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Third fifty of this campaign sees her side home by six wickets at Lord’s

ECB Reporters Network06-Jun-2024South East Stars 118 for 4 (Scholfield 50*, Grewcock 2-18) beat Sunrisers 116 for 8 (Miller 39*, Jones 2-13, Stonehouse 2-17) by six wicketsPaige Scholfield continued her rich vein of form as South East Stars cantered to a six-wicket win over hosts Sunrisers at Lord’s to remain unbeaten in this season’s Charlotte Edwards Cup.The South African-born allrounder – currently only able to bat because of an ongoing niggle – and who had made two half-centuries already in the campaign, made her third in finishing 50 not out, reaching the landmark with the winning hit, her eighth four.In truth, the chase for 117 was not an arduous one, Sunrisers having earlier been restricted to 116 for 8, Emma Jones with 2 for 13 and Alexa Stonehouse with 2 for 17 the principal wicket takers, while teenage starlet Tilly Corteen-Coleman got a wicket with her first ball of the game for the second time in the tournament. Flo Miller produced the only resistance with 39 not out from 45 balls.Sunrisers were soon in trouble. Shortly after steering the first boundary of the innings through third, skipper Grace Scrivens slashed one from Stonehouse straight to point.Corteen-Coleman bowled Alice Macleod and Sunrisers’ leading scorer in the tournament Jo Gardner then spooned Stonehouse to Sophia Dunkley at cover to depart for only 1.Mady Villiers sparkled briefly with two fours and a five from an overthrow in her 14, but when she chipped Jones to Phoebe Franklin at midwicket the hosts were in disarray at 27 for 4.That they mustered any sort of score was largely down to Miller, who played the only of innings of substance, sending a full toss from Franklin to the fence before later pulling a short one from Jones down to the Tavern boundary.Others came and went. Jodi Grewcock contributing to her own downfall with a sloppy piece of running which saw her run out by Corteen-Coleman’s direct hit, while Jones picked up a second wicket with a caught-and-bowled to see the back of Eva Gray.Dunkley (24) was quickly into stride, caressing one through the covers in the opening over of the Stars’ reply before dancing down the pitch to strike the spin of Villiers back over the top.Skipper Smith, scratchy at first, caught the mood, twice depositing short balls from Gray to the midwicket boundary. However, both departed in the same over from Grewcock, Dunkley stumped by Amara Carr as she again ventured down the wicket, while Smith nicked one through to the keeper.Jones, promoted to four, should have departed in the next over, only for two fielders to collide meaning a simple catch at mid-on was grassed. The Cambridge University student of veterinary surgery failed to profit from the life, holing out in the deep soon afterwards.Stars, though, were ahead of the rate and simply needed a steady hand on the tiller and not for the first time in the campaign that proved to be Schofield, who swept and pulled with authority in another sparkling knock. And while Phoebe Franklin departed before the end, Stars sauntered home.

The uncapped pair of Ayush Badoni and Mohsin Khan are also set to be retained by the franchise

Nagraj Gollapudi28-Oct-2024Nicholas Pooran, Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi along with the uncapped pair of Mohsin Khan and Ayush Badoni are set to be retained by Lucknow Super Giants for IPL 2025.With KL Rahul, who has led the franchise since its inception in 2022, unlikely to be retained barring any last-minute change of mind from both parties, LSG will have one right-to-match (RTM) card at the auction.The exact amount the five players have been signed up for is not yet known, but based on the retention slabs put in place by IPL, INR 51 crore will be deducted from LSG’s purse. In case aggregate sum paid to the five exceeds 51 crore, then the higher number will be deducted from the INR 120 crore purse each franchise has been given to build their squads for IPL 2025.Related

• Dhoni: 'I just want to enjoy the game for the next few years'

• KL Rahul unlikely to stay with LSG; set for mega auction

• CSK waiting on go-ahead from Dhoni before retention deadline

• How Virender Sehwag lost a fan in Glenn Maxwell

It is understood that Pooran will be the top retention followed by Mayank and Bishnoi. In 2024, Pooran was just behind Rahul on the run-charts and he also was the interim captain-cum-wicketkeeper during the first half after Rahul sat out due to a niggle.Considered one of the best power-hitters in the game, Pooran, 29, was bought by LSG ahead of the 2023 season for INR 16 crore (USD 1.927 million approx). Pooran’s price tag has continued to soar since his maiden IPL season in 2017 when Mumbai Indians bought him for INR 30 lakhs. Two years later, Punjab Kings bought him for INR 4.2 crore ($575,000 approx). At the 2022 mega auction, Sunrisers Hyderabad paid INR 10.75 crore ($1.433 million approx then) before releasing him a season later.Mayank picked up two Player-of-the-Match awards in his first two IPL matches clocking 150-plus kph deliveries in 2024. While a side strain restricted him to play just four matches, the national selectors quickly added him to the list of quicks handed fast-bowling contracts. Bought by LSG for INR 20 lakhs in the 2024 auction, Mayank has only played seven matches, all T20s: four in the IPL followed by his international debut in the T20 series against Bangladesh recently. Mayank is currently at the BCCI’s newly opened Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.Bishnoi was one of the three players LSG picked ahead of the mega auction before IPL 2022 for INR 4 crore, as he was then an uncapped player. In 2022, when LSG made the playoffs, Bishnoi picked up 13 wickets at 8.44. A year later, now an international, Bishnoi was 13th on the list of leading wicket-takers, with 16 wickets at 7.74 and played a role in LSG reaching the playoffs once again. Last season, though, he picked up only 10 wickets in 14 matches at 8.77.Mayank Yadav’s maiden IPL season was disrupted by injury•AFP/Getty Images

Badoni and Mohsin, both uncapped and bought for INR 20 lakhs each in the 2022 auction, have been integral to LSG’s success. An aggressive middle-order batter, Badoni’s best season came in 2023 when he made 238 runs at a strike rate of 138 in 12 innings. He recently also played in the Emerging Series for India A.Mohsin, the 6’3″ left-arm fast bowler from Uttar Pradesh, impressed straightaway in his maiden IPL season in 2022. He picked up 14 wickets at a sub-6 economy in just nine matches which made him one of the potential candidates for the T20 World Cup later that year. He was not considered due to a career-threatening injury where he nearly lost an arm. Mohsin, however, bounced back playing in the second half of the 2023 season and finished 2024 with 10 wickets in 10 matches.

England opener has agreed a white-ball only contract with Nottinghamshire until the end of the 2019 season

George Dobell20-Feb-2018Alex Hales has become the latest England player to choose a future as a white-ball specialist.Just days after Adil Rashid announced he would play only white-ball cricket for Yorkshire this season, Hales has agreed a white-ball only contract with Nottinghamshire until the end of the 2019 season. A club statement clarifies: “He will not play red-ball cricket.”While Hales and Rashid had both lost their places in England’s Test team (Hales played the last of his 11 Tests against Pakistan in August 2016), a recall for either of them was far from impossible. Hales had been considered for a place in the Ashes squad and will have noted that none of his rivals took the opportunity to make that spot their own.But with the growth in T20 leagues promising a lucrative future for those with the talent – and Hales, as the first England player to make a T20I century and, until recently, the holder of the highest score by an England batsman in an ODI, clearly has the talent – he may have concluded that the benefits of improvement in red-ball cricket do not match the rewards for his continued success in white-ball cricket. He may also have reasoned that the ability to concentrate on white-ball skills without the complications or demands of red-ball cricket would allow him greater scope for improvement.It might also be relevant that Hales missed out on an IPL deal this year. If he can demonstrate improved T20 form – and assure potential bidders that he will not be required to leave the tournament early to report for county duty – he will surely make himself more attractive to potential suitors in future years.”Alex is entitled to make himself available for whatever format he wants to play, and we respect his decision,” Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket, Mick Newell, said. “He’s an outstanding white-ball player and we look forward to him helping us win more trophies in that format of the game.”Hales had previously vowed to reinvent himself as a middle-order batsman in first-class cricket. Having accepted that his game was just a little loose for the demands of opening, he had talked of moving back down the order – it had always been his preferred place to bat in first-class cricket – and aiming for a spot in England’s Test middle-order. The reality of that, however – long days in the field; long days working on technique and negotiating the moving ball in early-season conditions without any guarantee of success – has lost out to the possibilities presented by a future as a limited-overs specialist.”For the next 18 months I’m excited to focus entirely on limited-overs cricket,” Hales said in a post on his Twitter account. “The decision to focus on my white-ball game wasn’t taken lightly or on the spur of the moment; it’s one I’ve thought long and hard about. It’s also one I’ve discussed at length with the Notts management. I’d like to thank them for their continued support.”While Hales and Rashid have been at pains to state they have not retired from red-ball cricket, this news will reinforce the impression that the first-class game faces an uncertain future. Struggling to attract crowds (in many parts of the world, at least) and often more demanding of the participants, it is now clearly struggling to retain some of its more attractive players. The suspicion remains that, once the 2019 World Cup is finished, the 50-over game, may also struggle to retain the involvement of the best players.All of which leaves the obvious question: who is next? The attractions of specialising in limited-overs cricket, for fast bowlers in particular, are obvious.

While RCB’s bowling woes continue, Maxwell has “no injury concerns” as of now

Abhimanyu Bose14-Apr-20242:54

What’s gone wrong with Siraj this season?

Match details

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (10th; P6 W1 L5) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (5th; P5 W3 L2)
Bengaluru, 7.30pm IST (2pm GMT)

Big picture – Can RCB withstand SRH’s power at the Chinnaswamy?

After making the playoffs for three seasons in a row and then narrowly missing out last year, RCB are having a horror campaign, having slumped to five defeats in their first six games. Their bowling has been a major area of concern, with captain Faf du Plessis admitting they “don’t have as many weapons” with the ball. In RCB’s last game, they saw Mumbai Indians chase 199 inside 16 overs. And on Monday, they will be up against another batting juggernaut in Sunrisers Hyderabad.With Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma at the top, Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen in the middle and the power of Abdul Samad and Pat Cummins, Sunrisers have a batting line-up that’s not just explosive, but also runs deep. Earlier in the season, they posted the highest total in IPL history (277), beating RCB’s 263, and are the second-quickest scoring team in IPL 2024. Sunrisers’ big-hitters will be licking their lips at the prospect of playing against RCB at the Chinnaswamy, where the boundaries are short and the ball flies a long way.In contrast, RCB have the third-worst economy rate this season with the ball. With Mohammed Siraj having a below-par season, and a spin attack that has failed to be a threat to opposition batters, RCB know they have a huge challenge on their hands when they go up against Klaasen and co.Du Plessis has already said that the onus is on their batters to do the heavy lifting, and the positives RCB can take is that their skipper and Rajat Patidar found some form in the last game, and Dinesh Karthik continued to be impactful as a finisher.Virat Kohli, who is the leading run-scorer in the IPL, also has an excellent record against Sunrisers, scoring quicker against them than any other team in the competition.

Form guide

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: LLLLW (most recent matches first)
Sunrisers Hyderabad: WWLWL

Team news and Impact Player strategy

Royal Challengers Bengaluru
RCB have chopped and changed, using as many as 19 players this season – only Delhi Capitals have used more (20) – and they have been forced to tweak their combinations due to in-season injuries. RCB had an injury scare when Glenn Maxwell suffered a blow to his thumb and went for scans. But RCB’s director of cricket Mo Bobat said on Sunday Maxwell is “okay at the minute” and “there’s no injury concerns”. Just in case Maxwell is unfit, Cameron Green could return to the XI, having been replaced by Will Jacks in their last game. Saurav Chauhan or Anuj Rawat will likely come in as the Impact Player if RCB are chasing, or go out for a bowler if batting first.Probable XII: 1 Faf du Plessis (capt), 2 Virat Kohli, 3 Will Jacks, 4 Glenn Maxwell/Cameron Green, 5 Rajat Patidar, 6 Mahipal Lomror, 7 Dinesh Karthik, 8 , 9 Akash Deep, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Reece Topley, 12 2:39

Is it time for Sunrisers to unleash Umran Malik?

Sunrisers Hyderabad
Sunrisers are unlikely to make any changes to their team as they continue to build momentum around the halfway stage of the tournament. T Natarajan will likely come in as the Impact Player if they have to defend a target, and they can get Rahul Tripathi in as an extra batter if they are chasing.Probable XII: 1 Travis Head, 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Aiden Markram, 4 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 5 , 6 Heinrich Klaasen, 7 Abdul Samad, 8 Shahbaz Ahmed, 9 Pat Cummins, 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Jaydev Unadkat, 12

In the spotlight – Will Jacks and Travis Head

RCB made a big call to bench Green, who they bought in a cash trade for INR 17.5 crore, in the last game and brought on the highly-rated Will Jacks. Jacks showed glimpses of what he can do before chipping a catch for 8, but there are high expectations from him. With a T20 strike rate of 158.60, Jacks can help take the pressure off an under-fire RCB batting line-up.Travis Head is up against the team he made his IPL debut for, and he will be looking for a big score. After a 62 against Mumbai, Head has not really made a significant score and will be looking to make another big impact. He will also be fed plenty of pace, which suits him just fine. The Chinnaswamy may just be the best venue for him to go big again.

Stats that matter

• Sunrisers have won just two of their eight matches at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and have the worst win percentage among all IPL teams at the venue.
• The battle of the finishers: Dinesh Karthik (243.90) and Heinrich Klaasen (263.15) are among the quickest scorers in the death overs this season.
• RCB’s bowling average in the powerplay this year is 91.75 – by far the worst for any team in any season. Kolkata Knight Riders in 2018 had the previous worst powerplay bowling average in a season (68.38)

Pitch and conditions

The Chinnaswamy pitch has not been as batter-friendly as in the previous years. It’s been slightly two-paced, and the average first-innings score has dropped to 180 this season, as compared to 190.8 from IPL 2021 onwards.

Quotes

“So I think you have to keep challenging yourself to try to take wickets because any team can score that 60-70 at the back-end, in the last four or five overs. So I think no score is safe. And you always feel you’re in the game, particularly when you’re chasing. I think most teams will come here and try to chase because they feel it’s easier to navigate the innings when you know what’s in front of you.”

Five-wicket haul condemns Sussex to heavy defeat in Cardiff

ECB Reporters Network12-May-2024Glamorgan secured a nine-wicket victory over Sussex in the Vitality County Championship with Andy Gorvin starring on his way to career-best figures of five for 40.Glamorgan were dismissed for 411 in the opening overs of day three to lead Sussex by 133 runs on first innings.A flurry of wickets at the start of the Sussex innings put them a long way behind in this contest and they never really recovered from that position as Glamorgan bowled them out for 188. Gorvin’s five wickets were supported by three for 34 from Mir Hamza and two for 21 from Mason Crane.Glamorgan needed 7.5 overs to reach their victory target to claim 23 points from this game with Sussex managing four bonus points.The morning started with Glamorgan’s innings coming to an end thanks to a direct-hit run-out from Tom Haines with no runs added to the overnight total. From there it had a very familiar feel to the second morning of this match as the new ball wrought chaos with five wickets falling for 32 runs, three of those on the same score.Hamza claimed the first three wickets with balls that moved more than enough to have the Sussex top-order searching for answers. Tom Clark and Tom Alsop were trapped lbw and the Pakistan international induced an edge to third slip from Haines.At 32 for three the Sussex team were looking to the experienced pair of Cheteshwar Pujara and John Simpson to put together a rescue effort similar to what Colin Ingram and Kiran Carlson managed on the second day for Glamorgan. That didn’t transpire, Gorvin dismissed them both in his first over, with late movement once again the issue for the Sussex batters.There was a sizeable partnership that took Sussex back into the lead, with James Coles and Fynn Hudson-Prentice putting on a stand worth 118 which was impressive in its counterattacking nature. Hudson-Prentice took just 47 balls to reach his half century and the Sussex run rate was over four for most of the day.Hudson-Prentice fell when he chipped a ball from Gorvin to mid-wicket for 70. When Gorvin trapped Danny Lamb lbw he moved on to career-best figures as Sussex were reduced to 164 for seven, just 31 runs in front of Glamorgan.Gorvin completed his maiden five wicket haul when he dismissed Jack Carson lbw for one but not long afterwards the players left the field for nearly two hours as a result of heavy rain.When play did resume there were 29 overs left in the day with Sussex 53 runs in front with two second innings wickets intact. It did not take long after the resumption for Glamorgan to wrap up the Sussex innings. Ari Karvelas was caught behind off Mason Crane and Jayden Seales launched the ball straight in the air off the next delivery and he was caught in the covers.This set Glamorgan a target of 56 to claim their first County Championship win since May 2023. Billy Root scored 36 of the runs that Glamorgan needed as they secured victory inside three days.

Afghanistan counterattacked in the chase but eventually fell to a 42-run loss

Madushka Balasuriya09-Feb-2024Pathum Nissanka’s historic double ton ensured Sri Lanka withstood a spirited Afghanistan counterattack to record a 42-run victory in the first ODI at Pallekele and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.That Afghanistan even got that close was down to a record 242-run stand between Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi, the second-highest sixth-wicket stand in ODI history. Omarazai ended on a 115-ball 149, while Nabi scored 136 off 130, as Afghanistan fell short but with their heads held high.It would leave them wondering perhaps what might have been had there been more substantial contributions from their top order, but in a chase of the mammoth 382-run target set by Sri Lanka, many fell wanting in searching for a fast start.Related

• Pathum Nissanka hits Sri Lanka's first double-century in ODIs

• Pathum Nissanka, Sri Lanka's first double-centurion? Who'd have thought?

Pramod Madushan did the most damage sending three of Afghanistan’s top four packing inside the first powerplay. The right-handed Rahmanullah Gurbaz and the left-handed Hashmatullah Shahidi were both done in by in-duckers, Madushan adept at moving the ball both ways – either through the air or off the surface.In between the two he had Ibrahim Zadran caught at slip, and returned later in the game to break the stand between Nabi and Omarzai. He finished with figures of 4 for 75.With Dushmantha Chameera accounting for the scalps of Rahmat Shah and Gulbadin Naib at the other end, Afghanistan found themselves staring down the barrel of an ignominious defeat, having stumbled to 55 for 5 midway through the ninth over.But that was when the fightback began, as the pair of Omarzai and Nabi resolved early on to take the game as deep as possible.With not much batting to follow, it was clear the pair could not take undue risks, nevertheless they found boundaries to ensure the run rate never got too out of hand. That said, it wasn’t until the 36th over that their scoring rate went beyond six an over, by which point the required rate was touching 12 an over.By the 40th over the requirement was 137 needed off 60 deliveries, a tall ask but put into context by the fact that Sri Lanka had struck 120 in the same period.In the end the asking rate proved too much, especially with Sri Lanka having multiple overs available from each of their frontline bowlers.Mohammad Nabi is the oldest player to score an ODI hundred•AFP/Getty Images

It also put into perspective the batting effort put in by the Lankans, particularly the outstanding Nissanka, whose 210 had come off just 139 deliveries.Avishka Fernando, with a run-a-ball 88, was the next highest scorer, as he and Nissanka put on a 182-run opening stand – Sri Lanka’s first century opening stand in nine innings, and just the third to hit double digits in that period. But that was just the start of Afghanistan’s misery.The visitors, who had opted to go with a four-strong seam attack, were left to rue their decision to bowl first having won the toss, with conditions proving ideal for batting. After a subdued start in the opening five in which just 22 runs were scored, Nissanka began to let loose.There was a subdued period through the middle overs when Nabi was rifling through his overs, but at the start and the death the Afghan bowlers were at Nissanka’s mercy.Omarzai was the first to feel the heat, taken for back-to-back boundaries through midwicket and then cover. Two overs later Fareed Ahmad was taken for 19, inclusive of two fours and a six – the latter off a free hit. Ahmad went for a further 17 in his next over, Avishka doing the brunt of the damage on that occasion, as Sri Lanka raced to 90 by the end of the 10th over.The scoring tapered from there on, the occasional flurry of boundaries serving to keep the scoring rate hovering around the seven an over mark. It took a scorching grab from Hashmatullah Shahidi at backward point to bring an end to the opening stand, as Avishka flayed a wide one hard to his right.Kusal Mendis’ entry saw more of the same, as he scrounged around for a 31-ball 16 before skying a miscued shot after coming down the track. The entry of Sadeera Samarawickrama, midway through the 36th over, though was the catalyst for Sri Lanka to shift gears, as his ability to rotate strike and find boundaries dovetailed perfectly with Nissanka, who was beginning to see the ball bigger with every stroke.Their stand of 121 came off just 71 deliveries and scaled up in the final 10 overs. Of the 120 runs ransacked in this period Nissanka alone accounted for 76 of them.Having earlier brought up his century with a single eased to deep cover, he brought up his 150 with a double past backward point. But those milestones were surrounded by belligerence.Noor Ahmad was slog-swept twice in an over, with the wind, over deep midwicket. Fazalhaq Farooqi was clobbered down the ground, flicked over square leg, heaved over deep midwicket and paddled behind square. And when all else failed Afghanistan turned back to Fareed, but Nissanka would not err.Having failed to get away a string of wide Fareed yorkers two overs prior, Nissanka squeezed the first such attempt in the final over past backward point to bring up his double ton. Two balls later he swung one high over square leg and then he crashed a drive to deep extra cover to finish the innings.It was a knock worthy of winning any game, and so it proved in the end.

Batter to miss Test series for personal reasons; Dan Lawrence named as replacement

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jan-2024Harry Brook has withdrawn from England’s Test squad to tour India for personal reasons. He is set to miss the start of the five-Test series, with England calling up Dan Lawrence as his replacement.The team were due to arrive in Hyderabad on Sunday, ahead of the start of the first Test on Thursday, but Brook will no longer be with the party having travelled home from the team’s training camp in the UAE instead.The ECB said in a statement: “Harry Brook is set to return home with immediate effect for personal reasons from the England Men’s Test tour of India. The Brook family respectfully requests privacy during this time. In light of this, the ECB and the family kindly request the media and the public to respect their wish for privacy and refrain from intruding on their private space.”Although officially ruled out of the entire tour, ESPNcricinfo understands that Brook could still return at a later date.Related

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The loss of Brook comes as a significant blow to England’s attempts to become the first team to win a Test series in India in more than a decade. Since making his debut in the final Test of the 2022 summer, he has averaged 62.15, at a strike rate of 91.76, from 12 appearances, with four hundreds.He was briefly promoted to No. 3 during the Ashes, after Ollie Pope suffered a series-ending shoulder injury, before Moeen Ali moved up as a stopgap. Pope is fit to return in India, meaning England will have to rethink their middle order.Brook’s absence could see England deploy Jonny Bairstow as a specialist batter once again, filling the gap at No. 5, with Ben Foakes available to keep wicket.ESPNcricinfo understands that Brook could still return at a later date•Getty Images

Lawrence, the spare batter with the Test squad last summer, had only recently arrived in the UAE for the ILT20 after a stint at the Big Bash League, but will make his way to India in the next couple of days. Lawrence’s last Test appearance came in March 2022, on the tour of the Caribbean, shortly before the dual appointments of Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes as coach and captain helped to revitalise the side.There are also a number of back-up options among the England Lions party currently in India, Josh Bohannon, in particular, impressing with a century in Ahmedabad earlier this week.England will train at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Monday, having spent the last ten days in Abu Dhabi acclimatising for the tour.

The BCCI has said it is getting closer to narrowing down its list of difficulties in implementing the Lodha Committee’s reforms to “three or four”

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jul-2017The BCCI has said it is getting closer to narrowing down its list of difficulties in implementing the Lodha Committee’s reforms to “three or four”. The seven-member panel set up by the BCCI to study their implementation met on Saturday, and achieved a “huge amount of unanimity”, according to its convener, the BCCI’s acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary.The panel is set to meet again on July 7, when it will look to finalise a report that it will present before a Special General Meeting (SGM) that the BCCI will have to conduct before July 14, when the Supreme Court will next hear the case. Following the SGM, the BCCI will hand over its final list of difficulties to the Committee of Administrators, the court-appointed panel tasked with running the BCCI until fresh elections under the Lodha guidelines.”I can tell you that there was a huge amount of unanimity among all members including [Cricket Association of Bengal president] Sourav Ganguly, who was present through Skype,” Choudhary said on Saturday.He added that the members had agreed unanimously on “six or seven” points, but did not want to reveal what they were until they had been narrowed down to a final “three or four”. He indicated that the unanimously agreed-upon areas of difficulty were ones the BCCI had already spoken about in the past.The board is understood to be inclined to incorporate most of the Lodha committee’s recommendations, except for policies such as the age cap of 70 years for office bearers, the tenure cap of nine years with cooling-off periods in between, the one-state-one-vote policy, and the trimming down of the number of selectors from five to three.”I could well do that [reveal the six or seven areas of difficulty], but I think all of you know it,” Choudhary said. “We are trying to reduce the gamut of difficulties to three or four, and in that exercise we have succeeded very substantially today. The small bits which are left we will finish them [on July 7].”[By then,] instead of talking about 5-6-7 points, I’m certain that I will be talking about three or four only. The other three will unnecessarily get attention [otherwise].”Choudhary was confident the BCCI would be able to conduct a Special General Meeting (SGM) before July 14.”I’m sure you’ll have a copy of that one-page document which states clearly, delineates, that the honourable Supreme Court of India’s next date on the subject is the 14th of July,” Choudhary said. “It also says that we have to dispose this matter expeditiously, and it’s a matter of urgent nature. We exhausted the dictionary, so to say, and we are acting upon it.”On the question of Niranjan Shah’s presence in the BCCI’s committee, Choudhary clarified that the former Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) president was only part of it as a “special invitee” rather than one of the seven full members. Shah is at present disqualified from holding office either in the BCCI or any of its state associations since he is over the stipulated age limit of 70. Choudhary dismissed any confusion over Shah’s role in the panel as an issue of “semantics”.”He’s a special invitee,” Choudhary said. “You are getting into semantics. By trying to distinguish between the technical status of a person who’s attending the meeting… I have answered your question, whether he is a member or an invitee. I said he’s an invitee.”

He is in the mix for selection for the upcoming tournament with board president Faruque and ODI captain Shanto giving their nods already

Mohammad Isam08-Jan-2025Shakib Al Hasan is awaiting the result of a second test of his bowling action from Chennai in India after failing his previous assessment from UK’s Loughborough University that had left him suspended from bowling in top-flight domestic and international cricket.Shakib was reported for a suspect action during an English county match in September. This prompted the ECB’s action, and, in accordance with clause 11.3 of the ICC’s regulations for illegal bowling actions, his suspension was automatically recognised and enforced by the ICC in international cricket and by all national cricket federations in their respective domestic competitions.Shakib is expecting a result from the Chennai centre in a day or two, which is also keeping the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) from naming their Champions Trophy squad. Shakib is in consideration after board president Faruque Ahmed said on January 3 that he wants Shakib back in the team. It was also reported recently that Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto gave his nod to the BCB about Shakib’s return for ODIs.Related

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• Champions Trophy 2025: Shakib Al Hasan, and other topics on Bangladesh's selectors' plate

• Shakib suspended from bowling in all top-level cricket, domestic and international

Shakib had been out of international cricket since he played the two Tests in India last year. He couldn’t travel to Bangladesh in the face of students’ protests. Shakib was a member of parliament of the Awami League government, which resigned from power in the face of student-led revolution in Bangladesh, on August 5.After the two Tests in India however, Shakib was reported for suspected action in England. The suspension came in December. He was already playing franchise cricket in UAE and Sri Lanka, as the BCB were also weighing his options for selection, to stay in line with Bangladesh’s interim government.BCB’s chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain said on Wednesday that he heard that Shakib has undergone a second bowling action test in Chennai, but couldn’t confirm the details.”It was very shocking to hear that Shakib couldn’t pass the bowling action test [at Loughborough],” Gazi said. “I will have to find out whether he has tested himself again. We have to wait for this information. The board hasn’t instructed us fully on Shakib. I think every minute counts. I am sure we can clarify this in a day or two.”Mohammad Salahuddin meanwhile said that he has given some tips over a video call to Shakib in the last few weeks to help him correct his bowling action issue.”He already went through the test,” Salahuddin told on Tuesday. “I know the A-Z of Shakib’s bowling. I couldn’t go and train him (in India). I think he knows what to do. We discussed a few things about what he has to do with his arm. We don’t need a big change in his bowling action. He can do it quickly too. But when an allegation comes, a person usually has to think about it.”Salahuddin said that Shakib couldn’t bowl with a correct action in an effort to impart more spin on the ball during the county game in Taunton in September. Shakib was trying to get some cricket with a red-ball ahead of Bangladesh’s tour of India.”I think it was due to extreme workload. Maybe he tried to impart more spin on the ball, for which he needed to use his upper body,” Salahuddin said. “It must have been one or two balls which came into question. When you can’t get strength from your legs, you have to drive from your arms. It is natural. I think he can fix it.”

The New Zealand batter was on 17 when he was caught backing up early by Hasan Mahmud, but he was quickly offered a second life

Mohammad Isam23-Sep-2023Bangladesh captain Litton Das recalled batter Ish Sodhi after fast bowler Hasan Mahmud had run out the New Zealand player when he left the crease early at the non-striker’s end.Senior Bangladesh batter Tamim Iqbal spoke about the incident at the post-match press conference and appeared to be against bringing batters back after dismissing them. Sodhi was on 17 off 26 balls when he was called back. After the reprieve, he scored 18 off 13 with the help of two sixes.The incident took place in the 46th over when Mahmud broke the wicket in his bowling stride as Sodhi backed up early. The bowler appealed to umpire Marais Erasmus who went straight to the TV umpire. Replays showed that Sodhi was out of his crease when Mahmud dislodged the bails.Sodhi walked off with a smile on his face but as he neared the boundary rope, Bangladesh’s captain Litton told the umpire that he wanted to call Sodhi back. Informed of the gesture, Sodhi ran back to the middle and gave Mahmud a hug.Litton’s decision could be seen as surprising considering the run-out at the non-striker’s end was destigmatised last year by the MCC. In March 2022, the MCC moved the wording of this dismissal from Law 41 (Unfair play) to Law 38 (Run out), to remove some of the stigma around such dismissals.”The bowler is always painted as the villain but it is a legitimate way to dismiss someone and it is the non-striker who is stealing the ground,” Fraser Stewart, MCC Laws Manager, told the , at the time. “It is legitimate, it is a run-out and therefore it should live in the run-out section of the laws.”New Zealand finished on 254 all out in 49.2 overs.