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New Zealand batsman Jesse Ryder has said that he feared for his career while New Zealand Cricket was investigating his latest incident of misconduct

Cricinfo staff08-Aug-2010New Zealand batsman Jesse Ryder has said that he feared for his career while New Zealand Cricket was investigating his latest incident of misconduct – “intoxicated and rowdy” behaviour at a hotel during an indoor cricket tournament in the first week of July. NZC fined Ryder but warned that another incident, in addition to several in the past, would have more serious consequences.”It went on for quite a while as New Zealand Cricket was investigating what actually happened,” Ryder told . “I was actually thinking that this could have been it for me. But luckily they’ve given me one last chance.”Now I know that I have to keep my head down, keep training hard and force my way back in the side. This is pretty much a wakeup call for me. I just have to stay home now and try and stay away from all the off-field distractions so I don’t get in trouble out in public. I’m pretty desperate to stay on the right track and be a Black Cap [New Zealand player].”Ryder said he had apologised to the hotel for his behaviour after a noise complaint was lodged with the board but Geoff Allott, NZC’s general manger of cricket, said the matter was viewed “very seriously”.”The simple answer is that if the same thing happened again in the same circumstances, then yes [his contract would be in danger],” Allott said. “Circumstances, I would say, have to be considered but if something similar happened again, Jesse knows the consequences. He has got some extra parameters outside the other 19 contracted players and he’s accepted that. There’s some clarity now around instances, particularly involving alcohol and that’s important.”Heath Mills, the head of the New Zealand players’ association, said NZC was doing what it could to back Ryder. “They are remaining relatively firm but aren’t going to support any further instance of alcohol-related misconduct. If that happens again, their support will not be what it has been. The one person who suffers the most here is Jesse. It means fewer opportunities for him to score runs, take wickets or earn income.”The shame of it is Jesse has been making some genuine gains, training hard and getting fitter. He just has to be responsible for his actions. The trouble is those who hang out with him also need to take some responsibility and reflect on their roles in his life.”The most serious of Ryder’s indiscretions came in 2008 when he put his right hand through a glass window during a late-night session at a Christchurch bar. Early last year he gave up alcohol after another incident. Ryder is presently out of the New Zealand side because of fitness reasons and will miss the tri-series in Sri Lanka, though he is expected to be fit for the tour of Bangladesh that follows.

This is the automatic next step after the ECB sanctioned him for his action two days ago. The BCB also said Shakib will soon appear for reassessment to have his action cleared

Mohammad Isam15-Dec-2024Shakib Al Hasan has been suspended from bowling in all competitions run by ICC-approved national federations, both domestic and international, the BCB said in a statement on Sunday. Shakib had been suspended from bowling by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for an illegal action, and this, the BCB said, was the automatic next step. The board also said Shakib will soon appear for reassessment at an accredited testing centre in an effort to have his action cleared and his suspension lifted.Shakib failed an independent assessment of his action at Loughborough University, an ICC-accredited testing centre in the UK, earlier this month, after being reported for a suspect action during an English county cricket 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, when a national federation suspends a player from bowling in its domestic competitions, the suspension is automatically recognised and enforced by the ICC in international cricket and by all national cricket federations in their respective domestic competitions. This applies immediately, upon receipt of the official notice, without the need for further formalities.”The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has been informed that national team allrounder Shakib Al Hasan has been suspended from bowling in competitions under the jurisdiction of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). As a result, Shakib is also suspended from bowling in domestic cricket competitions outside Bangladesh and in international cricket,” the BCB statement said.Related

• Shakib on his illegal action for Surrey: 'I was doing it a little bit intentionally'

• Shakib Al Hasan fails second test of bowling action

• Shakib bowling action saga: BCB wait on results from Chennai before CT 2025 decision

• Shakib reported for suspect action during Surrey county stint

• Shakib, from darling of the masses to enemy of the people

“Should the results of this [reassessment] analysis clear his action, Shakib will be permitted to bowl in international cricket and in domestic cricket competitions under the jurisdiction of all national cricket federations.”For now Shakib can play as a batter in all forms of domestic and international cricket.This caps an extraordinary year for the feted Bangladesh allrounder, whose international career is already in a state of limbo stemming from his role as a Member of Parliament in the now-overturned Awami League government after protests in which several hundred civilians – mostly university students – were killed in July and August. He is effectively retired from Tests and T20Is; his wish of a farewell Test at home in Dhaka was thwarted by protesting students.Shakib is still an active player in ODIs but he wasn’t picked for the Afghanistan and West Indies series in the past four weeks. He is currently playing in the Lanka T10 competition. Shakib did not bowl in the last two matches for Galle Marvels, including the one played on Sunday evening.

Fifties to Fletcha Middleton, James Vince help Hampshire to 501-run lead

ECB Reporters Network05-Sep-2023Nick Gubbins effortlessly struck his third LV=Insurance County Championship as Hampshire ground Somerset towards submission on day three at the Ageas Bowl.Left-handed batter Gubbins gracefully hit an unbeaten 139 – his highest score for Hampshire since joining from Middlesex – to move past 900 runs in the Championship this season.Together with Fletcha Middleton and James Vince’s half-centuries, Gubbins led Hampshire to a 501-run lead having forced Somerset to wallow in the south coast heat.Facing a minimum of 128 overs to bat out, the visitors slumped to 38 for 2 but Sean Dickson’s unbeaten 63 held them together. They reached the close on 102 for 2 with 400 still required to win.Hampshire’s title ambitions had been ended by 11am by Surrey’s victory over Warwickshire.Their openers Toby Albert and Middleton had tediously scored 45 runs in 23 overs the previous evening, but their lack of adventure paid dividends, having taken much of the lacquer off the ball. They batted with more intent as they took their partnership to 80 with little fuss, Middleton reaching his fourth fifty in his debut season.They both fell within four overs of each other, Middleton bowled two balls after reaching the milestone and Albert was caught and bowled by New Zealander Neil Wagner, on his Somerset debut.Gubbins had been incredibly slow, on an even slower pitch, in the first innings to take his seasonal strike rate to the third lowest in Division One – only Dom Sibley and Luke Proctor were slower for those who had scored more than 200 runs.This time around he showed an attacking flair, taking part of a cover-drive battle with Vince as he reached 50 in 81 balls. The 135 balls his subsequent century came in, were the fastest of his six tons for Hampshire.Lewis Gregory, although on the pitch, was not used at all on day three, while fellow opening bowler Jack Brooks only bowled five overs before the declaration.As such, Gubbins and Vince – whose 50 came in 66 balls – found the going easy with little pressure built to stop them from scoring at will. The run rate from the morning session 3.94 before moving to 4.97 in the afternoon.Vince was caught from behind to end a 162-run stand, but Tom Prest picked up where he left off to continue the flow of runs with Gubbins – who is enjoying the second-best Championship season of his career. The pair added 79 together before the long-awaited declaration came at tea.Liam Dawson was the main worry for Somerset, with the occasional spin more threatening than pace on a feather-bed. And it came to pass as the left-armer had Tom Lammonby stumped with his third delivery.Tom Abell followed when James Fuller’s extra pace was edged to second slip, where Vince took a sharp catch.Dickson and Andy Umeed showed tenacity and a backbone vital to save Hampshire from defeat. Dickson, in particular, looked in good order to reach his half-century in 86 balls.

Interviews underway for Test coach role as power vacuum continues to hamper board

ESPNcricinfo staff09-May-2022Ron Kalifa, the man widely tipped to become the next chair of the ECB, has withdrawn from the race, to deepen the leadership crisis at the top of English cricket.The ECB has been without a permanent chair since October, when Ian Watmore quit the role in the wake of England’s withdrawal from their planned tour of Pakistan, and after appearing to lose the confidence of several counties following a meeting on the domestic structure.Barry O’Brien, Watmore’s former deputy, initially took over in an interim capacity, but stood down at last month’s board meeting, citing ill-health, with Martin Darlow, another non-executive director, stepping up as the new stand-in.But the board’s hopes that Kalifa could fill the power vacuum on a permanent basis have reportedly been dashed with his withdrawal from the relaunched nominations process – a process that he himself had been heading up until last month when it became clear that, rather than any of his shortlisted contenders, Kalifa himself was the best qualified candidate to take over the top role.Related

• Graham Ford emerges as key contender as England's new Test coach

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With Tom Harrison, the ECB’s incumbent CEO, keen to move on after seven years in his role, Kalifa’s nomination could have paved the way for Andrew Strauss, the former England captain and recent interim director of men’s cricket, to take over that key position.However, Kalifa was reported by The Times to have had a change of heart, potentially triggered by suggestions among the first-class counties that his nomination would have amounted to a “stitch-up” given his initial role leading the nominations committee, and been prone to intense scrutiny, not least from the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee, to which the board is obliged to report on a quarterly basis in the wake of English cricket’s racism crisis.Brenda Trenowdan – another non-executive director – has been charged with leading the renewed nominations committee, but given the formal nature of the process, it is now extremely unlikely that the board will be able to announce a new chair in time for its Annual General Meeting later this month.There are more promising developments in the hunt for a new head coach for England’s Test team, however, with the Evening Standard reporting that the interview process is underway, with just over three weeks until the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s on June 2.With a preference for splitting the coaching role into red- and white-ball cricket, Rob Key, the newly appointed men’s director, stated at his own unveiling last week that he was “optimistic” that a Test appointment could be made before the New Zealand series gets underway. Simon Katich and Gary Kirsten are understood to be the frontrunners for that job, with Graham Ford and Jason Gillespie also in consideration.

Batsmen slipped on marble floor outside dressing-room on way to training

George Dobell03-Feb-2021Zak Crawley has been ruled out of first two Tests against India with a wrist sprain.*Crawley, who was expected to bat at No. 3 in the England side, slipped outside the dressing room on Tuesday and, having fallen heavily on his right wrist, was unable to train on Wednesday.A statement from the ECB on Thursday morning said, “Scan results have confirmed that Crawley has jarred his right wrist, which has sprained the joint and led to local inflammation.”The Kent player sustained the injury during England’s practice in Chennai on Tuesday when he slipped on the marble floor leaving the dressing rooms onto the field of play.”The England medical team will continue to assess his progress over the next few weeks.”Joe Root, England’s captain, described the Crawley’s injury as a “real freak incident”, and added that steps had been taken to prevent further such accidents in the course of England’s stay.”It’s really frustrating, for Zak in particular,” Root said. “A real freak incident, and hard for him to take, especially off the back of trying to get as best prepared as possible for the series. And, of course, it means that we have to look at things from a selection point of view”We initially tried to put some towels down. And since then they’ve put something a bit more substantial down for us.”We know we’ve got to be careful, but it’s not something you first think about when you turn up to ground, trying not to slip over. It’s a real freak accident and hopefully that’ll be the last of it, and no one else can do the same thing.”Crawley’s unavailability will provoke a significant change of tactics from England. With Jonny Bairstow having returned to England for a period of rest outside the bio-bubble, there is not an ideal candidate for No. 3 within the squad.While Joe Root has considerable experience of batting at No. 3, he has made no secret of his preference for No. 4 and has recently demonstrated his suitability to the position. Ben Stokes and Dan Lawrence, who looked set to miss out with Ollie Pope returning, would be other options for the position.It could also be that England utilise the incident to squeeze another allrounder into their side. Both Moeen Ali, who scored two centuries on England’s most recent Test tour of India and has previously batted at No. 3, and Chris Woakes could slot into the side and offer both batting and bowling options.”Everything’s on the table in terms of selection,” Root added. “We’ll have to get to the ground, look at the conditions, look at the surface again, try and have real clarity get into the game.”We’ve got lots of brilliant players, and brilliant options to choose from. And we need to look at the balance of the side as well. They will all be things that we’ll discuss over the course of today and make sure that we’re really happy with the team that we take into the game.”*

Pakistan were given a shock in Lahore and have to figure out what their best combination is

The Preview by Andrew Fidel Fernando06-Oct-2019

Big picture

It was no real surprise that Sri Lanka rode an outstanding fifty from Danushka Gunathilaka to a competitive total in the first match. Were it not for injury and disciplinary issues, the opener would command a place in their first-choice limited-overs XI. He is among the more naturally gifted batsmen in any match.It was also no surprise that Dasun Shanaka helped Sri Lanka maintain their momentum through the later stages of the innings. He is one of the cleanest ball-strikers around.What was surprising was the ease with which Sri Lanka shut Pakistan’s chase down. Even without Lasith Malinga, the fast bowlers had the opposition 22 for 3. Pakistan are the top-ranked T20I side in the world, but this particular top order contained Umar Akmal, who had not contributed to that rise, and Ahmed Shehzad, who had not played a T20I since mid-2018. They made 4 off 9 balls and a first-ball duck respectively. As a result, coach Misbah-ul-Haq, who made these out-of-left-field selections, is facing a little scrutiny after his first T20I in charge.ALSO READ – Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad have my full backing as captain – Sarfaraz AhmedBut one victory does not make Sri Lanka invulnerable. Avishka Fernando appears to have hit some modest form in Pakistan, to follow his breakout World Cup, but the likes of Lakshan Sandakan and Wanindu Hasaranga are also far from reliable wristspin options still. The more senior players in the Sri Lanka XI will need to continue to produce excellent innings and spells, so that the younger cricketers can play in their slipstream.

Form guide

Pakistan LLWLL (completed matches, most recent first)
Sri Lanka WWLLL

In the spotlight

Very quietly, Shadab Khan has been having a disappointing 2019. His legspin has averaged 41.11 across 13 ODI innings this year (though his World Cup average of 35.55 was better). In T20Is, his numbers are even bleaker – his economy rate up at 9.42, and his average at 44, albeit from only four appearances. Sri Lanka is a team he had generally done well against, but several batsmen seemed to enjoy his bowling through the course of this tour, and his 1 for 35 on Saturday was modest without being terrible. In recent years, Sri Lanka haven’t loved playing wristspin. If Shadab can turn his form around, Pakistan will go some way to checking the opposition’s batting.Misbah-ul-Haq oversees Pakistan’s training session•AFP

Prior to his debut, no uncapped Sri Lanka player had quite produced as much hype in the capital as Bhanuka Rajapaksa. A star at school level for one of the fanciest Colombo institutions – Royal College – Rajapaksa had been tipped by many to become one of the island’s best. But in senior cricket, his record has been modest, particularly in first-class and List A matches. Despite this, he has now got the chance to showcase his wares at the top level, and in his first T20I, he produced an innings that went some way to justifying the ten-year hype. If he can back Saturday’s 32 off 22 balls up with another good performance, the selectors may keep him on even when the first-choice players return to the fray.

Team news

Given Shehzad’s poor innings in the first match, Fakhar Zaman may come back into the XI.Pakistan (possible): 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Babar Azam, 3 Umar Akmal, 4 Sarfaraz Ahmed (capt.) (wk), 5 Iftikhar Ahmed, 6 Asif Ali, 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Shadab Khan, 10 Mohammad Amir, 11 Mohammad HasnainSri Lanka will probably see no reason to change their XI.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Danushka Gunathilaka, 2 Avishka Fernando, 3 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 4 Shehan Jayasuriya, 5 Minod Bhanuka (wk), 6 Dasun Shanaka (capt.), 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Isuru Udana, 9 Lakshan Sandakan, 10 Kasun Rajitha, 11 Nuwan Pradeep

Pitch and conditions

The dew that both teams had expected did not turn up in force on Saturday. Expect Lahore to produce a similar surface.

Stats and trivia

• Sri Lanka have lost each of their four most-recent T20 series, two of which have been at home, and two away. Their last away series win (outside one-off games) was against Bangladesh in early 2018.
  
• Pakistan have never lost a bilateral T20I series to Sri Lanka.
  
• Umar Akmal has not made a T20I fifty since February 2016. Shehzad had not made one since September 2017.

Worcestershire’s hopes of a home quarter-final remain in abeyance after Leicestershire silenced dangerman Callum Ferguson in the nick of time to claim their first home win

ECB Reporters Network10-Aug-2018
ScorecardDespite the best efforts of Callum Ferguson, Worcestershire Rapids fell short completing the victory that might have guaranteed themselves a home Vitality Blast quarter-final in their bid to reach Twenty20 finals day for the first time in their history.The 33-year-old Australian, who registered his maiden T20 century against Nottinghamshire a week ago, played a superbly measured innings after Leicestershire had made 155 for 9 in their 20 overs.He seemed on course to lead the Rapids to a fifth straight win after rescuing his side from a difficult start that had seen them in trouble at 32 for 3 in the fifth over, despite needing to maintain a run requirement of 10 per over from the halfway stage.Worcestershire still needed 30 from the final three overs but Ferguson was hitting the ball so nicely it was difficult to see him not seeing them home.However, his legs let him down when sixth-wicket partner Wayne Parnell called him through for a second run off the fifth ball of the 18th over and Mohammad Nabi’s throw from long-on comfortably ran him out for 68, an innings that included nine fours and a six off 49 balls.No one was more relieved than Neil Dexter, who had let him off by dropping a real sitter at midwicket earlier in the same Zak Chappell over.There was still a scare to come when Chappell conceded three boundaries in his final over but hitting the six off the final ball to win the match and make up for his error over the run out proved beyond the crestfallen Parnell.It was not all bad for Worcestershire: despite defeat at least they are certain of a last-eight place.It was a first home win of the season for Leicestershire, who again looked to have come up short in their 20 overs as key batsmen gave themselves a platform to make a big contribution to the Foxes’ cause only to squander their chance.No one was more wasteful than Ben Raine, who looked in the mood to do some significant damage when he punished Pat Brown’s opening over in aggressive style, cracking the country’s top T20 wicket-taker this season with a six over extra cover and another back over the bowler’s head before following up with two fours.But having raced to 32 off 18 balls with the Foxes 45 for 2 at the end of the Powerplay he swung at and missed a ball from Daryl Mitchell that was rightly signalled a wide but neglected to anchor himself in the crease and Worcestershire’ fine wicketkeeper Ben Cox is not one to squander such gifts.Nabi was also the victim of his own carelessness, moments after he had cleared the ropes off the costly Brown, when he optimistically went for a second run to Ross Whiteley on the midwicket boundary off the same bowler and failed to make his ground by some distance.Brown failed to add to his 22 wickets, his four overs costing 45 runs, but a poor day for the skilful 19-year-old was balanced by better ones for Wood and Wayne Parnell, who took an early wicket each as the Foxes stumbled to 6 for 2 in the second over and came back to strike important blows near the end.Nabi came back well with the ball for the Foxes, conceding only 21 in his three overs and being unlucky not to claim a wicket or two. In combination with Callum Parkinson and Neil Dexter, who was also effective in taking the pace of the ball, he created the pressure on Worcestershire in the latter stages of the innings that was always likely to provoke mistakes.And there were three key wickets for Gavin Griffiths, who made sure that Joe Clarke, Damian D’Oliveira nor Ross Whiteley could come up with the supporting innings for Ferguson that might have swung it for Worcestershire.

With both teams loaded with power-hitters at the top, the onus is on the bowling units at a venue that favours run scoring

The Preview by Sreshth Shah28-Apr-2017

Match facts

Gujarat Lions v Mumbai Indians
Rajkot, April 29, 2017
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)

Form guide

• Gujarat Lions (sixth): defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by seven wickets, lost to Kings XI Punjab by 26 runs,defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by four wickets

• Mumbai Indians (second): lost to Rising Pune Supergiant by three runs, defeated Delhi Daredevils by 14 runs, defeated Kings XI by eight wickets

Head to head

This seasonOn a batting-friendly surface at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai chased down Lions’ score of 176 – courtesy a 36-ball 53 from Nitish Rana and useful contributions from Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard – to win with six wickets to spare.OverallLions won both their meetings against Mumbai in the previous season.

In the news

Dwayne Smith was left out of Lions’ XI during their last match against Royal Challengers. James Faulker – his replacement – was economical and Lions may stick with him. Irfan Pathan, a replacement for Dwayne Bravo, is available for selection.Allrounder Krunal Pandya has recovered from the illness that kept him out of Mumbai’s previous game, but his selection will be subject to a fitness test before the match. Ambati Rayudu announced on Twitter this week that he had fully recovered from a groin injury he suffered early in the tournament. He said he had been “training hard and eagerly awaiting a call up”.

The likely XIs

Gujarat Lions: 1 Brendon McCullum, 2 Ishan Kishan, 3 Suresh Raina (capt), 4 Aaron Finch, 5 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 James Faulkner, 8 Andrew Tye, 9 Basil Thampi, 10 Nathu Singh, 11 Ankit SoniMumbai Indians: 1 Parthiv Patel (wk), 2 Jos Buttler, 3 Nitish Rana, 4 Rohit Sharma (capt), 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Krunal Pandya/Karn Sharma, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Mitchell McClenaghan, 10 Mitchell Johnson/Lasith Malinga, 11 Jasprit Bumrah

Strategy Punt

Lions’ bowlers could attack Nitish Rana with the short ball early. Despite his success against the short ball, Rana has been out in the previous two innings attempting to pull bouncers from Dan Christian and Pat Cummins.

Stats that matter

• Mumbai’s pace-attack has two left-arm quicks in McClenaghan and Johnson, but left-arm pacers struggle at Rajkot. They concede 116 runs in 66 balls with an average of 58 runs per wicket.
• Off their eight games, Lions have scored 170-plus totals five times. They have also conceded 170-plus total six times.
• Nathu Singh has bowled four overs in two games but has only gone for 15 runs. His economy of 3.75 is the best in the IPL.
• Mumbai have not breached the 160-run mark this season when Nitish Rana has made a single-digit score.
• Brendon McCullum enjoys batting against Jasprit Bumrah. Off 19 balls in four innings, McCullum has hit him for 37 runs. Against Lasith Malinga, though, McCullum has been dismissed four out of seven times.
• Harbhajan Singh has dismissed Suresh Raina five times, the most by a bowler against Raina in the IPL.
• Andrew Tye takes a wicket for every 11 runs he concedes in the IPL. Lions have used 16 bowlers, but Tye has taken 12 of the 33 wickets their bowlers have earned.
• Aaron Finch has a strike rate of less than 100 against three Mumbai bowlers: off Krunal Pandya, he has managed only 7 runs in 12 balls. Against Malinga, he has scored only 13 runs in 18 balls. Against Mitchell Johnson, Finch has scored 32 runs off 35 balls. Johnson has also removed Finch three times, the most by a single bowler to him.
• Rohit Sharma has hit only three boundaries in 68 balls against Ravindra Jadeja and has been out twice. Dhawal Kulkarni concedes 9.48 runs per over against Rohit – going for 49 runs in 31 balls – but has dismissed him four times.

An unbroken partnership of 159 scored at more than five runs an over between Leicestershire captain Mark Cosgrove and Neil Dexter was the highlight of another day made frustrating by the weather

ECB Reporters Network26-Apr-2016
ScorecardMark Cosgrove raced to 99 before another early finish (file photo)•Getty Images

An unbroken partnership of 159 scored at more than five runs an over between Leicestershire captain Mark Cosgrove and Neil Dexter was the highlight of another day made frustrating by the weather at Grace Road.Cosgrove, who had been on just 12 at lunch, raced to 99 off just 106 deliveries, hitting 19 boundaries, before the day’s fourth snow shower brought the afternoon session to a premature end. Sleet and further flurries of snow meant the players were unable to get back out at all after tea.Dexter, playing more steadily but with increasing certainty on his home debut, was unbeaten on 57, his first half-century since joining Leicestershire from Middlesex.It was an impressive response from the home team, after they had lost both openers before lunch with only 15 runs on the board, having earlier bowled out Kent for 264 – a total that Cosgrove and Dexter’s strokeplay made to look increasingly inadequate as their partnership grew.The icy wind and single-figure temperatures made conditions very difficult for the Kent bowlers, but Cosgrove seized on any delivery that was off line or short of length, mixing power with delicacy as he raced towards three figures.Snow showers had forced the players to leave the pitch three times before lunch. Resuming on 233 for 8, Kent took their score on to 255 before Mitch Claydon’s attempted hook at a Zak Chappell bouncer gave Cosgrove a simple catch at mid-on. Chappell, a promising 19-year-old fast bowler, then uprooted Calum Haggett’s middle and off stumps to end the Kent innings.Leicestershire’s reply did not begin well, Angus Robson caught behind by wicketkeeper Adam Rouse off the bowling of Matt Coles for a duck. Dexter, on his home debut for the Foxes, hit his first two balls to the boundary, but Kent struck again when the veteran Darren Stevens produced a perfect outswinger to have Paul Horton caught behind, leaving Leicestershire on 15 for 2.Cosgrove started well, however, crashing Coles for consecutive boundaries through the off side before the interval – and better was to follow.

South Africa’s franchise associations have urged CSA to finalise the itinerary for the upcoming home series against India with the BCCI quickly, with ticket sales at stake

Firdose Moonda03-Sep-2013South Africa’s franchise associations have urged Cricket South Africa to finalise quickly the itinerary for the upcoming home series against India with the BCCI, given that ticket sales are at stake. The Gauteng Cricket Board (GCB), which manages the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, is concerned it might not get to host the third Test, scheduled from January 15, but has decided to release season tickets despite the uncertainty.”All we know is what we have read (in the press),” Gauteng’s CEO Cassim Docrat said on Monday. “We could be one of the affected parties so we need to know what’s going to happen. We have (asked CSA), but (as of Sunday afternoon) we haven’t had a response from them yet.”We are going to go ahead with our season ticket sales based on the original itinerary. We can always change midstream if we need to – the longer we wait to put them on sale, the longer we keep people in limbo.”The Cape Cobras (Newlands) have already announced their ticket prices for the T20 (November 24), ODI (December 15), the New Year Test (starting January 2) and the Australia Test in March. Kwa Zulu Natal (Kingsmead, Durban), which is scheduled to host the Boxing Day Test, is also expected to release tickets soon. Johannesburg is also due to host a T20 and an ODI.Another franchise official, who did not want to be named, said they would “urge CSA to sort this out very quickly.” They also said it was discussed at last week’s CEOs conference and there were concerns over the status of the upcoming home series, which is bound to generate great interest. CSA, however, appear to be in denial that the schedule may be pruned and hence have remained mum on the issue as far as the franchises are concerned.The BCCI had already objected to the itinerary released in July, saying CSA had announced the schedule without the Indian board’s consent. It is understood that the BCCI is on the verge of giving CSA a revised schedule cutting down what was originally scheduled to be a three-Test, seven-ODI and two-T20 tour to two Tests, three ODIs and two T20s.However, BCCI president N Srinivasan said after the board’s working committee meeting on Sunday that the series is “definitely on.” A CSA official told ESPNcricinfo that the board had not been contacted by the BCCI on the schedule yet, and it would not respond till it receives “a formal proposal”.The status and length of the South Africa tour was in further doubt when on Sunday, the BCCI announced it would be inviting West Indies for at least two Tests in November. This would directly impact the South Africa schedule, as India were originally due to kickstart their tour on November 18.If CSA goes with the reduced series, the next bone of contention would be the Boxing Day Test. CSA had reintroduced the traditional Test while announcing the itinerary for India’s tour in July. However, the BCCI may demand that the Tests be played before limited-overs’ games, thus taking a Boxing Day Test out of equation.