Foakes fails to recover after positive Covid test, Overton omitted despite debut 97

Vithushan Ehantharajah30-Jun-2022Sam Billings will make his third Test appearance against India on Friday after Ben Foakes was ruled out after having failed to recover from Covid-19. Billings is one of two changes as James Anderson returns after missing the final Test against New Zealand, regaining his spot from his replacement, Jamie Overton.Foakes had to be pulled out on the fourth morning of the previous Test at Headingley after returning a positive test, having complained of back trouble on day three. Kent captain Billings made the late journey up to Leeds on the third evening, arriving at the team hotel at 2am. He became England’s first Covid substitute a matter of hours later, taking a catch off Jack Leach between his knees as England won by seven wickets to seal a 3-0 series win.Billings was subsequently added to the squad for this fifth Test of this 2021 series at Edgbaston, primarily as cover to give Foakes every opportunity to play. Despite training on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Surrey wicketkeeper was unable to prove his fitness.”Unfortunately Foakesy has not recovered as well as we’d have liked to,” Stokes said. “Sam is going to stay in the team and be our keeper.”He [Foakes] just hasn’t really recovered from last week. He doesn’t feel like he could give the best account of himself this week, so we took the decision out of his hands and said, ‘get yourself better’.”It was Bairstow who initially covered for Foakes when he was unable to take the field on day three at Headingley. Stokes, however, said there was no thought given to doing so again.Much has been made of Bairstow’s affinity for the gloves, particularly given that all but one of his six Test centuries scored before the start of 2022 had come as the designated wicketkeeper. Since then, however, he has re-established himself as an engine-room destroyer, with four centuries and 774 runs already this year, at an average of 64.50.Under Brendon McCullum and Stokes, Bairstow has become a totem of their selfless, attacking cricket, and both are keen to keep it that way, with Stokes reiterating Foakes’ position as the first-choice keeper.”At the moment Jonny is in the form of his life. He’s our best middle-order batsman at the moment. Ben Foakes is our keeper going forward and we just want Jonny to concentrate on batting. Because however he is thinking about it at the moment is working, we just want Jonny to keep doing what he is doing with the bat.”The return of Anderson was expected, especially as he said on Wednesday that he could have played the last New Zealand Test had the series still been at stake. Perhaps Overton might count himself unlucky to be the man to make way, however. He bowled quickly and relatively well, but excelled with the bat, striking a remarkable 97 as part of 241-run stand with Bairstow, rescuing England from a precarious 55 for six.”That’s how sport at the top level can work sometimes,” Stokes said. “Obviously Jimmy didn’t feel he recovered as well as we would have liked to last week. So Jamie got his opportunity to show what you can do in a cricket field. He gave the best account possible of himself. And, he’s obviously someone that we see has a bright and long future for him going forward.”So yeah, it obviously must be very disappointing for him, but he can walk away knowing that he’s done everything that he possibly could have done last week to really put his name forward to have a look a good career for England.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

With the Edgbaston Test against India set to complete the five-match series that had to be postponed in 2021 due to a Covid outbreak, England have effectively made seven changes to the team that trails 2-1 in the series after last year’s Oval Test. Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed have since been replaced at the top of the order by Zak Crawley and Alex Lees, with Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes and Ollie Robinson the other absentees.Stokes himself was one of the players who sat out last year’s matches, after taking a mental-health break from the game while recuperating from a badly broken finger. And while he said he had not watched much of the action last time around, he was under no doubt about the threat that India would pose, having also effectively switched captains mid-series, with Virat Kohli stepping down from the role.”We just beat the best team in the world 3-0,” Stokes said, referencing New Zealand’s status as World Test Champions. “India are obviously a completely different opposition, a different dynamic of team, but we are concentrating on ourselves. We understand what we do well, but we have also take into account who we’re playing against. Just because the opposition changes doesn’t mean that we’re going to change.”We still obviously know we need to win this Test to draw the series from a year ago. But as I said last week, at the moment this is bigger than results, bigger then what happens out on the field. There’s more to it than that. We obviously want to win every game that we play, but it’s bigger than that.”Asked if England had it in them to get even more attacking in their approach, after three dynamic displays against New Zealand, Stokes replied: “If there’s a team that can, it’s us.”Crawley is the one regular selection in England’s ranks who hasn’t produced a significant contribution to their run of three wins in a row. But Stokes was adamant that he would receive all the support he needs to rediscover his most imposing form, despite a top score of 43 in six innings.”Before we’d even played a Test match, the squad was picked on the basis that every player in every position is the best player in England to carry us forward in the way that we want to,” Stokes said. “This team, and this squad, is going to be given a lot of time to perform. Zak Crawley is still in my plans, and Brendon’s plans going forward, to make this Test team great again.”

Fire all but out of contention after fourth consecutive defeat, Originals end own winless run

ECB Reporters Network16-Aug-2022Manchester Originals 149 for 9 (Salt 38, Ball 4-29) beat Welsh Fire 102 (Abbott 4-8) by 47 runsManchester Originals recorded their first victory of the Men’s Hundred against the winless Welsh Fire by 47 runs at Emirates Old Trafford.Sean Abbott gave the Mancunian crowd the perfect parting gift in his last home match before he leaves for Australia’s series against Zimbabwe, taking three catches and four wickets for just eight runs.In a bowler-dominated affair, a fast start from Originals openers Jos Buttler and Phil Salt was hauled back by the disciplined Fire attack, led by Jake Ball who finished with figures of four for 29 off 20 balls, as the Originals set what seemed to be an under-par 149 for nine.That proved to be more than enough however, as regular wickets meant the Fire never got close, bowled out for just 102, as Dwaine Pretorius top-scored with 29.Originals captain Buttler, who by his own count lost his 16th toss in a row, showed no ill-effects of being asked to bat first, as he and opening partner Salt, who at one point hit three consecutive sixes off Ball, raced to 66 off just 35 balls before the latter was bowled by Adam Zampa for 38 off 22 balls.Wayne Madsen then tried to take up the run-scoring mantle, showing a particular liking to Zampa, but it was the Australia international who had the last laugh, catching Madsen at point for 10.From that moment disciplined bowling from the Welsh Fire ensured that the Originals were unable to replicate the ease with which they had batted at the start of their innings.First, Buttler was bowled by Zampa on 29, who began the Fire’s recovery with two wickets for 17, before Laurie Evans was dismissed first ball, brilliantly bowled by Matt Critchley.Andre Russell looked to use the full extent of his world-renowned power, striking some lusty blows before he holed out to deep cover for 17 off 13, before Paul Walter, Tristan Stubbs, and Abbott also fell in quick succession in search of late-innings runs.Phil Salt and Jos Buttler made a bright start•Getty Images

Matt Parkinson was caught off the final delivery to give Ball his fourth wicket and conclude the Originals’ innings on 149.Looking to emulate the Original’s quick start to their innings, Joe Clarke was well caught in the deep by Abbott off the bowling of Mitchell Stanley for 10, Abbott then had Tom Banton caught and bowled for three.The Originals’ spinners then began to make inroads into the Fire middle-order as Sam Hain was caught by Russell, who made amends for a simple drop, off the bowling of Tom Hartley for five.Hain was swiftly followed back by Ben Duckett for a breezy 25 off 15 before being caught in the deep off Stubbs. The South African then dismissed Fire captain Josh Cobb first ball, well-held by opposite number Buttler.The procession of wickets continued as, amongst resistance from Pretorius, the dangerous David Miller was caught at cover for seven off Russell, before Abbott took the wickets of Critchley and Zampa.With victory a near-certainty, wicketkeeper Salt smartly ran David Payne out for eight, then local favourite Parkinson took the final wicket of Pretorius to ensure that the two points stayed in the north-west to leave the Fire at the foot of the table.Joe Boaden is writing for the ECB’s Hundred Rising Reporter programme, which gives young and aspiring journalists the opportunity to take the next step in their career.

Three-fors from Unadkat and Atit Sheth ensured West Zone were still in the game at stumps on day two

PTI22-Sep-2022B Indrajith’s scintillating hundred and K Gowtham’s rearguard 43 took South Zone past West Zone’s first-innings total on an interesting second day of the Duleep Trophy final.Indrajith’s 118 off 125 balls, along with contributions from Manish Pandey (48) and Gowtham (43 off 55 balls), ensured that South finished the second day on 318 for 7 – 48 runs clear of West Zone’s first innings score of 270.The match did turn out to be interesting when South were in a spot at 243 for 6, but allrounders Gowtham and T Ravi Teja (26*) added 62 for the seventh wicket in just 16.2 overs, and in the process helped their team surpass West’s total.However, with the final being a five-day affair, South are still some distance away from ensuring a healthy lead, which might not happen with only Teja remaining among the recognised batters.He has Sai Kishore (5 for 86 in 35.3 overs in West’s first innings) for company, but the left-arm spinner would be more happy that he could grab a fifth five-for and deny young Het Patel (98) a chance to get to the coveted three-figure mark.Mayank Agarwal pouched his catch, but later, when he came on to bat, he was caught in the slip cordon by Yashasvi Jaiswal off seamer Atit Sheth.Hanuma Vihari (25), whose Test batting slot is on the line, was then caught plumb in front, after Indrajith had been the dominant partner in their stand of 61.The Tamil Nadu right-hander played some gorgeous drives but was equally adept while working the deliveries pitched on his legs.His 13th first-class hundred contained 14 fours, and his 105-run partnership for the fourth wicket with the seasoned Pandey put South in the driver’s seat.Pandey, who had quickly hit four fours and a couple of sixes, could have converted his start to a big score but Tanush Kotian, the Mumbai off-spinner, castled him two short of fifty.The difference between the two sides was how the spinners fared. While Sai Kishore and Gowtham choked the run-flow for South, the two Mumbai spinners of West – Shams Mulani, the Ranji Trophy’s highest wicket-taker last season, and Kotian gave away 183 runs in 41 overs between them, while combining for just one wicket.Jaydev Unadkat (3/52) did his bit and also got a lot of support from former India U-19 player Sheth, but once Gowtham launched into Kotian, hitting him for successive sixes, the first-innings lead was there for the taking.

The ICC’s new deal with Aramco has brought the issue of sports sponsorship to the World Cup

AAP19-Oct-2022Cricket’s international players’ union will back any player who opts out of a sponsor engagement at the men’s T20 World Cup amid questions over the ICC’s player-of-the-match award.The issue of association between players and sponsors has risen to the fore in recent days, following Pat Cummins’s withdrawal from Alinta Energy ads and Netball Australia’s Hancock Prospecting deal.The ICC has also announced Saudi Arabian state-owned oil company Aramco as a global partner and sponsor of player-of-the-match awards in World Cups, beginning with the men’s T20 event in Australia.This has been met with some opposition given question marks over environmental sustainability and the Saudi government’s human rights record.It’s believed the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) were consulted before the sponsorship announcement, but will back any player to express their views on it.”Our focus at present is on agreeing the foundations of the relationship between players collectively and the ICC at a global level,” FICA CEO Tom Moffat said. “That’s including on the various global employment and regulatory issues that impact players and ensure cricket aligns with the global best practice.”Part of our proposal includes a framework for dialogue on how cricket approaches human rights responsibilities. In the meantime if individual players do not want to be associated with a particular sponsor, we would support that.”Aramco is also a sponsor of the player-of-the-match award in the IPL, where several prominent players have accepted cheques with the company’s name on it.However there is a feeling the events of recent days, as well as the current spotlight on Aramco’s sponsorship, will prompt players to be more aware of individual sponsors’ backgrounds.AAP has also been told that the ICC will not sanction players sitting out player-of-the-match award presentations if it went against their own beliefs.ICC practice however dictates that beside an on-screen graphic and fan vote, there is no sponsor logo or name on the physical award.Australia spinner Adam Zampa, who is one of cricket’s most progressive players through his vegan lifestyle, steered clear of saying if he would accept an Aramco award this World Cup when asked on Tuesday.”It’s a good question…we don’t live in a perfect world,” Zampa said. “The fact there is some conversations starting about it already [is good], but it’s going to be a steep learning curve for everyone.”Regardless, he said Cummins’ positioning had represented a step forward for the sport and the players’ desire to act as role models while balancing financials.”There has to be a collaborative approach between players, CA and sponsors,” he said. “I have obviously got some personal views about some sponsors we have at the moment, but the fact Pat has started that conversation is great.”The Aramco situation is likely to remain an issue at next year’s women’s T20 World Cup, while the sponsorship lasts until after the 2023 men’s 50-over tournament.The ICC claim they can attempt to drive change through sponsorship partnerships and their own steps towards sustainability in cricket.Saudi Arabia fielded their first women’s cricket team in five T20s earlier this year, while the ICC has assisted in setting up female participation programs.

Fast bowler is hoping his experience playing for Melbourne Stars in the BBL helps him when Pakistan take on India at the T20 World Cup

PTI29-Sep-2022Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf is banking on knowledge gained from the Big Bash League to outsmart India’s batters in the T20 World Cup match between the two at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 23.”If I give my best, they won’t be able to play me easily. For the upcoming World Cup match, I’m very happy because it is at the Melbourne Cricket Ground,” Rauf, who plays for Melbourne Stars in the BBL, said after at the post-match interaction following Pakistan’s six-run win over England in Lahore on Wednesday.”It is my home ground because I play for the Melbourne Stars, and I have an idea of how the conditions play out there. I’ve already started planning on how I would bowl against India.”The win in Lahore gave Pakistan a 3-2 series lead in the seven-match T20I series, with Rauf playing a key role so far, topping the wickets charts with eight scalps.India and Pakistan, who only meet in multi-team tournaments these days, faced each other twice at the Asia Cup in the UAE in August. There, Rauf did not have the biggest impact, going wicketless when India beat Pakistan by five wickets in the first round, and taking one wicket – that of Rohit Sharma to break a half-century opening stand – when Pakistan turned the tables on India in the Super 4s. He was relatively expensive in both games too, going at 8.75 and 9.50 respectively, but finished as runners-up Pakistan’s joint-leading wicket-taker.Playing India twice in the Asia Cup, Rauf said, could take the edge off the nerves that come with the territory. “The match between India and Pakistan is always a high-pressure game. In the World Cup last year, I was feeling so much pressure. But in the past two matches in the Asia Cup, I didn’t feel much of it because I knew I just had to give my best.”

The system could be similar to the Impact Player concept trialled during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Dec-2022Tactical substitutions will make an appearance in IPL 2023, with the BCCI set to introduce the concept that it trialled for the first time during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy domestic T20s in October-November.Related

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“Also note that from IPL 2023 Season a tactical/strategic concept will be introduced to add a new dimension to IPL, wherein one substitute player per team will be able to take a more active part in an IPL match,” the IPL said in a note sent to franchises on Thursday. “The regulations pertaining to the same will be issued shortly.”