Former head coach says letter from Roger Pugh was ‘almost excusing’ the issue of racism

Valkerie Baynes16-Sep-2020Jason Gillespie has condemned a letter from a leading official attacking Azeem Rafiq, saying “it was almost excusing” the racism Rafiq claims he faced while playing at Yorkshire.Gillespie, Yorkshire’s head coach from 2012 to 2016, described as “really poor” and “disappointing” a letter written by Roger Pugh, the chairman of ECB Yorkshire South Premier League, in his chairman’s blog earlier this month describing Rafiq as “discourteous and disrespectful”.The letter, which has since been removed, followed Rafiq’s claims that he experienced “institutional racism” while playing for Yorkshire, which left him on the brink of committing suicide.”I didn’t like that letter, seeing that letter, I think that was a personal attack,” Gillespie told ESPNcricinfo. “It didn’t address the actual issue that Azeem raised. It was like it was almost excusing the issue at hand because Azeem was a difficult character.”For me I thought the chairman worded his letter very wrongly and I’m convinced on reflection if he had his time again, he wouldn’t have written that letter because in my personal opinion that letter was wrong.”He was almost excusing the issue at hand, this racism issue, because Azeem was a difficult character on the field in some games of cricket.”Gillespie’s time at Yorkshire spanned both Rafiq’s stints at the club, from 2008-14 and 2016-18, which Gillespie said included some difficult times for Rafiq.ALSO READ: ‘Systematic taunting’ at Yorkshire, claims Rana Naved“Azeem has openly admitted, I saw it first hand, there were times when Azeem was a difficult character,” Gillespie said. “But racism is a completely different issue to a difficult character, or someone who has done the wrong thing, completely different.”I just thought it was a disappointing letter, and I think a lot of people would probably think exactly the same as me.”Gillespie said he did not see or hear any racist treatment directed towards Rafiq at Yorkshire. He recalls a moment when he saw that Rafiq, who had been struggling with his bowling at the time, was visibly upset, and offering to help.”I remember at the time thinking quite specifically that he’s obviously really upset about how his cricket is going because he was struggling with his bowling,” Gillespie said. “I had no idea he was actually going through other things, and the things that he’s actually alluded to.”I just stood there, put my arm around his shoulders and said, ‘mate, if you’re not okay, you can tell us, we’re here to talk, whatever you need, if you want a coffee, let us know’.”He’s alluded to since then that he was battling some other things as well which he’s been very open about but I don’t remember anything specific.”I can only go by what I saw and I saw a young man that was having some battles. I didn’t know what all those battles were. I knew that he was really struggling with his bowling but little did I know that all these other things were coming out and I was just doing what I do as a coach and a man manager, I was just there for a player and if he needed my support.”Azeem Rafiq has spoken out about racism at Yorkshire•Getty Images

Rafiq has described Gillespie – who led Yorkshire to promotion from Division Two of the County Championship in 2012 and then back-to-back titles in 2014-15 – as “amazing” during his time at the club, and gave similar praise to Joe Root and Paul Farbrace.Yorkshire have engaged an independent law firm to investigate Rafiq’s allegations and appointed a sub-committee including prominent figures in the British-Asian cricket community to review its findings.Now aged 29 and pursuing a career away from the game, Rafiq became the youngest captain in the club’s history when he led Yorkshire in a T20 against Durham in 2012. But his career at Yorkshire came to an end in tragic circumstances when he was released in 2018, shortly after the still-birth of his son.Gillespie recalled Rafiq as a talented captain before losing his way and then working towards his comeback in 2016.”His captaincy, his vibrancy, his leadership was excellent,” Gillespie said. “He gave great energy into that role and performed it well. Then there were a couple of years he probably just lost his way a little bit.”He did at times let himself down in and around the group. We discussed that. We ended up releasing him and he had to go and sort himself out, which he did. He went overseas for a little while and his cricket was coming back and we managed to get him back on board, which I thought was a great story in itself after the time he’d had.”Then I finished up at the club [in 2016] and left and then in the time after I left, things obviously reared up and it was sad for me as a former coach and having been around the group to see that that had happened, obviously disappointing.”

Sorry Hampshire slump to fifth defeat in a row as holders keep quarter-final hopes alive

ECB Reporters Network16-Sep-2020Aron Nijjar celebrated career-best bowling figures as Vitality Blast holders Essex Eagles thrashed Hampshire by 54 runs to keep their faint quarter-final dreams alive.Left-arm spinner Nijjar ripped through a shaky Hampshire batting line-up with figures of 3 for 22, while Jack Plom celebrated his maiden professional wickets to take 2 for 18.Tom Westley had earlier clubbed his first half-century of the year, with Dan Lawrence marooned on 49, as Essex reached 168 before Hampshire could only manage 114 for 9 in response.Needing 169 to win, Hampshire’s batting was a revolving door of wickets. George Munsey attempted three reverse-sweeps off Nijjar, with the third slapped to Sam Cook at third man, who took an outrageous catch high over his head. Captain James Vince was adjudged to have tickled down leg side to fall for a golden duck, the fourth time he had departed first ball in T20s against Essex, which also handed 21-year-old fast bowler Jack Plom his first wicket on his third appearance in the format.Sam Northeast and Joe Weatherley attempted to rebuild with a stand of 16, before the former hammered straight to Matt Quinn at mid-on and Ian Holland was bowled by Sam Cook.Nijjar then dismissed Weatherley and Lewis McManus in three balls – caught and bowled and knocked back by a long hop, respectively – leaving Hampshire on 38 for 6.James Fuller pulled a rare boundary, one of 14 in the innings, but was caught by Nijjar on the midwicket boundary.Fast bowler Quinn bowled a maiden at Chris Wood in the 13th over, before Simon Harmer had the top scorer caught at cow corner for 18.Ryan Stevenson swung away to cow corner but despite Mason Crane and Shaheen Shah Afridi remaining unbeaten, the Eagles recorded back-to-back Blast wins.Having chosen to bat first, Essex used partnerships to their advantage throughout their innings on a pitch perfect for batting.Cameron Delport and Westley got them off to a solid start with 57 in the first seven overs, despite Pakistani fast bowler Afridi’s three Powerplay overs going for just 11.Delport had struck two sixes in his 31 but didn’t quite time a straight slog off Crane as Stevenson pulled off a diving catch at long-off.Westley had struck Ian Holland for three off-side boundaries before using his feet to club Stevenson over midwicket and Crane through the covers as he reached a 35-ball half-century. It was Essex’s red-ball captain’s maiden fifty of 2020, having only managed 236 runs in his previous 15 innings in all competitions.He was dropped on 50 by Afridi at deep cover, but fell having added another single, when he nicked Stevenson behind to Lewis McManus – having put on 38 with Lawrence.Michael Pepper was yorked by Wood, but Lawrence and Ryan ten Doeschate ran hard to add an unbeaten 58 in the death overs.Lawrence had thrashed an aggressive 81 against Sussex in his previous outing but was more circumspect with just one six and four boundaries in his 49 not out, while ten Doeschate contributed 29 off 20 deliveries. The score was about par, but proven much too much for the sorry hosts – who have lost five matches in a row.

Hales was the second-highest run scorer in last year’s tournament and will be available for the whole competition

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Oct-2020Alex Hales will return to the Sydney Thunder for the Big Bash as he becomes the first overseas player to sign a new deal with the league ahead of what is expected to be the arrival of a significant number of England players.Tom Banton (Brisbane Heat) and Tom Curran (Sydney Sixers) are so far the only other confirmed overseas names for the tournament but they had existing deals with their clubs.Hales, who was dropped from the England side shortly before the 2019 World Cup after receiving a ban for using recreational drugs and has not played since, was the second-highest run scorer in last season’s BBL with 576 at 38.40 and a strike-rate of 146.93.”To get the chance to come back is exciting because we’re at the start of something,” Hales said. “I think the next two-to-three years is going to be very special for Sydney Thunder as a franchise. I really believe that, and to know I’m coming back to that means a lot.”It is expected that England names will feature strongly in this season’s BBL. ESPNcricinfo previously reported that Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy were lining up deals while Dawid Malan, the current No.1-ranked T20I batsman, is also in the mix and Liam Livingstone is tipped to head back to the Perth Scorchers.However, with England in talks about a limited-overs tour of South Africa in November it remains to be seen the availability of those who would be part of the squad. Overseas players arriving for the BBL will need to undergo two weeks of quarantine when they reach Australia amid the Covid-19 protocols.Shane Bond, the Sydney Thunder coach, said: “There’s a whole range of reasons to be excited about Alex extending his contract – and they’re exactly why we signed him in the first place. He is a great player who is available for the entire tournament.”He played brilliantly for us last year, but he was brilliant on-and-off the field. He was hugely popular with the players and support staff – and that’s how Alex is viewed wherever he plays.”We have some very talented players in our squad, and it is important to have those professionals, like Alex, around so they can learn off them as well. Everyone in the team is looking forward to having him back, he’s a brilliant bloke.”The revised fixture list for the BBL – which is currently due to start on December 3 – is yet to be confirmed by Cricket Australia but there is a chance it will be played in rolling hubs around the country to navigate the various Covid-19 border restrictions.

The match was called off at tea with only four wickets falling in the third innings on the final day

Alex Malcolm11-Nov-2020Will Pucovski’s attempt at a third consecutive century was the only storyline of note heading into the final day and a line-ball lbw scuppered those hopes early in the morning as the match between Victoria and Western Australia at Karen Rolton Oval petered out to a draw.WA’s decision to bat deep into the third day and surpass Victoria’s first innings total left Victoria with little else to do but see out the final day. Pucovski, with scores of 255 not out and 202 to his name this season, began the day unbeaten on 32 alongside Marcus Harris with time to carve out another big score prior to the Test squad announcement.But he was undone in the 11th over the morning having added just six runs to his overnight total. Cameron Gannon nipped one back off the seam and he was adjudged lbw despite being hit high on the leg and having survived a very similar appeal earlier in the morning. Victoria’s opening partnership of 84 was also 102 runs shy of their second-lowest for the season.Harris ground out 45 from 150 deliveries as the surface slowed considerably before chipping a catch to midwicket. Peter Handscomb and Nic Maddinson spent some valuable time at the crease, as did Matt Short who was batting for just the second time this season.Handscomb was undone by a neat delivery from Gannon that just left him off the seam while Maddinson was bowled through the gate driving at a full inswinger from Aaron Hardie before the match was called off at tea.Cameron Green did not bowl a single ball on the final day having bowled just four overs on the third evening.

His first assignment will be picking the side for home series against South Africa next month

Umar Farooq19-Dec-2020Mohammad Wasim, the Northern head coach and former Pakistan batsman has been named Pakistan chief selector until the 2023 World Cup. He has been asked to leave his coaching role with Northern at the end of ongoing Quaid-e-Azam Trophy to lead the selection committee, and his first assignment will be picking the Pakistan side for home series against South Africa next month.The position was vacant for nearly three weeks after Misbah-ul-Haq stepped down as chief selector, a role he held for over a year alongside being Pakistan’s head coach. He continued only in the single role of head coach after picking the Pakistan senior side and the A team – Pakistan Shaheens – for ongoing tour of New Zealand. He officially stepped aside as chief selector on November 30.Pakistan had initially considered Mohammad Akram for the position, but the deal fell through over disagreement on the structure of the selection committee. Last year the PCB had revamped the structure of the committee, putting the head coaches of each of the six regional associations on the committee to assist the chief selector. Akram wanted an independent committee instead, but the PCB decided to stick with the existing model and so moved on to another candidate for the role of chief selector.Wasim, 43, is in his second term as head coach with the Northern Cricket Association. Last season, his side won the National T20 Cup and were runners-up in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. This year, stand second after eight rounds of the first-class tournament. The PCB confirmed he will complete the season with the team before they need to find a replacement.Wasim represented Pakistan between 1996 and 2000, playing 18 Tests and 25 ODIs for 783 Test runs, including a century on debut, and 543 ODI runs.”I have been very fortunate to have played with some of the finest cricketers and am confident that I will be able to [use] those learnings in this challenging role,” Wasim said on his appointment. “We have a busy 2021 ahead and I will focus on positive selections that not only address our short-term needs but also fulfil our long-term ambitions. We have immense talent in Pakistan and it is important that they are given opportunities.”This is a performance-oriented world and, as such, my philosophy will be to promote meritocracy and select squads according to home and international conditions and requirements. As a chief selector, I will always be willing to make the hard calls, if these are in the best interest of Pakistan cricket. I look forward to working closely with head coach Misbah-ul-Haq and captain Babar Azam as we collectively strive to take Pakistan cricket forward.”In a separate decision, the PCB recalled former wicketkeeper Saleem Yousuf as head of the cricket committee, from which Iqbal Qasim had resigned in September after saying the role was “toothless”. When the committee was formed in October 2018, it was said to have a wide-ranging role in overseeing all aspects of Pakistan cricket but was not given any decision-making power. The members were supposed to meet three times a year to discuss a variety of issues, including concerns at the first-class level that have drawn increasing attention over the last few years. But the committee has rarely functioned smoothly and has often been subject to changes.”Muhammad Wasim and Saleem Yousuf have sound knowledge of cricket, understand the rigours and demands of the modern game and are highly respected across the cricket fraternity,” Wasim Khan, the PCB’s chief executive, said. “Both the gentlemen are also aligned to the PCB’s five-year strategic pillar of strengthening our merit and opportunity-based domestic structure, as well as improving our international rankings across all formats.”Wasim’s appointment is also part of our strategy to groom, develop and provide leadership opportunities to our talented cricketers. After retiring from competitive cricket, Wasim has progressed through the ranks, having previously worked as a match referee, coach and selector. He is young, progressive and bold thinker who is in sync with our new High Performance Player Framework, and is one of very few people who are completely aware of the pool of talented cricketers available at the domestic level.”

The Pakistan batsman looks back at his time in the wilderness and his road forward

Umar Farooq27-Jan-2021Between 2009 and 2020, Pakistan have had as many as seven chief selectors. The common strand: none deemed Fawad Alam good enough to be picked for the national team despite his stellar domestic performances, season after season. During this 11-year hiatus from international cricket, Fawad made 26 first-class centuries and 33 half-centuries, amassing 7965 runs at 56.48.As many as 40 caps were handed out, and Pakistan played 88 Tests in this period. But the reason why Fawad couldn’t get a look-in was because of perceptions about his technique. That he was vulnerable and that the presence of a packed middle order in Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq meant there was no opening.He was eventually recalled after 11 years in August 2020, during the tour of England. Six months on, he’s now made a second hundred in the space of three Tests. On Wednesday, Fawad made a century in his home ground, and was asked later about this long wait. His answer exuded maturity of someone, who at 35, has made peace with how things have panned out.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“I’ve never blamed anyone,” he said. “I have always been saying that fate had this for me. That if it was in my destiny, then nobody could have taken it away from me. I was only focusing on doing well in whatever opportunities I get to the fullest, even if its domestic cricket.”Cricket is our bread and butter and like they say in Allah’s home, there is delay but no denial. I don’t think about the 10 years going to waste. How can I say all the runs and records made in domestic cricket went in vain? I’ve got enough respect and I want to redeem myself in whatever time I’ve left in cricket. Maybe I may get more success than what I’ve earned, so I can’t complain and I’m happy about the success.”Despite coming back after 11 years, Fawad was nearly dropped again despite the runs and records. He may have not made the New Zealand tour, but he somehow did. And he showed his steely resolve in making a gutsy hundred against some hostile fast bowling in the second Test in Mount Maunganui. This hundred against South Africa may have been all the more special, because it came at home, and also because he rescued the side from a precarious 33 for four.”My two bad innings in England, I felt I could have been dropped for them but he (Misbah) didn’t lose his faith in me and kept on encouraging me,” Fawad said. “He knew the potential in me and gave me another chance in New Zealand, so this specific support from the coach, lifts you up and then that is the confidence you take to the crease.”When you are told that you are the one and you have to do it, then it gets easier. These little positive things from the management can make a big difference and then you are able to focus on your game properly.”Fawad played the anchor’s role, putting together key partnerships with Azhar Ali (94 off 228 balls), Mohammad Rizwan (55 off 113) and Faheem Ashraf (102 off 152) to overhaul South Africa’s 220 and give Pakistan hope of a sizeable lead and thereby a good chance of victory.”Its early to envisage the victory but we got us in a good situation,” he said. “We have a good chance if we managed to get 130-150 runs lead.”As for the hundred, he felt “on top of the world.” And continued: “The runs I scored were needed for the team and it is really good that I was able to deliver. From 33 for four last evening, you can imagine what was on my mind all night. it was tough situation and team needed a partnership to bring stability. We wanted to go as deep as possible so that we idon’thave to score a lot of runs in the fourth innings.”

Kohli affirmed that their “lack of execution is acceptable”, as long as the mindset was in the right place

Varun Shetty09-Feb-20212:14

Where did India lose the first Test?

In his assessment of India’s efforts during their 227-run defeat to England, captain Virat Kohli said the struggles of supporting spinners Shahbaz Nadeem and Washington Sundar during England’s first innings affected India’s control of the game, and eventually the result. Nadeem and Sundar, who were both playing their second Tests for India, went at close to four runs per over and took two wickets in 70 overs between them. On the other hand, senior bowlers R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ishant Sharma went at a collective rate of 2.6 as England batted into the seventh session of the match for their 578.”You need to understand two things in this situation – as a bowling unit, we didn’t bowl well collectively,” Kohli said. “If you consider the fast bowlers and Ashwin, then yes, we bowled consistently and in good areas. But if Washi and Shahbaz had also bowled such economical spells, then you create more pressure, you cut out 80-90 runs from the opposition. Plus if you see from the batting point of view in the first innings, if you add about 80 runs more, then the match becomes almost equal. So there’s no need to overthink it. We just have to continuously build pressure on them. And if we do that, then I have full belief that we’ll get the results that we’ve achieved as a side on many occasions.”In an earlier conversation after the match with broadcaster , Kohli affirmed that their “lack of execution is acceptable”, as long as the mindset was in the right place; that, Kohli said, was visible in the second innings and that the pressure applied from the bowling unit was good enough, albeit not enough to win the Test.Nadeem was with India’s squad as a standby bowler, and replaced allrounder Axar Patel, who was believed to be a frontrunner for a debut in this Test until he was injured on the eve of the Test. Patel was slated to play a role similar to that of the injured Ravindra Jadeja, and his inclusion might have given India the chance to play wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav. That is, if they would be inclined to drop Sundar, who was one of their heroes in the famous Gabba win on debut and contributed valuable runs in this Test as well. From Kohli, there were no doubts about the bowling line-up India eventually went with, saying Nadeem was the man they had penciled in for the role.Virat Kohli waged a lone battle in India’s final-innings chase•BCCI

“Not really. Not at all. Because when you’re playing two off-spinners, Kuldeep more or less becomes a similar kind of spinner taking the ball away [from the left-handers],” Kohli said. “So you need variety in the bowling attack. We were quite clear on what combination we wanted to play and there are no regrets whatsoever on that decision. And moving forward, we will think of combinations that will bring us variety as a bowling attack and not one-dimensional where the ball is only turning away from the bat. These things are really important to understand.”
With the exception of Ashwin, and Jadeja to an extent, India have had to chop and change their bowling attack to a huge degree over their last few Tests. At the moment, injuries are keeping Jadeja, Umesh Yadav, and Mohammed Shami out of the squad. But India aren’t being bogged down by hypotheticals.”Well they’re not here, so whether they could have or would have is irrelevant,” Kohli said in response to a question about the benefits Shami or Yadav might have brought to a Test replete with reverse swing. “Look, we are not a side that goes into what-ifs and what could have been and what should have been. If you’re adding to what could have been, then we’re talking about someone like Jaddu playing this Test as well – then you’re talking about a totally different situation. So let’s not go there. Let’s be aware of the fact that we have a strong team. We have individuals in front of us who we believe will do the job for the team. And, in one game where the execution hasn’t happened, does not mean that it won’t happen again.”So we have to keep believing in our process. We have had a lot of success as a team and we have to believe that as a side if you play good cricket, more good things are gonna happen in the future and not think of what if this payer was here and that player was here. All three of them are injured, so we have bench strength. You saw a true example of that in Australia and we totally believe in the players that we have in the team and we’re confident that we’re going to bounce back strong. We’re really looking forward to being on the field again.”

Captain remains adamant in his view that there was little wrong with the pitch in Ahmedabad

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Mar-20216:10

Reason for our success is not cribbing about pitches we play on – Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli remains adamant in his view that there was little wrong with the pitch for the pink-ball Test in Ahmedabad, and that the game ended in two days because of poor batting. On the eve of the fourth Test – which will be played at the same venue but with the red ball in daytime – Kohli suggested, in fact, that having to switch constantly between limited-overs cricket and Test cricket has caused defensive techniques to deteriorate.Related

• The Buzz: Chris Morris calms his team in Hindi

• The Buzz: Fawad Alam's new career

• The Buzz: Joe Denly to Manchester City?

• The Buzz: Trent Boult's catch of the season

• The Buzz: Jos Buttler makes Eoin Morgan cry

“Defence is very important,” Kohli said in his pre-match press conference. “From the pattern I’ve seen in Test cricket – take any match, if two batsmen are facing a 45-minute period of difficult bowling, are they able to score 10 runs and survive without offering any chances? I think because of the influence of white-ball cricket, we’re getting results in Test cricket, but we also have this byproduct that defence, which is also a part of the game, is getting compromised.”This is why people say score 300-350 quickly. I don’t think they focus on that grind of four or five sessions these days, probably because they don’t focus on defence so much, because they’re needing to switch formats, and the game is very fast-paced.”I think there is a requirement for skill in playing on spinning tracks, and not necessarily just playing the sweep. You find your own method, and from my point of view, my best solution is a defensive shot, where I know I can defend and the ball won’t go to silly point or short leg, and that’s an aspect of the game that’s fallen behind.”Pitches remained the major theme of his press conference, but Kohli addressed a number of other issues too, including questions relating to a couple of members of India’s squad.Kohli – “I don’t think batsmen focus on that grind of four or five sessions these days, probably because they don’t focus on defence so much”•BCCI

On whether turning tracks are subject to unfair criticism
“There’s always too much noise and too much conversation about spinning tracks. I’m sure that if our media is in a space to contradict those views or present views that say that it is unfair to criticise only spinning tracks, then I think it’ll be a balanced conversation. But the unfortunate bit is that everyone sort of plays along with that narrative and just keeps making it news till the time it is relevant.”A Test match happens, and if we win on day four or five no one says anything, but if a match finishes in two days, everyone pounces on the same issue. It just becomes an issue to talk about. We lost in New Zealand on day three, in 36 overs. I’m sure none of our people as well wrote about the pitch. It was all about how India played badly in New Zealand. And none of the pitches were criticised. No one came and saw how much the pitch was doing, how much the ball was moving, and how much grass there was on the pitches. “On whether the red ball will behave differently on the Motera pitch compared to the pink one
“I don’t understand why the cricket ball, the cricket pitch, all these things are brought into focus. Why don’t we just focus on the fact that the batsmen were just not skilled enough on that pitch to play properly, and it was a bizarre display of batting by both teams in a Test match, and I will continue to maintain that, because I’ve played this game long enough to understand what happens on the cricket field. And it’s not a change in the ball colour or the change in the cricket ball, it’s still round, it still weighs five and a half ounces, so I don’t know what difference it makes suddenly.”The surface in Chennai was different in the [previous] game. This track has more pace than that. You could see with the fast bowlers as well, none of the balls went through on the Chennai track like it did for Ishant in those first couple of overs or for Bumrah as well. So the track in general has a bit more pace, and that’s the result of the clay that’s been laid in on the pitch. So it’s very important to understand these small-little details of the game.”On whether there’s a need for boards to ensure pitches don’t provide undue home advantage
“It would be lovely if you asked us this question on an England/New Zealand/Australia tour. Not when you’ve seen two turning pitches in India, so that question for me is irrelevant at this point of time.”Kohli on Pujara: “He’s a world-class performer, has been for us for a long period of time”•BCCI

On Cheteshwar Pujara being dismissed by left-arm spin in three out of five innings
“The fact of the matter is, till about four years ago, he was criticised for not scoring away from home. He was [spoken of as] only a home-track bully, and only scored in India. Now he’s performing for you everywhere outside of India, and a few innings where every batsman has struggled, barring maybe Rohit and a couple of innings from [others] – Ash (R Ashwin) played well, Jinks (Ajinkya Rahane) got a fifty, I got a couple – it’s not been easy. So if you now start criticising his game at home, then I don’t think that’s fair on him.”He’s a world-class performer, has been for us for a long period of time, and I will keep saying this again and again – along with Jinks, Pujara is our most important Test player, he will continue to be so. Every cricketer, every batsman, faces some sort of challenges in terms of a couple of areas where they might find a need for improvement, that happens to all of us constantly, and he’s a very responsible guy who will first and foremost go into the nets, bats more than anyone else to iron out his flaws, and I’m sure that he’ll keep solidifying his game moving forward, but there’s absolutely no concern whatsoever when it comes to Cheteshwar Pujara. “On Kuldeep Yadav’s limited opportunities
“There’s no issues with skill, there’s no issues with headspace. His game is absolutely precise, bowling better than he’s ever bowled before. [It’s about] combinations. We need to make sure that we cover all facets of the game, and we have our strongest balanced squad on the park. See, if a [Ravindra] Jadeja is playing and you’re talking about a third spinner, then a Kuldeep comes into the picture way more because of Jadeja’s experience with the bat, and the number of times he’s done the job for the team.”Right now we’re going in with Ash, Washy (Washington Sundar) is playing, Axar [Patel] is playing. Washy has scored a few runs, Axar is relatively new to Test cricket, so yes, they can contribute with the bat, but it’s not the same experience as a Jadeja, so your combination becomes different. When a Jadeja comes in you know, you’re assured that he’s responsible, he’s going to do the job for the team, and he knows that he’s done it again and again and again, so you can play a Kuldeep who’s primarily a wristspinning bowler. But yeah, it’s all about combinations. If people are not good enough, they won’t be part of Team India. It’s as simple as that. He’s a very, very skillful bowler, and he’ll always be in consideration to play whatever game is in front of us, purely because of what he brings with the ball, and yeah, his game is as good as it’s ever been.”On whether it’s right for teams to rotate their players in Test cricket
“I feel any format of the game is the right place for rotation. No human being can possibly go on for that many games throughout the year. Everyone needs to find windows of having some time off, having a break, especially with the bubble format, and the kind of systems you have to follow in the bubble, it can get very monotonous, and it’s very difficult to keep yourself excited about small things. I think these are things that need to be considered for as long as we play in the bubble. Outside of that, I think it depends on where you stand physically, more than mentally, but I think till the bubble exists, we need to keep the mental factor in the picture as well, because mental fatigue could be a huge, huge factor – playing within a restricted area, moving around within a restricted area.So yeah, these are things that one needs to be aware of, and hence our bench strength becomes way more important, because if you have guys who are hungry, ready, who read the game well, who understand where the game is heading, and are brave enough to take on opportunities or situations to take the team forward, then you can rotate very easily. You know there are 11 more guys who are ready to win a Test match for India, or a one-dayer or a T20, and that’s exactly what we’re striving towards, and we have a clear roadmap as to where we need to go in the next 4-5 years, so that our transition is not difficult at all – guys are ready, people can take breaks accordingly, as and when it’s required, and yeah, we have a clear plan that we need to move forward with. “

The former Olympic rower, who was appointed in 2019, suffered a health scare late last year

Daniel Brettig06-Apr-2021Drew Ginn’s future as Cricket Australia’s high performance boss is uncertain after he took personal leave from the role in late February with no set return date.CA’s acting chief executive Nick Hockley authored a reshuffle of Ginn’s direct reports, including the shift of the sports science division headed by Alex Kountouris and the national talent and pathways division run by Graham Manou to the desk of the national teams chief Ben Oliver. Peter Roach, the head of cricket operations, now reports directly to the chief executive.There is no suggestion that Ginn is set to quit the job. Nevertheless it has been a difficult year for Ginn who, in addition to the myriad problems created by the need for CA to find a way through restrictions put in place to deal with Covid-19, had to cope with the death of his father in March 2020.Ginn, 46, also suffered what he described as a “heart and kidney scare” after a long-haul cycle ride from Melbourne to Warrnambool in mid-December to commemorate the first such race in 1895. “Ten minutes after we completed the 336km ride ending up in 40C temperatures, I was admitted to hospital,” Ginn told the podcast. “I had a little bit of a heart scare and a little bit of a kidney scare.”Much fanfare had surrounded Ginn’s appointment, alongside Oliver, in dual roles encompassing the national men’s and women’s teams and the high performance apparatus around them, in the middle of 2019. The two roles had been devised to replace one single and extremely broad commission taken up by their predecessor, Pat Howard, between 2011 and 2018.It was the recommendation of Howard’s interim replacement, Belinda Clark, that the job be split in two, with the then chief executive Kevin Roberts ultimately deciding on Oliver and Ginn in the two positions after what at times seemed an interminable wait.A multi-Olympic gold medallist as a rower, Ginn’s only previous experience in cricket had been as the high performance chief of Cricket Tasmania, a brief but eventful tenure in which he made himself known as a critic of much of CA’s direction.He was an advocate, for one thing, of drastically different training for fast bowlers more aligned to lessons from rowing, a viewpoint that clashed with many of the CA employees he was later to be appointed to manage. Over the past 18 months, Ginn was also involved in the painful discussions around cost-cutting that were initiated by Roberts and the CA Board in response to Covid-19, including the exits of numerous coaches working out of the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane.”I’ve just been eyes and ears open for three years learning, and I certainly wouldn’t claim to know everything about the sport, because I never really played it,” he told the podcast. “The sport’s been reasonably welcoming to me as a person but not welcoming in terms of you can get away with doing anything and say anything, but rather we appreciate someone coming in from outside who’s had experience and success, but you have to earn your way, earn the right to have an opinion.”I certainly feel like I’ve been way out of my depth plenty of times, not just from knowing cricket but also what I’ve been managing budget-wise and size of staff and that sort of thing, [it] is stuff I hadn’t experienced before.”You make mistakes and the key thing for me has been owning those mistakes when you make them as a leader and keep having conversations with people. The relationship is always the key. If you have a good relationship with people, there’s a tolerance there. If you have a terrible relationship with people there’s not a tolerance there. So it’s been a huge learning curve.”Ginn’s projects had included the elevation of mental health considerations within Australian cricket, including the hire of a new mental health lead position at CA.

Abbas claims stunning figures of 6-11 as Hampshire take mammoth lead

Alan Gardner16-Apr-2021Around an hour into the second morning of this match, Middlesex’s bowlers were preparing to put their feet up in the dressing room in recognition of a hard job well done. Then came the Mohammad Abbas-inspired madness, a sickening sense of preconceptions being upended, and the desperate scramble for batting gear. Abbas sized up the pitch on his home debut, claimed a hat-trick inside seven balls, and had a five-for before the end of his third over, as Hampshire brutally seized control.Middlesex started and ended the day in the field, the one major difference being that they were now in hock to the tune of almost 450 runs after Hampshire declined to enforce the follow-on. Sam Northeast and Ian Holland added a double-century partnership in untroubled fashion, both walking off in the 90s at the close, as the home attack took their chance to recharge. Abbas might look more like an accountant than a strike bowler, but you don’t have to have the instincts of either to know which team the sums favour from here.Strike bowler he surely is though, and the Pakistan seamer demolished any notion that this could be a close contest within the space of 5.5 pre-lunch overs, as Middlesex tumbled to 14 for 5 in response to Hampshire’s 319. Abbas finished his day’s work with hypnotic figures of 11-6-11-6, as Middlesex were eventually rounded up 79; only three batsmen managed double-figures, with Nathan Sowter’s 24 not out from No. 9 the highest score of the innings.Ramadan started this week, and although Abbas is not currently fasting, he said that his “great day” had been influenced by the Islamic holy month. At 31, it was the first hat-trick of his senior career.”I took two wickets and before I bowled for my third wicket I realised Ramadan is going on and that is lucky for us, and Friday is a day that is lucky for me,” he said. “I have played here before when I was with Pakistan and the pitch had something in it for me, and I bowled on point in the right areas.”Hampshire’s new overseas signing, currently out of favour with Pakistan’s selectors, has shown on more than one occasion previously that it pays not to underestimate his shuffling gait and 78mph stylings. A two-season stint with Leicestershire in 2018 and ’19 yielded 79 wickets at 20.67 and, while a shoulder injury might have hampered his effectiveness at Test level, he emphatically restated his qualities as a county operator.This was the definition of a controlled explosion, as Abbas detonated the Middlesex top order with five wickets in 13 balls. The subtlety of his methods was borne out by the fact each wicket-taking delivery pitched in roughly the same area but confounded the batsmen in a variety of ways.Max Holden was the first to go, jumping from the crease to narrow the angles in his favour, only to steer an edge to third slip. Nick Gubbins, another left-hander, was pinned by one that came back at him (although there was a suspicion it might have pitched outside leg); then, with the first ball of Abbas’ next over, Stevie Eskinazi was sucked in by length and spat out by seam movement – a feathered outside edge giving the bowler his moment.He wasn’t done there, either, as Middlesex’s tricky hour before lunch became a match-defining collapse. Robbie White and Martin Andersson were both trapped in front of their stumps by in-duckers – White playing forward, Andersson hanging back – to complete a five-for that had scorers and Twitter statisticians consulting their databases. For the record, Abbas’ efforts fell just shy of Ryan Patel’s five in 11 balls at Guildford in 2018, while Jacques Kallis claimed a Test five-for in 12 deliveries against Bangladesh in 2002.Abbas had all six wickets to fall when Sam Robson went shortly after lunch – edging to slip as the bowler shortened his length in response to Robson’s deliberate efforts to get forward – before Kyle Abbott, who had claimed a 17-wicket match haul on his previous first-class appearance at the Ageas Bowl, finally got in on the action, as Toby Roland-Jones chopped a drive into his stumps.Sowter and John Simpson managed to double the score, meaning this was ultimately only Middlesex’s lowest total since being dismissed for 75 at Hove two summers ago, before Brad Wheal cleaned up the innings with three cheap wickets.Ambushed by Abbas, Middlesex were left feeling abashed – and with Hampshire deciding to bat again on a lead of 240, they had plenty of time to reflect on their shortcomings. Roland-Jones and Ethan Bamber struck early to give Middlesex a glimmer at 2 for 2, but the third-wicket pairing of Northeast and Holland steadied Hampshire before pressing on resolutely, both passing 50 for the second time in the match to consolidate a position that was nigh on impregnable.The quality of Middlesex’s attack had seemingly kept the home batsmen in check on day one but, in a harbinger of what was to come, more foot-slogging was required on the second morning to finish off Hampshire’s first innings. Roland-Jones, Bamber and Steven Finn posed plenty of questions – though none came close to the sort of unanswerable spell provided by Abbas – and they were made to work right until the end, Finn finishing with 4 for 96, as Abbott’s nuggety half-century took Hampshire past 300 for a third bonus point, and a position that would soon be revealed as dominant.