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Michael Hussey will work at a quartet of limited overs matches as a television commentator

Daniel Brettig23-Jan-2013Deemed surplus to Australia’s limited overs plans this summer by the national selectors, Michael Hussey will instead work at a quartet of matches as a television commentator.Having revealed his decision to retire from the international game on Channel Nine following the Boxing Day Test, Hussey has been signed by the network to commentate on four matches, the two Twenty20s against Sri Lanka and the final two ODIs of the series against the West Indies.Hussey’s first appearance at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium on Australia Day will be juggled with his on-field duties as captain of Western Australia, who will be engaged in a Sheffield Shield fixture against New South Wales in Blacktown from Thursday.Following his retirement announcement Hussey had said he would like to “try a few things” now that he was no longer tied to the relentless schedule of an international cricketer, and though he is set to continue to play for the Warriors, the Perth Scorchers and Chennai in the IPL, he will now have more time for pursuits such as television.While initially Hussey had hoped to farewell Australian cricket via the ODIs and T20s against Sri Lanka and the West Indies, he was informed during the Sydney Test that the national selector John Inverarity and his panel had decided not to choose him for the matches, preferring to try players who would be available for the longer term.”I’m disappointed not to be playing in the one-dayers because that was my plan,” Hussey said after his axing. “I love one-day cricket. That’s where I got my opportunity to play for Australia, so I definitely wanted to play.”But I understand what the selectors are trying to do. They’re trying to build for the 2015 World Cup and I’ll get over it I guess.”The decision to remove Hussey from the squad while also resting Michael Clarke, David Warner and Matthew Wade was considered so sensitive by Cricket Australia that the team performance manager Pat Howard briefed Nine’s director of sport Steve Crawley and members of the commentary team about the squad for the Sri Lanka series the day before it was announced.

A round-up of the action from the third day of the fourth round of matches from the Ranji Trophy Elite League 2011-12

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Dec-2011Thrust with the captaincy against Haryana, Sourav Ganguly rose to the occasion with his first first-class century in two years, but a late collapse meant Bengal conceded a 19-run first-innings lead at the Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium. While four of the top six Bengal batsmen had strike-rates in the twenties or lower, Ganguly did not allow himself to be tied down, smashing 20 fours and a solitary six in his 135, with a strike-rate of 75.84. At 317 for 5, Bengal looked set to overhaul Haryana’s total of 358, but Laxmi Ratan Shukla was bowled by Amit Mishra for 28 and his wicket sparked a collapse. The rest of the line-up folded for the addition of just 22 runs, including Ganguly, who was the ninth wicket to fall.Ganguly was reportedly furious and blamed his batsmen for not being able to support him and even singled out Shukla, a former Bengal captain, for throwing his wicket. “He was very upset and didn’t say a word about his innings in the dressing room,” Atanu Ghosh, the Bengal team manager, told . Haryana lost Rahul Dewan early but there were no further casualties as they reached 42 for 1 at the close, with the overall lead of 61.Haryana lost Rahul Dewan early but there were no further casualties as they reached 42 for 1 at the close.Ramesh Power picked up four second-innings wickets as Mumbai closed in on a comfortable innings victory over Orissa at the DRIEMS Ground in Cuttack. Resuming on their overnight score of 57 for 7, Orissa did not manage to get to triple figures, succumbing for 93. India seamer Zaheer Khan, who is returning from injury and trying to get in shape for the tour of Australia, picked up two more wickets to finish with 3 for 31.Zaheer would go on to pick another wicket with one of the best deliveries of the day – a climbing delivery that opened up a surprising Bipal Samantray who could only watch the ball take an edge and land in the hands of Wasim Jaffer at second slip. Zaheer bowled in short spells through the day, clocking 130-135 kph, mostly trying to hit the right lengths, which even impressed the Orissa coach, and former India seamer, Debasish Mohanty. “He was bending his back fully in the final spell. He is ready for Australia,” Mohanty told the Things would not get much better for Orissa during their second go-around. Abhishek Nayar removed both openers early, before Powar spun out the middle order. At 104 for 7 and over 30 overs remaining, it looked like the match would not go into the final day, but Besant Mohanty and Lagnajit Samal resisted for over two hours in the process of adding an unbeaten 59 for the eighth wicket. Samal was intent on survival – his 14 came off 105 deliveries – while Mohanty was more aggressive, reaching 41 from 96 balls, with seven fours and a six.Orissa still trail by 273 runs though, and with only three wickets remaining, Mumbai should wrap up the win with time to spare.Defending Ranji Trophy champions Rajasthan were forced to follow-on in their game against Uttar Pradesh after being hustled out for 274 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. The home side looked to be in little trouble at 143 for2 when Rashmi Parida was trapped in front by Indian fast bowler RP Singh, ending a 110-run partnership with Robin Bist. Wickets fell at regular intervals after that as Rajasthan’s batsmen failed to build momentum. Ashok Menaria made a battling 57, studded with 11 fours, but there was little else of note from the lower middle order. Piyush Chawla and Bhuvneshwar Kumar did most of the damage, taking four and three wickets respectively.Rajasthan made a better start in their second innings, the openers adding 91 unbeaten runs together, with Aakash Chopra completing a half-century. During his knock of 57, Chopra went past 10,000 first-class runs. Rajasthan need another 127 runs to make UP bat again.Puneet Bisht racked up his maiden first-class double-century to give Delhi a crucial 97-run first-innings lead over Baroda at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi. At one stage the home side were 74 for 5, but Baroda had no answer for Bisht’s relentless accumulation. The Delhi No.7 smashed 30 fours and two sixes in his unbeaten 223, accounting for 53.73% of his side’s total. The next best score was Mithun Manas’s 49. Bisht added 67 with Sunny Sehrawat (27) for the seventh wicket, 56 with India seamer Ashish Nehta (23) for the eighth and 67 with last man Vikas Mishra at the rollicking rate of 5.74 runs an over. Such was Bisht’s dominance by then that Mishra’s contribution to their partnership was a mere 2 from 20 balls.Irfan Pathan picked up two more wickets to finish with 7 for 114, while Bhargav Bhatt took 2 for 63. Baroda got off to a rocky start in their second innings, losing both openers to Parvinder Awana with just 28 on the board. Rajat Bhatia then struck twice towards the end of the day, removing Shatrunjay Gaekwad and Swapnil Singh, to leave Baroda tottering on 81 for 4, still trailing by 16 runs with one day to go.Bharat Chipli, playing his first first-class match after three years, crowned his return to the Karnataka side with his highest first-class score, allowing his side to declare at 503 for 7, before the bowlers removed half the Saurashtra batting line-up to give Karnataka a good chance of claiming the three points on offer for a first-innings lead at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Chipli scored a brisk pace, his 159 coming off 194 balls, and struck 18 fours and three sixes. He was well supported by Stuart Binny, who made 57. Sandip Maniar was the best of the bowlers, taking 4 for 125.Opener Chirag Pathak led Saurashtra’s reply, grinding his way to 95 before he was unfortunately run-out in the last hour of the day. Cheteswhar Pujara, playing his first match of the season after a six-month lay-off due to knee injury, got a life on 9 but failed to make any use, caught at short leg by Chipli off offspinner Sunil Raju. Raju, playing his first match of the season, picked three wickets. The the visitors were 324 runs by the close.Pratharesh Parmar’s half-century allowed Gujarat to set Madhya Pradesh a potentially challenging target of 198 for victory in a low-scoring game at the Emerald High School Ground in Indore. The hosts managed 107 for 4 by the close, and need another 91 to win on the final day. Resuming on 133 for 5, only 58 ahead, Parmar, who made 65, guided Gujarat’s lower order, stitching together partnerships for 61 for the seventh wicket with Salil Yadav (35) and 42 for the eighth with Mehul Patel (25), before he became TP Sudhindra’s fifth victim. Sudhindra would add Faisal Dudhat’s wicket as well, giving him figures of 6 for 60 in the innings and 9 for 93 in the match, as Gujarat ended with 272,the highest score of the match. MP started slowly in the chase, losing Jalaj Saxena without scoring and Mohnish Mishra soon after, before Naman Ohja and Devendra Bundela steadied the innings. Both men fell before the close, however, leaving the match still in the balance.On a pitch that has assisted the seamers throughout, Gujarat captain Niraj Patel did not rule out an exciting finish. “It’s a true wicket for bowlers. Our pacers will have to stick to their spot-on bowling if we have to win the match,” he told .Manpreet Gony and Harmeet Singh combined to take nine wickets and give Punjab a 93-run first-innings lead over Railways at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali. Gony took 5 for 91, while Harmeet picked up 4 for 54. It could have been a lot worse for Railways, who had slumped to 98 for 7 but Ashish Yadav and captain Sanjay Bangar added 113 before Yadav added a further 62 with Krishnakant Upadhyay. Yadav topscored with 86, while Bangar made 82. Punjab stuttered in their second-innings, losing quick wickets to end the day on 51 for 4, giving them a lead of 144.

Steve Waugh has praised the togetherness of an England squad that he believes are favourites to secure the Ashes with victory in the third Test

Andrew Miller at the WACA15-Dec-2010Steve Waugh has praised the togetherness of an England squad that he believes are favourites to secure the Ashes with victory in the third Test at Perth, but says that the time has come for Australia’s selectors to identify the men that they believe can return the Test team to winning ways, and then back them through thick and thin – in much the same way that he himself was given time to learn his game in the early years of his own international career.Though Waugh finished his career with a formidable record of 10927 runs in 168 Test appearances, his early days coincided with the absolute nadir of Australia’s fortunes, as he was selected on a whim as a 20-year-old allrounder in December 1985, in a team that had been ravaged by the retirements of three key players in Greg Chappell, Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh, as well as a raft of defections to a rebel tour of South Africa.”Allan Border was captain and he’d played more Tests than the rest of the team combined,” Waugh recalled. “That’s a very inexperienced side, this side has still got some experience and good players. But what the selectors have got to do now, that they did then, was have belief in the younger players that they pick. Say, look, we believe in you, you’re the future of Australian cricket, and you’re going to have a bit of leeway.”It’s not always going to be successful all days, and I guess I was the perfect example,” he added. “I didn’t score a hundred until my 26th Test, I never won a Test until my 13th Test for Australia, so you’ve got to see the bigger picture. You can’t just chop and change, if someone fails in one Test and doesn’t look the goods, you’ve got to give them an opportunity.”With that in mind, Waugh was especially critical of the treatment meted out to the left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty, who has been jettisoned from the squad after just two Test appearances, in favour of Western Australia’s Michael Beer. “We’ve been going through a lot of players,” he said, “but you don’t just chop and change for the sake of it.”It’s a great honour to play for your country, and I feel disappointed for someone like Doherty who’s played two Tests and now he’s gone. I think you pick a player, believe in them, and give them a good opportunity, and you don’t change that side unless you believe you can improve the side by getting another player in.”Speaking at the MCC World Cricket Committee meeting in Perth, Waugh believed that Australia’s spirit in adversity would give them a fighting chance in the forthcoming contest, but backed England’s greater cohesion to hold sway – an upshot, he added, that would heap huge pressure on Ricky Ponting’s tenure as Australia’s captain.”Ricky acknowledged [the pressure] at the start of the series,” said Waugh. “He would be thinking he can turn it around because that’s always been the case for Australian sides that I’ve played in, but questions will be asked for sure if they lose this series. It’s unlikely, looking at form, that they can turn this around, but anything can happen in sport, particularly on this unique wicket which is like no other pitch in the world. It’s only 1-0 down in the five-Test series, and the great uncertainty is what keeps us coming back.”England, however, have looked a formidable unit in the series to date, and Waugh – who has never been shy of stating his opinion on previous Ashes squads – believes that the influence of Andy Flower has been instrumental in moulding an outfit that is becoming the team best placed to inherit Australia’s mantle as the world’s No. 1 side.”They’ve impressed me for a couple of years,” he said. “I noticed the turnaround when England drew three Test matches having lost nine wickets in the fourth innings [at Cardiff, Centurion and Cape Town]. That showed to me a side that was together. Sides that aren’t strong don’t survive those sorts of matches.”That was a turning point for English cricket,” he added. “They look like they enjoy each other’s company, they are playing for each other, and they’ve prepared very well. I like the fact that Flower is their coach, behind the scenes and low-key. They look like they all know their roles and they are playing some good cricket.”All great eras have to come to an end,” he added. “I guess we modelled a bit of our cricket on the great West Indies era, because if you’re smart you look at the best and what they are doing, and look at their blueprint, and modify it to suit your needs. I think you can see England have done that with their cricket. They’ve looked at how we’ve been successful, altered it to suit their players, and now they’re playing their own style.”The net result is an Australian side with no choice but to go for broke in a bid to avoid their first home Ashes defeat in 24 years. “What option have they got?” said Waugh. “They were totally outplayed on a flat pitch at Adelaide. You’ve got to say England were dominant and that will have hurt the Australian side, particularly Ricky. They’ll give everything they’ve got in this Test, and I expect them to really firing up on the first morning, being really positive in their body language, and with a couple of younger players so I expect to see more energy in the field.”It’s a huge Test, and it’s going to be on,” he added. “The WACA is a great place to watch and play Test cricket, the quicks can get it through, it’s exciting, and more than likely it’s a place where players can get injured if they are not switched on. It’s going to be a bit of a battlefield out there.”

Ricky Ponting is confident Ben Hilfenhaus has developed into a fast man who can excel in any conditions

Peter English at the Gabba28-Nov-2009Ricky Ponting is confident Ben Hilfenhaus has developed into a fast man who can excel in any conditions. Hilfenhaus is a swing bowler by trade but has shown Ponting that he can cope when the ball is not arcing around and the skills were on show with a Man-of-the-Match performance at the Gabba.While the haul of 2 for 50 and 3 for 20 in the innings win was not remarkable, he dismantled West Indies’ top order in a seven-over burst in the second innings and twice removed the captain Chris Gayle with lbw decisions. The ball swung at times but Hilfenhaus also showed he could bring his length back and still cause trouble, convincing Ponting he has swung from a specialist to an all-terrain operator.”He has and that comes with a bit of experience,” Ponting said. “I think I had him earmarked for a couple of series quite a while ago and you look at South Africa over there and the England tour we just returned from, they were series that I always felt he could play a big part in. But then if you look back to the Ashes there were a lot of conditions there that probably didn’t suit his style of bowling, but he managed to find a way to get the job done.”Hilfenhaus has just finished his ninth Test and has 34 wickets at 30.58, which have been achieved mainly as a support act to Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle. Twenty-two of those victims came in swing-friendly England and those performances made him realise he could cope as international bowler.”Towards the end of the England series I felt as though my rhythm was good and I was doing a job for team,” Hilfenhaus said. “That was the time I started to feel more comfortable and knew my role better.”He took the new ball at the Gabba and picked up Gayle on the second day before adding four wickets on Saturday. Ponting gave him only one spell in the final innings and that resulted in the removal of Gayle, who offered no shot to an inswinger, the played-on of Travis Dowlin and a miscued pull from Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Suddenly the tourists were 3 for 39 and had no chance of saving the game.”Today I’m even more pleased for him, to come out in the second innings and get the early wickets that we needed,” Ponting said. “I sort of put it on him to try and get Gayle out the way and he did at the start of the second innings. When you can ask a bowler to do a certain job for you and they can do it, regardless of what the situation the game is in or the conditions they’re bowling in, means they are executing really well. And that’s what you want as a captain.”
Hilfenhaus has another chance to satisfy his captain’s demands in the second Test in Adelaide from Friday.

Ubaid Shah, the brother of Pakistan international Naseem, and left-arm wristspinner Faisal Akram were also picked in the 18-member squad

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jul-2025Saud Shakeel will lead Pakistan Shaheens who will tour England for two three-day and three 50-over games from July 17 to August 6. Apart from Shakeel, who has played 19 Tests, the squad includes three capped players: Mir Hamza, Musa Khan and Sajid Khan.Azan Awais and Maaz Sadaqat, who were the top-two run-getters in the 2024-25 Quaid-e-Azam (QeA) trophy, were rewarded for their domestic form with call-ups to the Shaheens side.Musabir Khan, a prominent offspin-bowling allrounder in the QeA trophy, and Faisal Akram, a left-arm wristspinner, who has played for Pakistan Under-19s and Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), were also included in the 18-member squad. Musabir, 23, has played a solitary T20I for Pakistan, in the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou.Sajid and left-arm spinner Mehran Mumtaz strengthen the spin attack. Ubaid Shah, the brother of international Naseem Shah, was part of the pace attack alongside Mushtaq Ahmed and Shahid Aziz.The squad will take part in a training camp at the Hanif Mohammad High-Performance Centre in Karachi before departing for England on July 16.

Pakistan Shaheens squad

Saud Shakeel (capt), Ali Zaryab, Azan Awais, Faisal Akram, Haider Ali, Maaz Sadaqat, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Suleman, Mubasir Khan, Musa Khan, Mushtaq Ahmed, Omair Bin Yousuf, Rohail Nazir (wicket-keeper), Sajid Khan, Shahid Aziz, Shamyl Hussain and Ubaid Shah

Support staff

Imran Farhat (head coach), Rehan Riaz (bowling coach), Mohtashim Rasheed (fielding coach)

Nathan Lyon was named men’s Test Player of the Year, while Ellyse Perry got the women’s prize for both ODIs and T20Is

Andrew McGlashan31-Jan-2024Mitchell Marsh has capped a remarkable rise to one of Australia’s most important players by being named the Allan Border Medalist at the 2024 Australian Cricket Awards, while Ashleigh Gardner has taken out the Belinda Clark Award for a year where her bowling became integral to the team across formats.Marsh made a stunning return to Test cricket during the Ashes in England in mid-2023 when he was recalled at Headingley, where he hit a run-a-ball 118. He then went on to make 441 runs at 49 during the ODI World Cup, including 177 not out against Bangladesh.He became emotional during his acceptance speech as he thank his wife, Greta, captain Pat Cummins and coach Andrew McDonald”I’m a bit fat at times and I love a beer but you see the best in me always and you’ve changed my life,” he said. “For your support and your leadership, Patty, playing under you is a dream.” “I often spoke to my wife about…,” Marsh said before having to collection himself “… that I just wanted to get one more crack at it, and it’s been amazing. She gave me the perspective on life that I needed.”Overall during the voting period, which runs from January 22, 2023 to January 9, 2024, Marsh scored 594 runs in six Tests at 66. In ODIs, he hit 858 runs at 47.66, and had a strike rate of 113.94. He will also have gained points for his prolific T20I series against South Africa during which he hit 92* and 79* out of three innings.He polled a massive 79 more votes than second-placed Cummins in the overall medal tally, with Steven Smith at third.”I’m sort of hoping me winning this is not like Covid and you look back on it and three years time and go, ‘This was a weird time’,” Marsh joked. “One of my friends sent me the list today and I just thought – if I win it’s going to look weird.”Ashleigh Gardner spun Australia to victory in the Ashes Test•Getty Images

For Gardner, it was her second Belinda Clark Award after also taking the honour in 2022. Her performance in the Ashes Test, where she took match figures of 12 for 165, played a big part in her clinching the top spot, just 13 votes ahead of Ellyse Perry, while Annabel Sutherland was third.In ODIs across the voting period, Gardner claimed 20 wickets at 18.55, while in T20Is, including Australia’s title-winning run at the World Cup in 2023, she got 19 wickets at 22.73 with an economy rate of 7.49. With the bat, she averaged 33.16 in ODIs, and 24.10 – with a strike rate of 118.13 – in T20Is.”It’s been an interesting year,” Gardner said. “Think a lot of people probably think I’m more of a batter, or batting allrounder, but over the last 12-24 months think my bowling has probably evolved a lot quicker than what I was thinking. I’ve put a lot of trust in my captain to bring me on at different times and being able to reap those rewards of taking wickets has been a nice change.”To emphasise how close the Belinda Clark count was, Perry took both the individual white-ball honours after a stellar year in ODIs and T20Is – the latter where she has taken her batting to a new level.Marsh’s outstanding ODI form saw him walk away with the prize for that format as well, as he was named the Men’s ODI Player of the Year. Left-arm quick Jason Behrendorff, meanwhile, was chosen as the men’s T20I player of the year.Nathan Lyon, meanwhile, was named Shane Warne Men’s Test Player of the Year despite missing three matches of the Ashes due to the calf injury he suffered at Lord’s. Either side of that, he took 8 for 64 in Australia’s victory over India in Indore, and played a key role in the opening Ashes victory at Edgbaston. Back on home soil this season, Lyon collected his 500th Test wicket against Pakistan in Perth.Nathan Lyon got to his 500th Test wicket during the voting period•Cricket Australia via Getty Images

Domestic cricket

Matt Short was BBL Player of the Tournament for the second consecutive year after making 541 runs at 60.11 and having a strike rate of 153.25, as Adelaide Strikers reached the Challenger final after a superb late-season surge.Chamari Athapaththu had been announced as Player of the WBBL after that tournament finished in December, capping a remarkable few weeks for her having not originally been picked up in the draft.Among the rest of the domestic cricket scene, the voting period covered December 5, 2022 to December 5, 2023.Cameron Bancroft, who was overlooked for a Test recall, took the men’s award after dominating in the Sheffield Shield, and also for his consistency for Perth Scorchers in last season’s BBL before he switched to Sydney Thunder.The women’s award was a tie between Sophie Day, the Victoria and Melbourne Stars left-arm spinner, and Tasmania top-order batter Elyse Villani. Day was the leading wicket-taker in the WBBL with 27, and also took 14 in the WNCL during the voting period.Villani, meanwhile, led Tasmania to a second WNCL title, scoring 627 runs at 69.67 with a top score of 112, including striking a century in the dramatic victory over South Australia to clinch the title.The Bradman male young cricketer of the year went to Victoria quick Fergus O’Neill, while the Betty Wilson female young cricketer of the year was handed to Emma de Broughe from South Australia and Melbourne Renegades.

Award winners

Allan Border Medal: Mitchell Marsh
Belinda Clark Award: Ashleigh Gardner
Shane Warne Men’s Test Player of the Year: Nathan Lyon
Men’s ODI Player of the Year: Mitchell Marsh
Women’s ODI Player of the Year: Ellyse Perry
Women’s T20I Player of the Year: Ellyse Perry
Men’s T20I Player of the Year: Jason Behrendorff
BBL Player of the Tournament: Matt Short
WBBL Player of the Tournament: Chamari Athapaththu
Men’s Domestic Cricketer of the Year: Cameron Bancroft
Women’s Domestic Cricketer of the Year: Sophie Day and Elyse Villani
Bradman male Young Cricketer of the Year: Fergus O’Neill
Betty Wilson female Young Cricketer of the Year: Emma de Broughe

Tasmania coach Jeff Vaughan says former Test captain is going well both physically and emotionally, and is up for selection after training for the last six weeks

Alex Malcolm26-Sep-2022Former Australian captain Tim Paine was not named in Tasmania’s first Marsh Cup team of the new season but he remains up for selection for their Sheffield Shield opener after training with Tigers over the past six weeks.Paine has been training with the Tasmania squad since mid-August but he was not named in Tasmania’s 14-man Marsh Cup squad that was named on Monday, with Tigers opening their 50-over domestic campaign against South Australia in Brisbane on Wednesday before also facing Queensland in Brisbane on Friday. Paine also did not play in Tasmania’s second XI side that took on Queensland’s second XI in Brisbane last week, despite Tasmania fielding a near Shield-strength.He instead looks set to make his grade cricket return for University of Tasmania in the first round of Tasmania’s premier cricket competition this coming weekend with Tasmania to play their first Shield game against Queensland in Brisbane on October 6.Related

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New Tasmania coach Jeff Vaughan told ESPNcricinfo that Paine’s return to training had come as a surprise but he revealed he was in good shape both physically and mentally and was in the selection frame.”That one sort of popped up from nowhere to be honest. He came and spoke to the CEO and myself one day and said he’d like to come back and he’s certainly going to play cricket for University,” Vaughan told ESPNcricinfo. “So he’s been training with us most sessions the last five or six weeks. Physically [he’s] going well, emotionally going well. I’m sure everyone would agree that we trust his wicketkeeping skill set, his leadership skill set. So he’s up for selection.”Like any of our contracted players and like any of our players in Tasmanian premier cricket, he’s up for selection and one we will certainly speak about.”Paine has not played any cricket since he took a mental health break from cricket following his resignation as Test captain in November 2021.Paine played just one second XI game for Tasmania last year before his break from cricket. His last first-class game was in April of 2021 for Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield.Jake Doran kept in the second XI match against Queensland last week having kept in seven of Tasmania’s eight Shield games last season.Tasmania’s Marsh Cup squad: Tom Andrews, Jackson Bird, Jake Doran, Jarrod Freeman, Caleb Jewell, Riley Meredith, Ben McDermott, Sam Rainbird, Tom Rogers, Peter Siddle, Jordan Silk (capt), Tim Ward, Beau Webster, Mac Wright

‘Special’ feat by Sussex 16-year-old precedes Malan’s 103* to close gap for Yorkshire

Paul Edwards04-Jun-2021
“Youth is to all the glad season of life,” wrote Thomas Carlyle, thus presenting that fine Australian cricket writer, Ray Robinson, with the title of one of his best books. But rather less well-known are the qualifications that the grumpy 19th century polymath added to his aphorism: “but often only by what it hopes, not by what it attains, or what it escapes.” But then there are days like this at Headingley; the day when attainment matched hope; the day when Danial Ibrahim became the youngest cricketer to make a half-century in the 131-year history of the County Championship.It did not matter even one hoot that Ibrahim reached his fifty in slightly grubby fashion via an overthrow when Dom Bess failed to collect Jordan Thompson’s shy. Just over 24 hours earlier he had not even been a first-class cricketer; now here he was, the second youngest debutant in Sussex’s history with a half-century against his name and a record in a competition whose history stretches deep into the Golden Age. This is a glad season without caveat for Ibrahim; this is a golden age for him.But, of course, he did not know about the fact that he had eclipsed by 61 days the record set by Bilal Shafayat when he made 72 for Nottinghamshire against Middlesex at Trent Bridge in 2001. Ibrahim is a 16-year-old schoolboy who had no clue until last Sunday that he was about to make his Sussex debut. Now he knows what it is like to play on a Test ground against international bowlers. The record was “special” but so was everything else.Related

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• David Bedingham's prolific season extends as Durham eye crucial win

“I was shocked on Sunday when I was told I was playing but I was so excited as well,” he said. “There are not many better grounds than Headingley on which to make a debut and it was just so special to be out there when Ben Brown made his century. It was really tough to bat against the new ball but Browny helped me though it and took the pressure off. I found it all tough but I just had to keep battling though and do the best I could. Ben Coad and Steve Patterson test your technique and you have to be switched on all the time you are facing them. But I enjoy a battle.”So, however, do Yorkshire’s cricketers and Ibrahim could add only five more runs to his half-century before his second ambitious drive of the day edged a catch to Harry Brook at third slip off Coad. Indeed, Ibrahim was one of five Sussex batters to be dismissed for the addition of only 46 runs on a day that was subsequently dominated by Yorkshire’s batters. The applause from the home members during an evening blessed by rich sunlight attested to that fact.Dawid Malan reached his hundred in the last over of the day•Getty Images

True, Yorkshire lost Tom Kohler-Cadmore for 25, leg before wicket to Ibrahim – yes, him again – when the opener played clumsily across the line. Then, just at the point when Adam Lyth had appeared set for another big score, the left-hander was bowled round his legs by Jamie Atkins for 48. That left Yorkshire on 95 for 2 and their supporters anxious that the batting was about to fail again. Imagine, then, the relief when Dawid Malan and Gary Ballance took heavy toll of Sussex’s young attack with an unbroken partnership of 177 for the third wicket and Yorkshire ended the day on 272 for 2 and therefore perfectly placed to build a large advantage tomorrow.In such a context of abundance there has been something rather moving about the return of crowds to Headingley over the past two days. They may have been unavoidably late on parade – there were spectators at some grounds a fortnight ago – but the presence of 2,000 supporters at a County Championship match in Leeds still represents another act of reclamation in these strange times.Spectators are getting their first proper sight of cricketers like Jordan Thompson, who made his debut nearly twelve months ago. They are also getting their first sight of Malan in a Yorkshire shirt and the former England Test batter has done nothing to disappoint them. He and Ballance batted fluently against a tiring Sussex attack in the evening session and Malan reached his century off 153 balls with a leg glance off Tom Haines in the final over of the day. Ibrahim watched it all and perhaps he wondered if one day this might be him.

Government official wants board to discuss conflict charges filed by Sanjeev Gupta, among other issues

Nagraj Gollapudi14-Jan-2020The BCCI has been asked to convene a meeting of its Apex Council at the earliest by Alka Rehani Bharadwaj, the nominee of the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG), to look into the conflict of interest complaints filed by Sanjeev Gupta, a life member at the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA). The Apex Council is one of the most powerful committees of the board. It is tasked with the governance of the BCCI and ranks second after the general body.According to , on Monday, Bharadwaj, who was appointed by the CAG to be part of the BCCI’s Apex Council in December, sent an email to all the board’s five office bearers, including president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah, along with Rahul Johri, the chief executive officer.Ganguly, Shah and the other three office bearers – Arun Dhumal (treasurer), Jayesh George (joint secretary) and Mahim Verma (vice-president) – are part of the Apex Council along with Bharadwaj, two representatives from the Indian Cricketers’ Association (Aunshuman Gaekwad and Shanta Rangaswamy) and an elected representative nominated by the general body. The Apex Council has met just once (November 30) since Ganguly’s administration took charge in October, and as per the board’s constitution, it is supposed to meet every three months.In the email, Bharadwaj reportedly listed five different conflict charges Gupta had filed since Ganguly’s administration was elected. In his latest complaint, filed on Monday with the BCCI Ethics Officer, Gupta has said former Indian batsman Gautam Gambhir is ineligible to be part of the cricket advisory committee (CAC), which is tasked with picking the men’s selection committee. The BCCI recently approached Gambhir, along with former India seamer Madan Lal and former India women’s cricketer Sulakshana Naik, to be part of the CAC which has been defunct since last November.In his complaint Gupta said Gambhir, being a Member of Parliament, was ineligible as per the rules listed within the BCCI’s constitution. It is not known whether that complaint is on the shortlist of conflict charges that Bharadwaj wanted to discuss with the rest of the Apex Council.One complaint that Bharadwaj did point out concerns the appointment of the former MPCA secretary Milind Kanmadikar as the team manager of the India A team, currently in New Zealand.Gupta said that Kanmadikar was ineligible because he had served as MPCA secretary until October 2019, and hence had to serve the mandatory cooling off period of three years as per the rules which were approved by the Supreme Court in 2018. As per the rules, an office bearer or an administrator needs to serve a three-year cooling off period after serving two consecutive terms (6 years).”Mr Kanmadikar is in compulsory cooling period ( he was Office Bearer of MPCA for 7 years in succession from Aug 2012 till 1 Oct 2019 ),” Gupta had said in his complaint, sent on January 9. “He stands disqualified to occupy any post whatsoever till he completes his cooling period on 1 Oct 2022 , including post as Team Official of Indian A Team.”Kanmadikar’s appointment was made by the BCCI, but Bharadwaj wanted to know the details because, as she pointed out, the office bearers did not have the power to do it themselves without discussing the matter at the Apex Council. “In terms of BCCI Rule 8 and 15, there is no provision through which either BCCI AGM or BCCI Apex Council can delegate their powers to BCCI office-bearers,” Bharadwaj said in the email, according to .Bharadwaj said she had already sent two other emails to the office bearers in which she had also asked for the minutes of the November 30 Apex Council meeting to be sent to her in addition to uploading the annual reports of the previous two years on the board’s website. “Thus, as requested on 7 January 2020, I again request for early convening of Apex Council meeting. Request you, as per my earlier mails dated 20 December 2019 and 3 January 2020, to share and also upload the Annual Reports for last 3 years on BCCI Website, in compliance with Rule 37(5) & (6) of the Constitution.”You are also requested to share the Agenda, Explanatory notes, Minutes of Apex Council meeting of 30 November 2019 and also [IPL] Governing Council meeting, last held.”Bharadwaj’s email is a significant development. The RM Lodha Committee had recommended that the CAG representative needed to be part of the Apex Council to help provide transparency and accountability in the world’s richest cricket board. The BCCI opposed the move when it was suggested, with former board president Anurag Thakur (Dhumal’s brother) controversially suggesting the CAG nominee appointment could not be allowed. Thakur was later sacked by the court for failing to implement the reforms.

The England wicketkeeper-batsman made a superb 89, but a century opening stand put Hobart Hurricanes on course for victory

Alex Malcolm28-Dec-2018Bat finally dominated ball for one of the rare times in this tournament, and the best opening partnership of the season from Matthew Wade and D’Arcy Short helped the Hobart Hurricanes outgun Sydney Thunder in Hobart.Asked to chase 194, following a masterful innings from England star Jos Buttler, Wade and Short clubbed a chanceless 120-run opening stand in just 12.1 overs to set up the superb chase. Wade made 85 from 49 balls, his highest T20 score, while Short clubbed 58 from 39 balls. The partnership only ended because of a horror mix-up.The chase stalled for a moment off the back of the mix up but Wade and Ben McDermott reignited things before Sam Rainbird claimed both men in the 18th over to leave the Hurricanes needing 26 from 12 balls before a sublime cameo from George Bailey got the home side across the line.Earlier, Buttler made the most of an early reprieve to put Hobart to the sword. He played with supreme control, and produced a full array of strokes to make 89 from 54 balls and underpin Thunder’s excellent total of 6 for 193. But his dismissal at the start of the last over likely saved the Hurricanes from chasing more than 200.Expensive ButtlerSydney Sixers paid a heavy price for dropping Buttler in the Sydney derby. The Hurricanes paid a heftier price. Johan Botha is an outstanding fielder, but he dropped a sitter at mid-off that Buttler offered from the first ball of the last over of the Powerplay. Buttler then went on a rampage striking two fours and a six from the next three deliveries to lead the Thunder to the highest Powerplay score of the BBL so far (1 for 65). Thereafter he controlled the innings magnificently. He didn’t score a boundary between the start of the 10th over and the end of the 15th, but having lost Joe Root and Jason Sangha he knew he had to be there for the last five overs. He struck five fours and two monstrous sixes in the next four overs. The quality of the ball-striking was at a different level to his team-mates. He looked set for a century before gifting a return catch to Jofra Archer in the last over, falling for a brilliant 89.Hurricane fielding horrorsBotha’s fielding error spread like an epidemic through the team. Clive Rose missed two balls at short third man that went for four, one went through his legs and the other spun past him as he failed to pay attention to how it would react off the bat. James Faulkner missed a simple caught and bowled chance offered from Sangha when he completely misjudged the pace of the ball as it lobbed back to him in his follow-through. Faulkner then spilt another simple chance that was far more expensive. Chris Green top-edged a sweep shot off Short to square leg, Faulkner cruised around from short fine leg and grassed the relatively simple catch. Green was on 7 at the time with 19 balls left in the innings. He struck a six and a four to finish with 26 not out from 14 balls and help the Thunder to a healthy total.Opening salvoWade and Short put on the best opening stand of the tournament with clinical precision. The Thunder predictably opened with spin from both ends and the required run-rate went from 9.7 to 10.1 after the pair took just five runs from the first two overs. But they didn’t panic, instead using the opening overs to sum up the surface. They exploded taking 51 from the next four overs. The control of the hitting was the most impressive aspect, both used stable bases and didn’t try and overhit the ball. They targeted the short boundary but picked the right balls to do so. They respected the Thunder’s dangerman Fawad Ahmed’s first two overs before nailing his third. Two balls were lost and Wade broke a bat. Wade reached 50 off 28 balls before Short made his half-century in 35 balls. The 120-run stand was broken by a horror mix-up, where an easy two turned into Short being caught well short after a lack of calling resulted in costly hesitation.Bailey’s biffThe game looked in the bag with three overs to go but Rainbird halted the momentum. Wade sliced a catch to third man and then McDermott was knocked over with a low full toss. Bailey only had two sighters before being asked to score 26 from the last two overs. He took 22 off the penultimate over from Daniel Sams’ with three powerful blows and some outstanding running. Sams helped the Hurricanes by bowling a no-ball above waist height that Bailey crushed onto the hill. Rainbird also bowled an above waist height no-ball at the start of the last over and Simon Milenko ended things off with the resultant free hit.