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Zambia, which was suspended in 2019, is no longer a member, while Russia has been suspended

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-2021The ICC has announced that Mongolia, Tajikistan and Switzerland will be its newest members during the 78th Annual General Meeting.Mongolia and Tajikistan are the 22nd and 23rd members of the Asia region, while Switzerland is Europe’s 35th Member, with the ICC now comprising 106 Members in total, including 94 Associates.Meanwhile, Zambia, which was suspended at the ICC AGM in 2019, is no longer a member due to continued non-compliance with ICC Membership Criteria. Russia too has been suspended and, according to a release, has until the time of the next ICC AGM to demonstrate compliance or risk having its membership terminated.

The ICC Membership Criteria Zambia and Russia failed to meet

2.2 (a)(i) Have the appropriate status, structure, recognition, membership and competence to be recognized by the ICC (at its absolute discretion) as the primary governing body responsible for the administration, management and development of cricket (men’s and women’s) in its country

2.2 (b)(i) Have in place a detailed governance system that: (i) is fit for purpose; (ii) includes, as a minimum (a) a detailed written constitution containing provisions covering membership, AGMs and voting rights, and (b) adequate integrity related rules and regulations covering anticorruption, anti-doping and ethics; and (iii) is consistently applied

2.2 b(ii) Have in place an executive, administrative and corporate structure which is fit for purpose and which will enable the Applicant to exercise all the duties and responsibilities placed on it by its constitution and to meet its strategic plan

“We are delighted to be welcoming three new Members into the ICC family, which reflects the growth and potential of the global game,” William Glenwright, ICC general manager for development, said. “All three applications demonstrated an impressive commitment to growing the game – particularly amongst women and youth – and we look forward to assisting them in achieving their potential.”As cricket activity begins to emerge from the pandemic, we are at an exciting stage of cricket’s growth with ambitious plans and projects to deliver in partnership with our Members to not only navigate the impact of Covid-19 but to also help achieve transformative growth for the sport globally.”The Mongolian Cricket Association (MCA) was established in 2007. The sport was officially accepted into the National Youth Games in 2019. According to an ICC release, women account for 39% of all participants playing school cricket. In addition, Mongolia is due to host the International Youth Green Games in September 2021 where cricket has been selected as one of the participating sports.Cricket Switzerland (CS), which was inaugurated as an association in 2014, currently comprises 33 active clubs. They organise three domestic men’s competitions and compete regularly in Central European tournaments. The Tajikistan Cricket Federation, which was officially formed in 2011 with the support of the Ministry of Sports and Olympic Committee, has led the development of infrastructure and the building of a domestic cricket structure focusing on women and junior cricket.

Coming off a six-day break, Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to the returning Yuvraj Singh to help them to the top half of the table when they meet Gujarat Lions on Friday

The Preview by Deivarayan Muthu05-May-2016

Match facts

Friday, May 6, 2016
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)4:27

Nannes: Yuvraj getting a game for his bowling

Big picture

A six-day break since their last match has left Sunrisers Hyderabad in the bottom half of the IPL 2016 points table. They will look to move back up when they host Gujarat Lions, a team they had thrashed earlier in the season.Sunrisers have plenty of muscle at the top, with David Warner scoring 386 runs in seven matches at an average and strike rate of 77.20 and 168.55, but the middle order seemed thin. Kane Williamson’s fifty after recovering from a hamstring injury should help in that regard. Sunrisers will like some of the Indian batsmen to increase their productivity. Maybe Yuvraj Singh can help with that. An ankle injury had kept him out for over a month, but he batted and bowled fluently in the nets in Hyderabad and is set to make his debut for the franchise.Dwayne Bravo had been under an injury cloud as well – he missed Lions’ previous game against Delhi Daredevils – but was quite active at training and is expected to slot back in the XI.Lions coach Brad Hodge had been concerned about his batsmen’s Powerplay failures a couple of days ago. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mustafizur Rahman will want to take advantage of that. The two Sunrisers fast bowlers have taken 18 wickets, swinging the ball, slowing it down and nailing the yorkers.Dinesh Karthik, meanwhile, has sensibly built or rebuilt the innings from the middle order with 215 runs at an average and strike rate of 35.83 and 127.21. That Jadeja struck his first 30-plus score after 27 IPL innings should boost Lions.

Form guide

Sunrisers Hyderabad WLWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Gujarat Lions LLWWW

In the spotlight

An inclination to play the ball as late as possible makes Williamson adept against pace or spin. He accumulates runs in risk-free fashion and it was on display during his first IPL half-century, against Royal Challengers. His presence at No. 3 will take some pressure off Warner and Shikhar Dhawan.Praveen Kumar has taken only two wickets in nine matches, but has been a vital to Lions’ plans at the start and end of every bowling innings. His yorkers denied a rampaging Chris Morris on Sunday and it is with his assistance that Dhawal Kulkarni is the team’s second-highest wicket-taker, with seven in seven matches.

Team news

Yuvraj is set to make his debut for Sunrisers, perhaps in place of Deepak Hooda, who has five single-digit scores in six attempts. Sunrisers may also consider bringing in left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma or legspinner Karn Sharma for seam-bowling allrounder Ashish Reddy.Sunrisers Hyderabad (probable): 1 David Warner(capt), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Yuvraj Singh/Deepak Hooda, 5 Naman Ojha(wk), 6 Moises Henriques, 7 Ashish Reddy/Bipul Sharma/Karn Sharma, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Barinder Sran 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Ashish NehraIf Bravo is fit, he is likely to replace either Dwayne Smith or Aaron Finch. Ishan Kishan, who has looked uncertain whether his role in the side is to attack or defend, may make way for Akshdeep Nath.Gujarat Lions (probable): 1 Brendon McCullum, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Suresh Raina(capt), 4 Dinesh Karthik(wk), 5 Ishan Kishan/Akshdeep Nath, 6 Ravindra Jadeja ,7 Dwayne Bravo/Dwayne Smith, 8 James Faulkner, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Dhawal Kulkarni, 11 Shivil Kaushik

Pitch and conditions

Four of five games at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium have been won by the chasing side this season. Pre-monsoon rains have given Hyderabad relief from the scorching heat, and showers have been forecast for Friday evening too.

Stats and trivia

• Bhuvneshwar and Mustafizur have a combined dot-ball tally of 123 from a sample size of 318.
• Dwayne Bravo could play his 300th T20 and 100th IPL match on Friday.

Quotes

“Yuvraj adds a lot to our side because it is not only his ability with the bat and being a left-hander which is going to add to our strengths; it is also about what he can do with the ball.”
“It is important not to start changing things up just because things have not gone your way for two games.”

Allrounder in line for first Durham appearance since 2018 after finger injury

Matt Roller07-Jun-2021Ben Stokes is set to play his first T20 Blast game for nearly three years next week when he makes his comeback from the finger injury he suffered in the IPL.The early stages of the Blast, which begins on Wednesday, will see a number of England players including Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow and Adil Rashid make their first appearances in the competition for several years, and Stokes – who last played in Durham’s quarter-final defeat to Sussex in 2018 – is among them.Stokes’ injury had initially been expected to keep him out of action for up to 12 weeks, or early July, but his recovery from surgery has been smooth. “I’m able to bowl, I’m able to get in the gym and I’m able to hit some balls again,” Stokes wrote in his column last week. “I’m at an exciting point of my recovery where full-on training is not that far away and then I can start thinking about playing in a match again.”Details of Stokes’ comeback are yet to be confirmed by the ECB and he could target one of the back-to-back 2nd XI T20s against Lancashire on June 14, but Durham have four fixtures in the Blast from June 15-20 and he is likely to return in one of them.England are due to name a squad for the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka later this week, with the group scheduled to meet up on June 19 ahead of the first T20I in Cardiff on June 23. Eoin Morgan suggested in March that he was expecting to be without England’s multi-format players during this summer’s white-ball series, but their unavailability for the ongoing New Zealand Tests following the IPL could yet see them named in this squad.Players selected for the white-ball squads and not involved in the squad for the second New Zealand Test will be available to appear in up to six rounds of the Blast, depending on their respective teams’ fixture lists. That means Buttler and Stokes are both likely to play more games in the Blast than in the Hundred this summer, with England’s Test players set to play a maximum of three group games and the knockout stages in the new 100-ball competition.Related

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Buttler – whose last appearance for Lancashire in any format was on Finals Day in 2018 – is set to play the first of his six games on Wednesday afternoon against Derbyshire, in a strong Lancashire side that will also feature Liam Livingstone, Matt Parkinson, Saqib Mahmood and New Zealand’s Finn Allen.Bairstow and Rashid will play their first T20s for Yorkshire since 2016 and 2018 respectively and are set to be available for up to five fixtures, while Dawid Malan and Joe Root will also be partially available. “It’s been a while since I’ve played for Yorkshire because of injury, availability, Covid, all that sort of stuff,” Rashid said. “But I’m definitely looking forward to it: it’s always a privilege to play for Yorkshire, where I was born and bred.”Chris Woakes, whose last Blast match was in 2018, is also due to appear for Birmingham Bears after he gets through games for the 2nd XI on Monday and Wednesday. Moeen Ali’s last match in the Blast was the 2019 final: he missed the whole of Worcestershire’s 2020 season while on England duty, but has been warming up for the Blast by playing for their 2nd XI.Chris Jordan has returned to the UK from Barbados and will play for Sussex this week, but the group stages are likely to come too soon for Jofra Archer as he continues a period of “intensive rehabilitation” following elbow surgery. Morgan himself is due to be available to captain Middlesex in the early stages of their season following a break from the game after the IPL.Jason Roy, Sam Curran and Tom Curran will all be available for Surrey’s opening fixtures. Roy made five Blast appearances last summer, but the Currans have not played since 2019. They were due to play their first unofficial games since the IPL’s postponement on Friday, but rain washed out a planned intra-squad friendly at The Oval.

He was appointed in November last year on a contract scheduled to run till the 2022 T20 World Cup

Umar Farooq22-Jun-2021The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and batting coach Younis Khan have mutually agreed to part ways only six months after he accepted a two-year contract. He won’t be travelling with the Pakistan team on their overseas tours of England and West Indies.Both parties did not make any further comment on the reasons for Khan’s departure. He was involved in the recently-concluded camp for the Test squad at the High Performance Centre only for a few days before he returned back to Karachi, ESPNcricinfo understands.Khan was appointed ahead of Pakistan’s tour of England last year to join head coach Misbah ul Haq, bowling coach Waqar Younis and spin-bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed in the team management. That was also his first appointment with the PCB since his retirement in 2017.Khan originally started as a batting consultant last year on a short-term stint. The PCB later integrated him into the coaching system as the batting coach for two years with an option to extend his contract for another term, till the 50-over World Cup in 2023. In addition to his role with the national team, Khan was also appointed to run the Batsmen Development Program at the Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre in Karachi.Related

• Younis Khan to be Pakistan's batting coach for England tour

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Pakistan had mixed results since he took over as batting coach. In five overseas Tests in England and New Zealand, Pakistan drew two and lost three before beating South Africa across formats at home and in the white-ball formats away, followed by a successful tour to Zimbabwe, which included series wins in the T20Is and Tests.”It is sad to lose an expert of the stature and experience of Younis Khan,” PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan said. “Following a series of discussions, we both have reluctantly but mutually and amicably agreed that it was time to move in different directions. I want to thank Younis Khan for his contributions during his short stint as the Pakistan men’s national cricket team’s batting coach and hope he will remain available to assist the PCB by sharing his vast knowledge with the emerging cricketers.”Younis had frayed relations with the PCB. Even his integration into the coaching set-up wasn’t smooth after his retirement in 2017. He had turned down the PCB on two previous occasions before eventually accepting the job last year. The board had previously tried to rope him in to work at the development level at the NCA, but those talks fizzled out. Then, in May last year, Khan was close to taking up a role as the Pakistan’s Under-19 coach but that plan, too, did not come to pass. One of the significant problems had to do with finances while the other was with the job profile. The PCB had initially proposed Khan’s role as a mentor and coach but he wanted a wider role, including a say in national selection.

Alex Davies and Keaton Jennings put on fifty opening stand after Lancs put in

ECB Reporters' Network20-May-2021Lancashire openers Keaton Jennings and Alex Davies posted their fourth 50 partnership of the season as day one of their LV= County Championship clash with Northamptonshire was cut short by heavy rain.Just 70 minutes play was possible as Northamptonshire welcomed back crowds to Wantage Road to watch Lancashire advance to 59 without loss from 16.5 overs in the morning session.Northamptonshire captain Adam Rossington had won the toss and opted to give his seamers first use of a pitch in overcast conditions. Gareth Berg and Ben Sanderson beat the bat regularly and saw a number of edges fly just wide of the slip cordon.The Lancashire pair though looked to be positive, with Davies striking three fours and bringing up the 50 stand when he clipped Tom Taylor through midwicket. Jennings then found the boundary by going down one knee to stroke Wayne Parnell through the covers before surviving a big shout for leg before wicket against the same bowler on 20.The rain then forced the players from the field. A planned resumption after lunch had to be abandoned when the bad weather returned and play was eventually called off shortly after 4pm.

Half-centuries from Faheem Ashraf and Mohammad Rizwan, however, helped Pakistan avoid the follow-on

Karthik Krishnaswamy28-Dec-2020New Zealand’s four-man pace attack has been an unstoppable force at home ever since it took its current shape earlier this year. On the third day at Mount Maunganui, they showed they can be nearly as potent even in conditions without a great deal of help for fast bowling, and even when one member of the quartet has a broken toe.

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But as they have done through this Test match, Pakistan kept the hosts from running away with the contest, with defiant half-centuries from Mohammad Rizwan and Faheem Ashraf reviving their hopes of saving the Test match. Pakistan were 80 for 6 in response to New Zealand’s 431 when the two came together, and when Ashraf was last out for 91 to signal stumps on day three, they had avoided the follow-on.By then, the follow-on question was probably just academic, with Pakistan having kept New Zealand in the field for 102.2 overs in improving batting conditions, and with Neil Wagner having gotten through 21 of those overs – including a 13-over spell either side of lunch – with the aforementioned broken toe. The idea of a tricky fourth-innings chase against Yasir Shah may not have appealed to New Zealand either, given the turn both he and Mitchell Santner have already derived.In a weird way, Pakistan had achieved what they had set out to do at the start of the day, when their top order adopted a stonewalling approach to try and wear the fast bowlers down and cash in later. For much of the day, it had appeared as if there would be no “later”, with the depth of New Zealand’s attack giving the specialist batsmen no respite, particularly with Wagner putting his injury behind him to bowl with his usual intensity. But as the ball grew older and the bowlers tired over a long day – stumps were drawn at 7.28pm with play extended thanks to a series of short rain and hail interruptions either side of the tea break – Rizwan and Ashraf went through a period when bat genuinely dominated ball.Faheem Ashraf takes on the short ball•AFP via Getty Images

When Fawad Alam top-edged a hook to the keeper off Wagner, Pakistan had crawled to 80 for 6 in 59.1 overs. From there until New Zealand took the second new ball, Ashraf and Rizwan counterattacked, scoring 79 runs in 20.5 overs, both batsmen showing a willingness to take on the short ball with the pull.In the half-hour or so before the second new ball was taken, the pitch seemed at its most benign, with full balls coming to the batsmen in straight lines and short balls sitting up to be hit. Ashraf cut and pulled successive balls from Kyle Jamieson to the boundary. Rizwan punched Tim Southee down the ground, beating mid-off to his right with minimal effort. Jamieson, who had conceded an astonishing nine runs in his first 17 overs, went for 20 in his next three.The new ball brought the wicket, but not before the seventh-wicket pair had brought Pakistan to within 45 runs of saving the follow-on. With the four quicks doing the bulk of the work, Santner had barely had to bowl his left-arm spin all day, but he made his presence felt with an outstanding run-out to send back Rizwan for 71, a rapid sprint from deep square leg to midwicket followed by a side-arm flick that hit the stumps direct at the non-striker’s end.Yasir Shah came and went quickly, bowled by a Trent Boult inswinger, but Ashraf played his shots – a lofted drive over the covers off Southee was a particular highlight – rode his luck, and trusted the defence of Shaheen Afridi to drag Pakistan past the follow-on mark.Then, with minutes to go for stumps, a bit of extra bounce from Jamieson found his edge, and his innings ended nine runs short of what would have been an outstanding hundred.Abid Ali looks back after being bowled by Kyle Jamieson•Getty Images

Extra bounce from Jamieson had been one of the main themes of the first half of the day. He had made the initial breakthrough, after Abid Ali and the nightwatchman Mohammad Abbas had seen off Boult and Southee’s first spells without too much trouble while barely disturbing the scorers.Then Jamieson came on and produced two balls that lifted from just short of a length in his first over of the day, getting the first to bounce over Abid’s attempted square cut, and the other to crunch into his glove while he attempted to defend.Those two balls must have been at the back of Abid’s mind at the start of Jamieson’s next over, because he was late in getting forward to defend a fullish ball delivered from wide of the crease. That created a gap between his front pad and his bat, which came slicing down at an angle, and the ball zipped through to knock back off stump.Having made this opening, New Zealand burst through it. Boult, who had pushed Abbas back with numerous short balls from over and around the wicket, got him to push weakly at a length ball angling into him, and found his edge through to slip.It didn’t take long for three down to become five down. Southee, returning to the attack for his second spell of the morning, bowled the ball of the session to send back Azhar Ali: angling in towards off stump, straightening late, rooting the batsman to the crease. There was the faintest of edges through to BJ Watling, which umpire Chris Gaffaney failed to pick up, but Watling reviewed immediately, superseding his captain Kane Williamson.The theme of uncertain footwork continued four balls later, when Haris Sohail failed to get far enough forward to drive a Southee ball angled across him. He edged to gully, and Pakistan were 52 for 5. At this point, a three-day finish didn’t seem inconceivable. By the end of the day, Pakistan were somehow still clinging on to visions of a draw.

Latham will return to scene of international debut nine years ago for Bangladesh opener

Deivarayan Muthu11-Mar-2021Tom Latham used to play rugby with his older brother Matt while growing up and quite naturally his childhood dream was to become an All Black. However, around the time he was picked in New Zealand’s Under-19 side, he fully committed to becoming a Black Cap and next week in Dunedin, Latham will mark his 100th ODI appearance by captaining the team for their series opener against Bangladesh.It was in Dunedin that Latham had also made his ODI debut, against Zimbabwe in 2012, under the captaincy of Brendon McCullum.”Personally, to play my first game down in Dunedin and also my 100th is going to be pretty cool,” Latham said, looking ahead to the landmark. “Great to be able to play one game for New Zealand, but to be able to play 100 is pretty special. My family and wife have come down, so it will be nice to celebrate that down there. Some of the guys in that squad – the likes of Jacob Oram, Natham McCullum, Baz (Brendon McCullum), and a lot of names you look at now and I watched those guys growing up. To play with them and carry on playing is pretty special.Related

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Latham, 19 then, had started off in shaky fashion before making a middle-order cameo in a 90-run victory for New Zealand.”I was pretty nervy – I was on none off six I think, and then managed to get one through the covers and as I ran my spikes went from under me, so I sort of face-planted a little bit,” Latham recalled. “So, some fond memories and we managed to win that series, which was nice. So, fingers crossed, we can play well this series and we can win this series too.”New Zealand’s regular captain Kane Williamson has been sidelined from the Bangladesh ODI series with an elbow injury, and in his absence, Latham said, they won’t tinker too much and will attempt to continue to build on the good work done under Williamson.New Zealand will head into the Bangladesh series on the back of a hard-fought 3-2 T20I triumph over Australia, and though they will be without the injured trio of Williamson, Lockie Ferguson and Colin de Grandhomme, Latham was particularly excited at the additions of Will Young, Daryl Mitchell and Devon Conway to the ODI side. All three newcomers have displayed strong form in the domestic competitions across formats.”Obviously, disappointing for Kane to miss out with an elbow injury, but you know for me it’s about continuing what Kane has been doing,” Latham said. “I’ve done a fair amount of it [captaincy] over the last couple of seasons and from a leadership point of view it’s great we’re lucky we have such a good side with so many leaders in the group.”It’s awesome to have new guys in that squad that haven’t played… I guess the best thing about the three guys is they’re coming off form in all different formats throughout the last couple of weeks. So, that’s an exciting thing that these guys have been picked on form and if they get their opportunities and fingers crossed they can take it. It’s always nice when new guys come in and make their debuts.”New Zealand haven’t played ODIs for a year – their last match was behind closed doors last March at the SCG before the tour was aborted due to the Covid-19 pandemic – and they have only had four 50-over matches since the 2019 World Cup final. Latham, though, felt that the 50-over Ford Trophy had tuned them up for the upcoming ODI series.”It’s pretty exciting to have one-day cricket back with the Black Caps,” he said. “Obviously, we haven’t played for a long time as a group together and it’s a small sample of one-day cricket this summer here in New Zealand. So, I’m sure the guys will be ready to go and will be looking forward to getting into it on Saturday.”It’s been a perfect preparation for everyone involved. There are a slight few changes from the T20 squad, but you know [we’ve] been playing the Ford Trophy, which has been great and obviously the guys have come up with some good T20 form against Australia as well.”The Ford Trophy ended last week with Latham cracking Matt Fisher to the right of point with a signature back-foot cut to seal Canterbury’s 15th one-day title and first since 2016-17. The revelry will continue for Latham as he is set to reach a more significant milestone on March 20.

Former England offspinner confirms end to 24-year playing career

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Oct-2021Gareth Batty, the former England offspinner, has called time on a playing career spanning 24 years and will take up a position as assistant coach at Surrey.Batty, who will be 44 this month, captained Surrey in T20 cricket over the last two seasons, but confirmed his retirement at the club’s end-of-season awards evening. In two spells at the club, he played 377 matches and took 534 wickets. He finishes as Surrey’s joint-leading wicket-taker in T20 cricket, alongside the also departing Jade Dernbach, with 114.He also spent eight successful seasons at Worcestershire, claiming almost 500 wickets across the formats. It was while at Worcestershire that he first won recognition with England, making his ODI debut on the 2002-03 Ashes tour and playing the first of nine Tests in Dhaka the following winter.Related

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In 2016, at the age of 39, he won a remarkable England recall for the Test tours of Bangladesh and India, playing in Chattogram and Mohali after 11 years out of the side.Batty had already begun coaching on a part-time basis with Surrey, working with the club’s young spinners, Amar Virdi, Dan Moriarty and Will Jacks, and will now move on to the backroom staff, under director of cricket Alec Stewart and head coach Vikram Solanki.”It’s been a privilege to have played the professional game for more than 20 years,” Batty said. “I never took a moment of it for granted and I know how fortunate I am to have represented the teams I have.”I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that has been involved in a highly enjoyable career: team-mates, coaches, family, friends and fans. I’m now excited to start a new career at this great club and looking forward to all the challenges and opportunities that will bring.”Having made his first-class debut with Yorkshire in 1997, Batty moved down to Surrey and then on to Worcestershire, before returning to the London club in 2009. He was Surrey’s club captain between 2015 and 2017, during which time they were promoted back to Division One of the Championship, ahead of a successful tilt at the title in 2018.He also oversaw a run of three consecutive Royal London Cup finals – although Surrey were defeated on each occasion at Lord’s – as well as an appearance at Finals Day in last year’s T20 Blast.Back in an England shirt: Batty won a surprise Test recall in 2016•Getty Images

Stewart said: “Batts should look back on his playing career with immense pride. He achieved so much in the game and has always given 100% commitment to every team he has represented. His knowledge and passion for the game is second to none which will be a great asset as he embarks on his coaching career.”He will be missed in the dressing room for everything he has given as a captain and player, but I know that loyal and caring nature will now be transferred across into his coaching. As we congratulate him on all he has achieved as a player, we now look forward to him starting out on his coaching career which I have no doubts he will make a great success of. Cricket is in his blood and we’re very fortunate to have him at Surrey helping to develop and improve our players.”Solanki added: “There are few that have given as much of themselves to both the game and the teams they’ve played for than Gareth. Time and again, whether as player, captain or player/coach, he has put Surrey CCC ahead of himself when the club has needed him most. Fiercely competitive, totally committed and entirely selfless, Gareth epitomises what it is to be a professional sportsman in team environments.”On a personal note I am grateful to have had the privilege to play alongside Gareth and look forward to working with him as a coach. He has a wealth of experience across all aspects of the game that will hugely benefit our squad.”

The ECB are planning to stage a round of Championship matches under lights at the end of June next season as England prepare for their first day-night Test

George Dobell23-Oct-20161:39

ECB announces first day-night Test

The ECB is planning to stage a round of Championship matches under lights at the end of June next season as England prepare for their first day-night Test.England are scheduled to play two Tests under lights in 2017. First they will play West Indies at Edgbaston in August, before playing one of the Ashes Tests in Australia at the end of the year.While details are yet to be confirmed, it is understood that the ECB has identified a round of games starting on June 26 for the floodlit matches in the hope that England players will be available. England play a T20I against South Africa in Cardiff on June 25, with the first Test against South Africa starting at Lord’s on July 6.That scheduling is not ideal. It comes just a few days after the longest evening of the year (sunset time is around 10pm) so the value of using lights will be diminished. But the ECB hopes it will attract more spectators to games and provide more data over the strengths and weaknesses of the pink ball and optimum pitch conditions for its usage.It is also one of few rounds where England’s Test specialists are expected to be available. Plans to stage the games in August were rejected as not all teams are scheduled to play at the same time and, in the ECB’s words, “equitability is deemed important”.The Division One games will be hosted by four of Warwickshire, Yorkshire, Essex, Hampshire or Surrey, while the Division Two games will be staged by five of Durham, Kent, Nottinghamshire, Sussex, Northamptonshire and Glamorgan. The ECB has asked each of the counties to ensure there are no issues – such as permission from the local council – with them hosting such games before they confirm the schedule.

Geoffrey Boycott has hit back at suggestions that his involvement on the Yorkshire board could prove disruptive and reiterated concerns about the club’s financial position

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Mar-2016
Geoff Boycott has hit back at suggestions that his involvement on the Yorkshire board could prove disruptive and reiterated concerns about the club’s financial position.Boycott is set to stand for re-election to the Yorkshire board at the end of March but the he faces opposition from the current hierarchy, with chairman Steve Denison describing it as potentially “counter-productive”. The club has written to members setting out reasons why they should not vote Boycott on to the board.He has responded by accusing Yorkshire of misrepresenting the situation. He told the that he does not plan to interfere in playing matters – something he has made clear in written correspondence with the club – but wants to address members’ concerns and help manage the high level of debt, which he described as “killing the club”.”The last thing I want is any trouble,” he said. “I’m 75 years of age. I need trouble like I need a hole in the head. I’m only standing because there are vacancies on the board and because I care about the club. That’s all. I want to act for the members and the benefit of the club.”I’m not standing to get involved in the cricket. That point has to be made. Our cricket is going good. There’s no problem with it. They’re making out I’ll get involved in the cricket and upset the apple cart, but I’ve said twice in a letter that’s not my intention.”Even when I was on the board before, I never got involved in the cricket; I never went in the dressing room once. The board are misleading people by suggesting I’m going to get involved in the cricket; the only time I would ever get involved is if I was asked.”Boycott, who was at the centre of divisive rows at the county during his playing days, previously served on the Yorkshire board between 2007 and 2012. He was also elected as club president for 2012 and 2013. Since then, Yorkshire have won back-to-back Championships with a largely homegrown side, reasserting themselves as one of the dominant forces in the domestic game.Despite that success, Yorkshire’s overall debts stand at £22m – a legacy of nearly going bankrupt before the intervention of former chairman Colin Graves. The club announced a £300,000 profit for 2015 but further borrowing is expected to finance the development of Headingley and Boycott called the situation a “recipe for disaster”, warning that it could affect Yorkshire’s future viability.”The cricket is going great, but while we’re basking in the cricket, and the success of the cricket, we’re racking up so much debt that, if we’re not careful, we might not be in existence further down the line, and it’s no good having a good cricket team and the club going down the tube,” Boycott said.”Every Yorkshire member knows that you have to live within your means, and the debt is killing the club. It’s a recipe for disaster. I’ve got my own ideas, but we can’t go on racking up debt and massaging the finances.”Yorkshire is supporting three people – chief executive Mark Arthur, Robin Smith and Sir Gary Verity – as candidates to join the board, which can comprise of up to eight members. Smith, who is standing for re-election, Denison, Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket, and Stephen Willis are those currently serving on the board.