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Stand-in captain Peirson’s quickfire 69 was in vain as Strikers defended 17 off the last two overs

Alex Malcolm23-Dec-2020The Adelaide Strikers have survived an extraordinary innings from Jimmy Peirson to pull off a nail-biting win at the Gabba and ensure the Heat remain winless after three games.The Heat were 8 for 68 needing 83 to win from 40 balls. But Peirson nearly stole the game, smashing 69 not out from 36 balls with seven fours and two sixes. He got great support from Mujeeb Ur Rahman but when Mujeeb fell he had no margin for error.Peirson and Ben Laughlin needed just 17 runs off the last two overs but faced eight dot balls between them as Laughlin couldn’t get off strike in the penultimate over and Peirson was unwilling to risk him getting on strike in the last.The result came at a huge cost for both clubs with Chris Lynn and Rashid Khan suffering hamstring injuries. Lynn damaged his left hamstring running to catch a high ball during the warm-up and was unable to play. The injury occurred after the toss but the Strikers allowed the Heat to change their team as per the BBL guidelines. Simon Milenko came into the side and Peirson took over as captain for the first time in his T20 career.Rashid injured his right hamstring chasing a ball in the 18th over and limped off in some discomfort having earlier taken 2 for 30.Renshaw returns
Matt Renshaw was one of a number of players who left the Heat during the off season and he returned to have an impact early. He entered at 1 for 2 in the first over after Jake Weatherald fell. The standard of umpiring in the lack of DRS in the BBL has been a significant issue this season and Weatherald’s dismissal only added to the dismay. Batting well out of his crease against Xavier Bartlett, he was struck well above the knee roll and was adjudged lbw. Ball tracking had it going well over the stumps. Renshaw and Phil Salt put together a 60-run stand which took 53 balls. But in the context of the game on a two-paced surface, it was a significant stand. Salt nearly ran himself out three times but Renshaw looked composed punishing anything short. But both men fell to Mark Steketee in consecutive balls in the 10th over to leave the Strikers vulnerable.Adelaide Strikers celebrate after Jimmy Peirson’s stunning knock nearly stole the game•Getty Images

Understudy Nielsen steps up
Harry Nielsen only got his opportunity because Alex Carey was ruled out due to the Queensland border closure. But he played a brilliant innings to help the Strikers reach 150. He found the rope more than any other Strikers batsman, hitting three fours and a six on the Gabba’s expansive boundaries. Nielsen and Jonathan Wells combined for 57 in just six overs including 25 off the Power Surge overs. Nielsen holed out in the 19th over to Jack Wildermuth and Wells fell in the 20th to Bartlett. The Heat quicks completed outstanding spells taking 4 for 49 from their combined eight overs and conceding just one boundary each.Heat horror show
It was always going to be a challenge without Lynn but the Heat top order did themselves no favours as they collapsed to 8 for 68. Sam Heazlett guided a catch to backward point second ball to start the rot. Daniel Worrall had the ball swinging late away from the right-handers but stand-in captain Peter Siddle turned to his spinner Danny Briggs for the second over, despite the fact he had been subbed out of the last two games. Briggs bounced back in a big way. He picked up Milenko before Rashid Khan completely deceived Max Bryant and Dan Lawrence with neither able to pick him. Briggs picked up two more in the collapse although one would have been overturned had there been a DRS in place. Tom Cooper was given lbw when he got a huge deflection from a reverse sweep onto his pad. The decision could be the most definitive case yet for the introduction of the DRS in the BBL.Peirson Power Surge pyrotechnics
All hope looked lost for the Heat when they took the Power Surge in the 15th over but Mujeeb did what the top order of his side could not, clobbering Rashid Khan for two reverse-swept fours and a six. Peirson then clubbed Siddle for 23 with two attempted yorkers sailing over fine leg’s head into the crowd. Suddenly the Heat needed just 37 from 24. Peirson should have been run out diving for two but a poor throw and the rule change that allows for the bat to bounce once it had been ground behind the line meant he survived. He clubbed two more boundaries off Wes Agar to reach 50 and reduce the equation to just 23 from 18 balls. But Siddle made up for his mistakes in the Power Surge nailing a yorker to clean bowl Mujeeb.That left Peirson will no room for error. A well-placed two off the last ball of the 18th over was the nail in the coffin. Ben Laughlin faced five dot balls in the 19th over from Agar. It left Peirson needing 13 in the last to win. He paddled Worrall’s first ball for four and found a gap at midwicket to run two and leave just seven to get from four balls. But Worrall hit three yorkers in a row that Peirson hit straight to fielders in the deep. He turned down the single on each occasion knowing that an attempt at two would have resulted in a certain run out. It meant he needed six off the last ball to send it to a Super Over but could not get any elevation, slumping to his knees after finding the rope to leave the Heat two runs short.

They call for targeted investment in the game around the world; addition of cricket to Olympics

Annesha Ghosh13-Jan-2021England captain Heather Knight and Australia wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy have called on the ICC to create “more centralised funds” that could help accelerate and spread the professionalisation of the women’s game.Knight and Healy, two of the world’s premier all-format stars in the women’s game, underlined the need for the ICC to widen its role in addressing infrastructural inequalities in women’s cricket and increase the volume of cricket across more countries.”As players, we understand that cricket countries around the world are in very different financial positions,” Healy and Knight wrote in the FICA Women’s Professional Cricket Global Employment Report 2020. This is a second such review conducted by FICA, after the inaugural edition was released in October 2018, two years after the female players were formally brought under the ambit of FICA.”Having said that, there needs to be equal commitment from all countries to addressing barriers, and promoting and investing in the women’s game if we are to achieve gender equity on the global stage and in individual cricket countries,” they further wrote.”At [the] global level, we think there is an opportunity for the ICC to prioritise increased and targeted investment in the game around the world, not just in global events. This could include for example more centralised funds to assist the professionalisation of the game in more countries and to ensure more cricket can be played.”Healy and Knight’s recommendation threw into sharp focus the larger sense of uncertainty around the women’s game borne out by the 2020 report, a 31-page document published on Monday. As per the report, based on the findings of the 2019 FICA players’ online electronic survey, 46% of its respondents specifically highlighted remuneration as the foremost concern.”Two-thirds of players feel insecure in their cricketing employment, whilst a further 81% would favour contract and job security over playing in different competitions. This anxiety is caused by limited, short-term and insecure contracts, with 82% of women cricketers currently on contracts that are one year or less in duration,” the report stated.There has been increased broadcast exposure of global tournaments, leagues have flourished in Australia and England – first with KSL and now potentially with The Hundred. Yet, the study identifies women’s cricket as “an exclusive sport” as it comprises “a very small pool of players worldwide” at the elite level.It puts the number of full-time professionals worldwide in 2018-19 at “just 119 (compared to over 400 professional male cricketers in England and Wales alone). Also, during the report period, there were a small number of semi-professional contracts available in just three countries: Australia, England and New Zealand.” This is down in part, according to the report, the “flight of talent” which typically sees a “worrying number of players who opt to leave the game.””Players often play cricket alongside their studies before going onto pursue professional careers elsewhere. This could manifest itself in a general lower standard of play as a consequence of a lack of competition for places, as well as an increasing ability gap between the top players and the rest,” the report said.”The seven-week Kia Super League (KSL) tournament was the only semiprofessional structure below the national team, but it’s 90 contracted players were often forced to find a supplementary income to be able to participate in the competition.”Alyssa Healy (L) hasn’t been afraid to voice out against governance issues in women’s cricket•Getty Images

ODIs ‘are all-important’; Olympics desiredWhile most national boards and the ICC have through the past decade identified the T20 format as the most appropriate vehicle to promote and grow the women’s game, the review shed light on the players’ appetite for the 50-over game.”In the absence of regular Test cricket,” the report stated, “and despite the continued emergence of T20, 63% of players view ODI’s as the most important format of the game. In 2018-19, only 39 women’s ODI’s took place (compared to 128 men’s) – that equates to just 21% of the scheduled women’s international cricket for that year.”As far as Test cricket goes, though, the report doesn’t offer any specific insights on players’ stance on the gradual petering out of the longest format, especially when taking in account that in the review period – the 2018-19 season – the lack of an Ashes series meant no Test cricket was played by women. This, while total international fixtures in 2018 spiked to 186, more than doubling from 85 in 2017.Additional findings in the report also underscored that 81% of survey respondents highlighted the inclusion of women’s cricket in the summer Olympics as something they would like to see in the near future.”Along with cricket’s recent inclusion in the Commonwealth Games, and provided it fits in a well-structured global calendar, involvement in the Olympic Games would provide much-needed exposure as well as a boost to the amount of scheduled international women’s cricket on offer.”

Zimbabwe bat again after being bowled out for 287 in response to Afghanistan’s 545 for 4 declared

Firdose Moonda12-Mar-2021Stumps Afghanistan are ten wickets away from squaring the two-Test series against Zimbabwe, having enforced the follow-on in Abu Dhabi after dismissing the opponents for 287 in the first innings for a 258-run lead. On a pitch that’s taking turn but remains good for batting, Zimbabwe openers Kevin Kasuza and Prince Masvaure batted out the 13 overs before close in their second innings to shave 24 runs off the deficit.Rashid Khan and Amir Hamza shared seven wickets between them in Zimbabwe’s first innings and ensured that Zimbabwe were unable to build on a decent start. The opening pair of Kasuza and Masvaure put on 91 then, but Zimbabwe then lost four wickets for 54 runs before Tarisai Musakanda and Sikandar Raza steadied them. Musakanda and Ryan Burl were then dismissed in successive overs and Raza was again needed to do a repair job. He put on 53 with Regis Chakabva, Zimbabwe’s only other half-century stand, and after Chakabva was dismissed, Zimbabwe lost their last four wickets for 45 runs in the hour after tea and had to bat again.Khan, who got four wickets in the first innings, was given the new ball, which he shared with left-arm seamer Sayed Shirzad, who had a significant impact with the old ball in the first innings with two wickets in two balls. It was Shirzad’s double-strike in his first over after lunch that put paid to any thoughts Zimbabwe might have had of batting out the day.Which is what they must have hoped for at the start of the day, with Kasuza and Masvaure unbeaten overnight and the scoreboard showing 50 for no loss. But Kasuza reached for a wide delivery from Khan that he could have left alone to fall for 41, and Masvaure was then bowled by Hamza. Shirzad rushed Sean Williams into a pull, which he could only top-edge to midwicket, and then removed Wesley Madhevere for his second golden duck of the series. Shirzad found Madhevere’s outside edge with a delivery that angled in and left the batsman, who doesn’t have a run in Test cricket so far.Those wickets were a redemption of sorts for Afghanistan’s lone seamer in this match after a poor morning spell. His four overs cost 22 runs and Kasuza plucked boundaries off him with ease, forcing Asghar Afghan to use spin from both ends early on. Offspinner Javed Ahmadi found sharp turn but the breakthrough only came when Khan was introduced and removed Kasuza. Zimbabwe have gone without a century opening stand in almost ten years, since August 2011.Sikandar Raza top-scored for Zimbabwe in their first innings•Abu Dhabi Cricket

Musakanda was around when Masvaure got to his third Test fifty, which came with a quick single that almost led to the batsman being run-out at the non-striker’s end. Musakanda went on to a career-best 41 and was particularly severe on Khan’s short balls, but the legspinner had the last laugh when he trapped Musakanda lbw. In the next over, a Hamza delivery that turned in from the rough clipped Ryan Burl’s leg stump to dismiss him for a duck and leave Zimbabwe on 189 for 6 and staring down the barrel.Raza and Chakabva not only stabilised Zimbabwe but also took the fight to Afghanistan. They would have wanted to see Zimbabwe to the close, but Chakabva was victim to an outstanding catch from Ibrahim Zadran at short leg when he looked to work a Khan delivery to the leg side but sent the ball in the air, Zadran sticking out his left hand and taking the catch low to his right.That left Raza, who was on 43 at the time, to usher the tail and work towards avoiding the follow-on. He reached 50 off 80 balls and then saw Donald Tiripano given out four balls later to a catch at silly point although there did not appear to be any bat involved. Raza played some shots after that, whacking Khan over mid-on for four and Hamza over long-on for six, even as he tried to keep the strike away from Blessing Muzarabani.Afghanistan were on to Zimbabwe’s survival tactics and it was around then that we got a moment that may be talked about long after this Test is done and dusted. Raza hit a shot off the last ball of a Shirzad over, and the ball went towards the point boundary before stopping just short. But Hashmatullah Shahidi, in bending down to pick the ball up, had one foot over the line. The umpires awarded five runs to Zimbabwe allowed Raza to get back on strike as per Rule 19.8.None of that counted for much, though, as Muzarabani was run-out in the next over, and Raza holed out to long-off off the next ball to end Zimbabwe’s first innings.

The Redbacks lost 9 for 76 after being on course to haul down a huge target at the WACA

Andrew McGlashan02-Mar-2021Cameron Green and Travis Head traded spectacular centuries at the WACA but it was a South Australia collapse that decided the game as Western Australia secured the win in a contest that had 725 runs, including four centuries.Green scored his first one-day hundred from 82 balls, powering the latter part of Western Australia’s innings with some fierce strokeplay, but Head responded in kind with a brilliant 68-ball century, which put his team on course in a rollicking stand of 226 in 25 overs with Harry Nielsen, who struck a maiden one-day hundred too.However, when Head was run-out – beaten by Green’s strong arm – it started a collapse of 9 for 76 as the middle order lost its cool. Alex Carey was also run-out, through an excellent gather by wicketkeeper Josh Inglis, without facing a ball before Nielsen and Callum Ferguson brought the equation down to 55 off 43 balls with seven wickets in hand.Ferguson missed a hack across the line against Aaron Hardie, who then had Nielsen caught at deep cover, and the lower order couldn’t recover. Cam Valente gave South Australia an outside chance of getting 15 of the last over but he became the fourth run-out of the innings as he tried to keep the strike but failed.The target was within sight for South Australia as long as Travis Head was around•Getty Images

It meant another agonising near-miss for the Redbacks on their trip west after they came within one wicket of securing victory in the Sheffield Shield.While the game was decided by a collapse and some rather headless batting, there was some outstanding strokeplay throughout the day.Green, who scored an unbeaten 168 in the Shield game, had taken time to lay himself a base and was 33 off 45 after playing out a maiden from Daniel Worrall in the 33rd over. He then cut loose, bringing up his half-century with three consecutive sixes off Head and there was no stopping him after that. The last 56 balls of his stay brought 111 runs as he carted the ball to all parts of his home ground, which included five fours off the first five balls of Worrall’s ninth over.Shaun Marsh had earlier brought up his 19th hundred in the format off a comparatively sedate 99 deliveries in a stand of 156 in 22 overs for the third wicket with Green. Green and Inglis then added the finished touches with a partnership of 88 in seven overs.Remarkably, though, it did not look like it would be enough as Head produced a thrilling display of striking, which followed his double-century in the Shield earlier in the week. He struck his first ball for four although he wasn’t consistently above a run-a-ball until passing 20.He went to his fifty from 39 balls with a six off Charles Stobo in the 24th over, which cost 21 and really kick-started the chase when the required rate had passed nine an over. After celebrating the hundred, which required just a further 29 deliveries, he was sending the ball to and over the boundary almost at will until he was caught just short coming back for a second.Western Australia had an opening and they made it count, although the Redbacks will know a stunning chase slipped from their grasp.

David Lloyd scores 84 but Sussex openers respond by posting 99 without loss

ECB Reporters Network15-Apr-2021An excellent unbeaten hundred from Kiran Carlson lifted Glamorgan to a respectable score on the first day of Glamorgan’s LV=Insurance County Championship match against Sussex as the home side reached 285 all out.Related

• Darren Stevens top scores for Kent with 52 but hosts flounder against Yorkshire

• Adam Lyth falls just shy of ton as Yorkshire frustrate Kent bowlers

Sussex’s openers looked excellent in response, Tom Haines and Aaron Thomason both reaching the close undefeated with their team 99 without loss.Sussex were on top in the opening overs of the match with Ollie Robinson and Harry Crocombe getting the ball to move late, but Glamorgan came back into it thanks to Carlson’s hundred and David Lloyd’s 84.Robinson had Nick Selman trapped lbw with the fourth ball of the match and had Andy Balbirnie dismissed the same way in the seventh over of the Glamorgan innings. When Crocombe got another lbw, this time Billy Root, Glamorgan were 23 for 3 and in serious danger of collapsing.Lloyd’s attacking intent and Carlson’s more measured accumulation blunted the Sussex attack, with both particularly brutal to the bowling of George Garton who went for 30 runs from just four overs.It was Crocombe who ended Lloyd’s fine knock of 84 with a ball that bounced and moved away to give Garton a sharp catch at second slip to end a stand of 110 with Carlson.Carlson remained unflustered as partners fell around him with Glamorgan losing three wickets for 46 runs when Crocombe and Robinson were reintroduced into the attack.Carlson was lucky to survive on 91 when Tom Clark was edged to Garton at first slip who failed to take the chance diving to his right. Had the chance been taken it would have been a wicket with Clark’s first ball in first-class cricket. Carlson made the most of this good fortune, registering his fifth first-class hundred from 152 balls.An 87-run stand between Carlson and Dan Douthwaite took Glamorgan to 266 for 6. Douthwaite was just starting to open his shoulders and look to score quickly when he mistimed a drive off Stuart Meaker for 36. Three quick wickets from Jack Carson rounded off the Glamorgan innings with Carlson unbeaten on 127.While Carlson and Lloyd had done well the Sussex opening pair put Glamorgan’s efforts into context. Thomason made 52 and Haines 43 with none of the Glamorgan bowlers getting the same movement with the new ball that Robinson and Crocombe had managed.

Shubman Gill, Axar Patel and Mohammed Siraj are new entrants, while Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur have earned promotions

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Apr-2021Wristspinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, who were a crucial part of India’s white-ball plans in the lead-up to the 50-over World Cup in 2019, have suffered demotions in the BCCI’s list of centrally contracted men’s players for the October 2020 to September 2021 period.Kuldeep was among the core group of Grade A players in the 2019-20 contracts list, while Chahal featured in Grade B. Both have now dropped down to Grade C.Shubman Gill is one of three new players on BCCI’s men’s contracts list for 2020-21•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

A spate of injuries has also led to a demotion for Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Grade A to B), while Hardik Pandya (B to A) and Shardul Thakur (C to B) have earned promotions in the new contracts list.Shubman Gill, Axar Patel and Mohammed Siraj, who made impressive Test debuts during the 2020-21 season when India overcame an injury crisis to beat Australia 2-1 away and England 3-1 at home, all entered the contracts list as Grade C players. Patel returns to the contracts list for the first time since 2017-18, when he was a Grade C player, while Gill and Siraj have been contracted for the first time.Kedar Jadhav and Manish Pandey, who have lost their place in India’s white-ball squads over recent months, have dropped out of the contracts list.India captain Virat Kohli, white-ball vice-captain Rohit Sharma and fast-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah remain the only three players in the Grade A+ category. Apart from Pandya, the Grade A players include wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, allrounder Ravindra Jadeja, fast bowler Mohammed Shami, Test specialists R Ashwin, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Ishant Sharma, and white-ball openers Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul.There is no change in the pay structure for the players, with the Grade A+ players earning INR 7 crore per year, Grade A earning INR 5 crore, Grade B INR 3 crore, and Grade C INR 1 crore.The demotions of Kuldeep and Chahal coincide with fallow periods in both players’ careers. Since the end of the 2019 World Cup, Chahal averages 37.12 in ODIs and Kuldeep a worrying 58.41, with both returning economy rates north of six an over. Kuldeep has played only three T20Is since the World Cup, while Chahal has only picked up 16 wickets in 17 games while conceding 9.13 runs per over.Kuldeep’s Test-match stocks have fallen away too. Talked up by India coach Ravi Shastri as their No. 1 overseas spinner in Test cricket after the 2018-19 tour of Australia, he has only played one Test match since.

Visitors up to third in Group Three with Sussex unable to exert pressure on chase

ECB Reporters' Network30-May-2021Northants took just 65 minutes to beat Sussex by seven wickets to register their third victory in Group Three of the LV=Insurance County Championship at the 1st Central County Ground. In doing so they made it a double over Sussex, having beaten them by an innings and 120 runs in Northampton earlier in the month.At the start of play on the last day the main question was whether the match would survive until lunch. But the interval was still a long way away when Northants crossed the line, mainly because of an aggressive and unbeaten 47 from 43 balls from Saif Zaib, who had shown his liking for the Sussex bowling in the earlier match, but also because of Rob Keogh, who made 60 not out from 112 deliveries.Northants resumed on 131 for 2, with Luke Procter 47 not out and Keogh unbeaten on 24. They needed another 87 for a victory that would take them up to third in the group.The odds were always against a young and inexperienced Sussex side, particularly on a pitch that appeared to flatten out as the match progressed. And batting conditions were never more benign than on the fourth morning, when there was hardly a cloud in the sky.Sussex opened up with Delray Rawlins’ left-arm spin from the Sea End and the bouncy pace of Jamie Atkins. Procter reached his fifty when he worked Rawlins through midwicket for two. He had faced 149 balls and hit five fours. But he had added just one run to his score when he was out, flailing at a wide delivery from Atkins for Aaron Thomason to take a good catch low down at first slip.The Sussex team did well to celebrate the wicket because it was to be their only success of the morning. But this young and inexperienced side did well to keep the match in the balance until the final hour of the third day, when Procter and Keogh moved the match decisively in the direction of Northants.The game ended with a flurry of blows, mostly from Zaib, who showed his intentions when he took a step down the wicket and clouted Rawlins over wide mid-on for six. There was another six, and also five fours.

Recalled opener reaches first first-class hundred before Kent’s late fightback keeps them in it

ECB Reporters Network03-Jun-2021Emilio Gay’s maiden first-class century and fifites for Luke Procter and Ricardo Vasconcelos put Northamptonshire in the driving seat on the first day of their LV= Insurance County Championship match at Canterbury.That was, at least, until a mini-revival from Kent pegged them back: the new ball then helped bring Kent back into it, Darren Stevens taking 2 for 52 and Matt Quinn 2 for 77 as Northants reached the close five down.Kent lost the toss for the seventh time out of eight this season and they were once again left to rue their luck as the visitors chose to bat, Vasconcelos and Gay exploiting a benign surface to put on 135 for the first wicket.