England batter reflects on “crazy day” as hosts hit back after Shafali Verma fireworks

Valkerie Baynes17-Jun-2021Two debutants, two excellent Test innings, but Sophia Dunkley said her unbeaten half-century was more about putting England in a good position on the second day of their match against India.Dunkley, the first black woman to play Test cricket for England, was not out 74 when captain Heather Knight declared her side’s first innings on 396 for 9. But her composed knock was somewhat overtaken by that of Shafali Verma, the 17-year-old India opener whose 96 in a 167-run stand with Smriti Mandhana threatened to overhaul the hosts’ impressive total.Related

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• Shafali Verma's follow-on fifty helps India cling on against England's might

That was until five wickets fell for 16 runs in the final hour of the day, leaving India still 209 adrift and England very much back in the ascendancy.”It’s a very exciting day for me,” Dunkley said. “[I was] just trying to get the team in a good position. To get fifty was very, very special and nice to have mum in the crowd.”It’s definitely been a crazy day today, getting a half-century on debut is definitely very special for me, and then going into the fielding innings, [Smriti] Mandhana and Verma got a good partnership going and gave us a few chances at times but things didn’t really go our way.”Then we got the breakthrough and five wickets fell and [it was] really exciting going into the evening and a lot of momentum to go into the morning with as well.”Dunkley had resumed on 12 and, after Katherine Brunt fell on the 12th ball of the day, she shared a 56-run partnership for the eighth wicket with Sophie Ecclestone. She also put on 70 runs with Anya Shrubsole, whose 33-ball 47 spurred England on after lunch.Dunkley overturned an lbw decision that would have seen her out for 46 when her review showed Sneh Rana’s delivery was missing leg stump, and she went on to bring up her fifty by running two after turning Rana through fine leg to warm applause from the stands.”I was just thinking about getting the team in a good place really,” Dunkley said. “It was all a bit of a blur. I was very, very happy but my main aim was to try and get us in a good position to go into the afternoon but to get fifty on the way is a very special moment to me and I’ll remember this day for a long time.”Dunkley played 10 T20 internationals for England in 2018-19 but spent the next 18 months on the fringes of selection, battling for a place in what seemed like an impenetrable top six.But after impressing during some intra-squad 50-over warm-up matches last summer and in the first edition of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, she earned a recall for the final two matches of England’s T20Is series against West Indies.She was part of England’s T20 side which toured New Zealand earlier this year and, after scores of 104 not out, 0 and 92 in this year’s Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, Knight said Dunkley had made herself “impossible” to leave out of the Test squad.Dunkley could also appreciate the feats of Verma, who posted the highest score by an Indian woman on Test debut, showing off the hallmarks of her power game with 13 fours and two sixes as well as the maturity to adapt to the tempo of Test cricket.”She played a few good shots and played a really good innings,” Dunkley said. “We just fought hard and just stuck in there and just trusted that a chance would come.”We did have a few early on close chances but just keep kept fighting and kept being ruthless and it came and I think that that really helped us to get through the end of the day.”

Ross Taylor not included for the tours keeping NZ’s upcoming home summer and the red-ball tour of India in mind

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Aug-2021Tom Latham will lead New Zealand in the absence of Kane Williamson on their white-ball tours of Pakistan and Bangladesh starting September. The opener will stand in as leader on both tours across white-ball formats.Several first team players, including Williamson, Trent Boult, Kyle Jamieson and Lockie Ferguson will be unavailable owing to their involvement in the IPL, which clashes with part of the tour.New Zealand take on Bangladesh in five T20Is in September, followed by three ODIs and five T20Is in Pakistan.New Zealand squad for Pakistan ODIs and Bangladesh T20Is•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

New Zealand chief executive David White said managing players’ workloads and their wellbeing was the main priority ahead of a busy season, with a tour of India and the T20 World Cup to follow the Bangladesh and Pakistan legs.”The need to safeguard the wellbeing of our players and support staff is now very real, and we’ve endeavoured to do this by carefully managing their workloads over this winter’s massive playing programme”, White said. “I’m satisfied we’ve selected strong squads for all our touring commitments this winter. As the Black Caps proved in England earlier this year, we have good depth in the New Zealand game and I’m confident all the squads chosen will acquit themselves well.”Related

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• Glenn Pocknall on uncapped fast bowler Ben Sears: 'The world's his oyster'

The inclusion of some young players with growing domestic reputations is likely to be one of the more closely watched aspects of the tour for New Zealand. The 21-year-old left-hand batter Rachin Ravindra is in the squad for the T20I tour of Bangladesh and the Pakistan ODIs, while 22-year-old Finn Allen is part of all three squads. Allrounder Cole McConchie and pace bowler Ben Sears are the other uncapped players to travel to Bangladesh and Pakistan.New Zealand squad for Pakistan T20Is•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

White said that the IPL dates coinciding with the Pakistan tour had presented a “unique” challenge. Originally scheduled to be held in April and May, the IPL was postponed midway after a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases. The remainder of the tournament will now be played September 19 onwards in the UAE.”It’s a pragmatic approach,” White said. “We’ve always tried to be realistic about the IPL and this particular issue is very much a one-off, caused by a unique set of circumstances.”The New Zealand Cricket statement said Ross Taylor was originally scheduled to be included for the ODI leg of the Pakistan series. But with quarantine protocols and the fact it will be a three-match series, they decided to rest Taylor keeping the upcoming home summer and New Zealand’s red-ball tour of India in mind. Taylor was also left out of the 15-man squad NZC picked for the T20 World Cup.The squad leaves for Bangladesh on August 23 for the T20I series. After that, they move to Pakistan, their first visit to the country since a five-match ODI series in 2003-04. That tour will start with the first of three ODIs on September 17, followed by five T20Is.Squad for Bangladesh T20Is and Pakistan ODIs: Tom Latham (capt, wk), Finn Allen, Hamish Bennett, Tom Blundell (wk), Doug Bracewell, Colin de Grandhomme, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry (ODI only), Scott Kuggeleijn, Cole McConchie, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Rachin Ravindra, Ben Sears (T20 only), Blair Tickner, Will Young.Squad for Pakistan T20Is: Tom Latham (capt, wk), Finn Allen, Todd Astle, Hamish Bennett, Tom Blundell (wk), Mark Chapman, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Ajaz Patel, Ish Sodhi, Ben Sears, Blair Tickner, Will Young.

ECB pay tribute to “a remarkable woman who led an extraordinary life”

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Dec-2021Eileen Ash, who was the oldest living Test cricketer, has died at the age of 110 with the ECB paying tribute to “a remarkable woman who led an extraordinary life”.Ash, née Whelan, made her Test debut for England against Australia in 1937 and played seven Tests in total, taking 10 wickets at an average of 23.00 with her right-arm seam bowling before her retirement in 1949. In the middle of her international career, she was seconded to MI6 – the UK’s secret intelligence service – during the Second World War.Ash was a well-known figure throughout her final years. She rang the bell at Lord’s ahead of England’s win in the final of the 2017 Women’s World Cup against India, and two years later the MCC unveiled a portrait of her at the same ground.Related

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Clare Connor, the ECB’s managing director of women’s cricket and the MCC’s president, said: “Our sport owes so much to its pioneers and Eileen was one of them. I am deeply sad to be saying goodbye to her today.”Heather [Knight, England captain] and I went to visit Eileen about six months before the 2017 ICC Women’s World Cup – she was 105 at the time – and it was one of the most remarkable experiences. Eileen taught Heather yoga, we played snooker, we drank cups of tea and we leafed through newspapers and scrapbooks celebrating Eileen’s time as a player in the 1930s and 1940s.”She regaled us with some amazing stories, including how she came to have her bat signed by Sir Donald Bradman at a French restaurant in Sydney in 1949. I know neither of us will ever forget that day, it was so special.”Our thoughts and prayers are with Eileen’s family as they come to terms with losing such a wonderful woman and the end of an astonishing life.”

India’s new white-ball captain says the team “couldn’t get that extra inch” to win an ICC trophy after the 2013 Champions Trophy

PTI13-Dec-2021Rohit Sharma enjoyed “each and every moment” that he played under outgoing white-ball captain Virat Kohli, and still continues to do so.In an interaction with , Rohit spoke about how the team had a “great time” under Kohli, who led for nearly five years.”Five years that he led the team, he led from the front every time, we stepped on to the park, and there was clear grit and determination to win every game, that was the message to the entire squad,” Rohit said on the sidelines of the India Test squad’s training session ahead of the South Africa tour.”We have had a great time playing under him and I have played a lot of cricket under him, I have enjoyed each and every moment, still continue to do that.”Related

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The Indian team has copped criticism for not being able to win an ICC trophy since the 2013 Champions Trophy despite having proven and consistent match-winners in the ranks.”There are lot of things that we need to do right before we think of end result. The last ICC trophy (Champions Trophy), we won was in 2013,” Rohit said. “But I don’t see anything wrong that we did after that Champions Trophy. We played well and performed as a team but just that we couldn’t get that extra inch.”That can happen as international cricket is very demanding but that’s the challenge as we are all professionals. Lot of World Cups are coming and India will be eyeing to do well in lot of them. Our focus is on winning championship but there is a process that we need to follow as a group.”If you need to win the championship, there are lot of other things that you first need to take care of, then focus on the end goal.”The focus will be on getting better as a player first and then collectively as a team, Rohit added. “When challenges are there and how you come out of those tough challenges is very important and I think, in the past we have been put in those situations before, where we have been 10 for 3 or 15 for 2 or something like that, we failed to recover. That’s something that we need to keep in mind moving forward, it’s one of the areas.”One of his primary tasks is to ensure that each player is aware of why he has been picked in the team and what is expected of him. “I have got limited opportunities to lead team India but whenever I have got an opportunity, I have tried to keep it simple, tried to keep one thing in common: clear communication to players.”I have tried making sure that they understand their roles, and that is what it is all about, understanding that role and going out there and performing that role. Because for us – coach and captain – it is important that we have clear communication and that is what I want to do, making people understand why they have been picked in the team.”Rohit and Rahul Dravid worked together during the three-match T20I series against New Zealand and the new captain is very happy with the start the two have had. “Working with Rahul , it was three-odd games but it was fantastic,” Rohit said. “We know how he has played his cricket, hard and tough. There has been a sense of relaxation as well, because it is important to keep the atmosphere light and cheerful.”

Nangeyalia Kharote triggered a collapse late in the chase but Australia clung on to win by two wickets

Sreshth Shah05-Feb-2022Nivethan Radhakrishnan was the hero for Australia in the third-place playoff match as his all-round show downed Afghanistan in a close contest. His three-wicket haul limited Afghanistan to 201, and his 66 from No. 3 set up the chase. Australia were in for a scare when they went from 193 for 5 to 196 for 8 late in the contest, but they hung on, winning by two wickets.Radhakrishnan, known for being an ambidextrous spinner, used his right-arm offbreaks to run through the Afghanistan middle order. Suliman Safi was adjudged lbw while trying to sweep Radhakrishnan, given out even though the impact seemed to be outside the line of the stumps. Safi had to walk back for a promising 37. Bilal Ahmad holed out down the ground and Noor Ahmad was bowled trying to slog Radhakrishnan as he finished with 3 for 31.The early bowling impact from Australia, though, came from the seamer William Salzmann, who also grabbed a three-for. It was his opening spell that rattled Afghanistan, and by his second over, he had sent Nangeyalia Kharote and Allah Noor packing. Salzmann also contributed to the third Afghan wicket when his throw from cover caught Mohammad Ishaq napping outside his crease.After Radhakrishnan got into the act with the Safi wicket, Khaiber Wali was run-out trying to pinch a single that wasn’t there before Salzmann returned to dismiss Afghanistan’s highest scorer Ijaz Ahmad Ahmadzai (81). With five fours and five sixes, Ijaz’s hand ensured Afghanistan had some sort of total to bowl at, and his 79-ball innings took the side past 200. He held up one end when wickets were tumbling from the other, and he eventually fell to Salzmann in the 49th over while trying to find the boundary.Cooper Connolly then knocked the tailenders over, leaving Australia needing 202 to win.Radhakrishnan walked in at No. 3 when Teague Wyllie fell early for 13. He took his time against Afghanistan’s spin attack, and put on 60 with Campbell Kellaway in 15.2 overs. Their stand took Australia past 100, before Kellaway was bowled by the left-arm wristspinner Noor soon after reaching his fifty. Noor was soon in the act again when he bowled Connolly with a googly.Radhakrishnan, though, kept the innings moving, his occasional boundaries taking Australia closer. He had begun his innings with two cover drives for four before dispatching a short Noor delivery for another boundary. He even played a dab, a sweep and a cut and reached his fifty in 72 balls. He was the fifth Australian out when he was stumped after misreading the flight of a Shahidullah Hasani delivery.At 167 for 5, Australia were expected to cruise to victory, but Kharote was not going down without a fight. With Australia in the 190s, he removed wicketkeeper Lachlan Shaw and Salzmann in quick succession. Between the two wickets Kharote sandwiched an effort from backward point that ran Corey Miller out.With five to defend and only the No. 11 still to come, the game was in the balance going into the last two overs. Joshua Garner and Jack Sinfield knocked off four singles in a nervy 49th over, before Garner found the gap through a packed infield in the first ball of the final over to give Australia the bronze medal.

Blistering knocks from the pair helped set a target of 218, which proved too far beyond Canterbury’s reach

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jan-2022Blistering knocks from Katene Clarke and Mitchell Santner powered Northern Districts to their highest total of the season, 217, which proved too far beyond Canterbury’s reach in the final of the men’s Super Smash in Hamilton.Opening the batting, Clarke almost single-handedly drove Northern Districts’ early momentum, rushing to 40 off 15 balls to lift them to a powerplay score of 57 for 2. That became 77 for 3 when Colin de Grandhomme fell off the last ball of the eighth over.Santner entered the scene at this point, and the fourth-wicket pair proceeded to add 50 in just 26 balls before Clarke departed in the 14th over for 71 off 34. He had hit eight fours and four sixes.Santner continued to pummel the Canterbury bowling, as Northern Districts pillaged 90 runs from their last seven overs. The allrounder eventually finished unbeaten on 92 off 40 balls, having hit four fours and nine sixes.Fast bowler Henry Shipley provided Canterbury their only bright spark with the ball, picking up 2 for 30 to finish the tournament as its top wicket-taker with 18 at an average of 14.11 and an economy rate of 7.25.Canterbury’s chase never really got to grips with the required rate, as Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi and Joe Walker made regular incisions. Their top scorer was their No. 9 Matt Henry, who hit 44 off 22 balls, but by the time he got going the result was a foregone conclusion. Northern Districts eventually triumphed by 56 runs, bowling out their opponents with seven balls remaining.

Chetan Bist’s seventh first-class century the lone bright spark for Nagaland

Himanshu Agrawal15-Mar-2022Wicketkeeper-batter Chetan Bist’s unbeaten century turned out to be the only positive for Nagaland on another day of uninspiring cricket on a flat Eden Gardens pitch. Bist’s 122 took his side to 289, which was still a monumental 591 behind Jharkhand’s 880.Despite that big a lead, Jharkhand surprisingly opted to bat again during the second session of the fourth day’s play, eventually finishing 723 ahead at stumps with eight wickets remaining. Nazim Siddiqui dominated an opening stand of 63, hitting 42 of them. His partner Utkarsh Singh ended on 50*.Siddiqui’s intent of getting quick runs was clear from the second over itself, as he found the boundary thrice off Chopise Hopongkyu: a pull off a short ball was followed by a gentle push to beat the point fielder, while a crunching drive between mid-off and cover finished the over. He eventually fell leg before wicket to Raja Swarnkar, before the Nagaland captain Rongsen Jonathan had Kumar Suraj caught for 31.Earlier, Bist waged a lone battle for Nagaland. Having started the day on 46, he reached his half-century in the sixth over of the day. Bist had stands of 24, 25, 45 and 35 for the last four wickets, enough for him to reach his seventh first-class hundred. He used the sweep shot to good effect against left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, as he found boundaries as well kept the scoreboard ticking.Bist also rode his luck on his way to the century. When on 85, his sweep off Nadeem landed between fine leg running forward and square leg running back. Then on 88, a top-edged pull just eluded fine leg.Jharkhand are all but through to the quarter-finals of this season’s Ranji Trophy, having already taken a first-innings lead.

Multiple sources have also said that another independent director, Rohan Sajdeh, submitted his resignation in March

Peter Della Penna17-May-2022Six months after the resignation of CEO Iain Higgins, USA Cricket is facing more uncertainty in leadership with board chairman Paraag Marathe also stepping down.USA Cricket board member Venu Pisike told ESPNcricinfo that this is all part of an agreement: Marathe’s resignation in return for Pisike and fellow board member Srini Salver dropping a longstanding lawsuit against the board.Multiple sources have also said that another independent director, Rohan Sajdeh, submitted his resignation in March which now leaves three significant roles vacant in the board.The lawsuit filed by Pisike and Salver was in relation to the USA Cricket elections, namely that they had waived the constitutional requirement that in order to vote, members had to be registered and in good standing for a minimum of 12 months prior to a vote.Related

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USA Cricket was going to allow new members to vote just weeks after enrolling in late 2020 and early 2021. Separately, Pisike and Salver issued a legal challenge to Marathe’s re-appointment as an independent director and board chairman in March 2021. They claimed that the post should only have been filled after the election, which has already been delayed by 17 months, with inputs from the newly-elected board members.”The two issues raised in the lawsuit are addressed to our satisfaction,” Pisike wrote via email when contacted by ESPNcricinfo. “Members who registered in early 2021 now meets the constitutional one-year eligibility requirement. Chairmam [sic] who is reappointed as independent dir[ector] against the adopted process submitted his resignation.”USA Cricket made no mention of either board member’s resignation in a press release on Monday night announcing that the Pisike & Salver lawsuit had been withdrawn. A USA Cricket spokesperson did not comment directly when asked about Marathe’s resignation.Paraag Marathe has resigned six months after USA cricket CEO Iain Higgins did the same•Getty Images

The credibility and stability of Marathe, who also serves as an executive vice-president for the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, and Higgins were seen as key reasons for USA Cricket’s successful bid to become co-hosts for the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup along with Cricket West Indies. But their absence – Higgins resigned as CEO in November – now leaves a significant leadership vacuum just over three years after USA Cricket was readmitted as an Associate member by the ICC and recognised as the official governing body in America following the expulsion of USACA in 2017.Pisike is also looking to renegotiate a billion-dollar contract signed with American Cricket Enterprise (ACE) in 2019.A copy of the agreement, which has been obtained by ESPNcricinfo, states that ACE keeps 95% of all cricket-related commercial revenue – including TV broadcast rights, sponsorship agreements and gate sales – generated for USA Cricket while USA Cricket keeps 5%. The agreement provides a minimum annual payment to USA Cricket from ACE – which is listed at $399,000 for 2022, meaning USA Cricket would need to generate $8 million in revenue before they would receive anything beyond the base level disbursement guaranteed by ACE – in the event that the 5% revenue figure does not reach that threshold, which it has not in the first three years of the deal.”Also the majority of the board agreed to prioritise ACE contract negotiation which is pending for almost three years,” Pisike said. “I personally think the current contract doesn’t benefit USA Cricket or it’s constituents hence we need [and] desire a contract that is good for all parties including ACE.”Former USA Cricket CEO Iain Higgins played a part in the country getting to co-host the 2024 T20 World Cup•Peter Della Penna

The current arrangement has left USA Cricket severely cash-strapped, especially since the cancellation of the ODI series against Ireland in December. That tour was projected to break even thanks to incoming sponsorship and broadcast revenue, but only if all of the scheduled two T20Is and three ODIs had gone ahead. The cancellation of the three ODIs because of Covid-19 meant that USA Cricket lost out on significant revenue for those matches, though the costs of stadium venue rentals, Covid testing fees and hotel rooms for the squads remained. According to multiple sources, that led to USA Cricket suffering a loss of between $200,000 to $250,000.The domino effect of that financial hit has resulted in the board laying off numerous staff. USA Cricket announced late last week that they were not going to renew the contract of USA women’s head coach Julia Price, preferring someone who is based in the USA full-time. Price, who recently served as head coach of the Warriors squad in the Fairbreak Invitational T20 event in Dubai, is based in Australia and had been traveling back and forth since her appointment just over three years ago.Kirk Greaves, who was one of several independent contractors who also had their contracts terminated in recent months, has filed a lawsuit against the governing body claiming “racial discrimination” and is seeking $2 million in damages.USA Cricket has also delayed announcing the scheduling of any domestic championships for 2022 due to financial constraints. USA’s men’s side is due to travel to Zimbabwe for the 2022 Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier B in July, but tentative plans for a slate of T20I fixtures to help prepare USA in the lead-up to that event may also be in doubt for financial reasons.

“Perfect time to call curtains on my career as the team is in the capable hands of some very talented young players”

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jun-2022Mithali Raj has brought the curtain down on her storied career, announcing her decision to “retire from all forms of International Cricket” in a message on Twitter.Raj, 39, wrote, “I feel now is the perfect time to call curtains on my playing career as the team is in the capable hands of some very talented young players and the future of Indian Cricket is bright.”Though she didn’t give any concrete indicators on what her future plans were, she did say that she would stay connected with the game. “Each time I stepped on the field, I gave my very best with the intent to help India win. I will always cherish the opportunity given to me to represent the tricolour,” she wrote. “It was an honour to have led the team for so many years. It definitely shaped me as a person & hopefully helped shape Indian Women’s Cricket as well.”This journey may have ended but another one beckons as I’d love to stay involved in the game I love and contribute to the growth of Women’s Cricket in India and world over.”