All posts by n8rngtd.top

Warwickshire chief executive appointed ECB Managing Director of County Cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jan-2020Neil Snowball, the Warwickshire chief executive, will become the ECB’s new Managing Director of County Cricket.The 53-year-old Snowball, who joined Warwickshire at the beginning of 2016, is expected to remain at the club during their search for his successor and take up his new role later in the year, with former MCC chief executive Derek Brewer standing in at the ECB in the interim. Snowball replaces Gordon Hollins, who announced in October that he would be leaving the job this month.”It is a huge honour to be entrusted with such an important role within the game and I look forward to continuing to work closely with the many talented and dedicated people across the cricket network,” Snowball said. “I’ve been fortunate to have worked with so many incredible people at Warwickshire and will always look forward to returning to Edgbaston in my new role.”Before joining Warwickshire, Snowball held positions with England Rugby for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and investment bank Goldman Sachs.ECB chief executive officer Tom Harrison described Snowball as “the outstanding choice” for the role, which will involve growing and developing domestic cricket in England and Wales and managing relationships between the ECB and the domestic and recreational game.”This is an exciting time for cricket with £500 million set to be invested into the network over the next five years as we look to support and nurture the core, grow the game and make sure that cricket remains relevant for generations to come,” Harrison said.Warwickshire chairman Mark McCafferty said: “We were very disappointed to receive Neil’s resignation. However, we appreciate that it’s an excellent opportunity for him as he pursues the next phase of his career.”

The 16-year-old Pakistan quick dismissed Najmul Hossain Shanto, Taijul Islam and Mahmudullah

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Feb-202040.4 Naseem Shah to Najmul Hossain Shanto, OUT, huge appeal for lbw, Pakistan are very interested. Azhar checks with the bowler, keeper and signals for a review. This one came back in a long way to hit Shanto on the right thigh pad or thereabouts. The height may be the only bone of consideration here. And what a good review it is, ball tracking confirms this would’ve crashed into leg stump. Measured call to take the review. It wasn’t impulsive, they all collectively felt it was worth a shout and boy, have they been proved right or what? Right at the fag end of the day. This will lift Pakistan just as Bangladesh were beginning to dream of wiping out the deficit with not more than two down.
Najmul Hossain Shanto lbw b Naseem Shah 38 (87b 3×4 1×6) SR: 43.6740.5 Naseem Shah to Taijul Islam, OUT, full, straight and gone! What a ball from Naseem. Make that two in two. This was angled back in from wide of the crease, the ball veered in late to beat the inside edge and hit him low on the pad. Naseem didn’t even bother appealing. Nigel Llong sent him on his bike almost immediately.
Taijul Islam lbw b Naseem Shah 0 (1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.0040.6 Naseem Shah to Mahmudullah, OUT, edged and gone! Naseem has done it. Hat-trick! He has lit up this Test and how. Joy in the Pakistan camp. He bowled this full and wide. This was there for the drive even though the ball moved away just a little, Mahmudullah couldn’t hold back but was late on the shot. Got a thick edge that flew low but Haris pouched it superbly. He needed to stay low, moved instinctively to his right to pluck that. What a find this Naseem Shah is.
Mahmudullah c Haris Sohail b Naseem Shah 0 (1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00

A year after losing their unofficial world Test crown to Australia, West Indies have revenge on their minds

The Retropreview by Andrew Miller16-Apr-2020For our latest #RetroLive match, we rewind to March 1996, and a classic World Cup semi-final between Australia and West Indies in Mohali. The sides had had contrasting fortunes in the opening rounds of the tournament, but their recent history pointed towards another thriller.

Big Picture

It would have been hard to fathom a fortnight ago, when they were being humiliated by the part-timers and part-talents of Kenya in Pune, but West Indies now stand on the verge of their fourth World Cup final, having summoned a response to savour after one of the lowest days in their history.But standing in their way are the players who have already supplanted them as Test cricket’s unofficial world champions, following a tussle for the ages in the Caribbean last spring, and who are doubtless still smarting themselves, after feeling the initial backlash from Richie Richardson and his chastened men in Jaipur last week.It’s West Indies versus Australia for a place in the World Cup final. The two-times inaugural winners of the tournament, versus the side that came home with the trophy on the last occasion it was staged in the subcontinent, in 1987. It’s become one of the most compelling rivalries in world cricket in recent years – and now it’s been granted another showdown to savour.West Indies’ standards may be slipping from their matchless peaks of the 1980s, but the individual talents that make up their squad still include some of the most peerless performers the region has ever produced. And there really was only one fitting course of action for such men after they had been rolled aside for 93 in 35.2 overs by Kenya – surely the World Cup’s most shocking result since Australia were toppled by Zimbabwe in 1983.Sure enough, the skipper Richardson took it upon himself to guard against the unthinkable – elimination before the knockouts – with his matchwinning 93 not out against the Aussies in Jaipur, and then it was over to Brian Lara to blow South Africa aside in their Karachi quarter-final, with the sort of statement innings that only the truest of greats are able to conjure up when the critical moment comes.Can they repeat the dose with a place in next week’s final in Lahore at stake? West Indies could hardly ask for a more apt opponent to goad them into another statement performance. For these two teams have been at each other’s throats for the past three years – quite literally in the case of Curtly Ambrose’s famous tete-a-tete with Steve Waugh in Trinidad last April. And as cricket’s fading giants seek to reassert themselves after finally being toppled in the Test arena, it seems only right that the team that most observers believe will form the sport’s next great dynasty should have to fight their way through the old guard one more time.In contrast to their skittish campaign on home soil four years ago, Australia’s path through the tournament to date has been poised and confident. They’ve had their challenges along the way, most notably in their quarter-final against New Zealand, who really should have put 300 on the board after Lee Germon and Chris Harris had added 168 for the fourth wicket. But their settled line-up has found match-winners at every turn – not least Mark Waugh, whose all-round display in their tight victory over India in Mumbai was masterful.And now, of course, we already know the identity of the team that awaits the victors in Lahore on Sunday. Last night’s shameful scenes in Calcutta may have robbed Sri Lanka of the on-field moment of glory that their endeavours in this tournament have warranted, but they had, to all intents and purposes, trounced the hosts long before Eden Gardens descended into anarchy.And that is more than Sri Lanka had been able to do in their group-stage fixtures against these two opponents, after both Australia and West Indies chose to forfeit their matches in Colombo due to security concerns. Admittedly West Indies came closer than they might have expected to missing out on the last eight, but the structure of the tournament meant that neither side had any realistic reasons to rue the lost points. Whether they will have riled their snubbed opponents into redoubling their efforts in the final, however, will be a question for another day…Mark Waugh hits out during his century against India in Mumbai•Getty Images

Form guide

Australia WLWWW
West Indies WWLLW

In the spotlight

He’s the forgotten Waugh no longer. Mark Waugh may have spent the first decade of his professional life in the shadow of his elder twin Steve, but in one-day cricket, he’s at last found the perfect stage for his silken flamboyance to take hold. It was way back in March 1993, against New Zealand in Dunedin, that Australia first experimented with Junior at the top of the ODI batting card. But it was as recently as January this year that the management finally bit the bullet and unleashed him against the new ball on a permanent basis, and they must now be wondering what held them back for so long. Waugh racked up a man-of-the-match-winning 130 in his first outing against Sri Lanka in Perth, a series-sealing 73 in the second B&H final in Sydney, and then came the World Cup itself, in which his returns have transformed his standing in the world game, not to mention his family power-dynamics. He’s racked up three more hundreds and an unbeaten 76 in five games – having scored just four centuries all told in his first 106. Just as Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya have been liberated in one-day cricket since being pushed up to open, Waugh’s at the vanguard of a new wave of power batting that will surely be this tournament’s most lasting legacy.Think of Curtly Ambrose and you probably envisage the stares, the menace, the lurking sense of danger that seems to inhabit those signature wristbands as they whir towards the batsman from a cloud-scraping altitude. It’s possible that you overlook the parsimony, the metronomic economy, the death by a thousand dot-balls that seems to come as a by-product of all his other attributes. And yet, as Ambrose has demonstrated, time and time again in this tournament, that ingrained sense of thrift is actually the bedrock of everything he has achieved in the game, and represents West Indies’ most likely means of adding to those inaugural world titles, the second of which was spearheaded by his spiritual forebear Joel Garner. In five matches to date, he’s gleaned eight wickets at 18.00, but at the remarkable economy rate of 3.09 – including four analyses in which he’s gone for less than 30 runs. His most expensive day out was against India – 8-1-41-2 – but even then he bowled both Ajay Jadeja and Navjot Sidhu in his opening burst. Height, pace, accuracy and relentless drive. The batsman who can claim to have the measure of such attributes hasn’t yet been born.

Team news

Their Jaipur loss notwithstanding, Australia have hit upon a settled and successful formula for this campaign, and – injury permitting – there’s no reason to think they’ll be springing any surprises tomorrow. Taylor and M Waugh at the top, Law, Bevan and Healy in the middle, bookending the youth-and-experience engine-room of Ponting and S Waugh. And then an attack led by four front-line bowlers, now that the seam-hitting experience of Paul Reiffel has been preferred to the all-sorts options that Shane Lee had been providing in the earlier stages of the tournament. They’ve got the class to dominate, and the resilience to stay in the game, depending on which version of West Indies turns up tomorrow.Australia (possible): 1 Mark Taylor (capt), 2 Mark Waugh, 3 Ricky Ponting, 4 Steve Waugh, 5 Stuart Law, 6 Michael Bevan, 7 Ian Healy (wk), 8 Shane Warne, 9 Paul Reiffel, 10 Damien Fleming, 11 Glenn McGrath.Steve Palframan is caught and bowled by Roger Harper•Getty Images

West Indies have been ringing the changes at the top of their order, seemingly as randomly as the shuffling of a pack of cards, but having launched their campaign with Sherwin Campbell and Richie Richardson ensconced at 1 and 2, they seem now to have settled on Shivnarine Chanderpaul and the wicketkeeper Courtney Browne, neither of whom has yet set the tournament alight but who have at least provided some old-school resistance against the new ball, and given Lara and Richardson a chance to thrive in the middle overs. A decision needs to be taken on the identity of the fourth seamer, with Roland Holder deemed surplus to requirements in their quarter-final win over South Africa, and Cameron Cuffy overlooked since the Kenya loss. Ottis Gibson, with two five-wicket hauls in Australia earlier this year, could be ripe for a recall despite an underwhelming tournament so far.West Indies (possible): 1 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 2 Courtney Browne (wk), 3 Brian Lara, 4 Richie Richardson (capt), 5 Jimmy Adams, 6 Keith Arthurton, 7 Roger Harper, 8 Ottis Gibson, 9 Ian Bishop, 10 Curtly Ambrose, 11 Courtney Walsh.

Pitch and conditions

Mohali has so far hosted an inaugural ODI against South Africa, as well as a maiden Test that West Indies will doubtless hope counts as a good omen. But this, to all intents and purposes, is the stadium’s true opening night. It is the project of the BCCI president, Inderjit Bindra, and while the man himself admits that there’s some landscaping to be done before its true splendour is revealed, the lush outfield suggests that the pitch itself will have received similar levels of TLC – although there is a covering of live grass on a firm cracked surface which will doubtless encourage the quicks on either side. One slight oddity are the improbably low floodlights, a requirement due to the nearby airfield. Though they’ve been designed according to baseball specifications, there may be a few outfielders hoping not to face too much aerial bombardment in the match’s closing stages.

Stats and trivia

• West Indies have won five of their previous six World Cup encounters with Australia, including the inaugural final in 1975 and the recent showdown in Jaipur. Their only setback came in Melbourne in 1992, where Australia’s 57-run win in their final group match wasn’t enough to salvage their own campaign, but did mean that Pakistan leapfrogged West Indies into the last four.
• Brian Lara needs 74 more runs to reach 4000 in ODIs. He will be playing in his 98th match.
• Mark Taylor needs 48 more runs to reach 3000 in ODIs. He will be playing in his 95th match.
• Shane Warne is five wickets away from becoming the fifth Australian, behind Craig McDermott, Steve Waugh, Simon O’Donnell and Dennis Lillee, to reach 100 ODI wickets.

RetroLive

Glamorgan allrounder advised to quit after being diagnosed with Neurogenic Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jun-2020Craig Meschede, the Glamorgan allrounder, has been forced to retire at the age of 28 due to a shoulder injury. Meschede was diagnosed with Neurogenic Thoracic Outlet Syndrome last year and took the decision to end his playing career on the advice of specialists.Meschede said that the syndrome, which can cause pain, tingling and weakness in the arm, had “taken a massive toll physically and mentally”. He underwent months of rehabilitation, in an attempt to regain shoulder strength and mobility, but has now called time on a nine-year career that saw him represent Glamorgan, Somerset and Germany in T20 internationals.”The last few weeks have been very emotional for me as cricket has played such a big part of my life,” Meschede said. “Saying that, I have to do what’s best for my health and there is life after cricket. The physio and support staff and everyone at Glamorgan have been brilliant throughout this process and I can’t thank them enough.”The syndrome has taken a massive toll on me physically and mentally and it’s been hard to perform skills at a level I know I’m capable of. I now need to undertake an operation and period of rehabilitation in order to get my quality of life back.”Playing at Somerset and Glamorgan has presented me with many great opportunities as well as making a number of friends for life. I will always be grateful for the opportunities cricket has provided me. I wish all the players and staff great success in the future and hope the lads can get on and play this year.” Born in South Africa but educated in Somerset, Meschede came through at Taunton as a hard-hitting allrounder. His maiden first-class wicket was that of Sachin Tendulkar, during a 2011 tour match, but he found his opportunities limited and moved to Glamorgan, initially on loan, in 2015.At Glamorgan, he scored both of his first-class centuries, as well as taking a maiden five-wicket haul. He helped the club reach T20 Finals Day in 2017, and recorded his career-best T20 score – 77 from 47 balls – the following season, batting in the top three. Meschede also took advantage of his German parentage to be selected for the 2018 T20 World Cup regional qualifier in the Netherlands.Injury limited his opportunities in 2019, but he made his full T20I debut for Germany in the European regional finals in Guernsey, scoring 179 runs at a strike rate of 155.65 to go with six wickets in five matches.Glamorgan’s director of cricket, Mark Wallace, said: “It’s always very sad when a player is forced to retire through injury and especially in Craig’s case at an age when many are reaching the peak of their careers.”Craig’s natural talent and skill always stood out and he had a flair and talent for the game, which made him exciting to watch and play with. Moreover, off the field, Craig was a committed professional and popular member of the squad who always worked hard to give himself and the team the best chance of success.”I’m sure I speak for everyone at the club in thanking Craig for everything he has done both on and off the pitch during his time here and we wish him well for a bright future outside of the playing field.”

Legspinner twists ankle and is released from squad ahead of Ireland ODIs

David Charlesworth at the Ageas Bowl21-Jul-2020Team Moeen 325 for 9 (Bairstow 127, Moeen 85, Rashid 4-65) beat Team Morgan 225 (Duckett 68, Moeen 3-40) by 100 runsJonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali starred as England’s two World Cup winners outshone the rookies in the first intra-squad match at the Ageas Bowl ahead of the one-day international series against Ireland.The pair may have been overlooked from the Test set-up but they proved their enduring white-ball class, Bairstow first of all muscling his way to 127 from 88 balls, a boundary-laden innings with 16 fours and seven sixes.His departure paved the way for Moeen, who was on a run-a-ball 19 before celebrating being named Eoin Morgan’s deputy for the Royal London series on Tuesday with a barnstorming 85 from only 45 deliveries.Neither Sam Hain nor Liam Livingstone were able to make substantial contributions despite batting twice for Team Moeen against Team Morgan, who were beaten in this 40-over affair by 100 runs in the bio-secure bubble.England’s preparations were marred when Matt Parkinson, the Lancashire legspinner, sprained his ankle on the eve of the warm-up match. Subsequent scans revealed he would not be able to take any part in the Ireland ODIs, and he has been released from the team’s bio-secure bubble.The result was a peripheral matter given the circumstances which also saw Tom Banton bat for both sides, making just three runs in his two innings, while Paul Collingwood, acting as head coach for the Ireland series with Chris Silverwood on Test duty, fielded at backward point for a spell as a result of a few minor niggles in the camp.Among the non-regulars, Ben Duckett did the most to enhance his cause for a first ODI appearance in four years next Thursday as he struck 68 from 65 balls before succumbing to Moeen, who capped a pleasing day with 3 for 40.After Banton clipped tamely to midwicket to hand David Willey his first wicket in an England jersey since being omitted from the World Cup squad, Bairstow was initially watchful as he took 10 balls to get off the mark.ALSO READ: Moeen Ali named England vice-captain for Ireland ODIsHe steadily accelerated thereafter with some crisp front and back foot pulls while the handbrake was well and truly off by the time he crunched the wayward Saqib Mahmood for four consecutive fours.Hain departed for nine first time around, bowled by a straight one from Liam Dawson, while Livingstone was lbw after playing across the line to Rashid, who came in for some heavy punishment from Bairstow’s slog sweeps.Bairstow, content to deal largely in boundaries, brought up a supreme 75-ball ton before clipping a low full toss from Willey to midwicket, whereafter Moeen picked up the baton in a terrific knock.There were seven fours and six sixes in Moeen’s innings, in which he took 66 from his final 26 balls, only to fall 15 short of following Bairstow to three figures after slicing good friend Adil Rashid to short third man.Rashid took four wickets but leaked 65 runs in his seven overs, and while Mahmood and Richard Gleeson each took a scalp, they conceded 76 and 57 from eight and seven overs respectively.After conceding 325 for 9, Morgan’s side were left with a mountain to climb but Duckett, who told the PA news agency he had lost around 10kg during lockdown, responded with aplomb after Reece Topley had Phil Salt caught behind in the first over of the chase.Duckett cut and pulled authoritatively while he used the reverse sweep off Moeen to excellent effect, only to sweep the spinner to deep backward square-leg.Morgan cleared the boundary rope three times in an enterprising 33 off 24 balls but a thick edge then looped to third man – and with the England captain’s departure went any real chance his side of overhauling their target.Topley, Tom Helm and Henry Brookes all took two wickets apiece while Moeen gained revenge over Rashid, who thumped the spinner to long-off to signal an end to proceedings as Team Morgan were all out for 225.England’s training group – reduced to 23 players following Parkinson’s withdrawal – will have a second internal practice match on Friday before a final squad is announced next week.

Batsman might have been in line for Test debut in absence of Ben Stokes

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Aug-2020
Dan Lawrence has left the England bio-secure bubble due to a family bereavement, and will miss the chance to make his Test debut in Thursday’s second Test against Pakistan at the Ageas Bowl.Lawrence, 23, had been named as one of England’s reserve batsmen for the Test leg of England’s summer, and had been a possible inclusion for the second Test following Ben Stokes’ departure from the squad due to his own family reasons.Ollie Robinson, the fast bowler, was this week withdrawn from Sussex’s Bob Willis Trophy fixture against Kent to bolster England’s seam options ahead of the second Test. However, the management have chosen not to replace Lawrence in England’s 18-man party.That means that Zak Crawley is the likely beneficiary of Stokes’ absence, having been omitted to include an extra seamer in the last two Tests. The uncapped James Bracey and Ben Foakes, both wicketkeeper-batsmen, are the other two batting options at England’s disposal.One of the heroes of England’s victory on Saturday, Jos Buttler, produced his match-winning innings despite his father being taken into hospital during the match.Speaking about the team environment before Lawrence’s news was made public, James Anderson praised the efforts that the current management go to, in particular the captain Joe Root and head coach Chris Silverwood, to ensure the players’ mental wellbeing is taken into account.”I do think cricket is more empathetic now, yes,” Anderson said. “It has definitely changed for the better. We quite often take this game very seriously – I have done this week – and it is quite a big deal for some people.”But there is nothing more important than family. It is something that certainly Joe and Chris have brought in under their leadership: family comes first. And this group of players rally round each other and help if there is anything that needs help.”

Visitors look set for third win in a row despite rain holding up advance against Warwickshire

ECB Reporters Network16-Aug-2020Somerset remain well on course for a third successive Bob Willis Trophy victory despite rain holding up their advance against Warwickshire on the second day at Edgbaston.On a murky day in Birmingham, rain wiped out the first session completely and interfered with the second and third so that 55 overs were lost from the day, but Somerset dodged the showers to take their first innings to 214 for 6 – a lead of 93.Steven Davies led the way with an assertive unbeaten 56 from 85 balls, including ten fours, to give his side a significant advantage and fully capitalise upon the skills shown by their bowlers in dismissing the home side for 121 on the first day.Somerset resumed after an early lunch on 80 for 2 and did not add to their overnight score before James Hildreth, having hewn just a single from 43 minutes of toil, pulled Tim Bresnan to Alex Thomson at mid-wicket.Olly Hannon-Dalby held the Warwickshire bowling together in familiarly big-hearted fashion. The Yorkshireman collected his third wicket of the innings when former Bears academy player Tom Banton was adjudged lbw, somewhat harshly as the ball appeared to be heading down leg-side.Tom Abell, with 41, then fell to Craig Miles when he feathered a leg-side catch to wicketkeeper Michael Burgess. That left Somerset on 130 for 5, just nine ahead, but Davies and Craig Overton added 61 runs in 15 overs.The latter was pinned lbw by Bresnan for 25, but Lewis Gregory offered Davies further support in an unbroken stand of 23 before bad light and drizzle closed in for the final time.

Cameron Gannon, batting at No. 10, played his part with a maiden fifty

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Oct-2020Shaun Marsh produced a magnificent century in testing conditions to rescue Western Australia on the opening day against Tasmania.Marsh’s innings – which included reaching his century with a six – lifted Western Australia from 5 for 64 in the opening session alongside important contributions from Josh Inglis, who started the recovery with a counterattacking half-century, Aaron Hardie and Cameron Gannon, the No. 10 who arrived at the crease when Marsh was on 66 and then hit a maiden first-class half-century.The day after his first Australia call-up, Cameron Green could only manage 7 as he edged Jackson Bird to slip during a very fine opening spell in which Bird also removed both openers to leave Western Australia 3 for 23.Cameron Bancroft was again caught at leg gully – a position he fell to with great regularity last season – although it was off a thick inside edge rather than the face of the bat.In an action-packed pair of deliveries D’Arcy Short, recalled for this match in place of Ashton Turner, was bowled off a no-ball by Nathan Ellis but was then caught behind next delivery while Ashton Agar also fell before lunch – another victim for Beau Webster’s developing medium pace.Inglis responded with a stroke-filled response after the break to try and drag back the initiative and took advantage of some loose bowling from Ellis who did not sustain the pressure as well as Bird and Peter Siddle.It was Siddle who broke through, having Inglis caught at second slip, but Hardie then accompanied Marsh in a seventh-wicket stand of 58. When Ellis improved his day by removing Hardie and Matt Kelly in the space three balls, Marsh knew it was the time to take the aggressive route and he was able to take Western Australia further than they probably dared to imagine.Marsh took advantage of Matthew Wade’s decision to keep bowling the left-arm spin of Tom Andrews before the new ball became available and Gannon also grew in confidence.Shortly after Marsh was eventually removed by Siddle, who squeezed one through his defenses, Gannon went to his fifty with the first of two consecutive sixes off Siddle as Western Australia reached the heady heights of 300.

The board also introduced a minimum age restriction for international cricket which will apply across all cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Nov-2020The ICC has confirmed the World Test Championship (WTC) points system will be amended, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, to decide the finalists on the basis of the percentage of points earned from those they contested for. The ICC Board approved the recommendation by its cricket committee, headed by Anil Kumble, which said that a team’s points earned will be calculated as a percentage of the points that were up for grabs, and the new standings will be decided accordingly, as had been reported by ESPNcricinfo last week.The decision was taken at the ICC’s last quarterly meeting of the year which began on Monday this week.World Test Championship points table as of November 2020•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Before the recommendations were approved, India led the table with 360 points followed by Australia on 296. Under the new system, India’s percentage points will now be 75% – 360 out of the 480 points they played for in four series – placing them second behind Australia, who will have 82.2%, calculated as 296 out of the 360 points they played for across three series.An ICC release stated that even though current regulations say that matches not completed shall be treated as draws with points split, the cricket committee decided to determine the final WTC standings from matches that would be completed before the final scheduled to be played next June in England.”Both the Cricket Committee and Chief Executives Committee supported the approach of ranking teams based on completed matches and points earned as this reflects their performance and doesn’t disadvantage teams that have been unable to compete all of their matches through no fault of their own,” ICC chief executive Manu Sawhney said in a release. “We explored a whole range of options, but our Members felt strongly that we should proceed as planned with the first ever World Test Championship Final in June next year.”The new system does not drastically change the standings although a team like New Zealand, who retain their fourth spot behind Australia, Indian and England, might see it as a better opportunity to finish in the top two. If they earn the maximum 240 points from their two home series against West Indies and Pakistan in the coming months, they’ll finish with 70% points (420 out of 600). That would make them compete with England and India who take on each other in a five-match series early next year, and India also play four Tests in Australia in December-January. England, meanwhile, are trying to reschedule their postponed series against Sri Lanka.ICC introduces minimum age restrictionsThe ICC Board also introduced a minimum age restriction of 15 years for international cricket “to improve safeguarding of players”. The restriction will apply across all cricket including ICC events, bilateral cricket and Under-19 matches. “To play in any form of men’s, women’s or Under-19 international cricket players must now be a minimum age of 15,” the release said.”In case of exceptional circumstances, a Member Board could apply to the ICC to allow a player under the age of 15 to play for them. This could include where the player’s playing experience and mental development and wellbeing demonstrates that they would be capable of coping with the demands of international cricket.”Introduction of Excluded Persons Policy in Anti-Corruption CodeThe ICC Board also introduced an Excluded Persons Policy as part of the Anti-Corruption Code “with immediate effect”. The ICC release said it enables the ICC ACU to exclude corruptors who are “non-participants” to the Code to prevent people who attempt to corrupt the sport. The release further said it will also make it an offence for “participants” to the code to associate with excluded non-participants.”This is a significant addition to the ICC Anti-Corruption Code and enables the sport to impose an exclusion order on known corruptors preventing them from any involvement in cricket activities including playing, administration, financing, attendance or any kind of involvement in a league, team or franchise,” Sawhney said.”It will allow our ACU to better disrupt the activities of non-participant corruptors which currently the ICC have little, if any, control over. This is crucial if we are to continue to protect the integrity of our sport.”

The tour party will start training from Saturday, under strict Covid-19 protocols

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-2020India’s squad has landed in Australia on Thursday for a two-month long tour comprising three ODIs, three T20Is and four Tests. Most of the players have flown directly from the UAE, where the just-concluded IPL took place. Some of them – like Cheteshwar Pujara, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja – have travelled with their immediate families. The Indian touring group will go into quarantine for two weeks, during which they are allowed to train subject to clearing the Covid-19 testing protocols put in place by Cricket Australia in coordination with the local government. It is understood they will start training from November 14 in Sydney. Most of the players have already been living the bio-bubble life for nearly three months now and they’ll be going through its rigours for two more.Rohit Sharma – who led the Mumbai Indians to their fifth IPL title this week – and Ishant Sharma were not a part of the touring party. Rohit, along with Ishant, will be joining the squad only before the Test series starts on December 17. While Rohit is being rested from the limited-overs leg of the tour due to a hamstring injury he got during the IPL, Ishant suffered an abdominal muscle tear that had ruled him out of much of the tournament.India’s captain Virat Kohli will be returning home after the first Test concludes on December 21 in order to attend the birth of his first child. The Australian government’s quarantine rules of 14 days – applicable for the entire squad despite flying from a biobubble in the UAE – means it would be very difficult for Kohli to come back to Australia and play any part in the remaining three Tests.India also remain wary about their Test wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, who missed the last two matches for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL after injuring both his hamstrings. They also had to pull out mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy from their T20I squad after he was learnt to have been suffering from a shoulder injury, with pacer T Natarajan taking his place. Meanwhile, Sanju Samson – who was initially a part of only the T20I squad – was added to the ODI squad as a reserve wicketkeeper. The tour starts with the first ODI in Sydney on November 27, followed by the three T20Is ending on December 8. But the second and the third T20Is clash with a three-day tour match between Australia A and India A, which begins on December 6. That follows another warm-up fixture starting December 11, before the first Test begins in Adelaide.The Adelaide Test will also be the first time that India will be playing a day-night Test away from home, with their only pink-ball Test having come against Bangladesh in Kolkata last year. The tour then moves to Melbourne and Sydney – who will be hosting the Boxing Day and New Year’s Tests – before concluding on January 19 with the fourth and final Test in Brisbane.Despite restrictions around the Covid-19 pandemic, Cricket Australia had confirmed that crowds of varying degrees will be allowed to attend each of the fixtures between Australia and India.