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Skipper Pat Cummins, David Warner and Ashton Agar also named but Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out due to his Achilles issue

Alex Malcolm22-Feb-2023Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh and Jhye Richardson are set to make long-awaited returns to international cricket in the upcoming three-match ODI series against India after being named alongside skipper Pat Cummins, David Warner and Ashton Agar in Australia’s 16-man squad.But Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the ODIs after flying home from the Test series due to Achilles tendonitis as selectors opted for him to continue his recovery at home with an eye to the World Test Championship final and the Ashes, following his intended involvement in the IPL.”It would be great for Josh to be part of this series but we have taken a conservative view ahead of a very important winter in England of which he will be an integral part,” Australia chair of selectors George Bailey said.Australia’s ODI squad for the India series•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Maxwell and Marsh have both been named following prolonged periods on the sidelines. Maxwell broke his leg in a freak accident in November and has only returned to playing in the last week.He made 61 for his club side Fitzroy-Doncaster in his first game back in Victorian premier cricket before playing in this week’s Sheffield Shield game against South Australia at the Junction Oval. He made scores of 5 and 0 and did not bowl in Victoria’s 177-run win.Marsh has not played since the three-match ODI series against England in November last year in the week after the T20 World Cup after undergoing ankle surgery. Marsh was battling an ankle injury that has been ongoing throughout his career. The issue had kept him out of an ODI series against New Zealand last year and a three-match T20I series against India prior to the World Cup.He opted to miss the BBL and have the ankle cleaned out to be fit for the India ODI series and the IPL. Marsh has not yet returned to competitive cricket but is expected to play in Western Australia’s 50-over Marsh Cup match against Tasmania on Sunday as well as the Marsh Cup final, with Western Australia set to host it on March 8.Mitchell Marsh hasn’t played since November•Getty Images

Richardson has not played international cricket since the Sri Lanka limited-overs tour in the middle of last year. He has been plagued by soft tissue injuries this summer while playing for Western Australia and Perth Scorchers.He has managed just one 50-over match, two Shield appearances and seven BBL matches since then and he missed the Scorchers’ BBL title win after suffering a serious hamstring injury halfway through the tournament.”With the World Cup just over seven months away, these matches in India are an important step in our preparation,” Bailey said. “Glenn, Mitchell and Jhye are all important players in what we think the squad might look like come October.”Cummins, Warner and Agar have all been included despite leaving India this week during the Border-Gavaskar Test series to return home for various reasons. Cummins has made an emergency dash home for family reasons but he is booked to return and play the final two Tests and the ODI series.Related

• Steven Smith to captain Australia in ODI series against India

• Glenn Maxwell: 'Recovery hasn't happened as fast as I would have liked'

• Mitchell Marsh 'confident' to play as a specialist batter during India ODIs

• Agar returns home from India to play Sheffield Shield and Marsh Cup

• David Warner ruled out of final two Tests due to elbow fracture

There is no official vice-captain named in the ODI squad with Hazlewood standing in as captain for one ODI against England last November. Australia’s selectors want to be flexible with the ODI leadership and have a group of players including Test vice-captain Steven Smith, Alex Carey, Marsh and Hazlewood as back-up captaincy options if Cummins does not play.Warner flew home on Wednesday having been ruled out of the final two Tests after suffering a hairline fracture in his left elbow but he will be fit for the ODI series where he is set to open alongside Travis Head.Agar arrived home on Wednesday to play some domestic cricket in Australia after a discussion with tour selector Tony Dodemaide. He has slipped from the second spinner in Australia’s Test XI in Sydney to the fifth-choice spinner in the Test squad in a matter of weeks and it was decided he would be better served playing Shield and Marsh Cup cricket for WA before returning for the ODI series where he will likely be one of two specialist spinners picked alongside Adam Zampa.

“We respect his feelings but once I explained to him, he understood,” says head coach Mohammad Akram

Umar Farooq15-Dec-2021Peshawar Zalmi have confirmed that Kamran Akmal will “very much be a part” of the franchise, and that he will be playing for the team next season. Akmal also confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that he was on board with Zalmi and that the misunderstanding between the two parties had been cleared.On Sunday, Akmal said he felt “humiliated” after being picked up in the lowest category at the PSL draft, and refused to take part in the next edition of the PSL. Akmal had been relegated from the Diamond to the Gold category on draft day, and Zalmi made him their last pick, from the Silver category, against his wish. The back-to-back demotions didn’t go well with Akmal, who is the most-capped player in PSL history as well as the tournament’s second-highest run-scorer.”For me self-respect is foremost and it’s not about money,” Akmal told ESPNcricinfo. “Had it about the more money I could have left Zalmi long ago but they are like a family and I never imagined leaving them. It’s the process that basically was surprising and how the board disregards the senior cricketers. It’s hurtful as it’s a domestic tournament and I am not done yet. It’s the passion for the game that kept me going and the performance that matters. I am not looking at the international level as I know I don’t deserve it but at PSL I think I deserve a lot at this level. Zalmi is my pride and I will be playing for them.”Related

• Kamran Akmal 'humiliated' after PSL draft

• Draft picks, retained players and potential XIs: How PSL teams stack up ahead of the seventh edition

According to PSL draft rules, if any player isn’t picked up in their nominated category, he has to give a consent to be picked up in the lower category, but players often set a limit for the demotion. In Akmal’s case, he reportedly never wanted to be picked in a category lower than Gold. However, Zalmi selected him anyway in the Silver category, though they elevated his monetary value by naming him a mentor.”We have a great respect for Kamran,” Mohammad Akram, Zalmi’s head coach, told ESPNcricinfo. “Picking him in the Silver category was a part of our strategy as draft dictates who you pick at what stage. We had the right-to-match card with us and we saved it for him in case any team could have tried to pick him. So when you have a tool to protect your player you make sure that he isn’t hurt money wise.”We respect his feelings but once I explained to him, he understood. We lifted him in the silver category but at the same time we named him as mentor as well. He is a very senior cricketer and as a coach I get motivation from his passion and hunger and hard work that he still puts in like an Under-19 boy. So it’s all sorted and he is very much part of our side.”Akmal’s PSL record carries significance as he has 1820 runs from 69 games, the run tally second only to Babar Azam’s 2070 from 58 games. Akmal has scored his runs at a strike rate of 136.84 and is the only one to have scored three hundreds; Sharjeel Khan has two. A Zalmi player from the start of the competition in 2016, Akmal is also the leading wicketkeeper in the PSL with 60 dismissals to his name.Before the draft, the PCB opened up a trade and retention window allowing each franchise to retain up to eight players, and Zalmi chose not to retain Akmal, the plan being to pick him from the draft instead. Wahab Riaz, the captain of the team, was retained, while Shoaib Malik was acquired from the Diamond category. The team has also brought in Mohammad Harris as an additional wicketkeeper.

She reiterated her stance that success of women’s competitions is contingent upon the participation of the “best players from around the world”

Annesha Ghosh22-Aug-20201:53

Alyssa Healy: South Africa’s T20 World Cup semi-final run part of WBBL’s success

Alyssa Healy has reiterated her stance that the success of women’s domestic competitions such as the WBBL and the Women’s T20 Challenge is contingent upon the participation of the “best players from around the world.” Stressing on South Africa women’s run to the T20 World Cup semi-finals earlier this year as a testament to the WBBL as a springboard to international success, Healy said she hoped that decision-making around scheduling of domestic tournaments is determined only by what’s “actually best” for women’s cricket.”The women’s game is naturally different to the men’s game. Sometimes, decisions that are made at the top level for the men’s game doesn’t necessarily reflect what we need within women’s cricket,” Healy, the premier Australia and Sydney Sixers wicketkeeper-batter, told ESPNcricinfo during a chat on Beyond the Boundary, the ICC’s recently released documentary on the 2020 T20 World Cup. “Hopefully, the boards are deciding what’s best for the women’s game because it is best for the women’s game.”Healy, who had earlier expressed her discontent on Twitter about the clash in scheduling of the T20 Challenge, the Indian T20 tournament considered a prelude to an IPL-style women’s league, weeks after the schedule for the upcoming edition of the WBBL had been announced, explained the reasoning behind her displeasure.”Personally, why I was so vocal about that clash was that there’s no need for domestic competitions around the world to clash in the women’s game at the moment,” Healy said. “There’s plenty of time throughout the year to schedule these events.”For me, personally, it’s something I will absolutely love to be involved in, but I have got a WBBL to be part of and, for me, that’s the premier domestic competition in the world right now for T20 cricket. And, for me, I can’t turn down a contract like that to be able to go elsewhere to play in another domestic competition.”ALSO READ: ‘Opportunity to play four big events in 2022 daunting but exciting’To underscore the role of the WBBL in the growth of international cricket, Healy called to mind the T20 World Cup campaign of South Africa, whose appearance in this year’s semi-finals was just the second such instance in seven editions of the 20-over world tournament. Although they were knocked out by hosts and eventual champions Australia, South Africa’s three straight wins, including against last edition’s runners-up England, en route to topping Group B, remained a highlight.For the sixth edition of the WBBL, to be held from October 17 to November 29, six South Africa players, including captain Dane van Niekerk, have already signed contracts across five franchises. Their availability for the three-team T20 Challenge, scheduled to run from November 1-10 on the sidelines of the IPL in the UAE, therefore, remains unlikely, and most top Australia and New Zealand players are also set to miss out.”In my mind, there’s no need that they need to clash,” Healy said. “And, ultimately, for these competitions to thrive, we want the best players from around the world to take part in it and we’ve seen the success of the WBBL over the last five years and the success that it’s led to in international cricket.”Think those seven or eight South African players in the Big Bash last year – it’s no coincidence that they were in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup earlier this year. So I just think it’s great for the women’s game as a whole.”Alyssa Healy was a part of the Women’s T20 Challenge match in 2018•BCCI

The overlap also thrust the participation of the Indian contingent in the WBBL that ESPNcricinfo understands was to feature at least four players, including two debutants, into uncertainty. The Australian players had missed the T20 Challenge last year too.While Healy hoped that the T20 Challenge this year is a success and pledged her support for it as well as a potential “fully fledged” variant of it, she suggested that slotting in the WBBL and the T20 Challenge “at opposite ends of the year potentially” might go some way towards helping Australians and other internationals play in both tournaments.”It’s fantastic there’s talk of a women’s IPL [T20 Challenge]; I’d love to see a fully fledged one [an IPL-style women’s league],” Healy said. “I’d be standing right behind it and supporting it wherever I can. It’s great that the BCCI are talking about making that happen for the domestic players in India. I think it’s the next step for them to have a fully-fledged competition of their own, just like the WBBL as we have seen – what’s it’s done for women’s cricket in this country.”I just hope it didn’t clash and I would like to see them play at opposite ends of the year potentially – whatever it might look like, so that us international cricketers can stick our hand up, and come over and support and play a role, if we are wanted. That was probably why I was so vocal about it. But, in saying that, it is such a fantastic thing for Indian cricket to have their own competition and I hope it’s really successful for them.”

Paul Edwards at Old Trafford14-May-2019
There was the unmistakable smack of modernity about the cricket at Old Trafford on the first day of this game – yet there was also a pleasing air of timelessness. For all that Northamptonshire’s side contained two loan signings and Lancashire’s its third Australian debutant of the season, the cosmopolitan make-up of the teams could not quite silence echoes from say, the 1960s, when the first-class season comprised nothing more than a knockout competition and the three-day County Championship.Though so much has changed, today’s county professionals still know what their predecessors faced. Both these teams have over two months of red-ball games ahead of them and whatever the transient gaiety of the Blast might yield, even white-ball specialists like Luke Wright insist that it is upon championship performances that most cricketers are still judged.So Richard Gleeson will be a contented man this Tuesday evening. Injured at the start of the season and left out of Lancashire’s side for the Royal London Cup, Gleeson made good use of a lively first-day pitch to take 5 for 63 against the county to whom he owes so much for helping him revive his career. By sticking to a tight line, he justified Dane Vilas’s decision to bat first, a choice whose merit was not lessened by the dismissal five overs before the close of Haseeb Hameed, caught behind for 7 when he pushed forward to a good ball from Ben Sanderson.That wicket was a setback for Lancashire but it hardly diminished the achievement of their quartet of seamers in dismissing Northamptonshire for 230 on a wicket which, if true to form, should get better. Despite a fine fifty by Luke Wood and a typically determined 48 from Luke Procter on a ground he knows well, Alex Wakely’s batsmen had been restricted by Lancashire’s four pace bowlers operating in impressive harness. At the day’s end Gleeson correctly pointed out that both Tom Bailey and Saqib Mahmood had done all that could be asked yet it was he and Graham Onions who had taken nine of the wickets.Yet to sharpen that distinction even further it was Gleeson who dismissed four of the top five in Northamptonshire’s order after the game had begun in what some may now label the traditional fashion with a tossed coin. Surprisingly to some, Lancashire asked Northants to bat, which is logically what the visitors wanted to do, but the first session neither justified nor mocked Vilas’s tactic. The accumulation of 80 runs was balanced by the dismissals of both Ricardo Vasconcelos and Wakely, both of whom were caught behind by Lancashire’s wicketkeeper-captain off Gleeson.Northamptonshire’s problems were compounded when Rob Newton went down with a groin problem – a beguiling euphemism covering a multitude of agonies – and required a runner for the rest of his innings. Having displayed chivalry a few moments earlier – more of that later – Vasconcelos now added selflessness to his virtues by agreeing to do the job.That problem, though, was minor when set beside the disasters that befell the visitors in the first hour after lunch. On the resumption Blackpool-born Gleeson returned to the attack and removed both Newton for 32 and Rob Keogh for 3, both courtesy of leg-before decisions. That left the visitors on 101 for 4 but worse was to follow in the next over when Rob Jones dived to take a superb gully catch off Bailey and send Josh Cobb on his way on his way for nought. Onions may then have been fortunate to get a leg-before decision against Temba Bavuma but the South African debutant’s dismissal for 39 left his side on 119 for 6.Almost all the rest of the session, however, was dominated by a shrewd partnership between Procter, who worked the ball around well, and the Nottinghamshire loanee, Wood who cut the Lancashire bowlers with impressive ease whenever they strayed. Just before the close of an absorbing session Procter was caught at slip by Keaton Jennings for 48 when driving at Gleeson, thus giving the bowler his maiden five-wicket haul for Lancashire in what was his first game of the season and also his home debut. That wicket ended Procter’s useful 70-run stand for the seventh wicket with Wood and it was also the prelude to Onions taking the last three wickets in the hour after tea.Wood perhaps deserves more than to be sent on loan so frequently yet Worcestershire and Northamptonshire’s keenness to take him reflects well on his professionalism. He was eventually out for 66 when Bailey got under a mighty hook at long leg and dived to take an excellent catch.That piece of athleticism and judgement was rightly applauded yet maybe the best moment of the day – and one which recalled the game’s ethos – had occurred five hours earlier when Vasconcelos needed only Vilas’ assurance that a very low catch off Gleeson had carried before making his way back to the pavilion. It rather recalled the time in another fixture between these sides when Ken Higgs was enraged by David Steele’s failure to walk after what the bowler considered an obvious edge.Those were the days when Steele and Higgs caught the same train to Old Trafford for such games from their homes in the Potteries. But that evening, when he saw the Northamptonshire batsman waiting on the platform, Higgs spurned even the possibility of travelling in the next carriage to someone he believed guilty of sharp practice; instead, he plonked his vast arse on a seat in Piccadilly station and awaited the next departure to Stoke.

After the 5-1 defeat in the ODIs, the hosts will be led by JP Duminy in the T20Is while Suresh Raina may feature in India’ XI

The Preview by Firdose Moonda17-Feb-20183:56

Pathan: India favourites to win the first T20I

Big picture

A tour of two halves now reaches its bonus add-on: three T20s in a week, played as double-headers with the same women’s teams of these two nations, who are in completely contrasting moods.India are on a high. Led by a captain that is considered among the best players not just of his generation, but ever, they have won a bilateral series in South Africa for the first time. In so doing, they have also humiliated the hosts and derailed their plans for “Vision 2019”. South Africa can only accept that they have been dealt “a good hiding”, and will spend the T20 series skulking away, with most of their big names absent and their egos bruised.South Africa’s experimental squad is mostly a result of timing. They start a four-Test series against Australia five days after the last T20 and have rested all but AB de Villiers from the T20s. It’s fair to say their focus will be elsewhere and expectations from these three matches will be quite low.JP Duminy, who was overlooked for the ODI captaincy, will lead the T20 outfit, as he has done five times before. Duminy has a win-loss record of 3-2 with a series win over Bangladesh and a loss against Australia to his name. Though his chances of captaining much in future are slim, Duminy will still want to make a good impression against India, who are intent on dominating.Since winning the Wanderers Test, India’s only missed step was falling short in the rain-affected ODI at the same venue. On their return for the final time this summer, they will want to show just how much they enjoy this stadium and thrive being on top. Expect nothing less than a ruthless display.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa: WWLWL
India: WWWWL

In the spotlight

Farhaan Behardien was considered hard done by after he was initially left out of the one-day squad despite being among the domestic competition’s top performers. He then seemed harder done by when he only got to play one game, by which time the series was lost. It didn’t help that he lasted just five balls and was dismissed for 1. Behardien should have a much greater role in the T20s, as one of the senior-most batsman in the squad, and could use it as an opportunity to show his value across white-ball formats.India’s senior statesman MS Dhoni did not have enough time at the crease to bring up 10,000 ODI runs and now needs to turn his attention to not needing time. Dhoni’s slow starts in T20s, especially given his position in the middle order, have now become a cause for concern and he will need to fire quickly to re-establish himself as the finisher.

Team news

An experimental South African side could see as many as three new caps with wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen guaranteed a start and middle-order batsman Christiaan Jonker and seamer Junior Dala in the mix. South Africa’s experience is sandwiched between an inexperienced opening pair in Reeza Hendricks and Jon-Jon Smuts and a younger middle-to-lower order and tail.South Africa: 1 Reeza Hendricks, 2 Jon-Jon Smuts, 3 AB de Villiers, 4 JP Duminy (capt), 5 David Miller/Farhaan Behardien, 6 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 7 Christiaan Jonker/Chris Morris, 8 Andile Phehlukwayo, 9 Junior Dala, 10 Dane Paterson, 11 Aaron PhangisoIndia’s big decision will be in the middle order, where they are likely to have a choice between Suresh Raina – who has been selected in India’s squad after a long absence – and Manish Pandey.India: 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Manish Pandey/Dinesh Karthik, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (wk), 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal

Pitch and conditions

The Wanderers’ demerit points haven’t gone anywhere but as long as the surface is similar to the one the ODI was played on, it should be another batsman-friendly pitch and fast outfield, which should lead to a high-scoring game. Afternoon thundershowers are forecast but should be nothing more than a quick burst.

Stats and trivia

• India have a 6-2 record against South Africa in all T20Is.
• South Africa have played exactly 100 T20Is, winning 59 and losing 40.
• Virat Kohli is 43 runs away from becoming the first Indian batsman to reach 2000 T20I runs.

Anurag Thakur was not only removed as BCCI president by the Supreme Court on Monday, but he is also facing showcause notices relating to charges of contempt of court and perjury

Nagraj Gollapudi02-Jan-20172:46

‘No one is allowed to defy the Supreme Court’

Anurag Thakur was not only removed as BCCI president by a Supreme Court order on Monday, but he is also facing two showcause notices relating to charges of contempt of court and perjury. The court was severe on Thakur for having “obstructed and impeded” the implementation of the Lodha Committee recommendations approved by the court on July 18, 2016.From being one of the most powerful people in cricket as head of the BCCI, Thakur, 41, had his authority stripped off him, and his role with the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, where he has been president since 2000-01, is also uncertain because of the limitations on tenure imposed by the Lodha Committee.”Mr Thakur has by his actions and conduct rendered himself unfit for continuance as President of BCCI, for the following reasons,” the Supreme Court observed in its order on January 2. “Firstly, he has obstructed and impeded the implementation of the directions contained in the judgment and order of this Court dated 18 July 2016.”His own version is that he has been ‘rendered totally incapable and without any authority’ to compel the members to comply with the orders of this Court. This is indicative of his having washed his hands off a duty and obligation to ensure compliance.”Despite reminders from the Lodha Committee and directives from the court that it was binding upon the BCCI and state associations to implement the recommendations unconditionally, the board resisted them. Thakur, in an affidavit filed on December 3, said he could not force the state associations to adopt the recommendations.The court did not buy that argument. “We are prima facie of the view that Mr Thakur is liable to be proceeded with for contempt of court for having obstructed and impeded the orders of this Court.”The court, however, reserved its harshest words for Thakur on the issue relating to his asking the ICC chairman Shashank Manohar for a letter stating whether the appointment of an official from the Comptroller and Auditor General’s office on the Apex Council would amount to governmental interference. The ICC does not permit government interference in the functioning of its member boards. The court took exception to the fact that Thakur had tried to scuttle one of the recommendations after it had been approved by the court.In a previous hearing on December 15, the court had said there was enough evidence to lay a charge of perjury against Thakur.According to the court, Thakur had tried to “solicit” such a letter from Manohar during the ICC Governance Review Committee meeting held in Dubai on August 6 and 7, 2016. Thakur, the court said, was attempting to “thwart” the implementation of the recommendations. “An attempt was made to build up a record to indicate that implementing the orders of the Supreme Court of India would run the risk of endangering the status of BCCI as a member of ICC.”In an affidavit last December, Thakur had told the court he had asked Manohar, who was BCCI president between October 2015 and May 2016, if he thought having a CAG official on the Apex Council could “invoke an action of suspension” from the ICC. Thakur said he asked Manohar during the Dubai meeting whether he could issue a letter of clarification.The court asked the Lodha Committee to seek clarification from Manohar too. The ICC chairman told the committee in an email on November 2 that he had declined to offer Thakur any letter.”The conduct of the President of BCCI in seeking a letter from the President of ICC in August 2016, after the final judgment and Order of this Court, is nothing but an attempt on the part of the head of BCCI to evade complying, with the Order of this Court,” the order read. “We are constrained to note that there was absolutely no occasion for the President of BCCI to solicit any such clarification from the Chairperson of ICC in the teeth of the judgment that was delivered by this Court.”According to the court, it had “adequate” reasons to doubt the veracity of the sequence of events narrated by Thakur. To emphasise its point, the court highlighted the affidavit signed by Ratnakar Shetty, BCCI’s administration and game development manager, and presented to the court on October 7, 2016, in response to a status report of the Lodha Committee.Shetty’s affidavit had stated that Thakur never sought a letter from the ICC. But during a subsequent hearing, the BCCI submitted in court minutes of a working committee meeting held on August 22, which noted that Manohar had been asked for a letter.The court took a serious view of this variance. “Prima facie it would appear that these minutes had not seen the light of the day when the response by Mr Shetty to the status report of the Committee was filed, and have been fabricated subsequently to lend credence to the version of Mr Thakur. The statement that Mr Manohar was requested to clarify the position which he had taken as BCCI President is falsified by Mr Manohar’s disclosure that he was asked to give a letter in his capacity as ICC Chairman.”

Match officials have been criticised by the SCG Trust for their decision to abandon the Sheffield Shield match between New South Wales and Victoria on day three due to an unsafe outfield

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Nov-2015Match abandoned
ScorecardThe state of the outfield was the source of much discussion on day three at the SCG•Getty Images

Match officials have been criticised by the SCG Trust for their decision to abandon the Sheffield Shield match between New South Wales and Victoria on day three due to an unsafe outfield.Several Victorian players had slipped over on the second day of the rain-affected match as the Blues reached 1 for 88 after choosing to bat first, and the match referee Steve Bernard said that after making an inspection on the third afternoon the umpires decided that conditions had not improved.”Umpires Simon Fry and Mike Graham-Smith inspected the ground at 12pm on day three,” Bernard said, “and judged that a number of areas of the ground were unsafe and had not improved since the players were taken from the field on day two.”The umpires concluded that these areas would not improve significantly over the remainder of the match and would continue to pose a risk to the fielding team. Player safety is paramount and it is with this in mind that they have made the difficult decision to abandon the remainder of this match.”On the second evening, the Victoria coach David Saker had described conditions as dangerous. “In first-class cricket you expect conditions to be suitable for cricket,” he said. “The wicket’s fantastic but the outfield and surrounds are quite poor and dangerous.”However the SCG Trust attacked the decision to call off the fixture, with the head curator Tom Parker declaring the outfield on day three was “in the best condition that it had been all match”. “Given that there was no rain overnight,” Parker said, “it was absolutely ready to host a match today.””The Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust is disappointed that match officials chose to abandon the Sheffield Shield fixture between NSW and Victoria today,” a Trust spokesman said. “Players and officials from both sides had described the pitch condition as fantastic.”The infield and outfield condition was heavy after the ground received a month’s rain in the past week. There was no rain recorded overnight on Saturday. The surface had been deemed fit for play on Friday and Saturday by match officials. The Trust supported the NSW Blues’ decision to conduct a centre-wicket practice session after the abandonment of the match.”The Trust had also brought in another observer to judge the surface, past president of the International Turf Society Peter McMaugh. “There is no reason in my professional opinion why they shouldn’t have been playing today,” he said.The match is the second first-class fixture in Sydney to be abandoned in as many weeks. New Zealand’s final warm-up match ahead of the Gabba Test was abandoned after the tourists complained about the safety of a rapidly deteriorating pitch at Blacktown Sports Park, where the ground staff had been unable to grow grass on the wicket.