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Ellyse Perry was satisfied after Australia’s win over New Zealand in a warm-up match in Southampton, but outlined some clear areas that needed improvement before the Women’s World Cup begins later this month

Daniel Brettig15-Jun-2017Allrounder Ellyse Perry has declared Australia’s women need to find the right tempo with the bat in the closing overs of their innings, in order to finish off in the sort of manner that will enable them to lift the World Cup next month.Batting at No. 3 in the absence of the rested captain Meg Lanning, Perry struck a century in a warm-up win over New Zealand at Southampton on Wednesday, but was concerned by how the lower order fell away when a total of more than 300 looked there for the taking.”It was really great to put on those partnerships with Bolts [Nicole Bolton] at the start and then Elyse Villani as well,” Perry said. “It was just disappointing for me personally but also the lower order, we just fell off again. We were set up to score over 300 and we didn’t get there. That’s something to work on but it was nice to get that time in the middle.”In the next couple days it’ll be a real focus for us in training, just making the right decisions on balls to hit and where to score our runs. We don’t have the right tempo at the moment, we’re either going for big shots or defending, I think there needs to be a little more in between where we pick gaps and not letting bowlers settle and putting pressure on ourselves.”After Megan Schutt pinned Suzie Bates lbw with her very first ball of New Zealand’s reply, three wickets for wristspinner Amanda-Jade Wellington and breakthroughs for Perry helped Australia close out the match. They won by a comfortable 46 runs in a game where both sides could use all 15 members of their squads. Overall, Perry felt that it was a step in the right direction toward the level of polish required in the tournament proper.”Everyone got a good chance out in the middle, which is probably what we’ve needed after a really good prep back home and not as much official games,” Perry said. “A bit of rust, but that’s ok, we’ve got a bit of time before the first proper match.”There were lots of positives with both bat and ball but probably just lacking that polish, probably bowled too many four-balls, and a few loose shots and not really finishing our innings off, which was quite disappointing, but they’re solid opposition and it was good to play some good cricket in patches.”The Australians have a morning gym session on Thursday followed by an afternoon off, ahead of another internal practice match on Friday. They have further practice matches against South Africa and Pakistan before a tournament opener against the West Indies at Taunton on June 26.

An extraordinary day’s cricket saw 21 wickets fall and Leicestershire, having declined to enforce the follow-on, close with a lead of 313 with four wickets remaining in their second innings

ECB Reporters Network09-May-2016
ScorecardBen Sanderson gave Northamptonshire a boost•Getty Images

An extraordinary day’s cricket saw 21 wickets fall and Leicestershire, having declined to enforce the follow-on, close with a lead of 313 with four wickets remaining in their second innings.Captain Mark Cosgrove’s decision not to ask the visitors to bat again surprised many after the Leicestershire seamers occupied only 46.3 overs in dismissing Northants for 151. But Cosgrove felt the pitch – quick, with some nip in it for the seamers, but no minefield – might deteriorate sufficiently to make batting last a difficult prospect, however small the target.”With the pitch nipping around, and the occasional ball starting to keep low, making it tough to bat last, I felt it was more valuable to have the runs on the board,” said Cosgrove. “We’re 300 ahead, which is a good position to be in, hopefully we can get another hundred and get bowling at them again. The pitch isn’t a minefield, but if you keep putting the ball in the right area you’ll get enough chances to win the game.”Northants opener Jake Libby  said they were not surprised not to be batting again.”We thought we’d be back in the field, because of the amount of time left in the game and I guess their theory is the wicket is going to go a bit up and down.”There’s always going to be enough in the pitch to keep the bowlers interested, but there’s pace too, the ball comes on to the bat nicely, so you can get your runs too. We feel we’ve clawed our way back into the game, and if we can take their last four wickets quickly tomorrow, anything is possible.”Northants had begun the day well, picking up Leicestershire’s five remaining first innings wickets for just 21 runs, with Olly Stone and Ben Sanderson benefitting from bowling line and length, something the visitors signally failed to do on the first day of the game.Leicestershire’s bowlers picked up where their opponents left off, taking three wickets before lunch. Ben Duckett went leg before to Ben Raine, hit in front by a delivery that swung back in to the in-form left hander. Alex Wakely never looked comfortable before losing his off stump to the same bowler, but Libby had been batting well when he was unluckily caught down the leg side on 32 by wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien in Wayne White’s first over.The afternoon session was a procession. Northants quickly lost Josh Cobb who, having looked in good form, threw the bat at a wide delivery from Clint McKay and edged a catch behind. Richard Levi had struggled to 19, made from 61 balls, when he too fell to a wide delivery, edging Neil Dexter’s loosener to O’Brien.Dexter’s relatively gentle medium pace continued to prove effective as two balls later, Steven Crook pushed hard-handed at a straight delivery and edged to gully. Rory Kleinveldt also came and went  in short order, edging a Dexter out-swinger to first slip.Stone was bowled by a White delivery which stayed low, and Azharullah and Sanderson also fell to the allrounder, the former caught at first slip, the latter leg before.Leicestershire’s second innings batting proved equally fragile. Horton may have been a touch unfortunate to be given leg before to Kleinveldt, the ball striking the pad well above the knee roll, but Dexter was comprehensively bowled by Stone.Sanderson, formerly of Yorkshire before a four-year spell out of the first-class game, then picked up three quick wickets, including that of Cosgrove leg before with a delivery which stayed low, before O’Brien and Aadil Ali took the lead past 300 with a stand of 53 for the sixth wicket.Even then there was to be drama, with Ali edging the last ball of the day from Sanderson to wicketkeeper Adam Rossington.

Derbyshire were able to begin planning for next season when their relegation to Division Two was confirmed on the stroke of noon

Jon Culley at Derby26-Sep-2013
ScorecardKeith Barker collected six wickets in the match as Warwickshire confirmed Derbyshire’s relegation•Getty Images

Derbyshire were able to begin planning for next season when their relegation to Division Two was confirmed on the stroke of noon. Tony Palladino, in pain from a blow on the finger inflicted by the Warwickshire bowler Boyd Rankin, signalled to his last-wicket partner, Mark Footitt, that he could not continue.His retirement hurt confirmed Derbyshire’s dismissal for 103 in the first innings, which meant that even were they to somehow bring about the most unlikely of victories, from 288 behind, they would not have enough points to overtake Nottinghamshire or Somerset, irrespective of the result at Trent Bridge.Shivnarine Chanderpaul made 52, preserving the stand with Tom Poynton for the sixth wicket, unbroken overnight, for 55 minutes before he was leg-before to Keith Barker, against whom he had hit nine of his 10 boundaries, appearing to tuck his bat behind his pad a little.The first innings subsided in a little over six overs after that. In the circumstances, even with professional self-respect at stake, it was hardly a surprise that their motivation for the follow-on was not as it might have been.It didn’t help that they were facing a quartet of Warwickshire pace bowlers – including one just named in England’s winter tour plans, two who should have been and one who believes he may one day earn a call up – who were themselves fully committed, with the possibility still alive that they might finish third in the Championship table.Derbyshire’s fate was sealed when Palladino wandered off, examining the ring finger on his left hand that was later confirmed as broken. By 2.50pm, bowled out for 120 in 29.1 overs second time around, they had lost the match.Jeetan Patel claimed the last two wickets in the only seven balls he bowled in the match, applying the coup de grace by bowling Poynton and Tim Groenewald to end some brief late resistance, but it was the skill of the seamers in helpful conditions that set the sides so far apart.Barker finished with 1 for 19 to go with his 5 for 55 in the first innings, raising the left-armer’s tally of wickets for the season to 46 despite missing five matches through injury. His omission from any level of England’s winter programme is as puzzling as that of his team-mate Chris Woakes, who added 3 for 36 to his classy unbeaten 152 with the bat.There were two wickets for Boyd Rankin, who will be with England in Australia and gave evidence of the pace and bounce he will be eager to unleash from November onwards, and one for the other member of the pace quartet, Maurice Chambers, who went to the West Indies with England Lions in 2011 and hopes to reinvigorate his international career.Chambers, who has spent the last month on loan at Edgbaston after being released by Essex, will be offered the chance to follow Varun Chopra and Chris Wright in making the move from Chelmsford permanent, Warwickshire’s director of cricket, Dougie Brown, confirmed. “He has come in and taken 14 or 15 wickets in three or four games and is somebody ready made to play first-team cricket and would be an outstanding addition,” Brown said.”Hopefully the evidence we have of turning guys’ careers around – Wright and maybe Chopra being two examples – to the extent of knocking on England doors, will be something he sees as quite enticing.”Wayne Madsen, the Derbyshire captain, would be another player coveted by Division One clubs were he not under contract for another two years. Relegation was a bittersweet experience for him, given that he walked back to the pavilion for the final time as the leading run scorer in the division, with 1221 runs.”It has been the best season I have had personally and to get relegated at the same time is a tough pill to swallow,” he said.”Compared with the first 10 games we played, by the last six we have competed a lot better, but it was too little too late. At the start of the season, we felt three games would be enough to keep us up, but we lost too many games, missing out on the points for draws and the bonus points we might have accumulated.”We gave the senior players who were left out of the side in the second half of the season a good chance to get the runs and take the wickets and while there will always be times for every player where they find things a bit difficult, with us it was just too many at the same time.”We found there were patches in games where we let out guard down a little bit and would have bad sessions that cost us games. In Division Two you can sometimes get away with it and get back into a game but Division One sides don’t let you off.”Relegation will prompt interest in head coach Karl Krikken’s future, too, but Derbyshire’s chairman, Chris Grant, said the 44-year-old former academy director is safe.”Krik is on a long-term contract,” Grant said. “We will have a meeting on the 17th October when we will reflect on the season but I see Karl being part of this club in the long-term.”We have a long way to travel to become a sustainable first division county and if we keep chopping and changing in terms of direction we’re not going to make any progress, so we have to hold our nerve, go back to Division Two, take some lessons from Division One and rebuild.”But I’m certain Karl will be here, and the coaching staff, with my support.”

Virat Kohli, the India batsman, has been named the ODI Cricketer of the Year at the ICC awards function in Colombo

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Sep-2012Virat Kohli, the India batsman, has been named the ODI Cricketer of the Year at the ICC awards function in Colombo. He was picked ahead of MS Dhoni, Lasith Malinga and Kumar Sangakkara.During the period under consideration, Kohli played 31 ODIs and scored 1733 runs at an average of 66.65, including eight hundreds and six half-centuries. His highest score was 183, against Pakistan in the Asia Cup.”I think I have tried to keep things as simple as possible and it’s worked for me on the field,” Kohli said. “This year has been a learning curve along the way from the seniors in the team. It’s been an all-round effort and I’m very happy to have won this award.”It’s always nice to be recognised by the ICC, it’s a great feeling, and it’s the first time I’ve won one of these awards.”In a year in which Kohli was named India’s one-day vice-captain, following a solid tour to Australia, his best innings came in must-win games for India. In Hobart, with India needing to chase down Sri Lanka’s target of 321 in 40 overs to stay alive in the Commonwealth Bank Series, Kohli delivered with 133 not out of 86 balls. His unbroken 120-run stand with Suresh Raina came at 13.09 runs an over, and got India home in 36.4 overs. Three matches later, he put in a similar performance during his 183 in the Asia Cup against Pakistan – there India were chasing 330, and his knock came off 148 balls as India won with over two overs to spare. In that period, Kohli scored four centuries and one fifty in five innings.

Despite a flurry of late wickets, Maharashtra Cricket Association snuck home by two wickets against Kerala Cricket Association in Chennai, taking the 2011 Buchi Babu title

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Aug-2011
Scorecard
Despite a flurry of late wickets, Maharashtra Cricket Association snuck home by two wickets against Kerala Cricket Association in Chennai, taking the 2011 Buchi Babu title.Choosing to bat in the two-day match, Kerala scored 319, driven by steady half-centuries from their openers, Abhishek Hedge and VA Jagadeesh. The pair put on 165, before Domnic Joseph claimed Maharashtra’s first breakthrough, Hedge caught on 74. Jagadeesh carried his side past the 200-run mark, before falling to the left-arm spin of Ajinkya Joshi two short of his century. The rest of the line-up failed to build on the solid start, none of them going past 46 as Kerala were bowled out in the 89th over. Left-armer Samad Fallah and legspinner Chirag Khurana were the pick of the Maharashtra bowlers, taking six wickets between them.Maharashtra’s top order were solid in reply, each of the top six getting into double figures. Their openers, Harshad Khadiwale and Khurana, put on a century stand, which was followed by four other steady stands. However, left-arm spinner Sreejith struck every time a partnership threatened to take the game away from Kerala, finishing with a five-for. With six wickets in hand and only 20 to get, Maharashtra looked set to ease to a win. But then, four wickets fell for seven runs, setting up a nail-biting finish.

Nottinghamshire’s chances of winning a Championship title that they were once indisputable frontrunners for took a further blow as the Manchester weather inspired to restrict play to just 27 overs on the second day at Old Trafford

The Bulletin by Sahil Dutta14-Sep-2010

ScorecardPaul Franks helped Nottinghamshire start well but they will struggle to force a result at Old Trafford•Getty Images

Nottinghamshire’s chances of winning a Championship title that they were once indisputable frontrunners for took a further blow as the Manchester weather inspired to restrict play to just 27 overs on the second day at Old Trafford.Having desperately hoped for sun to dry the pools of water that had developed on the outfield through the early part of the day, the Nottinghamshire batsmen were left cursing their good fortune as the bright sun that allowed play to start ended up forcing the players off again when it reflected off the media straight into the batmen’s eyes late in the afternoon.The setting sun has always been a problem at Old Trafford and the issue is being remedied next season by rotating the pitch 90 degrees, but after leaden skies and persistent rain had prevented play in a crucial game for 30 hours it was a farcical spectacle to see the players forced off for 25 minutes with the field bathed in perfect sunshine.Nottinghamshire may well feel that fate has conspired against them but they tried to make the most of the 27 overs of play possible. With Yorkshire making good progress against Kent and Somerset moving to top of the table after dismissing Durham for 286, Nottinghamshire needed to move quickly.Alex Hales and Paul Franks set an ideal tone by adding 31 off the first four overs of the day and the pair brought up the 50 stand off 49 deliveries with Hales in particular punishing some loose offerings from Sajid Mahmood.While the openers were enjoying themselves there was the lurking worry that conditions may be too benign for the bowlers to force a result later on. Gary Keedy managed to extract significant turn when he was introduced in the 10th over, but Nottinghamshire’s only spin option is Samit Patel.Keedy troubled both batsmen before removing Hales with a ball that spun sharply from around the wicket and took the edge as the batsman tried to defend. Franks was out three overs later, edging Tom Smith behind and with his dismissal Nottinghamshire shut-up shop. Just 10 runs were added in 9.2 overs either side of the sun stoppage as Mark Wagh and Adam Voges studiously blocked all that came their wayIt leaves Nottinghamshire with an almost impossible calculation of trying to race quickly to 300, to pick up three batting bonus points, before hoping Patel’s part-time left-arm spin can produce a miracle.

Bist and Hasabnis’ fifties for India A go in vain as visitors collapse from 176 for 3 to 218 all out

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Aug-2024Maddy Darke’s unbeaten 106 along with Katie Mack’s 68 set up Australia A’s eight-wicket victory over India A in the second one-dayer in Mackay. The openers added 131 as Australia A chased down India A’s 219 with ease to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.Having been put into bat, Raghvi Bist and Tejal Hasabnis hit fifties helping India A fight back with a 124-run stand for the fourth wicket. But Charli Knott and Grace Parsons triggered a collapse as the visitors slumped from 176 for 3 to 218 all out.The game started with Tayla Vlaeminck’s superb opening spell of 4-3-3-1 where she had Priya Punia caught behind. Nicola Hancock replaced Vlaeminck and dismissed Shweta Sehrawat in her first over before Knott sent back Shubha Satheesh for a 38-ball 24.Bist and Hasabnis started slowly before picking boundaries in overs from Parsons and Kate Peterson. They focused on rotating the strike in the middle overs and eased past fifties. But India’s acceleration was cut short by Parsons having Hasabnis caught and bowled and Knott having Minnu Mani caught behind in successive overs.Shipra Giri got going with a couple of fours but with Bist getting run out in the 45th over, India slipped to 203 for 6. Maitlan Brown cleaned up the tail in a triple-wicket maiden over, which included a run out, as India were bowled out in 48 overs.Mack and Darke were aided by wides and a couple of threes from Soppadhandi Yashasri and Sayali Satghare’s opening spells as Australia A coasted past fifty in the 11th over. Between overs eight and 16, every single one went for at least five as Mack reached fifty in the 16th over. Darke reached hers in the 21st over with Australia A on 121 for 0.Satghare trapped Mack lbw in the 23rd over but Darke carried on. Her 38-run stand with Knott included just one boundary but brought the asking rate well under three. Tahlia McGrath hitting four boundaries in her first 15 balls quashed the little chances for a visitors’ comeback and allowed Darke to complete a century in the 37th over. The duo stayed unbeaten to take Australia A home with 58 balls to spare.Australia A had swept the T20I series 3-0 and have the chance to repeat the feat in the ODIs at the Gold Coast on Monday.

From equal pay for the women’s game to the ditching of Eton-Harrow fixtures at Lord’s

Osman Samiuddin26-Jun-2023The report ends with 44 recommendations to “transform the game’s culture and, in some cases, to redesign the systems that govern and operate cricket.” ESPNcricinfo picks through 10 of the more significant ones below.

A public apology

The very first recommendation the ICEC makes is for the ECB to issue an “unqualified public apology for its own failings and those of the game it governs.” The apology, it says, must “acknowledge that racism, sexism, elitism and class-based discrimination have existed, and still exist, in the game, and recognise the impact on victims of discrimination.”In particular, the report says, there needs to be a direct apology for the “ECB’s and the wider game’s historic failures in relation to women’s and girls’ cricket and its failure to adequately support Black cricket in England and Wales.”In response, the ECB issued an immediate and “unreserved” apology for anyone who has faced discrimination in the game.

Equal pay for the women’s game

Gross disparities in opportunity and reward between genders represents an important focus of the report. It recommends a “fundamental overhaul” of the pay structure for professional women cricketers, calling for equal pay (on average) at domestic level by 2029 and international level by 2030.It calls for international match fees between the England men’s and women’s teams to be made equal with immediate effect, commercial earnings for promotional appearances to be equal on average to the men’s team by 2028, as well as for the ECB to top up prize money wins at ICC events so they are in line with men’s winnings (until, the report says, the ICC makes these equal).At domestic level, the report wants women’s regional teams to be fully professionalised by the start of the 2025 season (as well as have rookie contracts in place a season earlier). The reports wants average pay and prize money to be equal to the men’s domestically by 2029, but across a gradated scale (50% by 2025, 75% by 2027 and 100% by 2029). They want women’s salaries in The Hundred to be equal to the men’s by 2025.

Overhauling school cricket and talent pathways

The report devotes considerable attention to a relatively narrow pathway that has, historically, struggled to tap into as broad a base of talent as possible outside of private, fee-paying schools. The report recommends overhauling the entire talent pathway to “make it more meritocratic, inclusive, accountable, transparent and consistent”.It specifically suggests that the ECB should, within the next year, put in place an action plan for state schools, calling for a re-allocation of ECB money at U14 level “with the aim of ‘levelling the playing field’… to ensure that there exists an equal pathway into professional cricket for the very large majority of the England and Wales population that attend only a state school”.The subsequent recommendation calls for counties to forego any direct costs they charge for participation in talent pathways for 2024-25, in a bid to reduce barriers to access for children from lower socio- economic and state school backgrounds. It also calls for financial assistance for other costs, such as that of travel and cost of equipment to this demographic.

A national T20 competition for state school teams

By the start of the 2025 season, the report wants the ECB to organise county and national-level T20 competitions for boys’ and girls’ (U14 and U15) teams from state schools. Wins at county level (U14s) would see schools progress to a national competition the following year (for U15s). This, the report says, should replace…

Ditch Eton-Harrow at Lord’s

… the annual Eton-Harrow games at Lord’s. The school game, between two of the country’s most elite private schools, has come to somewhat symbolise the exclusivity of the Home of Cricket in recent years. Last year, MCC had decided to remove the Eton-Harrow and Oxford-Cambridge university games from their annual schedule, only to U-turn after a group of members protested. For now, the fixtures remain on the annual calendar till at least 2027.”These two events should be replaced by national finals’ days for state school U15 competitions for boys and girls,” the report says, “and a national finals’ day for competitions for men’s and women’s university teams.”

A new, independent regulatory body

One of the report’s most radical recommendations is the creation of a separate regulatory body for cricket, completely independent of the ECB, within the next year. “The new regulatory body, not the ECB, should be responsible for investigating alleged regulatory breaches and for making decisions about whether to bring charges,” the report says, adding in a subsequent recommendation that such breaches should include anti-discrimination and safeguarding rules.Despite some progress, the report found there to be a lack of clarity and independence in the ECB’s “formal regulatory system”. In its dual roles as promoter and regulator of the game, it concluded the ECB’s potential for conflicts of interest was “irreconcilable” between its commercial considerations and reputation-preservation, against the need at times to take effective regulatory action. It was this conflict that stood out through the Azeem Rafiq racism case.

Cricket’s class barriers

“One of our big reflections over the last 18 months or so is that our understanding of lower socio-economic groups is not good enough,” the ECB acknowledges within the report. One of the bigger – but unsurprising – findings in the report is how little attention has been paid by the ECB to this inequity and inaccessibility, based on class, schooling and/or socioeconomic backgrounds. None of the various initiatives the ECB has undertaken over the years, the report concludes, have specifically targeted barriers to participation and progress on pathways based on class.As such, they recommend that “within the next 12 months, the ECB undertakes an in-depth examination of the class barriers that exist in cricket and develops a game-wide strategy to remove them”.

ECB should appoint a chief EDI officer

The report’s assessment is that greater EDI (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) competence and expertise is needed with the ECB board and executive. It is essential, the report says, that there is an ongoing and mandatory programme of training and development of these competencies for the board and executive.”We recommend that, within the next six months, the ECB establishes an Executive-level Chief Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Officer role with a singular focus on EDI and puts in place sufficient resources to support EDI delivery.”We recommend that the Chief EDI Officer sits on the ECB Board for the short to medium-term and/or until there is improved performance across EDI outcomes.”

Put EDI front and centre of allocation decisions

In November 2021, the ECB suspended Yorkshire from hosting international cricket, as it came to terms with the full impact of Azeem Rafiq’s experiences of racism at the county. Three months later, following a change in leadership and swift internal reform, the suspension was revoked and the county staged two internationals last summer.That is used by the report as an example in which putting EDI at the forefront of an allocation decision “is a powerful tool to encourage and enforce compliance with EDI”. It thus recommends that the “ECB revises and clarifies its processes and criteria for allocating, suspending, cancelling and reinstating high profile matches to place greater emphasis on EDI. There is clear evidence that being allocated such matches, or having the right to host them withdrawn, is a powerful tool to encourage compliance with EDI”.

An open and transparent complaints policy

The report is unequivocal in its conclusion that the systems and processes cricket has in place for handling allegations of discrimination are unfit for purpose. The report found a difference in perception between those in power who generally believed the systems they operate were effective and complainants, who found those systems to be inadequate.The ECB, the commission found, did not appreciate the role of complaints within the broader context of the fight against discrimination and that the system is not “sufficiently victim-centred”.”We recommend that the ECB reports clearly, publicly and annually on complaints in the professional and recreational game, including numbers, overall outcomes and actions taken to address existing and emerging patterns of concern.”

Allrounder played key part in run to U19 World Cup final in February

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Apr-2022Rehan Ahmed, the legspinning allrounder who played an integral role in England’s run to the final of this year’s Under-19 World Cup, has signed a long-term contract extension that will keep him at Leicestershire until the end of 2026.Ahmed, a product of the Leicestershire academy, made his first appearances for the senior team as a 16-year-old in last summer’s Royal London Cup, when he made his debut against Yorkshire, and went on to average 44.50 with the bat and take five wickets in a seven-game stint.However, Ahmed made his first big impression as an 11-year-old in 2016, when he was invited to bowl in the nets at Lord’s as part of England’s preparations for the Test series against Pakistan, and ended up claiming the wicket of Ben Stokes.His development took a further step in September, with his call-up for England’s Under-19 series against West Indies, after which he was included in their World Cup plans for this winter’s tournament in the Caribbean. He claimed 12 wickets in four innings, including his match-defining spell in the semi-final against Afghanistan, in which he turned the tide of the match with three wickets in an over. England went on to lose the final by four wickets to India.Related

• James Bracey, Haseeb Hameed in County Select XI to face India

• Tom Prest's 154* powers England into quarter-finals, Pakistan advance too

• U-19 WC: Bethell's 88, Ahmed's four-for lift England to semi-finals

• 'I'm always ready' – Rehan Ahmed is on the move, and has a World Cup trophy in his sights

• The Hundred draft: How the men's squads stack up

“I am delighted to extend my contract at the club and can’t wait to represent the Running Foxes again during the summer,” Ahmed said. “The past year has been incredible for me. From making my Leicestershire to debut to playing in a World Cup final, I have learned so much and I am extremely grateful to everyone who has helped me on my journey so far.”Leicestershire CCC Director of Cricket, Claude Henderson, said: “It is exciting to have Rehan onboard to help achieve our long-term ambitions. We want to give him the best opportunity to develop his game and contribute to winning games for Leicestershire. He has shown a first-class attitude, along with the level of skill and hunger we want to be associated with.”Ahmed’s Leicestershire career began at Under-15 level, once producing match-winning 134 not out alongside four wickets in 10 overs against Derbyshire’s U18s. Last summer he also named in the County Select squad which played against India at Chester-le-Street in July.In addition to his contract extension, Ahmed was picked up by the reigning Hundred champions Southern Brave in this year’s draft.

Hockley also said India’s tour during the pandemic was one of “great importance” to CA

Himanshu Agrawal24-Nov-2020Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley believes that the absence of Virat Kohli from the major part of India’s Test series in Australia will not have any financial implications for the board even considering how much attention India’s captain attracts. Kohli is set to miss three of the four Tests in order to fly back home to attend the birth of his first child, and Hockley said he respected that decision.”I think the first thing is that we’re delighted for Virat and Anushka [Sharma, his wife] for the imminent birth of their child,” Hockley said in an interaction with the Indian media. “We respect Virat’s decision and the BCCI to grant him leave. We’re just delighted he’ll be here to captain the side for the ODIs and the T20Is and the first Test. He’ll bring competitive leadership that we’ve seen before and have become accustomed to watching. I don’t think his absence will have a financial bearing.”With international cricket finally resuming in Australia after all the months of inaction due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Hockley termed India’s tour as one of “great importance” to CA. There were multiple staff cuts in the lead-up to the home summer, with apprehensions of massive financial losses, with Afghanistan having to lose out on an opportunity to play a Test match in Australia.”This series is of great importance to world cricket and Australian cricket,” Hockley said. “One of the features of the pandemic has been how the international cricket community has supported each other. Even we had travelled to England in September, and we are extremely grateful to the BCCI to make this tour happen.”This is a testament to all countries that we’ve got international cricket back up and running. Australia have been extremely fortunate that we’ve managed the Covid-19 situation very well, and I’m excited that the [India] series will be played in front of crowds.”Playing while managing life in a bubble for a lengthy period of time poses its own challenges, and numerous international cricketers – including the Australia opener David Warner – have expressed concern over the long-term feasibility of playing cricket in these circumstances. And so far as its financial implications are concerned, Hockley revealed that the board has had to spend millions to maintain a biosecure bubble that contains a large contingent of players and staff.”We’re taking precautions and using charter planes,” he said. “We had an endeavour of movement of the returning IPL players from the UAE. But precautions and measures have run into several million dollars.”ALSO READ: Marcus Stoinis expects Virat Kohli to be ‘extra motivated’ in abridged tourBut Hockley also accepted how difficult it has been for players to sustain lives in isolation. Some of Australia’s players travelled to England for a two-week tour that involved quarantine before it began, and then flew directly to the UAE to remain in another bubble for nearly two months during the IPL. The series against India, and more life in bubbles, came immediately after.”We’re extremely fortunate with limited cases [of Covid-19] and negligible community transmission,” Hockley said of the current state of the pandemic in the country. “We’ve worked hard to put the best possible conditions. There is an outdoor gym for India and the returning Australian IPL players. The safety of all participants is our number one priority. We’re working closely with the BCCI and working hard to provide the best possible conditions.”Despite all the arrangements and the facilities across Australia, there remains the possibility of an unprecedented outbreak taking place while the India series is on. But Hockley said CA had adequate cover “to ensure there are rescues in case of outbreaks”.”There has been a negligible community transmission in Australia, and more cases have been attached to the return of visitors from other countries,” he said. “We’re confident the work of our medical experts will mitigate that risk.”Hockley sounded positive about the pandemic’s situation in Australia and was confident of the arrangements that CA has made to host India smoothly.”Depending on the situation in each city, what I can say is that from our initial risk ratings, it’s very low,” Hockley said when asked about the protocols and the arrangements for all the players and staff. “[There’s] no or negligible community transmission; Melbourne now has 28 days of zero community transmission. The protocols are clear – [maintain] social distancing – and we’re making sure we have secure, separate areas.”The tour begins with the first of three ODIs in Sydney on November 27. The ODIs will be followed by three T20Is and four Tests.