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The Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) is set to introduce a pension scheme for former Ranji Trophy players of the region

Cricinfo staff11-Aug-2010The Nagpur-based Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA), one of the oldest cricket bodies in India, is set to introduce a pension scheme for former Ranji Trophy players of the region.The pension amount would be Rs 5000 per month and the VCA would bear a financial burden of approximately Rs 50 lakh per annum, according to a report in . “The modalities of the scheme will be worked out shortly by an empowered executive committee and the cut-off date has been fixed as March 31, 2004,” VCA president Sudhir Dabir said.”However, a section of players who had initially played for Vidarbha and later moved to Indian Railways will be excluded from the scheme,” VCA’s media manager Rajan Nair, who is also a former Ranji allrounder and currently in the BCCI media committee, said.Similarly, those players who are drawing pension from the BCCI will not be eligible for the VCA pension scheme, as they are already receiving an amount of Rs 10,000 per month.According to Dabir, there were about 268 former Ranji players who had represented Vidarbha in various zonal and national level tournaments but looking at the criteria and the cut off date, only 94 would be eligible for pension.”As per the plan, we are involving all those senior members of the VCA who came forward with the proposal in the process to finalise the modalities of the scheme,” Dabir said, adding that it should be finalised within two months.The proposal to introduce the scheme was approved at the annual general body meeting of VCA held recently.

The 39-year-old is set to become the first Indian player to feature in the tournament

Nagraj Gollapudi06-Aug-2024Dinesh Karthik is set to become the first Indian player to feature in the SA20. ESPNcricinfo has learned that Karthik will join Paarl Royals as an overseas player ahead of the new season starting January 9.The SA20 will be the first tournament Karthik will play since announcing retirement from “representative cricket” in June on the day he turned 39. Karthik, who played 180 internationals for India, last featured in IPL 2024 for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), who have now signed him up as a mentor-cum-batting coach.On the T20 circuit, Karthik is rated by his peers among the sharpest pundits owing to his vast experience in the shortest format. Karthik, currently covering the Hundred for , has featured in 401 T20s and, in the IPL, played for six teams, which included leading Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Karthik also was among the fittest players in the IPL, having missed just two matches across 17 seasons.”I have so many fond memories of playing in and visiting South Africa,” Karthik said. “When this opportunity came about, I couldn’t say no because of how special it would be to come back to playing competitive cricket and win this incredible competition with the Royals.”Even though I didn’t have the chance to represent the Royals in the IPL, to me it was always a franchise setup and environment that was very attractive as a player. I am delighted to be joining the Paarl Royals team which oozes a lot of experience, quality and potential. I am certainly looking forward to joining the group and contributing to what should be an exciting season.”Only retired Indian players are allowed by BCCI to participate in overseas T20 leagues. Last year, Ambati Rayudu turned up to play for St Kitts & Nevis Patriots in the CPL and then in January 2024 with MI Emirates in the ILT20, while Robin Uthappa and Yusuf Pathan featured for Dubai Capitals in the ILT20 too. Two years ago, Suresh Raina was part of Deccan Gladiators in the Abu Dhabi T10.Paarl Royals announced their retentions ahead of the new season last week, with captain David Miller, Lungi Ngidi and Andile Phehlukwayo making the cut. Royals made the Qualifiers in the last SA20 edition but suffered five straight losses, including a nine-wicket thumping in the Eliminator against Joburg Super Kings.”Dinesh has served as one of the modern day greats for India in white ball cricket, and his wealth of experience will contribute to the making of our side for Season 3,” Kumar Sangakkara, Royals’ director of cricket, said. “He has always proved to be a great asset for the teams he’s represented across leagues for the way he approaches the game and the impact he can make, so it’s an exciting signing for us and we look forward to having him with the group at Paarl.”Paarl Royals squad
David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Bjorn Fortuin, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dinesh Karthik, Mitchell van Buuren, Codi Yusuf, Keith Dudgeon, Nqaba Peter, Kwena Maphaka, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Dayyaan Galiem (traded in)

England fast bowler faces another prolonged spell on the sidelines

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jul-2023Lancashire have confirmed that Saqib Mahmood has been diagnosed with a recurrence of the back stress fracture that sidelined him for much of 2022.Mahmood has only played five games this summer and, as revealed by ESPNcricinfo, was sent for a specialist consultation amid concerns he could miss the rest of the season.No timeline has been put on his return and he will undergo rehabilitation under the guidance of Lancashire and the ECB, with whom he has an pace-bowling development contract.Mahmood, 26, has been capped in all three formats for England, most recently playing in the ODI series in Bangladesh in March. He made his Test debut on the 2021-22 tour of the West Indies, but was diagnosed with a lumbar stress fracture shortly after returning from the Caribbean.As well as being ruled out of action for Lancashire, Mahmood will also miss the Hundred, for which he was part of Oval Invincibles’ squad. Surrey allrounder Tom Lawes is set to be brought in by Invincibles as an injury replacement.

“Kohli is central to many of their batting plans as they go later and deeper in the tournament,” says Ian Bishop

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Apr-20222:10

Bishop: Kohli is central to all of RCB’s batting plans

Virat Kohli has been moved to the opening slot by Royal Challengers Bangalore, at least for the Tuesday-night game against Rajasthan Royals. He will open alongside captain Faf du Plessis. And Daniel Vettori, head coach to captain Kohli at the franchise between 2014 and 2018, expects the plan to work, saying that the two “are equals”, and that might free Kohli up to get back among the runs.”I think Virat’s a contemporary [of du Plessis], and someone who is probably on the same level as him,” Vettori said on ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time Out. “[With du Plessis as his partner], the focus is not just on Kohli to do the job, and possibly at times he has felt like that – that he has to be the be-all and end-all in that opening partnership. But I think they are equals.”Faf’s record is amazing – he’s captain, [and] the predominant leader – so those two coming together with that mutual respect will take that pressure off Kohli, and hopefully we’ll see him at his aggressive best. Because that’s what everyone wants to see – him be aggressive because that’s when he is at his best.”Kohli was slotted in at No. 3 in all his eight innings this IPL season, and scored just 119 runs at an average of 17. This, despite scoring 41* to start off the tournament, against Punjab Kings, as well as getting 48 against Mumbai Indians. Four out of his seven dismissals have been in single digits, with back-to-back golden ducks in his last two innings.”I am hoping he can make a better fist of it; because if he can’t make a fist of this, they’re in real, real trouble,” Ian Bishop said on the same programme, “because Kohli is central to many of their batting plans as they go later and deeper in the tournament. So they need him in the team, and need him in form.”Kohli opened for Royal Challengers in all 15 innings last season, and his 405 runs came at an average of just under 29 – a stark contrast to him accumulating 973 runs as opener in 2016, including bashing four centuries and striking at 152.

Paine believes Kohli’s absence for three Tests won’t make series “less intense”

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Nov-2020Australia’s Test captain Tim Paine has described his side as having “polarising” opinions about his India counterpart Virat Kohli. Though he says Kohli is “just another player to me”, Paine remained upbeat about the rivalry that he and his side shared with the Indian captain.”With Virat, it is a funny one – we love to hate him, but we also love to watch him bat as cricket fans,” Paine told “He certainly is polarising in that type of scenario. We love watching him bat, but we don’t like seeing him score too many runs.At different points during India’s tour to Australia in 2018-19, both captains were involved in heated exchanges. During the second Test in Perth, words were exchanged multiple times – especially when Paine was batting in the second innings – with the umpires having to intervene. India eventually claimed the series 2-1 and became the first Asian side to win a Test series in Australia.”Australia and India, it’s a heated competition and he’s obviously a competitive person and so am I,” Paine said. “So yeah, there were a few occasions when we had words but that wasn’t because he was the captain and I was the captain – it could have been anyone. It’s often the best player is the one that your team goes up a little bit, the intensity goes up when the best players in the world come out to the crease.”This time, however, Kohli is set to miss three out of the four Tests as he is due to return home for the birth of his first child. That won’t take anything away from how big the series is, according to Paine, who will have in his ranks Steven Smith and David Warner. The pair missed that 2018-19 series due to their year-long ban in the aftermath of the ball-tampering saga.”I’m looking forward to everything to be honest, it’s a huge series,” Paine said. “They beat us here last time obviously with a different team. I think any time you get to test yourself against the best is something that you look forward to as players and as a team, and we certainly are.”The first Test – a day-night fixture – starts in Adelaide on December 17, which follows the limited-overs segment featuring three ODIs and T20Is each. The tour concludes with the fourth Test in Brisbane from January 15.

Test side has “suffered a bit” due to white-ball emphasis, admits Giles, and red-ball stars might be afforded fewer IPL opportunities

George Dobell29-Jul-2019English cricket will “redress the balance” between red and white-ball cricket over the next few years.Ashley Giles, the managing director of England men’s cricket, accepts that white-ball cricket took priority in the previous four-year cycle and he accepts the strategy, put in place by his predecessor, Andrew Strauss, paid off. England went from also-rans at the 2015 World Cup to champions in 2019.But he also accepts England’s Test cricket may have “suffered a little bit.” England are currently No. 4 in the ICC’s Test rankings while they are No. 1 in the ODI and No. 2 in the T20I rankings. So, while he is keen to pay tribute to Strauss’ influence, he feels that winning the World Test Championship – which is launched at the start of the Ashes series which starts on Thursday – should be the new goal of English cricket. And to that end, he feels the red-ball game should now be given greater priority in terms of planning, scheduling and investment.”When Strauss came in he said we have to swing the balance right towards white-ball cricket and that’s what we did,” Giles said. “All the attention and the way we play county cricket was definitely focused on the shorter formats.”It was the focus we needed. It was the strategy that led to us winning the World Cup which we looked miles away from doing in 2015. It was important that the pendulum didn’t swing back to 50-50, it had to swing right back to white-ball cricket. We had never approached things in that way before in this country.”Has Test cricket suffered a little bit? Well, perhaps a little bit. We need to do that in red-ball cricket now. Whether it’s the World Test Championship or not, Test cricket is really important to us in this country. We haven’t neglected Test cricket for white-ball cricket, but focus has definitely been more on that side and we just need to redress that balance now.”In the future we need to work with the counties on producing future Test players. Our focus has certainly been on white-ball cricket and we need to redress that balance now to try and even things out.”Giles’ task is not straightforward. The county schedule will continue to see white-ball cricket take precedence in peak season – there will be no County Championship cricket played in the white-ball window built for The Hundred and 50-over cricket from 2020 – which means domestic first-class cricket will continue to be played in the margins of the season when pitches tend to provide substantial assistance to seam bowlers.But there some tools available to him. For a start, county cricket is already using a brand of Dukes ball with a less prominent seam that provides a little less help for bowlers. The counties have also been encouraged to provide better batting surfaces in the hope that seamers are required to work harder for their wickets and batsmen can gain some form and confidence in a more meritocratic environment. It is also hoped the combination of flatter wickets and less helpful balls will encourage the development of faster bowlers and spinners.That prioritisation will also be demonstrated in the value of the new central contracts. While players in all formats will receive a substantial pay rise when the new contracts begin in October – those contracted for red and white-ball cricket will earn just under £1m a year before appearance fees – the percentage rise will be greater for those involved in Test cricket. Meanwhile young fast bowlers will be taken on to incremental contracts – a scheme that will replace the fast bowling programme – which will allow the England management to rest them, or place them in overseas cricket, as they see fit.There may also be less leeway for Test players to take part in T20 leagues, including the IPL. While appearances in such leagues have helped England’s player develop in the white-ball game – and while there is a World T20 Cup at the end of next year – Giles is keen to ensure candidates for the Test squad have both rested and reacclimatised to English conditions before returning to the Test team. He hopes the value of the new central contracts – which will see some England players earning between £1.2 and £1.5m a year when appearance fees are included – will diminish the allure of such leagues for his top assets.There may be fewer IPL opportunities for Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, Giles suggested•PTI

Most of all, though, he wants the county game – and the ECB pathways – to deliver better results. That means creating an environment where top-order batsmen have a better chance to develop, where counties are rewarded for producing players and where the qualities required to succeed in Test cricket are replicated and cultivated.”It’s fundamentally important that our county cricket is system is producing good players,” Giles continued. “And what we’ve seen this year is sides preparing better pitches to play on. As a result, scores have been better and there seems to be better cricket round the country; really competitive cricket. The stats would say that when we’ve had a deep and successful [Test] batting order, we’ve had a really strong County Championship with high scores, lots of runs and batsmen scoring 1,000 runs a season. We certainly need the network and county system to work with us.”Even just saying ‘we’re going to win the World Cup’ in 2015 placed a lot of emphasis on our focus in terms of how we grew players, grew talent and spotted talent. Now we do need to redress that, so placing more emphasis on how we support and improve our long-form cricketers. And some of that is about working with the counties and collaborating much more on growing a bigger pool of players to prepare to play Test cricket.”But it not going to be an overnight change. We won’t suddenly start producing dozens of top-order players. In the short term, the Test Championship has to be on our to-do list. It doesn’t get much tougher but we have to have that as a goal. Test cricket’s really important to us and we need to be trying to compete for that Championship and if not this one then the next one.”In the shorter term we’ve got two T20 World Cups. Next year in Australia probably represents a really good opportunity for us to win that and wouldn’t it be great if we could hold both white-ball trophies at once?”Having our resources, we should be trying to compete across as many formats as we can. In the really short term you might swing some of your focus towards T20 cricket instead of 50-over cricket as we’re four years away from another 50-over World Cup. But we need to give Test cricket the focus it deserves.”

The Bangladesh coach expects pitches in the Caribbean to favour quicks, and is setting up preparations for his team accordingly.

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jun-2018Having signed with Bangladesh earlier this month, Steve Rhodes is coaching an international team for the first time and he does not want to be caught napping. The former England wicketkeeper has been scouring the web for videos of the players he will be training and the support staff he will be working with just to know what everybody looks like.There was more nuanced work to do on Wednesday, though, with Rhodes leading a camp to help prepare the players for a full tour of the West Indies starting on June 27. “Everything is new,” he said. “I don’t know too much about the players, but I’ve been checking on the internet regularly, looking them up on YouTube – as well as highlights – getting to know some faces, of the support staff as well. All a bit of a rush to be honest, but now we’re on the eve of going away to the Caribbean, and honestly that’s what I’m looking forward to doing best – which is helping support the team and improve them as cricketers.”

Tour Schedule

June 27-28: Warm-up match, Coolidge
July 4-8: First Test, North Sound
July 12-16: Second Test, Kingston
July 19: Warm-up match, Kingston
July 22: First ODI, Providence
July 26: Second ODI, Providence
July 28: Third ODI, Basseterre
August 1: First T20I, Basseterre
August 4: Second T20I, Lauderhill
August 5: Third T20I, Lauderhill

Rhodes, 54, expected West Indies to prepare pitches with pace and bounce, and said he would make Bangladesh practice accordingly. “You will have watched the Sri Lanka series. The pitches are currently bouncing, and going to potentially suit their bowlers,” he said. “My hunch is the pitches are going to be pretty similar. So we will try to incorporate our practices with bouncier, greener wickets in the three days of practice we have.”Bangladesh do play a tour match ahead of the two Tests but Rhodes felt conditions in that game may not be challenging enough. “I’m pretty sure the West Indian practice wickets will be a bit like Bangladesh wickets [without pace and bounce]. We need to make sure our batsmen, allrounders, and fast bowlers, are ready to face some quick bowling on bouncy pitches. West Indies are in a good place right now, so if that makes us an underdog, then fantastic. Let the underdog win.”That preparation will include making plans for how to face Shannon Gabriel, who took 13 for 121 against Sri Lanka in the second Test, the third-best figures by a West Indian bowler.Rhodes had signed Gabriel when he had coached Worcestershire and acknowledged that the fast bowler was in top form, but was confident the Bangladesh batsmen could do well. “Test matches, they’re not complicated,” he said. “In trying to win a Test match, you need a good start. There are ways of winning without that, but it’s not rocket science. It’s about getting out of the traps, building on getting a good score, or bowling the opposition out. Really, it’s about not letting the opposition back in the game.”Rhodes identified Mustafizur Rahman’s absence through injury as the biggest challenge for Bangladesh. “I think that there’s no going away from the fact that losing Mustafizur for the first Test, maybe the full series, will play [on our minds] daily,” he said. “But the four quicks who are going – what a wonderful opportunity for them. The depth of fast bowling is something we want to try and improve, and if the Fizz is one of four or five of those bowlers, then we’ll be in a great place. Our spinners are world class. They may not get the purchase off the wicket, but the footholes will help as the game progresses.”Rhodes has played 11 Tests and nine ODIs and is known for his talent-spotting skills. He had been in charge of Worcestershire since 2006, having played for them from 1985 to 2004, and was looking forward to applying all that he had learnt on this stint with Bangladesh.”It’s a great opportunity for me, personally,” he said. “I’ve cut my teeth in county cricket, and the England Lions programme and the England team when we came to Bangladesh. I’ve done a long apprenticeship in that place, and I’m looking forward now to the challenge of international coaching. I’ve played cricket and coached for a long time, and whatever team you’re involved in, you’re wholeheartedly, 100% putting all your efforts into winning. If that’s against England in a World Cup game – then it’s fantastic. It’s time for Steve Rhodes to become a ‘Tiger’.”

After announcing nine months ago that he was retiring from Test cricket, West Indies fast bowler Jerome Taylor has once again made himself available for selection

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Apr-2017Jamaican fast bowler Jerome Taylor has informed the West Indies Cricket Board that he is ending his Test retirement to make himself available for selection with immediate effect. Taylor, 32, initially called time on his 46-match Test career ahead of India’s tour of the West Indies last July but may be in line to return against Pakistan for the three-match series beginning April 21.”I believe I still have a lot of cricket left in me and I know I can still offer a lot to West Indies cricket in the Test arena,” Taylor said in a WICB press release. “If selected, I will look to put my best foot forward and give my all for the team. We have some young players in the group at the moment and I believe with my experience, I can add to the team going forward.”Despite remaining available for selection in the T20 and ODI squads for West Indies, Taylor was not picked for either series against Pakistan that preceded the upcoming Test series. His last match in any format for West Indies came in a T20I against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi last September when he took 0 for 19 in an eight-wicket loss.Taylor’s last Test match was more than a year ago against Australia in Sydney where he bowled just four overs in a heavily rain-affected draw. The Jamaican has 130 Test wickets at an average of 34.46 since making his debut against Sri Lanka in 2003, though his record at his home island ground of Sabina Park is outstanding with 29 wickets in five matches at an average of 13.58. Three of his four five-wicket hauls have come at Sabina Park, site of the upcoming first Test against Pakistan, including a career-best 6 for 47 against Australia in June 2015.West Indies selection chairman Courtney Browne welcomed Taylor’s decision to make himself available once again for Tests.”It is good to see that Jerome has decided to come out of retirement and make himself available for Tests once again,” Browne said. “When you look at the volume of cricket we have this year, we will need to look at all the resources we have available, and having someone of his ability and experience adds value to our player pool.”

Oman left-arm spinner Aamir Kaleem provided the biggest talking point of the match by mankading star batsman Mark Chapman prior to delivering the final ball of the ninth over of the Hong Kong chase

Alagappan Muthu in Fatullah19-Feb-2016An innings of 122 off 60 balls by Hong Kong No. 3 Babar Hayat – the fourth highest score in T20Is and the best by an Associate player – would normally have been the biggest talking point on most days, but it was Oman left-arm spinner Aamir Kaleem who provided that by mankading star batsman Mark Chapman prior to delivering the final ball of the ninth over of the Hong Kong chase. Oman went on to win the game by five runs in an eventful Asia Cup debut for the Persian Gulf state.At the end of an action-packed and immensely tight game that went to the final over, the two sides took opposing views on the mankad. Kaleem said he had seen both batsmen leaving their crease too early more than once and decided to run them out if they attempted to do so again. But Hong Kong coach Simon Cook said mankading without any warning was a “cowardly act”.”Yes it’s in the laws but I think it goes against the spirit of the game when you’re not at least giving a warning,” Cook said. “Ultimately it’s a cowardly way out really, if you’re battling against one another, man against man, out in the middle and you choose to go down that route to get a wicket and win the game, it’s not really in the spirit of cricket.”First, Oman made excellent use of a batting track to post 180 but it began looking light when Hayat took charge in pursuit of the target. The match had been in the balance when the incident took place.Oman had just picked up their second wicket in the previous over, but Hong Kong had put on 77 runs and needed 104 more from the remaining 67 balls with Hayat set on 57. It was then that Kaleem got into his delivery stride, pulled out, turned on his heel and under-armed a throw at the non-strikers’ end to catch Chapman out of his ground.Chapman waved his hands in disbelief for a moment, but walked off once the on-field umpire upheld Kaleem’s appeal. Everything was legal as per ICC regulation 42.15 which says, “The bowler is permitted, before releasing the ball and provided he has not completed his usual delivery swing, to deliberately attempt to run out the non-striker.”There is no ICC regulation demanding courtesy a courtesy warning, referenced by Cook, but it has been common practice for a bowler to warn the non-striker who is straying out of his crease. Kaleem argued that it is the batsman’s job to know better than to make such errors.”No, I didn’t [warn Chapman],” he said. “As a batsman, if I am non-striker, I know if I leave the crease before the delivery, bowler can do the same thing. I had just noticed two or three times that both batsmen – Babar was also doing it – so I just thought if they did the same thing, I would do this.Kaleem also brought up the example of West Indies U-19 seamer Keemo Paul’s actions in their victorious campaign at the Under-19 World Cup. In a must-win group stage match, Paul mankaded the last man standing Richard Ngarava for Zimbabwe as he ran up for the first ball of the 50th over with the opposition needing three runs and sealed West Indies’ progress into the quarter-finals.”We have all seen it happen in the Under-19 World Cup so it is not a wrong thing. It is under the rules. If the batsman goes before the ball has been released, any bowler can do this. So I did this.”It wasn’t Kaleem’s first mankad either.”Five or six months ago, when we were in Nepal playing against Malaysia, their batsman was also doing the same thing. Our coaches have told us if they are doing the same thing [and backing up prematurely], go ahead and run the batsman out.”

Hamish Marshall struck his fourth century of the season on an even first day at Northamptonshire.

02-Aug-2013
ScorecardHamish Marshall led Gloucestershire into a good position before a late collapse•PA Photos

Hamish Marshall struck his fourth century of the season on an even first day at Northamptonshire. Marshall hammered a brilliant 145 off 197 balls including 19 fours and two sixes to help Gloucestershire recover from a shaky start.A late collapse meant the visitors were bowled out for 358 towards the end of the day with David Willey, Andrew Hall and Muhammad Azharullah each taking three wickets for Northants, who then closed on 13 for 0.Gloucestershire won the toss and chose to bat but they lost Chris Dent for a four-ball duck in the third over when he edged Willey to Northants wicketkeeper David Murphy. In Willey’s next over, Gloucestershire’s wicketkeeper Gareth Roderick was trapped lbw for just 2 to leave the visitors 9 for 2.But Alex Gidman helped his side recover from their poor start by racing to 50 off just 54 ball as part of a partnership of 92 with captain Michael Klinger. But Gidman was to throw his wicket away on 59 when he slashed Hall to Willey at point as Gloucestershire reached lunch on 117 for 3.Klinger, though, was to fall three runs short of a composed half-century when he was taken by Murphy off the bowling of Hall in the third over of the afternoon.Marshall then went past 50 off 81 deliveries with a four over extra cover off James Middlebrook as the visitors dominated the rest of the session. He went on to complete his 24th century in first-class cricket – and his third in five innings – off 125 balls before Benny Howell completed his half-century
off 84 deliveries in the last over before tea.But Howell fell on 60 early in the evening when he swept Hall to David Sales at deep square leg to break a fifth-wicket stand of 183. Marshall finally departed two overs after Northants took the second new ball by nudging Azharullah’s leg side strangler to Murphy.James Fuller followed him back to the pavilion as he was bowled by Willey before Will Gidman chopped Azharullah on to his stumps to walk for 15. Craig Miles and Tom Smith were then pinned lbw by Azharullah and Steven Crook respectively, meaning Gloucestershire’s final five wickets had fallen for just 20 runs.Northants captain Stephen Peters and Kyle Coetzer then survived two overs before stumps and will resume tomorrow on 12 and 1 respectively.