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CSA’s chief medical officer to travel with the team, additional precautions to be in place

Firdose Moonda06-Mar-2020South Africa’s ODI tour of India for three ODIs will go ahead after the organisation completed a risk assessment regarding the spread of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) across the world. While South Africa reported its first confirmed case of the virus on Thursday, India’s health ministry has estimated infections are affecting around 30 people. But a team of experts have deemed the country and the team’s transit routes safe for travel. CSA’s chief medical officer Dr Shuaib Manjra will make the trip with the team.South Africa depart their home country on Sunday morning and will travel to India via Dubai. They will then spend a day in Delhi, before heading to Dharamsala, the venue of the first ODI, which will be played on March 12. Two more fixtures in Lucknow and Kolkata follow on March 15 and March 18. None of the venues have reported any cases of COVID-19. The team will also travel on chartered flights to reduce risk, which CSA has put at a low level, even in Dubai where football matches are being played behind closed doors, the UAE Cycling Tour has been cancelled and schools have been shut.”While the risk remains low, precautionary measures are necessary because of the highly infectious nature of the disease. The team has been appraised of hygiene precautions, avoidance measures, and symptom recognition in addition to being provided with travel kits,” a CSA statement read.Though South Africa’s tour will last for only a total of 11 days, some members of the team will remain in India for the IPL, which starts on March 29 and runs to May 24 and has been given the green light albeit with precautions. Other major cricket, such as the series between England and Sri Lanka will also go-ahead, with the teams agreeing to exchange fist bumps instead of handshakes to reduce the transmission of germs.The assignment in India is the last of South Africa’s 2019/20 summer, which began in the same country last September. South Africa drew the T20I series and lost the Tests 3-0. They returned home to administrative overhaul and a new coaching regime but went on to lose a Test and T20I series to England while drawing the one-day rubber and lost a T20I series to Australia. They have managed to win one trophy, the ODI series against Australia, and currently hold an unassailable 2-0 lead with the final match to be played on Saturday.

“He did admit the questionable incidents yet was offering frivolous justifications for non-reporting”

Umar Farooq 27-Apr-2020Given that the charge against Umar Akmal dealt with a failure to report corrupt approaches, it was expected that his decision to not challenge it would lead to a relatively light sanction. Akmal, however, was banned for three years for this breach of PCB’s anti-corruption code.This is unprecedented. In similar cases in the past, Mohammad Irfan sat out for six months, while in 2017, Mohammad Nawaz was given a two-month ban. In recent examples outside Pakistan, Shakib Al Hasan – among the senior-most players in the game – was banned for two years with one year of that sentence suspended.Akmal had been charged by the PCB on two counts of breaching their anti-corruption code ahead of this year’s PSL. ESPNcricinfo understands that in his reply, Akmal did admit the violation, saying that he was approached by two men on separate occasions. He did not inform the authorities of these meetings, which went against protocol and led to his suspension.Akmal, then, chose to forego the right to a hearing before the anti-corruption tribunal, where he could have pleaded innocence or contested the charges. So his case went directly to the PCB disciplinary panel.In this hearing, however, he did plead not guilty. Appearing without a lawyer, Akmal tried to wriggle out of a tricky situation by justifying his failure to report the approaches. His lack of remorse, despite accepting the charges, resulted in the severe punishment. His justification was understood to be unconvincing and was cited as a “farce”.”He was repeatedly attempting to justify his folly,” Taffazul Rizvi, the PCB counsel, told the media after the hearing. “His reply was confused, he neither accepted his position nor denied it. He did admit the questionable incidents yet was offering frivolous justifications for non-reporting. When you admit violation, you leave yourself to the mercy of the tribunal. There is no general exception in the anti-corruption code that you report on your wish or convenience. You either report or do not report.”Rizvi gave the example of left-arm quick Irfan, who had been slapped with a 12-month ban (with six months suspended) after unconditionally pleading guilty over his failure to report two corrupt approaches. Rizvi also felt that the duration of bans for such failures should be increased.”Even today, the honourable judge asked him [Akmal] on a clear note if he accepts his indiscretions, but he insisted on justifying his failures,” Rizvi said. “He was charged on two counts, for two different unrelated incidents while Mohammad Irfan and others had completely different cases. Irfan got lesser ban because he had accepted his mistake and agreed to the imposed sanctioned. But Umar Akmal didn’t accept his omission and tried to justify why he didn’t report.”This three-year ban on the basis of non-reporting is considered appropriate. The PCB was asking for a stiffer sentence. It’s high time that duration of the ban should be increased because it’s very clear that players are not learning the lessons as much as they should have. So as far as the legal side is concerned, I am very satisfied as the duration of the ban is reasonable, justified and proportionate.”

Pacer asks cricket authorities to counterbalance prohibition of saliva for ball shining by another measure

Daniel Brettig26-May-2020Cricket runs the risk producing “boring” contests, losing followers of the game and reducing the number of young aspirants to bowl fast if a better balance isn’t struck between bat and ball. These are Mitchell Starc’s views in reaction to the interim ruling offered by the ICC to ban saliva from shining the ball in the time of the coronavirus pandemic.Having bent his back on a succession of unhelpful pitches in home Test matches over the past few summers, Starc argued similarly to his colleagues Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. He thinks the ICC’s prohibition of saliva, but not sweat, from being used to shine the ball out of health concerns needed to be counterbalanced by another measure.While the ICC’s cricket committee has suggested more sporting pitches could be a solution currently, Starc was understandably wary about the prospect of administrators and ground staff acquiescing to this instruction, and instead pushed for a temporary allowance for an artificial substance with which to polish the ball. This concept, as reported by ESPNcricinfo, was discussed by the ICC committee before being ruled out on the basis that it took the game too far from its existing laws.ALSO READ: Social distancing, ‘safe’ ball management among ICC’s dos and don’ts“I understand that completely and hear what they’re saying in terms of a foreign substance, but whether that can be controlled by the umpires in terms of they have a portion of the wax and you can only use a small amount, I don’t know, but there needs to be a maintaining of the even contest,” Starc said. “I understand what they’re saying with foreign substances and that it’s black and white in terms of that, but it’s an unusual time for the world and if they’re going to remove saliva shining for a portion of time they need to think of something else for that portion of time as well.Getty Images

“Whether it be the wickets being not as flat or at least considering this shining wax to a degree, there needs to be some thought on that I think. I guess you use both those things [saliva and sweat] to shine the ball. I’ve probably been a bit more on the sweat side, just trying to not get my hands in my mouth too much, but yeah, I agree completely with what Pat commented on last week – that contest with bat and ball, we don’t want to lose that or get further away from that even contest, so there needs to be something in place to either keep that ball swinging.”They’ve mentioned that it’s only going to be there for a period of time and then once the world gets back to a relatively normal situation then saliva can come back into shining the ball. But if it’s going to be a window of time there, maybe then instruct people to leave more grass on the wickets to have that contest or if they’re going to take away a portion of maintaining the ball, there needs to be that even contest between bat and ball, otherwise people are going to stop watching, and kids aren’t going to want to be bowlers.”Administrators have long supported the concept of more lively pitches for bowlers, but far too often the practical outcome has been the preparation of surfaces devised to see a Test last for five days, typically producing a very attritional brand of cricket. Starc was clearly casting his mind back to India’s previous tour of Australia in 2018-19, where after two evenly-fought matches on fair pitches in Adelaide and Perth, Virat Kohli’s team ground the Australians into the beige turf of the MCG and SCG to close out the series.”I think as we saw in Australia the last couple of years, there’s some pretty flat wickets, and if that ball’s going straight, it’s a pretty boring contest,” Starc said. “I think Kookaburra have been developing a shining wax or something of the sort, so whether there’s consideration of that, there needs to be some [thought to] maintaining that even contest. Generally the spinners reckon that the wickets that seam a bit also spin, so maybe if you bring the bowlers back into the game, you’ll tick all the boxes.”

CA’s head of community cricket is confident states and the board can work together in challenging times

Daniel Brettig12-Aug-2020Belinda Clark, Cricket Australia’s chief of community cricket, was given reassurance that Queensland Cricket and its chair Chris Simpson were not seeking to tear up the national system of support for the game’s grassroots after he questioned the “centralised model” of the governing body earlier this year.Ahead of a vital meeting of the Australian Cricket Council, comprising the chairs of CA, the state associations and the Australian Cricketers Association on Thursday, Clark stated that the hot rhetoric from Simpson, delivered to an ordinary general meeting of QC in late June, had reflected a desire for states to be heard and empowered but not to dismantle the growth of a national network to encourage the game’s junior and community tiers.”I’ve had those conversations and have followed up with the CEO there, Terry Svenson, and the message coming out is that both Chris Simpson and our ambition around supporting the community is absolutely aligned,” Clark said. “I think what’s important to recognise is that the state associations play a really important role in nurturing their affiliates and their club system and providing support to those people that are playing inside their state.ALSO READ: Belinda Clark: ‘There’s still plenty of money in cricket’“What we’ve been able to do from a national perspective is work very closely with each of the states and territories. So, we run national programs. We design them with the states. The states implement them and all the clubs implement them and the benefits of those flow through the entire system. I’m comfortable that we’re all aligned in terms of what we’re trying to do.”There may be some differences in opinion in how we go about doing that, but it’s a very connected system and we are meeting with our counterparts weekly to ensure that that’s the case.”Simpson’s words had been delivered in the midst of a dispute between CA and the states over the matter of annual grants, one of the key issues for the ACC to unpick this week as the CA chair Earl Eddings seeks to find common ground with the governing body’s owners. Cricket New South Wales, chaired by John Knox, has also blocked CA’s proposed reductions in annual grants, while wider questions of the game’s governance model – a nine-member independent board – have run parallel to the annual nominations committee process for new directors.”The centralised model or the behemoth that CA has morphed into has consumed all aspects of cricket, assumed the role of the master of all matters cricket,” Simpson had said. “The states take offence to this – as we live and breathe grassroots and the day to day running of cricket. The states are resourcing and supporting the volunteers, the lifeblood of the game and cricket’s most valuable asset. In my view, the states have lost control of cricket. We are told from Jolimont Street how to run cricket and we do not believe in many of these ‘systems and processes’.”If CA is a master of all, then the board must comprise of some masters of volunteerism and grassroots cricket as it is our primary function at state level to provide services, support and resources to volunteers far and wide who deliver cricket so wonderfully…it is nonsensical to think that centralisation is good for grassroots cricket. Cricket administration of yesteryear gave regional communities a voice; cricket administration of today is not a collaborative model, rather a top down ‘we know best’ beast.”Cricket Australia is seeking a solution to their ongoing negotiations with the states•Getty Images

CA’s push for cost savings in the time of Covid-19, initially through staff cuts at the organisation, reduced distributions to states and also a shrink in player payments, raised a host of discontents in terms of relationships between CA, the states and the ACA. This led ultimately to the exit of the CA chief executive Kevin Roberts and senior executives including his chief operating officer Scott Grant. At the same time, all states other than NSW made their own piecemeal cuts, amounting to more than 150 staff being shown the door including a huge swathe cut through community cricket roles in Victoria.”If you just think about the number of people we still have in the field, it’ll be the envy of many sports to still have that,” Clark said. “What’s difficult is if there’s something there and if it’s taken away, and people react to that. Look, there’s no doubt that we are getting great results from having more people involved, more support going to the clubs. But we have to adapt and we can’t walk away from that.”The clubs are adapting to what’s in front of them with Covid-19. We need to adapt with less field staff in some areas, it’s not in all areas but in some. And the community is adapting as well. At the end of the day, our job is to make sure that those people feel supported and there’s opportunities for people to play the game.”Clark, who stepped away from community cricket temporarily in 2018-19 to run elite performance areas before the appointments of Ben Oliver and Drew Ginn to oversee the game’s top end, said that the difficulties of Covid-19 meant that communication and co-operation across the game were more vital than ever before.”It’s obviously been difficult for every sport to deal with the situation that Covid’s played in our lives at the moment,” Clark said. “There’s the health and safety, the economic impact as well and sports are all dealing with that and cricket associations are all dealing with that as they see fit. What I can say is that as community teams across all of the states and territories and Cricket Australia, we’re absolutely committed to providing that support to volunteers. And what we’ve had to do in some areas, in some instances, is just be creative about how we do that.”

A quick look at the brands that have paid big money to bag the IPL title rights

Nagraj Gollapudi19-Aug-20202008-12 – DLF pays INR 200 croreDLF, an Indian real estate company, won the title rights for the first five seasons of the tournament for INR 200 crore (about USD 50 million at the time). DLF’s winning bid was INR 75 crore more than the base price of INR 125 crore set by the BCCI.2013-17 – Pepsico nearly doubles the valueThe popularity of the IPL seemed to be in doubt following the termination of the Deccan Chargers in 2012 and when DLF opted not to renew its contract with the BCCI. Earlier that year it had also decided to end its term as title sponsor of the Champions League T20. All those fears were swept away, however, after global beverage giant Pepsico paid INR 396.8 crore (USD 71.77 million approx, then) to bag the IPL title rights for five years. That was nearly INR 100 crore more than the base price of INR 300 crore set by the BCCI.2015-17 – Pepsico transfers rights to VivoVivo, the Chinese handset manufacturer, bought title rights for the 2016 and 2017 IPL seasons after Pepsico decided to terminate its contract two years before it was meant to expire. Pepsico’s decision was owing to the 2013 IPL corruption scandal which resulted in the Supreme Court banning Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for two seasons.The IPL contract allowed Pepsico to transfer the title rights to another company. Although the BCCI never revealed what the deal was worth, it is understood Vivo continued to pay the same sum as Pepsico – around INR 80 crore per year for the 2016 and 2017 seasons.2017-22 – Vivo retains rights paying nearly INR 3000 croreWith the Indian mobile economy growing exponentially, Vivo renewed its IPL title-rights deal, paying a record sum of INR 2199 crores (nearly USD 341 million then) for the 2018-22 period. The amount was a 454% jump from the Pepsico deal and assured the BCCI nearly INR 444 crore annually.2020 – Vivo presses pause, Dream11 steps inThis June, the BCCI said it would “review” all its sponsorship contracts involving Chinese investments after the skirmishes across the India-China border. Vivo finally decided to suspend its IPL contract for the 2020 season. On Tuesday BCCI announced Dream11 would replace Vivo as IPL’s title sponsors for 2020, with the contract lasting until December 31 this year. The deal was worth INR 222 crores, which is half of the annual payout assured from the original Vivo deal.

Ambati Rayudu and Dwayne Bravo have recovered from their injuries and are available for selection

Sruthi Ravindranath01-Oct-20208:13

Could both Sam Curran and Dwayne Bravo fit into CSK’s XI?

Big picture

That’s MS Dhoni summing up the Chennai Super Kings’ situation after their second straight loss of the season, against Delhi Capitals last week. On the eve of their match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, their head coach Stephen Fleming said the Super Kings have used the six-day break “pretty well” and “have got some clarity” around what they need to do. Alarm bells aren’t ringing just yet, but this early struggle is unusual for a team that is traditionally one of the best starters in the tournament – they’ve won nearly 65% of their first seven games of the season over the last four seasons.It’s not just that they’ve lost two of their three games so far; their last two matches became no-contests less than halfway into their chases. While the imminent return of Ambati Rayudu should help them, their batting seems to be in need of a complete overhaul. And their spinners, who have been key performers for them over many years, are yet to find their groove.Sunrisers began their season with back-to-back losses, but they picked up an important win in their last match against the Delhi Capitals, pulling off the sort of controlled performance with bat and ball that propelled them to the 2016 title. With Kane Williamson key to that win, and with Rashid Khan back at his his best, it’s unlikely they’ll change their combination from that game.Super Kings may have historically performed well against Sunrisers, with nine wins in 12 meetings, but Sunrisers have momentum on their side as they go into the match on Friday.

In the news

Rayudu and Dwayne Bravo, who have been sidelined with injuries, are available for the match against Sunrisers. Rayudu returning would mean either M Vijay or Ruturaj Gaikwad is left out. Vijay has been struggling to get going, making just 32 runs in three games at a strike rate of 74.4. Gaikwad could play in his preferred opening position if Vijay is dropped, with Rayudu slotting in at No. 3 or 4. Rayudu could also open with Shane Watson. Sam Curran has filled in for Bravo and has been one of the better performers in the side, so there’s a chance Bravo might continue to sit out.T Natarajan has been impressive with his yorkers in IPL 2020•BCCI

Likely XIs

Chennai Super Kings: 1 Shane Watson, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 Sam Curran, 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Piyush Chawla, 11 Imran Tahir/ Josh Hazlewood.Sunrisers Hyderabad: 1 David Warner (capt), 2 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 3 Manish Pandey, 4 Kane Williamson, 5 Abdul Samad, 6 Abhishek Sharma, 7 Priyam Garg, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 T Natarajan, 11 Khaleel Ahmed.

Strategy punt

• Teams have chosen to chase 36 out of 55 times after winning the toss in Dubai since 2018, though teams batting first have had a slight edge, winning 29 of the 55 games. Teams have opted to field in all four matches at this venue in this IPL season, usually keeping the dew factor in mind, but have ended up on the losing side all four times. Will we see a change in this game?
• Watson has great numbers against the Sunrisers, with two fifties and a century in his last five games against them. However, he has an average record against Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the IPL, getting out to him three times and striking at just 94. If he survives the opening burst, though, he would look to attack Rashid Khan, who hasn’t gotten him out in the 10 innings they’ve come face-to-face in. He also strikes at over 140 against the legspinner, so Sunrisers would want Bhuvneshwar to do the job up front.

Stats that matter

• Warner has the best frequency of 50-plus scores for a batsman in the IPL – he gets past the half-century mark once every 2.69 innings. He’s gone three innings without a fifty this season, though, and if he fails to score one against the Super Kings it will be his longest streak of not making a 50-plus score since moving to the Sunrisers. However, he has an outstanding record against the opposition, with half-centuries in each of his last five innings against them.
• According to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, the Sunrisers fast bowlers have bowled 16 yorkers in their three games so far – T Natarajan executed them particularly well in their win over the Capitals. None of the other teams’ quicks, however, had bowled more than six each as of September 30.
• Dhoni needs to clear the ropes twice to become the third Indian to tally 300 sixes in T20s.
• Manish Pandey needs 69 runs to become the 12th Indian batsman to reach 3000 runs in the IPL.

Pandey and Shankar resurrected Sunrisers’ innings after Warner and Bairstow were sent back early by Archer

Hemant Brar22-Oct-20201:01

Dasgupta: Batting at No. 3 gives Pandey time to build his innings

Manish Pandey’s counter-attacking 83 not out off 47 balls, studded with four fours and eight sixes, nullified Jofra Archer’s opening burst in the second innings as the Sunrisers Hyderabad beat the Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets in Dubai. The win – their first in five attempts while chasing in IPL 2020 – lifted them to the fifth spot on the points table. While the Royals too have eight points, they have played 11 games to the Sunrisers’ ten, with their negative net run rate further reducing their playoff chances.After being put in, the Royals struggled to get going and could manage only 154 for 6, the lowest first-innings total by any team in Dubai this season. A big reason for that was Jason Holder, who came in for the injured Kane Williamson and picked up a three-wicket haul.The Sunrisers didn’t have a great start to their chase either. Archer sent back David Warner and Jonny Bairstow by the third over but those turned out to be the only two wickets the Royals managed in the whole game as Pandey and Vijay Shankar – who struck an unbeaten 51-ball 52 – added an unbeaten 140 for the third wicket and took the side home with 11 balls to spare.Uthappa run-out breaks Royals’ momentumAfter managing only nine in the first two overs, the Royals looked to step up with Robin Uthappa hitting Sandeep Sharma for a six and a four in the third over, but his innings was cut short by a brilliant piece of fielding. Ben Stokes looked to dab Jason Holder on the off side but the ball hardly went off the square. Uthappa was keen for a quick single and charged towards the other end with Stokes barely moving. Holder was quick to the ball and nailed the direct hit at the bowler’s end to find Uthappa short.Sanju Samson though hit Sandeep Sharma for successive cover-driven fours to keep the Royals ticking. It looked like it was going to be his night, especially when he pulled Holder over deep midwicket for a six in 12th over but Holder cleaned him up next ball with an offcutter for a 26-ball 36.Stokes fails to cash in on early luckStokes was 13 off 11 balls at the end of the fifth over and was trying to break free. One such attempt against Shankar fell just short of the deep-backward square leg. Two overs later, he tried a reverse sweep against Rashid Khan that bounced in front of deep backward point. On the last ball of the same over, Shankar put him down while running to his right from deep square leg. Stokes, though, failed to utilise those chances and was finally bowled for a 32-ball 30 by Khan.Jason Holder celebrates after foxing Sanju Samson with a slower one•BCCI

Holder’s strikes keep Royals in checkRoyals were looking at Jos Buttler to provide impetus to the innings but once he fell for 9 off 12, Steven Smith looked to take charge. But he soon holed out to long-on off Holder, while trying to dig out a full delivery. Riyan Parag, who had hit T Natarajan for 4, 6, 4 in the previous over, then mistimed a slower short ball to a back-pedalling Warner at mid-off to give Holder his first three-wicket haul in T20s since 2015. It took a four and a six from Archer in the 20th over pushed the Royals past 150.Archer gets Warner and BairstowBefore this game, Archer had dismissed Warner five times in six innings across formats in 2020 while leaking only 28 runs off 41 balls. On Thursday, Warner lasted only four balls against the pacer. After beating him on the first two balls of the innings, Archer drew an outside edge that flew over Rahul Tewatia at first slip. Next ball Archer found the outside edge once again. This time the ball flew knee high to the left of Stokes at second slip, who dived full length to complete the catch.Bairstow too had no answer to Archer’s pace as a 149kph length ball found its way through the gap between bat and pad to leave the Sunrisers 16 for 2 at the end of three overs.Pandey’s counter-attack nullifies early impactWith no Williamson in the side and doubts over the Sunrisers’ middle order, there was a case for Archer to bowl a third over in the powerplay but the Royals decided against this. That allowed Pandey to counter-attack to pull the Sunrisers out of the trouble. He was one off five balls before he hit Kartik Tyagi for consecutive fours. Stokes replaced Archer from the other end but he too wasn’t spared. A half-volley on the leg stump was whipped over deep square leg. When Stokes tried a bouncer, Pandey pulled him over deep midwicket off the front foot.Tyagi came in for more punishment in the next over as Pandey struck a four and two sixes to take the Sunrisers to 58 for 2 at the end of the powerplay. By the end of the ninth over, Pandey had brought up his fifty, off just 28 balls.Shankar proves to be the perfect foilEarlier in the day, Shankar had registered figures of 1 for 15 from his three overs. With the bat, his 10 off 18 at the halfway stage in the chase looked unattractive, but with Pandey striking at a much higher rate at the other end, his job was to just stay with him.Back-to-back inside-out fours over cover off Shreyas Gopal helped Shankar turn things around. So much so that when Smith brought Archer on for his fourth over – the 16th of the innings – Shankar hit his first three balls over mid-off, over mid-on and over the bowler’s head for a hat-trick of fours. Pandey collected two more sixes in the next two overs before Shankar sealed the game with a pulled four off Tyagi in the 19th over.

“He’s been a great asset to the side and adds another variation as well,” Southee says of Kyle Jamieson

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Dec-2020At the end of a 15-wicket day in Hamilton, New Zealand are all but sure of taking a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series. Tim Southee started the carnage, sending back John Campbell on his way to returns of 4 for 35 in the first West Indies innings, as the visitors went from 53 for no loss to 138 all out, before following on and ending the third day on 196 for 6, still 185 behind. And for Southee, the difference was that New Zealand “knew where we had to be for longer periods of time”.Campbell and Kraigg Brathwaite had taken West Indies to a safe 49 for no loss in reply to New Zealand’s 519 for 7 declared when play ended on the second day, but more swing with the older ball and the westerly breeze at Seddon Park, Southee said, had an effect.

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“It was nice, this is one of the few grounds that favours the outswing. But we assessed through it last night and we weren’t far off,” he said in a press interaction. “We knew where we had to be for longer periods of time, and managed to get a couple early and get the ball rolling.”While Southee has so far picked up five wickets, Neil Wagner (four) and Kyle Jamieson (three) have been among the wickets too, and the towering Jamieson, who also scored an unbeaten 51 earlier, came in for special praise from Southee.”He’s been a great addition at the back end of last summer, and he’s shown again here with both bat and ball,” Southee said of Jamieson, who made his Test debut against India last summer as a replacement for Lockie Ferguson, and has played in all three of New Zealand’s Tests since. “So he’s been a great asset to the side and adds another variation as well. Obviously you’ve got myself and Trent [Boult], left- and right-arm to swing it. Wags [Wagner] does his thing and then you’ve got a tall guy in him [Jamieson], who hits some challenging areas.”The New Zealand players gather around Tim Southee after his early strikes•Getty Images

Southee is currently on 289 Test wickets, and though he is focused on winning the Test, and the series, against West Indies, he said he was aware of the 300-wicket milestone.”[You] probably don’t chase [such milestones],” he said. “It’s something that when you play for long enough, those things happen. But yeah, it’ll be something special if I can get there.”At the moment, it’s about coming back tomorrow and taking the remaining wickets. It’s just nice to contribute… and it’ll be a lot of hard work between now and then.”In what has been a dominant performance by Kane Williamson’s team, a few fielding lapses have hrt them. Both unbeaten batsmen, Jermaine Blackwood and Alzarri Joseph, were dropped one each, and Jason Holder had been reprieved twice, in two balls.”We aren’t disappointed, we would have taken this position going into this morning,” he said. “Anytime you have a side follow on, you know you’ve obviously played pretty well at some stage. So although we weren’t quite at our best in the last hour, you’ve got to give a little bit of credit to Joseph and Blackwood – the way they took an attacking approach to it and had a little bit of luck along the way.”But they played positive cricket and we were a little bit off in that last session as well. So [we need to] restart and have another go tomorrow.”

ECB doctor travels to Galle to ensure Moeen Ali’s wellbeing in isolation after positive test

George Dobell05-Jan-2021England’s touring party in Sri Lanka faces an anxious wait in their hotel rooms just as their preparations for the Test series should have begun in earnest.England were due to have their first training session of the tour in Hambantota on Tuesday. Instead, the squad was consigned to their rooms as they await the results of a further round of medical tests following the positive Covid-19 result revealed by Moeen Ali on Monday.Although they underwent both lateral flow and PCR tests on Tuesday, the results are not expected to be announced until Wednesday. Lateral flow tests typically return a result in little over 30-minutes, but are not as accurate. The PCR tests take longer to analyse but provide more certainty. While the ECB may gain an indication of the extent of the problem from the lateral flow tests on Tuesday, they will await the PCR results before making public comment. The squad are due to be tested again on Thursday.Related

• Moeen Ali tests Covid-positive as Eng arrive in SL

• Root: England prepared for positive tests

• Anderson: SL have 'slight advantage' ahead of series

While the entire party returned negative tests before flying, there will be understandable anxiety both from the England management and the Sri Lankan authorities over the prospect of further spread of the virus. Sri Lanka has managed to contain Covid-19 to a greater extent than the UK, which has just entered another lockdown and where positive cases have numbered over 50,000 in each of the last six days. A new strain of the virus, which is understood to be far more transmissible, is also spreading rapidly in England. The ECB say they do not know, at this stage, which strain of the virus Ali has contracted.There may be particular anxiety over the outcome of Chris Woakes’ test results. While the players observed social distancing protocols on their flights, the has revealed that Woakes travelled from Birmingham to Heathrow in the same car as Ali and has, as a result, been placed in quarantine for a week. After the vast amount of money spent on charter flights, testing and secure environments, it seems oddly penny pinching not to have provided a separate car for each player.Ali, meanwhile, is being driven to Galle today where he will be put up in private accommodation arranged for just such an eventuality. Nick Peirce, the ECB’s chief medical officer, will also travel to Galle in a separate car to ensure Ali is as comfortable as can be expected. As a frontline doctor, Peirce has already had at least one part of the vaccine (two jabs, provided at least two weeks apart, are required to maximise the efficacy of both vaccines currently in use in the UK), though it is unclear to what extent this will grant him immunity from the virus. Ali remains asymptomatic at this stage and is currently due out of isolation on January 13, the day before the first Test is scheduled to start. As a result, there would appear to be no chance of him playing.Indeed, his involvement in the series must be in doubt. The medical staff at Sri Lanka cricket advised players who tested positive during the LPL to avoid high-level sport for several weeks if they experienced even mild symptoms.With the ECB having benefited from the efforts of West Indies, Pakistan, Ireland and Australia in touring England in trying circumstances during 2020, there remains an understanding that the tour should proceed if at all possible. But, as all involved await the test results, it is hard to escape the conclusion the future of this tour is on a knife edge.

Two rounds have been cut from the Sheffield Shield while the Marsh Cup is a five-game season plus the final

Alex Malcolm10-Feb-2021Two rounds have been cut from the Sheffield Shield and the Marsh Cup will be a five-game tournament in the restructured Australian domestic calendar, but the completion of all the fixtures hang in the balance because of the uncertainty regarding state border controls around the country. Western Australia remains a major concern for Cricket Australia’s schedule, with the state government maintaining strict Covid-19 border rules for travellers coming in.CA and the state cricket associations ticked off on the new revamped domestic schedule late last week with each state to play eight Shield matches in total, including those already played, and five 50-over Marsh Cup matches with the top two teams in each competition to play off in the finals in April. The Marsh Cup final will be played on April 11 and the Shield final on April 15-19.The Australian Cricketers’ Association agreed to a reduction of games this season on the understanding that it would return to ten rounds and a final next season.The first half of the Shield season took place in October and November in a hub in Adelaide but the rest of the fixtures will now be played in all six states, with teams to fly commercially alongside the general public and arrange their own accommodation as has been the case in previous seasons. The bio-security rules are set to be far less stringent than they were during the BBL.Related

• Victoria cleared to travel to NSW for domestic fixtures despite Melbourne lockdown

• NSW and Victoria aiming to still play Marsh Cup opener despite latest lockdown in Victoria

• Australia seek middle-order answers during T20 mission in New Zealand

• BBL beats season of uncertainty

• Cummins named NSW captain for the rescheduled 50-over Marsh Cup

The season recommences next Monday with New South Wales hosting Victoria in a Marsh Cup fixture in Sydney, where Pat Cummins will make his NSW captaincy debut before the two sides meet in a Shield game at the SCG two days later.WA were initially scheduled to face New South Wales in Sydney on that date but the entire schedule was restructured because of WA’s complicated border situation.Travellers entering WA from states where there has been a community Covid-19 case in the previous 28 days are required to do 14-days strict home isolation upon arrival. With the BBL final being played in Sydney, where there has been a recent case, WA and Perth Scorchers’ entire coaching staff, as well as WA and Scorchers players Cameron Bancroft, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Matt Kelly, Joel Paris and Corey Rocchiccioli have been forced into home isolation in Perth for the next 14 days, with the period to end on February 21, a day after the first two rescheduled Shield games have been completed. Had the final been played in Canberra, where both the Qualifier and the Challenger were played, none of the coaches or players would have needed to do home isolation.David Moody delayed his return to WA in the hope that borders would open, only for Victoria to report multiple Covid-19 cases in the past week•Getty Images

Shaun Marsh and Hilton Cartwright, who played in the BBL with the Melbourne Renegades and the Melbourne Stars respectively, are currently in home quarantine, having started 14 days earlier than those coming back from Sydney. David Moody, who was with the Hobart Hurricanes, is also starting a 14-day quarantine having travelled home from Melbourne. Moody delayed his return to WA in the hope that borders would open, only for Victoria to report multiple Covid-19 cases in the past week. The remainder of WA’s squad that aren’t in New Zealand with Australia’s T20I squad, including Test player Cameron Green, have been in WA during the BBL, although Green and Australia coach Justin Langer had to serve 14-days quarantine after returning home from the Brisbane Test against India last month.The WACA has secured training exemptions for staff and players to attend three training sessions at the WACA ground next week on the proviso there are no further cases in NSW.WA is set to host three Shield matches and three Marsh Cup matches under the new schedule, including fixtures against Victoria in both competitions from March 23 to March 28. WA is also set to travel to Sydney to face NSW in a Marsh Cup fixture on March 14. If the current WA border rules remain in place, both NSW and Victoria would need to have 28 consecutive days from now without a community Covid-19 case for those fixtures to go ahead as planned.CA executive general manager of high-performance Drew Ginn said CA would remain agile and open to shifting fixtures if and when necessary as it was during the BBL.”Today’s announcement safeguards the integrity of the Marsh Sheffield Shield and Marsh One-Day Cup competitions while managing the physical and mental wellbeing of players, officials, and staff on account of the extraordinary demands placed upon them this season,” he said. “Every person across Australian Cricket has worked incredibly hard to deliver this summer of cricket and should be proud of those efforts. At the same time, the lived experience of operating through the pandemic has provided us all with new appreciation and perspective for the increased workloads required to deliver elite, national sporting competitions.”It is out of this duty of care that, with the input and support of the States and Territories Associations and the ACA, we have elected to shorten the Marsh Sheffield Shield and Marsh One-Day Cup, while ensuring both competitions are of a sufficient length to ensure a high-level of competition for teams and players.”As has been the case throughout the summer, we will need to remain agile and responsive given the public health situation across the country. The health and wellbeing of players, officials, and staff remains the top priority.”