some. But it was always unlikely. And you feel like he knows that. Smiles from his opponents as they offer their commiserations. It’s all shakes. It could have so easily been the other way round…CR Brathwaite c Boult b Neesham 101 (117m 82b 9×4 5×6) SR: 123.17

Both men’s and women’s internationals in Australia plus the BBL, WBBL and some domestic cricket will continue to be broadcast on Sky Sport in New Zealand

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jul-2019New Zealand broadcaster Sky Sport has extended its deal with Cricket Australia to exclusively broadcast all Australian cricket for a further six years until the end of 2024-25.Sky Sport has been CA’s broadcaster in New Zealand for over two decades and the deal comes ahead of a summer where the New Zealand side will play three Tests and three ODIs on Australian shores.New Zealand are set to play their first Boxing Day Test in Australia at the MCG since the famous 1987 draw, before playing the traditional New Year’s Test in Sydney.They will begin their Test tour with a day-night Test in Perth, which intriguingly due to the five-hour time difference, will not finish until the early hours of the morning in New Zealand. The three ODIs will be played in March 2020.In addition to men’s international matches, Sky Sport will also broadcast women’s international matches, the Big Bash League and Women’s Big Bash League matches, some men’s domestic one-day matches, Prime Ministers XI matches, Governor-General’s XI matches and the Sheffield Shield final.Director of Sky Sport Tex Teixeira said he was delighted to continue the long-term partnership with CA.”We are excited to be extending our longstanding relationship with Cricket Australia,” Teixeira said.”With this deal we now have six incredible Australian summers of cricket to look forward to, including the Boxing Day Test which was last played between our two great cricket nations in 1987.”

The visitors looked in trouble after Amar Virdi’s three wickets reduced them to 175 for 5 shortly before tea, still 37 away from an innings defeat

ECB Reporters Network21-Aug-2019Liam Dawson’s fourth half-century of the season steered Hampshire to the safety of a draw on the final day of their County Championship fixture with Surrey at The Oval.The visitors looked in trouble after Amar Virdi’s three wickets reduced them to 175 for 5 shortly before tea, still 37 away from an innings defeat.But Dawson, who was 65 not out having scored a century against Surrey in the Royal London Cup earlier in the season, proved their nemesis again, batting for two hours to take Hampshire to 253 for 5 in company with debutant Harry Came, who remained not out 23 as they avoided defeat.Earlier, Ollie Pope had completed a maiden County Championship double century to set up the hosts’ morning declaration before hot-footing it to Headingly as England cover should Jason Roy be ruled out of the third Test with possible concussion.Surrey began the day 123 ahead and in need of quick runs. Skipper Ben Foakes was bowled through the gate before the go button could be pressed, but Pope continued serenely onto his double hundred from 323 balls with 19 fours.Rikki Clarke hoisted Dawson for a huge straight six to provide the necessary acceleration before being adjudged lbw to Fidel Edwards, who claimed 5 for 125, though replays suggested the ball would have missed leg-stump.The declaration came soon afterwards at 579 for 7 with Pope 221 not out, which left Hampshire 212 in arrears and with 40 minutes to negotiate before lunch.The hosts spurned a chance when Ryan Patel dropped Felix Organ at third slip after he was on eight, but they made the breakthrough with the last ball before the interval, Virdi having Ian Holland caught down the leg side by Foakes.There was more encouragement soon after the resumption when Clarke pinned England hopeful James Vince in front for just a single to leave Hampshire 39 for 2.It was clear the visitors’ intent was to play positively in a bid to wipe out their arrears and get in front. However, Sam Northeast took that intention to extreme lengths with a string of streaky shots down through third man and ultimately it proved his undoing when he slashed one from Morne Morkel to Scott Borthwick at slip.Organ meanwhile, was making the most of his earlier reprieve, racing to 50 in 55 balls with a six and eight fours, ending up with 77. He looked increasingly confident, but with a second century in as many matches beckoning he, like Northeast, contributed to his own downfall, giving Virdi the charge and missing the ball to be stumped by Foakes.The same combination would account for Rilee Rossouw before the end of the session, though the South African should probably reflect on why he was playing a needless sweep shot so close to an interval.Hampshire were wobbling but Dawson dug in, finding an ally in Came, who showed great composure for a man making his first appearance six days shy of his 21st birthday as a concussion replacement for Aneurin Donald, who was injured in the field on day three.Dawson’s 50 came in 63 balls to wipe out the arrears and the pair shared a half-century stand in the game’s dying embers.

Warwickshire top order defies table-topping visitors to end day one in solid position

Jon Culley at Edgbaston10-Sep-2019
With Somerset under pressure at Taunton, Essex have an opportunity here to take a decisive step towards regaining the County Championship title they surrendered to Surrey last season. Seeking a seventh straight win, they would have had expectations of a productive day when opting to forego the toss and bowl, yet they have run into a show of collective resistance from Warwickshire that may prove to be timely.The home side’s resources are seriously reduced because of injuries and illness. Rob Yates, Tim Ambrose and Adam Hose were all ruled out of this match. Already missing were Ian Bell, Liam Norwell, Olly Stone and Ryan Sidebottom through long-term injuries. Although the gap between themselves and bottom-of-the-table Nottinghamshire was still a yawning 42 points at the start of this round, Warwickshire are due at Trent Bridge next week and thus cannot yet rule out relegation.To be have suffered only three opening-day casualties and picked up two batting points, against a side that beat them by 187 runs at Chelmsford in July, will therefore feel like a good day’s work.Of their depleted top order, only Liam Banks, caught at leg slip without scoring, failed to frustrate the Division One leaders.Dom Sibley offered more evidence of why he is high on England’s watch list, sharing an opening partnership of 87 with Will Rhodes. Sibley, the leading run-scorer in the division, took a minute under three hours to complete his half-century, exhibiting the kind of patience and watchfulness that sometimes seems to be a lost art.Sibley’s next run took him to 1000 in the Championship and though he rather spoiled the narrative by losing his wicket without further addition, he had set a tone that Sam Hain and Matthew Lamb would then pick up, the fourth-wicket pair dominating the rest of the day with a partnership so far worth 128.Essex hinted at taking control just before lunch. Simon Harmer, who was handed the ball only 40 minutes into proceedings, struck twice in the space of six deliveries. Rhodes, the left-hander, edged to the wicketkeeper, the ball having turned away from him just a tad. Banks, the 20-year-old who had made a maiden half-century in the Chelmsford match, then fell to his fifth ball.Those two successes compensated somewhat for a wicketless morning for their seamers that had begun, unusually, with a flurry of no-balls. Two of Jamie Porter’s first three deliveries of the match were called for overstepping, which he repeated in his next over. The affliction appeared to be catching when Sam Cook’s front foot was twice too far advanced in his third over.Once they had sorted themselves out, they were a little unlucky. Both had the batsmen playing false strokes without finding the edge, although Sibley was a little fortunate when he nicked one off Cook on 21, the ball passing between first and second slips. Aaron Beard, who took the place of the departed Mohammad Amir, had Rhodes playing and missing.Harmer dismissed Sibley midway through the afternoon, doing well to hold on to the ball after tripping over Hain as he moved to his right to take what should have been a routine caught-and-bowled. Sibley, who had looked secure enough by then for spectators to be contemplating a fourth hundred of the season from the former Surrey batsman, chided himself for his error, thumping his bat into his right pad as he began a slow walk back to the dressing room.Essex might then have anticipated more inroads. The pitch was clearly offering something for Harmer to exploit. Yet the day’s remaining 54 overs yielded only frustration as Hain, who has faced 185 balls for his 77, and Lamb, 149 balls for his 69, found deep resources of resilience and concentration.

Andre Russell, Aaron Finch and Tymal Mills were our first three picks in the media mock draft

Matt Roller at Lord's16-Oct-2019ESPNcricinfo threw down the gauntlet for Darren Lehmann in the media mock draft for The Hundred, picking a strong squad including Andre Russell, Aaron Finch and Tymal Mills.Representing the Northern Superchargers, our 15-man pool included several stars of the Vitality Blast, as well as players who have starred on the global T20 circuit, and others who are on England’s radar.Picking third, after Trent Rockets (Vithushan Ehantharajah and Adam Collins) and Southern Brave (Simon Wilde and Elizabeth Ammon), our first-round pick was the 2019 IPL’s MVP Andre Russell, who would slot into our side as the finisher, listed at No. 6.After some surprising first-round picks from elsewhere, including Mohammad Nabi and Kane Williamson, we then added Aaron Finch as our opener and captain.Most teams opted to fill their overseas quota with their first three picks, but we sensed value lower in the draft and ended up selecting Imad Wasim – ranked the second-best T20I bowler in the world by the ICC – as low down as round five.Tymal Mills was therefore our third pick, our first-choice death bowler, and one of two left-arm seamers along with pre-selected local icon David Willey, who could take the new ball along with Imad.Adil Rashid was another pre-selected local icon, while Olly Stone’s pace would complete a strong, varied first-choice attack.Our batting was filled with left-right combinations, with four left-handers (Cameron Delport, Tom Moores, Delray Rawlins and Imad) and three right-handers (Finch, Tom Abell, and Andre Russell) in the top seven.There was bench strength, too, in the shape of Steven Croft, Rikki Clarke and the Blast’s leading wicket-taker Ravi Rampaul, with the looming spectre of Ben Stokes ready to slot into the side when permitted by England.All things considered, our selection panel came out of the draft happy with our afternoon’s work, and optimistic with how our squad will stack up against the one picked by Lehmann on Sunday evening.How the media mock draft of The Hundred played out•ECB/The Hundred

There were plenty of high-profile overseas players that failed to make the cut, including Chris Gayle and Lasith Malinga from the six men with a £125,000 reserve price, while Mohammad Amir, Chris Lynn, Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis also missed out, illustrating the point that plenty of big names will go unsold in the real thing.Morne Morkel, Ian Bell, Ryan ten Doeschate and Danny Briggs were among the unsold domestic players, while there was draft-room drama when Manchester Originals (Nick Friend and Huw Turbervill) tried to pick the unheralded Scotland opener George Munsey, only to find he wasn’t in the system.The main take-home was that the 100 seconds teams have to make their picks is a long time: with analysts pouring their time into depth charts and player roles in recent weeks, there shouldn’t be too many sides scrabbling against the clock.The draft was halted for an hour midway through due to technical difficulties, and the chance to test the software had been cited as a reason to hold the mock event; regardless of who gets picked, the ECB will be desperate the gremlins are banished from the system in time for Sunday evening.Our Northern Superchargers squad included a mix of domestic and international talent•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

One year out from the T20 World Cup at home, Australia seem like they have the building blocks of a strong team

The Preview by Andrew Fidel Fernando29-Oct-2019

Big Picture

An upbeat Sri Lanka went to Australia threatening to continue their outstanding Pakistan form, but like a skyrocket that veers off and flies through the neighbour’s open window, they only managed to wreak the most alarming – though spectacular – type of damage. It is difficult to imagine how the Adelaide match could have gone any worse. Kasun Rajitha’s record 0 for 75 made headlines, but the spinners also went at more than 10 an over, and Lasith Malinga went wicketless. On the batting front, no one made 20. Sri Lanka have had some limp limited-overs performances in the past two years, but this was among the very worst.ALSO READ – Maxwell interview: ‘You can’t play cricket bitter, you stop concentrating’
Australia don’t exactly have the record of an ace T20 side, having won only two of their seven most-recent series, but may have reason to consider themselves one of the best outfits in the world, with the return of David Warner and Steve Smith. Plenty is known about the explosive top three – Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell rounding it out – but there is a cohesive attack there too. On Sunday, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins essentially ended what slim chances Sri Lanka had of chasing down a gargantuan target, by blasting out the top three inside four overs. Sri Lanka could then barely get the Australian spinners off the square, and surrendered a clump of wickets to the wristspinner Adam Zampa, as they often do.One year out from the T20 World Cup at home, Australia seem like they have the building blocks of a strong team at their disposal. When they arrived in Australia, Sri Lanka thought they had building blocks too. They have the galling challenge of winning in Brisbane if they are to avoid not only a series loss, but also talk of the Pakistan series having been a false dawn.ALSO READ – Starc to miss second T20I against Sri Lanka

Form guide

Australia WWWLW (completed matches, most recent first)
Sri Lanka LWWWW

In the spotlight

There seems to be no team Glenn Maxwell enjoys playing more. He walloped 62 at a strike rate of 221 on Sunday, but going by his overall record against Sri Lanka, he might have actually underperformed. In four innings against them, he averages an astounding 140.5 (there are two not outs in there), with a strike rate 225. Particularly on tracks that do not offer drastic turn, Maxwell appears to have a psychological hold over the Sri Lanka attack – their bowlers seemingly incapable of out-manoeuvring or out-thinking him. More than a fifth of Maxwell’s career boundaries have come against Sri Lanka.Glenn Maxwell brought out all the shots•AFP

Sri Lanka made a litany of mistakes in the first match, but the first might have been to put Australia in to bat on what seemed an excellent batting surface. The decision seems especially strange when you account for Sri Lanka’s four previous T20s, which they had won batting first. Captain Lasith Malinga, who finds himself in the odd position of having to reimpose his leadership after the team did well without him in Pakistan. A victory at the Gabba could ease the pressure on him a little.

Team news

Mitchell Starc will miss the second T20 to attend his high-jump champion brother’s wedding. Billy Stanlake will likely play in his stead.Australia (possible): 1 David Warne, 2 Aaron Finch (capt.), 3 Glenn Maxwell, 4 Steve Smith, 5 Ashton Turner, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 Ashton Agar, 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Kane Richardson, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Billy StanlakeSri Lanka will likely leave Rajitha out and get Isuru Udana into the XI. They may also consider dropping the out-of-form Kusal Perera for Niroshan Dickwella.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Danushka Gunathilaka, 2 Kusal Mendis, 3 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 4 Oshada Fernando, 5 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Isuru Udana, 9 Lakshan Sandakan, 10 Lasith Malinga (capt.), 11 Nuwan Pradeep

Pitch and conditions

There is no rain expected, but cloud cover is forecast, which could aid swing with the new ball. Otherwise, expect your standard fast, bouncy Gabba surface.

Stats and trivia

• Sri Lanka have lost seven out of the eight-most recent T20s that Malinga has captained. Their only victory came against New Zealand, when Malinga took four wickets in four balls.
  
• Maxwell’s three most-recent T20I scores are 62 off 28, 113* off 55, and 56 off 43. The 113 and 56 had come in February, in India.
  
• Sri Lanka have won each of their three previous T20 series in Australia.

ESPNcricinfo’s live updates on the second round of Ranji Trophy games

Saurabh Somani17-Dec-2019