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Australia head coach also speaks of the Australia A programme and club cricket that keep producing top players

Andrew McGlashan04-Apr-2022Golf and family time are top of Matthew Mott’s agenda once he returns home, but it won’t be long before the planning starts for the next challenges in front of Australia’s latest invincibles after their five-year mission to rule the game was crowned with the ODI World Cup title.The summit was reached with what Mott termed the “perfect storm” of a batting performance headlined by Alyssa Healy’s record-breaking 170 and a bowling display which held its nerve in the face of another of the great World Cup innings from Nat Sciver.Mott admitted “there were some skeletons from 2017” – in reference to the Harmanpreet Kaur innings that ended their previous ODI World Cup campaign and set in motion a chain of events that would change the face of the women’s game – but as well as Sciver was playing in her unbeaten 148 it always felt like she would either run out of time or partners.Related

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• Meg Lanning: 'I think we deserved a victory today'

The final was Australia’s 40th win since the 2017 World Cup exit during which they have lost just two ODIs in a period of dominance unmatched in the sport. It has also united the ODI and T20 World Cups under Meg Lanning’s captaincy but while Mott is aware there will be a period of transition in the team at some stage in the next few years, there is no sense from him that this is an end point.”That’s part of sustained success, at the right time turning players over that have that have been great servants but I don’t see that anytime soon,” he said. “After a couple of weeks of reflection we’ll reset like we always do and see what we are going to plot over the next one to two years.”That will include the chance of a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in August and then the defence of their T20 World Cup title in South Africa next ahead of another Ashes in England. But it’s what goes on below the success of the national team that will be as important in sustaining this golden era. Mott spoke of enhancing the Australia A programme over the next few years while there is also the first Under-19 World Cup next January which will be in the T20 format.The Australian players and support staff gathered around the pitch after the match•ICC/Getty Images

“We are at the end of the line, but there’s a lot of work that goes on in club cricket all the way through to produce these players,” he said. “They keep coming in droves, the only bad part about it is there’s some horrific selection decisions. We have to leave out really good players but it’s a good problem to have and a real sign of strength in the entire system. We played 14 out of the 15 [player squad] in this tournament. Think that was a big part of our success, when players were out of our team there was no void.”The batting display which racked up 356 was a coming together of so many of the building blocks that had been put in place over the last five years from Healy’s success as an opener, to the flexibility which saw the seamless promotion of Beth Mooney to No. 3 in a tactical change to take on Sophie Ecclestone and the depth of the batting that meant Ellyse Perry wasn’t needed until No. 7.”The flexibility in our batting group, the conversations on the sidelines about who was the right player to go in at certain times…everything seemed to work really well and it was a great night,” Mott said. “Alyssa Healy’s innings was special. I’m sure it was special on TV, but to be there at the ground to witness that was something I certainly won’t forget anytime soon.”She misses out every now and then because of the nature of the way she plays, but in a great team like this you can absorb those misses because you know she relishes the big stage, she has done it so many times. When she is on like that you can’t bowl to her. I didn’t think England bowled that badly yesterday.”For Mott, Lanning, Healy and others involved five years ago those ghosts have been emphatically laid to rest.”I just went past [Meg] in the lift and she had a big smile on her face,” Mott said. “Certainly after 2017 we had a very different press conference…I’ll never forget those scenes in Derby. From there that forged a really strong friendship with us. We’d hit rock bottom and together with a lot of other leaders around the group we tried to map out a plan to make sure that didn’t happen again.”To have to wait so long was very frustrating at times but certainly walking around seeing the group just take immense joy out of what’s been a long road, but a very enjoyable one and [is] one we can sit back and reflect on very proudly.”

Keep up to date with all the movements around the counties ahead of the 2021 season

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Oct-2020Keep up to date with all the movements around the counties as preparations are made for the 2021 seasonDerbyshireIN: Brooke Guest (Lancashire), George Scrimshaw (Worcestershire)
OUT: Tony Palladino (released), Ravi Rampaul (Kolpak)
OVERSEAS: Billy Stanlake, Dustin Melton, Ben McDermott (T20/RLC)DurhamIN: Sean Dickson (Kent), Scott Borthwick (Surrey), Alex Thomson (Warwickshire, loan)
OUT: Scott Steel (Leicestershire), Josh Coughlin, Sol Bell, Ben Whitehead, James Weighell, Nathan Rimmington (all released)
OVERSEAS: Farhaan Behardien, Cameron Bancroft, Will Young (CC)EssexIN:
OUT: Rishi Patel (Leicestershire)
OVERSEAS: Simon Harmer, Peter Siddle, Jimmy Neesham (T20)ALSO READ: Counties allowed two overseas players in 2021, ECB confirmsGlamorganIN:
OUT: Graham Wagg, Kieran Bull, Connor Brown, Owen Morgan (all released), Craig Meschede (retired), Marchant de Lange (Somerset)
OVERSEAS: Colin Ingram (T20), Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser (CC/RLC), Andy Balbirnie (CC)GloucestershireIN: Tom Lace (Middlesex), Jared Warner (Yorkshire)
OUT: Gareth Roderick (Worcestershire), George Drissell (released), Stuart Whittingham (retired)
OVERSEAS: Daniel Worrall, Kraigg Brathwaite (CC)HampshireIN:
OUT: Harry Came, Oli Soames (both released)
OVERSEAS: Kyle Abbott, Mohammad Abbas (CC)KentIN: Nathan Gilchrist (Somerset), Tawanda Muyeye (schoolboy)
OUT: Sean Dickson (Durham), Calum Haggett, Ivan Thomas (both released), Adam Rouse (retired)
OVERSEAS: Heino Kuhn, Miguel Cummins (CC)LancashireIN: Jack Blatherwick (Nottinghamshire), Luke Wells (Sussex)
OUT: Graham Onions (retired), Stephen Parry, Toby Lester (both released), Brooke Guest (Derbyshire)
OVERSEAS: Dane Vilas, Jackson Bird (CC), Finn Allen (T20), Shreyas Iyer (RLC)ALSO READ: ECB confirms Kolpak registration cancellationsLeicestershireIN: Scott Steel (Durham), Rishi Patel (Essex), Edward Barnes (Yorkshire)
OUT: Tom Taylor (Northamptonshire), Paul Horton (retired), Mark Cosgrove (released)
OVERSEAS: Naveen-ul-Haq (T20), Marcus Harris (CC/RLC), Josh Inglis (T20)MiddlesexIN:
OUT: Tom Lace (Gloucestershire), Dan Lincoln (released)
OVERSEAS: Peter Handscomb, Mujeeb Ur Rahman (T20), Mitchell Marsh (T20)NorthamptonshireIN: Tom Taylor (Leicestershire)
OUT: Brett Hutton (Nottinghamshire), Rob Newton, Blessing Muzarabani, Tom Sole (all released)
OVERSEAS: Mohammad Nabi (T20), Wayne ParnellNottinghamshireIN: Brett Hutton (Northamptonshire), Lyndon James (academy), Toby Pettman (Oxford MCCU), Dane Schadendorf
OUT: Chris Nash (released), Jack Blatherwick (Lancashire)
OVERSEAS: Dane Paterson, Dan Christian (T20)SomersetIN:
OUT: Jamie Overton (Surrey), Dom Bess (Yorkshire), Nathan Gilchrist (Kent)
OVERSEAS: Marchant de LangeSurreyIN: Laurie Evans (Sussex), Jamie Overton (Somerset)
OUT: Scott Borthwick (Durham), Morne Morkel (Kolpak)
OVERSEAS: Hashim Amla, Kemar Roach (CC)SussexIN:
OUT: Laurie Evans (Surrey), Danny Briggs (Warwickshire), Luke Wells (Lancashire), Harry Finch, Will Sheffield (both released)
OVERSEAS: Travis Head, Stiaan van Zyl, Rashid Khan (T20), David Wiese (T20)WarwickshireIN: Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Danny Briggs (Sussex), Jake Lintott
OUT: Ian Bell, Tim Ambrose, Jeetan Patel (all retired), Liam Banks (released)
OVERSEAS: Carlos Brathwaite (T20), Pieter Malan (CC)WorcestershireIN: Gareth Roderick (Gloucestershire)
OUT: Ben Twohig, Olly Westbury (both released), Wayne Parnell (Kolpak), George Scrimshaw (Derbyshire)
OVERSEAS: Ben Dwarshuis (T20), Alzarri Joseph (CC)YorkshireIN: Dom Bess (Somerset)
OUT: Tim Bresnan (Warwickshire), James Logan (released), Jared Warner (Gloucestershire), Edward Barnes (Leicestershire)
OVERSEAS: Duanne Olivier, Lockie Ferguson (T20)

Matt Henry and Trent Boult reduced India to 5 for 3 in their chase of 240, but they fought back remarkably only to fall narrowly short

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy09-Jul-2019
As it happenedIt was a semi-final spread over 28 hours and 24 minutes, and it contained some of the defining features of this World Cup. Rain, enough of it to force the match into a reserve day. Terrific new-ball bowling. Incredible fielding. A tricky, two-paced surface that kept scoring rates down, but also ensured neither team was ever entirely out of the contest.At the end of it, it was New Zealand who remained standing, reaching their second successive World Cup final with an 18-run win. India went out at the semi-final stage for the second successive tournament, but not without scripting a dramatic comeback that showed just why they are one of the world’s top ODI teams.This Old Trafford is just half a mile from the other Old Trafford, and MS Dhoni time is just as potent a sporting quantity as Fergie time. Ravindra Jadeja was in the middle of one of the great does-not-deserve-to-lose performances at the other end. Chasing 240, India had roused themselves from 5 for 3 and then 92 for 6, and were somehow still in the contest. They were now 203 for 6, and needed 37 from the last 18 balls.But it wasn’t to be their day. Jadeja, who had performed at the peak of his ability in every bit and piece of his cricketing skillset, finally miscued a slower ball from Trent Boult to depart for 77 off 59 balls. Dhoni, who had nudged and nurdled his way to 43 with only one boundary, carved Lockie Ferguson for six over point at the start of the 49th over to bring the equation down to 25 off 11 balls. But in an attempt to keep the strike, he turned for a desperate second run two balls later, and was beaten to the keeper’s end by an inch, undone by a breathtaking direct hit from Martin Guptill.India’s hopes ended when Martin Guptill ran MS Dhoni out•Getty Images

It was then, and only then, that New Zealand could breathe, and think of Lord’s, July 14.They certainly couldn’t think of Lord’s at any point during their innings, which began on Tuesday morning and ended just over 24 hours later, after incessant rain had pushed its last 3.5 overs into the reserve day.The skies were overcast throughout, and the pitch two-paced. New Zealand began by playing out successive maidens from Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, and ended by hitting just one boundary in their last six overs. Right through the innings – particularly when Kane Williamson shared partnerships of 68 and 65 with Henry Nicholls and Ross Taylor for the second and third wickets – New Zealand’s focus was on keeping wickets in hand. Run-scoring was a grind, particularly against Jadeja’s left-arm spin and the changes of pace from India’s three seamers.But 239 was a fighting total in these conditions, and by the fourth over of India’s chase it looked monumental.The digital scoreboard during the semi-final between India and New Zealand•Getty Images

The new balls swung and seamed for Boult and Matt Henry just as it had for India’s opening bowlers, but perhaps to a smaller degree. Where Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah had beaten the bats of Williamson and Nicholls numerous times, Henry moved it just enough to kiss the outside edge. The length and line were impeccable on both occasions, and both Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul were forced into feeling uncertainly for the ball.In between, Boult swung one into Virat Kohli and had him lbw, playing around his front pad. The ball hit the flap of his pad, and it was perhaps a marginal decision – Kohli reviewed, and ball-tracking suggested the ball would have clipped the top of the leg bail – and umpire Richard Illingworth called it in the bowler’s favour.It took 6.5 overs for 5 for 3 to become 24 for four. Rishabh Pant was positive at one end, looking compact in defence but pouncing on drives through the off side when they were available, while Dinesh Karthik was static at the other, taking 21 balls to get off the mark. Soon after he did, he spooned a drive squarer than perhaps intended, and James Neesham flew to his left to complete a one-handed grab at backward point.The first signs of an Indian recovery came via a 47-run fifth-wicket stand between Pant and Hardik Pandya. Neither batsman seemed in much difficulty in the middle, but both were having to bat at a lower gear than normal, and there was a sense that something would give, one way or another. Hardik Pandya played out a maiden when Mitchell Santner came into the attack, but Pant was less willing to bide his time, and he slog-swept the left-arm spinner to deep midwicket in his next over.Ravindra Jadeja top-scored for India•Getty Images

A miscued slog-sweep did for Pandya too, and the wicket came thanks to the pressure Santner had applied by conceding only five runs in his first five overs. With the pitch affording him natural variation – of both turn and pace – he kept things simple, angling it into the stumps from round the wicket to both left- and right-hander, bowling at a pace that made it difficult for the batsman to use his feet, and on a length just short of drive-able.India were 92 for 6, and that might have been it in previous games, when they played both their wristspinners at the expense of Jadeja. Now they had a bit of batting depth, and the man providing it had already had a fantastic match. Jadeja had taken 1 for 34 in his 10 overs, and had been electric in the field, running out Taylor with a flat direct hit from the deep and catching Tom Latham with a backwards leap at deep midwicket. Surely he wasn’t done yet.He wasn’t. Where most of his team-mates had struggled for timing, Jadeja looked fluent as soon as he walked in. When he made a move to attack, he made it decisively, often through the use of his feet to get close to the pitch of the ball and hit down the ground. He hit his first three sixes with this method, two off Santner and one off Neesham. Each of his hits roused the largely blue-clad Old Trafford crowd, and by the time he brought up his fifty – off 39 balls – their roar must have intimidated the team in black.But India were still chasing nine an over, and New Zealand still had their fast bowlers’ death overs in reserve. Jadeja kept India in the hunt with another six, over long-off, off Ferguson, and an edged four off Boult, but only five came off the 47th, a perfect over of short-of-length cutters from Henry. With more than two a ball required now, India would have to start swinging for everything. It could have gone their way on another day, but this day would be New Zealand’s.

James Sutherland has announced his resignation from his role as Cricket Australia chief executive, with a 12-month succession plan put in place to find a replacement

Daniel Brettig06-Jun-20181:37

Had been thinking about it for a long time – Sutherland

An era ended as James Sutherland joined the growing line of departures from Cricket Australia in the wake of the Newlands ball-tampering scandal, though he insisted that his managed exit after 17 years was the result of more than 24 months of careful discussion with the chairman David Peever.Sutherland served as chief executive since 2001 and oversaw a period of great growth but also turmoil. Most recently, the South Africa tour shone a poor light on the national team and the organisation. However, the game’s financial growth during his time was enormous. Some of the major changes included the formation of the Big Bash League in 2011, the start of day-night Test cricket in 2015, and major increases in broadcast rights deals in 2013 and this year.

James Sutherland’s statement

“Today I’m announcing my intention to stand down as chief executive of Cricket Australia. In advising David [Peever] and the board of my decision I’ve provided 12 months’ notice. It’s my intention to give the board the opportunity to run a thorough process to identify my successor and for me to provide support to the new CEO with the smoothest possible handover. After nearly 20 years at CA and 17 as chief executive, the time is right for me and my family and I think the time is also right for cricket.
“My overwhelming feeling today is a sense of gratitude. I feel fortunate to have been given the opportunity to do this job and I’ve worked closely with six chairmen. I’d like to thank David and each of his five predecessors for having the confidence in me and for their friendship, support and counsel along the way.
“By far the most inspiring thing about the job that I do is the people that I work with. I love and admire their passion for the game and their dedication to serve the cricket community. In addition to those at CA that includes people in our states and territories and of course the thousands of volunteers across Australia who do a wonderful job for cricket. Any credit to me has only ever been due to the great people around me.
“Finally, thanks to my family. None of our three kids were born when I started work at CA, so in a sense that’s all they know. But it’s my wife Heidi who is the one who really deserves the credit. She’s made her own personal sacrifices for my career and our own family and I can’t thank her enough for her support and understanding.”

It was a measure of Sutherland’s eventful tenure that he sat alongside Peever, who is the sixth he has served alongside, after Denis Rogers, Bob Merriman, Creagh O’Connor, Jack Clarke and Wally Edwards. On the same day Sutherland revealed his intention to depart, Peever confirmed he had the CA Board’s backing to continue for another three years.As such, Peever is looking increasingly like the lone survivor of Newlands and its aftermath, which has so far included bans for the captain Steven Smith, deputy David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, the resignation of the coach Darren Lehmann, the hurried removal of the head of integrity – and Cape Town investigator – Iain Roy and now the end of Sutherland’s long stint at the helm. At the same time the former board director Kevin Roberts has been promoted to chief operating officer, a role Sutherland had previously declined to furnish. That places Roberts in the vanguard of a candidate list that may also include the former NSW chairman John Warn, the state’s chief executive and former CA strategist Andrew Jones, and the recently appointed game development chief Belinda Clark.It is believed that the CA Board had wanted Sutherland to outline an exit strategy for quite some time. Peever, who reckoned there would be a “slight bias” towards candidates who are both Australian and insiders to cricket, explained that he and Sutherland had discussed the CEO’s future for almost the entirety of his time since becoming chairman in 2015, with the recent Ashes summer considered an appropriate end point. However, they subsequently agreed he should stay on to see through the completion of a new, A$1.18 billion television rights deal – Newlands took place in between.”When James and I were getting clearer about timing we talked about the end of the successful men’s and women’s Ashes summer as a good juncture,” Peever said in Melbourne. “But then we talked more about it and said we really need to complete the media rights process. There is no good time, there is always something going on in cricket, and so we decided then that after media rights were completed that James would announce.”Clearly, the ball-tampering issue has created upheaval, we’ve got the review process going on. I think it has also helped us understand better the extraordinary passion that Australians have for cricket and the importance of us as administrators to make sure we’re tapping back into that passion and respecting that passion, and indeed our strategy goes very strongly back to fans and grassroots.”The board has asked me to do another term [as chairman] and I’ve agreed to do that. I think at times like this continuity is important, so we have transition to a new CEO, we have leadership changes in the Australia men’s set-up, we have a massive summer coming up which we’re all excited about, we have a World Cup and Ashes next year, we’ve got a World T20 in 2020, we’ve got new financial models, we’ve got new broadcasters, so on the basis of all those things going on, with James transitioning out, I’ve agreed to do another term.”4:24

Brettig: Sutherland will be remembered for the way he handled controversies

Having joined CA as a lieutenant of Malcolm Speed, Sutherland was only 35 when named chief executive in 2001. He oversaw a period featuring issues such as Shane Warne’s 2003 drugs ban, the decline of the national team from 2007 until the Don Argus-led review of team performance in 2011, the dramatic sacking of the coach Mickey Arthur and replacement by Darren Lehmann in 2013, the death of Phillip Hughes in 2014 and the “Big Three” takeover of the ICC in the same year, and then last’s year’s hot-tempered MoU dispute, a process he was kept out of by Peever before ultimately intervening late in the piece.Yet, at the same time, there were major advancements. The advent of the Big Bash League and day-night Test cricket were significant on-field innovations, women’s cricket grew from amateurism to full professionalism over his time, and the size of the Australian game grew exponentially in financial terms through burgeoning successive television rights deals. This mixture of drama and growth was never better summed up than by the latest broadcast rights deal with Fox Sports and Seven being signed a matter of weeks after the disgrace of Newlands. Sutherland may have hoped to stay on until hosting the World Twenty20 in 2020, but he will now leave around the same time that Smith and Warner return to the playing arena.”My view has always been I’d like to go out on my terms, but at the same time I want to go out in such a way that allows the game to make a smooth transition,” Sutherland said. “I think that having been in the role for 17 years there are things I’ve come to know along the way that it was only appropriate for me to work closely with my successor but at the same time I’ll be keen to get out of their way as quickly as possible as well.”Our business works on a four, five, six year cycle and it just so happens that right now, putting aside the fact I’ve been in the role for 17 years, we’ve adopted a new strategy, we have the collective agreement with our players in place we’ve just done a new media rights deal that puts us in a really strong position about certainty of revenue for this next cycle, as well as the ICC piece, it just feels that with all those things done it’s a really good time for me to step aside but also a really good time for a new chief executive to come in and have a good run at it.”Speaking about Roberts’ recent elevation, Sutherland said it had been a matter of ascribing the former Adidas retail executive a title befitting the role he had increasingly come to play. “From my perspective and internally people would know and understand that over the last 12 months or so at least Kevin’s had a very broad role and has been effectively my deputy and CEO,” he said. “So from that perspective I think it’s really turning what was a convoluted title into a COO and allows that clarity about his role.”Getty Images

Always reluctant to talk about himself, Sutherland parried away a question about personal highlights and lowlights by outlining what he had always thought was the most important element of his role – ensuring as many children played the game as possible, to show them its virtues but also to grow the size of the game.”My underlying belief about the most important thing we do as sports administrators is inspire the next generation to love cricket,” Sutherland said. “Boys and girls, it’s all about that and whilst that doesn’t necessarily get the publicity that it deserves, the facts of the matter are that if kids today are not getting bats and balls in their hands, not seeing and understanding the opportunity that is there from playing cricket, then the game doesn’t have a future. That has been the underlying driver for me in this role, all the way through.”It’s about the kids and about making sure the game has a sustainable future through the next generation. In a specific sense the Big Bash is part and parcel in that, something that’s come into play to bring new people to the game, it’s a great success story for Australian cricket, but it’s one piece of the jigsaw that also includes the opportunity and the access to the game that boys and girls around the country need, and the support that states and territories play in providing that is incredibly important.”The importance of providing access to the game for as many children as possible has been a consistent theme of Sutherland’s years in charge, but his departure has followed the first instance in Australian cricket history of placing a portion of home international cricket behind a television paywall. Just as compromise and contradiction has been required to retain the role for this many years, so too has it applied to the way Sutherland’s time will be remembered.”We’ve had some big things to deal with over the course of the last 12 months,” Sutherland said. “Obviously there’s Cape Town but there’s also some key planks now in place that allow me to step aside and for a new chief executive to come in and have a really strong platform.”

New Zealand wicketkeeper BJ Watling says the team is not judging its season on the loss to South Africa in Wellington, but might do so on its performance in the final Test in Hamilton

Firdose Moonda in Hamilton22-Mar-2017As New Zealand enter their final fixture of a summer that began nine months ago in August, wicketkeeper BJ Watling has cautioned against an over-reaction to their three-day defeat to South Africa in Wellington, but admitted the last match of the series could define this season.”It’s not a calamity. There’s a lot of talk about the collapse and these things happen and we are obviously very disappointed but we’re not going to dwell on that,” Watling said. “This is a very important game coming up for us. I don’t think we will judge our season on that last game. But we might on this one.”It has become something of a team mantra to talk of the Wellington woes as “one bad day,” as Kane Williamson described it. They may even be able to distill it down to one bad hour.New Zealand were 139 for 5 at tea on third day and added 16 runs to that score before losing 5 for 16 in less than six overs to set South Africa a modest 81. That four of the five wickets fell to Keshav Maharaj on the most seamer-friendly deck of the series, was of particular annoyance to selector Gavin Larsen and Watling confirmed the squad has been addressing that issue.”It was a pretty good wicket to bat on against spin and we were probably not quite as disciplined as we would like to be,” he said. “We’ve got to take better options and make better decisions than what we did in that last innings.”The Seddon Park surface is expected to take more turn than either University Oval – which was low and slow but not raging – or the Basin Reserve, which only offered a little something out of the rough, so New Zealand need to be even more alert. Watling, a Hamilton local, is also predicting some seam and swing.The former will bring Vernon Philander, who took a series-winning 10 for 114 including 6 for 44 in the second innings, the last time South Africa were in Hamilton, into the game. Philander only has two wickets in the series so far and the statistics might suggest New Zealand have not had to deal with the full might of him yet, but they know that is not entirely correct.The pressure Philander and Morne Morkel created in Wellington was key to Maharaj’s success and Watling wants his team-mates to ride out the quicks better in Hamilton while not letting their guard down at the other end. “They bowled very well and put us under pressure and there were some testing spells,” Watling said. We’ve got to get through those spells and make sure we are not slacking at the other end.”For that, New Zealand need their top six to build on starts and will want to see runs from Tom Latham and Neil Broom, who have yet to contribute, because they feel that is the only way to properly challenge a strong South African attack. “There’s been some glimpses of good batting and we’ve talked about those starts and we need to turn them to bigger scores to really put South Africa under pressure,” Watling said. “We’ve got to be better as a unit, all the way down to 11. We’ve got to build partnerships and take these guys really deep. We saw in Dunedin, that we took them deep and they felt the pressure. We had them in positions we were pretty happy with.”Watling has been one of the key men in counter-attacking in this series. His fifty in Dunedin came alongside Kane Williamson, with whom he shared an 84-run stand to help put New Zealand in a position to take a first-innings lead. Then, Watling spent almost three hours at the crease in scoring 34 in the first innings in Wellington, off 132, balls and he shared in the biggest partnership of the innings, 116 with Henry Nicholls. In the second dig, Watling partnered Jeet Raval in a sixth-wicket stand of 65, New Zealand’s only stand over fifty in that innings.His appetite for a fight may result in calls for him to bat higher up, especially as New Zealand are without Ross Taylor, who is recovering from a low-grade calf tear, but the man himself says there has been no discussion about being promoted mostly because it may affect his wicket-keeping duties. “My role has always been No.7, for the majority of my keeping days,” he said. “Keeping can be quite tough and a mental drain sometimes, focusing on every ball in the field and with batting at No.7, you get a bit of a break.”South Africa use the same argument for not using Quinton de Kock higher up despite his ability to accelerate the scoring rate almost single-handedly. It’s the “almost” that’s important though, because de Kock can’t operate without a partner and he has found a promising one in patient Temba Bavuma. Watling needs someone like that at the other end, otherwise New Zealand may find him trying to do both jobs and that could end in calamity.”I love batting and I hate getting out. You respect each delivery as well and the South Africans bowl a lot of good balls that you’ve got to respect and you’ve got to wait a bit longer to get the balls to put away,” he said. “Some days its about being aggressive and take a lot more positive options and other days you might have to soak it up a bit more.”

Grant Elliott picked up his second consecutive Man-of-the-Match award, helping Quetta Gladiators become the first team to seal a spot in PSL playoffs following their five-wicket win against Karachi Kings in Sharjah

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Feb-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsGrant Elliot collected 4 for 15 to rip through Karachi Kings’ top order•PSL

Grant Elliott picked up his second consecutive Man-of-the-Match award, helping Quetta Gladiators become the first team to seal a spot in PSL playoffs following their five-wicket win against Karachi Kings in Sharjah.Elliott followed up his 3 for 25 against Islamabad United on Thursday with a career-best 4 for 15, carving through Karachi’s top order and restricting the team to a below-par 126 for 9. Karachi’s captain Shoaib Malik top-scored with 45, but nobody else made more than 23, as Elliott struck at regular intervals to thwart any momentum Karachi hoped of building. Anwar Ali, Zulfiqar Babar, Aizaz Cheema and Mohammad Nabi snared a scalp apiece, as Quetta were left needing just over six an over in their chase.Ahmed Shehzad ensured Quetta aced the small chase without any major worry, as his 27-ball 41 guided the team home inside 19 overs. Karachi kept striking blows at various points, but did not have enough left to defend with, as handy knocks from Kevin Pietersen (26) and Sarfraz Ahmed (29) lifted Quetta to their fifth win of the season.

South Africa suffered a fifth successive sub-standard batting performance in Sri Lanka to concede the final match in the series – a dead rubber – to opposition who have shown their superiority

The Report by Firdose Moonda31-Jul-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTillakaratne Dilshan and Lahiru Thirimanne set up the win with a stand of 163•Associated Press

South Africa suffered a fifth successive sub-standard batting performance in Sri Lanka to concede the final match in the series – a dead rubber – to opposition who have shown their superiority. Throughout the 12-day contest, Sri Lanka batted with more authority and bowled with more intent and just to emphasise that, they did both even better today despite resting three senior players.Tillakaratne Dilshan followed up his century in the previous match with 99 and shared in a second-wicket stand of 163 with Lahiru Thirimanne who found confidence with a half-century, while Kumar Sangakkara racked up milestones. He overtook Misbah-ul-Haq as the leading run-scorer in ODIs this year and become the top-scorer for Sri Lanka in a bilateral series with 372 runs. With all those accolades, his best mate, Mahela Jayawardene was hardly missed.Neither was Sri Lanka’s marquee fast bowler, Lasith Malinga, or leading spinner Rangana Herath. Their replacements, Suranga Lakmal and Sachithra Senanayake, did the damage with five wickets between them to ensure even the flicker of a challenge South Africa posed was suffocated before it find any oxygen.Although South Africa have scored more runs in each innings as this series wore on, they were always unlikely to chase down a score of 300-plus. They have a lethargic bowling performance and indifferent showing in the field to thank for being asked to do that.Morne Morkel and Lonwabo Tsotsobe started well with probing lines outside offstump and had early success. They kept Sri Lanka’s scoring rate under four an over and Morkel had Kusal Perera out when the opener bottom-edged to Quinton de Kock.What South Africa should have used as an opening, Sri Lanka grabbed onto as an opportunity. They moved Thirimanne up the order and he responded by building steadily alongside Dilshan.They pair gave themselves time against South Africa’s ineffectual spin duo so that when Morkel was brought back, he posed little threat. Dilshan reached his half-century with a backfoot drive off him, while Thrimanne’s came with a single off Phangiso. By the halfway mark, they were consistently scoring more than four runs an over and had laid enough foundation to up the aggression.And they did. The very next over, Thirimanne charged Phangiso and drove Morkel with confidence. He could have been stumped for 62 but Quinton de Kock missed the chance. It only cost six runs before JP Duminy took a tumbling catch to see Thirimanne out but illustrated a wider South African problem.Their fielding was not up to scratch, they didn’t back up enough, their throws were wayward and de Villiers’ communication in changing his fields was almost non-existent. All this while Sangakkara arrived and smoked Duminy back over his head and hit Morkel of all of his lengths. The three fours that came in the over where off a good length ball, a full one and a short one.Sangakkara missed out on a century the last time he batted with Dilshan but this time it was Dilshan’s turn to suffer that fate. He marched into the 90s with an authoritative pull and lingered on 99 for three balls before he was bowled by a McLaren slower ball.In celebration of his wicket, South Africa seemed to forget all their plans. Tsotsobe reverted back to short balls and Morkel could not find any workable line or length. His figures were the most expensive of his career. Mathews let loose and Thisara Perera had licence to go wild but it was Sangakkara’s presence that made a score over 300 possible.He smacked 49 runs on the on-side and helped himself to extravagant shots like scoops over de Kock’s head. He was largely responsible for the addition of 52 runs in the last five overs and for South Africa’s mountain being too high.They started gallantly, with de Kock showing his promise with powerful cuts, and 32 runs scored off the first five overs. He remained loose outside the offstump and when he left a gap between bat and pad against Senanayake, he was bowled. The 35 he put on with Hashim Amla was South Africa’s highest opening stand of the series.Amla and Duminy put on 25 before Amla also failed to read Senanayake and was plumb lbw. Dumimy padded up to Dilshan and Faf du Plessis’ lean run grew longer when was caught. At 69 for 4, South Africa were only headed one way.De Villiers scored a-run-a-ball 51 but was caught at point on his first attempt to lash out. South Africa they were eventually put out of their misery in the 44th over to hand Sri Lanka a 4-1 win and leave themselves with more questions than answers about the rebuilding of their one-day unit.

Sri Lanka Cricket has named 56 foreign players who will play in the inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jul-2012Sri Lanka Cricket has named 56 foreign players who will play in the inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League. There are no India or England players – apart from Azhar Mahmood – among the 56, who were picked by the seven franchises via a draft system in Colombo on Thursday.Shahid Afridi* was originally supposed to be the icon player for Nagenahira but all the franchises wanted to make sure their icon players were available throughout the tournament. Due to the recently announced Australia-Pakistan series that starts on August 28th, Afridi would potentially miss the semi-finals and finals of the SLPL if his team made it that far, leaving Nagenahira without their icon player at the business end of the tournament. With the agreement of the other franchises, Afridi was released by Naganahira in to the draft, where he was subsequently signed by Ruhuna. Lasith Malinga remains Ruhuna’s icon, while Nagenahira’s icon player will be named on Friday.The list is dominated by players from Australia (18) and Pakistan (13). Misbah-ul-Haq, who stepped down as Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain in May and was not picked for the Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka that followed, was picked up by Kandurata in the draft. Mohammad Hafeez, who replaced Misbah as Pakistan Twenty20 captain, was not on the list released by Sri Lanka Cricket.West Indies fast bowler Jerome Taylor, who has not featured in top-level cricket since May 2011, was drafted by Ruhuna.The release made no mention of the salaries that the players will be paid. Sri Lanka’s domestic players will be drafted on Friday.The franchises’ overseas signings
(all values in US $)
Uthura: Shakib Al Hasan (25,000), Brendan Taylor (10,000), Kevon Cooper (15,000), Imran Farhat (20,000), Fidel Edwards (20,000), David Miller (25,000), Dillon du Preez (20,000), Samuel Badree (20,000)
Nagenahira: Mitchell Marsh (30,000), Imran Nazir (20,000), Travis Birt (25,000), Ahmed Shahzad (20,000), Ben Laughlin (20,000), Elias Sunny (12,000), Musfiqur Rahim (20,000), Nasir Hossain (16,000)
Ruhuna: Shahid Afridi (50,000), Daniel Harris (30,000), Ryan Harris (30,000), Aaron Finch (30,000), Jerome Taylor (20,000), Nathan McCullum (25,000), Ryan McLaren (15,000), Richard Levi (25,000)
Wayamba: Azhar Mahmood (30,000), Umar Akmal (25,000), Tamim Iqbal (18,000), Colin Ingram (20,000), Kemar Roach (25,000), James Faulkner (25,000), Abdul Razzaq (25,000), Brad Hogg (25,000)
Kandurata: Saeed Ajmal (25,000), Misbah-ul-Haq (25,000), Sohail Tanvir (20,000), Chris Lynn (20,000), Dane Vilas (10,000), Albie Morkel (35,000), Johan Botha (25,000), Adam Voges (25,000)
Basnahira: Brad Hodge (30,000), Marlon Samuels (30,000), Daniel Smith (20,000), Dirk Nannes (35,000), Robin Peterson (20,000), Tim Southee (25,000), Clint McKay (25,000), Cameron Borgas (20,000)
Uva: Andrew McDonald (35,000), Umar Gul (25,000), Shoaib Malik (35,000), Callum Ferguson (30,000), James Franklin (30,000), Abdur Rehman (20,000), Hammad Azam (15,000), Chris Gayle (100,000)
*04:23 GMT, July 6: This article has been updated to state why Shahid Afridi is no longer playing for Nagenahira

Five Kenyan cricketers have turned down contracts offered by their board on the grounds of insufficient compensation

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jul-2011Five Kenyan cricketers have turned down contracts offered by their board on grounds of insufficient compensation. Cricket Kenya had offered new national contracts to 13 cricketers; seven have accepted them. They are: captain Collins Obuya, Seren Waters, Hiren Varaiya, Rakep Patel, Runesh Gudka, Lucas Ouloch and Ragheb Aga. Alex Obanda, Shem Ngoche, James Ngoche, Nehemiah Odhiambo and Elijah Otieno turned down the contracts and the board promptly withdrew them.Tanmay Mishra, the Mumbai-born Kenya batsman, will be available for national duty, though he’s chosen to play domestic cricket in India this season.
Kenya Cricket’s chief executive Tom Sears said: “We are very pleased with the group of players who have committed to Cricket Kenya but obviously disappointed that some players chose not to sign their new contracts.”Every player received an offer amounting to a basic increase to their monthly retainer of at least 10% and the opportunity to improve that figure significantly through consistent high performance. They were also offered guaranteed match fees for domestic cricket for the first time which would significantly increase their earnings. The fact that they have declined these improved offers calls into question some of the advice they have been receiving but that is a matter for the players themselves.”Having met with all the players on several occasions and heard what they and their advisors have said, we made repeated offers during the last month to meet with the players individually to discuss their contract offers but some declined to do that, either through their own choice or by instruction from their advisors – if we are not told what the players’ issues are it is impossible for us to deal with them. Cricket Kenya can only wait for so long for players to commit and the time has come for us to move on and look at other players who are seeking the opportunity to show what they can do at international level.”Several senior cricketers, including World Cup captain Jimmy Kamande and Thomas Odoyo, were not offered contracts this year in a move to look to the future. The contracts run for 12 months and offer improved salaries and match fees. It remains to be seen if the refusal from the five cricketers puts their availability in doubt. Kenya take on UAE in two limited-overs games next week, followed by a four-day Intercontinental Cup fixture in Nairobi.

Nottinghamshire held their nerve under the Trent Bridge lights to knock
champions Sussex out of the Friends Provident t20 in a tight quarter-final
tonight

26-Jul-2010

ScorecardRyan Sidebottom gave Nottinghamshire some late impetus with a couple of boundaries•PA Photos

Nottinghamshire held their nerve under the Trent Bridge lights to knock
champions Sussex out of the Friends Provident t20 in a tight quarter-final
tonight.Mike Yardy’s visitors appeared on course to join their south coast neighbours
Hampshire – who earlier this evening scraped past Warwickshire – in the last
four for next month’s showpiece at the Rose Bowl, after the Outlaws had mustered
only 141 for 9.But in conditions when pace off the ball proved more effective throughout than
pace on it, Samit Patel replicated Yardy’s own bowling – and Steve Mullaney’s
seam also strangled the Sussex reply to give Nottinghamshire victory by 13
runs.Yardy had picked up two wickets in a typically miserly spell, and Yasir Arafat
finished with 4 for 34 as the home tail nonetheless eked out what proved a
defendable total.After Chris Nash – dropped on only two by Ryan Sidebottom at short fine-leg off
Dirk Nannes – and Luke Wright got the chase off to a handy start, Sussex
faltered alarmingly to Patel, Mullaney and Darren Pattinson (3 for 17).Wright was Pattinson’s first victim, mistiming a catch for Sidebottom at
mid-on, and Nash was then lbw trying to sweep Patel. His was the first of three wickets to fall for only 14 runs – Yardy run out in a mix-up with Murray Goodwin, and then Ed Joyce lbw sweeping at Graeme White.Andrew Hodd and Goodwin threatened to keep Sussex in it. But the wicketkeeper
drove Sidebottom to be well-caught by David Hussey at extra-cover – and after
Goodwin’s luck ran out when he fell to a good catch by Alex Hales on the
midwicket boundary, the game was up.Ali Brown had earlier helped to set the pace for the Outlaws, after Yardy had
chosen to bowl first under cloudy skies. But just after Brown clubbed two successive leg-side sixes off Chad Keegan, the seamer got his revenge when the ex-Surrey batsman missed another attempted big
hit and was bowled.His fellow opener Hales was already gone, edging on to off-stump as he attacked
Arafat. Then when Yardy introduced his notoriously effective, skiddy left-arm spin the
life appeared to be sucked out of Notts’ mid-innings.Patel and Mullaney were both cramped by his tight line and testing full length,
bowled looking for big shots. Number three Matt Wood stayed long enough to top-score with 36 before Goodwin’s direct hit from point ran him out. But danger man Hussey was fourth out, caught in the deep off Nash’s off-spin.From 100 for 6 with five overs to go, Nottinghamshire did well to salvage a
worthwhile total thanks to some late hitting from Chris Read and Sidebottom.Unexpectedly, it turned out to be enough too, the Outlaws booking themselves in
for the August 14 showpiece – only the second time they have reached finals
day.