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England opener returns to form in style after lean run in 2022

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jan-2023Jason Roy put what he described as a “horrible year” behind him with a career-saving century in Bloemfontein on Friday, and admitted afterwards that the angry emotions that he unleashed upon reaching three figures had been “locked away in a cupboard” throughout his run of lean form.Roy’s 79-ball century was his 11th in ODIs but his first against a Full Member nation since the 2019 World Cup, and though it was not enough to secure victory for England in the opening match of their tour of South Africa, it may well have transformed his prospects of helping to defend their 50-over title in India later this year.He struck 11 fours and four sixes all told, as he passed fifty in an England shirt for the first time in 15 innings, dating back to the tour of the Netherlands in June 2022. With the teams back in action on Sunday for the second ODI, also at Bloemfontein, Roy admitted that his personal satisfaction, for once, far outweighed the frustration of defeat.”I’m feeling very good,” he said on the morning after the match. “I actually didn’t sleep that well – I had about five hours sleep. I was a bit overcome with a few emotions and stuff like that, it’s been a turbulent few months. I woke up really well, though, it was the best five hours’ sleep I’ve had.”Yeah, it was a little bit of anger around it all, just because I set everything to the back of my mind and locked a few things away in a cupboard and went out and played the way I have played throughout my career and which I haven’t played in the last couple [of years]. I was frustrated I hadn’t got to that mindset earlier but it was a very nice feeling.”Unlike their build-up to the 2019 World Cup, England have limited opportunities to fine-tune their squad for India. The forthcoming tour of Bangladesh offers their last chance for 50-over practice until September, when New Zealand and Ireland visit for three ODIs each.Roy, however, doesn’t consider his return to form against South Africa to be any guarantee of selection for the World Cup.”No, not at all, absolutely not, I don’t see it that way,” he said. “I’ve played a lot of games in my career, been around for a while now and even after a bad year you can get forgotten quite quickly. It’s a case of keeping pushing, keeping this environment going in this culture we have in the team because it’s a huge year ahead for us in 50-over cricket.”Hopefully [I will play the World Cup] but it’s one step at a time. It’s one game into a series, one game into the year in international cricket, so I’ve got to keep scoring runs and just building this team to the place where we were at back in 2019.”It’s been a horrible year – it’s not how you start the year, it’s how you finish it. I think I started last year pretty nicely and then things went downhill from there. I’ve just got to stay positive and keep pushing.”Roy had given little indication of a return to form during his stint in the SA20 this month, having managed a top-score of 33 in eight appearances for Paarl Royals. However, with his England captain Jos Buttler alongside him at the franchise, Roy said that the support of his team-mate had been crucial in keeping a level head.”I’ve got a great relationship with Jos on and off the field, we speak very honestly with each other and spending the last couple of weeks with each other at the SA20 league has helped,” he said. “I had a lot of thoughts and opinions and how I felt my last year had gone, and those conversations were great and it allowed me to free myself up for this innings I just played.”

Rafiq has alleged it was an “open secret” that the name “Kevin” was used to describe people of colour

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Nov-2021Alex Hales has denied “any racial connotation” in naming his dog ‘Kevin’ after Azeem Rafiq alleged that the name was used by former Yorkshire team-mate Gary Ballance “to describe people of colour”.Rafiq told a parliamentary hearing into the Yorkshire County Cricket Club racism scandal on Tuesday that he believed Hales, the former England batter, had named his dog ‘Kevin’ because it was black.In a statement released on Wednesday, Hales said: “Having heard the allegations made against me, I categorically and absolutely deny there was any racial connotation in the naming of my dog.”I entirely respect and have huge sympathy for both the stance Azeem Rafiq has taken and what he has had to endure. His evidence was harrowing.”There is no place for racism or discrimination of any kind in cricket and I will gladly cooperate with any investigation the game’s authorities choose to hold. Neither I nor my representatives will be making any further comment on the matter.”Related

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Hales’ county club, Nottinghamshire, said it had “commenced the appropriate internal process” following Rafiq’s claims.”Following on from the testimony provided to the DCMS Select Committee regarding Alex Hales, we have commenced the appropriate internal process and will continue to liaise with Alex and his advisers accordingly,” a club statement said.The club also encouraged “anyone who wishes to share concerns or discuss their experiences to come forward and speak freely” either directly or through the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC).”Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club remains totally committed to making cricket in our county, at every level, welcoming and accessible for all,” the statement said. “We have always tried to create positive and fulfilling cricketing experiences for people from a wide spectrum of backgrounds, and we will continue to do so.”We acknowledge that, given the experiences recently being shared within the wider game, individuals may not have felt comfortable in voicing their concerns in the past.”We would encourage anyone who wishes to share concerns or discuss their experiences to come forward and speak freely… it is vital that individuals do so, in order for the game of cricket to learn and move forward together.”Alex Hales says he will cooperate with any investigation into racism claims•Getty Images

During the hearing, before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Select Committee, Rafiq was asked by Julian Knight MP, the committee chair, about references to the word “Kevin” in Yorkshire’s controversial report into Rafiq’s allegations of institutional racism at the club.Rafiq replied that it was a derogatory word used by Ballance to describe non-white team-mates. “It was an open secret in the England dressing room,” he said. “Anyone who came across Gary would know that was a phrase he would use to describe people of colour.”Rafiq then alleged that Hales had picked up on the word and named his dog ‘Kevin’ because it was black. “It’s disgusting how much of a joke it was,” Rafiq added.

“It all depends on the future of the T20 World Cup and the Asia Cup”

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jun-2020The BCCI is looking at the September-October window for holding the delayed 2020 edition of the IPL, Brijesh Patel, the chairman of the league’s governing council, has said. Whether the tournament can be slotted in there, however, “depends on the future” of the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup, which were originally scheduled for September and October-November respectively.While there is considerable doubt over the two multi-team tournaments going ahead this year, the Asian Cricket Council is still hoping to hold the Asia Cup in September, and the ICC has adopted a wait-and-watch approach to decide the fate of the T20 World Cup, to be held in Australia.”Yes, we are looking at those dates, but it all depends on the future of the T20 World Cup and the Asia Cup. Subject to that we are planning (the window for the IPL),” Patel told the .BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had also written to the state associations this week to say that he was optimistic about hosting the IPL, in empty stadiums if needed, and Patel echoed his thoughts.”Again, it depends on how the situation is in September-October,” Patel said. “We have to go by the government directive. First we need the go-ahead from the government. You can’t play a World Cup in empty stadiums. But the IPL being a league, it can be staged behind closed doors. The official broadcaster is OK with that and so are the players because they want to play.”When asked if the governing council was looking at the September-October window because it doesn’t expect the T20 World Cup to go ahead, Patel told the : “They can’t leave it till the last minute. All the teams have to prepare if they are going ahead with it. Otherwise all the alternative plans have to be in place. They should decide shortly.”If the World Cup cannot happen, each board will have to think of how to utilise the October window in consultation with the respective governments.”Patel also said that though the cricket boards in the UAE and in Sri Lanka had offered to host the IPL, the BCCI’s first preference would be to play it in India. “They (Emirates Cricket Board and Sri Lanka Cricket) have informed us that they are prepared to host the IPL. But our first preference is India, if we get the government’s permission,” he said. “It is certain that we cannot play at more than three or four venues in India, but the permissions will depend on how the COVID-19 outbreak pans out.”Otherwise we will have to explore playing overseas, which will be the last option. Once you are playing without spectators, it doesn’t really matter where you are playing as long as it suits television timings.”

Vidarbha bowlers hit back after their opponents had reached 171 for 1 in the second session

The Report by Sreshth Shah in Nagpur12-Feb-2019Stumps Two contrasting innings – an aggressive 95 from Mayank Agarwal and a dogged 114 from Hanuma Vihari – took Rest of India to 330 before they were bowled out at stumps against Vidarbha on the first day of the Irani Cup match in Nagpur, leaving the Ranji Trophy champions the happier side at close of play.From 171 for one, RoI lost their next nine wickets for only 159 runs as they suffered a collapse, brought about by some top-quality bowling chiefly from Vidarbha’s spinners.The turnaround began with Agarwal’s dismissal in the 39th over. Shortly after surviving a close lbw shout, he checked his drive and holed out at cover, handing Yash Thakur (playing in place of the injured Umesh Yadav) his only wicket of the day.Ajinkya Rahane, the RoI captain, then followed after making 13 in a 14-run stand with Vihari. Shreyas Iyer (11) didn’t last long either, defending down the wrong line to the left-arm spin of Akshay Karnewar, and right at the stroke of tea, Ishan Kishan (2) holed out trying to smash Akshay Wakhare over the leg-side infield. After conceding 142 for one in the first session, Vidarbha’s bowlers had some reason to smile at tea; they took four wickets in the second session for only 92 runs.It got better for them at the start of the evening session. K Gowtham, the No. 8, perished trying to clear midwicket, and Aditya Sarwate’s left-arm spin got the better of Dharmendrasinh Jadeja. At 258 for seven, Vidarbha would have backed themselves to wrap up the RoI innings for under 300, but in Rahul Chahar, Vihari found a stable partner, and they rotated the strike well. The two added 49 for the eighth wicket, taking RoI past 300 before the partnership was broken by Sarwate.Mayank Agarwal hits one over the infield•Getty Images

In the morning, Agarwal started brilliantly, using the width on offer from new-ball bowler Rajneesh Gurbani to crack two boundaries in the very first over. He then took on Sarwate – just like he dealt with Nathan Lyon on Test debut at the MCG – using his feet to play inside-out lofted shots over the off side. It mostly went his way, barring the time wicketkeeper Akshay Wadkar failed to hold on to the edge from an attempted cover drive.Vihari, too, rode on some luck. When he was yet to get off the mark, a length ball from Thakur whizzed past his outside edge. There was a loud appeal from the Vidarbha players for caught behind, but the umpire was unmoved. Replays showed some deviation off the bat, but with no DRS in play, the decision remained.When Agarwal and Vihari batted together in the first session following Anmolpreet Singh’s dismissal for 15, they scored at more than five per over for the most part.The post-lunch session began with Vihari reaching his half-century with a flurry of boundaries in the 38th over. He took on Sarwate, hitting two fours and a six – straight back over the bowler’s head – to reach his half-century. Later in the day, in the 77th over, he skipped down the track to hammer a straight drive to reach his 16th first-class hundred. It was an innings that was appreciated by those in his corner, and the sparse crowd that had come to the ground on a Tuesday afternoon. It looked like he would finish the day unbeaten, but Sarwate – the man who Vihari had punished earlier on – found the outside edge of his attempted cut shot, and the ball went straight to Faiz Fazal at slip.Among the Vidarbha bowlers, Wakhare had the day’s best figures – three for 62 – while Sarwate, despite starting poorly, also had three wickets. As the sun baked the pitch, Sarwate found more turn, removing both Jadeja and Vihari in quick succession. Gurbani, too, found reward for bowling a stump-to-stump line, pegging the leg stump of both Anmolpreet and Chahar to finish with two for 58. Left-arm spinner Akshay Karnewar, who also experimented with a right-arm delivery for one ball in the afternoon, and Thakur had one each.The second day will begin with Vidarbha’s batsmen trying to edge in front, but they are without Wasim Jaffer. The talismanic top-order batsman failed a fitness test before the game after spraining his ankle. For RoI, much of their chances will depend on how spinners Chahar and Jadeja fare. After all, in the Ranji Trophy this season, spinners took 67 of the 99 wickets that fell in Nagpur.