Category Uncategorized

The CoA has asked Johri to submit an explanation in relation to the allegations within a week

Sidharth Monga13-Oct-2018The Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) has asked the BCCI CEO Rahul Johri to “submit his explanation within a week” a day after he was named in an anonymous #MeToo post. An allegation made by a woman claiming to be a former colleague of Johri was posted on Twitter on Friday night.ESPNcricinfo has also seen communication that shows that the BCCI had been alerted as long ago as January 2017 to a harassment case allegedly involving Johri in his previous employment. It is not clear if the allegation made on Friday, to which Johri has to answer, is the same case the BCCI was alerted to in January 2017. Johri has not made any public comment; calls and messages to him remained unanswered.”There are certain media reports today,” said a CoA release initially circulated selectively through Whatsapp messages, “including in the social media, pertaining to Mr. Rahul Johri, CEO BCCI. The reports disclose allegations of sexual harassment made against Mr. Johri, by an unnamed person through a twitter handle. The allegations also relates to his previous employment with a large media house. The allegations have appeared as a part of the ‘me too’ movement. Though, the said allegations do not pertain to his employment with the BCCI, the Committee of Administrators of the BCCI has deemed it appropriate to seek an explanation from Mr Johri in relation to the allegations. He has been asked to submit his explanation within a week. Future course of action will be considered on receipt of his explanation.”The woman behind the Twitter allegation claims to have been a colleague of Johri before he had moved to working with a “niche satellite channel”. It was posted by a verified Twitter account of a person who has published several such anonymous allegations on behalf of others. This is the first high-profile person involved in Indian cricket administration to be named in the #MeToo exposes.An anonymous email, addressed to the BCCI office-bearers Amitabh Choudhary and Anirudh Chaudhry, its state units and the Lodha Committee secretary Gopal Sankaranarayanan in January 2017, wrote of a “sex harassment case in Discovery channel” involving Johri. ESPNcricinfo is in possession of the email, which was sent nine months after Johri was appointed the BCCI CEO. The CoA only came into being a few days after this email.The contents of that email were brought to Johri’s attention, who responded by calling the accusation – as well as the allegations of a subsequent financial settlement – a “complete lie” and a “malicious attempt to tarnish my reputation”. He also produced an appreciation email from his previous employers and the briefing pack from the recruitment agency Korn Ferry, which he said didn’t have any reference to any sexual misconduct. This email exchange took place on January 25, 2017 and the CoA was constituted on January 30. There was no further investigation into the complaint.This is not the first time the CoA has been called upon to deal with a case of harassment. In September this year, Aditya Verma, the whistleblower whose original litigation resulted in the Lodha reforms, wrote to the CoA asking for action in a case of harassment within the BCCI, which first came to the fore in February 2018. In his letter, Verma reminded Vinod Rai, the CoA head, that the complaint “of sexual harassment of a very senior official” should have been referred to the District Complaints Committee under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment Act because the BCCI did not have an internal complaint committee at the time. The BCCI’s own complaint committee was formed in April 2018, under Section 4 of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (prevention, prohibition and redressal) Act 2013. The BCCI or the CoA has not spoken publicly about this case.The CoA has not referred the current matter to its complaints committee yet, which could be because it doesn’t pertain to Johri’s employment with the BCCI. Rai has not responded to ESPNcricinfo’s attempts to contact him. Nor does the statement say who will represent the BCCI at the ICC chief executives’ meeting in Singapore on October 17 and 18. Ordinarily Johri would have been the attendee.The BCCI sent out an email later with the same statement though it dropped the words “sexual harassment” from it, and did not specify the nature of the allegations.Johri has been the BCCI CEO since June 2016, and before that he was Discovery Networks Asia Pacific’s executive vice-president and general manager for South Asia. Korn Ferry, a Mumbai-based head-hunting firm, had been appointed by the BCCI to find the board a CEO, and Johri was chosen by the firm after a roughly four-month-long selection process.

SLC will launch an inquiry into the decision to strip Hambantota Stadium groundstaff of their branded SLC trousers – which they had been wearing – following the fifth ODI against Zimbabwe

Andrew Fidel Fernando12-Jul-2017Sri Lanka Cricket has taken a harsh view of the decision to strip Hambantota Stadium groundstaff of their branded SLC trousers – which they had been wearing – following the fifth ODI against Zimbabwe.The groundstaff had been given SLC uniforms to wear while performing their duties at the venue, but had largely not expected to have to hand the clothing back. Many, however, reported only being paid after handing over their trousers, leaving them in only their underwear. The groundstaff were casual workers hired from the venue’s locality.”They only paid us for our three days worth of work after taking our clothes,” one groundsman told after being stripped of his trousers. Another said: “They hadn’t told us to come prepared with another set of clothes. They asked us to hand over the trousers, so we had no choice but to do that.”Sri Lanka Cricket has since officially apologised to “those subjected to this ignominy” and said that “stern action will be taken against those responsible”, following the conclusion of an inquiry. On Wednesday, SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala condemned the decision to take the trousers back from the groundstaff, in strong terms.*”That was a very low thing that happened,” Sumathipala said. “These people come to the ground because of their love of cricket, and to do a service while watching the match. They aren’t just there for the money. If rains come, they close up the whole ground within minutes, and then take the covers off again. They are our colleagues, not our slaves. The board didn’t know anything about this. We had sent that clothing out to our provincial associations, but hadn’t taken a decision to get that clothing back.”As Sri Lanka Cricket has adopted the practice of covering the entire ground in the event of rain, the board usually hires dozens of local workers on a day-wage basis whenever a match is to be played at a nearby venue. Only recently have they required these workers to wear a full uniform.*This story was updated with Sumathipala’s reaction

Middlesex strengthened their hold at the top of Division One of the Specsavers Championship when John Simpson’s six gave them a two-wicket win with two balls to spare in a thrilling run chase at Taunton

ECB Reporters Network13-Jul-2016
ScorecardJohn Simpson celebrates his winning hit•Getty Images

John Simpson celebrated his 28th birthday by blasting Middlesex to a sensational two-wicket Specsavers County Championship win against Somerset at Taunton after 96 runs had been needed off the final eight overs.An enthralling game seemed to be heading for a draw when Tim Groenewald took four wickets to help restrict the visitors to 185 for 5, chasing 302 to win.But Simpson, with 79 not out off 80 balls, including four sixes and five fours, and James Fuller produced a stand of 86 off less than eight overs. A Craig Overton over went for 23 and, although Fuller fell, Middlesex wrapped up victory with just two balls to spare.The winning hit was a six over fine leg by Simpson off Jim Allenby after eight had been needed from the final over. The Middlesex wicketkeeper, who had claimed nine catches in the match, threw both arms in the air in celebration.Nick Gubbins contributed 76 to the run chase and, although Groenewald finished with five for 90, Middlesex took 23 points to Somerset’s three after four exceptional days of Championship cricket.Simpson said: “I’m almost speechless. The feeling of elation when that ball went for six to win the game was unbelievable. Jim Allenby was swinging the ball into my pads, so I just went with the swing. At first I thought it was going to be a one bounce four, but the ball kept on travelling over deep backward-square.”Credit the whole team because we never gave up trying to win. After a period of consolidation, James Fuller’s innings provided a real lift and I was able to finish things off.”I’m not sure how I am going to celebrate my birthday. We are staying down for the T20 game on Friday night and there is talk of golf in the morning. By then I will either be hungover or very tired.”Set 302 to win from a minimum of 46 overs, the visitors made a promising start and were 108 for one in the 17th over when Overton took a stunning catch at third man to dismiss Dawid Malan.Gubbins and Malan had produced an array of attacking shots to add 76 for the second wicket. Then Malan got a top edge off Groenewald and Overton made 30 yards running to his left before diving full length to hold the ball two-handed inches off the ground.Gubbins had faced 70 balls, hitting nine fours and two sixes, when he miscued a back-foot forcing shot off Groenewald to Allenby at deepish extra-cover.When George Bailey was bowled by a perfect Groenewald inswinger for four it was 155 for 4 and Middlesex had to think twice about chasing a target of around seven an over.Allenby cemented Groenewald’s good work with an economic spell from the River End, earning reward when pinning James Franklin lbw for 28.The departure of the skipper at 185 for 5 seemed to signal the end of Middlesex victory hopes. But Simpson and Fuller changed all that with an astonishing assault, Fuller hitting three sixes and two fours in his vital knock.Jack Leach struck twice in the closing overs to increase the tension, but it was Simpson’s day.Earlier, the hosts had extended their second innings score from an overnight 348 for 6 to 446 for 9 declared, Peter Trego making 138, three short of his best score on his 200th first class appearance.Groenewald and Leach shared an unbroken tenth-wicket stand of 42, using up valuable time, but it still seemed a generous declaration by Chris Rogers against his old county in excellent batting conditions.In fact, it produced a wonderful finish and Championship cricket at its best.Somerset director of cricket Matthew Maynard said: “I am proud of our players. It was a fantastic game of cricket and we have come up just a bit short. We took a gamble on using a green pitch, knowing we would be asked to bat first, and the lads gave everything. Losing Jamie Overton was a blow.”Overton pulled out of the game midway through an over on the second day and will miss the Lions series against Sri Lanka next week. Somerset will investigate his lower back injury over the next few days but are hopeful there is no stress fracture.

As the IPL reaches its halfway point, Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians find themselves rooted at the bottom of the table, and both teams can’t afford to leave any more room for error

The Preview by Sidharth Monga02-May-2015

Match facts

Sunday, May 3, 2015
Start time 1600 local (1030 GMT)2:08

O’Brien: Mumbai have finally got combination right

Big Picture

This is a game between sides that played the most positive Twenty20 cricket over the last two IPLs. In 2013, Mumbai Indians by playing five specialist bowlers, five specialist batsmen and a wicketkeeper-batsman. If six can’t score the runs in 20 overs, seven won’t make a big difference. No specialist was sacrificed for a bits-and-pieces players. In 2014 Kings XI Punjab didn’t think of what-ifs, and put their best batsmen at the top. Twenty overs is a short time, make use of it.This year is proving it is easy to implement such idyllic plans only if your players are in form. Kings XI have two wins from eight games, and Mumbai are only slightly better at three. Mumbai have lost two overseas players, and Lasith Malinga is no longer the threat he was two years ago; Kings XI’s top order can’t buy a run, and Mitchell Johnson and Glenn Maxwell haven’t quite warmed up yet.If Kings XI win this game, they might just sink both the teams. To end up in the top four you roughly want to want half your matches; if Kings XI make it three wins each for these teams, both will need to win each of their last five games. Suffice to say Kings XI can’t afford to lose this one.The only game in Mohali so far was played on a track so green it was hard to tell it from the outfield. The ball swung around, and Sunrisers Hyderabad – the best swing attack in the competition – beat the hosts by 20 runs. Expect Johnson to come back, and a bit of a showdown between the quick bowlers of both the sides.

Form guide

Kings XI Punjab LLLWL (last five matches, most recent first)
Mumbai Indians WWLWL

Watch out for…

The Vs of Kings XI. Virender, Vijay and Vohra. None of them have had a big innings with more than half the competition over. Look no further for the main source of trouble. Their power-packed middle order has hardly had a hit without having to worry about rebuilding. Whichever of the two play on Sunday will have to give Kings XI a decent start to build on from.Ambati Rayudu finally came good for Mumbai Indians in their win over Rajasthan Royals, but one in eight for a batsman who doesn’t bowl and is not asked to take the responsibility of batting in the top four can’t be good enough. Rayudu will have to kick on for Mumbai to have a chance of progressing from here.

Stats and trivia

• With 93 wickets, R Vinay Kumar is the second-most-successful quick, and fifth-most overall, in IPL. Team-mate Lasith Malinga leads the tally with 129, with three spinners Amit Mishra, Piyush Chawla and Harbhajan Singh in between.
• Kings XI’s opening partnership has averaged 13.87 this IPL. No other team has had such poor starts.
• M Vijay has been run out 11 times in the IPL, the joint-highest with Gautam Gambhir and Venugopal Rao.

Quotes

“The big thing is to not let these performances define us.”
“We are starting to peak our performance right now.”

Mahela Jayawardene has resigned as Sri Lanka’s Twenty20 captain, soon after his team lost the final of the World Twenty20 against West Indies in Colombo

Andrew Fernando in Colombo07-Oct-2012Mahela Jayawardene has resigned as Sri Lanka’s Twenty20 captain, soon after his team lost the final of the World Twenty20 against West Indies in Colombo. He said he will remain captain of the ODI and Test teams until at least the end of Sri Lanka’s tour of Australia in January, and remains available for Twenty20 selection.”I had a chat to the selectors before this tournament started. I was going to step down from T20 captaincy after this World Cup,” Jayawardene said. “I personally feel that for Sri Lanka going forward we need a younger leader. It’s a great opportunity for somebody to start in that T20 format. I’ve spoken to the selectors and they were quite happy with that choice.”Vice captain Angelo Mathews has been groomed for captaincy over the past 18 months, and is the obvious candidate to take the reins in the shortest format.Jayawardene, 35, had given up the captaincy in all formats in 2009, but resumed leadership when Tillkaratne Dilshan quit the post in January this year. In his second stint at the helm, Jayawardene has seen himself as an interim captain until the younger crop of Sri Lanka players are ready to step into leadership. In addition to Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara has also led the side in recent years, before resigning after Sri Lanka’s World Cup final loss in 2011.”I took over till the Australia tour, so I’ll assess what I want to do after that,” Jayawardene said.

ESPNcricinfo previews the Champions League Twenty20 qualifier between Auckland and Somerset in Hyderabad

The Preview by Nitin Sundar19-Sep-2011

Match facts

Auckland v Somerset, September 20
Start time 20.00 (14.30 GMT)
Auckland faced heartbreak in their first game, but their opponents on Tuesday are the ones really having the blues•AFP

Big Picture

Auckland have less than 24 hours to bounce back from their utterly deflating loss to Kolkata Knight Riders. Twenty20 games are rarely lost from 60 for 1 in the ninth over while chasing 122 for a win, but somehow Auckland managed to stuff it on Monday. Victory won’t guarantee anything, but another defeat will shut the door on their chances of taking home anything between an extra $200,000 and $2.5 million. That’s a lot of money for a New Zealand-based side to pass up, sitting as they do in a world far from the commercial hub of cricket.Their joust with Kolkata proved that Auckland have the team to pull off a win, and would have also given them pointers on how to tackle the slow-and-low conditions in Hyderabad. Their chances are considerably brightened by the circumstances in which their opponents have turned up for the event. Only three days ago, Somerset were in a different time-zone, shuddering to another defeat in a final, leaving them with a fifth runner’s-up spot across formats in two years of domestic cricket. In addition to being demoralised and bleary-eyed, they have arrived without their captain, Marcus Trescothick, while Kieron Pollard has chosen to play for Mumbai Indians. It gets worse – Craig Kieswetter and Jos Buttler are unavailable for the qualifier on account of England duty. Both teams are clearly saddled with varying degrees of adversity – who will stay afloat on Tuesday night?

Team news

In Trescothick’s absence, Alfonso Thomas will lead Somerset, and his IPL experience with Pune Warriors will come in handy. The absence of several key players makes predicting their top order a bit of a lottery. The side is also endowed with more than its share of slow spinners.

Auckland may want to stick to their XI, though they will be concerned with Colin Munro’s inability to score quickly in the middle overs.

Watch out for …

Martin Guptill faced the ignominy of getting dismissed before facing a ball against Kolkata, and will be eager to make amends against Somerset. He was one of the top run-getters in the Friends Life t20, with 476 runs in 14 innings for Derbyshire, and will want to extend that run in the Champions League.Murali Kartik has fashioned a reputation for himself in Twenty20 circles, and it is largely founded upon his county exploits. This time, he is likely to be the designated leader of the attack, and Somerset will rely heavily on his local expertise.

Key contest

Peter Trego is known to hit a long ball against the spinners, as Amit Mishra would testify. Ronnie Hira is a left-arm spinner who is unafraid to toss it up even if batsmen try to go after him. Sparks could fly when they go head to head.

Stats & trivia

• Arul Suppiah had the best individual figures – 6 for 5 – by any bowler in the Friends Life t20
• James Hildreth, with 346 runs, was the second-highest run-getter for Somerset in that tournament
  

  Quotes

  “We always thought scoring against the new ball is crucial in these conditions.”

Durham seamer Neil Killeen has announced his retirement from domestic cricket, and Durham’s Clydesdale Bank 40 clash against Kent at Chester-le-Street will mark his final appearance for the county

Cricinfo staff04-Sep-2010Durham seamer Neil Killeen has announced his retirement from domestic cricket, and Durham’s Clydesdale Bank 40 clash against Kent at Chester-le-Street will mark his final appearance for the county. Already a qualified coach, he will continue to be involved with the club as part of the coaching staff.”It was a tough decision to call time on my career but I’m incredibly excited about the opportunities ahead of me especially those that will see me continue to work alongside some of the quality talent we have here at Durham,” said Killeen. “I’d like to say a huge thank you to all the players, staff and members for their support over the years.”Killeen made his Durham debut in 1995, aged just 20, and has since made over one hundred first-class appearances for the county, as well as playing in 226 one-day games – taking over 300 wickets in the fomat – and 45 Twenty20s.He came close to an England call-up in 2000 before suffering an ankle ligament injury and was part of the team that secured Durham’s historic first piece of silverware, the Friends Provident Trophy, in 2007 when they beat Hampshire in the competition’s final at Lord’s.”I’ve had a wonderful career at Durham and enjoyed every minute of it. My absolute highlight has to be winning the Friends Provident Trophy at Lord’s, it was great seeing the hard work of so many people coming into fruition – it was a massive achievement for the team and that weekend is something I will always remember.””I’ve enjoyed watching Neil play cricket throughout his career and for him to retire as the leading wicket taker for Durham in one day cricket is certainly an accolade that is much deserved,” said Geoff Cook, Durham’s head coach. “He has worked extremely hard to give his best to the team and the club over the last 16 years and I’d like to wish him all the best with his future projects.””Neil’s contribution to Durham CCC has been one of real dedication, on and off the field,” added David Harker, the county’s chief executive. “We have been lucky to have him in our set up and while it’s sad to see him retiring we’re pleased that he will maintain his links with the club.”

After the spinners limited England to 132, India’s batters aced the chase to go 1-0 up

Vithushan Ehantharajah22-Jan-20251:34

Manjrekar: India’s spinners made it impossible for England to recover

India brutally cast aside England in the first T20I at Eden Gardens, as Abhishek Sharma’s 79 from just 34 deliveries munched a meagre target of 133 with 43 balls to spare.Abhishek’s third 50-plus score in the format capped an accomplished all-round performance from India. A combination of Arshdeep Singh’s 2 for 17 up top and Varun Chakravarthy’s 3 for 23 through the middle accounted for England for 132, scuppering their attempts to mark Brendon McCullum’s first match in charge in the format with the attacking verve he craves.But for Jos Buttler’s 68 – his 26th T20I fifty – things could have been worse. Buttler’s evening had begun by losing a crucial toss to Suryakumar Yadav. With the 7pm start in Kolkata, moisture was in the air throughout, and dew a factor in the first innings itself. Both captains wanted to bowl, and only one got the chance.Related

• Can England's batters find a way to test India's bowling depth?

• Varun's overspin renaissance shows no sign of slowing down

• Abhishek: 'I have been told to keep my attacking intent'

Arshdeep made the best of the conditions, removing openers Phil Salt and Ben Duckett in his first 11 deliveries. Those dismissals took the left-arm seamer to 97 wickets in T20Is, leapfrogging Yuzvendra Chahal as India’s top wicket-taker in the format.By the time Buttler departed in the 17th over, he had provided 68 out of the 109 on the board, with Harry Brook the only batter to reach double-figures before Jofra Archer pitched in with 12 from No. 9.Brook’s 17 was part of a stand of 48 with Buttler, the vice-captain and captain setting about a rebuild that was ended by Varun’s googlies. Varun bowled Brook and Liam Livingstone in the space of three deliveries to turn England back to rubble. His third was Buttler, holing out to deep square-leg.Whatever little jeopardy there was in the chase, was restricted to just the fifth over, when Archer removed both Sanju Samson – who had done the early running – and Suryakumar for a duck in four deliveries. Archer, who bowled his four overs on the bounce having opened the innings, was comfortably the pick of England’s bowlers with 2 for 21. By contrast, Gus Atkinson was taken apart for 38 runs across his two overs, with his first blitzed for 22 by Samson.The onus was then on Abhishek, who was put down by Adil Rashid on 29 off 16. He would bring up his half-century just four balls later.Though Rashid eventually got his man, India had all but established a 1-0 lead in this five-match series by then. A top-edged four from Tilak Varma off Mark Wood’s bouncer off the penultimate ball of the 13th over confirmed it.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Arshdeep Singh sets the tone

Before England were choked through the middle by a three-pronged spin attack, they were clipped up top by the lone Indian full-time quick. Since debuting in 2022, Arshdeep has been a new-ball banker for India’s shortest format. Consistently devastating and devastatingly consistent.It was fitting that on the night he became India’s leading T20I wicket-taker, he reinforced his credentials as one of the format’s leading seamers in an opening three-over spell of 2 for 10. Movement away and up off a good length did for Salt, who could only sky a leading edge, and it was followed by nip the other way that left the left-handed Duckett for a similar demise.Of those initial 18 deliveries, a remarkable 12 were dots, which saw him get the better of Buttler and Brook without reward. On another day, their feelers outside off stump may have resulted in edges, bringing more joy Arshdeep’s way. But rather than bemoan missing out on those extra notches in the wicket column, he seemed happy enough with his work, having opened the door for his spinners.Jos Buttler top-scored for England with 68 off 44 balls•Getty Images

Familiar failings

There is no shame in falling to India’s spinners in any format, least of all when they are operating at home. But there was a haunting familiarity about England’s failure at Eden Gardens – and it has nothing to do with what happened here in that final in 2016.Eight years on from that heartbreak, England were roughed up in 2024’s semi-final in Guyana, as Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja combined to take 6 for 58 from 11 overs. Only Axar remained this time around, but the results were about the same – 12 overs of web-spinning prising out five for the concession of just 67.It is easy to say the likes of Brook, Livingstone and Jacob Bethell should have taken cues from Buttler, particularly his ability to pick length. But Buttler’s vast IPL experience and superior ability makes that hard to replicate. Credit belongs to the bowlers, particularly Varun.Despite the grass on the surface, the spinner was unperturbed. His IPL nous came to the fore at a ground where he has taken 24 wickets at 22.20 from 16 appearances.A holding pattern of deliveries just short of a length kept the ball out of hitting arcs, and he was not pre-occupied with spinning the ball past the edge – even though he beat the insides of Brook’s and Livingstone’s bats. “Bowling sidespin, I cannot beat batsmen with sidespin. The only way I can beat batsmen with bounce,” Varun, as he nursed a deserved Player-of-the-Match award, said. Perhaps most galling for England is he rated his display a humble “seven out of ten”.Nitish Kumar Reddy took a running, tumbling catch to send back Jos Buttler•AFP/Getty Images

India’s cleaner hands

Bethell’s drop of Abhishek, charging in from deep midwicket, tracking the ball all the way only to see it spill through his hands as he dived forward, did not matter.A ball later, Abhishek was caught at longoff. An over later, India had confirmed their win. But the sight of one of England’s best fielders fall short in that moment highlighted the gap between the two fielding efforts on Wednesday evening.It would have been one hell of a take, but still not the best of the night. That honour belonged to Nitish Kumar Reddy, who pulled off a tougher version of Bethell’s effort, sprinting in at a greater rate of knots and intercepting the ball so close to the ground that the umpires asked for a second look. Buttler, whose charge was halted by that brilliance, had already made it back to the dugout when the television umpire finally gave it the all-clear.Despite playing no part with bat or ball, Reddy got plenty of airtime, taking a simpler catch to remove Jamie Overton and scurrying about the deep on a one-man mission to restrict England’s boundary count. That endeavour was matched by those in the ring, with Rinku Singh setting the tone when he claimed a leading edge off Duckett that required him to sprint back from cover with one eye over his shoulder.Of course, Bethell’s drop was not even the worst off Abhishek. Rashid’s was a far simpler caught-and-bowled chance. The legspinner was duly punished when the left-hand batter blitzed three boundaries – the last two sixes over midwicket, then straight down the ground – off the remainder of his over. England’s heads dropped – a nod to the nourishing effect of taking your catches.

McSweeney made a stunning 100 and McAndrew took four wickets to put South Australia on the brink of victory over NSW in Adelaide

AAP and ESPNCricinfo17-Oct-2023New South Wales are reeling towards a 14th straight Sheffield Shield game without a win after a stunning spell former Blues junior Nathan McAndrew and a brilliant 100 from Nathan McSweeney put South Australia well on top in Adelaide.The Blues went to stumps on day three at Adelaide Oval on 99 for 6, still needing 224 more runs to chase down their fourth-innings target of 323.After taking 5 for 42 in the first innings, McAndrew was again the main destroyer on Tuesday as he took four wickets for the Redbacks to leave the Blues in trouble.Former Blue Harry Conway and Wes Agar also chimed in with one wicket each. NSW wicketkeeper Matthew Gilkes was left fuming when given out lbw to Agar to a ball that appeared to hit him outside off stump late in the day, swinging his bat in anger as he walked up the players’ race.McAndrew’s wickets included Daniel Hughes in the shadows of stumps, caught behind on 58 after being close to the last resistance for the Blues.McAndrew also trapped Kurtis Patterson lbw for 10, and had Ryan Hackney and Moises Henriques caught behind cheaply in similar fashion.At one stage McAndrew had figures of 3 for 6 after eight overs, before Hughes hit him for back-to-back boundaries through the offside. The seamer finished the day with 4 for 19.Born in Wollongong and a Sydney Thunder player in the BBL, McAndrew was never given the chance to represent NSW in the Sheffield Shield. But after making his debut for the Redbacks two seasons ago, he has proven a nemesis for the Blues. He took 6 for 97 against NSW at the end of last summer, before his nine wickets in this match.NSW’s situation comes despite debutant Jack Nisbet taking 5 for 53 in South Australia’s second innings on Tuesday.But it was McSweeney who stole the show for the hosts, scoring his third first-class century before being bowled by Nisbet for an even 100.McSweeney was the last man out for the Redbacks when he dragged a ball back onto his own stumps, after going from 72 to 100 with No.11 Conway down the other end.The Redbacks had lost their first-round match to Tasmania, but have been much improved with the ball in this match.NSW have not won a match in the Shield since way back in February 2022, after going without a victory last season and drawing with Queensland in the opening round of this summer.

England veteran happy to contribute as finisher after success at top of order in Christchurch

Andrew Miller10-Jul-2022Danni Wyatt expects to slip back into England’s middle order for the first ODI against South Africa at Wantage Road on Monday, despite her starring role as an opener in the teams’ last meeting, in the World Cup semi-final at Christchurch in March.Wyatt, 31, made the highest score of her international career – an explosive 129 from 125 balls – as England atoned for their tense three-wicket loss at Mount Maunganui in the group stages to end South Africa’s dreams of a maiden World Cup final appearance with a 137-run victory.However, Wyatt was unable to follow up that display in the final, making 4 from five balls as Australia sealed their indomitable campaign with an emphatic 71-run win. And now, with England embarking on a new three-year white-ball cycle, the likelihood is that Emma Lamb will be given the chance to resume the opening partnership with Tammy Beaumont that was launched in the recent Test at Taunton.”I’m happy to bat wherever,” Wyatt said. “I’ve been up and down the order, but that’s fine. I’m just happy to be in the starting eleven. A lot of coaches have said in the past that I am flexible in the order in ODI cricket, and I can perform whatever role they say, which is a credit to myself.”It’s just about being really clear in my role, chatting to the captain or coach about what my role is going to be leading into the series and just prepare really well – whether it be with a new ball or an old ball – about my plan and how I’m going to go about it.”Despite her starring role in the semi-final, Wyatt herself acknowledges that her best moments for England have come when her available overs have been reduced – either as an opener in T20 cricket, in which role she has scored two of England’s three fastest hundreds, from 52 balls against India in 2018 and 56 against Australia the previous year, or as an ODI finisher – she averages 40.14 at No.7, compared to 24.00 in 30 innings as an opener.”My ideal situation is to go in with 15 or 10 overs to go,” she added. “Just go out there and do what I do in the T20 format: just be brave, show intent, run well, which is what happens when I’m playing my best cricket. Just back myself and try to get the team to the highest score possible.”Either way, Wyatt says she is excited by the current dynamic within the England squad, with a raft of new players including Issy Wong, Lauren Bell and Alice Davidson-Richards impressing when given their chances in the Test match and challenging the old guard to keep their standards high.”We’ve got a good mix between young and old faces in the squad, which is really nice,” Wyatt said. “It keeps us all young – but it’s a bit weird saying I’m old, I don’t feel it. But all the youngsters are fitting in nicely around the group. We all hang out, there’s a real good togetherness going on at the minute, so hopefully, we can take that onto the pitch as well.”That togetherness included an outing to Old Trafford for the opening match of the Women’s Euros last week, and with England’s cricket itinerary culminating in their Commonwealth Games campaign at the end of the month, Wyatt acknowledged this was a huge summer for women’s sport in the country.”It’s a massive month for women’s sport,” she said. “You’ve got the Euros and you’ve us playing as well, and I was actually lucky enough to go to Old Trafford with a few of the girls the other night, which was an unreal atmosphere.”I was in shock with how good the atmosphere was. And yeah, hopefully the girls can go all the way and win the Euros, that would be class. We’re all getting really behind the girls as well. I’m a big fan of the Lionesses. And most of our girls are as well. It’s great to watch.”Sune Luus, South Africa’s captain, admitted that her team’s failure to seize their chance in the World Cup semi-final still hurt, and that they would be fully focussed on exacting a measure of revenge in the coming matches.”We just had a team meeting about it, saying how much we want to get that win on the board,” Luus said. “Obviously in the semi-final, we had a lot of opportunities and just didn’t take it. I feel like that game could have gone a whole other way, and our World Cup journey could have been a bit different.”The mindset that we’re going with tomorrow is just about taking every opportunity we have, make sure we get on top, and don’t give them that satisfaction again.”