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Colin de Grandhomme, the New Zealand allrounder, has signed for Birmingham Bears for this year’s NatWest T20 Blast

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Mar-2017Colin de Grandhomme, the New Zealand allrounder, has signed for Birmingham Bears for this year’s NatWest T20 Blast.De Grandhomme, 30, made an impressive Test debut against Pakistan in November, claiming 6 for 41 in the first innings to pave the way for an eight-wicket victory. However, it is as a T20 batsman that he has built his reputation, in which format he boasts a strike-rate of 171.04 from exactly 100 matches.He recently forced his way back into New Zealand’s team in all three formats following an impressive domestic season with Auckland Aces, which included 139 runs in four Super Smash T20 games at a strike rate of 220.63.”Colin is a perfect addition to the team for our 2017 campaign, adding the batting firepower that we desire in our middle order, whilst adding depth to our bowling attack as an experienced seamer bowler,” said Ashley Giles, Warwickshire’s director of cricket.”His batting strike-rate is unparalleled in the professional game. He has been in the best form of his career this winter and his power and ability to clear the boundary makes him on of the most exciting batsmen in the game.”I have spoken previously about needing to recruit cricketers who are not only talented, but are hungry for success, can play the entire campaign and have the right character to become a Bear. We certainly get this with Colin and look forward to seeing him join up with the squad in July.”De Grandhomme will be joined in the Bears squad by his fellow New Zealander, Jeetan Patel, who is currently playing against South Africa at Dunedin.”As a New Zealand cricketer, I am really excited by the opportunity to play to become a Bear,” said de Grandhomme. “I look forward to meeting Ashley, the team, staff and its Members in July and working together to achieve our goal of a home Finals Day at Edgbaston.”

Rising Pune Supergiant won both their games against Delhi Daredevils last season. Can they keep that form going?

The Preview by Varun Shetty10-Apr-2017

Match facts

Rising Pune Supergiant v Delhi Daredevils
Pune, April 11, 2017
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)2:42

Chopra: Lockie Ferguson should replace Dan Christian

Head-to-head

The teams have met twice and Rising Pune won both games chasing. They won the first one in Delhi by seven wickets, and the second by being 19 runs ahead of the D/L par score when rain interrupted a chase of 121 in Vizag.

Form guide

• Rising Pune: lost to Kings XI by 6 wickets, beat Mumbai Indians by 7 wickets

• Dareveils: lost to RCB by 15 runs

In the news

Neither team has immediate, short-term injury concerns. Sri Lanka allrounder Angelo Mathews joined the Daredevils squad for training on the eve of the match, but it isn’t certain if he is available for selection. Earlier this month, Sri Lanka cricket manager Asanka Gurusinha had said it was unlikely Mathews would be 100% fit for the start of the IPL.Daredevils’ batting took a hit when Quinton De Kock’s injury was followed by JP Duminy’s withdrawal from the IPL. Their response was to sign Australian fast bowler Ben Hilfenhaus as a replacement, despite the seemingly endless list of bowling options available to them – Mohammed Shami, Kagiso Rabada, M Ashwin and Jayant Yadav make up only half of the bowlers they have in reserve.Rishabh Pant’s gutsy innings against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the face of personal grief drew praise from team-mate Chris Morris, who said the youngster is going to be a big player for India in the future. While Morris’ hypothesis will take time to test, Daredevils’ top-order performance against RCB made it all but certain that Pant is going to be their biggest player this season.Imran Tahir’s stoic declaration that his job was to ‘come and perform’ has been the only reassurance for Rising Pune’s bowling attack. He will also be keen to prove a point against the team that did not play him much last season, and then released him.Ben Stokes’ explosive batting against Kings XI Punjab on Saturday did not improve his bowling form, and Dan Christian’s went for 24 in two overs. Ashok Dinda has had a difficult start to the season as well, which leaves Rising Pune with an unsettled attack.

The likely XIs

Rising Pune Supergiant: 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Mayank Agarwal/Faf du Plessis, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Ben Stokes, 5 MS Dhoni (wk), 6 Manoj Tiwary, 7 Rajat Bhatia, 8 Dan Christian/Shardul Thakur, 9 Rahul Chahar, 10 Imran Tahir, 11 Ashok Dinda/Ishwar Pandey
Delhi Daredevils: 1 Aditya Tare, 2 Sam Billings, 3 Karun Nair, 4 Sanju Samson, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Chris Morris, 7 Carlos Brathwaite/Corey Anderson, 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Amit Mishra/Jayant Yadav, 10 Shahbaz Nadeem, 11 Zaheer Khan (capt)

Stats that matter

• The last four matches at the venue have all been won by the chasing side, which is congruent to Rising Pune’s record of never having won a game after batting first.
• Since winning five of their first seven matches last season, Delhi Daredevils have lost six of their last eight.
• MS Dhoni has made three single-digit scores in his last six innings for Rising Pune, including two innings of at least 10 balls where his strike rate was below 50.
• Ajinkya Rahane averages 77.75 against Delhi Daredevils, with six fifties in 13 innings. They have only managed to dismiss him once inside a Powerplay.
• Steven Smith has 32 runs off nine balls against Shahbaz Nadeem, his highest strike-rate against any bowler in the IPL. His strike rate against Amit Mishra, however, is 72 (18 off 25 balls), his lowest against any bowler in the IPL.
• Chris Morris had the best economy in the slog overs last season among all bowlers who bowled more than ten overs – 7.31. In Daredevils’ previous game against RCB, Morris gave away a combined nine runs in the 18th and 20th overs, of which eight were dot balls.
• Rishabh Pant has 11 runs from four innings when his team bats first in the IPL, as opposed to scores of 20, 69, 4*, 39*, 23, 32 and 57 when they chase.
• Karun Nair hasn’t scored more than thirty in his 12 innings across formats after his Test triple-century against England.
• Imran Tahir has taken five wickets in eight overs, with an economy of 7.12; all other Rising Pune bowlers have taken a combined six wickets in 31 overs, at an economy of 9.29

Through strong concentration and sure-footed technique, the Australian duo staved off India and ensured the Border-Gavaskar Trophy bout remained locked at 1-1

The Report by Daniel Brettig20-Mar-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:04

Chappell: This is like a win for Australia

Thirty minutes before lunch, Peter Handscomb joined Shaun Marsh amid a Ranchi tumult. Their captain Steven Smith had just shouldered arms to let Ravindra Jadeja bowl him, symptomatic of a tired mind, the over after Matt Renshaw had also fallen. Australia were still 89 runs short of making India bat again; the hosts were circling hungrily.Five hours later, Handscomb was still there and Marsh not long departed. The Test match was drawn, and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy bout remained locked at 1-1. Through batting of commendable calm and sure-footed technique, the Australian duo had thwarted India in a manner that will be a source of enormous satisfaction to the tourists. By getting out of a predicament few expected them to survive, they took the series to its final match.Equally, India will be left to ponder why they were unable to close out this match in the manner of others during this elongated home season after the sublime innings by Cheteshwar Pujara. Certainly the Ranchi pitch stayed playable, but R Ashwin was unable to find a way through the Australian batsmen to provide the counterpoint to Jadeja’s danger. Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav both bowled useful spells, but could not follow up Renshaw’s wicket.Ultimately, Australia’s selection of a sixth batsman in place of the injured Mitchell Marsh gave them the batting depth they needed, not only to make a decent first-innings total but also to wriggle out of trouble on the final day. Before this match the visitors had gone 38 Test innings without a fifth-wicket stand worth 100 or more. In Ranchi, they managed to do it twice. Marsh and Handscomb’s stand was worth 124, soaking up 62 priceless overs.Smith and Renshaw had begun simply trying to bat for as long as possible, taking occasional scoring opportunities but stripping their games of risk. India’s captain Virat Kohli began with Jadeja at one end and Yadav at the other, not calling on the offbreak’s of the world’s No. 1 ranked bowler Ashwin until the ball had lost much of its earlier hardness.The plan to Smith appeared to be bowling wide of the stumps while trying to test the Australian captain’s patience. He was comfortable in leaving plenty of balls alone while scoring from the occasional ball that strayed onto the stumps. Renshaw had a few awkward moments against Jadeja but overall held his shape well in dealing with the left-armer’s variation between sharp turn and skidding straight balls.Kohli replaced Yadav with Ishant, and he found a hint of movement from around the wicket. Renshaw’s decision to pull away from the first ball of the 29th over of the innings seemed to raise Ishant’s ire, and he hurled down a pair of bouncers in the same over to push the opener back, before thudding one into his front shin for the lbw verdict.Smith had been safe in padding away anything Jadeja served up from over the wicket, but next over he failed to get his front leg far enough down the pitch or in line and heard the sickening noise of the off stump tumbling over. That error put Cheteshwar Pujara’s enormous concentration in perspective, and left Marsh and Handscomb with much to do.Ishant Sharma and India had precious little to celebrate on the last day in Ranchi•Associated Press

There were plenty of reasons for Marsh and Handscomb to feel overwhelmed when the afternoon session began, but neither was in the mood to give anything away. Their methods offered a contrast of left and right, plus Handscomb’s penchant for getting down the pitch versus Marsh’s long stride down the wicket and outside off stump.A key over arrived midway through the session when Handscomb took 13 from an Ashwin over, compelling Kohli to take him out of the attack and switch Jadeja away from the end from which he had found spiteful turn to defeat David Warner and Nathan Lyon on the penultimate evening.Handscomb and Marsh continued to accumulate either side of the interval, neither batsman doing anything outlandish but simply showing strong concentration and tight technique to frustrate the hosts, who had seemed so confident of victory little more than two hours before.A pair of lbw appeals were referred by India but the day was going with Australia: Handscomb was struck on the back foot but the ball was not striking enough of the bails to avoid being deemed too high, and Marsh’s miss of a flatter Ashwin delivery was not fatal because the ball had not quite straightened enough to strike leg stump squarely.Both batsmen went on to half centuries and negotiated the early passages with the second new ball – India’s last real hope of securing the rush of wickets they needed. Finally, Jadeja added a fourth victim when Marsh bunted a catch to short leg, and Glenn Maxwell soon squeezed Ashwin to silly point. But by then the match had all but petered out.Kohli kept his men going beyond a point that others might not have, perhaps still believing in a miracle. Handscomb, though, was unperturbed, leaving Kohli to finally seek his hand in a gesture of concession and so send these sides to Dharamsala for the decider.

Kings XI Punjab find themselves in a complex qualification battle; but their fate will depend on how they take charge of the controllable factors

The Preview by Varun Shetty08-May-2017

Match facts

Kings XI Punjab v Kolkata Knight Riders
Mohali, May 9, 2017
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)4:18

KKR’s brave strategic punts paying off

Head-to-head

Overall: Kolkata Knight Riders command a comprehensive 14-6 lead over Kings XI Punjab. Knight Riders have won eight games in a row against Kings XI since 2014.This season: Sunil Narine’s Powerplay blitz, followed by Gautam Gambhir’s unbeaten 72, helped Knight Riders chase down 171 with eight wickets in hand and 21 balls to spare.

Form guide

Kings XI Punjab (fifth): lost to Gujarat Lions by 6 wickets, defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by 19 runs, defeated Delhi Daredevils by 10 wickets
Kolkata Knight Riders (second): defeated Royal Challengers by 6 wickets, lost to Rising Pune by 4 wickets, lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 48 runs

In the news

Kings XI will be without Hashim Amla, who scored his second century of the season on Sunday. Amla and David Miller have left for national duties. Either allrounder Darren Sammy or fast bowler Matt Henry is likely to replace Amla, considering Australian allrounder Marcus Stoinis was ruled out of the IPL with a shoulder injury last week.Robin Uthappa is still being monitored by the Knight Riders medical staff. There’s no confirmation on whether fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile will be available for selection either.

Qualification scenario

For Kings XI to make the top four, they will need to win their remaining three games, and then hope that other results go their way. If Sunrisers lose their remaining fixture against Gujarat Lions, then Kings XI will make the cut with 16 points, but Rising Pune could also be pushed out if they lose their remaining two matches and Sunrisers win their last game. Rising Pune have a NRR of -0.060 compared to Kings XI’s 0.242, so any situation that comes down to run rates will clearly favour Kings XI.Knight Riders are tied on 16 points with Rising Pune Supergiant, and are in second place by virtue of a better net run-rate. A win will help them create a two-point gap in the battle for a spot in the first qualifier.

The likely XIs

Kings XI Punjab: 1 Manan Vohra, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Shaun Marsh, 4 Glenn Maxwell (capt), 5 Gurkeerat Singh, 6 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 7 Axar Patel, 8 Matt Henry/Darren Sammy, 9 Mohit Sharma, 10 Varun Aaron/T Natarajan, 11 Sandeep SharmaKolkata Knight Riders: 1 Chris Lynn, 2 Sunil Narine, 3 Gautam Gambhir (capt), 4 Robin Uthappa/Sheldon Jackson (wk), 5 Manish Pandey, 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Suryakumar Yadav, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Nathan Coulter-Nile, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Kuldeep Yadav

Strategy punt

Glenn Maxwell might bowl with the new ball if Sunil Narine opens the batting again – he has conceded only 26 runs in 31 balls against the left-hander in previous meetings, and has dismissed him twice.However, when he had brought himself on in the Powerplay against Knight Riders in their last meeting, he was taken for 18 runs. To avoid an encore, Varun Aaron’s pace and bounce could be utilised instead.

Stats that matter

• Wriddhiman Saha (11.25 in eight innings) has the second-worst average among batsmen who’ve played more than five innings in the top seven. He is led and trailed by Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Shane Watson (11.16 in six innings) and Knight Riders’ Colin de Grandhomme (14.33 in six) respectively.
• Kings XI’s recent success is down to drastic improvements in bowling: in the first six games, Sandeep Sharma, Mohit Sharma and Axar Patel had taken 15 wickets at an economy of 8.71 and an average of 38.06. In the last five, they’ve taken 23 wickets with an economy of 7.48 and an average of 16.00.
• Glenn Maxwell has also chipped in to Kings XI’s improved bowling – he has taken six wickets at an economy of 5.92 in their last five games.
• Gautam Gambhir has hit Maxwell for 42 runs from 24 balls.
• Maxwell has been dismissed thrice by Umesh Yadav in 19 balls, and twice by Narine in 31 balls. He scores at less than a run-a-ball against both of them.

Experts involved with the Bob Woolmer case feel the then Jamaican Director of Public Prosecutions attempted to cover up the truth to protect the state pathologist at the centre of the botched investigation

James Fitzgerald01-Jun-2017Ten years after the death of Bob Woolmer at the 2007 World Cup, the then-Jamaican Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has been strongly criticised for his role in and behaviour during the subsequent inquest.In November 2007, a jury at the coroner’s inquest returned an open verdict on Woolmer’s death despite evidence pointing towards natural causes. Experts and officials involved with the case feel the influence of the DPP, Kent Pantry, was crucial in attempting to discredit evidence that pointed away from the murder theory proffered by the state pathologist Dr Ere Seshaiah.Three independent overseas experts disagreed with Seshaiah’s findings and pointed to basic errors he had made during the post-mortem examination. When they attempted to give evidence at the inquest, they said they found the way blocked by Pantry.Dr Nathaniel Cary, forensic pathologist for the British Home Office and now chairman of the Royal College of Pathologists; Professor Lorna Martin, chief specialist at the Division of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology at the University of Cape Town; and Dr Michael Pollanen, chief forensic pathologist of Canada’s Ontario province and now the president of the International Association of Forensic Sciences, were called by the Jamaican Constabulary Force (JCF) to give their expert evidence.In a fresh interview to the a decade after Woolmer’s death, Martin recalled of the inquest: “It was very adversarial – like a murder trial as opposed to an inquest. I kept a note at the time, which said: ‘So I was called to present my opinion, the last of the three international pathologists to do so… it was the most hostile, uncomfortable court that I have ever had to testify in. I had two Jamaican police officers (VIP unit) with me at all times, was told not to venture out of my hotel and did not go anywhere except from the hotel to the court… It was not fun, and testifying was very frustrating.'”Cary echoed the sentiment, telling the recently: “It was a fairly hostile inquest, which was disappointing, because my involvement and the involvement of other pathologists was to simply assist the Jamaican state with getting to the bottom of a difficult case. And in such circumstances, there is no room for loss of face. It was managed in some ways more like a criminal trial. To use the director of public prosecutions was unusual and he had an incredibly adversarial style which… was totally inappropriate.”In response, Pantry said the opinions meant nothing and were speculation.”A coroner’s inquest is not a ‘prosecution’ so I do not understand how it could have appeared that I was ‘prosecuting’,” Pantry said. “I strongly suggest that you carefully examine the Coroner’s Act before arriving at an uninformed opinion. The fact that others share that opinion does not make it correct.”Pantry retired from his role in 2008 and now works in academia. He defended Dr Seshaiah, pointing out that “there was no finding by the coroner that Dr Seshaiah or the police made any mistakes, and I am not aware of any fall-out or any official review of the coroner’s inquest into the death of Bob Woolmer.”Several attempts to reach Seshaiah proved unsuccessful.Mark Shields, lead investigator: “The degree of hostility in the coroner’s court was unprecedented”•AFP

But Pantry’s behaviour has also been criticised by the lead JCF investigator in that case, Mark Shields. Based on Seshaiah’s report, the JCF pursued the murder theory for a few months, before climbing down in the face of mounting expert evidence.”The degree of hostility in the coroner’s court [for that case] was unprecedented,” Shields said. “It was more of an inquisition… and it appeared to be an agenda to try to discredit professional witnesses that were brought in from abroad.”Me and some of the other police officers were almost like suspects as opposed to people presenting evidence from the investigation. It was certainly an unprecedented approach to marshalling evidence at a coroner’s inquest.”Had Seshaiah’s findings been disproved, Shields said, it would have opened the possibility of a plethora of appeals from other cases that the state pathologist had been involved in.”The consequences of finding that the verdict was natural causes – and clearly we had established that – would have caused embarrassment to elements of the Jamaican justice system, particularly around pathology and the ability of the pathologist to do his job. It would have called into question every other investigation he had been involved in and may have opened a Pandora’s box for the re-investigation of older cases and the potential for appeals for many cases as well. I think that would be the motivation behind it. That is my opinion and can be the only opinion because inquests don’t happen like that. I never experienced that before in my career.”It is an opinion shared by Martin. She said: “Given the bigger picture of things, I’m not surprised [at how adversarial it was]. If this particular inquest found that the state pathologist had made such a fundamental error in the case, then that would have opened up all previous convictions or decisions regarding his cases, and would have meant everyone in custody on the basis of his pathology would have had grounds for appeal.”At the very least it makes one question the quality of the forensic investigation of deaths or autopsies that were being done, and if the pathologist could miss something so fundamental, what else was missed in this, and in all the previous cases [he] dealt with?”Woolmer died on March 18, 2007, the day after Pakistan, the team he was coaching, were knocked out of the World Cup by Ireland. He was found lying in his hotel bathroom in Kingston, Jamaica, and never regained consciousness.Cricket Monthly

Following the suspension of his contract last year, due to a controversial tweet, the West Indies batsman has asked Cricket West Indies to prove that he had indeed posted a message criticising board president Dave Cameron

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jun-20174:53

‘Nobody asked if it was me who tweeted’ – Bravo

Batsman Darren Bravo has challenged Cricket West Indies to prove he was the one to post a controversial message on his Twitter account against the board president Dave Cameron, which resulted in his expulsion from the side’s Zimbabwe tour last year.In November, Bravo was sent home days before the start of a tri-series, following a tweet on his account which called Cameron “Big Idiot”. Bravo’s reaction was a response to Cameron’s statement that the batsman had been offered a Grade C contract due to his slipping average.Bravo’s contract was revoked immediately and both parties have since been locked in a bitter legal dispute. Bravo has also been sidelined from all cricket, outside the Caribbean Premier League, in the West Indies, including his own regional team Trinidad & Tobago.Last week, speaking to the Caribbean television network , Cameron said that Bravo would need to delete the tweet to be eligible to play for West Indies again. “What Darren Bravo has to do first and foremost is take down the tweet,” Cameron said. “Every day that tweet is an infraction. Secondly he needs to accept that he has done something wrong and then we can move forward from there.”This week, speaking to the same channel, Bravo was non-committal when asked if he would delete the tweet. “Even though you saw a tweet on my account, on my Twitter account, no one actually asked me if I did that,” Bravo said.In his first interview since his exclusion from the side, Bravo recounted the events that followed the tweet. He claimed that neither the West Indies coach nor the manager or media manager ever enquired if he had posted the tweet. “No one asked me: ‘Darren Bravo, did you tweet that?’ No one asked me anything. So I went to sleep.”The next morning, Bravo recounted, he received two “sudden emails”. “One from Richard Pybus, former director of cricket stating my contract has been terminated and I am being sent home and the other from Roland Holder (cricket operations manager) with my flight details. But no one actually asked me anything. So I was left in a situation of what is really going on here. And it was also a situation where they gave me an ultimatum, after being sent home, to take down the tweet by 4 pm and apologise on Twitter. But, at the end of the day, no one can prove that Darren Bravo actually went on his Twitter account and tweeted that. There was no due process. No one asked me any, anything. Up to this day no one has called me and asked me anything. So it has been very disappointing.”When asked if he had posted the tweet, Bravo said his legal team – comprising attorneys Leslie Haynes and Donna Symmonds – was best placed to respond. “I wouldn’t answer that question right now. The best person to answer that question is my legal team.””I have given up so much for West Indies cricket and the way I have been treated is like, my efforts and my energy and my whatever went all down the drain.”•Getty Images

Symmonds told the television network her client will not rush into taking any step until everything related to the issue was reviewed “in totality”. “As far as we are concerned his contractual rights have been breached. There has been a rush to judgement.”Symmonds said that negotiations between the two parties broke down seemingly at a position when they believed Bravo could be “reintegrated” into the set-up. According to Symmonds, Johnny Grave, the Cricket West Indies CEO, “made an offer” to Bravo, which signaled some agreement could be reached.”It had been agreed that certain statement would be made by the president (Cameron) and certain statements by Darren. And with regard to the tweet Darren had agreed to do certain things as well, but the sticking point was one other matter. We had made a suggestion as to how that could be resolved and we have never had a response,” Symmonds said.Since November last year, Darren Bravo has been sidelined from all cricket, outside of the CPL, in the West Indies, and has also lost his place in his regional side Trinidad & Tobago•Getty Images

Bravo’s legal team, however, alleged that Grave broke the “good faith” by making a public statement, telling ESPNcricinfo in April that he was frustrated by Bravo’s damages claim of $120,000.Symmonds alleged Grave “scuttled” the negotiations completely. “I would have to say a breach of good faith and it caused the negotiations to breakdown, so we are no longer there,” she said.Bravo said he was hungry to play for West Indies once again. “Yes, I want to play cricket for West Indies again, but at the end of the day when I step on to the field I want to be able to be happy, I want to be able to enjoy my cricket once more. That is something I have been lacking probably for the last year playing for West Indies. That is the total honest truth.”Bravo said Test cricket has always been his “forte”, a format where he finds himself “happy”, to the extent that he gave up two IPL contracts previously and even stood down from the West Indies squad for the 2016 World T20, to focus on first-class cricket.”I had two IPL contracts before Kolkata Knight Riders. I give up those two contracts. I also had opportunity to go and play in the T20 World Cup that West Indies won in India. I gave up that to stay home and play first-class cricket. I could have jumped on the plane, gone to the T20 World Cup in India. If I get selected all well and good. If I don’t get selected, no problem, but I would have got approximately US$ 7,000 for one T20 game. I decided to stay home to play first-class cricket (where) I get paid $1300 (per match). I have a very important part to play in the quest to revitalise West Indies cricket in the longer format of the game.”I have given up so much for West Indies cricket and the way I have been treated is like, my efforts and my energy and my whatever went all down the drain. And I don’t like the way I have been treated. Yes, I want to play Test cricket, but I have to make decisions, as I said about my family and stuff like that.”Bravo virtually ruled himself out of selection for the England tour in August-September, saying he will be “fulfilling” his contract in the Caribbean Premier League where he represents Trinbago Knight Riders.

Geoffrey Boycott, the former England batsman and Test Match Special summariser, has made an “unreserved apology” after suggesting that he’d have a better chance of getting a knighthood if he “blacked up”

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Aug-2017Geoffrey Boycott, the former England batsman and Test Match Special summariser, has made an “unreserved apology” after suggesting that he’d have a better chance of getting a knighthood if he “blacked up” his face to look like a West Indian cricketer.Boycott, who played 108 Tests for England between 1964 and 1982, including 29 against West Indies, made his remarks during a question-and-answer session at a VIP lunch during the first Test against West Indies at Edgbaston.Knighthoods, he said, were handed out like “confetti” to West Indies greats – he named no names, but a total of 11 former Caribbean greats have been conferred the honour to date, including Sir Vivian Richards, Sir Garfield Sobers and Sir Curtly Ambrose.”Mine’s been turned down twice,” he told the event’s host, Gary Newbon. “I’d better black me face.”Boycott’s remarks were met with an uneasy silence by his audience, a room that included several black guests who had paid close to £300 a head for the occasion.In the wake of a wave of criticism, with one of those present denouncing him as a “dinosaur”, Boycott took to Twitter to apologise.”Speaking at an informal gathering I was asked a question and I realise my answer was unacceptable,” he wrote. “I meant no offence but what I said was clearly wrong and I apologise unreservedly.”I have loved West Indian cricket my whole life and have the utmost respect for its players.”The last England cricketer to receive a knighthood was Sir Ian Botham in 2007, with Sir Alec Bedser earning his a decade earlier in 1997.

Essex are well beaten but both sides fail to make the last eight

ECB Reporters Network18-Aug-2017Sussex Sharks won their final group game in the NatWest T20 Blast when they beat Essex Eagles by 55 runs at Hove on Friday. But their convincing victory was still not enough to see them through to the quarter-finals of the competition as they were edged out of the tournament on Net Run Rate.Chris Nash’s 73 gave Sussex the edge as he batted with Luke Wright as a runner towards the end of his innings after pulling up in pain following a quick single.Chris Nash batted with a runner but his efforts were in vain•Getty Images

Essex never looked likely to get close to a target of 173 on the thrilling last night of the competition’s group stages.Unlike Sussex earlier in the evening, their Essex innings got off to an awful start. Varun Chopra was out in the first over when he hit Danny Briggs to deep midwicket. And the wickets continued to fall.Dan Lawrence was caught in the covers when he got a think edge to one from David Wiese and the bowler struck again in the same over when Ravi Bopara was well caught behind buy the diving Ben Brown to make it 33 for 3 in the fourth over.It was 45 for 4 when James Foster was caught behind and Essex were in deep trouble at 49 for 5 in the eighth over when Will Beer had Ashar Zaidi caught at deep square-leg. Everything now depended on Ryan ten Doeschate. But when he hit Beer high in the direction of cow corner Chris Jordan took an excellent running catch. After that even some late clouting from Paul Walter and Simon Harmer could not get the Eagles close.When Sussex batted Chris Nash was once again their star, with an innings of 73 off 55 deliveries. It was his sixth half-century in the competition this year as he continued to turn around his disappointing early season form.There were seven fours and two sixes in his innings which ended unluckily in the penultimate over when, playing a ramp shot off Mohammad Amir, he flicked a bail off his stumps with the stroke.Nash and Luke Wright put on 84 for the first wicket before Wright, attempting a straight six, was caught just inside the boundary by Ryan ten Doeschate for a 23-ball 37 in the ninth over.The Sussex innings stumbled as they lost three wickets while scoring 18 runs off four overs. Sussex were without skipper Ross Taylor, who had returned home to New Zealand for family reasons. But Nash finally found the support he needed in Laurie Evans, who hit an astonishing six over midwicket off Jamie Porter on his way to 47 off 34 deliveries.

The BCB has allowed Shakib Al Hasan to rest during the Test series in South Africa later this month, while giving him the option of playing the second Test “if he wants”

Mohammad Isam11-Sep-2017The BCB has granted Shakib Al Hasan the break he had requested from Test cricket, but for a shorter duration than the six months he had asked for. Shakib will be allowed to rest during Bangladesh’s tour of South Africa, which begins later this month, though Akram Khan, the BCB’s cricket operations chairman, has said he has the option of playing the second Test, “if he wants”.”Shakib wrote a letter to us asking for a six-month break,” Akram said. “He can miss the first Test against South Africa but if he wants, he can play the second Test. He will not be traveling with the team but he can tell us what he decides to do.”Akram said that Shakib had made his request in order to prolong his international career. “We can’t always be thinking about us,” Akram said. “We should also keep his fatigue into consideration.”This will be the first time that a Bangladesh player will voluntarily miss a Test, but Shakib is one of the busiest players in the country’s history, with T20 league commitments around the world to go with his international career. The timing of his request is interesting, though, coming soon after one of his greatest performances, when he scored an important half-century and took 10 wickets in a match for only the second time in his career to inspire Bangladesh to their first Test win against Australia.Shakib has so far played 51 Tests and missed seven – four since becoming a regular member of the side. He had missed two Tests in Sri Lanka in 2013 due to an injury and two more in the West Indies in 2014 due to a suspension.

The Australia batsman tweeted a picture of the vehicle with a shattered window soon after they beat India by eight wickets

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Oct-2017Australia batsman Aaron Finch has tweeted a picture of their team bus with a broken window, saying a rock had been thrown at the vehicle as they were leaving the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati after the second T20I. No one was hurt in the incident. Police protection around the team hotel was increased in the aftermath.
According to a report on the Cricket Australia website, no one was seated next to the window where the rock pierced the glass and fell inside the vehicle.* Australia had beaten India by eight wickets with 27 balls to spare and were on their way to the hotel when the incident occurred.They had a similar scare in Bangladesh a couple of months ago, with authorities believing street children had thrown something at their bus. The BCB immediately increased security for the Australian team to ensure there were no further mishaps.*06.00 October 11: The article was updated with information published on the Cricket Australia website