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The former India captain serves dual roles: president of the Cricket Association of Bengal and advisor to Delhi Capitals

Nagraj Gollapudi03-Apr-2019Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has been asked by the BCCI to respond to the charge of conflict of interest. Ganguly is the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) and also an advisor to the Delhi Capitals IPL franchise.On Monday, the BCCI ombudsman Justice DK Jain, who also serves as the board’s ethics officer, asked Ganguly for an explanation. ESPNcricinfo understands that Ganguly has informed Justice Jain that he will send his reply by April 7.Three Kolkata residents, Ranjit Seal, Bhaswati Santua and Abhijeet Mukherjee, have written to Justice Jain asking how Ganguly could be allowed to be part of the Delhi Capitals set-up on April 12, when the team travels to Eden Gardens, home of the CAB, to play Kolkata Knight Riders.Justice Jain confirmed to that he had written to Ganguly. “Yes, I have asked Sourav Ganguly to respond to the complaints with regards to conflict of interest as Delhi Capitals advisor and state association president.”Although Ganguly’s case might not fall under the direct, indirect, tractable or intractable conflicts as defined in the new BCCI constitution, Justice Jain is likely to pay close attention to clause 38 (4), which states that a person cannot hold two positions at the same point out of 16 listed. The clause says: “It is clarified that no individual is allowed to occupy more than one of the following posts at a single point of time except where prescribed under these rules.”The 16 positions include: “any person who is governance, management or employee of a franchisee”, and “Office Bearer of a Member.”Ganguly was recently roped in by Delhi Capitals as an advisor although the nature of his role is not clearly defined. So far this season Ganguly has been in Capitals’ dugout and has been involved in their training sessions alongside head coach Ricky Ponting. Incidentally, Ganguly had resigned as the head of the BCCI technical committee before joining Capitals, to avoid a direct conflict.Ganguly was present at Capitals’ training session in Delhi on Wednesday, guiding players through their drills and even taking part in a game of foot-volley.

The world has changed and the England cricket team has to realise it, according to former captain Alastair Cook

George Dobell in Perth12-Dec-20172:47

The world’s changed for the England cricket team – Cook

The world has changed and the England cricket team has to realise it, according to former captain Alastair Cook.Cook, on the verge of becoming the first England player to win 150 Test caps, has warned his team-mates they “can’t afford any more mistakes” as they seek to rebuild their connection with the general public in the aftermath of the incident involving Ben Stokes outside a Bristol bar in September.But Cook, who echoed descriptions of the incidents involving Jonny Bairstow and Ben Duckett as “trivial”, maintains the reputation of the current side is “very unfair” and does not reflect either their hard work on the pitch or the progress they have made in improving the image of the game over the last few years.”The world’s obviously changed for the England cricket team in September,” Cook said. “And it’s probably taken us a couple of months to realise that.”These last two incidents have proven that. I’ve seen the word trivial used to describe them. But since the Stokesy thing in September things have changed for the England cricket team. It’s sad in one sense because, a bit different to football, we’ve always been able to go under the radar a bit and enjoy playing cricket for England and also enjoy seeing the country outside of that.”I don’t think we’re getting painted fairly in the media in terms of our team culture. But the world’s changed after the September incident, so it’s now down to us to adjust to that quickly. We can’t afford any more mistakes, because we understand the stakes, with the ECB and with sponsors, and trying to encourage kids to play cricket.”But if you go back to 2013 when we won an Ashes series 3-0, the public weren’t that happy. It was a strange one, as the captain. There was a big disconnect between the players and the public and, over the last three or four years, we’ve made a massive effort to get that connection back.”Clearly over the last couple of months, we’ve damaged that. So we have to try and rebuild it.”Cook, who also spoke about his own future, said the players were doing their utmost to turn around a difficult tour. His words followed Jonny Bairstow’s admission that England must try to win the fans back.”The one thing I will say about this England side – and it’s even changed since I was captain – is that I’ve never seen a side work this hard,” Cook said. “Whether we win, lose or draw, whether we play well or rubbish, the effort from the guys is unbelievable. There’s a group of men in there, 16 or 17 of them, who are desperate to do well and Trevor is cancelling practice sessions after three-and-a-half, four hours saying ‘you’ve got to stop now, you’re wasting energy, you’ve got to save it for the Test match’.”Those last two incidents have proven that there is very little margin for error when you’ve had a beer. But to say that we’ve got a drinking culture in this team is very unfair.”We’ve just got to smarten up, and we’ve got to do it quickly, because there’s too much at stake. Not just one bloke’s career, but you always want to leave the side and the cap in a good place, after every tour and every game. People pay a lot of money to come and watch us here in Australia. At home, the support we get is fantastic. So we’ve got to build that trust back up.”

Sanjay Bangar, India’s interim coach for the tour to Zimbabwe, has said he expects the unfamiliar conditions to prove a big challenge for his inexperienced team

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jun-2016Sanjay Bangar, India’s interim coach for the tour to Zimbabwe, has said he expects the unfamiliar conditions to prove a big challenge for his inexperienced team. Bangar highlighted the importance of the tour for these young players, given it comes at the start of the international season for them as they look to make an impression in international cricket.”Not many of them would have played in Zimbabwe and getting used to the conditions in such a short period would be a major challenge,” Bangar told . “We don’t really have a lot of time there and we play our [first] match straightaway. Passing on the information and experiences that we have had from the previous tour would be vital.”Only five members of this squad were selected for the last tour of Zimbabwe, in 2015, when India whitewashed the hosts in a three-match ODI series. This time India’s tour will consist of three ODIs and three T20Is, all of which are to be played at the Harare Sports Club. Elaborating on the challenges the team will confront, Bangar highlighted the use of the Kookaburra ball and the high altitude of the ground.”This year we are going to be playing with Kookaburra balls. We played with Duke balls last year. The Duke ball tends to do a bit more than the Kookaburra ball. We will have to go there and find out what is the behaviour of a Kookaburra ball vis-à-vis a Duke ball.”Zimbabwe is also at a higher altitude. So fielding-wise, the ball tends to travel slightly quicker. Those are the small adjustments you need to make to make sure that you are on top of the game.”India have rested their established players for the tour, instead picking a squad packed with youngsters. While the squad will be led by longtime captain MS Dhoni, who has played 275 ODIs and 68 T20Is, the remaining 15 squad members have a collective tally of 83 ODIs and 28 T20Is. Five members of the squad – Yuzvendra Chahal, Faiz Fazal, Mandeep Singh, Karun Nair and Jayant Yadav – have not played any international cricket.Given the fresh faces all around, Bangar said he would be expecting high energy levels on the field. “This team fields well, there is a lot of energy, buzz and intensity in whatever they do,” he said. “And that would be the underlying message in approaching all three departments of the game.”

Matt Coles has left Kent having declined a new offer which has left the club frustrated by his decision

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Aug-2013Matt Coles has left Kent having declined a new offer which has left the club frustrated by his decision.Coles, 23, who has represented England Lions, has had an injury-hit season including just seven Championship appearances which have brought 13 wickets at 42.23. Although viewed as an allrounder, his four-day batting average for the season is down at 17.Kent’s chairman of cricket, Graham Johnson, said: “Having seen Matt develop through the Kent system with all the support that this has provided him, it is disappointing that he feels he needs to go elsewhere in search of a way to deliver to his potential.”We wish him well and are now focused on developing our squad of players who have a desire to play for Kent and have the same vision.”Coles was one of two players – along with Ben Stokes – sent home from the Lions tour of Australia earlier this year for disciplinary reasons. He has not featured for the Lions since.

ESPNcricinfo previews the match between Delhi Daredevils and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Delhi

The Preview by Siddarth Ravindran11-Apr-2013

Match facts

Friday, April 12, 2013
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Welcome back: Virender Sehwag’s return will boost Delhi Daredevils•AFP

Big Picture

Before the IPL began, if a poll was taken to predict which team would lose its first three matches, Delhi Daredevils wouldn’t have got many votes. Despite the loss of Kevin Pietersen and Ross Taylor, the table-toppers from the previous season seemed to have enough firepower in the line-up. The absence of their spearhead Morne Morkel, busy with the domestic competition in South Africa, and Virender Sehwag, who was struggling with a bad back, set them back further. Morkel returned for the previous match but couldn’t stop Mumbai Indians’ marauding batsmen.As they look to snap their losing streak, Daredevils will be boosted by the return of Sehwag, which means they will be able to field a full-strength line-up (among players available for this season) for the first time. What will also encourage them will be the fact that they are up against Sunrisers Hyderabad, generally regarded as one of the weaker teams in the competition despite their two wins from the first three matches.Sunrisers have begun surprisingly well, largely on the back of a formidable bowling unit. Dale Steyn continues to show why he’s the premier bowler in world cricket, Amit Mishra continues to show why he has been such a success in the IPL over the past six seasons, Thisara Perera has sparkled with both bat and ball, and even Ishant Sharma, usually not the most reliable of bowlers in limited-overs, has been tidy. Their batting isn’t exactly fear-inducing though, with several little-knowns who are unlikely to be consistent match-winners.

Watch out for …

Daredevils’ spin attack: One of the big weaknesses in Daredevils’ squad last season was the lack of experienced spinners. They tried to address that by recruiting South Africa’s Johan Botha and Sri Lanka’s Jeevan Mendis, both of whom can bat as well. Neither of them have impressed in the chances they got so far. Will they turn to another overseas allrounder, Roelof van der Merwe, to partner Shahbaz Nadeem or will they give 20-year-old left-arm spinner Pawan Negi a go?Kumar Sangakkara: In the absence of Shikhar Dhawan, Sunrisers’ batting is heavily dependent on their foreign stars. While Perera and Cameron White have contributed, their captain Sangakkara hasn’t yet hit his stride. Given the limited number of game-changing batsmen in the line-up, Sunrisers need a big innings from Sangakkara soon.

Stats and trivia

• With 45 wickets for Daredevils, Morne Morkel is just one wicket behind Amit Mishra, the leading wicket-taker for the franchise
• Thisara is among the most nomadic of IPL players, having represented four different franchises in four seasons: he began with Chennai Super Kings in 2010, moved to Kochi Tuskers in 2011, switched to Mumbai Indians in 2012 and is currently with Sunrisers
• Over the past week, Sangakkara became the second wicketkeeper, after Pakistan’s Kamran Akmal, to complete 100 dismissals in Twenty20s

Quotes

“Viru (Sehwag) is improving, he is getting better with every passing day. But we will take a decision on him only tomorrow. There is still 24 hours for the match, so there is plenty of time for him to be fully fit.”

Having taken over as New Zealand coach after their last tour of India, John Wright says the warm-up match against India is a big test for his team before the World Cup

Siddarth Ravindran in Chennai15-Feb-2011Two months ago, New Zealand sank to a nine-wicket defeat at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai that completed a 0-5 one-day series loss to an India team that was without six first-choice players. That result extended a losing sequence to 11 matches, and prompted a shake-up which included John Wright’s installation as coach. New Zealand are now back at the MA Chidambaram for another crack at a near full-strength Indian team.In his pre-match press conference, John Wright was very measured, taking his time to choose the exact words he wanted for his answers. He acknowledged that a good performance against India would be hugely encouraging ahead of the World Cup.”India have played very well against New Zealand. We know that if we are to compete with India we have to play some really good cricket; this is a much bigger game for us [than the first warm-up game], because we were playing against Ireland, so for us this is a huge opportunity,” he said. “If we can perform well, it will be a great boost for our confidence. We’d be delighted to meet them [India] in a non-friendly game later in the tournament.”New Zealand have lost both the Tests and one-dayers in a home series against Pakistan since Wright took over after public clamour for his appointment, and he said the team’s fortunes won’t change overnight. “From a technical point of view, changes at this level take a long time,” he said. “So I’ve just got to help the boys work on their self-belief.”He also thought there were some positives in taking over so close to the World Cup. “Sometimes it’s good to come in when you are new, a fresh face and you get a little bit of a honeymoon period not only with the public, but sometimes with the players.”Wright barely had to reflect on his current team during a 25-minute interaction when he was inundated with questions on his five-year spell as India coach that ended in 2005, whether he would consider becoming India coach sometime in the future, the run to the 2003 final, whether India had the maturity to deal with the oversized public expectations in the World Cup, and so on.He himself “wasn’t reading too much into” his time in India and whether it would assist New Zealand’s preparations. “It’s helpful in some respects; particularly knowing conditions, perhaps, gives me a little bit of a background,” he said. “That’s only a small thing to be honest, I think the main role is helping the players play better cricket.”One of the challenges for New Zealand on Wednesday would be taming the Indian batting, which is filled with potential match-winners. Scott Styris felt the key would be to keep attacking the batsmen, even if the runs were flowing. “The Indian top six is a very good top six,” he said. “You can’t get flustered if they do come after you. As soon as you sit back and allow them to dictate terms you have lost the battle. If you continually put pressure on them, quite often at home, especially with a lot of passionate fans around, that can work in your favour.”India won their previous warm-up match, against Australia thanks to their spinners, and the Chennai track had plenty of assistance for the slow bowlers in the last game here. Ross Taylor, the vice-captain, thought the India game would indicate where New Zealand stand. “Spin is going to be a big part of this World Cup,” Taylor said. “The way we bowl spin, and the way we play spin is going to be a big part of how successful we will be as a team. Playing against India will be a good test of where we are as a team.”

Chaminda Vaas, the Sri Lankan seam bowler, has signed a contract with Northamptonshire and will turn out for the club until the end of the Friends Provident Twenty20 campaign

Cricinfo staff20-May-2010Chaminda Vaas, the Sri Lankan seam bowler, has signed a contract with Northamptonshire and will turn out for the club until the end of the Friends Provident Twenty20 campaign. He is set to arrive in time for the fixture against Surrey starting on May 24.Vaas, 36, is Sri Lanka’s most successful new-ball exponent, and second most prolific bowler behind Muttiah Muralitharan, with 761 international wickets across all formats. In recent times, he has been ignored by the Sri Lankan selectors in their aim to build a team for the future, and Vaas last represented his country in July 2009.Northants’ head coach David Capel acknowledged this was a big signing for his side. “We have secured the services of a world-class performer with enormous experience in all formats of the game,” Capel said.”This is a major boost to our hopes of success and Chaminda is with us through this vital phase of the season. Having spoken to him, I know he is very enthusiastic about coming here and is geared up for this opportunity.”Vaas proved his worth during the third season of the IPL for Deccan Chargers, where he outshone younger and faster seam-bowling team-mates Kemar Roach and Ryan Harris. While Vaas is expected to be lethal with the ball, he is also more than handy with the bat, averaging 24.32 in Tests, with a century and 13 fifties.Vaas’ presence will bolster Northants’ campaign, which has started off inconsistently in the County Championship, and with defeats in three out of four Clydesdale Bank 40 games. The side has also been dogged by off-field problems, with Virender Sehwag unable to join as planned after being barred by the BCCI, and Nicky Boje stepping down as captain earlier this week. Vaas will enhance the team’s all-round credentials, alongside Boje, new captain Andrew Hall and Zimbabwe’s Elton Chigumbura.

The club, who own Lord’s, are in a transitional period with key figures moving roles

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Aug-2024Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has started the search for a new chief executive, with incumbent Guy Lavender standing down to take up the same role at Cheltenham Racecourse.MCC, the owners of Lord’s and the custodians of the laws of the game, are in a transitional period with significant turnover in key roles. Mark Nicholas will become the club’s chairman in October, replacing Bruce Carnegie-Brown, while Mervyn King will replace Nicholas as president. Earlier this year, Rob Lynch replaced Jamie Cox as director of cricket and operations.Related

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• Rob Lynch stepping down as PCA chief to join MCC

In MCC’s statement confirming his departure, Carnegie-Brown described Lavender as an “outstanding CEO”. The club said his major achievements included leading MCC through the Covid pandemic, continuing the redevelopment of Lord’s, ensuring strong financial results and delivering major matches, including the men’s 50-over World Cup final in 2019.He has also been heavily involved in discussions with the ECB and the club’s members around the Hundred’s future, with MCC set to be given a 51% stake in London Spirit later this year. The other 49% will be sold centrally by the ECB, with Nicholas recently suggesting that several IPL franchises have registered their interest.”It has been an immense honour and privilege to have been CEO of this great club,” Lavender said. “I have every confidence that MCC will go from strength to strength. The committed, excellent and diligent staff across the club do a superb job in support of the membership and make the MCC the wonderful club it is.”MCC said that the club has already started the process for appointing a replacement, which will be lead by its nominations committee later this year. The club added that Lavender will “continue to fulfil his duties at MCC” to enable a “smooth transition period” before his departure.

Pace bowler returns to her original club on a two-year deal amid long-term injury

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jun-2022Australia quick Tayla Vlaeminck has returned to Melbourne Renegades, signing a two-year deal despite the fact she is unavailable for next season’s WBBL due to a foot stress fracture.Vlaeminck returns to Renegades where she started her WBBL career and played three seasons before moving to Hobart Hurricanes. She has returned to Melbourne to rejoin close friends Sophie Molineux and Georgia Wareham at the club.”I’m really excited that I’ve decided to come back to the Renegades,” Vlaeminck said. “It’s enticing to be back at home and close to family and friends. I’ve grown up with ‘Soph’ and ‘Wolf’ and a lot of the girls. I obviously played at the Renegades with a lot of the girls beforehand as well, so I know everyone really well and hopefully, it’s going to be an easy transition back into the team.”Vlaeminck has been ruled out of cricket for a year following another navicular stress fracture in her foot which she suffered in January during the early stages of the Ashes and meant she missed the ODI World Cup. It was the second consecutive global event injury had curtailed for her after she withdrew from the 2020 T20 World Cup.She will not play in the WBBL for Renegades in the first year of her two-year deal but will rehab under their watch. Part of her recovery to strengthen her feet has included working with The Australian Ballet.”We’re starting to make good progress now, which is nice,” Vlaeminck said. “I obviously won’t be playing this season but hopefully I’ll be able to contribute off the field, still get around the girls and help out some of the bowlers and look to play the following year, which is exciting.””Training at the ballet is something completely different…it’s been kind of cool to get into a different high-performance environment to see how that works and grab a few little things here and there which I can hopefully bring back to cricket.”Melbourne Renegades general manager James Rosengarten said Vlaeminck’s signing was a long-term investment.”Tayla won’t play this year as she continues her recovery, but we’re committed to supporting her through this period,” Rosengarten said. “She already has strong relationships at the club and we know she will be a great asset to our group off the field too.”Our list strategy is not only about building our squad for WBBL08, but to set us up to challenge over a sustained period. To have the likes of Tayla, Sophie and Georgia locked in beyond this season is fantastic and we look forward to adding more talent ahead of the season.”