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Former England captain warns that sport’s culture has not evolved to meet modern obligations

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Feb-2023Andrew Strauss believes that the proliferation of T20 franchise tournaments could be a sign of the “democratisation” of world cricket, arguing that “no one, not even the BCCI, controls the game anymore”.Strauss, England’s former Ashes-winning captain who oversaw the ECB’s High Performance Review last year, warned his audience at the annual MCC Cowdrey Lecture that the ongoing shift in the game’s focus could leave “some old institutions creaking at the seams”, but believes the sport will emerge stronger in the long run.”In the past, it could be argued that certain interests, whether they lie in this room, or in the corridors of the ECB and other national governing bodies, or on the boundary edges of the county grounds, took precedence over others,” he said during his address at Lord’s. “This is no longer the case. No one, not even the BCCI, controls the game anymore.”There are too many people involved, too many variables, too much disruption and chaos for anyone to be pulling all the strings. In a sense, the game has democratised. While this is confronting and perhaps difficult to hear for some, I feel like we should be rejoicing in this fact.”The game now has both more freedom and more levers available to allow it to fulfil its purpose than ever before. There is genuine choice for players, spectators and followers alike. The future direction of the sport will be decided not in the meeting halls of the ICC in Dubai but rather by the purchasing power of the increasing number of those who choose to follow the game.”Elsewhere in his lecture, Strauss warned that the culture of “macho banter” within the men’s game, that can “verge on bullying”, needs to come to an end, and said that the recent revelations about institutional racism within the sport, centred around Yorkshire but prevalent elsewhere, were proof of a game that has not evolved to meet its modern obligations.”The spirit of cricket needs to accompany modern players, and I am speaking primarily about the men’s game now, into an area that neither the prying eyes of the media or the feverish adulation of the fans penetrates — the dressing room,” Strauss said.”As we move forward together as a game with players of different genders, races, creed and beliefs coming together, so the traditional macho, hierarchical, perhaps at times verging on ‘bullying’ dressing-room banter will need to be softened to a culture that is more tolerant, understanding, welcoming and embracing of difference.””The events over the last 18 months, whether they come from Yorkshire or elsewhere, have shown we have a lot of work to do in this area, but the Spirit of Cricket demands this. From a players’ point of view there will clearly need to be an awareness that the world is watching every move that they make in a way that was never the case previously, both on and off the pitch. With more opportunities and rewards comes more scrutiny and intrusion.”While in the past players might have been able to swallow the odd invisible pill, these days they are likely to be in short supply. In addition, the best players, wherever they hail from, will have to weigh up their own personal aims and ambitions alongside their loyalty to their own countries and formative teams. This may lead to some hard soul-searching, but in the name of the spirit of the game, it must be done.”Strauss, the 21st speaker at MCC’s Spirit of Cricket lecture, also addressed the growth of the women’s game, particularly in light of the forthcoming WPL auction, which promises another dramatic shift in the sport’s evolution.”As for the women’s game, the rate of growth will just accelerate” he said. “The first IPL franchises have just been sold for an earth-shattering sum of £465 million pounds. Women’s cricket is truly standing on its own two feet and is likely to be in the top three sports for earning potential for any young girl with talent and an ambition to play sport professionally.”

Melbourne Stars, Brisbane Heat and Sydney Sixers lose key signings, with Rashid Khan also departing for Adelaide Strikers

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jan-2022Pakistan stars Haris Rauf, Fakhar Zaman and Shadab Khan have been recalled from the BBL by the PCB to be ready for the start of the PSL which begins on January 27.Brisbane Heat were left frustrated by Fakhar’s withdrawal in particular after Heat signed the opener on December 31 as a replacement player for injured Englishman Tom Abell, but he only managed to play one game for them due to a combination of Covid-19 issues and travel restrictions between states in Australia.”Unfortunately the Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed it had rescinded its permission for Fakhar to play our remaining games, along with all Pakistan players currently involved in the BBL, and summoned him to return immediately to prepare for the Pakistan Super League,” Heat said in a statement.”We are disappointed that he won’t be able to play for us and he is disappointed he won’t have the opportunity to get some more games in for us. He asked us to thank the fans for their support and wish the team all the best for the remaining three games.”Rauf confirmed on social media on Saturday that he was leaving Melbourne Stars with two games to go, while Shadab didn’t play in Sydney Sixers’ win over Sydney Thunder.Meanwhile, Adelaide Strikers have also lost Rashid Khan for the remainder of the tournament due to international duty for Afghanistan, who play Netherlands in a three-match ODI series starting January 21.Heat do receive a boost with Michael Neser and Mitchell Swepson to return for their clash with Stars, while Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis have also been released from Australia’s Test squad to rejoin Perth Scorchers.

Fell’s first red-ball ton since recovering from testicular cancer paves way for 78-run win

ECB Reporters Network18-Aug-2020Tom Fell surely possesses a unique perspective on playing cricket and it was a day for him to cherish deeply as his first red-ball hundred since beginning treatment for testicular cancer in 2015 helped his side to a second Bob Willis Trophy victory as Worcestershire beat Northamptonshire by 78 runs at Wantage Road.His unbeaten 110 allowed Worcestershire to declare on the final morning and set Northamptonshire 263 in 68 overs. It was easily defended as the hosts were bowled out for 184.Fell was a rising star at New Road and as 21-year-old in 2015 made 1127 first-class runs at 42. But the hundred he made against Middlesex that September was his last until now. Cancer cruelly halted his career progress but here was evidence that he still has much to give the game.It was a touching moment when he took his overnight 81 to a sixth first-class century, nudging his 205th delivery to long leg off Gareth Berg. There was visible emotion on the visitors’ balcony.And no doubt scenes of joy inside the dressing room after Worcestershire completed victory to keep up their challenge for a place in the Bob Willis Trophy final. After a poor 2019 in the County Championship, the Worcester boys are again happy in red-ball cricket.After Fell reached his hundred, the flare immediately went up and he and Ed Barnard launched 29 in two overs before the declaration came, Worcestershire no doubt mindful after running out of time against Glamorgan last week.The target offered hope for Northamptonshire and they began brightly. Ricardo Vasconcelos cut two boundaries, flicked another and beautifully drove Brett D’Oliveira for another four to leave an exciting finish in prospect.Tom Fell raises his bat for his hundred•Getty Images

The hosts were going very well at 48 without loss but it was quickly ruined by their latest collapse at they lost 3 for 7 in 10 balls.Both openers fell in identical fashion. But both decisions against Ben Curran, to Joe Leach for 17, and Vasconcelos, to Josh Tongue for 31, appeared to have some doubt with balls from right-arm over to left-handers that didn’t significantly straighten. There was only bemusement, though, as Alex Wakely played a back-foot block and somehow lobbed Tongue to mid-on.Charlie Thurston nicked behind a brisk Barnard away-swinger soon after. Richard Levi then tried to turn Dillon Pennington to leg and got a leading edge to point where Barnard to a good catch diving forward. Pennington struck again before tea as Saif Zaib wafted outside off and edged behind.With their top order having failed for a sixth consecutive innings, Northamptonshire went down swinging in the final session. Berg cut Leach for four but was bowled driving at Tongue. Adam Rossington pulled two boundaries and advanced at Leach to lift him over mid-on. He skewed another four over the slips cordon but eventually skied a catch to Cox off Leach.The fun continued as Nathan Buck struck three sixes – Leach over midwicket, Pennington and Barnard over long-on, the latter after a sashay down the wicket.Buck’s unbeaten 24 was the innings’ third-highest score and Northamptonshire took only four points from the game and have very little to show for their three matches so far. Good job they declared their intention to use the Bob Willis Trophy as a development competition before the season began.The late hitting did save them from consecutive defeats by a three-figure margin but as Barnard took out Jack White’s off stump to finish the game, it completed another disappointing week for a county who made much progress in 2019.

Delhi Capitals won because they played the crunch moments better, Virat Kohli has conceded

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Apr-2019It was the partnership between Sherfane Rutherford and Axar Patel, which took Delhi Capitals from 141 for 5 after 17 overs to 187 for 5 after 20, that took the game away from Royal Challengers Bangalore, Virat Kohli has said after his team went down by 16 runs.”Even after losing the toss, the way we bowled was really nice, we showed a lot of character. But then the game got away from us at the end a little bit,” he said. “We were thinking 160-165, but 185-plus on that sort of a pitch with three spinners was always going to be tough. But we still showed a lot of character.”In the crunch moments, I think Delhi played better than us. That’s why they got the result they did. But yeah, with the bat we started off really well, PP [Parthiv Patel] was outstanding, then I got going, but then me and AB [de Villiers] getting out to balls that you don’t get out to … so, yeah, that’s how the game goes sometimes, and those little moments can be big at the end of the game.”The result put Capitals in the playoffs, the second team to get there after Chennai Super Kings, and for the first time since 2012. For Royal Challengers, meanwhile, just eight points after 12 matches have left their chances of making the final four hanging by a thread. They are mathematically still in the race, but results – and the stars – must align most improbably for them to get there.”The important thing now, even in the last two games we’ve got, is to just go out there and have fun. Remember how we started playing this game and not take too much pressure. Obviously we want to perform as well as we can, but the fun factor should never go away,” Kohli said. “We put ourselves under too much pressure in the first six games [all of which they lost] and it’s always too much of hard work at the latter half of the tournament, but we’ve still got two games and we’re going to work hard.”Virat Kohli drives down the ground•BCCI

At the toss, Capitals took a brave call to bat first, much against the popular trend in IPL 2019, with captain Shreyas Iyer “assuming it will play well in the first half”.Ricky Ponting, the Capitals coach, admitted that the team had “bit the bullet a little bit”, and “we’ve probably done it the hard way tonight, but the boys are really starting to believe in themselves, they are trusting one another, and playing some good cricket. So all in all, we are pretty happy with where we’re at”.Capitals, rebranded and refreshed with Iyer as captain and new personnel all around, have got to the top of the table with 16 points from 12 games, and have fixtures against Chennai Super Kings away and Rajasthan Royals at home lined up.”You want to be peaking at the right time, so for us to bounce back after a five-day break and win tonight was a really good thing,” Ponting said. “We go to Chennai now, which is a hard place for anybody to win, so that’s a great challenge for us.”To the boys’ credit, we haven’t really talked about where we are on the table, just getting as well-prepared and planning as well as we can for the next challenge. So yeah, we’ve qualified, that’s really great, but two big games to go, and the target now will be to finish one or two.”

A century from Kraigg Brathwaite ended Kent’s hopes in the West Indies Super50 Cup, as Barbados progressed to Saturday’s final with a 13-run DLS win in a rain-reduced contest in Antigua

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Feb-2018Barbados 263 for 3 (Brathwaite 105*, Chase 81) beat Kent 216 for 8 (Dickson 51) by 13 runs (DLS)
ScorecardA century from Kraigg Brathwaite ended Kent’s hopes in the West Indies Super50 Cup, as Barbados progressed to Saturday’s final with a 13-run DLS win in a rain-reduced contest in Antigua.Kent, who had qualified second in their group behind Guyana, were always up against it after losing the toss against a talented Barbados line-up.Brathwaite, the captain, added 93 for the first wicket with Omar Phillips, who made 62, and a further 144 in 21 overs with Roston Chase, whose 81 from 74 balls lifted Barbados to 263 for 3 in their 50 overs.Kent’s spinners were able to keep Barbados’s intentions in check through the middle overs, with Imran Qayyum (1 for 40) and Adam Riley (1 for 34) both returning economical figures. But Chase led the way in plundering 60 runs between overs 41 and 45 to leave the visitors with a stiff chase.With poor weather twice forcing the teams from the field in the opening overs, that challenge was made even tougher, and Kent lost both openers, Daniel Bell-Drummond and Zak Crawley, to the left-arm seam of Dominic Drakes – the son of former West Indies quick, Vasbert.Brathwaite then bowled Alex Blake for 6, and though Sean Dickson and Adam Rouse added 64 for the fourth wicket, Kent were already slipping behind the asking rate when Dickson miscued a return catch off the legspin of Hayden Walsh for 51.After the players had had to leave the field for a fourth time, Kent’s requirement became an unlikely 37 off 15 balls, and despite the efforts of Grant Stewart and Calum Haggett, they finished well short.

Cricket Ireland has announced its list of centrally contracted players for 2017, with the return of Ed Joyce and a specialist wicketkeeping role for Niall O’Brien among the most significant developments

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Dec-2016Cricket Ireland has announced its list of centrally contracted players for 2017, with the return of Ed Joyce and a specialist wicketkeeping role for Niall O’Brien among the most significant developments as Ireland target a promotion to Test status over the next two years.O’Brien is no longer contracted to a county, while Joyce has pared back his Sussex commitments in order to take part in Ireland’s inter-provincial tournament, which was recently given first-class status.

Cricket Ireland 2017 contracts

Category A: John Anderson, Andrew Balbirnie, Peter Chase, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Andrew McBrine, Jacob Mulder, Kevin O’Brien, Stuart Thompson, Craig Young
Category B: Barry McCarthy, Tim Murtagh, Niall O’Brien, William Porterfield, Stuart Poynter, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Greg Thompson, Gary Wilson

“It is great news for the Inter-Provincial series that Niall will be joining Ed Joyce in our new first-class competition, but also playing a key part in developing our young wicketkeepers in the national pathway,” Cricket Ireland’s performance director, Richard Holdsworth, said.”We shall be announcing more specialist coaches over the coming months in a plan to identify and develop key skill areas for Ireland-based coaches.”Joyce is one of ten players to have been given a Category A contract. John Anderson, Andrew Balbirnie – who was released by Middlesex earlier this year – and young legspinner Jacob Mulder were awarded their first full-time contracts. Mulder, who was born in Perth, Australia made his international debut against Hong Kong in September.Allrounder Stuart Thompson, who announced during the summer that he would be taking an indefinite break from the game to deal with performance anxiety issues, has retained his Category A contract.As well as targeting Test status via the Intercontinental Cup – they currently top the table with four wins from four – Ireland have a busy 2017 lined up, with two ODIs in England, a tri-series with New Zealand and Bangladesh and a one-off ODI against West Indies at home. They are also set to play in the Desert T20, an eight-team Associate tournament, in January.Holdsworth said that the move to bring Joyce back was part of a concerted plan for the future development of the game in Ireland, and would involve him coaching at the academy and mentoring young players.”It has been one of our strategic objectives to bring players back home from England and for Ed to be the first is very appropriate,” Holdsworth said.”Ed will not only be based here in Ireland training with the national squad, but will also help our next generation of international cricketers in a specialist batting and leadership coaching role, working with the Shapoorji Pallonji National Academy and Ireland youth squads as well as mentoring some national performance squad players.”Nine others players have agreed Category B contracts, including several who still play county cricket in England such as the captain, William Porterfield, seam bowlers Tim Murtagh, Boyd Rankin and Barry McCarthy, wicketkeeper Gary Wilson and allrounder Paul Stirling.

Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann has described the team’s fielding as “average at best” during their win over New Zealand at the Gabba

Brydon Coverdale10-Nov-2015Not much went wrong for Australia in their 208-run victory over New Zealand in the first Test at the Gabba. The top order could hardly have put in a stronger performance. The attack was a little off the mark with the new ball, but 20 wickets was proof that they did enough right over the course of five days. But there was one area of Australia’s game that was distinctly sloppy: the fielding.”Average, at best,” was how coach Darren Lehmann summed up the fielding effort at the Gabba. Catches were dropped, too many balls were either not stopped or not chased hard enough. It cost Australia little in the end, for they put enough runs on the board and created enough opportunities to still win by a comfortable margin. But Lehmann expects more in the field at the WACA.”Even our ground-fielding, and we pride ourselves on that,” he said. “So there’s a bit of work coming up for the lads. We could’ve stopped a lot more balls that we didn’t.”Notably, Lehmann mentioned two of the newest members of the side – Usman Khawaja and Joe Burns – as players who needed to work on their fielding to lift it to international standard. Khawaja’s lack of urgency in the field was the source of some criticism during his previous chances in Test cricket, and at the Gabba his former team-mate Simon Katich joked on ‘s commentary that an all-run six could be on the cards when Khawaja chases to the boundary.Burns was in the firing line at short leg. He took a simple catch there late in the game but did not always appear to have the reflexes and balance desirable in the role; tough chances didn’t stick in each innings, and he also dropped an easier one that Australia feared was a life for Kane Williamson, but which replays suggested had not come off the bat.”He just needs work,” Lehmann said. “We saw him out doing that [before play]. He is just going to have to do more work, more time on his fielding and probably Uzzy to be fair. They’ve got to move better and field at the level you’d expect of international cricketers.”However, other members of the side struggled in the field as well. Adam Voges dropped a sitter at slip off Mitchell Johnson that gave Doug Bracewell a life, and Nathan Lyon at point spilled what he should have taken in the second innings when Martin Guptill failed to keep the ball down off a Johnson delivery.In a close match, such missed opportunities can prove decisive, but Australia had the running of the Brisbane Test from the time their top three piled on the runs on day one. However, Lehmann said he would also be looking for improvement from the fast bowlers at the WACA, after they failed to make New Zealand’s openers play often enough in both innings at the Gabba.”Our batting was very impressive, and I think we improved with the ball,” Lehmann said. “I don’t think we bowled as well as we’d have liked. I don’t think we bowled with the new ball as well as we could’ve, and give New Zealand credit – they left well and made us work for it – but we’ve certainly got to get better in that area … I think they had to play at less than half the balls with the new ball in the first 20 overs, so that’s something we’ll look at there.”But they got 20 wickets and I thought in patches they were very, very good – all Mitches to be fair; Mitchell Marsh got a couple of key wickets. Lyon was very good in the second innings, and to bowl them out in 83 overs and 88 overs was very good, so can’t complain too much, just me being picky.”

Allrounder Irfan Pathan, who was picked in India’s squad on Saturday for the Champions Trophy, has said he is keen on taking on more “responsibility” in the team

ESPNcricinfo staff05-May-2013Allrounder Irfan Pathan, who was picked in India’s squad on Saturday for the Champions Trophy, has said he is keen on taking on more “responsibility” in the team. Irfan last played for India at the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, before picking up a hamstring injury in the Ranji Trophy that kept him out of the home season. Irfan pointed out that he was in good touch in the last ODI series he played before the injury break, and so was confident of being named in the squad.”A lot of people were talking about my ‘comeback’, but most people forget that my last ODI before I left due to an injury was a Man-of-the-Match performance. I had taken a five-for in India’s victory against Sri Lanka in 2012,” Irfan told the IPL site. “People have a very short memory about performances, but I was always confident that I would get into the ODI squad for India.”Now I want to take up more and more responsibility. I want to bowl in a lot of tough situations and I want to make sure that I am the go-to bowler for the captain.”India had won that one-day series in Sri Lanka in July-August 4-1, and Irfan had by far the best record among the bowlers, with eight wickets at 26.37. Apart from part-timer Manoj Tiwary, none of the other India bowler managed an average below 39.While he is looking forward to the helpful conditions in England, Irfan said he will not get carried away but focus on accuracy. “Any bowler would love to go and bowl in England were the wickets are friendly for the fast bowlers. But it is easier said than done. One has to make sure you ‘bowl’, rather than just releasing the ball from your hand.”Bowling in the right areas is very important. If you bowl consistently in the right areas, more often than not wickets will come your way. No matter how good the bowler is, how quick the bowler is or how lethal he is with swing, bowling in the right areas is of prime concern. That will be my focus in the games to come.”Irfan is one of five pace bowlers in the squad, alongside Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Vinay Kumar. That would mean a lot of competition among the seamers to make the XI, but he is not concerned about that at the moment Irfan said: “Frankly, I am not worried about it. I know it will depend on the team combinations at the end of the day. My mission is to do well in the tournament. I will start working towards it from the moment we land there in England. I want to make the most of whatever preparations we get there and be completely ready before ball one.”I have worked really hard on my fitness and my game. I have tremendous self-belief that I am only going to get better from here. I feel the next few years are going to be my years in cricket.”