The years of bowling for England’s leading Test wicket-taker are reflected in a new landmark

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Apr-2018Few would blame James Anderson if he was feeling a little weary. With the last delivery of his 17th over in New Zealand’s second innings in Christchurch he had bowled more deliveries in Test cricket than any another pace bowler: 30,020.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The previous record belonged to another fast bowler of great longevity, Courtney Walsh, and now ahead of Anderson are three of the greatest ever spinners: Shane Warne, Anil Kumble and Muttiah Muralitharan.Anderson became England’s leading Test wicket-taker in 2015 and last year, against West Indies, he took his 500th Test wicket. With 531 to his name at the time of this latest record, he now has Glenn McGrath’s tally of 563 wickets firmly in his sights as the most by a pace bowler in Tests.Anderson carried England’s attack during the Ashes defeat with 17 wickets at 27.82, and has continued to bowl well in New Zealand.

For the first time at Lord’s, the floodlights shone in a Championship match – but they went off for bad light all the same

ECB Reporters Network13-Apr-2018
ScorecardMiddlesex batsman Max Holden dives to regain his ground•Getty Images

Middlesex’s batsmen fought back from a sticky start against Northamptonshire to reach 136 for 4 on a shortened opening day of the Specsavers County Championship at Lord’s.Inserted on a greenish wicket, the home side slumped to 63 for 4 before lunch, with Northants seamers Ben Sanderson and Brett Hutton picking up two wickets each.But Sanderson squandered a chance to cement his side’s grip on the game, dropping John Simpson at fine leg before the Middlesex wicketkeeper went on to share an unbroken stand of 73 with Paul Stirling.Simpson (31*) and Stirling (40*) seemed well set when bad light halted play – despite the Lord’s floodlights being in use for the first time in a Championship fixture.Middlesex deployed an inexperienced batting line-up, with club captain Dawid Malan unavailable and Nick Gubbins, Eoin Morgan and Stevie Eskinazi all ruled out through injury or illness.That left 20-year-old Max Holden – who spent a successful loan period at Northamptonshire last season – to open alongside stand-in captain Sam Robson, with debutant Robbie White coming in at three.Holden managed just eight before he nudged Sanderson (2-30) to second slip – and White left the next delivery, which moved back to flatten his off stump.Australian Test batsman Hilton Cartwright, also making his Championship debut, went on the offensive with a couple of boundaries off Doug Bracewell and then pulled Hutton into the Mound Stand for six.But Hutton, who joined Northants on a permanent basis from Nottinghamshire during the winter, took his revenge with a slower ball that foxed Cartwright after a brisk 30.Having dropped anchor with a gritty 14, Robson also fell victim to Hutton as he was trapped leg before to compound Middlesex’s difficulties.After lunch, Simpson had made only three when his top-edged hook sailed towards the waiting hands of Sanderson, only for the fielder to spill what looked a regulation catch.Simpson made the most of that let-off, beginning to play his shots as the bowlers’ accuracy waned and carved Bracewell through the covers to bring up the 50-partnership with Stirling.Meanwhile, the Ireland international took advantage of the short boundary on one side, hitting seven fours, but Middlesex were unable to build on that momentum as deteriorating light forced the players from the field just before 3pm.They returned briefly towards the end of the day and Richard Gleeson found some movement during the 3.5 overs that were bowled, with Stirling adding a further four runs to the total before play was finally abandoned.

James Vince struck a half-century as Hampshire secured a five-wicket win to move closer to the knockout stages

ECB Reporters Network30-May-2018
ScorecardReece Topley bowled Hampshire to the brink of the Royal London Cup’s knockout stages as they beat Middlesex by five wickets at Merchant Taylors’ School.Topley, who committed himself to white-ball only cricket over the winter as he makes another injury comeback, made Middlesex regret their decision to bat first in bowler-friendly conditions following a delayed start.His 4 for 40 ensured the hosts were restricted to just 199 for 8 in their 45 overs, a target the South Group leaders made comfortably, despite a mid-innings wobble, led by 56 from England discard James Vince.Eyebrows were raised when Middlesex skipper Steven Finn opted to bat after winning a toss delayed for an hour by early morning rain.Deprived of club captain Dawid Malan on Test duty and England one-day skipper Eoin Morgan, ruled out with a cracked finger, much depended on openers Paul Stirling and Nick Gubbins. However, Gubbins perished early, caught in the gulley for 9 giving Topley his first wicket.Under murky skies and with an outfield too wet to afford batsman value for their shot-making, even Stirling with two centuries already in the competition struggled to break the shackles.He did hoist Topley for one huge six into the car park but trying to repeat the shot he fell to the next delivery, holing out at mid-off.This left Max Holden, making his List-A debut for Middlesex and the barely more experienced Stevie Eskinazi needing to entrench.The pair kept the scoreboard ticking but save for a huge straight six from Holden boundaries were scarce in a third-wicket stand of 62 ended by Vince who trapped Eskinazi lbw for 42.Topley then returned to the attack to have Holden caught behind for 38 just as the hosts were attempting to accelerate.
Overseas player Hilton Cartwright and wicketkeeper John Simpson attempted another rebuild before the former had his furniture rearranged by former Middlesex man Gareth Berg.And when Simpson lofted Mason Crane into Topley’s clutches at mid-off just three overs later Middlesex were 158 for 6.A few lusty blows from Tom Helm got Middlesex to the brink of 200, but Topley bowled him to complete his four-wicket haul.In reply, Rilee Roussow was caught behind to a reckless swipe off Finn, who also had Alsop caught by Eskinazi at short cover.But with Joe Weatherley providing solid support for the free-flowing Vince the visitors were seemingly cantering inexorably towards victory with even the competition’s leading wicket taker Ravi Patel – back on his old schoolground – unable to unsettle them.Vince’s 50 came in 64 balls, but with his team in cruise control the England man needlessly took on mid-on fielder James Franklin who promptly ran him out.When Weatherley holed out to Finn at mid-off from the bowling of Sowter six balls later, Middlesex briefly had hope.Sowter had Bradley Taylor caught behind for 11 to crank up the tension, but Jimmy Adams and Lewis McManus’ 60-run stand eased Hampshire home with 26 balls to spare.

Dan Christian’s 37-ball hundred was the second quickest in England and the seventh fastest of all time as Notts Outlaws ruled the roost at Wantage Road

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jul-2018
ScorecardDan Christian struck the one of the fastest hundreds in the history of T20 to get Nottinghamshire off the mark at the second attempt in the Vitality Blast with a 58-run win at Northamptonshire.Christian’s 37-ball century with seven fours and eight sixes was the joint-seventh fastest in the history of the format and the second-fastest in the domestic game. It was Christian’s second T20 hundred and the third T20 hundred by a Notts batsman.His brutal hitting saw Notts rack up 219 for 6 – equalling the highest T20 total at Wantage Road only set on Wednesday – and despite Ben Duckett’s 88 from 45 balls, Northants were bowled out for 161.Northants’ captain Alex Wakely said: “I was pretty proud of the response after our defeat in the first game. We were a bit of a shambles on Wednesday but we were on the ball today and put them under early pressure before one bloke came out and played a pretty special knock.”Christian arrived at the crease with Notts 81 for 4 in the 10th over having been sent in and set about dismantling the Northants bowling with some of the cleanest hitting seen at Northampton. He struck three consecutive sixes off Graeme White’s left-arm spin – over deep midwicket, long-off and then a huge strike a long way back over long-on.

Download our T20 Blast Podcast

Dan Norcross and Jarrod Kimber preview the Vitality T20 Blast 2018
Listen on ESPN Radio
Subscribe on iTunes

He saved his biggest strike for Nathan Buck who was hammered over his head and onto the roof of the Ken Turner Stand among an over that cost 28 before the final over of the innings, bowled by Rory Kleinveldt, disappeared for 22 with two more Christian sixes. 80 runs came from the final five overs.Christian’s partnership with Samit Patel added 97 runs in 45 balls to take Notts to a total beyond their ambitions at the half-way stage. Patel skipped down to lift White over long-on and heaved him through midwicket for four in his 35 in 26 balls.Northants had removed their usual tormentor, Riki Wessels, for just 6 – bowled trying to pull Ben Sanderson – and also picked up Tom Moores for 15 and Steven Mullaney for 21 in a Powerplay that yielded 50 for 3 but Christian’s brilliance from there effectively won the game.Duckett kept Northants in the game for the first half of the chase, by flashing past fifty in only 17 balls. He took 30 from the third over, bowled by Samit Patel with a succession of sweeps. Three consecutive sixes preceded three consecutive fours. He swung Mullaney into the sight-screen at the Wilson End but trying to hit the same bowler over the off side, top-edged to Paul Coughlin who claimed a fine catch on his Notts debut.But Duckett was the only batsman to show for Northants who lost Richard Levi to a leg-side strange for just 3 and Josh Cobb caught at deep-midwicket for only 6. The chase suffered a huge blow when Alex Wakely was sent back by Duckett trying to come back for a second run and was run out for 11 after a diving save on the boundary by Will Fraine.After Duckett’s dismissal, Northants subsided and when Harry Gurney took out Buck’s leg-stump, victory was completed by a handsome margin to get the defending champions underway for 2018.

A career-best haul from Somerset’s England spinner saw Essex beaten by 45 runs in a close encounter at Taunton

Matt Roller at Taunton22-Aug-2018
ScorecardJack Leach looked every bit an England player as he bowled unchanged from the River End for the entirety of the final day at Taunton, 32 overs in all, for career-best figures of 8 for 85. He beat the bat time after time; his voice must have waned after going up for appeal after appeal. He was Somerset’s match-winner, and he had a bullish air about him.It seemed a far cry from the analysis of Chris Rogers, Somerset’s then captain, who suggested in 2016 that “emotionally he still has a bit of a way to go” when asked about Leach’s England prospects. “He is still a young guy, he has only ever been in Somerset and the challenges in international cricket are a lot more difficult,” Rogers said. “If they pick him then good luck to him but they’d better look after him.”Then, resembling a follicly challenged IT technician, Leach would celebrate his wickets as though he had surprised even himself by getting a Championship batsman out. He was a superb county spinner, no doubt, but it was hard to imagine him being anything more.”Looking back,” Leach has said of Rogers’ comments, “he was spot on”.Two of his wickets in Somerset’s hard-fought victory over Essex stuck out as crucial. On the stroke of lunch, after accounting for the dogged Nick Browne earlier in the morning, his arm ball shot through Dan Lawrence’s defences to knock back off stump. Leach celebrated with a roar, but with only 111 needed and six wickets in hand, Essex were still in pole position.Then, after the interval, he beat Ryan ten Doeschate once, twice, and a third time for good measure, but could not end his resistance. The Essex captain raised his bat for a second fifty of the game, and he looked primed for a match-winning contribution. Instead, Leach straightened one past his outside edge and into the stumps, and Somerset were halfway there.Ravi Bopara was the next to go, bowled chopping a wide one on to his off stump, before Adam Wheater, Peter Siddle, and Jamie Porter followed. Leach had eight, and the best figures in Division One this season.Things do not tend to come easily for Leach. After his remarkable form in the 2016 run-in, his action came under scrutiny at Loughborough, and he spent the winter undergoing remedial work. After impressing on Test debut in New Zealand, he missed out this summer by breaking his thumb the day before Ed Smith’s first squad was announced. After being told he needed bowl more overs to press his case for the India series, he suffered a concussion against Surrey, ruling him out of Somerset’s next game.He has admitted he found his non-selection for the ongoing India series tough, though his involvement on the winter tour of Sri Lanka looks increasingly likely.”He’s a world-class bowler in my opinion,” said Tom Abell, the man now captaining Leach at Somerset, “it’s so exciting what the future holds for him. We all know how good he is, and hopefully he’s now seeing how good he can be as well.”While it may be assumed from afar that the pitch turned square for Leach, as this Taunton track has tended to over the past few seasons, that was not the case. It was firm and dry, but flattened out as the game wore on.That much was evidenced by Dom Bess, who had a tougher time of it. He bowled flatter, without Leach’s unerring accuracy, and to defensive fields.His day was best summed up by a moment in the field during Josh Davey’s first over with the new ball. Bopara – who came out to bat despite being ill with shingles – had scratched around for 16 deliveries. Still itching to get off the mark, Bopara took a couple of strides down the wicket as the ball rolled to Bess at point. Bess aimed at the stumps, but his wild throw missed by some way, and a misfield backing up meant it ran away for four.Bess lay prone on the ground, surely feeling that this would be neither his nor Somerset’s day. Instead, it was unequivocally Leach’s.

Surrey opener heard of call-up after interrupted phonecall to selector Ed Smith at windy Taunton

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Sep-20182:09

Burns’ consistency across seasons merited Test elevation – Ed Smith

Rory Burns believes he has enough “clarity in his method” to translate his prolific form for Surrey in the County Championship into a potential Test debut on the spinning wickets of Sri Lanka, after being named in his first England Test squad at the age of 28.Burns, who is back in action for Surrey at The Oval, has led the county to their first Championship title since 2002 with a formidable haul of 1319 runs at 69.42 in 13 matches, which is almost 400 runs more than his nearest challenger, Somerset’s James Hildreth.It has been the fifth season in succession that Burns has passed 1000 runs in Championship cricket, and speaking on Friday after confirming his call-up, England’s national selector Ed Smith said that he had impressed everyone with his consistency.”For me personally, it’s been a lot of hard work,” Burns told Sky Sports ahead of Surrey’s match against Essex. “I’ve tried to let my bat do the talking and churn out runs, and it’s satisfying to get the nod in the end and get the opportunity.”I’ve obviously got five seasons of backing in my own head. I’ve got some self-belief, so you’ve got to trust your method and trust the processes that you go through.”Burns heard the news while down at Taunton on Friday, where Surrey’s quest for a tenth consecutive Championship victory was curtailed by high winds. And that adverse weather may have been a factor in his slightly disjointed phonecall.”Ed Smith rung me last week after the Somerset game, but it actually cut out halfway through,” Burns said. “He started to tell me I’d got the nod, but it cut out so I had to run outside quickly and find some phone signal, and give him a call back.”The message got through in the end, however, and if selected for the first Test in Galle on November 6, Burns will be stepping into the shoes of none other than Alastair Cook, England’s all-time leading run-scorer who retired at The Oval earlier this month following a record run of 159 consecutive appearances.”I don’t think it’s [extra pressure], I think it’s exciting,” Burns said. “You probably can’t say enough about Alastair’s career – well I can’t, because I don’t think I’m as good as him at the minute. But it’ll be an exciting time and I hope I get an opportunity to do it.”Despite his success on home soil, Burns is under no illusions about what will await him in Sri Lanka, especially after speaking to his Surrey team-mate Dean Elgar, who toured the country with Sri Lanka back in July and August.Rory Burns and Dean Elgar plot a good day for Surrey•Getty Images

“I’m a decent player of spin, I’ve got a few options that I try to work my way through, but [Elgar’s] just got back from Sri Lanka, and said he didn’t face a ball of seam,” said Burns. “So it’ll be trial by spin and it’ll be interesting to see how I’ll go.”I think it’s about clarity in your method,” he added. “You need to understand what you do well, what your options are at certain times. It’s no different from going from seam to spin, there are different methods to both and you’ve got to cycle through them.”Burns’ batting technique, much like the man he is replacing, is best described as functional rather than beautiful. His backside sticks out to square leg, and he has a habit of looking towards mid-on before each delivery. But there’s no arguing with his body of work in recent seasons.”My method is slightly unorthodox,” Burns admitted. “There’s some nuances to it, let’s put it that way. I got told I was left-eye dominant, so [looking to mid-on] is about me trying to get my left eye on the ball as much as I can. Then it almost became a rhythm thing in terms of little routines at the crease. That’s how that came about.”Burns’ England call-up caps a remarkable year for a player who has only just taken up the reins at Surrey, the County Champions-elect.”You set out at the start of the season to try to win some trophies, we managed to get the biggest one, and then to get the call-up has been pretty special,” he said. “I am fortunate to come off the back of Gareth Batty and the way he stabilised the club in his tenure, so to win it is a special feeling.”We’ve done it with a group of young Surrey lads, a lot of guys in the system that we’ve played with a lot of the way up, through age groups and the academy.”From a playing side of things, we are backing youth, backing guys coming through the system and complementing that with some very good experienced cricketers around them, and off the pitch we seem to be getting people through the gate and making some money.”When we won [the title] at Worcester, most of the boys started celebrating but I was already thinking about next year and trying to do better. Hopefully this will be the first year of many years of success, but a lot of hard work has gone into winning it this year. We’ve got to recognise that, and try to reproduce it next year.”

The fast bowler bagged his fourth ten-wicket match haul in first-class cricket as Tasmania began their season with a 246-run victory

The Report by Alex Malcolm19-Oct-2018Jackson Bird celebrates a wicket•Getty Images

A seam-bowling masterclass from Jackson Bird helped Tasmania rout Queensland in their opening Sheffield Shield clash of the season at the Gabba.Bird took 5 for 42 in the second innings to complete his fourth ten-wicket match haul in first-class cricket after claiming 5 for 35 in the first innings in a worthy Player-of-the-Match performance.Queensland, the defending champions who beat Tasmania in last year’s final, began the fourth day needing 311 for an unlikely victory with eight wickets in hand.But the chase never got off the ground as six of the last nine batsmen failed to reach double figures. Luke Feldman made the second-highest score of the innings with 12 not out after Joe Burns posted 16 on the third evening.Bird rattled through the middle order with surgical precision. Charlie Hemphrey, Sam Heazlett, Nathan McSweeney and Jack Wildermuth were all caught behind the wicket to leave the Bulls decimated at 6 for 58.There was no rearguard action from the lower order with Gabe Bell and Tom Rogers finishing the job. Bell finished with 4 for 17 as Queensland were all out for 93. Only two Bulls players, McSweeney and Jimmy Peirson, managed to make more than 18 in either innings on their seaming home track.

It might be a little ramshackle, and it’s very last minute, but the Mzansi Super League is ready to kick off, with the likes of AB de Villiers and Rashid Khan in the mix

Liam Brickhill15-Nov-2018With a uniquely local name, new-look teams, picturesque grounds, a couple of marquee internationals, an overseas broadcast deal, and a local one that will nationalise cricket in a way that’s never happened before in South Africa, is it time to start believing the Mzansi Super League hype?After all the huff and puff over the failed first league, Cricket South Africa seem to have pulled their act together under chief executive Thabang Moroe and, while the paint might still be drying when the first ball is bowled on Friday night, this thing is happening.Many of the key elements have fallen into place despite the extremely short timeline since the CSA members’ council’s decided unanimously in mid-September that the league go ahead whatever the challenges. Stadiums have been chosen, teams announced, a player draft completed, a marketing campaign launched and, in the last couple of days, warm-up games played as the teams assembled.Vitally, CSA have also been able to secure a broadcast deal with Sony Pictures Network (SPN) that will open their league up to an Indian market, the channel broadcasting 28 matches, including the playoff and final on December 16.”As much as we had the skeleton of what we wanted for the first edition of the Mzansi Super League, there is a lot operationally that we had to make sure were in place and implemented,” Moroe told ESPNcricinfo. “This is the first time for all of us, at the same time we want to see the success and we want to see a quality product that will be well received by the public. So far, so good.”So far, so good in the short term, but in the long run there remain unanswered questions over the league’s sustainability. CSA recently told a parliamentary committee it expects to lose R 654 million in the next four years. That’s not including a projected R40 million loss in the first season of the MSL, and CSA also lost over R 200 million (USD 14.1 million) following the failure of the inaugural T20 Global League.Financing the MSL cannot be done without splashing plenty of cash, with the six new franchises each given over R 5 million to spend on their players, and a further R 10 million going towards the prize pot for the tournament. And that’s saying nothing of the transport, logistical, administrative and marketing costs associated with such an endeavour.CSA has said its annual financial statements would still show “substantial reserves” and first-season losses are nothing unique to the MSL – it took years for IPL teams and the Big Bash League to turn a profit – but their pockets are only so deep, and without incoming tours from England, Australia or India this season they won’t have a lot of cash coming in as it is.The Mzansi Super League trophy was unveiled by CSA•MSL

Amid all this, the MSL is positioned a little awkwardly as both a vehicle for expanding cricket’s footprint in South Africa – which is noble but not necessarily financially fruitful, especially without a headline sponsor on board – and a way for CSA to supplement its income. It is believed that CSA offered the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) the exclusive Sub-Saharan broadcasting rights for a cut price – Moroe says he is “not in the position of giving out the details, but there was value in the rights”, while SABC chief operations officer Chris Maroleng called the deal a “lucrative opportunity” for SABC, but no one has said exactly who paid what.The deal with Sony should help plug a little of the financial shortfall, and CSA does at least have a sellable product, given the quality on the field. Some of the biggest names in T20 cricket – Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Rashid Khan, Dwayne Bravo – will be taking part, as will all the familiar Protea players (as soon as they get back from Australia).Pleasingly, there will also be a few Zimbabweans knocking about, which will stoke some interest north of the border, and every squad has had to include young, local rookies.CSA faces a long and potentially rocky road to fully commercialise its homegrown T20 league, and off the field there will be yet more expenses as the legal battle with the disgruntled owners of the failed T20 Global League threatens to rumble on in court. “We have a legal team tasked with dealing with those matters,” Moroe said. The informed opinion seems to be that the legal wrangling could revolve around the terms of the original contract that the owners signed with CSA – what was warrantied by CSA, and what was not.While hurdles remain,CSA’s choice, in the cut-throat world of modern sport, was to evolve or die. It might be a little ramshackle, and it’s very last minute, but it has managed – finally – to get a league of its own off the ground.”Have a look at how, for instance, the Big Bash has taken off and captured the Australian and international markets” Moroe said. “It was natural for South Africa to also have a T20 competition of our own that will attract marquee international players and keep cricket among the top attractions in the country. People want to see a world quality product in our shores – and the Mzansi Super League will offer that.”

Which team picked up which player, and who did not receive a bid? Here’s the list

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Nov-2018

Sold players

Hanuma Vihari (Base price INR 50 lakhs) sold to Delhi Capitals for INR 2 croresShimron Hetmyer (Base price INR 50 lakhs) sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 4.2 croresCarlos Brathwaite (Base price INR 75 lakhs) sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 5 croresGurkeerat Singh Mann (Base price INR 50 lakhs) sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 50 lakhsMoises Henriques (Base price INR 1 crore) sold to Kings XI Punjab for INR 1 croreAxar Patel (Base price INR 1 crore) sold to Delhi Capitals for INR 5 croresJonny Bairstow (Base price INR 1.5 crores) sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 2.2 croresNicholas Pooran (Base price INR 75 lakhs) sold to Kings XI Punjab for INR 4.2 croresWriddhiman Saha (Base price INR 1 crore) sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 1.2 croresJaydev Unadkat (Base price INR 1.5 crore) sold to Rajasthan Royals for INR 8.4 croresIshant Sharma (Base price INR 75 lakhs) sold to Delhi Capitals for INR 1.1 croresLasith Malinga (Base price INR 2 crores) sold to Mumbai Indians for INR 2 croresMohammed Shami (Base price INR 1 crore) sold to Kings XI Punjab for INR 4.8 croresVarun Aaron (Base price INR 50 lakhs) sold to Rajasthan Royals for INR 2.4 croresMohit Sharma (Base price INR 50 lakhs) sold to Chennai Super Kings for INR 5 croresDevdutt Padikkal (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 20 lakhsAnmolpreet Singh (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Mumbai Indians for INR 80 lakhsSarfaraz Khan (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Kings XI Punjab for INR 25 lakhsShivam Dube (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 5 croresVarun Chakravarthy (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Kings XI Punjab for INR 8.4 croresAnkush Bains (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Delhi Capitals for INR 20 lakhsNathu Singh (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Delhi Capitals for INR 20 lakhsColin Ingram (Base price INR 2 crores) sold to Delhi Capitals for INR 6.40 croresSam Curran (Base price INR 2 crores) sold to Kings XI Punjab for INR 7.2 croresHeinrich Klaasen (Base price INR 50 lakhs) sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 50 lakhsBarinder Sran (Base price INR 50 lakhs) sold to Mumbai Indians for INR 3.4 croreLockie Ferguson (Base price 1 crore) sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 1.6 croresSherfane Rutherford (Base price INR 40 lakhs) sold to Delhi Capitals for INR 2 croresAnrich Nortje (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 20 lakhsOshane Thomas (Base price INR 50 lakhs) sold to Rajasthan Royals for 1.1 croresHardus Viljoen (Base price INR 75 lakhs) sold to Kings XI Punjab for INR 75 lakhsHimmat Singh (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 65 lakhsNikhil Naik (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 20 lakhsArshdeep Singh (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Kings XI Punjab for INR 20 lakhsHarry Gurney (Base price INR 75 lakhs) sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 75 lakhsPankaj Jaiswal (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Mumbai Indians for INR 20 lakhsMilind Kumar (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 20 lakhsDarshan Nalkande (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Kings XI Punjab for INR 30 lakhsShashank Singh (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Rajasthan Royals for INR 30 lakhsSimran Singh (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Kings XI Punjab for INR 4.8 croresRasikh Salam (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Mumbai Indians for INR 20 lakhsPrithvi Raj (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 20 lakhsLiam Livingstone (Base price INR 50 lakhs) sold to Rajasthan Royals for INR 50 lakhsKeemo Paul (Base price INR 50 lakhs) sold to Delhi Capitals for INR 50 lakhsPrayas Ray Barman (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 1.5 croreAgnivesh Ayachi (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Kings XI Punjab for INR 20 lakhsHarpreet Brar (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Kings XI Punjab for INR 20 lakhsMartin Guptill (Base price INR 1 crore) sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 1 crore – re-presented in accelerated auctionYuvraj Singh (Base price INR 1 crore) sold to Mumbai Indians for INR 1 crore – re-presented in accelerated auctionAkshdeep Nath (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 3.6 crores – re-presented in accelerated auctionJalaj Saxena (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Delhi Capitals for INR 20 lakhs – re-presented in accelerated auctionM Ashwin (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Kings XI Punjab for INR 20 lakhs – re-presented in accelerated auctionRuturaj Gaikwad (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Chennai Super Kings for INR 20 lakhsShubham Ranjane (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Rajasthan Royals for INR 20 lakhs – re-presented in accelerated auctionJoe Denly (Base price INR 1 crore) sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 1 crore – re-presented in accelerated auctionB Ayyappa (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Delhi Capitals for INR 20 lakhsShrikant Mundhe (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 20 lakhs – re-presented in accelerated auctionManan Vohra (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Rajasthan Royals for INR 20 lakhs – re-presented in accelerated auctionAshton Turner (Base price INR 50 lakhs) sold to Rajasthan Royals for INR 50 lakhs – re-presented in accelerated auctionRiyan Parag (Base price INR 20 lakhs) sold to Rajasthan Royals for INR 20 lakhs

Unsold players

Manoj Tiwary (Base price INR 50 lakhs)Cheteshwar Pujara (Base price INR 50 lakhs)Alex Hales (Base price INR 1.5 crores)Brendon McCullum (Base price INR 2 crores)Chris Woakes (Base price INR 2 crores)Chris Jordan (Base price INR 1 crore)Naman Ojha (Base price INR 75 lakhs)Ben McDermott (Base price INR 50 lakhs)Rahul Sharma (Base price INR 50 lakhs)Adam Zampa (Base price INR 1 crore)Khary Pierre (Base price INR 50 lakhs)Fawad Ahmed (Base price INR 50 lakhs)Sachin Baby (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Ankit Bawne (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Armaan Jaffer (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Ayush Badoni (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Sheldon Jackson (Base price INR 20 lakhs)B Indrajith (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Anuj Rawat (Base price INR 20 lakhs)KS Bharat (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Arun Karthik (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Aniket Choudhary (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Ishan Porel (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Rajneesh Gurbani (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Chama Milind (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Tushar Deshpande (Base price INR 20 lakhs)J Suchith (Base price 20 lakhs)Yuvraj Chudasama (Base price 20 lakhs)Zahir Khan (Base price INR 40 lakhs)KC Cariappa (Base price INR 20 lakhs)R Sai Kishore (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Usman Khawaja (Base price INR 1 crore)Hazratullah Zazai (Base price INR 50 lakhs)Reeza Hendricks (Base price INR 50 lakhs)Shaun Marsh (Base price INR 2 crores)Saurabh Tiwary (Base price INR 50 lakhs)Hashim Amla (Base price INR 1 crore)James Neesham (Base price INR 75 lakhs)Angelo Mathews (Base price INR 2 crores)Rishi Dhawan (Base price INR 50 lakhs)Corey Anderson (Base price INR 2 crores)Parvez Rasool (Base price INR 50 lakhs)Jason Holder (Base price INR 75 lakhs)Luke Ronchi (Base price INR 75 lakhs)Mushfiqur Rahim (Base price INR 50 lakhs)Kusal Perera (Base price INR 75 lakhs)Glenn Phillips (Base price INR 50 lakhs)Vinay Kumar (Base price INR 50 lakhs)Kane Richardson (Base price INR 1 crore)Abhimanyu Mithun (Base price INR 50 lakhs)Morne Morkel (Base price INR 1.5 crores)Dale Steyn (Base price INR 1.5 crores)Praveen Dubey (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Qais Ahmad (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Satyajeet Bachhav (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Rilee Rossouw (Base price INR 1.5 crores)Daniel Christian (Base price INR 1 crore)Manpreet Gony (Base price INR 50 lakhs)Ali Khan (Base price INR 40 lakhs)James Pattinson (Base price INR 1 crore)Himanshu Rana (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Lewis Gregory (Base price INR 40 lakhs)Vishnu Vinod (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Patrick Brown (Base price INR 40 lakhs)Jaskaran Singh (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Sandeep Warrier (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Fabian Allen (Base price INR 50 lakhs)Sikandar Raza (Base price INR 75 lakhs)Sairaj Patil (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Swapnil Singh (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Lalit Yadav (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Laurie Evans (Base price INR 40 lakhs)Jamie Overton (Base price INR 40 lakhs)Akash Parkar (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Karn Kaushal (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Mayank Dagar (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Zeeshan Ansari (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Kedar Devdhar (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Tanmay Mishra (Base price INR 20 lakhs)Aman Khan (Base price INR 20 lakhs)

While Edulji wants Ramesh Powar to continue, Rai appoints ad-hoc committee to shortlist new coach

Sidharth Monga and Nagraj Gollapudi 11-Dec-2018The question of the coach for the India women’s team, itself a highly divisive matter within the side, has become the latest flashpoint in the two-member Committee of Administrators (CoA), with Diana Edulji taking strong exception to the “unilateral” decision taken by Vinod Rai over the process of appointing a new coach.The war of words between the two surviving members of the CoA, which has been reduced from four following the resignations of two other original members, also reopened the role played by Virat Kohli in the controversial departure of Anil Kumble as the head coach of the India men’s team last year.

Powar reapplies for India women coach role

Ramesh Powar, whose tenure as the interim coach of the India women’s team ended on November 30, has reapplied for the position.
“I can’t let the girls down, especially Harman, Smriti for showing the support for the hard work we put together for three months,” Powar told ESPNcricinfo. “Whatever happens next is not in my control. Their backing gives you that much satisfaction that they recognise your hard work, their own hard work, the hard work we put together to qualify [for the World T20 semi-finals] after eight years, winning 14 games in a row, no matter whether it was beating Australia A or beating Australia. I thought about it for a week, discussed it with my friends and family. I felt I should do what’s in my control – to reapply – especially to respect their support and the hard work we put in together in such a short time which took us to the semis.”

Despite Edulji’s insistence on retaining Ramesh Powar, who had been India women’s interim coach till the World T20, Rai had signed a BCCI media release, which stated that an ad-hoc committee was formed to shortlist and finalise the new coach. The panel, comprising Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shanta Rangaswamy, will conduct interviews on December 20.Rai said he was “constrained” to give the final instructions to appoint the ad-hoc committee in the “best interests” of women’s cricket. “We can’t extend uncertainty,” Rai said in an email sent to Edulji and the BCCI hierarchy, including the three office bearers.Edulji, who was disappointed with Rai’s decision, told ESPNcricinfo that “this committee has not been approved by me”. She strongly disagreed with Rai, saying he could not take “unilateral” decisions, considering the Supreme Court had given her equal authority.”As chairman he can’t take any unilateral decisions as there is no casting vote for chairman,” she said. “It is strange that in a democratic set-up of the CoA only views of one person are considered and the views expressed by other member who was also appointed by the Supreme Court along with you don’t matter.”The divide between the two CoA members surfaced as soon as the BCCI opted against renewing Powar’s contract, which had expired on November 30. Powar was appointed as the interim coach from September 1, replacing Tushar Arothe, who had to resign after senior players had told the BCCI that they did not agree with his coaching style.In a long trail of emails exchanged with Rai, which have been accessed by ESPNcricinfo, Edulji stressed that Powar should “continue” as coach because India’s T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana had requested he do so.Edulji reminded Rai that the precedent of listening to the player’s view had already been set last year during the controversial resignation of Kumble, who was told by the BCCI that Kohli had differences with his style of coaching. Edulji told Rai that he had accepted Kohli’s word despite Kumble having the backing of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), the three-member selection panel that had appointed him as coach.”The captain [Harmanpreet] and vice-captain [Mandhana] have requested their choice, so why can’t we respect their choice for this tour till we get clarity on the committee,” Edulji said in an email on Tuesday. “We can go ahead and continue with the same coach. The views of the two senior players must not be ignored.”Virat did not accede to Kumble continuing inspite of CAC saying so, then why not these two players get what they feel is best for the team.”Rehab mates: Harmanpreet and Mandhana, captain and vice-captain of India’s T20I team, spent quality time with each other while recovering from injuries at NCA•Annesha Ghosh/Annesha Ghosh/ESPNcricinfo Ltd

In response, Rai argued that although Kumble had “stepped back” due to the “differences” with Kohli, players had not sent emails to CoA or the BCCI. Rai told Edulji that a head coach could not be picked by asking for the players’ votes. “Yes- there were differences between Virat and Kumble,” Rai said. “As a consequence of that Kumble stepped back. More importantly, the team did not send emails. The team must realise that that coaches are not decided on team votes.”Edulji responded saying there was “nothing wrong” with Harmanpreet and Mandhana recording their opinions about the coach saga in emails because “they were truthful in expressing their views.” Despite earning the backing of a majority of the Indian players, Powar could not earn similar respect from the team’s senior-most player and ODI captain Mithali Raj.Raj was included in only three out of the five matches India played in the World T20 and was dropped for the semi-finals against England. In a scathing email to the BCCI management, Raj said Powar wanted to “destroy” her career. In response, Powar said Raj threatened to walk out of the WT20 and retire if she was not allowed to open.Edulji also accused Rai of keeping her away from discussions when he met Raj and Harmanpreet in Delhi recently to resolve the differences between the pair and seek their views on the appointment of coach. The next day, Powar received a shot in the arm after Harmanpreet and Mandhana had sent out separate emails urging the CoA and the BCCI to continue with Powar, who they said had a positive impact on the players. As for the differences between Powar and Raj, both players insisted these could be sorted amicably. “In my absence, you had a meeting with the two women cricket captains and when I enquired on the same; you replied saying they wanted to meet you, so you met them. Once again, you have failed to understand that I have an equal say in all matters of BCCI as CoA with equal rights not less not more.”Edulji also wanted the CAC comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman to conduct the interviews and shortlist the names for the women’s coach. The CAC members had informed the BCCI that they were not available to be present at such short notice, but given a “defined role” and adequate time they would be happy to help. Edulji suggested India could travel with Powar continuing as the interim coach for their tour of New Zealand in January, allowing CAC to do their job.However, Rai was in no mood to oblige. “We cannot now withdraw and say that we will continue with our ad-hoc coach of three months – who has been the reason for such bad blood in the team. This chapter has to be closed and the earlier the better.”Rai said that he could not understand why Edulji and the senior players were against hiring a new, experienced head coach, who could possibly help them crossover the “plateau” they keep hitting in big-ticket tournaments like the World Cup.Rai asked Edulji to instead “persuade” the Indian women players to “grow out of micro issues” and see the “macro” picture.” “What I cannot understand is why some members of the team, or any other person advising them, is against having an internationally acclaimed coach. Don’t we seek to upgrade the team from the plateau that they keep hitting in international games?