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Batters clinch three-wicket victory in white-knuckled run chase at Headingley

Matt Roller09-Jul-2023The Ashes are still alive. England’s batters clinched a three-wicket win in a white-knuckled run chase at Headingley, led by Harry Brook’s 75 on his home ground before Chris Woakes and Mark Wood took them across the line.Australia, who would have sealed a first away Ashes win since 2001 with victory, struck regularly on the fourth day to leave England in serious trouble at 171 for 6. Mitchell Starc was the spearhead, taking two wickets either side of lunch – including the middle-order engine room of Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow.Brook and Woakes added 59 for the seventh wicket, England’s highest partnership of the match, before Starc’s fifth wicket – Brook top-edging to cover – gave Australia another sniff. But Wood, whose five-wicket haul in the first innings set the game up for England, joined Woakes and iced the run chase.Wood hooked Pat Cummins over fine leg for six, then cleared his front leg to blast Starc through cover and take the requirement down to single figures. With four to win, he survived a top-edged swipe off Starc, Alex Carey unable to cling on after scrambling back towards the boundary rope and diving at full stretch onto his front.Then, with scores tied, Woakes opened the face and scythed Starc through point for four, holding his arms aloft in celebration before embracing Wood. The pair’s all-round exploits over the last four days have kept England alive in the series: they are two-one down heading into the fourth Test at Old Trafford on July 19.There is a nine-day break before the start of that Test, one for which both teams will be grateful after another exhausting, exhilarating day which saw both teams let control of the game slip from their grasp. Australia were behind for much of the game but it took until Brook’s partnership with Woakes for England to assert their dominance on the chase. Even then, there was a twist – but it came late enough for them to scrape home.Mitchell Starc made crucial breakthroughs either side of lunch•AFP/Getty Images

England needed a further 224 runs to win at the start of the fourth day but lost a wicket in the fifth over of the morning: Ben Duckett was smashed on the shin by Starc, falling over to the off side. His review could not save him, with ball-tracking projecting that the ball would have crashed into his leg stump.Unexpectedly, it was Moeen Ali who walked out at No. 3, after Brook had deputised for the injured Ollie Pope in that role in the first innings. The experiment did not last long – Starc ripped out Moeen’s leg stump with a 90mph/144kph rocket – but gave the illusion of extending England’s batting line-up and crucially, allowed Brook to return to No. 5.Related

• Travis finds his feet to thwart England's Head-hunting approach

• Woakes' guile and guts ignite England to seize their moment

• Crazy things do happen at Headingley and sometimes crazy is good

Joe Root traded boundaries with Zak Crawley either side of drinks but never settled, and a change of ball in the 19th over brought a wicket in the 20th. Crawley crunched Mitchell Marsh through the off side with a trademark cover drive, but Marsh’s next ball was a fraction shorter and drew the outside edge.Brook played positively from the outset, spanking Scott Boland through cover-point for consecutive boundaries, but his stand with Root was a brief one. Cummins dug one in short, angling down the leg side, which Root attempted to pull but gloved through to Alex Carey. It was not Cummins’ best ball but extended his remarkable dominance in his head-to-head battle with Root.Stokes, no stranger to a Headingley run chase, calmly worked his first ball away through the leg side for four but was strangled down the leg side in the second over after lunch, flicking Starc through to Carey to fall for just 13. Starc smiled wryly, exerting his considerable influence on a second successive Test.Bairstow joined Brook, who had reached 42 after a handful of false shots early in his innings, but did not last long. He inside-edged his sixth ball for four, past his leg stump, then chopped his eighth onto his middle stump, beaten by Starc’s movement back into him; after 78 on the opening day of the series, Bairstow has added 63 runs across his next five innings.Jonny Bairstow looks back after dragging a drive onto his stumps•AFP/Getty Images

Australia sensed an opening. They were four wickets away and Woakes hardly exuded calm early on, regularly playing and missing and picking up boundaries via both edges of the bat. But with Cummins reluctant to introduce Todd Murphy – who bowled only two overs on the last day – Australia were reliant on their three main seamers.Brook brought up a 67-ball half-century, his second in successive Tests, but both batters continued to keep Australia’s fielders interested, particularly when facing the short ball. Top-edges looped up tantalisingly without going to hand, and ball regularly beat bat before the drinks break.Brook crunched boundaries away through point off Cummins and the lesser-spotted Murphy, but was rushed by Starc’s short ball and spooned a catch to cover via the top edge, trudging off with 21 runs still required. But It took England only 14 balls to knock them off.Murphy’s brilliant parry on the midwicket boundary denied Woakes a certain boundary, but Wood – fuelled by adrenaline – took on Cummins’ bouncer and swiped him into the Football Stand for six. When Wood crunched Starc through cover, England were close; when Woakes slashed him through point, they had their first Ashes win in four years.

It could be a chance for both teams to test their reserves, but for completely different reasons

Srinidhi Ramanujam14-May-20223:07

Have Titans identified their best playing XI?

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A day after their crushing defeat against Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings had tweeted: “It’s not the end of the road”. They would want to believe so after being knocked out of IPL 2022, as they look to start planning for the next season with two games remaining in this one.Super Kings and their opponents on Sunday, Gujarat Titans, are on the two extreme ends of the points table. While Super Kings, the defending champions, are placed ninth, Titans, being on top, are the only team to get into the playoffs so far.A victory at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday will assure Titans a top-two finish, while Super Kings might want to test their bench strength.

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You can watch the match on ESPN+ in English and in Hindi.

To be fair to them, Super Kings have had a few positives. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway have enjoyed success at the top in recent times, and rookie pacers Mukesh Choudhary and Simarjeet Singh have been promising, especially in the powerplay. Maheesh Theekshana, in his debut season, has 12 wickets so far, the most by a fingerspinner this IPL. And Shivam Dube, despite blowing hot and cold, has made a difference with his power-hitting.However, there are big questions. MS Dhoni, who took back the captaincy after Ravindra Jadeja stepped down, has said he will remain with the team in “some capacity” next season, but that may or may not be as a player. Dwayne Bravo, at 38, isn’t getting any younger. Where does Ambati Rayudu, who tweeted on the eve of the match – before deleting it – that this would be his last IPL, stand? Not to forget, Super Kings will also have to find an able leader next season if Dhoni decides to step aside (again).Testing the bench could be an option for Titans, too, after they bounced back against Lucknow Super Giants following two losses in a row. While they have a well-rounded bowling attack, Titans brought back Matthew Wade, who had failed at the top of the order earlier, to address their No. 3 issue and he lasted only seven balls in the previous match. Their captain Hardik Pandya’s form – or the lack of it – has not had a major impact on the team with David Miller, Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan doing the finishing act. However, going into the crucial stage of the tournament, they would want Hardik to get into the groove. At least with the bat.

In the news

Lockie Ferguson missed the last match and Hardik said the move was “tactical, considering the ground dynamics”. The New Zealand quick might come in place of Alzarri Joseph or Mohammed Shami, if Titans decide to rest him for a match or two.Chennai Super Kings have had a forgettable season and must get their plans in place for IPL 2023•BCCI

Likely XIs

Chennai Super Kings: 1 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Moeen Ali, 4 Robin Uthappa, 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Ambati Rayudu, 7 MS Dhoni (capt, wk), 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Simarjeet Singh, 10 Maheesh Theekshana, 11 Mukesh Choudhary.Gujarat Titans: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Matthew Wade, 4 Hardik Pandya (capt), 5 David Miller, 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Alzarri Joseph/Lockie Ferguson, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Sai Kishore, 11 Yash Dayal.

Strategy punt

Shubman Gill has been dismissed inside ten balls five times in 12 innings. His average of 22.3 against Super Kings is his poorest against a team in the IPL. Given that he has been dismissed by a fingerspinner twice this edition, Dhoni could bowl Moeen Ali or Theekshana at the start of the innings.

Stats that matter

• Hardik averages 55 and strikes at 149 against Bravo in T20s.
• Titans have hit a total of 58 sixes this season, the least by a team.
• Choudhary has taken 11 wickets in the powerplay this season, the highest among all the teams.

He made 65 international appearances after becoming Test cricket’s youngest wicketkeeper in 2002

Shashank Kishore09-Dec-2020Eighteen years after becoming Test cricket’s youngest wicketkeeper as a baby-faced 17-year-old in Nottingham, Parthiv Patel has announced his retirement from all forms of the game.Patel finished with 25 Tests, 38 ODIs and two T20Is, his last international appearance coming in India’s famous Test win in Johannesburg in January 2018. A year later, he was also part of the squad when India won a Test series in Australia for the first time in their history.Apart from playing for India, Patel will be remembered for his contributions to Gujarat. He led the side to the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2015, scoring a match-winning maiden List A century in the final against Delhi. He outdid that achievement the next season, when he made 143 against Mumbai to help Gujarat pull off the highest successful run-chase in a Ranji Trophy final.Only two months before that Ranji Trophy triumph, Patel had earned a Test recall after eight years, ahead of the third Test against England in Mohali. So abrupt was his inclusion that Patel, who was captaining Gujarat in a first-class game in Hubli at the time, had to make an eight-hour road trip to Goa before arriving in Chandigarh via a stopover in New Delhi on the eve of the match. Patel was always a gutsy batsman, a quality he displayed even on his Test debut when he occupied the crease for 84 minutes and helped save the game with an unbeaten 19. This facet of his game earned him the occasional promotion to open the batting, which he did most memorably while keeping out the fiery Shoaib Akhtar and scoring 69 in the deciding Rawalpindi Test of India’s 2004 tour to Pakistan. In all, he scored six half-centuries in Tests, with a highest of 71 against England in Chennai in 2016.Patel took an unusual route to the top level: he captained India at the 2002 Under-19 World Cup, played for India A, played Test cricket before playing senior domestic cricket. He settled into the Test team quickly, playing 19 out of India’s 20 Tests from his debut, but a drop-off in the quality of his glovework – the missed stumping of Ricky Ponting on the final day of the 2004 Sydney Test was a particularly noteworthy error – led to his exclusion. The emergence of Dinesh Karthik and later MS Dhoni pushed him further down the pecking order, and his appearances thereafter were sporadic: a one-off Test in 2008 when Dhoni opted out of a Test series in Sri Lanka, a handful of white-ball games as a specialist opener in 2011 and early 2012, and five more Tests in the 2016-2018 period.While his international career was a stop-start affair, Patel was an IPL regular, usually as a punchy presence at the top of the order. He was part of three title-winning teams – the Chennai Super Kings in 2010 and the Mumbai Indians in 2015 and 2017 – and was Mumbai’s highest run-getter in 2017 with 395 runs at a strike rate of 134.81. He played for six IPL franchises in all, most recently for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2019. He was part of their squad in 2020 as well, but didn’t get a game with the team preferring to use AB de Villiers as their first-choice keeper and promoting Devdutt Padikkal to open the batting.Patel ended his career with numbers that put him in elite company. In all first-class cricket in India, he scored 9500 runs at an average of 44.18; only Wasim Jaffer, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir have scored more. Overall, he finished with 11,240 first-class runs at an average of 43.49, with 27 hundreds, including a best of 206 against Odisha in the 2008-09 season, as well as 486 catches and 77 stumpings.He remains the fourth-youngest Test debutant for India, behind only Tendulkar, Piyush Chawla and L Sivaramakrishnan.

Mushfiqur Rahim kept the game competitive, scoring an unbeaten 98 to rescue Bangladesh after they had slipped to 117 for 6

The Report by Mohammad Isam28-Jul-2019Sri Lanka made an auspicious start to life after the 2019 World Cup, clinching the ODI series against Bangladesh with one game to spare. They won the second ODI by seven wickets after their bowlers put together a great team effort. Their batsmen saw off tricky periods in their chase, but mostly dominated the visitors who posted 238 for 8 after deciding to bat first. It is Sri Lanka’s first series win at home in three-and-a-half years, and it came via a combination of young and experienced players.Avishka Fernando’s stunning 82 came off 75 balls, including nine fours and two sixes, and he gave Sri Lanka the perfect start in their chase. He added 71 for the first wicket with Dimuth Karunaratne and 58 for the second with Kusal Perera, before Angelo Mathews and Kusal Mendis steered Sri Lanka home with an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 96.Avishka jumped to life in the sixth over when he cracked Shafiul Islam for three fours in a row, punching him off the backfoot twice before pulling one high through square-leg. He struck Mustafizur Rahman for two more fours in the eighth over, before pulling him in his next over for his first six.Karunaratne’s dismissal in the 12th over hardly slowed down Avishka, who slog-swept his second six and struck two more fours. He was dropped on 77, albeit with Mosaddek Hossain making the best of a tough catch running in from deep cover. Avishka, however, fell in the next over, miscuing a Mustafizur cutter, having put Sri Lanka in a strong position.There was a slight wobble in the 25th over when Kusal Perera, having made 30, was caught at cover off Mustafizur, but Mendis and Mathews ensured a smooth ending to the chase. They played out four overs without forcing the issue, but the introduction of a part-timer, Sabbir Rahman, released the pressure, with a boundary coming off his second ball and shifting the momentum towards Sri Lanka. Mathews and Mendis soon picked up fours off Shafiul, Soumya and Mustafizur, and steadily took Sri Lanka to the target in 44.4 overs. Mathews finished unbeaten on 52 off 57 balls with seven fours while Mendis was not out on 41 off 74 balls with four fours.Mushfiqur Rahim shapes to play the ball•Associated Press

They may have had to chase far less had Mushfiqur Rahim not rescued Bangladesh from the depths of 116 for 7. Mushfiqur and Mehidy Hasan changed the course of the innings with an 84-run partnership for the seventh wicket, Mehidy playing the aggressor with six fours in his 43.Mushfiqur’s plan, meanwhile, was to bat deep, and it worked out well as he remained unbeaten on 98. He didn’t go too hard at the bowling until a 16-run penultimate over, when he hit two fours and a six off Isuru Udana. His approach was dictated by the wickets Bangladesh had lost, and a sluggish R Premadasa Stadium pitch that offered turn for the spinners.Akila Dananjaya, in his first match back for Sri Lanka, made full use of the pitch, finishing with 2 for 39. Nuwan Pradeep and Isuru Udana also took two wickets each but the home side started to flag after the 35th over, and enabled the Mushfiqur-Mehidy partnership to flourish.But in their first match after Lasith Malinga’s exit, Lahiru Kumara and Nuwan Pradeep stepped up really well. Albeit through a tame full-toss, Sri Lanka’s first wicket came when Soumya Sarkar was trapped lbw. Tamim was bowled for the sixth game in a row, dragging Udana on to his stumps in the ninth over.Mohammad Mithun and Mahmudullah fell to Dananjaya, who made the ball rip from outside off stump plenty of times in his first spell. It was also in his over that Sabbir Rahman was run out after a mix-up with Mushfiqur. Mosaddek Hossain fell to a Udana bouncer, leaving Bangladesh six down in the 33rd over.Mushfiqur’s fight managed to make it a more interesting game but ultimately Bangladesh were at least 30 runs short.

A month after being picked by Trinbago Knight Riders at the CPL draft, the South Africa quick is set to make his IPL debut

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Apr-2018Fast bowler Junior Dala has replaced his injured South Africa team-mate Chris Morris at Delhi Daredevils for the rest of IPL 2018. Morris, who was the only overseas player to be retained by Daredevils, for INR 7.1 crore (USD 1 million approx.), has been sidelined with a back injury.Dala had set a base price of INR 20 lakh (USD 30,000 approx.) but found no takers in the auction in January. Daredevils have now bought him at that price, and this will be his first IPL stint.Dala made his T20I debut against India in February this year. He impressed with his unique action – he takes off on his right foot in his pre-delivery stride and lands on the right foot again – and skiddy pace. He was the joint-highest wicket-taker in the three-match T20I series at home against India, claiming seven wickets at an economy rate of 9.16.Dala adds depth to a pace attack that includes Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Dan Christian, Mohammed Shami, Harshal Patel, Sayan Ghosh and Liam Plunkett, who had replaced the injured Kagiso Rabada.Last month, Dala was picked by Trinbago Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League draft. In all, Dala has played 52 T20s, taking 49 wickets at an economy rate of 8.21.

The batsman, who also contributed with his medium-pace bowling, last played an international match for West Indies in March 2015 at the World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Mar-2017West Indies batsman Dwayne Smith has announced his retirement from all international cricket. Smith, 33, who is playing for Islamabad United in the ongoing Pakistan Super League, confirmed the decision before the start of the second qualifying final against Karachi Kings in Sharjah. His last West Indies appearance came at the 2015 World Cup.Smith made his international debut on West Indies’ tour of South Africa 2003-04, beginning with the New Year’s Test in Cape Town in January 2004, after Marlon Samuels flew home with a knee injury. He made an impression straightaway, scoring a century on debut – a run-a-ball unbeaten 105, his only international century – in the second innings of the game, to help West Indies draw the match and end their streak of seven successive Test losses in South Africa. The team, however, did lose the series 3-1. Smith played only nine more Tests, scoring a total of 320 runs in the format. His last Test appearance for West Indies was in March 2006, against New Zealand in Napier.Smith had a far more substantial run in the limited-overs sides, where he also made useful contributions with his medium-pace, although his batting returns remained modest. Having begun in the lower order, Smith was promoted to the top order, including as an opener, after 2014 and did better there. Six of his eight ODI fifties came when he batted in the top three, and his average of 25.27 was better than his overall career average of 18.57. Overall, he played 105 ODIs scoring 1560 runs at a strike rate of 92.69. He also took 61 wickets in ODIs, with a career-best of 5 for 45 and three four-fors.Smith was part of two World Cup squads for West Indies in 2007 and in 2015, where his final appearance came against UAE in Napier. Following West Indies’ early exit from the 2007 World Cup, Smith spent close to three years out of the ODI and T20I squads before making his return in 2010.He was part of three World T20 squads – in 2007, 2012 and 2014. While he played only one match during West Indies’ title run in the 2012 World T20, he was picked in the next edition as the side’s designated opener and scored 125 runs in five matches. In 33 T20 internationals, he scored 582 runs at 18.18 with a strike rate of 122.78, although he only made three fifties.Smith has been a popular cricketer on the T20 circuit, over the last few years, turning out to play for franchises in the Indian Premier League, the Caribbean Premier League, the Bangladesh Premier League and the Pakistan Super League, as well as the NatWest Blast in England.

Yuvraj Singh, whose cameo helped India beat Sri Lanka and seal their spot in the Asia Cup final, has said that his ‘flow’ is back

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Mar-2016Allrounder Yuvraj Singh showed glimpses of improved batting form during his cameo against Sri Lanka, which helped seal India’s spot in the final of the Asia Cup. The second ball he faced was slashed over backward point for four, and then Yuvraj unleashed signature flicks and lofts on his way to 35 off 18 balls. He struck three fours and as many sixes before he was dismissed with India only 18 runs away from the target.”Today was one of those days where I felt my flow was back,” Yuvraj told . “I needed a bit of a flow out there to feel good. I felt that my game is back. I have been trying to get as much batting time as possible and I believe I have been picking up slowly.”Yuvraj had targetted left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, smashing him for 13 runs off three balls, including two sixes in the arc between long-on and deep midwicket.”I was assessing which bowlers I am going to attack and which bowlers I won’t,” Yuvraj said. “I told myself that if a left-arm spinner is bowling, then I am going to go and attack straight away. Any left-hand batsman who can hit sixes will go after left-arm spin … Tonight I just wanted to be positive and hit the ball straight away and deliver for the team.”Yuvraj has managed only 64 runs in three Asia Cup matches at a strike rate of 96, but has batted 125 minutes on considerably green pitches. In India’s previous match against Pakistan, Yuvraj faced a proper short-ball attack from Mohammad Irfan. The fast bowler had Yuvraj ducking and swaying, and even sent a 146 kph bouncer past the batsman’s nose. Yuvraj survived the threatening spell, though, and added 68 with Virat Kohli to stabilise a chase of 84. He was unbeaten on 14 off 32 balls as India won by five wickets with 27 deliveries to spare.”Last game, it was a different situation where we needed to take a spell out and get a partnership going,” Yuvraj said. “I took my time out there where I could leave a lot of balls and get a partnership going along with Virat Kohli. It was a small total so I could take a lot of time.”Yuvraj also complimented Kohli, who has four 50-plus scores in the last six matches and averages 103.66 in T20Is in 2016. “I feel he has been in the form of his life for the last five to six years,” Yuvraj said. “He has been very consistent and he knows his role really well. He is batting beautifully and I hope he continues to do that.”Having spent time in the middle and found his hitting range, Yuvraj hoped to win games for India in the upcoming World T20. “I want to get better every game,” he said. “Hopefully, I can continue this good run ahead. I believe it is my responsibility to go and change the game for the team. Hopefully, I can do it more than once.”

Australia suffered a potentially significant blow to their chances of victory at Chester-le-Street when Shane Watson left the field injured on Sunday

Brydon Coverdale at Old Trafford11-Aug-2013Australia suffered a potentially significant blow to their chances of victory at Chester-le-Street when Shane Watson left the field injured on Sunday. Watson pulled up sore after the third ball of his seventh over of England’s second innings and walked off with pain in his right hip/groin area. Cricket Australia said he would be assessed on Sunday evening “to see how it settles”.In the immediate term, the injury hampers Australia’s hopes in this Test as, due to ICC regulations, Watson will not be able to have a runner when he bats in Australia’s chase. Watson scored 68 in the first innings and apart from the centurion Chris Rogers was the batsman who appeared to best handle the swinging and seaming conditions.In the longer term, it is a concern given Australia’s apparent desire to turn Watson into more of a bowling allrounder. He began the series opening the batting but a lack of runs at the top of the order, combined with his impressive economy and control at the bowling crease, encouraged the Australians to move him down to No. 6 for this game.Ryan Harris said: “It’s obviously not a good sign when anyone gets injured but I don’t know it’s as bad as first thought. When I left the rooms they were talking about him batting but they’ll assess it tonight and see how he pulls up in the morning. You never want anyone limping off, especially someone like Shane Watson who’s a pretty big player in your team.”Watson has bowled 80.3 overs in this Ashes campaign, easily the second most he has sent down in a Test series, after the 115.4 he delivered in India in 2008. Watson’s bowling has been a constant source of injury concerns throughout his career, to the point that he embarked on the tour of India earlier this year as a batsman only, in an attempt to avoid further problems. But his miserable batting form – he has not scored a Test hundred since 2010 – meant that Watson needed to be bowling for Australia to gain enough value from his inclusion in the side and he has played an important bowling role in England.Watson’s most recent bowling injury occurred during the Boxing Day Test against Sri Lanka at the MCG last year, when he hurt his left calf, the same muscle that caused him problems earlier in the season and ruled him out of the first two Tests against South Africa. He had also missed the whole of the previous Australian Test summer due to calf and hamstring injuries.His injury in Melbourne came after he sent down 47.4 overs in the previous match at Hobart, the most he had ever delivered in a Test, and his heavy workload and subsequent injury on this Ashes tour will again force Australia to consider how to use him in future.If Watson is ruled out of the next Test at The Oval, Australia will also need to consider whether to replace him with a bowler and move Brad Haddin up to No. 6, or with a batsman. James Faulkner, Ashton Agar and Mitchell Starc are the extra bowlers in Australia’s squad who could come into contention and each offers an all-round option as well.

T20 is the way to grow women’s cricket and ensure it remains commercially viable, Clare Connor, the chairwoman of the ICC’s women’s cricket committee, has said

Siddhartha Talya30-Jul-2012T20 cricket is the way for women’s cricket to grow and remain commercially viable, Clare Connor, the chairwoman of the ICC’s women’s cricket committee, has said. She said playing T20 tournaments simultaneously with the men, as with the World Twenty20, gives women’s cricket an ideal platform to attract greater viewership.There hasn’t been a women’s Test played since early 2011, and fitting in all three formats, Connor said, would be difficult until women’s cricket became fully professional – which, she believes, it is not ready for yet.”The reality is that since the T20 format came into being in international cricket in 2004, there has barely been any Test cricket,” Connor told ESPNcricinfo in an interview. “That’s because the T20 format gives us that platform. It’s a shorter format, it’s more likely to grow the game from a participation perspective and also from a commercial perspective. It gives us probably more opportunity to get on television, and I think that is the way the women’s game is headed. That’s the reality and we have got to embrace that, and we are, with more and more double headers.”Men’s and women’s World T20s have been played simultaneously since 2009, the first time a women’s event was held on a global scale in the format. Connor said the decline of Tests in women’s cricket “polarises opinion” but T20 offers them the best chance to increase visibility.”The reality is: if we don’t play Test cricket, if Australia and New Zealand, for instance, are no longer going to play Test cricket, in the period of time needed to play a Test match, they could play three T20 games. They can get them on television and they can play alongside the men, and that’s a huge opportunity.”England and Australia introduced player contracts for women cricketers in 2008, offering some flexibility to players who still juggle playing cricket at the highest level with alternative careers. Pakistan and West Indies have also brought in a contract system, but Connor felt it was too soon to make contracts mandatory for all countries.”So long as there is a really healthy bilateral FTP in place and so long as the ICC sees that the performance standards in the women’s game are going up, I don’t think it’s up to the ICC necessarily to legislate on whether the women’s players should be fully contracted or fully professional. In an ideal world, yes, we would see that, but I don’t think we are probably ready for it yet, and I don’t think there are enough countries ready to fully professionalise the women’s game for there to be enough women’s cricket to be played that is commercially viable, if you like.”Last year, the WICB increased the number of contracted women cricketers to eight. “There is the evidence there to show that some form of contracts is really useful and can be beneficial,” Connor said. “One of the best cases of how that’s helped improve standards has been the West Indies, who in the last four years have really shot up the rankings and are a force to be reckoned with.”One of the aspirations of the ICC women’s cricket committee, Connor said, was to get all ODI members to include women’s cricket in their broadcast rights negotiations. The committee, for its part, has been trying to promote more bilateral cricket in the women’s game and reduce over-dependence on ICC events for the women’s game. In the last six months, Connor said, there has been an attempt to “increase the number of the minimum standard regulations, the number of games – bilateral cricket – that must be played in the ODI and T20 format”.”That’s something we’ve been constantly looking to address – really encourage as much bilateral cricket as possible, so that players have the opportunity to play in all different sorts of environments and all different sorts of opposition.”Read and listen to the full interview here

Left-arm spinner George Dockrell will lead hosts Ireland in the 10-team ICC Under-19 World Cup Qualifier to be played from July 28 to August 9. The top six sides will qualify for the 2012 ICC U19 World Cup in Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jul-2011Left-arm spinner George Dockrell will lead hosts Ireland in the 10-team ICC Under-19 World Cup Qualifier to be played from July 28 to August 9. This will be the last edition as the ICC has decided to scrap the tournament, saying that the money saved on staging costs will be used to develop cricket in the Associate and Affiliate nations.The top six sides out of Ireland, Afghanistan, Canada, Kenya, Namibia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, USA and Vanuatu will qualify for the 2012 ICC U-19 World Cup to be held in Australia. The 10 Full Members automatically qualify.Dockrell, who turns 19 later this month, is considered to be one of the most promising talents and has already played 22 ODIs for Ireland. He also has a contract with English county side Somerset.The full squads are as follows:Afghanistan: Shir M. Shirzi (captain), M Jawed Ahmadi, Mohammad Y. Ahmadzai, Nasir J. Ahmadzai, Younas K. Ahmadzai, Aftab Alam, Abdur R Mangal, Abdul R.K. Naseri, Mohibullah Paak, Rahmatullah Sahaq, Hashmatullah Shaidi, Sayed A. Shirzad, Najibullah Zadran, Afsar K. ZazaiCanada: Kevasan Juvarajan (captain), Tristan Ali, Maninder Aulakh, Suddepta Aurka, Gurkaran Dhilon, Nikhil Dutta, Kyle Edghill, Nitish Kumar, Trevor Manoosingh, Rayankhan Pathan, Sarren Ramsany, Jobanjot Singh Sidhu, Akass Shah, Akhlas UmarIreland: George Dockrell (captain), George Adair, Richard Berry, Scott Campbell, Adam Coughlan, Shane Getake, Niall Hodgins, Ryan Hunter, Hugh MacDonnell, Andrew McBrine, Graeme McCarter, Barry McCarthy, Sam Shannon, Jason van der MarweKenya: Kennedy Ochieng (captain), Duncan Allan, Harrison Angila, Jignesh Hirani, Irfan Karim, Martin Ndandason, Joseph Ochieng, Rushabhvardhan Patel, Emmanuel Ringera, Raj Savala, Raj Shikotra, Vinit Shikotra, Siddhant Taneja, Rahul VishramNamibia: Stephen Baard (captain), Justin Baard, Luke Bolton, Christopher Coombe, Jason Davidson, Andre Engelbrecht, Gerhard Erasmus, Shalako Groenewald, Zhivago Groenewald, Gert Lotter, Tangeni Lungameni, Pelham Myburgh, Wian van vuuren, Johan WesselsNepal: Prithu Baskota (captain), Pradeep Airee, Naresh B. Budhaayer, Bhuban Karki, Krishna Karki, Avinash Karn, Subash P. Khakurel, Nischal Pandey, Shubhendi Pandey, Rajesh Pulami Magar, Sagar Pun, Fajlur Rahman, Rupesh K. Shrivastav, Rahul K. VishwakarmaPNG: Christopher Kent (captain), Charles Amini, Dogodo Bau, Sese Bau, Nigel Boge, Albert Geita, Raymond Haoda, Gia Kelly, Raturima Maha, Alei Nao, Vagi Oala, Lega Siaka, Toua Tom, Norman VanuaScotland: Patrick Saddler (captain), Frederick Coleman, Matthew Cross, Henry Edwards, Peter Legget, Anjandeep Luthra, Thomas McBride, Scott McElnea, Ross McLean, Samuel Page, Peter Ross, Kyle Smith, Stanley Shillington, Aman BailwalUSA: Gregory Sewdial (captain), Salman Ahmad, Shayan Abdul Ghani, Abhijit Joshi, Cameron Mirza, Prashanth Nair, Mital Patel, Amarnauth Persaud, Gurpreet Sandhu, Hammad Shahid, Jodhbir Singh, Trevor Singh, Pranay Suri, Steven TaylorVanuatu: Patrick Matautaava (captain), Ravin Arutambean, Kaluwin Bangalini, Callum Blake, Jelany Chilia, Worford Kalworai, Kendy Kenneth, Nalin Nipiko, Jamal Ngwango, Joshua Rasu, Shem Sala, Jaxies Samuel, Apolinaire Stephen, Ronald Tari