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A failure to cope with pressure and physical preparation will form key lines of inquiry during a review of England’s 16-0 Ashes drubbing aimed at turning performances around in time for the 50-over World Cup in October.Clare Connor, managing director of England women’s cricket, confirmed the review would consider team leadership – including, but not restricted to, head coach Jon Lewis and captain Heather Knight, as well as all aspects of team fitness.”It’s been very evident that the Australia women’s cricket team are setting new standards of athleticism in our sport and that’s obviously one area where we have been out-shone,” Connor said.”One thing I think will be true is that our players will have to look at that level of athleticism and speed and power and the athleticism that is evident in their fielding and see that as a new benchmark.”Credit to Australia for taking the standards of international women’s cricket to another level over the last month. Their ruthlessness in doing that is admirable and I think will give us a huge amount to think about as we go home and reflect.”Clare Connor will lead England’s post-Ashes inquest•Getty Images

England lost every match of the multi-format Ashes series which ended with an innings defeat inside three days in the MCG Test after failing to register any points from the three ODIs or three T20Is, losing two of the latter by more than 50 runs.They were dominated physically and mentally by the Australians, who suffered several injuries to key players yet were able to adapt and crush their opponents.”One of the main things that is evident is the ability to play under pressure,” Connor said. “We have shown glimpses of being able to do that, certain individuals have, but as a collective we have to be honest and say that we haven’t handled the pressure of this series in the way that we want to and we’ll need to compete in future Ashes and a World Cup every year. That’ll be a key area of focus, and how we fast-track that capability.”Related

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Performing under pressure isn’t a new focus for the team. During England’s home summer in 2024 when they hosted Pakistan and New Zealand, coaching staff put the team in various unexpected scenarios such as last-minute team changes, and Knight sitting a game out.But those attempts to accelerate learning against sides which otherwise posed little challenge fell flat against the mighty Australians, and at the T20 World Cup before that, where England exited in the group stages after a shocking fielding performance against West Indies.”One of the reflections, immediate reflections, and I’m sure it’ll evolve over the coming weeks, is the sort of scarcity of time when our players are under pressure,” Connor said.”The run-in to the T20 World Cup last October, we’d dominated all of the cricket we’d played in for almost 18 months. Within that were two white-ball series wins against Australia in the home Ashes in 2023 where we got onto a run of confidence and performance and skill that exposed Australia under pressure and showed some of their vulnerability when you can get into them.”While Connor spoke of trying to find more ways to put players under pressure, including through the domestic system and A-team tours, another theme emerged.England seem to struggle with tempering the confidence gained from successfully navigating those situations with the reality of facing a superior side. They need to move beyond the satisfaction of pushing Australia in 2023 and focus on ways to dominate them.Hosting India this summer before big crowds could prove a helpful test ahead of October’s 50-over World Cup in India, and Connor believes there is no alternative but to turn England’s form around by then.”We have to do that,” she said. “We have to use time wisely. We’ve now got the opportunity to really hold the mirror up to where we are and what has gone well and what hasn’t gone well and what needs to happen and when, by whom, to take the team forward.”England dropped catches with alarming regularity across the tour•AFP/Getty Images

England’s World Cup and Ashes shortcomings have put Lewis and Knight under pressure. Immediately after the Melbourne Test, Lewis said he believed he was the right person to take the team forward, while Knight said she wouldn’t make any knee-jerk declarations on her future as captain.”I think there’s a lot of collective learning for us around leadership,” Connor told a media briefing by phone from Melbourne. “Heather and Jon are more disappointed and frustrated than anybody.”Everybody on this call knows what Heather Knight pumps into being England women’s captain. So that will form part of discussions over the coming weeks, all of the areas of accountability in our set-up, with the ultimate goal of, in the short term, being ready for this summer and then being ready to get on a plane to the World Cup in India.”With any team sport defeat or success, responsibility for that and accountability lies with lots of us. It’s not just the captain and the head coach, it’s people who are all in leadership positions making decisions. We won’t shy away from difficult and honest conversations about how to take the team forward because that’s our jobs, for several of us.”England were thrashed 16-0 in Australia•Getty Images

The absence of a clear-cut successor to Knight amid a four-pronged leadership group that also includes Nat Sciver-Brunt, Amy Jones and Sophie Ecclestone, or beyond, should also be considered when assessing the captaincy position.Connor said Ecclestone’s refusal to give a pitch-side TV interview to former team-mate, now broadcaster, Alex Hartley during the Ashes “was an unfortunate incident that won’t happen again”.That followed Hartley’s comments after England bowed out of the T20 World Cup, in which she said that a handful of players were “letting the team down” with their fitness levels.”Our players in general… embrace their media obligations,” Connor said. “It matters to them to be good role models for women’s cricket and the England women’s cricket team. As professional women’s cricket has developed at the rate that it has over recent years, that scrutiny is something that we will all have to embrace and accept.”

Mohammed Shami feared that his career was over when a lengthy rehabilitation kept him out of cricket throughout 2024. Now leading India’s pace attack in the Champions Trophy, Shami compared his comeback to “a toddler learning how to walk”.”I always wondered when I would be able to put my feet on the ground again, as someone who is used to running on the field constantly was now in crutches,” Shami, 34, told . “A lot of thoughts used to run through my mind. Will I be able to do it again? Will I be able to walk without a limp? For the first two months, I often doubted whether I would be able to play again as an injury like this followed by a 14-month break can pull you down.”My first question to the doctor was ‘how many days until I can be back on the field’. He said, ‘my priority is to get you to walk, then jog, and then run and thinking about playing competitive cricket is still a distant goal’.Related

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“After 60 days, when they asked me to put my feet on the ground, you won’t believe me, but I have never been more scared to put my foot on the ground. It felt like I was starting over, like a toddler learning how to walk, and I was worried about any complications.”After overcoming an ankle injury, Shami underwent surgery in March 2024. He subsequently faced issues in his knee, further delaying his return. After returning to the Bengal team for the domestic season, Shami rejoined India’s white-ball squad during the home series against England, and proved his fitness for the Champions Trophy.Shami was the highest wicket-taker of the last ICC tournament he played – the 2023 ODI World Cup – despite being on the field for only seven fixtures. He now finds himself needing to play another big role with Jasprit Bumrah out with an injury.”The desire to wear the India badge on my chest kept me going,” he said. “You endure the pain and take it one step at a time without complaints or bitterness. It was tough and there was pain, but with resilience and patience I made it through. My motivation has always been to serve my country for as long as possible. Because once you step away, you’re just like anyone else.”

Suzie Bates, New Zealand’s veteran allrounder, has become Durham Women’s first overseas signing, ahead of their maiden season in the new Tier One county competition.Bates, 37, was New Zealand’s joint-top scorer in their T20 World Cup victory last year, and joins the club on a season-long contract that will cover both the Metro Bank One Day Cup and Vitality Blast.She has scored over 25,000 runs in her career, including 34 centuries, and is closing in on 350 international caps since her debut in 2006. In internationals alone, she has over 10,000 runs across formats – the only New Zealand women’s cricketer to achieve the feat.Having captaining her country for seven years, Bates stepped into the role once more for their recent series against Sri Lanka. In 2022, she led Oval Invincibles to their second Hundred title, and has also represented Perth Scorchers, Birmingham Phoenix and Adelaide Strikers, as well as Hampshire and Kent.”I am so excited to join Durham for the inaugural season in the One-Day Cup and Vitality Blast,” Bates said. “I can’t wait to get over to Durham and join a talented squad and add my experience to the group and get stuck into the season.”Durham director of cricket, Marcus North, said: “It is great to welcome Suzie to Durham as our first ever women’s overseas professional player. This is an historic moment for Durham, and we are thrilled to welcome a player of Suzie’s calibre to the club.”Her record internationally and domestically is second to none and with a wide range of experience across the globe she will be the perfect fit for our group going into the 2025 season.”I can’t wait for her to join us in the next few weeks in what is a hugely exciting chapter for Durham Cricket.”

Mumbai Indians (MI) restricted Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to 176 in an innings that largely remained intent-less at the Wankhede. In the last match on this pitch, RCB scored 221 and had to work hard to defend it. That CSK got to a respectable total was down to Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja targeting certain pockets of the innings, and the 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre’s eye-catching debut.Ashwani Kumar and Trent Boult went for 85 runs in six overs between them. The other 14 overs, led by Jasprit Bumrah and Mitchell Santner, produced just 91 runs. There was a 27-ball period in the middle overs when not only was a boundary not hit, but there was not even an attempt made to hit one. Then, even after Dube broke free with a 30-ball fifty, MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja presented plum match-ups to Bumrah and Santner, who went through overs 17 and 18 without a boundary.Dhoni’s dismissal in the 19th over to Bumrah resulted in the return of Boult for the final over – otherwise MI could have bowled Santner – and Jadeja could finally get a couple of big hits in to reach his half-century and unfurl the sword celebration.Hardik Pandya, MI’s leading wicket-taker this IPL, bowled only two overs for only 13 runs. He could have perhaps bowled at least one of the overs bowled by Ashwani and Boult. However, this was the only blemish on a night of excellent planning and execution for MI, which began with Deepak Chahar bowling four overs in a row at the top and ending with the wicket of Mhatre with a slower legcutter after the debutant had given CSK the only impetus in the powerplay for 32 off 15.Santner then tied down Shaik Rasheed and Jadeja before the arrival of Dube meant he was taken off with two left-hand batters at the wicket. Especially when one ofn them was Dube, whose slow start again underlined the lack of batting power in the CSK line-up.

An additional T20I has been added to Bangladesh’s tour of UAE, making it a three-match series. The third T20I will be played on May 21 in Sharjah, also the venue for the first two games.ESPNcricinfo has learned that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had been the one to request for the extra match and the Emirates Cricket Board agreed to it. Bangladesh are, however, still unsure about their next assignment – a T20I tour of Pakistan. This prompted the BCB to keep their team in the UAE, so they could fly to Pakistan directly if that tour goes ahead as scheduled.Bangladesh beat UAE in the first game of the series on Saturday. They had planned this series to be a precursor to their five-match T20I series against Pakistan, which was initially scheduled to start on May 25. But due to the India-Pakistan tensions, the PSL had to be suspended temporarily, which meant the Bangladesh tour also became uncertain.Related

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Once a ceasefire was announced, a new date for the PSL final was fixed – May 25 – which meant that the Bangladesh tour had to be pushed back. According to reports, the Pakistan Cricket Board sent the BCB a new draft schedule, which had the first T20I on May 27 and the last one on June 5.The BCB got a directive from the Bangladesh government that the Pakistan tour can go ahead, but the board is now seeking the players’ opinions on the matter. The plan was for the final decision to be made by May 20.

Northamptonshire 327 for 6 (Zaib 141*, Sales 81, Charlesworth 2 for 41) vs GloucestershireSaif Zaib hit a superbly paced unbeaten 141, his highest first-class score and third century of the season, as Northamptonshire staged a sterling fightback on day one of this Rothesay County Championship match against Gloucestershire at Wantage Road.Zaib combined with James Sales who made 81 in a fifth-wicket stand worth 148 in 44.2 overs after Northamptonshire’s top order slumped to 57 for four before lunch.Gloucestershire’s teenage quick Archie Bailey, 19, bowled with express pace and accounted for two of the first four wickets to fall on his return to the town of his birth.But with little pace or bounce in the wicket to assist a thoroughly disciplined Gloucestershire bowling attack, Sales and Zaib were content to absorb the pressure before pressing the accelerator. Sales played the dominant partner at first before Zaib took over, marching to his ton from 147 balls and going past his previous best of 135 against Sussex in 2021.Amidst an admirably persistent Gloucestershire bowling performance, both Bailey, playing only his third first-class game, and Ben Charlesworth picked up two wickets apiece with Northamptonshire finishing the day handily placed on 327 for 6.Northamptonshire refreshed their batting line-up after last week’s heavy defeat to Glamorgan, bringing in Gus Miller for his first game this season and rewarding promising teenager Aadi Sharma with his senior debut.It was a familiar start though when Tom Price struck in the fifth over, trapping Ricardo Vasconelos lbw. Miller and Luke Procter looked to build a partnership amidst a miserly opening bowling partnership between Price and Matt Taylor before both fell within 10 balls.First Miller chased a wide one from Bailey and edged to second slip. The in-form Procter (20) looked in good touch again, but when Bailey came round the wicket and swung one back in, the Northamptonshire captain was trapped lbw as he moved across his stumps.Sales started to steady the ship, steering one down to third to bring up Northamptonshire’s 50 in the 23rd over, while Sharma, who looked unfazed by the occasion, cut Charlesworth firmly for four. The debutant failed to capitalise on the bowler’s next delivery, a loose short ball, and pulled it straight to square leg.Zaib was fortunate to survive a run out appeal early in his innings on 19. Graeme van Buuren threw down the stumps at the non-strikers’ end with a direct hit, but Zaib was adjudged not out, although his bat appeared short of his crease.Sales and Zaib duly brought up their 50 partnership off 122 balls before Sales went on the offensive. By contrast the next 50 runs came in quick time off just 62 deliveries in the afternoon sunshine.Sales punched Zaman Akhter off the backfoot square for four and reached 50 when he glided Ollie Price down to third. He tucked into the off-spinner’s next over too, helping himself to three further boundaries, smashing Price over mid-on and forcing him out of the attack.Zaib upped the tempo before tea too, hitting Bailey straight down the ground and sweeping van Buuren to the ropes to bring up his half-century off 101 balls, Northamptonshire going into the tea break on 184 for 4.It was van Buuren who finally broke the partnership soon after the resumption when Ollie Price took a sharp tumbling catch at short midwicket as Sales played an attempted pull.But Zaib carried on unabated, taking three boundaries off Bailey, driving and pulling to good effect, although he rode his luck against van Buuren when an edge flew just wide of slip.George Bartlett, moved down the order for this game, fell cheaply when he edged behind to a Charlesworth delivery which was too close to cut.Zaib though continued at pace to bring up his century. By comparison, his first 50 had come off 101 balls, his second off just 46. He treated the crowd to an array of shots all around the ground throughout the evening session.Lewis McManus (33 not out) provided excellent support, driving Taylor for four to take Northamptonshire past 300 and a second batting bonus point.

Former Australia captain and current Adelaide Strikers coach Tim Paine continues his rise up the coaching ranks after being appointed Australia A coach for three series in the second half of this year.Paine has been hired in a consultancy role that includes working across Australia A men’s series and supporting the Australia women’s team while balancing his Strikers coaching duties. He will lead the Australia A team in three 50-over matches and two four-day games in Darwin against Sri Lanka A in July.He is also set to lead an Australia A squad on a tour of India in September and October for white and red-ball matches and will coach in a one-off four-day game against the England Lions that is likely to take place in either late October or early November.Paine has been involved with Australia A and various development teams in recent years as an assistant coach. He worked under Adam Voges when the Western Australia and Perth Scorchers coach led Australia A in a home multi-format series against New Zealand in 2023.Paine also worked as an assistant coach under CA’s national development coach Lachlan Stevens last season when Australia A hosted India A and was head coach of the Prime Minister’s XI when they faced India in Canberra.Related

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It is understood that Stevens has departed his role with CA and Paine will coach Australia A against Sri Lanka A with support from new national pace bowling coach Adam Griffith, Australian women’s team assistant coach Scott Prestwidge and Northern Territory Cricket’s Pathway and Development coach Trent Keep.Griffith has also been sent to the Caribbean to stand in as Australia’s bowling coach for the first two Tests against West Indies with Daniel Vettori set to miss the whole tour for family reasons. Griffith will return to Australia for the A series and former New Zealand left-arm seamer James Franklin will join Australia’s coaching group for the first time for the third Test and the five T20Is that follow.Former Australia wicketkeeper-batter Matthew Wade will also join Australia’s coaching group as an assistant for the T20Is in the Caribbean after working as a consultant coach for Australia’s white-ball series against Pakistan last summer.Meanwhile, uncontracted Queensland left-arm orthodox Zanden Jeh has been plucked out of Queensland Premier cricket and called into the Australia A squad as the sole specialist spinner for the series against Sri Lanka with Todd Murphy and Corey Rocchiccioli both unavailable due to signing short-term County deals.Jeh has not played first-class cricket and has only played four second XI matches across the last three seasons for Queensland since graduating from Under-19s cricket in 2022. He has just 11 second XI wickets at 35 but took a five-wicket haul in his last match against ACT. Jeh’s presence in the Australia A squad underscores the desperation of Australia’s selectors to develop more left-arm orthodox bowlers.Jeh is also part of a 12-member Cricket Australia development squad that will attend the MRF Academy in Chennai from July 31 to August 13. Jeh is the only uncontracted domestic player in the squad which includes Australia A squad members Jason Sangha, Liam Scott, Ollie Peake and Campbell Kellaway.CA’s MRF Academy squad: Joel Curtis, Harry Dixon, Zanden Jeh, Campbell Kellaway, Angus Lovell, Rafael MacMillan, Ollie Peake, Lloyd Pope, Nivethan Radhakrishnan, Jason Sangha, Liam Scott, Lachlan Shaw

Pakistan captain Salman Agha has said that his team will stick to their fearless approach, especially if the conditions in Bangladesh favour them as the two teams prepare to face each other in a three-match T20I series.Except the conditions in Dhaka aren’t always conducive to run-scoring. The average first-innings score in night T20Is in the last ten games is less than 125. Those include the 2021 series against New Zealand and Australia, where raging turners were employed to aid the Bangladesh spinners. It played out perfectly as Bangladesh won the series 4-1 (against Australia) and 3-2 (against New Zealand). The current Bangladesh T20I captain though would prefer a move away from such made-to-order surfaces.”I agree that the (2021 series) had an adverse effect on our batters,” Litton Das said. “Even I could have built up a career as a bowler in those pitches. It was a tough time for the batters although Bangladesh won both series. I don’t think there will be a repeat this time. I saw a good wicket. It will be an even game.”Related

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Pakistan had beaten Bangladesh 3-0 in a T20I series in May and June. After having piled up 200-plus totals while batting first in the first two games, Pakistan successfully chased 197 with nearly three overs to spare in the third game.Head coach Mike Hesson and captain Agha are trying to get the team to follow the modern trend of trying to get as many runs as possible in the first six overs.”We have changed the way we play, and that’s how we want to play,” Agha said. “But assessing the conditions is always going to be key. We will see what the conditions are and how we want to play. If the conditions allow us to play that way, we will play, and if the conditions don’t allow us to play that way, we will try to do what the conditions are allowing us. Our goal is to score above par, like 10-15 runs, and when we are batting above par and then when we are bowling, to make sure we will restrict the teams less than over par.Litton Das hits out at the nets•AFP/Getty Images

“T20 is changing every single year, every six months, to be honest. We have the players now who will play the way we want. We want to play aggressive cricket, and with that, anyone can play that kind of cricket and can come into the team. But yeah, the players we have right now, they are very good, and very exciting.”While Pakistan skipped training on the eve of the T20I series opener, Bangladesh held an optional session from late afternoon. Litton Das took a long hard look at the pitch for Sunday’s opening T20I and had a lengthy discussion with curator Gamini Silva. At his press conference, Litton said he expected sporting pitches.”Mirpur isn’t always bad for batters,” he said. “It was just troubling for batters in two particular series (against Australia and New Zealand in 2021). The ball spins here, there’s help for pacers. But there’s also runs being scored. I think it’s a sporting wicket.”Litton had earlier expressed his concerns about the conditions in Dhaka after the third T20I in Sri Lanka last week. “I don’t know how the Mirpur wicket is going to be behave, for the Pakistan series,” he had said. “I think it is raining in Dhaka every day, so wicket can be difficult for batting in such conditions. Batters may fail there, but we won’t be too disappointed. We will keep trying to give our 100%.”During the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) however, the Shere Bangla National Stadium produced good batting surfaces. Teams batting first in the last 10 night games managed a few scores in the region of 190-200. Litton said that it also has to do with the winter dew and poorer bowling attacks in the BPL.”I can see two factors in this regard,” Litton said. “There is always a chance of dew in one innings in the BPL. It makes batting easier. I also don’t think there are exactly five quality bowlers in a BPL bowling attack. We can target one or two bowlers. The international level is definitely different. We will face at least five good bowlers. I think even if this match is not high scoring, it will be an exciting match.”

Big picture: Iyer, Jaiswal, Thakur in action

A strong West Zone side led by Shardul Thakur will take on Central Zone in the semi-final of the 2025-26 Duleep Trophy at Ground B of BCCI’s Centre of Excellence, on the outskirts of Bengaluru.While Central qualified on the basis of a first-innings lead in the quarter-final against North East Zone, they are up against a much stronger West Zone side, which includes Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Tushar Deshpande.Related

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West will be without Sarfaraz Khan, though, after he suffered a quadriceps injury in the pre-season Buchi Babu tournament in Chennai. On the bowling front, Thakur and Deshpande will lead the fast-bowling attack, while Shams Mulani and Tanush Kotian are the premier spinners.Central, meanwhile, will be without Kuldeep Yadav, who has been named in India’s Asia Cup squad. They will also be without their captain, Dhruv Jurel, who had also missed the quarter-final with a groin niggle. Vidarbha wicketkeeper-batter Akshay Wadkar has been added to the squad in Jurel’s absence, while Rajat Patidar is expected to lead the side.The Central batters had a decent outing against North East Zone, with Patidar and Shubham Sharma cracking centuries, while Danish Malewar scored a double-ton. Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar and Harsh Dubey will be key in restricting the West batters.West made a direct entry to the semi-final by virtue of playing the Duleep Trophy final the last time the tournament was played in the zonal format in the 2023-24 season. The semi-final will not be televised.

In the spotlight: Shreyas Iyer and Rajat Patidar

The Duleep Trophy semi-final will be Shreyas Iyer first competitive game since the IPL 2025 final. He didn’t find a place in India’s Asia Cup squad despite a superb batting performance for Punjab Kings. Now, with a busy domestic and international season ahead, he will want some red-ball runs to strengthen his case for a return to India’s international squads.Rajat Patidar began his 2025-26 domestic season with a 96-ball 125 in the first innings of the Duleep quarter-final and followed up with a 72-ball 66 in the second. Against a more challenging West Zone bowling unit, Patidar will be one of Central’s most important batters.

Team news

Baroda’s Shivalik Sharma replaced Sarfaraz in the West Zone squad. He is likely to bat in the middle order, with Jaiswal, Gaikwad, Iyer and Harvik Desai in the top four.West Zone (probable): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Harvik Desai (wk), 3 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 Shivalik Sharma, 6 Jaymeet Patel, 7 Shardul Thakur (capt), 8 Shams Mulani, 9 Tanush Kotian, 10 Tushar Deshpande, 11 Dharmendrasinh Jadeja/Arzan NagwaswalaAryan Juyal retired hurt after scoring 60 in the first innings of Central’s quarter-final and didn’t return to the field for the rest of the match, with Railways wicketkeeper-batter Upendra Yadav filling in for him. If Juyal doesn’t get fit in time, one of Upendra or Wadkar could get a chance. Rajasthan left-arm spinner Manav Suthar is also expected to come in for Kuldeep.Central Zone (probable): 1 Aayush Pandey, 2 Danish Malewar, 3 Shubham Sharma, 4 Rajat Patidar (capt), 5 Upendra Yadav/Akshay Wadkar (wk), 6 Yash Rathod, 7 Deepak Chahar, 8 Harsh Dubey, 9 Manav Suthar, 10 Aditya Thakare, 11 Khaleel Ahmed

Pitch and conditions

The pitch at Ground B of the BCCI’s CoE was excellent for batting for the quarter-finals, and a similar surface could be expected for the semi-final too. There has been rain in and around Bengaluru for the last few weeks, and while rain isn’t forecast for the opening day, it is expected to be cloudy, which could aid fast bowlers.

Andy Pycroft, the ICC match referee at the centre of the controversy that nearly derailed the 2025 Asia Cup, was told only minutes before the toss of the India-Pakistan match on September 14 that the two captains were not to shake hands.At that moment, he believed he was conveying the message rather than issuing instructions. Pycroft was subsequently the subject of a complaint made by the PCB, which accused him of breaching ICC codes as well as the spirit of cricket, and demanded his removal from the tournament.Details have begun to emerge of the frenzied nature of events between the two Pakistan games on September 14 and 17. The controversy was sparked, according to an official, “four minutes before the toss” in Sunday’s game between India and Pakistan. As Pycroft walked on to the field, he was told by the ACC venue manager that the BCCI had communicated – with the Indian government’s approval – that there would be no handshake between the captains Suryakumar Yadav and Salman Agha.Related

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PCB officials argued that Pycroft should have alerted the ICC about this unusual request; Pycroft is believed to have said he did not have time to do so. With enough time, he would have consulted the ICC. Instead, moments before the toss, he told Agha of the situation in the belief he was avoiding a potentially embarrassing public moment if Agha went to shake hands with Suryakumar only to be snubbed.Pycroft’s decision has not been seen by the ICC at any point as a breach of any code of conduct but as an action he was authorised to take in his remit as a match official deputed to manage the game.The issue came to a head on Wednesday with uncertainty swirling around Pakistan’s must-win game against UAE and the PCB threatening to pull out of the tournament if Pycroft, who was rostered for the game, wasn’t reassigned. The match eventually went ahead after an hour’s delay following a hastily arranged, clear-the-air meeting between Pycroft and the Pakistan team hierarchy.The PCB subsequently claimed in a statement that Pycroft had “apologised to the manager and captain of the Pakistan cricket team”, though sources familiar with the situation maintain it was not an apology, but an “expression of regret over the misunderstanding and miscommunication” around the incident.

PCB vs ICC

The PCB had sent an official complaint to the ICC’s general manager of cricket Wasim Khan between Sunday night and Monday morning after Pakistan’s defeat to India. In it, the board spelt out the sequence of events before the toss and accused Pycroft of misconduct, saying it was alarmed “to note that an ICC-appointed and supposedly neutral match referee opted to indulge in conduct which clearly violates the spirit of cricket and MCC laws”.The PCB said Pycroft “failed to discharge his responsibility to ensure that respect was extended and maintained amongst the captains as well as between the two competing sides, and to create a positive atmosphere by his conduct and encourage the captains and participating teams to do likewise”. It called for his immediate withdrawal from the Asia Cup.In its first response on September 15, the ICC told the PCB it had “carefully investigated” the complaint, but “concluded” there was “no case to answer on the part of Mr Pycroft” and he was “not at fault” in any way. In its review, the ICC had spoken to Pycroft, the other match and tournament officials, and the tournament director Andrew Russell.Pakistan captain Salman Agha and team manager Naved Akram Cheema had met with Andy Pycroft before the game against UAE•AFP/Getty Images

The ICC explained that Pycroft’s communication to Agha not to shake hands was “following clear direction” from the ACC venue manager. Having received the message at such “short notice”, Pycroft, the ICC said, had dealt with the situation professionally. “In acting as he did, the match referee was committed to preserving the sanctity of the toss and avoiding any potential embarrassment that might have arisen.”The ICC said the match referee’s role was not to “regulate any team- or tournament-specific protocol that has been agreed outside of the area of play” and that the “real issue” was the handshake not taking place, which was a “matter” to be addressed and resolved by the tournament organiser and “those who took the actual decision”.The ICC’s email to the PCB also stated that changing match officials at the “request or insistence” of a participating country would set an “extremely dangerous and unfortunate precedent”.The PCB then expressed “disappointment” at the ICC’s decision to absolve Pycroft, pointing to “glaring discrepancies”. The board said the ICC had failed to seek out “complete evidence/version of events” from witnesses that had “actually seen” what it described as Pycroft’s “offensive conduct”. The PCB said the ICC had not spoken to Agha or the team management during its probe, which it called a “one-sided process”.The PCB questioned how a match referee could be only a “messenger” and convey directives that violated the spirit of cricket. Pycroft, the PCB said, should have offered an “unequivocal refusal” when he was asked to tell Agha not to shake hands with Suryakumar. In a separate email on Wednesday, the ICC said the PCB had every opportunity to “provide any supporting documentation or evidence” to back their case against Pycroft, but none had been received.

The events before the delayed start

During this back and forth with the ICC, the PCB raised the prospect of withdrawing from the Asia Cup, saying the Pakistan government had advised it to do so if Pycroft was not removed.The PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi is the country’s interior minister, a senior figure in the government.A tense stalemate ensued, with the Pakistan team training on Tuesday evening ahead of their game against UAE but cancelling the pre-match press conference. On Wednesday, after a flurry of emails in the morning, a video call was arranged early afternoon Dubai time between senior ICC officials, their counterparts from the PCB and the Emirates Cricket Board. The ICC offered the PCB an opportunity to talk through its case and arguments but both sides stood their ground: the PCB continued to call for Pycroft’s removal, the ICC insisted he hadn’t breached any rules.PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi gave the Pakistan team clearance to continue their Asia Cup campaign•Associated Press

Around 4pm Dubai time, two hours before the scheduled toss, another video call was arranged between the same people. It again began with both sides unrelenting. Around this time, the Pakistan players were told to remain at the hotel and not go to the ground, having originally been scheduled to leave at 4.30pm. This was the first time the world outside discovered how serious the situation was. With time running out, it was on this call that Wasim Khan and ICC chief executive Sanjog Gupta are believed to have suggested a meeting between Pycroft and the Pakistan team. PCB officials, keen on the idea, took it to Naqvi, who was consulting with former board heads Najam Sethi and Ramiz Raja on the matter. He agreed, the ICC was told, and the Pakistan team left for the stadium at 5.40pm Dubai time.

Miscommunication and misunderstanding

The players arrived at Dubai International Stadium half an hour before the rescheduled toss at 7pm local time, and Pycroft immediately met with Agha, Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson and team manager Naved Akram Cheema in a room with Wasim Khan also present. Pycroft is believed to have begun the conversation by asking the Pakistan participants about their precise grievances. In response, he explained to them why he acted the way he did, that he was merely the messenger rather than the man responsible for the no-handshake directive.He expressed regret for the “miscommunication and misunderstanding” around the situation and, in particular, for Agha to find himself in such a situation moments before a big game. It was here that Pycroft explained his worry that not telling Agha and letting him go to shake hands with Suryakumar would have been more problematic.Soon after the meeting, the PCB released a statement claiming Pycroft had apologised. The ICC is believed to have been unhappy about it and the idea of a response “clarifying” the situation was discussed, though it isn’t certain whether one will be made. The PCB also released a short video of the meeting despite concerns raised during the meeting about such a video being recorded. It was eventually allowed on the condition that no audio be recorded.The PCB also said the ICC had “expressed its willingness to conduct an inquiry into the code of conduct violation that occurred during the September 14 match”. The prospects of that remain slim, not least because it isn’t clear what the inquiry would focus on, given the ICC has repeatedly asserted to the PCB that there was no misconduct on Pycroft’s part.