Tag Futebol

India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara believes he has come back a “better player” after his stint in English county cricket with Yorkshire

Gaurav Kalra19-May-20158:30

‘Achieved what I set out to do’ – Pujara

India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara believes he has come back a “better player” after his stint in English county cricket with Yorkshire. Speaking to ESPNcricinfo after returning from England, Pujara said he “achieved the targets” he had set out for.”I could have achieved more though as I had a few 30s where I was well set and I had the chance to get a big one,” Pujara said. “A couple of decisions didn’t go my way which is a part of the game. Overall, I achieved my targets. The experience of playing in those conditions helped me learn a lot. The dressing room atmosphere was fantastic and I enjoyed playing for them.”Pujara signed up for a short-term contract with Yorkshire after being ignored at the IPL auction in February. He played four matches for the defending county champions, scoring 264 runs in six innings at an average of 52.80 with one century and a fifty. Pujara said these performances have “boosted his confidence” given the tricky early season conditions he had to encounter.”At the beginning of the season, the wickets are always difficult to bat on in the UK,” he said. “I thought getting a hundred and a fifty in those conditions was really important. I was getting starts so I was not nervous and I didn’t have issues facing seam bowling. There were a couple of really challenging wickets where batting was really difficult. I survived those conditions and it boosted my confidence.”Pujara lost his place in the playing XI for India’s last Test on the tour of Australia, in Sydney, after a string of below-par performances. Over eight Test matches in England and Australia, he scored 423 runs at an average of 26.43, going past the half-century mark just twice. He believes the stint with Yorkshire will help him get back to run-scoring ways.”When you play in challenging conditions, you learn about your technique and how to score runs in difficult situations,” he said. “So, the pressure makes you matured. Once you score runs in those conditions, you believe in yourself and you can do it any conditions. When you play Test cricket, the wickets are generally good to bat but in county cricket you get result-oriented wickets. So you bat in challenging conditions and having done that, I’m definitely a better player.”Pujara is expected to be named in the Indian Test squad for the one-off Test against Bangladesh next month. He believes there is enough time to adjust to the change in conditions he is likely to encounter from England to Bangladesh. Pujara is also keen to resume batting at the No. 3 position, where he has had most of his success at Test level.”Since I’ve been batting at No. 3, I’m comfortable there but it also depends on the team’s requirement,” he said. “If there is a need to change my batting position, I’ll bat at that position but I think the team wants me to bat at No. 3 and that is where I have performed well in the past. I think No. 3 suits me as well as the team.”The series in Bangladesh will also mark the formal start of a new era for India in Test cricket with MS Dhoni having announced his retirement from the format. Pujara believes Dhoni deserves credit for “building this team,” having identified the potential of the individuals under his wing. Pujara is confident this group can give India success in the years ahead.”Most of us have played a decent amount of cricket together,” he said. “We know each other as we have been a part of the India A teams together. This bunch knows each other well as we have played a lot of cricket together. I have no doubt that we should be able to perform well wherever we go whether – in India or abroad. MS Dhoni was trying to build this team and he knew the potential of this team. Credit has to go to him for building this team.”

Steven Finn has been ruled out of the first Test against India in Ahmedabad due to the thigh strain that limited his warm-up participation to four overs in the first match in Mumbai

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Nov-2012Steven Finn has been ruled out of the first Test against India in Ahmedabad due to the thigh strain that limited his warm-up participation to four overs in the first match in Mumbai.England captain Alastair Cook confirmed that Finn would not be considered for the opening match of the series as it would be a significant risk. England are still likely to field one fast bowler under an injury cloud with Stuart Broad set to play after recovering from the bruised heel that meant he has bowled just 10 warm-up overs on tour.While Finn and Broad bowled with impressive pace at practice on Sunday, it was always unlikely that the England management would two risk two bowlers in the same Test. Finn barely participated in fielding practice and did not bowl a single delivery in the nets. While he is not thought to have suffered any injury setback, it seems the England management are keen not to risk his recovery; particularly in a Test that will be played in hot, arduous conditions.The problem for Finn now is that there are no further matches on the tour outside of the Tests so he will have to regain form and fitness in the nets.The most likely replacement for Finn appears to be Tim Bresnan who bowled well in the second innings of the final warm-up match against Haryana where he found useful reverse swing. Graham Onions, Stuart Meaker or a second frontline spinner in Monty Panesar are the other options and Cook is happy with the depth available.”I wouldn’t call them back-up bowlers, they’re all vying for a place to play in this XI, to be lucky enough to play for England,” Cook said. “They’ve all worked hard to get used to these conditions and as selectors we’ve got a tough decision to make.”

Martin Crowe’s comeback to club cricket in Auckland at the age of 48 has ended after he was forced to retire hurt three balls into his first innings

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Nov-2011Martin Crowe’s comeback to club cricket in Auckland at the age of 48 has ended after he was forced to retire hurt three balls into his first innings. Crowe pulled a muscle while batting for Cornwall against Parnell on November 19.”While getting off the mark yesterday I pulled a thigh muscle running a normal single into the covers. So three balls into my first premier match back, it’s over,” Crowe wrote in an email to media outlets. “I said from the start it would end in tears with an injury.”I pulled a hip flexor in July, a hamstring in August, a groin in October and now a thigh, all upper left leg, all compensating for a dodgy arthritic right knee. No tears, but frustrated after a lot of hard work getting ready.”Crowe had announced his decision to return to competitive cricket in May, 15 years after his retirement. He had been forced to quit international cricket due to a bad knee. He had said he saw his comeback as a means of self-motivation and a tool to get fit – and also an opportunity to score the 392 runs he needs to tally 20,000 first-class runs.”It was sort of fun along the way,” Crowe said. “I got to hit lots of balls over five months, experiencing the joy of batting again. But as soon as it required the important running bit, the old problems kicked in.”No regrets, although it would’ve been nice to bat at Cornwall Park once more … Instead, Parnell CC will be the last ground I walk out on to thinking `head still, play straight’.”

A round-up of the third day of the first round of matches in the Plate League of the Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Nov-2010Deepak Chahar sealed a dream debut with a Man-of-the-Match award as Rajasthan completed a clinical demolition of Hyderabad at the at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, taking just 15 overs on the third morning to register victory by an innings and 256 runs. Starting the day on 64 for 6, Syed Quadri and Munagala Arjun provided some resistance in adding a further 30 runs, before Quadri was snapped up by Pankaj Singh for 27. Arjun battled until the end, being the last man to fall, bowled by Sumit Mathur for a top score of 33, as Rajasthan folded for 126. Chahar picked up four second-innings wickets to finish with match with figures of 12 for 64Medium pacer Varun Aaron was Man of the Match as Jharkhand beat Tripura by an innings and 131 runs at the Maharaja Bir Bikram College Stadium in Agartala. Tripura started the day on 50 for 4 and promptly lost captain Rajib Dutta, caught behind off Aaron, who finished with match figures of 7 for 53. Timir Chandra and Subal Chowdhury showed some fight in making 30 and 16 respectively, but there was only ever going to be one result. Samar Quadri took 4 for 22 from eight overs as Tripura were bowled out for 131.Ankit Bawane’s highest first-class score carried Maharashtra to 604 against Jammu & Kashmir at the Gandhi Memorial Science College Ground in Jammu, giving them a huge first innings lead of 322. J&K managed to whittle the deficit down to 188 by the close of play for the loss of two wickets, with Arshad Butt completing a sedate half-century. The 17-year-old Bawane and captain Rohit Motwani took their partnership to 127 before Motwani fell to Abid Nabi for a well made 66, studded with seven fours. Ganesh Gaekwad shepherded the lower order after Bawane fell, trapped leg before by Abid Nabi for 159, and put on 66 with Digambar Waghmare. Gaekwad’s fluent innings came to an end when Samiullah Beigh had him caught behind for 51 from 70 balls. Beigh was J&K’s most successful bowler, taking 4 for 131 from 31 overs.Goa‘s top order redeemed itself after a first innings collapse against Madhya Pradesh at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore. Sagun Kamat and Swapnil Asnodkar began the job of wiping out MP’s 158-run lead by adding 85 for the first wicket. After Kamat fell for 50, Asnodkar and Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan took Goa into the lead with a 111-run partnership. Neither could kick on to make three-figures, however, as first Vidyut fell for 58, and then Asnodkar for a measured 84 off 232 balls spanning over five hours at the crease. Ajay Ratra and Rahul Keni batted out the rest of the day to take Goa to 268 for 3, a lead of 110.Soumyaranjan Swain and captain Yashpal Singh both made unbeaten half-centuries as Services ended the third day of their match against Kerala at the Model Sports Complex in Delhi on 237 for 3, still trailing by 217 runs with one day to go. The pair came together after opener Pratick Desai fell to Raiphi Gomez for 55, and proceeded to nudge the ball around in a 124-run stand. Swain scored at a slightly quicker pace than his partner, his 89 taking 222 balls, while Yashpal needed 163 deliveries for his 57. Medium-pacer Sony Cheruvathur, who made his first fifty yesterday, picked up 2 for 30 from 16 overs.Led by their openers, Vidarbha posted a strong reply to Andhra Pradesh‘s first innings total of 370, ending the day on 265 for 3 at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground in Nagpur, giving them a good chance of taking that all-important first-innings lead. Amit Paunikar and Akshay Kolhar, a pair of 22-year-olds, began the day by grinding down the bowlers in a 170-run opening stand that took 64.2 overs. Unfortunately for Vidarbha, they lost their wickets within four runs of each other. Paunikar was the first to go, falling to David Vijaykumar eleven short of a hundred, having faced 208 balls and struck 13 fours. Kolhar followed three overs later, caught behind off Venugopal Rao for 74. A third wicket, Alind Naidu, followed, but Amit Deshpande and Shalabh Shrivastava ensured there were no more hiccups before stumps.

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza is set to make his return from injury after being named in the preliminary squad for the tri-series at home featuring Sri Lanka and India next month

Cricinfo staff12-Dec-2009Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza is set to make his return from injury after being named in a preliminary squad for next month’s home tri-series featuring Sri Lanka and India. Mortaza, who picked up the injury in the West Indies, missed the home ODIs against Zimbabwe in October and November after failing to recover in time from a knee surgery. Shakib Al Hasan led the team in his absence.Opening batsman Tamim Iqbal was also included, following fears
that he may be ruled out due a fractured hand. He had injured his left hand while batting against Zimbabwe in an ODI in Chittagong on November 5 but continued playing despite medical advice not to.The squad also featured players who severed ties with the unofficial Indian Cricket League – batsman Aftab Ahmed, opener Shahriar Nafees and Alok Kapali.The original squad featured 26 players, but was subsequently reduced to 18. The final squad will be named on 31 December.Junaid Siddique, Mehrab Hossain jnr, Enamul Haque jnr, Sahagir Hossain, Dolar Mahmud, Robiul Islam, Dhiman Ghosh and Mahbubul Alam were the players dropped from the original squad of 26.Preliminary squad: Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (capt), Shakib Al Hasan (vice-captain), Mohammad Ashraful, Abdur Razzak, Shahadat Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Tamim Iqbal, Syed Rasel, Raqibul Hasan, Mahmudullah, Nazmul Hossain, Naeem Islam, Imrul Kayes, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Shahriar Nafees, Aftab Ahmed, Alok Kapali

Barishal, meanwhile, picked up their first win of the season after beating Dhaka Division

Mohammad Isam03-Dec-2024Rajshahi Division upset the champions Sylhet Division, beating them by 54 runs in the last round of the 2024-25 National Cricket League. The result ended Sylhet’s unbeaten run, which had paved the way for their maiden title.Batting first, Rajshahi were bowled out for 226, with Sabbir Hossain hitting his third first-class century. Sabbir and Habibur Rahman Sohan added 119 runs for the opening stand but Rajshahi collapsed thereafter. Fast bowler Sofor Ali took his maiden five-wicket haul while Tofael Ahmed took four wickets.Sylhet were then bowled out for 212 despite fifties from captain Amite Hasan and Pinak Ghosh. Amite reached 700 runs in the tournament in this innings. Left-arm spinner Nihaduzzaman took four wickets, while Shafiqul Islam, Asaduzzaman Payel and legspinner Wasi Siddiquee nabbed two each.Sofor, Tofael and Nabil Samad took three wickets each as Rajshahi were bowled out for 186 runs in their second innings. Amite struck his second fifty of the match but it wasn’t enough as Sylhet were bowled out for 146 runs in the fourth innings.Nihaduzzaman took 5 for 24, giving him career-best match figures of 9 for 85. It earned him the Player-of-the-Match award. Amite, meanwhile, was adjudged the Player of the Tournament for finishing on 785 runs, and leading Sylhet to the trophy.Dhaka Metropolis finished the competition in second place after they beat Chattogram Division by five wickets in Rajshahi.Batting first, Chattogram were bowled out for 160, with the left-arm spin pair of Rakibul Hasan and Arif Ahmed taking four wickets each.Aich Mollah then struck 57 as Dhaka Metro finished on 268, leading by 108 runs. Left-arm spinner Ashraful Islam Rohan took four wickets. Sajjadul Haque and Nayeem Hasan made fifties as Chattogram reached 246. Arif took five wickets while left-arm quick Abu Hider picked up four.Dhaka Metro then completed the fourth-innings chase of 141 runs in 29.5 overs.Sylhet captain Amite Hasan was named Player of the Tournament•BCB

Barishal Division picked up their first win of the season after beating Dhaka Division by 122 runs in Bogra.Batting first, Sohag Gazi and Fazle Mahmud made fifties to take Barishal to 289. Rony Talukdar then struck his 12th first-class hundred, to help Dhaka to 310 for 9. Barishal got bowled out for 241, taking their lead to 220 runs.Left-arm quick Ruyel Miah then took six wickets as Dhaka were bowled out for 98.Fast bowler Mehedi Hasan Rana took eleven wickets in the drawn match between Khulna Division and Rangpur Division in Khulna. It was only the second 10-wicket match haul of the season, while it was the first of Rana’s first-class career.He took 7 for 31 to help bowl out Rangpur for just 133, in reply to Khulna’s 244. Khulna then declared their second innings on 147 for 6, before Rangpur batted out the remaining 55 overs to finish on 242 for 7. Rana took four wickets in the second innings.

Moises Henriques has also been confirmed as the state’s all-format captain

AAP01-Sep-2023Shane Watson and Michael Bevan have been called in as coaching consultants to help turn around New South Wales’ on-field woes as the state attempts to rebound from its lowest ebb in 84 years.Winless in the Sheffield Shield last season for the first time since 1938-39, Cricket NSW unveiled a raft of changes and a back-to-the-future mantra on Friday morning.Included in those is Moises Henriques’ confirmation as an all-formats captain, taking over from Kurtis Patterson after he was dropped for the final round of the Shield last summer.Henriques has captained NSW on 20 occasions in the Sheffield Shield in the past, but this appointment marks his first full-time ascension to the role.Watson and Bevan will both take on jobs as consultants to coach Greg Shipperd, who himself was rushed into the top job midway through last summer after the axing of Phil Jaques.Bevan, who is NSW’s leading run-scorer in Sheffield Shield history, will act as a batting coach, while Watson will provide mentoring and mindset coaching for players.Former Test bowlers Stuart Clark and Geoff Lawson have also been appointed selectors, joining Shipperd, NSW performance boss Greg Mail and David Freedman on the panel.”No one at Cricket NSW was happy with what happened last season and we have now taken steps to turn things around, with the aim to build consistent success,” CEO Lee Germon said.”All of these guys come with extremely accomplished resumes and they have NSW cricket and the Blues in their DNA. That will bring a renewed edge to our structure and the playing group.”The program is now being led by Greg Mail and Greg Shipperd and the playing squad, led by Moises (Henriques), have knuckled down in the off-season and are determined to challenge for titles.”Now, by bringing in the collective experience and world-class skills of Michael Bevan and Shane Watson, we have added to our off-field support structure.”NSW have already made on-field moves to turn around their form with all Sheffield Shield fixtures to be played in Sydney this summer with three at the SCG and two at the state’s new base at Olympic Park.NSW also endured their worst women’s season in history last summer, finishing sixth after their run of 24 straight finals was ended in the previous campaign.

Head coach Powar says they will identify their Commonwealth Games XI on the Sri Lanka trip

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jun-2022The upcoming tour of Sri Lanka will be the “ideal platform” and the “right time” for the young quick bowlers to grab their “opportunities” in the absence of the experienced Jhulan Goswami and Shikha Pandey. Harmanpreet Kaur, India’s newly-appointed ODI captain, and head coach Ramesh Powar, laid out the plans for the team before departing for the Sri Lanka tour, as they look to fine-tune their plans for the Commonwealth Games starting next month and the T20 World Cup next year in South Africa.The omission of Goswami, Pandey and allrounder Sneh Rana were among the talking points when the squads were picked for the ODIs and T20Is in Sri Lanka. While Rana was “rested,” Powar explained, he also hinted that Goswami and Pandey had been dropped.While India’s spin attack includes experienced names like Deepti Sharma, Poonam Yadav and Rajeshwari Gayakwad apart from Radha Yadav (only for T20Is), the pace attack features Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh and allrounder Simran Bahadur.Related

• Where will Harmanpreet bat? And what is Deepti's role now?

• Rodrigues, spinners script comfortable win to put India 1-0 up

• Goswami not in squads for SL tour, Rodrigues back for T20Is

• Mithali Raj retires from international cricket

“I think if we talk about our bowling unit, this is the time they can take responsibility and this tour will be the ideal platform for them to perform,” Harmanpreet said at a virtual press conference on Saturday. “We will take the charge and bowl [their] full quota [of overs]. For me, it’s a great opportunity where you can build a good team. Sri Lanka is not going to be an easy tour for us. So, it’s important [to ensure that] whatever we are planning we go and deliver. That’s what as a unit we are looking forward to.”Powar further said this tour will open the doorway for further growth among youngsters.”When you move forward in a transition period, you need to give opportunities to young players to cement their places,” he said. “For that as a support staff, we need to go and give them support through NCA and skill coaches that they should concur in every situation. So, this is the right time for players to take their opportunity and do well going forward.”As far as pace bowling is concerned, you’ve seen from the Australia tour, we’ve introduced Renuka and Meghna, we introduced a few bowlers in the system as well. So, it will take a little time to see the results because they have to address their fitness and match experience.”As far as Jhulan and Shikha are concerned, I think they have done a fantastic job over the years and BCCI and selectors can update on their fitness and everything. As of now, Shikha and Jhulan are not travelling with us.”So, whichever bowlers are there – we are carrying four fast bowlers – you will see results from them. Pooja Vastrakar has been an outstanding bowler for the last six months. Moving forward, we will try and fast-track this fast bowling attack’s improvements.”Rana, he said, was given time off to stay “fresh” for the busy calendar ahead.”She’s been rested for this series, she’s in NCA,” Powar said. “She’s working on her fitness and moving forward. In the FTP we have 20-25 T20 games and some ODI series, so we want her to be fresh for those series. We are trying to manage workload of the bowling as well as the batting unit and are trying to balance it out”India will play without the experienced duo of Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami•Hindustan Times via Getty Images

This will be India’s first international assignment since the Women’s World Cup in March, where they bowed out in the group stages after a loss in the virtual quarter-final against South Africa.This will also be the first time in over two decades where the batting order will not feature Mithali Raj, who announced her retirement recently. Taking over the ODI captaincy too, Harmanpreet felt the leadership centralisation could aid clarity among the team members too.”I think things will be easier for me now because [when] two different captains were there, sometimes things were not easy because we both had different ideas,” she said. “But now the players will think clearly [and know] what I am demanding as a captain, and everybody can look forward to that. It’s easier for me to ask them what I’m expecting from them, so things will be much easier for me and my team-mates also.”With the Commonwealth Games around the corner and a T20 World Cup next year, Harmanpreet and Powar talked about assessing where the team stood right now and how they will approach the upcoming games.”In T20s we will definitely look to [play] our first combination, give them as many games as possible,” Harmanpreet said. “In the ODIs, we have a little time to prepare for the next World Cup [in 2025] and it is where we will see if we can give chance to each and everybody.”Powar said they will also freeze a combination of 11 on the Sri Lanka tour for the Commonwealth Games.”At this moment, we are trying to assess where we stand as a team and where we need to get at to beat all the teams in the ICC tournaments and in every series we play. This Sri Lanka tour will give us the opportunity to try a few players. We are trying to plan our next eight months according to the situations we have to face ahead. It is more of a planning phase right now and we will execute those plans once we go ahead in the series and tournaments.”To add to that, we will freeze down a combination of 11 which will take part in Commonwealth so that we are confident walking into the tournament. And the players will be confident that they are going to play in the first game.”India and Sri Lanka will play three T20Is in Dambulla on June 23, 25 and 27 followed by as many ODIs on July 1, 4 and 7.

The secret to the Indian bowlers’ success in the Border Gavaskar trophy is finally revealed

Shashank Kishore22-Jan-202130:34

Match Day: Looking back on Australia vs India, and all the ‘no-fear cricket’

R Ashwin coming on inside the first hour at MCG and bowling a middle-and-leg line. India attacking Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne with a leg gully. Jasprit Bumrah’s plan of bowling short and into the body to Joe Burns and Will Pucovski – all these were part of India’s comprehensive bowling plan for Australia, one that was formulated long before the details of the tour were worked out.This was revealed when B Arun, India’s bowling coach, threw light on the preparation done by the backroom staff, which was then put across to the captains – Virat Kohli and later Ajinkya Rahane – to implement during the Test series. In addition, they also took cue from New Zealand’s plans, particularly Neil Wagner’s short-ball strategy, against Smith during their 2019-20 series.”Ravi Shastri (head coach) called me sometime in July,” Arun said. “When we were discussing the Australia tour, he said that we need to take the off-side out of the Australians. So, we had our own analysis and felt that most of the runs that Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschange had scored was off the cut, pull and on the offside. We also took a cue out of the New Zealand attack when they bowled to Steven Smith, where they had attacked his body and he had felt very uncomfortable at that point in time.”India’s bowling coach B Arun says they devised the plan to attack Steven Smith on middle and leg stump in July 2019, well before the start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy•Getty Images

Between India’s previous tour in 2018-19 to the start of the series that just finished, 36% of deliveries faced by Australia’s right-handers were played to the leg side. In this series, however, that number jumped to 45%, a consequence of India’s steadfast middle-and-leg lines to complement their strong leg-side fields. But the true effect of it can be seen in another far more stat: 36 out of Australia’s 68 dismissals were either bowled, lbw or caught on the leg-side.It’s a tactic India tried to execute from as far back as January last year, during a three-ODI series in India. In the series-decider in Bengaluru, Mohammed Shami and Navdeep Saini were tasked with the challenge of attacking Smith’s body with a leg slip in place. For a batter part of that contest, Smith looked ungainly.He was beaten for pace while trying to get inside the line, and when he did eventually manage to take them on, the timing was elusive. While Smith went on to make a century there, it wasn’t high on the fluency charts. By the end of it, India’s think tank may have seen enough of the plan to believe they had something to work with going forward.”Ravi called and said, ‘I want you to make a plan where we eliminate the offside for the Australians.’ Then we sat and planned the whole thing,” Arun said. “We said we’re going to attack them with straighter lines and have on-side fields for batsmen. The thought process started in July and when we had discussion with Virat [Kohli], he bought into the theory. We employed it in Adelaide and Ajinkya [Rahane] was magnificent [in his use of the plan] in Melbourne onwards and the bowlers responded beautifully.”

Jones, who commentates around the world, has become the first woman appointed via one of the state associations

Daniel Brettig06-Nov-2019Mel Jones has been commissioned to walk the tightrope that ultimately proved too much for Mark Taylor, marrying broadcast commentary with a place on the Cricket Australia board as Cricket Victoria’s nominee for a director. It’s the first instance of a woman being appointed via one of the state associations.Joining Jacqui Hey and Michelle Tredenick as female CA directors, Jones will add a wealth of playing experience for Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and Surrey to the board, while also bringing further media savvy in addition to the guidance now provided by the former Foxtel chief executive Richard Freudenstein, who replaced Taylor as the Cricket NSW nominee earlier this year.Having played five Tests and 61 ODIs for Australia between 1997 and 2005, Jones went on to work in player management with TLA – a key partner of CA – before switching full-time to commentary in 2016, where she has worked with Nine, the ABC and on broadcasts for ICC events plus the IPL, PSL and CPL T20 tournaments. Last year Jones signed on with Fox Cricket as the subscription network became the major partner in CA’s six-year, A$1.2 billion broadcast deal that also features the free-to-air Seven network.When resigning from the board last year, amid the fallout from a cultural review into CA that led to the removal of the previous chairman David Peever, Taylor explained how difficult it was to work as both a commentator and a CA director, though he was able to hold the post from 2004 to 2018, with a brief break in 2012-13. Things became still more complex for Taylor when Nine lost the cricket rights to Fox and Seven, while he remained a pundit for his employer.”I sit in sometimes an interesting position as a former player, board director and also a broadcaster,” Taylor said. “It can be a very tricky position, and often very hard to get the balance right between saying too much or saying not enough. Balancing those positions is tough, and it takes it out of you.”Earl Eddings, the CA chairman, said Jones’ strong record as an advocate for women’s sport, including terms as a board director of Bowls Australia from 2014 to 2017, as a member of the Victorian State Government Women in Sport and Recreation Taskforce in 2014 and 2015 and a former board member and now ambassador for Red Dust, an organisation promoting health in indigenous communities, gave her a range of experiences and skills that the CA board required.”Mel has been an active and inspiring part of the cricket fabric for many years and we are privileged to have her join the board,” Eddings said. “Australian Cricket has been undergoing significant change over the past two years and I’ve no doubt Mel’s experience on and off the field will be an asset to the team as we move into our next phase.”Mel’s commitment to the game and her advocacy, particularly for women in sport, will only bolster our continued focus on advancing cricket to be the number one sport for women and girls. Her understanding of the pressures and privilege of play, in addition to the challenges and opportunities of administration are a welcome complement to an already-strong team. A trailblazer in cricket, it is only fitting that Mel is also the first female elected to the CA board as a state nominee.”Jones, who spent her first five years out of the international game as pathways, schools and female cricket development manager at Cricket Victoria, is also a qualified secondary school teacher, adding further to her potential insights for CA.”I’m excited to have this opportunity to work with the board to strengthen cricket’s bond with the community and ensure a healthy and sustainable future for the next generations,” Jones said. “I have much admiration for the work that has been undertaken over the past 18 months in particular, an incredibly challenging time for cricket, and testament to its place in the hearts of Australians.”