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Nikita Miller took his 26th five-wicket haul and nine wickets in the match as Jamaica completed a win inside three days against Trinidad & Tobago in the WICB Regional Four-Day Tournament to move up to second

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Mar-2017Nikita Miller’s five-wicket haul in the second innings, and match haul of 9 for 84 , bowled Jamaica to an 87-run win over Trinidad & Tobago at Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain and move to second place. In a low scoring match that had only four half-centuries, Jamaica made identical scores of 201 in both innings. T&T responded with 174 in their first innings, conceding a first-innings lead of 27, before being bowled out for 141, chasing 229.After being asked to bat, Jamaica were troubled by Sheldon Cottrell, who took three wickets upfront. They were lifted by contributions from Jermaine Blackwood (68), while Derval Green struck an important 53 at No. 10 that lifted them from 150 for 9. Legspinner Imran Khan, who scythed through the lower order, finished with 4 for 28.In response, Kyle Hope, the T&T captain, held firm with 67 opening the innings, but T&T lost wickets around him. Yannic Cariah partnered his captain for a fourth-wicket stand of 88, but T&T collapsed after the stand was broken, losing their last seven wickets for 37 runs. Miller took four wickets, while legspinner Damion Jacobs finished with three scalps.T&T were set 229 after Cottrell and Rayad Emrit snared six wickets between them in Jamaica’s second innings. They could have been chasing a lot lesser had it not been for contributions from the lower down. Fabian Allen led the way with 60, batting at No. 7, as Jamaica were lifted from 66 for 5.T&T lost Jeremy Solozano early in the chase, before a 51-run second-wicket partnership between Kyle Hope (35) and Isaiah Rajah (23) steadied them. However, T&T slid drastically thereafter, losing four wickets for eight runs as Jacobs and Miller strangled the middle order. Marlon Richards, who came in at 68 for 6, scored 47 off 42 balls. But Miller took out the lower order, taking his 26th five-wicket haul in the process. T&T eventually folded in the second session of the third day, bowled out for 141 in 43.5 overs.

Unbeaten centuries from Gauhar Ali and Iftikhar Ahmed crushed Karachi Whites and gave Peshawar the Regional One Day Cup in Karachi

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jan-2017
ScorecardFile photo: Iftikhar Ahmed, who last played for Pakistan in August 2016, followed a century with three wickets•PCB

Unbeaten centuries from Gauhar Ali and Iftikhar Ahmed crushed Karachi Whites and gave Peshawar the Regional One Day Cup at the National Stadium in Karachi. They joined hands at 45 for 2 in the 12th over and propelled Peshawar to 321 with an unbroken 276-run stand – the highest for any wicket this season.Facing a steep target, Karachi lost their openers within five overs, and although the middle order mounted a fight, they slumped to 197 all out. Iftikhar followed his career-best 131 not out with bowling figures of 3 for 12 in four overs. Gauhar and Iftikhar shared the Man-of-the-Match award.Having been sent in, Peshawar lost Musadiq Ahmed for 1 in the fifth over. Israrullah, who struck an unbeaten 153 against Karachi Blues in the semi-finals, fell in the 12th over. Gauhar and Iftikhar then took the side past 100 in the 23rd over. Soon after, both batsmen brought up their half-centuries, but it was Gauhar who reached three figures first, in the 41st over. Iftikhar got there four overs later as Peshawar seemed set for a hefty score. They kicked into a higher gear in the last five overs, taking 59 runs. Gauhar ended with 19 fours and one six, while Iftikhar ended with 13 fours and one six.Karachi Whites used as many as seven bowlers but they could not find a way past Gauhar and Iftikhar.That their openers departed early only accentuated their woes. Akbar-ur-Rehman, the Karachi captain, and Saad Ali added 59 for the third wicket, before Akbar was run-out for a 48-ball 45. Anwar Ali gave them hope by hitting a 46-ball fifty, but was bowled by Sajid Khan off the next ball.From 160 for 4 in the 31st over, Karachi were ultimately dismissed in 39.5 overs. Sajid and Taj Wali claimed two wickets each to complement Iftikhar’s part-time offbreaks.

Mushtaq Ahmed, Pakistan’s former legspinner and current National Cricket Academy head coach, has been roped in by the PCB as assistant coach (with a focus on bowling) for the four-Test series against England

Umar Farooq14-Jun-2016Mushtaq Ahmed, the former Pakistan legspinner and current National Cricket Academy head coach, has been roped in by the PCB as assistant coach, with a focus on bowling, for the four-Test series against England. He will be replaced by former allrounder Azhar Mahmood for the subsequent one-day and T20 series on the tour, while Australian Steve Rixon is likely to play the role of fielding coach, ESPNcricinfo understands. The appointments are yet to be announced formally.Pakistan visit England for four Tests in July and August this year, followed by five ODIs and a T20.Mushtaq had been a part of the Pakistan coaching staff and team management in various capacities since 2014. His coaching credentials are heavy on experience in England; he has worked with England as a spin-bowling consultant. He is presently working as head coach at the NCA in Lahore and will be released from those duties for the Test series. Mahmood has a playing contract with English county Surrey that ends in July. It is understood that the split in duties for Pakistan’s England tour with Mushtaq was conceived to allow Mahmood to complete his Surrey contract and then join the team; he has been offered a one-year contract with Pakistan following that.Rixon, a former Australia wicketkeeper, had been part of Pakistan’s new head coach Mickey Arthur’s coaching staff with Australia between 2011 and January 2014. During his tenure with Australia, he had been employed as fielding coach, spin-bowling coach and assistant coach at various times.The PCB had already extended the contracts of batting coach Grant Flower and trainer Grant Luden for the England tour, after they had already completed their two-year terms. Luden had been working as trainer-cum-fielding coach, but the PCB decided to hand him the specialist role of fitness trainer and get in Rixon as fielding coach on Arthur’s advice.

Sune Luus hopes the cricket world pushes the powers that be to organise more Tests for women

Annesha Ghosh09-Mar-20214:11

Jhulan Goswami – ‘When you’re coming back from a long lay-off you need to settle down’

Jhulan Goswami has welcomed the announcement of a Test match for India Women, likely during their tour of England in June-July, and thanked the BCCI for realising “that this format is also important for us”. The fixture will be India’s first in the format since November 2014, a period in which England and Australia have been the only teams to have played Test cricket in the women’s circuit.”Everyone is very excited. We played a Test match last, against South Africa in Mysore in 2014, and after six [seven] years we are going to play a Test against England,” Goswami said at a press conference on Tuesday after picking up 4 for 42 to lead India to a win in the second ODI against South Africa Women in Lucknow. “We are all excited because Test cricket or days’ match is one thing you, as a cricketer, wanted to play, wanted to go out there and perform well. It involves a lot of challenge – from your mental strength to your physical strength. The game changes every session.”Related

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• Partnerships and late-overs acceleration areas of concern for India's ODI side, admits Mithali Raj

• Sune Luus: Facing tall Jhulan Goswami's 'length of a man' not easy in the morning

The only active Indian player apart from Mithali Raj to have played ten or more Tests, Goswami was part of the team that defeated England by six wickets in the last contest between the two sides in the longest format, in August 2014.
“We are all looking forward [to it],” Goswami said. “Thanks to the BCCI they understood that this format is also important for us. I would like to thank them for taking it up, bringing Test cricket [back] for India.”Thirty-eight-year-old Goswami, one of the greats of the game, has 40 wickets from ten Test appearances to date, with three five-wicket innings hauls – including a best of 5 for 25 – and one ten-wicket match haul. She also has 283 runs in the format, scored at an average of 25.72.Sune Luus, South Africa’s captain in India in the injury-enforced absence of Dane van Niekerk, expressed her hope that the development would encourage other boards and the ICC to revive the format.”We would love to play Tests. Unfortunately, I wasn’t part of the Test series we played here [in 2014], but I know the team would love to have an opportunity to play more Tests,” Luus, whose career of over 150 international games has yet to feature a Test, said. “It’s obviously a real challenge, the kind of skills are being looked at.”The BCCI announcing that India will be playing a Test that will probably lead to more. If they will win it, it is successful. I think it’s a very good start. I hope the world sees it and the world pushes the ICC and those involved for the women’s game to have more Tests.”

The South Africa fast bowler has partnered with a United Nations initiative for the cause

Firdose Moonda07-Dec-20216:09

Ngidi: “Will do best I can to effect change”

On average, a woman is murdered in South Africa in the time it takes for a T20 match to be played. Over the course of an ODI, two women die. Those are numbers Lungi Ngidi finds hard to ignore.”A woman is killed every four hours in South Africa. That is unbelievable. Mentally, I can’t grasp it,” Ngidi said to ESPNcricinfo. “Just hearing things like that and knowing I have my own mother, cousins, sisters and female friends, it shocks me. It’s not something that you want to be sitting worrying about every day, so something needs to be done about it.”Ngidi’s remarks have come during the annual international campaign against gender-based violence, instituted by the United Nations, that takes place between November 25 and December 10, but he has been thinking about the impact of gender-based violence for months.”This is something that really took off during the lockdown period for me. We are always so busy, we don’t really get time to read up on the stuff that’s happening in the country, but during that period this was something that was highlighted and it stuck out like a sore thumb,” he said.Related

• Ngidi says South Africa must take BLM stand

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• Ngidi: 'Everyone being on same page puts us in a good position'

Many countries reported an increase in domestic abuse during the hard lockdowns of 2020. South Africa confirmed more than 120,000 cases in the first 21-day shutdown. Police figures say 53,293 sexual offences were reported in 2019-20 in the country, an average of 146 per day, up from 52,420 in 2018-19 (143 per day). Most of these were cases of rape: the police recorded 42,289 rapes in 2019-20, nearly 116 per day, up from 41,583 in 2018-19.”I felt that in some way I could contribute and I could make some sort of difference,” Ngidi said. “The main thing is trying to make sure it’s no longer just lip service and that there’s actually something being done. And those who have the power to actually make sure are being held accountable.”Ngidi will be partnering with the United Nations Women for Change programme and the Uyinene Mrwetyana Foundation, set up in memory of the 19-year-old student of that name who was sexually assaulted and murdered in Cape Town in August 2019, sparking nation-wide protests against the abuse of women.Mrwetyana was also honoured by Springbok rugby player Makazole Mapimpi, who wore a wristband with her name on it at the 2019 rugby World Cup. “With Mapimpi, the tribute to Uyinene was a massive statement because it happened on a stage like that,” Ngidi said. “This is why I believe sport has the ability to effect change. Just that little gesture brought a lot of attention and some people who didn’t know [now] know what happened.”Protest in sport against social discrimination has become common over the last 18 months, since the murder of George Floyd and the rise of the antiracism movement. In South Africa it was Ngidi who sparked a dialogue with the Black Lives Matter movement when he answered a question at a press engagement last July, shortly after England and West Indies became the first international teams to take a knee.”As a nation, we have a past that is very difficult, with racial discrimination, so it’s definitely something we will be addressing as a team, and if we are not, it’s something I will bring up. It’s something that we need to take very seriously, and like the rest of the world is doing, make the stand,” he said at the time.It has taken the South African men’s team 15 months and a board-mandated instruction to reach the point where they are collectively making the gesture. Through that period, Ngidi has been one of the players who has been steadfast in taking the knee on every occasion he could, and in speaking out about injustice.”The way I was raised is to speak about something if it’s not right,” he said. “I believe I have the responsibility as someone who plays for the national team. As someone who can influence change, I feel it’s one of my responsibilities to say something.”It’s not like I am out here looking for attention or trying to rally other people to do what I believe in, but this is what I believe in and I can see there’s other people affected by this as well. I will do as best as I can to try and effect some change.”Ngidi’s work against gender-based violence will focus on education and support for those who are abused, and for the perpetrators of that abuse, he said. “Fundraising is important but the main objective is to start seeing a difference in terms of what is actually being done instead of just financial donations. To actually physically do stuff is the most important.”South Africa’s statistics of violence against women are a consequence perhaps of the overarching environment of toxic masculinity in the country. Ngidi said he “could never explain” why crimes against women take place but that he wants to understand and prevent them from happening as frequently.

England are set to be without their leading wicket-taker, James Anderson, for the first Test against India next month.

George Dobell in Chittagong19-Oct-2016England will be without their leading wicket-taker, James Anderson, for the first Test against India next month.Anderson has already been ruled out of the tour to Bangladesh due to a stress fracture in his left shoulder and now England captain, Alastair Cook, has revealed he will not be ready for the opening match in Rajkot which starts on November 9.”He won’t be ready for the first Test match,” Cook said ahead of the opening Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong. “He might be ready to do some training, but he won’t be ready for the first Test. A decision will be made on when he comes out over the next week or so.”With little more than a week between the end of the Bangladesh series and the start of the one in India, England had planned for Anderson to join the squad in Bangladesh. That decision will now be reviewed, with Cook non-committal about when Anderson could return.”I spoke to him last night and he is training well and in good shape physically,” Cook said. “But he hasn’t yet bowled and that has been the problem in the past. However physically well he’s been in the rest of his body, it’s when he starts bowling [that the problem occurs].”While Anderson’s long-term injury record is excellent – he did not miss a Test through injury from 2011 (he was rested from the dead-rubber Test against West Indies at Edgbaston in 2012) to the middle of 2015 – there will be a concern that, aged 34 and with 119 Tests behind him, the miles on the clock are starting to show.Even before the first Test in India, Anderson will have missed six of England’s most recent 18 Tests in less than 18-months (two against Australia with a side strain, two against Bangladesh with this shoulder problem and one each against Pakistan – also shoulder related – and South Africa with a calf strain). It was also noticeable in South Africa that it took him a little longer to regain full pace than had been the case previously.England would still dearly love to have him available in India. He was described as “the difference between the sides” by MS Dhoni after England won in India in 2012 and showed in the UAE a year ago – when he averaged 15.61 and conceded 1.87 runs per over – that he retains the skills and control to be an asset to his side whatever the conditions.But they will not risk rushing him back. While the selectors were criticised in some quarters for delaying Anderson’s return in the Pakistan series, it now seems he returned a little early: he first felt pain from the shoulder during the Sri Lanka series.

India’s No. 3 backs the wicketkeeper batsman to keep playing his natural attacking game

Varun Shetty07-Feb-20212:46

Gambhir: Would never want Pant to change

Cheteshwar Pujara is enjoying his budding new partnership with Rishabh Pant. The two batsmen have made timely interventions for India in three consecutive Tests so far, the latest coming on day three of the Chennai Test. Pant joined Pujara when the hosts fell to 73 for 4, 505 behind England, and put up a 119-run stand powered by Pant’s decisive six-hitting against Jack Leach.Pujara said batting alongside Pant almost makes batting easier. “It does. When a batter is going after the bowlers from one end and I’m around, I can always have a chat. There’s a good left and right combination which also frustrates the bowlers.”[…] the way Rishabh bats, especially against spinners, I think he likes to take them on and that’s the way he will go about it. It’s been a crucial partnership for us and I hope it continues, I love batting with him. And if I can be of any help and I can just speak to him – what are the shots he can play and what to avoid at times. I’m really happy overall with the way he’s playing. He still has to learn a few more things – he still has to put the team in a commanding position because he is capable of that and he’s missing out on hundreds. I’m sure that he will learn from this. It’s good that he’s in form,” Pujara said.Their 119-run stand came off just 145 balls as Pant took a liking to Leach, who had gone for 59 off six overs at one point. Pujara also benefited from this assault, picking some boundaries up himself as India kept a decent scoring rate through their innings. That was until an attempted pull from Pujara off a Dom Bess half-tracker ricocheted to midwicket off Ollie Pope’s shoulder at short leg.On the day, it was one of four wickets that India lost playing an attacking shot, but Pujara said there wasn’t really a plan to be aggressive.’It’s been a crucial partnership for us and I hope it continues’ – Pujara on him and Pant batting together•BCCI

“It wasn’t part of the game plan. […] when we’re playing in India, the scoring rate is always on the higher side. And we were getting loose balls. And Rishabh always bats the way he bats. He likes to take the bowlers on. So he just wanted to bat in a natural way, which is fair I think. That’s his game and that’s the way he should play.”I think we could have still batted a bit better. There were some soft dismissals which didn’t go in our favour, like the way I got out, the way Jinks [Ajinkya Rahane] got out. I felt that those wickets were crucial for us. At the same time, we are still very confident because Ash [R Ashwin] and Washington [Sundar] are batting really well. We’ll just have to move on from here and tomorrow I think will be the most crucial day for us.”India finished the day on 257 for 6, still 122 away from avoiding the follow-on. But in Pujara’s view, this is still a good batting surface, albeit one that has begun to take some turn. He said India had expected a little more assistance for their bowlers on the first two days, but have moved on from that and believe they are still very much alive in the Test match.”When we spoke before this series started – what happened in Australia, whether we were able to achieve our goals as a batting unit – we felt we were able to achieve our goals. And same thing applies here,” Pujara said as part of a response to a question about how Bess’ bowling compared to Ashwin’s. “This is the first innings which has just started, and we are still in a decent position. I would still say the way Ashwin and Washi are batting, we can put up a decent total. So we want to achieve our goals as a batting unit rather than focusing on what the opposition is doing.”

A round-up of all the news coming out of the IPL, on April 13, 2016

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Apr-2016Ashish Nehra will miss Sunrisers Hyderabad’s next two matches, against Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians at home, due to a groin injury. Nehra picked up the knock during Sunrisers’ 45-run defeat to Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday, hobbling off the field after just 2.1 overs in the first innings.”Nehra has hurt his groin. He will be out for a couple of games,” David Warner, Sunrisers’ captain, said after the game. “We have to look back and look at positives and turn it around. We have a good batting track at Hyderabad. We should not lose wickets in clumps.”When you look at the outcome of the game, it really hurts when the bowler goes down. You have to reassess you plans and when two batsmen are going hard here, it’s very difficult to stop them. One bowler going down really hurts and you plans are thrown off the track.”Nehra was one of India’s standout performers at the recently-concluded World T20, picking up five wickets from five matches at an impressive economy-rate of 5.94.‘I regret retiring’ – HoggChinaman bowler Brad Hogg has said he regrets having given up international cricket in 2008, just when it looked like he might have a good run in Test cricket given Shane Warne’s first-class career was at an end then. Hogg gave up ODIs and Tests in February 2008 soon after his 37th birthday due to issues on the personal front, before making a T20I comeback in early 2012 at 40.”I do regret retiring back in 2008. I had a Test berth for Australia at that stage but I had some personal issues with family and yes, I retired there,” Hogg was quoted as saying by PTI, on the eve of Kolkata Knight Riders’ game against Mumbai Indians. “I wish I didn’t, because the marriage did not survive. Luckily it did not, because I met a new partner and she’s someone who supports me. There’s talk about me when I’m going to stop and she just says play as long as you possibly can. We’re going to try get there to fifty.”Hogg said he still looks forward to playing every game, and that keeps him going at 45. “I think it’s just having the passion of wanting to play. Everyone knows I retired in 2008, had about two-three years out of the game. To have an opportunity [to do] what you love, I don’t take it for granted. I just love it, I still have the passion of a five-year-old kid, when I first had that dream of playing for Australia. The game has changed, it has evolved. It has given a new lease of life to cricket and it has given a new lease of life to me.”Kings XI co-owner keen to help out drought victims
Ness Wadia, one of the co-owners of Kings XI Punjab, has said he is willing to shift his franchise’s matches out of Maharashtra, given the drought issues in the state. He also said he was willing to help out those affected by the drought, if directed how to.”IPL is about enjoyment and fun. But where’s the fun when there’s death and malnutrition and basic facilities like water are unavailable? The IPL is important in its own way, but the matches can always be shifted,” Wadia told the . “If we’re told in whichever way we can contribute, we’re willing to participate. Whether it’s contributing to the chief minister’s fund or adopting villages in the region or anything else that would help us do something to help.”The case relating to holding IPL games – which require large amounts of water to maintain the grounds, etc – in the drought-hit Indian state is ongoing in the Bombay High Court, with the court yet to make a final ruling.

Captain adamant move will mark start of a year “all about action” to improve diversity, inclusion

George Dobell01-Jun-2021Joe Root has confirmed that both teams will “be taking a moment of unity” ahead of the first LV=Insurance Test between England and New Zealand as part of a wider commitment to combat issues around inclusion within the game.Root, the England captain, acknowledged that “sport and society” had faced some “ugly truths” over the last year around the issues of inclusion and diversity and resolved to “make a difference and keep bettering our sport.”That ‘moment of unity’ ahead of the Lord’s Test is likely to be similar to the one that preceded the first rounds of County Championship games in April and Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy matches in May, when players, support staff and match officials stood in silence on the boundary edge for two minutes. Last year, in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, the entire England and West Indies squads took a knee ahead of each match of their three-Test series. England and Ireland’s limited-overs squad also took a knee ahead of their ODI series in July.The game was also rocked by a series of allegations from non-white players – notably Michael Carberry and Azeem Rafiq – which have precipitated a period of soul-searching and the introduction of various initiatives – including mandatory education programmes, a confidential helpline and a code of conduct – which have been designed to improve the game’s record at attracting more diversity in terms of players and spectators.Related

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• Azeem Rafiq raises doubts over 'evidence being ignored' in Yorkshire racism investigation

• Michael Carberry: 'Black people are not important to the structure of English cricket'

• New Zealand take aim at depleted England on Lord's return

• Stuart Broad named England's vice-captain in Ben Stokes' absence

Root is adamant the ‘moment of unity’ will be no empty gesture and instead the start of a year that “is all about action”. To that end, he revealed that England’s players will be “working with hopefully three projects” over the summer. The details of those projects has not yet been confirmed, though an ECB spokesperson said they would “cover diverse, hard to reach and under-represented communities with a good geographical spread aimed at all ages”.”We will be taking a moment of unity at the start of the game,” Root said. “New Zealand will also be doing that. They are happy to work alongside us and support us in that.”We know the start of last summer unearthed some ugly truths in society and in our sport. We have spent a lot of time talking about how we can better our game and how we can educate ourselves more. We have worked with the PCA and the ECB in trying to find ways of doing that and have done some workshops recently to try and make ourselves a bit more comfortable dealing with those issues.”Throughout this summer, we will be looking at working with hopefully three projects where we can take the game to more diverse areas around the country where we can continue to look to grow the game and offer our help and support in doing that.”We have spent a lot of time talking about this sort of thing, but this year is all about action. It’s about actually doing something about it.”It has taken time. We wanted to make it really clear about how we are going to make a difference and keep bettering our sport.”Hopefully this year we can really start to make a difference and keep that conversation current. We can make our game more diverse and make sure it is the game for everyone. We [must] do as much as we can in that regard to grow the game and make everyone feel comfortable playing cricket.”

BCCI president had a mild fever on Sunday, and got the positive report on Monday evening

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Dec-2021Sourav Ganguly is “stable” after testing positive for Covid-19 and being admitted to Kolkata’s Woodlands Hospital. He had a mild fever on Sunday, and was tested for the virus soon after. Following the emergence of a positive report, on Monday evening, he checked into the hospital at night.”He received Monoclonal Antibody Cocktail therapy on the same night and is currently haemodynamically stable,” Dr Rupali Basu, MD & CEO of the hospital, said in a statement. “A medical board comprising Dr Saroj Mondal, Dr Saptarshi Basu and Dr Soutik Panda in consultation with Dr Devi Shetty and Dr Aftab Khan is keeping a close watch on his health status.”It was earlier learnt from family sources that while there is no cause for alarm, 49-year-old Ganguly was advised by medical experts to avoid isolating at home and, instead, get admitted to the hospital, possibly because of some pre-existing health conditions. According to a PTI report, he has been administered both doses of the vaccine against Covid-19.In January this year, the BCCI president – and former India captain – had to be hospitalised twice in quick succession after complaining of “chest discomfort”. He was initially admitted to Woodlands Hospital for what was described as a heart attack by doctors. He underwent angioplasty at the time, and was believed to have recovered.But, later that month, he had to undergo another angioplasty, this time at the city’s Apollo Gleneagles Hospital, and doctors confirmed afterwards that two stents had been placed.