Tim Anderson, the ICC global development manager, believes there needs to be a drastic change in mindset from administrators in the USA if cricket is to ever become professionally run in the country

Peter Della Penna19-Jun-2015Tim Anderson, the ICC head of global development, believes there needs to be a drastic change in mindset from administrators in the USA if cricket is to ever become professionally run in the country. Anderson recently toured the USA as part of an ICC task force headed by the chief executive Dave Richardson to produce a comprehensive report on the state of cricket in the country.The report will be presented next week at the ICC annual conference in Barbados, and Anderson felt it will be hard for the sport to move forward as long as a battle for control continues between the USA Cricket Association (USACA) and the American Cricket Federation (ACF).”For us it’s not about one or the other,” Anderson told ESPNcricinfo. “That’s not what this process is. But we just don’t think in principle it’s a healthy situation for the development of the sport for a relatively large proportion of people to be aligned to one group, a relatively large proportion to be aligned to another group, and a relatively large proportion not giving much care or thought to either of them and then just going on playing.”It doesn’t provide an environment where leadership can come in and take the game to the next level. You’re not going to do that in this environment. Philosophically, that needs to be changed if cricket is going to take a step in this country.”USACA was put on administrative notice at the 2014 ICC annual conference in Melbourne for being in violation of Associate governance statute 3.1, which at the time said that the respective ICC member must be the sole governing body in the country. The statute was amended in January to state that a member no longer had to be the sole governing body, but had to prove it was the one “responsible for the administration, management and development of cricket in the country.”USACA has also fallen in conflict with the ICC for its failure to hold elections on time, and for not having a full-time paid chief executive since the resignation of Darren Beazley in March 2014. However, Anderson kept mum when asked whether the report was being organised in preparation of a third possible administrative suspension for USACA since 2005.”What we want to find out is what is happening in the USA in cricket,” Anderson said. “That’s the general sentiment. If as part of that process, the ICC board then takes the report and says, ‘This guy is good and this guy is not so good,’ that’ll be a decision they have to come to.”The bottom line for us is that USACA is our member, there is another association that has a large number of leagues in the country that is also doing things and we want to speak to everybody. So our thought process is not about get rid of one and bring in the other one. That’s not really what it’s about at all.”As part of the information gathering process, Anderson said the ICC has facilitated face-to-face and phone interviews with more than 100 stakeholders, including various league administrators from both USACA and ACF. The ICC has also sought the opinions of leagues which are not aligned with either group, as well as of players and coaches, as part of an all-encompassing survey.Anderson denied the ICC’s task force initiative was spurred by USACA’s failure to ratify sweeping governance reforms at the November 2014 AGM which had been championed by himself and Beazley. As part of the proposed reforms, term limits would have been introduced for USACA’s executive board while the board’s voting power would have been cut in half and redistributed to independent directors based on recommendations from a review conducted by TSE consulting.”Governance reform is difficult,” Anderson said. “The ICC is a good example in terms of the process of the Woolf Report. Ultimately it was decided that some of those things were good and should be changed and some of those things wouldn’t be changed.”Obviously you still have to go through a process of consulting your stakeholders in whatever organization you’re with and those stakeholders and members have to determine whether they want those changes or not. I think the same thing has happened here.”One of USACA’s main governance problems has been their failure to hold elections on time according to the USACA constitution, both in 2011 and in 2014. The most recent delays have meant the ICC has levied financial penalties against USACA in the form of withholding their quarterly Associate funding grants.Anderson said the ICC’s interest in commissioning the task force report now, as opposed to three years ago in the wake of the delayed controversial elections which saw 32 out of 47 voting members disenfranchised, was that the ICC’s Full Member representatives have recently developed greater interest in Associate development.”The chairman of the ICC is now the chairman of the development committee and there are three Full Member directors on the development committee,” he said. “Previously, nearly all members of the development committee were Associate and Affiliate member representatives or other stakeholders but not full members of the ICC.”The bottom line for us is that USACA is our member, there is another association that has a large number of leagues in the country that is also doing things and we want to speak to everybody”•Peter Della Penna

“That’s really positive that that’s happening. I think what has manifested itself out of that process is even though a lot of the Full Members on the board have been aware of the importance of US cricket, I don’t think it has really hit their radar that cricket could be doing more here and therefore I think that was the spark to answer your question about ‘why now’, that our board has greater interest than it had in the past which I think is really positive.”In a letter from ICC chairman N Srinivasan to the USACA board of directors dated January 28, Srinivasan outlines several areas in which the ICC claims USACA has failed to meet its membership obligations and is in danger of being suspended. Aside from delayed elections and a failure to pay back a $200,000 loan to the ICC, Srinivasan blasted USACA for its “failure to produce an internationally competitive and properly prepared men’s team.”In the time since, USACA canceled a pre-tournament preparation camp in Jamaica ahead of the ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 in Indianapolis in May. A subsequent camp scheduled for June 19-21 in Jamaica to prepare USA for the World T20 Qualifier has also been ditched. As a result, five players have taken it upon themselves to fund their own way to Barbados and train with Barbados Tridents in a personal effort to get prepared for the qualifier. Anderson said the task force review will include a more in-depth look into why USA has not delivered consistently positive results on the field.”With all the opportunities that are available to ICC members to play international cricket, it would be our hope that a country that we think has a huge amount of potential like the USA would be going up as opposed to going down,” Anderson said.”I don’t think there’s any doubt that we’d all like to see the USA cricket team playing better. At the same time, we don’t necessarily have a great understanding of what happens within the high performance programs or preparation and selection and these types of things that might impact on the team not going so well.”

Bilateral Test series outside iconic ones like the Ashes and big-ticket tours involving India could be endangered in the future if they are not properly nurtured and marketed

Nagraj Gollapudi30-Jul-2015Bilateral series outside iconic ones like the Ashes and big-ticket tours involving India could be endangered in the future if they are not properly nurtured and marketed. The alert has come from ICC chief executive David Richardson, who says the success of domestic Twenty20 leagues like the IPL, Big Bash and the growing Caribbean Premier League have made them more attractive to cricket fans and broadcasters.To arrest the decline of bilateral series, cricket’s administrators are discussing the creation of qualifying leagues for both Test and ODI cricket as a possible solution.”Apart from series such as the Ashes – which has an iconic, traditional status – and series between India and the top Full Members, many bilateral series are perceived as having little relevance,” Richardson told ESPNcricinfo in London. “Attendances in most series, especially for Test cricket, have fallen and the revenues generated from these series are not growing.”Richardson said the issue was once again high on the agenda at the ICC annual conference in Barbados in June and would take precedence at the next ICC Board meeting in October.”The international cricket landscape has changed over the years and even more significantly in recent times with the advent and success of domestic Twenty20 leagues such as the IPL, the Big Bash and the CPL. These events are attracting widespread support from fans and hence the interest of broadcasters, sponsors and other commercial partners.”Similarly the interest in and value of ICC events such as the World Cup, the Champions Trophy and World Twenty20 has grown significantly over the last eight years or so. The increase in interest in ICC events and domestic Twenty20 leagues effectively provides competition for the interest in bilateral international cricket series (FTP series).”How can the ICC enhance the appeal of bilateral series that are part of the FTP and an important source of revenue for the Full Members? Providing context to these contests has been the popular response in the past, and Richardson offered the same solution to begin with. He also felt that sometimes countries were responsible for their own plight.”How can we grow interest in bilateral series – bigger crowds, more people watching on television, following the series on their phones, tablets and computers? For this to happen bilateral series need greater context, a clear narrative, improved marketing and a more certain and coordinated schedule,” Richardson said. “What’s the use of scheduling a series in the monsoon season or how can you expect to grow the fan base or attract attendances if series are scheduled or changed at the last minute?”To make bilateral series more relevant, Richardson said countries needed to opt a less-is-more formula. Instead of an irrelevant seven or five-match series, Richardson suggested a better substitute to be a tri-series scheduled at an opportune time.Richardson revealed a possible solution the administrators were thinking about was creating qualifying leagues for both Test and ODIs, an idea that had the support of all the powerful members of the ICC Board. “Scheduling more tri-series, creating a brand around the FTP and around individual series, creating a fresh brand for the ODI format itself (World Cup Cricket for example, as Wally Edwards is proposing), creation of Test or ODI World Cup Qualifying leagues. These are all ideas that need to be considered and discussed. They have been mooted before, but now with the involvement of Mr Srinivasan as Chairman, the BCCI, ECB, CA and the other Members, these issues are being seriously looked at.”We are just in discussions at the moment. Michael Holding has spoken about a Test league of two divisions, others have previously suggested a six-and-four teams format. But first the principles and then the detail needs to be debated and agreed. I think it is achievable if all the Full Members think it is worthwhile and want it to happen.”According to Richardson, any such league system would be independent of the ICC ranking, similar to the qualification leagues in football. “The debate on leagues is still in the drawing board phase, but even if leagues were introduced, the rankings would still coexist. The ICC rankings will always be there. Take international football, for example, they have qualifying leagues for the FIFA World Cup and Continental tournaments, separate to the world rankings.”

Sussex fans in the NatWest Blast quarter-final at Hove were told by an ECB official to stop protesting about the possibility of T20 city franchises – and the possibility is receding in any event

David Hopps13-Aug-2015Sussex fans in the first NatWest Blast quarter-final were ordered by an ECB employee to take down a banner protesting against the possibility of a city-based T20 tournament in England as unease over the future direction of the English game spilled onto the terraces for the first time.Perhaps the banners can be stored away for the time being, in any case. Traditionalists on the terraces can relax – a huge rise in attendances for this season’s NatWest Blast has begun to counter calls for revolution.The banner stating Say No To City Franchises was smuggled into Hove and displayed at times during the first Blast quarter-final between Sussex and Northants, but when the protests continued at the after-match presentation, an ECB official politely intervened. Although no reason was given, disrupting the post-match coverage was presumably seen as an act too far.Tension among traditional county fans about the future direction of T20 cricket in England has been an underlying theme of the summer as the ECB has undertaken a summer of private consultation in its search for a way to rid the professional game of joint debts of around £110m and reports have surfaced of a possible eight-team city league.But the panic, for the moment is overstated. County chief executives and chairmen have been assured by the ECB heirarchy that there will be no rush to make changes before the broadcasting deal ends in 2019.Strong resistance among the counties was partly responsible for that, as those eager for change, such as the new ECB chief executive Tom Harrison, recognised the futility of his revolutionary zeal, but there are other reasons too.There are two major international tournaments in England in that time – a Champions Trophy and a World Cup – and to damage those by internal wrangles would be unforgiveable. The commercial landscape is also changing rapidly and the argument over some form of free-to-air coverage is still raging.This year’s NatWest Blast has also made great strides – attendances have risen by around 20-25% with some counties, Birmingham and Yorkshire among them, showing particularly marked rises.Sky, who already pay more than £260m over four years for broadcasting rights to English cricket, were reported last month to favour a deal for an eight-team city-based Twenty20 competition intended to rival IPL and the Australian Big Bash. The proposed deal would have seen the new Twenty20 league shoe-horned into a compact July window, with assurances that centrally-contracted England players would be freed to take part by a reduced international schedule.Counties could potentially be around £2m a year richer if such an outcome came to pass. This would effectively more than double the annual share-out from the ECB, but the suggestion caused trepidation among many counties that under such a scenario they could be left with a lot of money but reduced credibility.A proposal to run two T20 tournaments – one involving city franchises, one retaining the 18-team structure – would also entail the slashing of the Championship to 12 matches and could render the county tournament a second-class citizen and, as such, risk its eventual collapse.All that encouraged whispers of a rebellion against the new ECB power brokers, not just Harrison, but head of commercial Sanjay Patel and chairman Colin Graves, leading Harrison to write to the counties to seek to appease the most implacable opponents.Graves, who has repeatedly said that county cricket needs to pay its way, is thought to favour a city-based T20 series which would be played in a block with nightly TV matches and aim to attract the biggest international stars.The term “franchise” is misleading, however. Even under the most radical English model, teams would be owned by the ECB, or the counties hosting the matches, not by private companies, so ensuring that money remained in the game for the general good.One compromise still being pushed in some quarters is simply to adopt two divisions of nine with promotion and relegation and market the First Division far more aggressively, but even that compromise might not necessarily be adopted if the rising attendances this summer continue into next season and empower those who argue the current system can succeed.A switch to two divisions carries an assumption that the counties with larger international grounds would eventually come to the fore, but there has been little sign of that this season, with only three of the eight qualifiers for the NatWest Blast from the Test match counties.More will become clear when a working party under the chairmanship of the Warwickshire chief executive, Colin Povey, reports in the autumn – perhaps one of the last acts before Povey stands down as Warwickshire’s chief executive.This story was updated at 1700 on August 13 with additional information

The West Indies Cricket Board has offered professional support services to West Indies’ young captains Jason Holder and Stafanie Taylor

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Sep-20150:51

Holder has what it takes to be a good leader – Walsh

The West Indies Cricket Board has offered professional support services to West Indies’ young captains Jason Holder and Stafanie Taylor. The board made the offer as Holder, who was the ODI captain already, was also named Test captain and Taylor replaced Merissa Aguilleira as the women’s team captain.”The directors and the management of the WICB recognised that being captain of a West Indies team is a unique challenge and carries an enormous burden of responsibility,” WICB director of cricket Richard Pybus said. “We have written and offered them access to whatever support systems they believe is necessary for them to handle their responsibilities in a purposeful manner.”The men’s Test squad for the Sri Lanka tour is fairly inexperienced with only two members having played over 50 Tests and Holder, 23, is West Indies’ second-youngest Test captain. He replaced Denesh Ramdin and has led West Indies in 12 ODIs, including seven World Cup games. In Sri Lanka, the squad will play two Tests followed by three ODIs and two T20Is.Clive Lloyd, the chief selector who had said it was the “right time for a change” when Holder was named Test captain, has already been mentoring the new captain.”As a legend of the game, a successful international captain and in the role of Convenor of Selectors, Clive is uniquely placed to give valuable insight and we have encouraged Jason to lean on his wisdom, so he can manage the transition to the leadership position,” Pybus said.Earlier, Holder’s promotion to captaincy was also welcomed by former West Indies captains in Brian Lara and Viv Richards.Taylor, on the other hand, is only 24 but has played 84 ODIs and 62 T20Is since her international debut in 2008. Her first assignment as captain of the women’s team will be a home series against Pakistan Women, comprising four ODIs and three T20 internationals in October.”Clive is also available to Stafanie, but we will also work with her to identify a suitable mentor going forward,” Pybus said.The WICB has also offered both captains an option of employing an “executive coach” to help them with their personal development.”The WICB is committed to their long-term development and success in their new roles, and we believe this will help Jason and Stafanie to focus while they settle in,” Pybus said. “We have full confidence that Jason and Stafanie will lead with courage and conviction, and do a wonderful job of moving their respective teams forward, so we have taken steps to help them to plan and manage their time effectively.”

Hosts Tamil Nadu were bowled out for 125 in the first innings of their Group B game against Baroda on a turning pitch in Chennai. In reply, Baroda were 33 for 1 at stumps on the first day

Deivarayan Muthu in Chennai 01-Oct-2015
ScorecardFile Photo – Bhargav Bhatt and Yusuf Pathan picked up eight of the 10 Tamil Nadu wickets•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Baroda’s attack thrived on a helpful Chennai pitch, rolling Tamil Nadu over for 125. Aditya Waghmode, the Baroda captain, had called the pitch a “turner” a day before the game and their spinners delivered. Left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt and allrounder Yusuf Pathan found sharp turn and bounce, sharing eight wickets between them. Baroda then capped the day by bringing the deficit under three figures.Some balls zipped and kicked off the pitch, a few kept low, while others went straight on. There had been some juice for the pacers too amid overcast conditions after rain had delayed the start of play by two hours.Tamil Nadu lost their captain Abhinav Mukund, who was featuring in his 100th first-class match, in the third over of the day when Sagar Mangalorkar seamed a full ball in and hit the off stump. Murtuja Vahora also showed good discipline, maintaining it in the channel of uncertainty before Baroda’s spinners asserted control. Vahora then came back for his second spell and removed a settled Baba Aparajith for 44 before tea. By then, the hosts had lost half their side for 95.After having blunted the new ball with some stability from opener Bharat Shankar, Aparajith gave it away as he did not get close to the line of a full ball outside off and drove loosely only to nick it behind. Aparajith had taken 22 balls to get off the mark, he then survived a caught-behind appeal on 5, but soon found his groove. He hit a brace of slog-sweeps and pretty-looking drives, none more good looking than the inside-out six over wide long-off off Bhatt’s first over. The run-rate, which mostly hovered around one, was nudged past two. At the other end, Bharath, who was reprieved on 9 at second slip, built his innings with an amalgam of dabs and bunts. The 65 run-partnership, the only stand of note in Tamil Nadu’s innings, ended when Bharath played back and missed a cut to an arm-ball from Bhatt.Four balls later, Bhatt bowled Dinesh Karthik for 1 as Tamil Nadu slipped to 68 for 3. The hosts slipped further when newly-appointed vice-captain Baba Indrajith prodded at a biting Yusuf offbreak, inside-edging it to debutant Hitesh Solanki at short leg. Aparajith soon followed his twin and then the lower order folded meekly. The last five wickets tumbled for 30 runs and the last nine for 59. The scorecard, though could have looked a lot worse if not for R Prasanna’s resistance.He showed decent application, pressing forward to smother the spin but got very little support from the other end. He was the last man out, 51 minutes into the final session.It was not long before spin struck again: left-arm spinner Rahil Shah ripped one through the gate to dismiss Solanki for 5. The ball pitched on a fourth-stump line and spun viciously to tip off the leg bail. Shah almost picked his second wicket when Kedar Devdhar edged him, but replays showed that the ball had not carried to first slip.Offspinner Malolan Rangarajan employed loopy flight and teased Devdhar and Waghmode but both batsmen hung on till stumps. With the pitch expected to spin more viciously going into the next three days, an outright result looms, according to Aprajith. “There is a lot of assistance and I think a lead of 20 or 30 runs doesn’t matter much,” he said.

The South Africans were given a taste of the toil that awaits them as they spent all but 20 minutes of the day on the field before losing two wickets against the Board President’s XI in Mumbai

The Report by Firdose Moonda in Mumbai30-Oct-2015
Scorecard1:30

Moonda: SA will be concerned by the form of their spinners

The South Africans were given a taste of the toil that awaits them in the upcoming Test series after they spent all but 20 minutes of the day on the field before losing two wickets against the Indian Board President’s XI in their only warm-up fixture at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.But the visitors learnt two valuable things from their prolonged stay in the sun: that Imran Tahir may be ready for a Test return ahead of Dane Piedt and Kagiso Rabada can be introduced at some stage in the series.Tahir, who carried drinks in the morning, was only introduced into the attack 10 minutes before tea. He bowled six overs and was the most effective of the three spinners in operation. Although the wicket he claimed – that of Sheldon Jackson who tried to launch him down the ground – was more a result of Dale Steyn’s athletic catching than his own ingenuity, Tahir asked more questions than the offspinners.Piedt, making a return to the highest level after a shoulder injury, was expensive and struggled for control. Simon Harmer was better and bowled cleverly at the end of the innings but neither would have inspired the confidence Tahir did. Piedt bowled like a man who understood he was competing for a place and delivered a succinct reason for why that place should be his.Rabada ran in the same way. He bowled three spells in the first two sessions, when the other seamers had only bowled two each, and showed an understanding of the areas and the lengths needed at this level. With only 14 first-class matches to his name, Rabada’s longer-form match awareness was impressive.Both Tahir and Rabada were only in action after Steyn and Vernon Philander had done what they do best as a new-ball pair, clinically carving through the President’s XI top order.The first wicket fell on the fifth ball of the morning when Unmukt Chand edged Steyn to Hashim Amla at first slip. It was the kind of dismissal Philander has made a career out of and five overs later, he showed why. After flirting with Chesteshwar Pujara’s outside edge, Philander finally found it to end a disappointing outing for the opposition captain.Shreyas Iyer was the next victim, edging to wicketkeeper Dane Vilas, who had a solid outing in his first experience on this tour. Vilas caught all three chances that came his way and like all good wicketkeepers, went relatively unnoticed otherwise.At 35 for 3, the South Africans may have hoped to bat quickly, but KL Rahul and Karun Nair denied them. Rahul, who watched wickets fall from the other end, tightened his own game to avoid falling into the off-stump trap even when the South Africans’ second wave of seamers arrived.Morne Morkel bowled an opening spell of three overs and followed that up with a one of two overs upon his return from a quad injury, even as Rabada constantly threatened. Some relief came in the form of the medium-pacers and the spinners, which may concern the South Africans as Harmer and Piedt could not find a way though.Rahul was strong on the drive and found runs behind square. He brought up 50 off 92 balls, with 80% of those runs scored in boundaries. Nair also found gaps in the field more easily than singles and it took the reintroduction of Philander to stabilise the visitors. He had Nair caught behind after lunch and continued to beat the bat until late in the day to begin answering some of the questions about his ability on subcontinental surfaces.Rahul looked well set, but perished while trying to accelerate, as a flick off Harmer found Faf du Plessis at short fine leg. With the two set men out, the South Africans may have fancied running through the President’s XI but Naman Ojha and Jackson were stubborn in their defence.While the heat and humidity began to take its toll on the visitors, Ojha milked them and brought up a half-century off 76 balls. Again, one of the front-liners had to be called, as Steyn came back after tea to dismiss Ojha in the slips off his first ball. But the President’s XI tail remained resolute and thwarted the South Africans, who put their seamers away as they day grew long, leaving Piedt and Hamer to finish off, which they did.Hardik Pandya made them work for his wicket, and enjoyed flaying the spinners about before falling to Piedt, who was rewarded with a wicket right at the end.South Africa’s day got longer when Shardul Thakur demanded the full attention of their batsmen, who were flagging. Dean Elgar played and missed several times but it was Stiaan van Zyl who was out first. The nightwatchman Harmer was bowled off the last ball of the day, leaving South Africa’s specialist batsmen with a full day to turn the tide tomorrow.

Justice AP Shah, who was appointed as the BCCI’s ombudsman to deal with conflict of interest, will also handle all investigations involving charges of misconduct against BCCI administrators

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Nov-2015Justice AP Shah, who was appointed as the BCCI’s ombudsman to deal with conflict of interest, will also handle all investigations involving charges of misconduct against BCCI administrators said its president Shashank Manohar. He added that any punishment thereafter would be determined by the board.The 67-year old Shah is a former Chief Justice of Delhi and Madras High courts. He was appointed as the first-ever BCCI ombudsman last month as Manohar, in his second term as board president took a stance against the issue of conflict of interest and said Shah would “enjoy the complete freedom and authority like the judicial body.”However, since Shah is an ombudsman he would not have the power to oust a BCCI official. “Even with regard to the administrator, the enquiry (should there be complaints of indiscipline, misconduct against him) would be conducted by the ombudsman,” Manohar told the . “He will submit his report. Because the administrator is a board member, he cannot be removed by the ombudsman. So the Board has to take a call and I don’t think when the ombudsman gives a report holding a person guilty, the board would say that ‘No, no, he’s not guilty.’ He will have the last word in conflict of interest issues, but with regard to the administrator, he will submit a report.”Manohar said having an independent authority conduct a probe against an administrator, a disciplinary panel comprised of BCCI officials, would remove the perception of bias. He even presented the case of former IPL chairman Lalit Modi, who was banned by the BCCI in 2010.Incidentally Manohar was the BCCI president at the time and part of the three-man disciplinary panel that handed Modi the ban. “There should not be even an allegation of bias. In the earlier system three people used to sit on the disciplinary committee; the president was a must with two other members of the board. In Lalit Modi’s case, he raised an objection against me that I have a bias against him. Then he raised an objection against Arun Jaitley also and then he raised an argument of bias against Chirayu Amin also. I am not going to give an opportunity to any administrator to say this is a biased enquiry. So now the enquiry will be conducted by an independent person who has nothing to do with the Board.”

A round-up of all the Group D matches of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on December 16, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Dec-2015Cheteshwar Pujara top-scored for Saurashtra, but couldn’t prevent his side from going down for the second time in four matches. Uttar Pradesh, riding on a combined effort by their India internationals, won by five wickets at the Madhavrao Scindia ground in Rajkot to put themselves in a good position to secure a berth in the quarter-finals.Saurashtra, who were sent in to bat, were tottering right at 7 for 3, with Praveen Kumar removing the openers. Bhuvneshwar Kumar then chipped in with the scalp of Aarpit Vasavada (39) to expose the lower order by the halfway mark. That they managed to post 189 was courtesy the tail – the last four wickets added 90, with Kamlesh Makwana, who made 35 not out, leading the rearguard action. While the seamers did the damage upfront, Piyush Chawla, the legspinner, also reaped the rewards, finishing with 3 for 53 off 10 overs.UP lost their openers with only 33 on the board, putting the onus on Suresh Raina to steer them clear of danger. When he fell for 18, Saurashtra were in with a sniff, but their hopes were extinguished by Shubham Chaubey, the debutant, who piloted the chase with an unbeaten 85. His 82-run stand for the fourth wicket with Eklavya Dwivedi (38) took UP to the doorstep of victory. Akshdeep Nath then polished off the chase with an unbeaten 28 as UP won with 32 balls to spare.Himachal Pradesh climbed to the top of the Group D table after cruising to a seven-wicket win over Goa.Goa were given a steady start by openers Sagun Kamat (57) and Swapnil Asnodkar (37) after they were put in. The pair added an opening stand of 62 after which Kamat combined with Keenan Vaz to add 46 for the second wicket. Kamat’s dismissal in the 33rd over triggered a batting collapse as Himachal’s bowlers, led by pacer Pankaj Jaiswal, bowled out Goa for 184 in 45.4 overs; Goa lost their last seven wickets for only 45 runs. Jaiswal had returns of 3 for 26 in 7.4 overs, while Bipul Sharma, Rahul Singh and Nikhil Gangta claimed two wickets apiece.Prashant Chopra drove most of Himachal’s chase with a brisk 67, that included nine fours and two sixes. Himachal wobbled after a solid opening stand as Shadab Jakati picked up three quick wickets. Paras Dogra and Dhawan then steered Himachal to the target with an unbeaten partnership of 61 for the fourth wicket.

shar Zaidi, the former Sussex allrounder, has joined Essex on a one-year deal, and will be available in all three formats after impressing in the recent Bangladesh Premier League

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jan-2016
Ashar Zaidi, the former Sussex allrounder, has joined Essex on a one-year deal, and will be available in all three formats after impressing in the recent Bangladesh Premier League.Zaidi, 34, a left-handed batsmand and a slow left-arm bowler, was named as Player of the Tournament after scoring 215 runs at 53.75 and taking 17 wickets at 10.41. His first-class averages of 36.89 with the bat, and 30.32 with the ball, also augur well for his new team.”We’re pleased to be able to bring Ashar in for 2016 as we look to strengthen the bowling attack,” said Chris Silverwood, Essex’s head coach. “When you consider his batting abilities, this really makes sense at this moment in time.”We have a number of young players coming through, so someone with Ashar’s experience will be invaluable to the group. We believe he can make an impact across all three competitions this coming season.”Zaidi was enthusiastic about the move: “I am delighted to have agreed terms with Essex for the 2016 season. I look forward to continuing my county career following two enjoyable years with Sussex.”I hope to be able to continue my good form from this winter into the new season. Having spoken to a few of the players at Essex, I know they are all excited for the new season under Chris Silverwood and I look forward to linking up with everyone over the next few weeks.”

Hong Kong registered a 109-run victory over Scotland in the historic first ODI played in East Asia on Tuesday

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jan-2016
ScorecardFile photo – Nizakat Khan boosted the Hong Kong innings with a well-paced 94 off 93 balls•Martin Hunter/IDI/Getty

Rain may have spoiled the maiden first-class match from being played on Hong Kong soil last week, but the weather behaved long enough for a historic maiden home ODI victory by Hong Kong, who defeated Scotland by 109 runs at Mission Road on Tuesday. A total of 259 after being sent in, achieved thanks to a 170-run fourth-wicket stand between Nizakat Khan and Anshuman Rath, turned out to be plenty for the hosts.The win for Hong Kong breaks a four-way tie to move them to the top of the WCL Championship points table. They are now two points clear of Scotland, Netherlands and Kenya, who each have six points.Hong Kong found themselves in trouble at 16 for 2 in three overs as Alasdair Evans removed Kinchit Shah for a second-ball duck before Babar Hayat fended a short ball to wicketkeeper Matthew Cross for 8. Former captain Jamie Atkinson fell shortly after the initial powerplay, slapping Safyaan Sharif to Calum MacLeod at cover for 21 to make it 55 for 3.Nizakat joined the opener Rath and the pair engaged in a dogged resistance of the Scotland attack’s pressure. It took Nizakat 12 balls to get off the mark before the shackles came undone with a lofted cover drive. The right-hander looked increasingly comfortable by the 28th over when he flayed debutant Bradley Wheal behind point for a pair of crisp cuts to the boundary.Rath was on 20 when Nizakat came to the crease but Nizakat overtook his partner in the 31st over with a straight drive over Richie Berrington’s head before flicking the part-time medium pacer through fine leg for his ninth four to bring up a half-century off 59 balls. Rath, whose momentum slowed down in the 30s after being struck on the box, grafted his way to his own fifty off 91 balls four overs later.Scotland’s frustration at being unable to break the stand grew after Rath was dropped on 75 in the 40th over off Josh Davey, when a skied chance produced by a checked drive to a slower ball was spilled by a backpedaling Preston Mommsen at midwicket. Nizakat powered a six over cover off the next ball, then smashed another over midwicket off Sharif in the 44th to break into the 90s. However, Sharif’s commitment to the slower-ball bouncer paid off by the end of the over as Nizakat gloved an attempted pull to Cross behind the stumps to finally end the partnership.At 225 for 4 and with Rath on 86, Hong Kong set out to finish the innings with a flourish but their aggressiveness backfired and they wound up being bowled out with five balls left in the innings. The slide was sparked by Evans in the 47th, who had Tanwir Afzal and Waqas Barkat out caught behind and teamed up with Cross for a third wicket when he chased down a delivery off his own bowling at midwicket before firing to the keeper’s end to run out Rath for 97.Rob Taylor had Aizaz Khan and Haseeb Amjad both caught by Mommsen at long-on in the 49th before Wheal closed out the innings by getting Nadeem Ahmed to slice a drive to Evans at third man. Evans led the way with 4 for 41 but consistent support came from Sharif and Taylor with 2 for 44 and 2 for 38 respectively.A light rain was present throughout the early part of the Scotland chase but the outlook became gloomier for the visitors when captain Afzal struck off back-to-back balls in the fifth to clean bowl Kyle Coetzer for 6 and tease Matt Machan into chasing a rising delivery for an edge behind. The rain increased enough for the players to leave the field at 9 for 2 after seven overs.Any hope Scotland might have had of being saved by rain faded when the umpires brought both sides back on 20 minutes later and before long wickets continued to tumble. Mommsen fell for 5 in the 10th to a superb sliding catch by Aizaz at mid-on after a mistimed pull off Amjad.Afzal, who bowled a near-unbroken 10 overs, changing ends midway through his spell, took one more in his final over to finish with 3 for 20 as Berrington flicked loosely to midwicket. Aizaz struck in back-to-back overs beginning in the 26th when Cross was well caught just inside the rope at long on by Barkat before MacLeod’s resistance ended for 58 in the 28th when he sliced a drive to third man.Nadeem then came on to wipe out the tail and finished with career-best List A figures of 4 for 26. Taylor was claimed at deep midwicket before Sharif was stumped overbalancing on a whiffed drive. The left-arm tweaker induced a leading edge to cover by Evans for his third wicket before a thick edge from an errant drive was sent by Davey to Afzal at point on the first ball of the 40th over to wrap up victory.The two sides are scheduled to play the second ODI at Mission Road on Thursday.