South Africa had some nervy moments beating Afghanistan and also suffered an injury scare to their captain

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Nov-20231:45

The importance of van der Dussen

—Fixtures | Squads | Points table | Tournament Index

Top Story: van der Dussen and Phehlukwayo seal nervy chase for South Africa

A 62-ball partnership of 65 between Rassie van der Dussen and Andile Phehlukwayo shepherded South Africa to a win against Afghanistan in their last league-stage game of the 2023 ODI World Cup, ensuring they didn’t stutter in a tricky chase before their semi-final against Australia.Phehlukwayo came in as the No. 7 with South Africa needing 63 but with Afghanistan’s spinners then possessing the game’s momentum. Phehlukwayo finished the game with 6, 4, 6 to finish unbeaten on 39 while van der Dussen controlled the chase with his 95-ball 76*.Rassie van der Dussen held the chase together•AFP/Getty Images

In the afternoon, Gerald Coetzee (4-44) and Keshav Maharaj (2-25) had ensured Afghanistan could only make 244 in 50 overs. In fact, the target could’ve been much less had it not been for Azmatullah Omarzai’s unbeaten 97 that expertly held the crumbling Afghanistan innings together.Click here for the full report

News headlines

• South Africa’s captain Temba Bavuma could be a doubt for their semi-final against Australia – more than likely to be in Kolkata on Thursday – after sustaining a hamstring injury during their final league match against Afghanistan in Ahmedabad.
• Allan Donald is ending his time as Bangladesh’s fast-bowling coach after their World Cup campaign. He informed ESPNcricinfo that he had initially agreed to a one-year extension to his contract, but has since realised that he wants to give more time to his family back home.

Must Watch: Did Temba Bavuma take a risk too many?

1:35

Should injured Bavuma have continued playing?

Match previews

Australia vs Bangladesh, Pune (10.30 IST; 5.00 GMT; 4.00pm AEDT)3:01

Vettori: Zampa’s control of length makes him ‘almost unplayable’

Before Glenn Maxwell unleashed the most surreal batting imaginable, Australia appeared headed for a hefty defeat against Afghanistan and almost getting into must-win territory against Bangladesh. That nervy scenario was alleviated by Maxwell, who powered Australia into a semi-final against South Africa. But Australia won’t be treating this as a dead rubber and will field their strongest available line-up for the clash in Pune.Even though Australia have won six consecutive matches, after such a rocky start, their form has been patchy at times. They’ve been relying on individual brilliance – none more so than Maxwell’s tour de force – rather than a collective.Full previewTeam newsAustralia (probable): 1 David Warner, 2 Travis Head, 3 Mitchell Marsh, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Josh Inglis (wk), 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Marcus Stoinis/Marnus Labuschagne, 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh HazlewoodBangladesh 1 Litton Das, 2 Tanzid Hasan/Anamul Haque, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Mahmudullah, 6 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 7 Nasum Ahmed/Mahedi Hasan, 8 Towhid Hridoy, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Shoriful IslamEngland vs Pakistan, Kolkata (2pm IST; 8.30am GMT; 7.30pm AEDT)4:26

Harmison: Even if some England careers finish, they have been absolutely outstanding

So here we are: one last time in the group stages at Eden Gardens, and for both of these sides – almost certainly – one last time at this World Cup. As title defences go, it was an all-timer of a disaster for England, comparable not just with other cricketing fizzle-fests, but perhaps all sport: think France at the FIFA World Cup in 2002, or Lleyton Hewitt’s first-round exit at Wimbledon the year later. England went nearly a month between their only two World Cup wins, with six defeats – many of them pastings – littering their campaign, one so poor it could yet knock them out of the 2025 Champions Trophy.Against Pakistan, though, they have the chance to sign off a wretched tournament on something resembling a high. Several of this England squad may not wear an ODI shirt again – certainly not in a World Cup – and it’s perhaps fitting that the last side they play against before their likely break-up is Pakistan.Full previewTeam newsEngland 1 Jonny Bairstow, 2 Dawid Malan, 3 Joe Root, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Jos Buttler (capt/wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 David Willey, 10 Gus Atkinson, 11 Adil RashidPakistan 1 Abdullah Shafique, 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Babar Azam (capt), 4 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 5 Saud Shakeel, 6 Iftikhar Ahmed, 7 Agha Salman, 8 Hasan Ali, 9 Mohammad Wasim Jnr, 10 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 11 Haris Rauf

Comment: England’s golden generation faces the end of an era

It is the end of an era. England will lose their status as reigning champions in both men’s white-ball formats next Sunday, and the golden generation of players who underpinned their unprecedented limited-overs success will splinter. Saturday’s fixture against Pakistan in Kolkata will be the final match of several storied ODI careers.David Willey has already announced his international retirement, and while there is no incentive for others to follow suit – they all have central contracts which run until September 2024 or beyond – there is widespread recognition that England need to rejuvenate. After all, 11 of their 15-man squad are aged 30 or older.Read the full piece by Matt Roller in Kolkata

IPL franchises, private equity firms and sovereign wealth funds among bodies consulted for tournament’s future

Matt Roller05-Dec-2023The ECB have consulted with owners of IPL franchises, private equity firms and sovereign wealth funds on the prospect of investment in the Hundred, and want counties to reach a decision on its future in the early months of the 2024 season.The Hundred’s existing model features eight clubs which field both men’s and women’s teams and are owned entirely by the ECB. These clubs have been run by boards comprising county representatives and independent directors in the tournament’s first three seasons.But the ECB and counties have discussed the model extensively since the end of the 2023 season and are in the second phase of a three-part consultation period, in the hope of reaching a decision in April 2024. This would allow them time to implement changes for the 2025 edition of the tournament.As things stand, the ECB’s preferred option is to open the tournament up to private investors, seeing the Hundred as an opportunity to bring money into the English game. The specifics of the model remain up for discussion, with one possibility involving the addition of two new teams – most likely based in the south-west and north-east.The most likely outcomes both involve the ECB handing 50% equity stakes in Hundred teams – which would become franchises – to their primary host counties. Surrey, for example, would be given a 50% stake in Oval Invincibles, while MCC, who own Lord’s, would be provided a 50% stake in London Spirit.Guy Lavender and Bruce Carnegie-Brown, MCC’s chief executive and chair, told members in a meeting on Monday evening that the ECB has been speaking to a wide range of potential sources of capital including IPL franchise owners, private equity firms and sovereign wealth funds.That raises the prospect of investment in the Hundred from the Middle East, potentially from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) or the various state-owned funds in the United Arab Emirates. MCC also encouraged members to consider which potential investors they would feel comfortable with the club being in partnership with.Lavender told ESPNcricinfo in a statement: “The purpose of the Members’ informal meeting was to socialise some of the issues with the membership regarding the future direction of The Hundred, including developing thinking and engaging them with the information available at this time.Related

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“At present, nothing has been proposed or decided and it is premature to land on any particular conclusions until the ECB consultation and decision-making process involving the whole game has been completed, as well as our own consultation with Members.”Discussions at ECB level have also raised the prospect of an 18-team ‘open pyramid’ structure which would see the addition of a second division of the Hundred with promotion and relegation. This model would also involve clubs being opened up to private investment, though appears to have lost some of its initial support.Another option discussed by the ECB and counties was to open the Hundred itself up to private investment, rather than the teams, following reports a year ago of a £400 million bid for a 75% stake from a British private investment firm. However, this is not among the preferred options as things stand.Despite extensive speculation over its future since Richard Gould and Richard Thompson took over as chief executive and chair at the ECB, the Hundred will continue in some form for at least five more years and is underpinned by Sky Sports’ broadcast deal with the governing body.There is also widespread agreement across the English game that salaries in the Hundred will need to increase if it is to attract the world’s best players. The Hundred’s top male earners in 2023 were paid around 15% less than their equivalents in the Indian-backed Major League Cricket, despite the Hundred lasting nine days longer.Andy Anson, Lancashire’s chair, proposed a change from the 100-ball format to T20 last week, but such a shift appears unlikely at this stage. Gould said earlier this year: “The format is not something that is on my agenda… it’s given us that point of difference. Everyone around the world, in the cricketing world, has heard of the Hundred.”The Hundred’s model is relatively unusual on a global scale and is most similar to Australia’s Big Bash League, where teams are run by state boards. That stands in contrast to most other major T20 leagues, such as the IPL, where teams were set up as franchises owned by private investors or their companies.It is understood that any change to the Hundred’s model would require a three-quarters majority amongst the 18 first-class counties and MCC, and proposals remain at a relatively early stage.

The Afghanistan spinner, who played a starring role in Renegades’ only win so far this BBL season, was sanctioned by the ACB over contract issues last month

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jan-2024Mujeeb Ur Rahman has been left out of Melbourne Renegades’ next BBL game against Melbourne Stars on Tuesday after a “change to his No-Objection Certificate (NOC) conditions”.Mujeeb, along with fast bowlers Naveen-ul-Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqi, had been sanctioned by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) after expressing a desire to be left out of the central contracts list for 2024. The sanctions included no NOCs for the trio to play T20 leagues for the next two years and a revoking of any NOC they currently possess.Renegades had previously said in a statement that they had “received no communication that Mujeeb’s availability for the BBL could change from original plans” and “the club will continue to support him for the rest of the BBL season”. Today, a fresh statement was issued, saying: “Mujeeb Ur Rahman has been removed from the squad after a change to his NOC conditions made him unavailable for the match.”Related

• Naveen-ul-Haq to feature in SA20 after Afghanistan board relaxes sanctions

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• ACB sanctions Mujeeb, Naveen, Farooqi for wanting to opt out of national contract

• Farooqi, Naveen in Afghanistan squad after 'demonstrating strong desire to represent country'

• Mujeeb and Fraser-McGurk lead Renegades to their first win of the season

Naveen and Farooqi have since approached the ACB and, as per the board, “demonstrated a strong desire to represent their country again”. The pair were subsequently named in Afghanistan’s 18-member squad for the ongoing T20I series against UAE, but there was no place for Mujeeb.Mujeeb played a starring role in Renegades’ first and only win of this BBL season, picking up 3 for 20 against Adelaide Strikers on December 29. He last turned out for Afghanistan in the ODI World Cup.Afghanistan are currently involved in a three-match T20I series in the UAE. They won the first T20I convincingly but lost the second by 11 runs. The third and final match of the series will be played on Tuesday.

“As a bowler, what I think is that it keeps me in play. And if they’re going for it, playing so fast, they won’t tire me out”

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jan-2024Jasprit Bumrah’s barometer for success will always remain his performances with the red ball because “Test cricket is king.” The 32-Test veteran is the most experienced member of India’s pace pack that will line-up for the first of five Tests against England in Hyderabad starting January 25. If he takes the field, which he should, it’ll be only his fifth home Test.”I am of that generation where Test cricket is king,” Bumrah told . “I will always judge myself on it. Yes, I started with IPL, but I learned to bowl through first-class cricket; that’s where I developed my skill, the art of taking wickets. In Test cricket you have to get the batsman out and that challenges you as a bowler.”The upcoming series will be Bumrah’s second full series since returning from a stress fracture that had him sidelined for over a year. He picked up 12 wickets in the two Tests in South Africa, including a match-winning 6 for 61 in Cape Town that helped India level the series at 1-1.Related

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• Kohli to skip first two Tests against England for 'personal reasons'

On surfaces lately expected to favour spin, Bumrah may not have too much assistance from the surface. The last time England toured (in February-March 2021), he played in just two of the four Tests and bowled just 48 overs. Only time will tell how much of a workload he’ll have this time around, but it’s a challenge he’s ready to embrace again.”T20s, ODIs, some days you might send down five slower balls and get five guys out, when in a Test match they wouldn’t have taken one,” he explained. “There is no luck in Test cricket, the better team wins, you cannot take 20 wickets through luck. I was never happy with just white-ball cricket and Test cricket is still the utmost format for me.”Bumrah was at the receiving end of England’s new ultra-aggressive approach to Test match batting the last time he played them, in Birmingham in July 2022, a game where he also captained India. The Test is remembered for several reasons, not least because Bumrah carved a small batting record, when he hit Stuart Broad for 29 in a 35-run over.With the ball, however, India stuttered as they failed to defend 378 with Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root ‘bazballing’ their way to hundreds in an unbroken 269-run stand to seal victory that crushed India’s hopes of a first Test series win in England since 2007.Asked for his thoughts on the approach, Bumrah said ‘Bazball’ is something he “doesn’t really relate to” but it is something he’s excited about because it keeps bowlers like him in the game and in with a chance at all times.”I don’t really relate to the term Bazball,” he said. “But they are playing successful cricket and the aggressive route of taking the opposition on, showing the world there’s another way to play Test cricket.”As a bowler, what I think is that it keeps me in play. And if they’re going for it, playing so fast, they won’t tire me out, I could get heaps [of wickets]. I always think about how I can use things to my advantage. Kudos to them but, as a bowler, you’re in the game.”

The match at Junction Oval in Melbourne is effectively a play-off to decide who will face Tasmania in the final

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Mar-2024Allrounder Aaron Hardie has been passed fit for Western Australia’s vital Sheffield Shield clash against Victoria in Melbourne from Monday where the winner will face Tasmania in the final.Hardie has been sidelined since facing Tasmania in Hobart in mid-February where he suffered a minor calf injury. He had been due to join Australia’s T20I squad in New Zealand.Related

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• Wade to miss start of IPL in order to play Sheffield Shield final

Ashton Agar has also been included in WA’s squad as they cover all bases for the conditions they could face at Junction Oval. If Agar plays it would be his first first-class match since the SCG Test against South Africa early last year.He has been overtaken in WA’s red-ball pecking order by offspinner Corey Rocchiccioli who has been one of their standout bowlers this season with 37 wickets at 30.21.Agar has also slipped down Australia’s white-ball hierarchy having been ruled out of the ODI World Cup through injury. He has not played an international since the tour of South Africa in early September where he suffered a recurrence of a calf problem. He may yet come back into contention for the T20 World Cup.Victoria have been boosted by the availability of Scott Boland with the fast bowler released from Australia’s Test squad in New Zealand. Boland has made five appearances for Victoria this season between reserve duty with the national side and having his workload managed, taking 26 wickets at 16.50.There remains a slim chance that WA could still host the Shield final in Perth if Tasmania lose to South Australia and don’t gain 0.14 more first-innings bonus points than them.In the Sheffield Shield teams get six points for an outright win, one point for a draw, plus 0.01 of a bonus point for every run over 200 they score during the first 100 overs of their first innings (ie: 350 after 100 overs nets you 1.5 bonus points) and 0.1 of a bonus point for every wicket a team takes during the first 100 overs of their opponent’s first innings (ie: 10 wickets before 100 first-innings overs elapses nets you 1 point).If Victoria-Western Australia finished in a draw there is an outside possibility of New South Wales sneaking into the final although they would need a huge amount of bonus points against Queensland.

His 3 for 57 helps hosts to maximum bowling points before Sean Dickson 70* puts pitch in perspective

ECB Reporters Network19-Apr-2024Craig Overton signalled his return to form and fitness following winter back surgery as Somerset bowled out Nottinghamshire for 193 on the opening day of the Vitality County Championship First Division clash at Taunton.The England allrounder claimed 3 for 57 from 18 impressive overs to help the hosts to maximum bowling points after losing the toss. Only Matt Montgomery (48) and Joe Clarke (39) could offer significant resistance on a bright, blustery day.There were two wickets each for Lewis Gregory and Migael Pretorius. By the close, Somerset had replied with 116 for 1, Sean Dickson (70 not out) and Matt Renshaw (34) having produced an opening stand of 111.The match began with a brief and somewhat strange innings from Haseeb Hameed, who aimed an extravagant cover drive at the first ball, a wide one from Overton, without making contact, left the second and then dragged the third delivery onto his stumps with a repeat of his first shot.Ben Slater and Will Young were more circumspect in taking the total 49, although Overton deserved better than 1 for 13 from his opening spell, going past the outside edge on numerous occasions.Gregory has enjoyed an excellent start to the season after being appointed Somerset’s red-ball captain and he struck twice in the morning session just when the two Notts players were starting to look set.Slater, on 25, nibbled at a seaming delivery on off stump to edge through to wicketkeeper James Rew, while Young was pinned lbw on the back foot for 27 with the total on 52.Clarke and Montgomery saw Notts through to lunch, taking the score to 72 for 3 on a pitch offering true bounce and some seam movement, which looked as if it would aid good batting and bowling.It was the latter, backed up by excellent fielding, which held sway in the afternoon session. But first Clarke and Montgomery batted confidently, taking their fourth-wicket stand to 66 in 21 overs before Clarke got a leading edge to a leg-side delivery from England off-spinner Shoaib Bashir and was caught at mid-wicket. It proved a turning point as wickets fell steadily from then on.With the total on 139, Jack Haynes was caught behind pushing forward to Josh Davey and departed for 5. Fourteen runs were added before Montgomery, who had faced 84 balls and hit 6 fours, fell to a catch at second slip off Overton, who was again bowling well having switched to the Marcus Trescothick Pavilion End.Two balls later the tall seamer, who missed Somerset’s opening Championship game to complete rehab after surgery and looked somewhat rusty in the second at The Oval, struck again as Calvin Harrison edged to Gregory at first slip.Suddenly Notts were 153 for seven and in a deep hole. Although Lyndon James and Brett Hutton added 30, there was no to be no major recovery.James fell for 18, lbw to a full-length delivery from South African seamer Pretorius, for whom it was a first wicket at Taunton since signing for Somerset. Hutton had moved to 20 when sent back seeking to push a single into the off-side and being run out by a brilliant direct hit by Lewis Goldsworthy running round from point.Pretorius picked up a second wicket when Luke Fletcher nicked a catch to Rew and Notts had been bowled out inside 63 overs. Tea was taken before Somerset’s reply began in bright sunshine.Soon Renshaw and Dickson were putting the pitch in perspective, compiling a century opening stand in 28.2 overs with barely a false shot, despite some probing bowling from Fletcher, who conceded only 11 runs from his first nine overs, bowled in two spells, one from either end.Dickson led the way with some sweetly-timed shots, including two swashbuckling strokes through point off James to bring up the fifty partnership. A single off leg-spinner Harrison took him to his first Championship half-century at the Cooper Associates County Ground, off 68 balls, with nine fours.Left-hander Renshaw was content to play a supporting role, but also looked in fine touch until edging a Harrison delivery that held its line to slip the ball after lofting him for a straight six.

Nine of the World Cup-bound squad members have been at IPL while others were involved in the five-match T20I tour of Pakistan

Andrew McGlashan16-May-2024New Zealand are banking on mixed fortunes from the IPL, their recent tour of Pakistan and experience of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) to ensure they are prepared for their T20 World Cup campaign in the absence of official warm-up matches.Warm-up matches were offered by ICC, but amid the logistical challenges of getting the entire squad together in the Caribbean – they will arrive in three batches between May 23 and June 1, the latter being any players involved in the IPL finals – and the proposed location of warm-up fixtures, New Zealand opted not to have them and instead use extra training sessions ahead of their opening group match against Afghanistan on June 7.”West Indies is a tough place to get to for a start, so it’s not easy to get everyone to Trinidad and Tobago at the same time,” head coach Gary Stead said. “For us, we don’t have warm-up games. There’s a number of guys who have been in the IPL for the last two months and we’ve also recently come off the tour to Pakistan.Related

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“There’s a lot of experience in the group who have played in the CPL before, so we’ll be leaning on those guys and making sure the trainings we get prior to the first game puts us in a position of where we want to be.”Nine of the squad have been at the IPL (Devon Conway was ruled out of his Chennai Super Kings stint due to injury but has been training with the franchise) while others were involved in the five-match T20I tour of Pakistan.However, in India the amount of match time has varied considerably for key players: Glenn Phillips hasn’t featured at all for Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mitchell Santner has played just twice for CSK, Matt Henry three times for Lucknow Super Giants, Lockie Ferguson five times for Royal Challengers Bengaluru and captain Kane Williamson just twice for Gujarat Titans.At the other end of the scale, Daryl Mitchell has made 12 appearances for CSK and Rachin Ravindra nine for the same team while Trent Boult has been a regular fixture for Rajasthan Royals. With the bat, only Mitchell has had a tournament that could be considered something of a success with 314 runs at a strike rate of 144.70. Ravindra has made 161 runs at 17.88 and a strike rate of 176.08, having faded following a promising start. With the ball, Boult has taken 12 wickets with an economy of 8.42.*Daryl Mitchell has scored 314 runs at a strike rate of 144.70 for CSK in this IPL•BCCI

Devon Conway and Finn Allen fitness

Conway and Finn Allen, who are the first-choice opening pair for New Zealand, have not played since February due to thumb and back injuries respectively. Stead said that Allen was still experiencing a little bit of pain and the intensity of his training would be increased during the team camp in Mount Maunganui. Conway, meanwhile, will be assessed by the medical team when he returns from India next week. “[He] is tracking nicely,” Stead said. “He’s been wicketkeeping and batting in the nets on a regular basis.”Tim Southee is another who won’t have played a game since the New Zealand season finished having been left out of the Pakistan tour to focus on strength and conditioning.Stead, however, remained confident in preparations ahead of facing Afghanistan. “We’ve only got two players who haven’t been to a T20 World Cup that are in this squad,” he said. “That shows our group is experienced and they can lean back on those past experiences.”The players who are training in New Zealand have been utilising a variety of surfaces to try and replicate what could be on offer in Guyana and Trinidad where they play their group matches. Stead believed surfaces could start out conducive to higher scores before tiring depending on how many times they are used.

New Zealand’s tough group

On paper, New Zealand appear to have one of the tougher routes to the Super Eights having been grouped with Afghanistan, whose spinners could enjoy conditions, and hosts West Indies meaning at least one of those three nations won’t progress. They also face Uganda and Papua New Guinea in the first round.”Certainly looking forward to the challenge ahead and also the unknown of some of these new teams as well, the difference they might bring that we have to be really complete with our planning,” Stead said.*IPL stats as of May 15

Dame Caroline Dinenage MP questions chair’s intentions in open letter from CMS committee

ESPNcricinfo staff23-May-2024Colin Graves, Yorkshire’s chair, has come under renewed scrutiny from the chair of the parliamentary committee that oversees sporting bodies, following his recent claims that a process of demutualisation could prove to be “essential” to the long-term future of the club.Caroline Dinenage, chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, queried the timing and content of Graves’ remarks, made in a letter to Yorkshire’s members on Monday, which she felt contradicted his previous assurances that the club would remain a members-owned institution under his leadership.Graves appeared before the CMS select committee on February 20, after his return as Yorkshire chair had been ratified at an EGM earlier that month. Yorkshire claimed at the time that it had engaged with more than 350 interested parties, including the former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley, but had deemed his offer was the only one capable of retaining the club’s existing status as a mutual society.”Your return to the club was predicated on your financial support not being contingent on demutualisation of the club, in contrast to alternative bids discussed by the board,” Dinenage wrote in a letter to Graves on Thursday, which was also posted on X (formerly Twitter). “We are therefore concerned that you have now decided that converting the club to a private structure is now ‘essential’?””Prior to your bid’s approval, you reassured the members of the club on 16 January that ‘there are no discussions or plans to change the mutual status of YCCC.’ This claim was made despite your September 2023 offer to the YCCC board, which you initially denied any knowledge of to us, which was contingent on such a demutualisation.”Dinenage also queried the nature of Graves’ relationship with the family trust, overseen by independent trustees, which is a legacy of his original bail-out that saved Yorkshire from bankruptcy in 2002, and still constitutes some £15 million of the £20 million of the club’s “long-term borrowing” that Graves outlined in his letter to members.Related

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Graves’ proposed process of demutualisation would unlock those loans and open the club up to private investment – a prospect that has already be raised among county clubs via the ongoing discussions over the future of the Hundred.In his update to members, he pledged that any potential windfall “for either myself or my family trust … would be donated in full into a charitable trust supporting Yorkshire recreational cricket, both men’s and women’s”. Dinenage, however, requested more information on that commitment, and set a deadline of May 31 for a response.”You have previously told the Committee that you have no role in your family trusts,” Dinenage wrote. “We would be grateful for clarity on the following points:

The former South Australia and Adelaide Strikers coach will oversee two four-day matches in Darwin next month

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jun-2024Jason Gillespie’s first tour since being named Pakistan’s Test coach will see him back in Australia as he oversees two four-day matches for the Shaheens (Pakistan A) in Darwin next month.Pakistan Shaheens will play two four-day games against Bangladesh A between July 19-22 and 26-29 with Gillespie head coach for those matches before returning to Pakistan to prepare for a two-Test series against Bangladesh.Related

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The Shaheens will remain in Darwin during August, playing 50-over matches against Northern Territory and Bangladesh A, before taking part in an expanded nine-team Top End T20 series for the second year running.”The opportunity to be the head coach of Pakistan’s Test side is fantastic,” Gillespie, who quit as South Australia and Adelaide Strikers coach, told a PCB podcast shortly after his appointment. “It’s an honour. I’ve been coaching for quite a while now in various roles around the world, but one thing I haven’t done is coach an international Test side. When this opportunity presented itself, I jumped at it.The Top End series, staged from August 9 to August 18, will also feature a Bangladesh High Performance side. Perth Scorchers and Adelaide Strikers will send teams while Tasmania will also feature. Academy sides from Melbourne Renegades and Stars will again take part as in previous seasons while defending champions NT Strike and the ACT Comets make up the tournament.The PCB has announced a Shaheens’ squad, with one further player and a captain to be confirmed before the tour, which features fast bowler Khurram Shahzad who made his Test debut against Australia in Perth last year before his tour was ended early by injury.”I am grateful to Northern Territory for inviting the Pakistan Shaheens for the second successive year,” PCB director of international cricket Usman Wahla said. “Last year, the players had a memorable experience and enjoyed playing and performing in excellent playing conditions, in front of enthusiastic cricket fans.”This year we have added red-ball cricket matches to give more exposure to our cricketers and I am confident the players will benefit from this tour and will return as better cricketers.”During the Test series, which Pakistan lost 3-0 but pushed Australia in Melbourne and Sydney, then team director Mohammad Hafeez said there were discussions between the PCB and CA on future touring opportunities for development teams.For the Australian domestic cricketers involved, the Top End T20 series will provide pre-season opportunity for those not in action overseas.”The competition adds another layer to what our pre-season would typically be, exposing players to tournament conditions ahead of the Australian domestic season,” Kade Harvey, Perth Scorchers’ general manager, said. “It’s also a great opportunity for some of WA’s most promising prospects to test themselves against quality opponents from Australia and Asia.”Last year the tournament featured Jake Fraser-McGurk and Will Sutherland who have since represented Australia, and in Fraser-McGurk’s case taken the T20 world by storm at the IPL.”To have two cricket powerhouses in Pakistan and Bangladesh now participating alongside half of the Big Bash League franchises is a testament to the potential of winter cricket in the Territory.” NT Cricket CEO Gavin Dovey said.Further squads for the Top End T20 series will be confirmed in the coming weeks.Pakistan Shaheens to tour Darwin Haseebullah, Hunain Shah, Kamran Ghulam, Kashif Ali, Khurram Shahzad, Mehran Mumtaz, Mohammad Huraira, Mubasir Khan, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Shahnawaz Dahani, Tayyab Tahir, Umar Amin

Trudy Lindblade on the challenges of steering the Scottish game in face of racism and misogyny crises

Melinda Farrell01-Aug-2024At Forthill cricket ground, near Dundee, as Scotland were securing victory over Namibia in a CWC League 2 ODI, a cheerful and energetic Australian woman could be seen doing the rounds, chatting with locals in between cheering on Richie Berrington’s team. There was no indication, as she smiled and shook hands, that she has taken on perhaps international cricket’s most difficult job.In August 2023, Trudy Lindblade was overseeing the world’s biggest-ever cycling event in Glasgow. As CEO of the inaugural UCI Cycling World Championships, she oversaw world titles being contested in 13 different disciplines.Two months later, Lindblade signed on as CEO of Cricket Scotland, an organisation still suffering the devastating fallout from the 2022 independent investigation that found it to be institutionally racist, making headlines around the world. As a result of the “Changing the Boundaries” report, Cricket Scotland has been operating under “special measures”, effectively overseen by the government sports body, Sport Scotland. Soon after Lindblade stepped in as interim CEO Pete Fitzboyden’s replacement in early 2024, Cricket Scotland released its internal McKinney Report revealing a culture of sexism and misogyny within the game.Related

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A carousel of board members had come and gone in the previous two-and-a-half years. Lindblade herself is the fifth CEO to take charge in that time. Which begs the question: why would a successful senior female administrator align herself with an organisation seemingly mired in ‘isms’ and struggling to restore its damaged reputation off the field?”I knew this role would be tough because I’d been watching and observing some of the media that was coming through while I was doing the Cycling World Championships,” Lindblade told ESPNcricinfo. “But when you’re in it, it’s much more complex and more difficult than you can possibly imagine. That said, I’m determined to find a way through this for everyone. I’ve delivered hard projects before, worked in difficult environments before. This is certainly the most difficult environment I’ve worked within. But I can see the opportunity and it is worth it to get through to the other side. That’s the message that I want to send because I want people to work on that opportunity with me. I really believe it’s there if we get everybody pulling in the same direction.”In the five months since she became CEO, further delicate and complex situations – both legally and on a human level – have emerged. As Scotland impressed on the field at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, former Scotland seamer John Blain – who was named in separate investigations into racism at Cricket Scotland and Yorkshire – released a letter he’d received from Fitzboyden in January, claiming it exonerated him of all charges. Cricket Scotland has since clarified that the letter amounted only to an inability to proceed further on the allegations against him. Blaine subsequently threatened legal action as things became messy, claimING Lindblane had phoned him and confirmed the contents of Fitzboyden’s letter in the early weeks of her tenure.Lindblane acknowledged she did speak to Blain but refused to go into detail about this, or any other cases that were part of the referrals investigative process after the initial report came out. But she stressed that Cricket Scotland is open to and engaged in ongoing dialogue and mediation for both complainants and those accused.Then, ahead of Scotland’s Cricket World Cup League 2 home fixtures against Namibia and Oman, Hamza Tahir announced his retirement from international cricket, publicly detailing numerous racism-related grievances and also threatening legal action.While Blain’s case was part of the “Changing the Boundaries” review, which concluded during the Men’s T20 World Cup, Tahir’s complaints are currently being investigated through Cricket Scotland’s new policies and procedures, also announced in June.”We’d like to have the conversations with Hamza directly,” Lindblade said. “And I understand it’s within his right to do what he wishes to do, but I would have liked it to have been through this investigation and then he could determine whether he wished to make a public statement after it’s concluded, as opposed to whilst we’re in the process.”The cases of Blain and Tahir illustrate the delicacy and complexity of the task at hand. Lindblade’s biggest challenge is charting a path forward for cricket in Scotland while also dealing justly with the problems of the recent and distant past. She acknowledges there will be ongoing hurt and anger as well as dissatisfaction with outcomes. But she is hopeful a process of mediation will go some way to resolving cases from the “Changing the Boundaries” investigation, the majority of which did not result in further disciplinary action (and instead led to a number of learnings Cricket Scotland says it either has or will take on).She is drawing on more than 25 years of administration experience that started at the Carlton Australian Football Club in Melbourne, followed by stints in public affairs and events delivery at Cricket Australia’s predecessor, the ACB.She was in charge of the events department at the 2007 Men’s World Cup in the Caribbean and the first World T20 in South Africa that followed before switching focus to cycling.Scotland worried the established nations at the 2024 T20 World Cup•ICC/Getty Images

That one of Lindblade’s first tasks in her current role was to deal with the McKinney Report’s finding of systemic sexism and misogyny is somewhat ironic. She says she was shocked to discover the report was coming but not its conclusions.”As a female leader working in mainly male sports you observe lots of different things,” she said. “That’s why I probably wasn’t surprised. But I wouldn’t say that specifically about Cricket Scotland. We are just one part of a bigger society that has to consider these issues.”I’m a fairly strong character. I just get on with things and move forward. I’ve been really fortunate to work for terrific leaders and male leaders that have given me incredible opportunities. However, outside of that, yes, there probably have been times where getting my career started was made particularly difficult because I was looking to get into a male dominated sport.”There are a small number of female CEOs among the Associate Members and, through the support of ICC Europe, we have a female leadership group that gets together on a regular basis. I think that’s really terrific that there are more women starting to take on senior leadership roles within cricket federations. We’d like to see that replicated not just across Associate Members, but into Full Members and other areas. We can do it. We might sometimes have maybe a more empathetic way, we might do things a bit differently, but that’s because we’re individuals. Doesn’t matter whether you’re male or female. We all have our own way in which we lead people.”Six months into Lindblade’s tenure, Cricket Scotland is poised to release a four-year strategy. Unsurprisingly, given the events of the past two years, women and girls – as well as equality in general – are front and centre, along with ensuring CS becomes a trusted and effective governing body. The strategy has been a year in the making, stemming from a consultation process begun under Fitzboyden, and refined under Lindblane.Those hoping to see Scotland push for Full Membership and Test status will be disappointed. The strategy calls for sustainable success on the pitch and, while not ruling out a future tilt, Lindblade says the organisation first needs to put its house in order.”We have a new board, we have new leadership, and we have been through two of the most difficult years a sporting organisation can go through. When we’re ready and equipped, that Full Membership should always be on our agenda. But we need to have all our building blocks in place so that if and when we do get to that point, we can do it and do it well. There’s a lot of things that have to happen before that though, both from a governance point of view but also on the field. We want to be playing more cricket, both men and women, against the best countries in the world.”A men’s T20 International series at home to Australia in September is a promising start. And, aside from their performance at the Men’s T20 World Cup, Scotland have appeared in this year’s Men’s Under-19s World Cup and qualified for the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup, suggesting talent pathways are improving depth. Lindblade is hopeful the steps taken by Cricket Scotland will see the special measures imposed by Sports Scotland lifted, although there is no specific timeframe. But there is still a long way to go before the game can move forward unencumbered by the past.”The strategy is not going to solve everything we’ve been through, and I don’t think anyone would expect that. But it does provide us a path forward and a focus, not just for Cricket Scotland, but for everyone within Scottish cricket. It’s going to take a long time because of the hurt, the unhappiness, for everyone who’s been impacted by what’s happened. But we need to move forward and have that self-awareness of what people are feeling and why and that’s really important.”This is about uniting communities and people through cricket. It’s to make Scottish cricket better every day. It’s a really big moment for Scottish cricket and for Cricket Scotland. And it’s really exciting.”