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Former England batsman Mark Butcher believes people are beginning to “see the merits” of ensuring more England players are involved in future editions of the IPL

Gaurav Kalra02-May-20155:02

Should more England players be part of the IPL?

Former England batsman Mark Butcher believes people are beginning to “see the merits” of ensuring more England players are involved in future editions of the IPL. Butcher, who is India on assignment with British broadcaster , told ESPNcricinfo that watching games from the grounds has been like “nothing else I’ve ever seen at cricket grounds around the world.””It’s quite remarkable, the fervour for the game and the atmosphere and the skill level,” he said. “When the IPL first began, it was more about what was happening off the field; giving the older players a bit of a pay day. In the last three-four years, though, the standard of cricket and the way that the game is being taken a lot more seriously and the way that the skills have been elevated to a new level has made it a wonderful combination. I have no doubt whatsoever that any players – whether they being young or old – will only improve by experiencing it and playing it.”Butcher is convinced that young England players, especially those identified as key to their limited-overs plans in the years ahead, such as Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Chris Woakes and the likes, will benefit immensely from playing in the IPL. However, he said, they can only hope to attract interest from franchises if they are available to participate in the entire season and not for a short period, as is the case currently.”At the moment, because English players initially couldn’t stay for the entire duration of the tournament which meant that their price was not worth paying, people are not even looking at English players to play in the competition,” he said. “So, that’s going to change. I have no doubt about that. It will take us a little while because it always takes us a little while to catch up with things but people are now beginning to see the merits.”England’s shocking early exit from the World Cup has led to considerable churn in the country about how to bridge the gap with other countries in the limited-overs formats. Butcher believes that outcome has put “more pressure” to try and find ways to get more English players involved in the IPL.”If you play all your domestic cricket in one country, you do not know how cricketers do it in other countries like Bangladesh or India or South Africa,” he said. “Everybody has their own different things that they bring to the table. What we’re seeing with these players is that with them being exposed to more leagues around the world, it is no longer difficult for a New Zealander to come out and play brilliantly on slow Indian pitches. They know how to do it. That’s the learning curve you get by being here for six weeks.”While Butcher didn’t think it was possible to tweak the county season to allow English players to play the IPL, he advocated considering what he described as a “short-term loss” over “long-term gain”.”I think what the ECB and the counties have to look at is how much we gain in the long run by exposing some of our brightest and the best to competitions like the IPL,” he said. “You might lose out a little bit in the short term by missing your best players but what you will gain in the long term is the knowledge of playing under pressure when they come back which will pay dividends later on in the long run. So, you have to speculate a little bit to accumulate.”Former England batsman and coach David Lloyd, who also had his first first-hand experience of the IPL as a commentator this season, was equally enthused after his stint. Writing in his blog on , Lloyd conceded that while cricket won’t enjoy the same following in the UK as India, a template similar to the Big Bash League in Australia should be considered by the ECB.”We can certainly stage something very similar to the Big Bash. That would be our template – have eight teams, who play everybody twice,” Lloyd wrote. “If we could find a three-to-four-week window and block it off – that’s what all the players want but you’ve got to sell that idea to 18 counties so there’s got to be a will to do it that way. You’d have to play it alongside Test-match cricket – as they do in Australia – to fit it into the schedule and you’d have to try to attract the best players in the world and make it a real event.”

Ryan McLaren has replaced Albie Morkel in South Africa’s squad for the two Twenty20 internationals against Australia on October 13 and 16

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Oct-2011Allrounder Ryan McLaren has replaced Albie Morkel in South Africa’s squad for the two Twenty20 internationals against Australia on October 13 and 16. Morkel is expected to be sidelined for between four and six weeks after suffering an abdominal muscle tear while playing for Chennai Super Kings in the Champions League Twenty20.”Although it is a blow to lose Albie Morkel, Ryan McLaren has always done well for us in this format,” Andrew Hudson, the convener of selectors, said. “He is one of the few bowlers to take five wickets in a T20 international. In addition he comes into the series in good form, having made a big century for the Knights at the weekend.”Mark Boucher also suffered an injury, to his hamstring, while playing for Warriors in the Champions League T20. He missed the final group game and is expected to recover in eight to 10 days, in time for the ODI series against Australia which begins on October 19.Legspinner Imran Tahir, who is also in the ODI squad, had a mild groin strain and was withdrawn from the Dolphins squad for this weekend’s SuperSport Series match as a precautionary measure. His availability for the ODI series was not in doubt.South Africa have already lost AB de Villiers, their Twenty20 and ODI captain, for the limited-overs matches against Australia. de Villiers broke his finger during a training session with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Champions League Twenty20.

Scott Styris, the New Zealand allrounder, will turn out for Essex in the upcoming Friends Provident Twenty20 tournament

Cricinfo staff20-May-2010Scott Styris, the New Zealand allrounder, will turn out for Essex in the upcoming Friends Provident Twenty20 tournament. Styris was signed after the county’s deal with Yusuf Pathan fell through due to the BCCI’s decision to revoke the ‘No Objection Certificate’ which had been obtained to secure Pathan’s participation.Styris will not be available to Essex for the entire competition, which begins on June 1, as he will only join up with the team on June 10 – in time for the away game against Surrey – and his contract only runs to the end of the group stage, which ends on July 18. However, an option remains to extend Styris’s contract for the quarter final stage.”We are obviously delighted to secure the services of Scott,” said Paul Grayson, Essex’s first team head coach. “He is a vastly experienced cricketer and that is why we have signed him. He has shown good form for New Zealand and has the experience of the World Cup to offer.”Scott is a general allrounder and a good Twenty20 player and we hope he will make a big impact on the side. As a committed cricketer he knows how to play the game and is a canny one-day player. He could well prove to be a very astute signing for Essex”.Styris, 34, retired from Tests at the beginning of 2008 but remains an integral part of New Zealand’s limited-overs teams, having played 165 one-day internationals and 27 Twenty20 internationals. He also has a great deal of experience in English conditions, with stints at Durham and Middlesex, and is a veteran of domestic Twenty20 cricket, with 1733 runs and 63 wickets to his name.

UAE were reduced to 56 for 4 in the chase of 204, meaning even an unbeaten 70 from Vriitya Aravind was not enough to stave off heavy defeat

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Dec-2023Rahmanullah Gurbaz cracked his maiden T20I century, helping Afghanistan to 203 and eventually a 72-run win in the first T20I against UAE in Sharjah. The hosts were never quite in the chase after being reduced to 56 for 4 in the first ten overs.Gurbaz’s knock of 100 came off just 52 deliveries, with seven fours and as many sixes. He dominated a second-wicket stand of 137 off 77 balls with Ibrahim Zadran, who was appointed the stand-in captain for the series.The boundaries kept flowing regularly from the bat of Gurbaz, who got to his fifty off 24 balls with a six off Ali Naseer in the ninth over. He went 4, 6, 4 against Basil Hameed in the 16th, reaching his hundred off 50 balls – also with a six – in the following over. Afghanistan scored 62 in the last five overs, with the finishing touches provided by Azmatullah Omarzai’s unbeaten cameo of 19 from eight deliveries.Chasing a challenging score, UAE lost Khalid Shah in the first over. Fazalhaq Farooqi, back in Afghanistan’s squad along with Naveen-ul-Haq after being sanctioned by the ACB earlier this week for expressing a desire to be left out of the central contracts list for 2024, got Khalid and also Samal Udawaththa in the fifth over.In between, Naveen removed Muhammad Waseem, before Qais Ahmad got the fourth wicket to leave UAE needing another 148 in the last ten overs. Vriitya Aravind fought back with 70 not out but his effort only helped reduce the margin of defeat for the home team.The big win gave Afghanistan a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, with the second match also taking place in Sharjah on Sunday.

Coach McDonald says once fit, Stoinis and Green could play together in the XI

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Oct-2023Marcus Stoinis is doubtful for Australia’s opening match at the 2023 ODI World Cup, against India on October 8 in Chennai, because of a hamstring niggle he picked up in the first ODI against the same opponent in Mohali last month. Stoinis has not played a match since.”He’s got a slight hamstring complaint at this stage, so that’s why he missed the practice games and he’ll be touch and go for the first game against India,” Australia coach Andrew McDonald said in Chennai on Thursday while talking about Stoinis. “We’ve got the main session today and then another hit out tomorrow, so he’ll go through his work there and we’ll see whether he’s available for selection for game one but at the moment he wasn’t fit and available for those practice games.”Cameron Green found some form in the final warm-up match against Pakistan, but McDonald said one of the plans was to have both in the playing XI.”There’s a way that we can fit them both into the one side,” he said. “Over the last 18 months, we’ve had a pretty clear way that we want to build three ways of playing. One of those ways is definitely with all the allrounders and potentially two quicks, and you’ve seen that side in the past 18 months being played, so there is a real possibility that both of those players can be in the same XI and we haven’t ruled that out.”When asked about the other ways, he said: “You can change your batting line-up, you can change the structure of your top order. So behind the scenes, we’re pretty clear on the way that we want to go about it. And that’ll be surface-dependent and clearly body-dependent as well.”The World Cup is a long campaign, there’s no doubt going to be some sore bodies at certain times. We feel as though with [our] squad that we’ve got great flexibility, albeit at the moment obviously Travis Head sitting and where he’s at, that’ll give us greater scope to shift and manoeuvre the side the way that we have over the last 18 months.”Marcus Stoinis last played a game on September 22•Getty Images

Despite the plethora of fast-bowling options Australia possess, Stoinis opened the bowling in recent ODIs and T20Is, with encouraging success. That gave them the option of holding back one of their frontline quicks in the middle overs, a phase that could be crucial during the World Cup.McDonald added Glenn Maxwell finding form in the warm-up against Pakistan with a quick 77 and eight overs with the ball worked out nicely for them.”Cameron Green got a little bit of time in the middle also and clearly Glenn Maxwell being able to cope with the demands of the game that he played, a significant innings plus being able to back up and bowl as many overs as he did. He has pulled up really well. So a few of those moving parts that we had leading in have unfolded positively for us, which is nice. If you asked me that two weeks ago, I would have been a little bit worried but now everything seems to have come together nicely.”Legspinner Adam Zampa also hasn’t played since pulling up sore in the second ODI in Indore last month but he was not a concern, according to McDonald, and he had missed the two warm-ups more for workload management.Australia will have to wait for an update on Head until October 11 or 12 to have a clearer indication of when he can join the squad in India.

The former captain praised the performance of Zak Crawley and the durability of Pat Cummins

Andrew McGlashan18-Aug-20237:13

Was the 2023 Ashes the best series ever?

Australia were left “scratching the head” about how to combat Bazball as the Ashes series went on, according to Ricky Ponting who believed the final 2-2 scoreline was a fair result. Ponting although remained adamant that the controversial ball change at The Oval played a decisive hand.The visitors went 2-0 up with a nerve-jangling two-wicket victory at Edgbaston and a more convincing display at Lord’s as they held off Ben Stokes’ onslaught, but they let a strong position slip at Headingley where England were able to win by three wickets.Two days of rain at Old Trafford enabled them to retain the Ashes after being plundered for 592 at 5.49 an over before their chance of a first Ashes series win in the country since 2001 slipped away on a dramatic final day at The Oval where an earlier change of ball brought England’s quick bowlers back into the game.Related

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“The two contrasting styles of play were great to sit back and watch,” Ponting told the breakfast show which is co-hosted by former Australia captain Tim Paine. “There was a lot of talk about Bazball and how England would approach it, and would that style stand up against the quality of the Australian attack – looking back, it probably did.”It probably had some of the Australian players, coaches and the captain at different times scratching their head as to how they were going to combat it. Think the 2-2 result, albeit probably slightly biased with a bit of controversy in that last Test with the ball changed the way that it was, that gifted England some conditions they probably shouldn’t have got, think the level of cricket played across the series, the 2-2 result was probably fair.”While Chris Woakes, who was named the Compton-Miller medalist as Player of the Series despite appearing in just three matches, and Mark Wood had huge impacts after coming into the side, Ponting pinpointed England’s sustained aggression with the bat as the key element in their fightback.Ricky Ponting praised the role of Zak Crawley•Getty Images

“It was more their top-order batting, I think, [that] we struggled to come to grips with,” he said. “The way that Crawley and Duckett were able to play at the start of every innings, really, they got England off to flying starts and put pressure straight back on the Australian attack. When that momentum started to build it was hard for the Australians to rein it back in.”Zak Crawley has got to take a lot of credit, he was the one going into the series who was under the most pressure. That 180 he got at Manchester was as good a Test match batting as you could see…as I said it had [Pat Cummins] and the boys scratching their heads as to how they were going to bowl at him.”Think even the Australian boys might be sitting back and looking at the way they played, [and asking] what can we do a little bit better to combat that in the future. Think a lot of other countries around the world might be looking at it as well and saying if we want to compete with Australia maybe this is the way we have to go.”Ponting backed the selection calls made by Australia throughout the series and praised Cummins’ ability to get through six matches including the World Test Championship final against India, although he did think there may be some new faces introduced to the bowling attack over the next 12 months.”As the series wore on, Cummo was probably the pick again, but Starcy was outstanding,” he said. “There were some questions about whether Pat could get through those six Tests and keep his intensity up; there might have been a bit of a flat spot when he was under a bit of attack at Manchester but the way he bounced back in the last Test, his pace at the start of the last Test was the best it’s been for a long time, so he kept coming.”As it went on, felt to me like they could have brought [Michael] Neser in at some stage in the right conditions. But I think what they did selection wise was right. We know there is enough [depth] underneath these guys, [Lance] Morris and those guys sitting back in the wings. Think we’ve got enough there and at different times I reckon through the next 12 months we might see some different faces in our bowling line-up.”

Former PE teacher will be available from start of Championship on April 8

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Mar-2021Warwickshire’s off-spinning allrounder Alex Thomson has been farmed out to Durham on a two-month loan.Thomson, who put a career as a PE teacher on hold to try to make it in county cricket, faced limited first-team opportunities in the Championship following Warwickshire’s signing of Danny Briggs from Sussex.He will return to Edgbaston at the end of May and, as well as contesting a place in the Vitality T20 Blast, he can be expected to step in during the Royal London Cup when Briggs joins a tranche of county professionals committed to the inaugural season in The Hundred.Warwickshire’s spin resources have also been strengthened by the arrival of left-arm wrist spinner Jake Lintott, who formerly had stints with Somerset and Hampshire, after Lintott made a positive impression for the county during last year’s T20 Blast campaign.Paul Farbrace, Director of Cricket at Warwickshire CCC, said: “We think a lot of Alex and this loan move represents the best opportunity for him to get first team cricket during this early part of the season, with Danny Briggs confirmed as our starting spinner.”This loan move gives Alex an excellent opportunity at Durham to play some competitive games and to continue his development at Durham after starting all five First Class fixtures last year. We will certainly be closely monitoring his progress.Thomson, a former Cardiff MCCU graduate, and product of Minor Counties side Staffordshire, made his red ball debut for Warwickshire in 2018 against Yorkshire at Headingley.Since then, he has made 14 First-Class appearances, claiming 20 wickets with a best of 6 for 138 against Hampshire. He has taken 43 wickets across all formats.Thomson will be available for Durham’s opening Championship match against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge on April 8.

The BCCI is expected to take a final call during its annual general meeting on Thursday

Nagraj Gollapudi23-Dec-2020The IPL will dominate the agenda of the BCCI annual general meeting on Thursday, with the tournament likely to expand to ten teams from 2022. The 2021 season, due to start in April, could stick with eight teams or have a ninth, depending on logistical issues being worked out.In early December the BCCI informed its state associations that one of the key items on the AGM agenda would be the “approval” of two new IPL teams.In the past such a proposal would have been deliberated by the IPL Governing Council, but this time the BCCI top brass comprising its president Sourav Ganguly, secretary Jay Shah and treasurer Arun Dhumal, along with the IPL chief operating officer Hemang Amin, have had discussions in private.Related

• IPL could have two new teams as BCCI seeks 'approval' at AGM

At the AGM, which will be held in Ahmedabad, the BCCI will seek approval from its members, the state associations, on one of the options after giving them a presentation of the pros and cons of each option.Paucity of time along with the complexities of conducting the tournament during the Covid-19 pandemic are the two main deterrents the BCCI has recognised against adding two new teams in 2021 itself. With the next edition of the IPL scheduled for an April start, the BCCI has just four months to achieve several targets if two new teams are to be added.First, the BCCI would need to issue a tender to invite bidders to buy the two new franchises. It would also need to list a set number of cities around India for the bidders to pick their home base from. That would be followed by a mega auction where all 10 franchises would build their squads. Even before that the existing eight franchises would need to be told how many players they could retain including the combination of Indian and overseas players.The other significant challenge for the BCCI concerning the 2021 IPL is that it is yet to finalise the venue for the tournament. Right now India remains the preferred choice. However the BCCI would still keep a back-up venue like the UAE in mind in case it cannot create a biosecure bubble for the multi-team tournament in India, which has gone past the 10-million mark for total Covid-19 cases, the second-highest globally.While the majority of the eight existing franchises would prefer the 2021 IPL to not have any additional teams for different reasons, the state associations don’t mind either way. A few state associations favour a nine-team IPL from 2021 and would consider a tenth team in the future. Either way that would entail the BCCI conducting a mega auction.In normal circumstances a mega auction was scheduled before the 2021 IPL. The IPL conducts a mega auction every three years with the last one held in 2018. In case the BCCI does not add any new team for the 2021 edition it would only conduct a mini auction, which would allow the current eight franchises to retain the bulk of their squads and only make alterations and additions to them.Pragyan Ojha to be part of IPL Governing CouncilThe Indian Cricketers’ Association (ICA) has nominated the former India spinner Pragyan Ojha to the IPL Governing Council. Ojha will replace former Delhi and India batsman Surinder Khanna. As per the BCCI constitution, updated in the wake of the Lodha Committee reforms, the ICA representative will be nominated Governing Council every year.Ojha will join former India batsman Brijesh Patel and Khairul Majumdar, the Mizoram Cricket Association president, who were elected unopposed for a second term from the BCCI general body to sit on the IPL Governing Council.

Allrounder becomes first cricketer since Freddie Flintoff in 2005 to win award

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Dec-2019Ben Stokes has been crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year after playing a key role in the team’s World Cup win and producing one of England’s most remarkable Test innings of all time against Australia at Headingley.England’s World Cup side were also recognised in the team of the year category, while Jos Buttler’s run-out of Martin Guptill to seal the trophy in the final against New Zealand was voted moment of the year as cricket sealed a treble victory.Stokes’ nearest rivals were Lewis Hamilton, the Formula One driver, who came second, and Dina Asher-Smith, the sprinter, in third. His win ends a barren run for cricketers in the award, as he becomes the first to win the prize since Freddie Flintoff in 2005. Stokes is the fifth player to have claimed the title since its inception in 1954, following Jim Laker (1956), David Steele (1975), Ian Botham (1981) and Flintoff.”It’s an individual award, but I play in a team sport,” said Stokes. “The best thing about that is you get to share special moments with team-mates, backroom staff, management who make days like we had in the summer possible. I’m up here receiving this award not just by myself but without the efforts that you put in this summer, I wouldn’t be up here doing that.”Two years ago was a tough time for me in my life. I’ve had so many people help me through that. Family to me is more important to me than what I do for a living… I come home from a good day or a bad day and they’re there for me no matter what.”The allrounder’s win will be seen a significant boost for cricket’s standing in England, not least given that not a single player had even managed a podium finish since the game went behind the paywall following the 2005 Ashes.While the sight of Andy Murray receiving the award poolside while in Miami has become a regular one in recent years – Flintoff himself heard the news of his victory in a Lahore hotel at 3am in 2005 – the ECB allowed Stokes to attend the ceremony in Aberdeen, despite the fact that the rest of the Test squad departed to South Africa on Friday evening.Stokes’ attendance at the prizegiving means that he will miss England’s first two-day warmup match in Benoni which starts on Tuesday, but that was seen as a price worth paying for the ECB as they attempt to return the game to public consciousness ahead of its return to free-to-air television next summer.”It’s been huge,” said Jason Roy – who attended the ceremony alongside white-ball captain Eoin Morgan – of the World Cup win’s significance for the game’s public standing. “For us to work so hard for the four years and for it to come down to that moment, and to wake up the following day and keep getting messages… to inspire people like we did was incredible.”Ashley Giles, England’s managing director, said: “I’m so pleased for Ben. His exploits this summer showed he is one of the finest cricketers in the world. I played alongside Andrew Flintoff when he won the award in 2005 and Ben’s feats this year place him in the same bracket as Freddie, and Ian Botham before him.”Tom Harrison, the ECB’s CEO, said that the award “confirms [Stokes’] place in the hearts of the British public”.”It’s wonderful news that Ben has been named the winner of Sports Personality of the Year,” Harrison said. “This is richly deserved and it puts the finishing touch to an amazing year for Ben and for English cricket. He is not just one of the greatest cricketers we have ever had, but someone who has shown what it means to face into adversity and come through it.”We’re also thrilled that the England team who won the men’s World Cup for the first time have been honoured too. No-one who was at Lord’s on July 14 will ever forget that extraordinarily dramatic win over New Zealand.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Earlier in the evening, host Gary Lineker had mistakenly introduced Stokes as the “main award winner” rather than “nominee” before the public vote had even opened, perhaps reflecting the fact that the allrounder was the odds-on favourite with the bookmakers.The rest of England’s Test squad watched the show from their hotel in Johannesburg, and were part of a huge social media push from the English cricketing world encouraging people to vote.Steve Smith’s 774 runs in seven Ashes innings earned him a nomination in the World Sport Star category, but he was beaten by Kenyan marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge.

As spectators soaked up the sunshine on an entertaining day, conversation often turned to the ECB’s controversial plans for 100-ball cricket

David Hopps at Headingley20-Apr-2018
ScorecardCricket’s changing landscape was there for all to see at Headingley. Behind the arm at the rugby end of the ground, the clanking and hammering told of a new stand rapidly taking shape. And, as spectators soaked up the sunshine on an entertaining, helter-skelter day, conversation often turned to the ECB’s controversial plans for 100-ball cricket. Praise for that in this hotbed of traditionalism is not easy to find.The two things are linked, of course. Without the revenue gained by successful short-form cricket, such stands as the one that will secure Headingley’s future would be impossible to finance. But this? Sun-creamed heads shook not with shock, but with deepening sadness.Many feel the game is being stolen from them. Championship diehards begin to grow old, lose friends and family and the game they love is gradually pilfered. Having become used to Twenty20, they are now told that even Twenty20 is not enough. If there was a unanimous plea here it would probably be to say: “Just leave us something worth caring for.”At such times, traditionalists take their pleasures one day at a time. There was plenty to be had with Yorkshire, up against it for much of the day, finding resilience down the order in the form of Andrew Hodd, who made 62 from 116 balls, and then picking up four cheap Nottinghamshire wickets by the close.There was zest, too, from Jack Brooks, who is no fall-guy with the bat. Last season he scored a Roses Championship century at Old Trafford and added another during an intra-squad friendly on Yorkshire’s pre-season tour of South Africa last month. His stand of 44 for the tenth wicket with Ben Coad gave Yorkshire the edge and his 30 included another clanking of the new stand with a six off Samit Patel.Three top-order wickets then quickened Yorkshire’s rally. Steven Mullaney dragged on and Chris Nash’s furtive dab flew to slip – two for Brooks in his first two overs. Patel fell lbw, that one met by a throaty Headingley roar, 100-ball cricket temporarily forgotten. If Nottinghamshire’s batting line-up is to survive the rigours of Division One, one senses that Patel needs a big season.Yorkshire made much play before the start of the season on batting time in the Championship. Twenty20 shot-making was to be frowned upon. Lines were drawn in indoor schools, sessions arranged with psychologists, meaningful conversations held.Yet before the ball had lost its sheen Alex Lees fended at a wide one from Jake Ball and Gary Ballance, the skipper, yet to score, slapped his ninth ball to point. Conditions were testing, but there were grumbles that nothing had changed. Still, if they were accused of a T20 mindset, they could always have suggested that nobody had warned them not to play 100-ball.It was grand to see Luke Fletcher among the wickets – four of them – after his horrendous head injury in a Blast tie against Warwickshire last season. Such career-threatening blows, if things turn out well, can encourage players to return with fresh resolve, determined to make the most of their good fortune.For 18 overs, Fletcher allowed few gifts. His quartet included the Indian Test No 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, a valid lbw decision which Pujara dwelt upon before leaving, as if he was still hanging around for his luggage at the airport carousel.