Category Uncategorized

Travis Head and Nitish Kumar Reddy also likely to be retained by last season’s IPL finalists

Nagraj Gollapudi16-Oct-2024South Africa power-hitter Heinrich Klaasen is set to be the top retention for Sunrisers Hyderabad ahead of IPL 2025. ESPNcricinfo has learned that Klaasen will get INR 23 crore (US$2.74 million approx.) as the first retained player. The franchise has also finalised two other retention deals: Australian allrounder Pat Cummins, who was Sunrisers captain in 2024, at INR 18 crore (US$2.14 million approx.), and India allrounder Abhishek Sharma at INR 14 crore (US$1.67 million approx).It is understood that Sunrisers are also likely to firm up the retentions of Travis Head and Nitish Kumar Reddy soon. The IPL set October 31 as the deadline for retentions ahead of the mega auction that will be held later this year.Cummins, who had captained Sunrisers to the final last season, will continue as captain in 2025.Related

• SRH to retain Travis Head and Nitish Reddy as well ahead of IPL mega auction

• CSK waiting on go-ahead from Dhoni before retention deadline

• October 31 set as deadline for IPL teams to finalise retentions

• IPL mega auction: Six retentions, RTM back, Impact Player to stay

• Two-year ban for overseas players pulling out after IPL auction

Recently the IPL decided that a franchise can retain up to six players – including a maximum of five capped players (Indian or overseas) and two uncapped Indians – from their 2024 squads. Franchises can hold on to their players via any combination of retention deals and right-to-match (RTM) cards at the auction.The purse for the 2025 auction is INR 120 crore. The IPL also set various retention slabs – INR 18 crore, INR 14 crore, and INR 11 crore for the first three capped retentions, and INR 18 crore and INR 14 crore for the next two, with uncapped Indians fetching a maximum of INR 4 crore – but franchises are allowed to divide the capped retention pot of INR 75 crore among five capped players as they wish.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Successful units have always looked to retain their core, and hence it is no surprise that Sunrisers have decided to go down this route. Cummins, who was the second-most expensive buy at the 2024 mini-auction (INR 20.50 crore or US$2.47 million approx.), made use of his leadership experience in international cricket and combined well with Sunrisers coach Daniel Vettori to help steer Sunrisers to the playoffs after three disappointing seasons. In monetary terms, Cummins gets a 12.2% reduction on his 2024 price.The freedom the Cummins-Vettori leadership group allowed youngsters like Abhishek and Reddy helped them to flourish in the company of Head and Klaasen. Head and Abhishek formed arguably the most dangerous opening pair ever seen at the IPL, with both consistently hitting 200-plus strike rates. Head finished the season fourth on the overall run-getters list, with 567 runs in 15 innings at a strike rate of 191.55.Klaasen provided equally robust finishing touches, with his six count behind only that of Abhishek’s. While Abhishek made 484 runs at a strike rate of 204.21, Klaasen scored 479 runs at a strike rate of 171.07.Klaasen’s burgeoning reputation as one of the best T20 batters going around is reflected in a 338% increase from the INR 5.25 crore Sunrisers paid for him at the mini-auction ahead of IPL 2023. He has aggregated 927 runs in 26 innings at a strike rate of 174 in his two seasons at Sunrisers so far.Abhishek’s successful year in T20 cricket sees him rewarded with a value hike of 115%. He earned an India T20I call-up on the back of his IPL 2024 exploits, and will earn more than twice of what Sunrisers paid for him at the mega auction ahead of the 2022 season (INR 6.5 crore).Abhishek has a T20 strike rate of 194.84 to date in 2024, which is the highest for any batter who has faced more than 200 balls in the format this year. At IPL 2024, too, he had the highest scoring rate among the tournament’s top-ten run-getters.Twenty-one-year-old seam-bowling allrounder Reddy – who debuted for India in the recently concluded T20I series against Bangladesh, smashing 74 off 34 in his second game – had proven a reliable support act for Sunrisers in 2024, with 303 runs at a strike rate of 142.92 and three wickets.If Sunrisers firm up all five of these retentions, and do not add a sixth to their list before deadline day, they will have one RTM card at the auction, which can only be used for an uncapped Indian.

Miles Hammond resists but can’t prevent Gloucestershire from slipping to three-day defeat

ECB Reporters Network12-Jul-2023 Durham 453 (Lees 195, Clark 82, Carse 62, Goodman 4-73) and 52 for 1 beat Gloucestershire 316 and 188 (Hammond 86, Potts 4-24) by nine wicketsDurham wrapped up a dominant nine-wicket victory over Gloucestershire inside three days to edge themselves further towards promotion from Division Two in the LV= Insurance County Championship.The hosts began day three needing 17 to secure maximum batting points and Matthew Potts duly obliged with the bat before he blew the game open with the new Kookaburra ball. The England seamer claimed figures of four for 24 in his six-over burst dismantling the Gloucestershire top order.Miles Hammond prevented an innings defeat with a defiant knock of 86, but Matt Parkinson and Brydon Carse claimed two wickets apiece to clean up the tail, leaving Durham to chase only 52. The hosts eased over the line within 12 overs to extend their lead at the top of Division Two with five games remaining after claiming 24 points from the contest.Resuming on day three on 433 for seven and Carse unbeaten on 60, Durham looked to press on and reach the 17 runs required to secure maximum batting points for the fifth time of the campaign.But, Matt Taylor ended Carse’s knock to claim his 200th first-class wicket after the Durham all-rounder added only two runs to his overnight score. Two boundaries from Potts saw the hosts over the 450-mark before he was caught on the fence to hand Dominic Goodman his fourth wicket, finishing with career-best figures.After rain forced an early lunch, Potts turned the screw with a devastating new-ball spell to demolish the Gloucestershire top order.Having been overlooked by the England selectors for the 4th Ashes Test, Potts continued his devastating Championship form as he bowled Ben Charlesworth, Ollie Price and Chris Dent with outstanding deliveries, removing the top three for single-figure scores, reducing the visitors to 10 for three.Grant Roelofsen soon followed with an outside edge to present Potts with a fourth wicket, while at the other end, Hammond was given a reprieve when he was dropped at slip on six. Hammond and James Bracey offered resistance against the new ball to prevent Potts surging through the line-up.The backbone of the Gloucestershire line-up was broken when Bracey chased a wide one from Migael Pretorius to end the stand for 39. Zafar Gohar survived a couple of close calls against Matt Parkinson, but then gave his wicket away attempting to launch a slog-sweep that only ended up in the grasp of Carse.Hammond held up the Durham victory charge with a defiant knock of 86, scoring his second fifty of the game. He shared a partnership worth 62 with Taylor to prevent an innings defeat for the visitors. Taylor frustrated the Durham attack for almost an hour, keeping Potts and Carse at bay. But, Raine’s return broke the stand removing Taylor for 22 before Hammond was caught on the leg-side pushing for his century, falling 14 runs shy, leaving Durham requiring only 52 to register their fifth win of the campaign.Alex Lees was the only man to fall in the chase when he was bowled by Gohar for 22. Scott Borthwick and Michael Jones were there at the end to secure the win within 12 overs, taking maximum points in the process.

Legspinner says he “wanted to be home a bit more and spend more time with the family” in Christchurch

ESPNcricinfo staff22-May-2022New Zealand legspinner Ish Sodhi will be representing Canterbury in the upcoming 2022-2023 domestic season after ten seasons with Northern Districts.Residing in Christchurch with his family for the past five years, Canterbury Cricket in a statement said that he has “decided to fully entrench himself in the tapestry of the city by pulling on the red and black this summer.””It was a really tough decision, being from one association for all my life, I leave with a heavy heart,” Sodhi said. “But to be in a position where I can be bold enough to make that decision speaks a lot of my development at ND.”Family has played the biggest part [in the move south]. Being down here for the past few years and my daughter is just about to turn two years old so I just wanted to be home a bit more and spend more time with the family.””I just want to come in and contribute as much as I can to the environment.”Sodhi, 29, is expected to join the team during the winter pre-season training in the newly constructed Sir Richard Hadlee Sports Centre.Peter Fulton, Canterbury’s head coach, said that a “new challenge” will help Sodhi work towards his goal of a comeback into the Test side.”Clearly, we are delighted to secure the services of Ish for the 2022-23 season,” Fulton said. “He lives in Christchurch and has a young family, so I am really pleased he has now decided to play his cricket for Canterbury.”I am really looking forward to working with Ish and can’t wait to see him on the field at Hagley Oval wearing red and black.”I know Ish harbours ambitions to play Test cricket again so hopefully a new challenge will be exactly what he needs to achieve that goal.”In the previous Plunket Shield season, Sodhi played three games and picked up nine wickets at an average of 17.44. In the recently-concluded season, Canterbury finished second on the points table, with Auckland winning the championship. Canterbury have won the domestic titles four times in the past.

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.”

Less than a year ago the allrounder was Player of the Match in the T20 World Cup final

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Sep-2019A return to Antigua has rekindled fond memories for Australia allrounder Ash Gardner, but for team success rather than personal glory.Just under a year ago, Australia claimed the T20 World Cup title by beating England in the final with Gardner named Player of the Match for her standout all-round contribution of 3 for 22 followed by an unbeaten 33 off 26 balls.Gardner and the Australians are now back on the island to begin their limited-overs tour of West Indies with the first ODI on Thursday. That match will be played at the Coolidge ground before the final two ODIs are staged at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, the scene of Australia’s triumph last year.”When I think about West Indies I just think about the World Cup and the team performance, it’s nice having those memories personally but the team comes first,” Gardner said. “It’s nice coming back here to a place where we’ve had really good success and hopefully we can create some more really good memories.”Australia have not had a huge amount of time to prepare for the series, which involved a 36-hour journey to the Caribbean for most of the squad plus a 14-hour time difference. They have not had any official warm-up matches, instead using two inter-squad matches two days ago as their first hit out since the end of the Ashes series in England in late July.”It’s been quite difficult coming from Australia, trying to get back into the swing of things, but it’s been really nice to be back,” Gardner said. “We didn’t realise the first game was so close but we are all really keen and ready to go, trained hard coming off a really successful Ashes.”There will be some changes to Australia’s batting line-up from the Ashes with Nicole Bolton, who opened in the Ashes ODIs, not making this trip. Rachael Haynes is one option to take her place at the top of the order alongside Alyssa Healy, but it could also mean more chances for Gardner up the order having not batted higher than No. 7 in her 24 matches.”I’d love to if I got the opportunity, that’s what those [warm-up] games were all about, giving people an opportunity to bat in different positions to what they normally do,” she said. “If I got the opportunity to bat as high as possible I know I’d try to take it with both hands.”These ODIs – which are followed by three T20Is – are part of the Women’s Championship. Australia (22 points) are currently second behind England (24) but have played six games fewer, having won 11 of their 12 matches, while West Indies (11) are second bottom. The top four teams automatically qualify for the 2021 World Cup.

Timm van der Gugten claimed four wickets in 12 deliveries with the second new ball as Glamorgan came back strongly in the evening on day one against Northamptonshire

ECB Reporters Network25-Jun-2018
ScorecardTimm van der Gugten claimed four wickets in 12 deliveries with the second new ball as Glamorgan came back strongly in the evening on day one of their Specsavers Championship match against Northamptonshire. Half-centuries from Ricardo Vasconcelos, Alex Wakely and Richard Levi helped Northants to reach 281 before Glamorgan’s openers advanced to 21 without loss in reply.Glamorgan’s bowlers have had a habit in recent games of demolishing the opposing lower order. They took five wickets for five runs against Derbyshire last week, and here claimed the last five for six runs in 29 balls, van der Gugten finishing with 5 for 45.Northants had no hesitation in batting first after winning the toss on another glorious day at Sophia Gardens, although they had a scare from the first ball of the game, when Luke Procter survived a huge shout for a catch behind the wicket off van der Gugten.The opening stand was quickly broken, however, when Ben Duckett edged one in Michael Hogan’s second over, and was well caught by Nick Selman one handed at second slip. Procter was then dropped at mid-off, but he fell shortly afterwards for 15 when he nicked Ruaidhri Smith’s second ball to the wicketkeeper.Vasconcelos, Northants’ South African-born batsman, overcame a nervous start to play some handsome strokes through the offside, but also played and missed frequently against the seamers. He was eventually undone by van der Gugten, who got one to lift from a length and Vasconcelos’ nick was well caught by Cooke diving away to his left. There then followed a productive partnership between Wakely and Levi, who played watchfully against an accurate Glamorgan attack.Wakely was the first to pass 50, and he went on to reach his biggest score of the season, before he attempted to cut a ball from Smith, and was well taken at slip by Usman Khawaja. Eight runs later Northants lost their fifth wicket – Smith claiming his third – when Adam Rossington, driving away from his body, was caught in the gully.Steven Crook then joined Levi in a useful partnership of 44 for the sixth wicket, before van der Hugten, armed with the new ball, made further inroads by bowling a double-wicket maiden. Levi went to the first ball of the over, when he was caught at second slip from a intended cut, then two balls later, Sri Lanka allrounder Seekkuge Prasanna skied an ambitious shot to mid-on.Worse was to follow for Northants as Crook shuffled across his stumps and was out lbw to Hogan, with van der Gugten ending the innings quickly by having Ben Hutton brilliantly caught by Khawaja at slip, and bowling Ben Sanderson with his next ball.

Russell Domingo has said that he has not yet reapplied for his post as South Africa’s head coach and can’t say whether he has plans to take the team to the 2019 World Cup

Firdose Moonda13-Jun-2017Russell Domingo still has no clarity on whether he will continue in his role as South Africa’s head coach after the current tour to England. After South Africa crashed out of the Champions Trophy in the first round, Domingo told the media he had “not yet” reapplied for his post and “can’t say” whether he has plans to take the team to the 2019 World Cup.CSA has also given no indication of whether the process to appoint a new coach has moved forward since it appointed a five-person panel in May to recommend the next coach, who will be in charge for the next two years.While Domingo confirmed he had not yet given any thought to what he might do if he did not continue as national coach, he was willing to reflect on the four major tournaments – the 2014 and 2016 World T20, 2015 World Cup and 2017 Champions Trophy – he has overseen.”We’ve come so close on so many occasions, and it’s just disappointing that we didn’t give ourselves the best chance here,” Domingo said. “The players are bitterly disappointed. I can tell you it’s not through lack of trying or lack of effort or commitment. Someone told me that India didn’t field at all for the last couple of days (before our match), we try and field as much as we can. So it’s not through lack of effort. I’m just bitterly disappointed for the players. They’ve played some great cricket this year and sometimes life can be unfair. But you’ve got to make your own luck as well.”Like his captain, AB de Villiers, Domingo admitted not being able to pinpoint exactly what had gone wrong for South Africa or what needs to be done to change their fortunes. “You just need to play well on the day, that’s the bottom line. There’s no magic wand or injection that you’re going to give guys,” he said. “Guys just need to make the best decision on the day and do what they’ve done prior to those particular games. We haven’t done that. We’ve played great cricket over the last year and Sunday was probably our worst game. We didn’t do the basics well enough and that’s what you need to do in these games.”While Domingo did not directly accept responsibility for the team’s inability to do those things, he indicated that management had done all they can and then some, to no avail. “We’ve had two bad games here, it doesn’t make the side a bad side,” he said. “There are always going to be questions asked until the side wins an event, wins these knock-out games, wins these big games, and rightly so. But there’s no magic wand. A lot of things have been tried, a lot of things have been discussed. A lot of people have been involved and unfortunately the results at the moment are still the same.”South Africa did not employ any specific special methods for this event – no extreme sports adventures a la 2012 when they went mountaineering with Mike Horn, no foreign consultants like Mike Hussey, who was with them at the 2015 World Cup – but entered this tournament on the back of form and on an upward curve. Still, they remain at a loss to explain how things went so wrong and the only consolation they can offer fans is that they will keep at it.”You keep trying, that’s the bottom line. You can’t give up,” Domingo said. “The side’s got to go away and reassess, think about it, and start moving forward again.”In the post-mortem, Domingo cautioned against any impulsive reactions and urged the administrators to wait for the dust to settle before deciding if heads, perhaps even his own, will roll. “Players need to go away and think about it for a couple of days. Never good to make decisions when emotions are high, so once things have calmed down I suppose people need to sit down and think of a way forward once again. Take it from there. Now is not the time,” Domingo said.

Cricket Australia has struck another obstacle in its plans to play back-to-back day-night Tests next summer, with Australia’s players arguing that one is sufficient

Brydon Coverdale29-Apr-2016Cricket Australia has struck another obstacle in its plans to play back-to-back day-night Tests next summer, with Australia’s players arguing that one is sufficient. The final Test of the summer’s first series against South Africa will be a day-night fixture in Adelaide if CA can convince the players of both sides to agree, while the first Test of the second series will be a day-nighter against Pakistan at the Gabba.However, South Africa’s cricketers have expressed their concerns about playing under lights with a pink ball, and the Australian Cricketers’ Association has now also raised queries about the wisdom of playing two day-night Tests in the summer. Alistair Nicholson, the ACA CEO, met with Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland on Thursday, and a wider meeting involving the players is expected to take place after the IPL.”The recent media regarding whether South Africa will or won’t play a day-night Test is only one part of the equation,” Nicholson said. “There are many other factors to be considered. The feedback we are receiving from our playing group is that there still remain concerns over day-night Tests and whilst there is acknowledgement that this format may grow the game, at this stage the players would prefer to only play one day-night Test in 2016-17.”Pink-ball Tests are a fundamentally different game to traditional red-ball Test matches. We continue to be concerned about the durability and visibility of the pink ball, both the changing light conditions and the specifically prepared pitches are altering the conditions that the players are used to at each venue.”Last year’s inaugural day-night Test between Australia and New Zealand at Adelaide Oval was over within three days, as extra grass was left on the pitch in an effort to protect the ball from too much wear and tear. Australia’s captain Steven Smith said on Cricket Australia’s website recently that last year’s Test was “probably two millimetres of grass away from a four-day game”.South Africa captain AB de Villiers said he had met with Smith and some of the Australia players earlier this year to discuss day-night Test cricket, and “the consensus from our talks were that there are just too many unknowns”. Smith said he was surprised at the comments from de Villiers and said the Australians would be happy to play a day-night Test if the South Africans wanted to.However, the ACA said in a statement that “the legitimate concerns of the players had to be heard” in the current discussions involving Cricket Australia. He said that while the ACA welcomed the news that Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa would continue their talks on the possibility of the Adelaide Test being day-night, the players wanted to be part of the discussion.”The players are supportive of innovation and certainly see the bigger picture,” Nicholson said. “It’s about growing the game through high quality cricket, accessible to as many people as possible. That’s why we urge more formal discussions with the players having a seat at the table. On behalf of the players the ACA would welcome that.”

Tamim Iqbal has submitted a letter to the BPL governing council, asking their assistance to clear the rest of his payments from Duronto Rajshahi

Mohammad Isam23-Sep-2013Tamim Iqbal has submitted a letter to the BPL governing council, asking their assistance to clear the rest of his payments from Duronto Rajshahi. So far he has been paid 50 percent of his total amount for BPL 2013, and the franchise owner last month said that Tamim would not be paid anymore because he left during the Twenty20 tournament without prior notice.Tamim heard from his Rajshahi teammates that some of them have been paid a 25 percent installment recently. As a result of this new information and the statement made by Mushfiqur Rahman, the Rajshahi franchise’s owner, Tamim wrote the letter addressed to BPL chairman Afzalur Rahman Sinha on Sunday.Tamim confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that he has sent the letter, and was expecting an outcome. “I have said it at the time, and I will say it again, I didn’t leave the team* without seeking permission. I told every relevant person at the time,” he told ESPNcricinfo.In the letter, Tamim mentioned that he played 10 out of the team’s 13 matches. He missed the three matches due to a left wrist injury, but he would not mind if he is not paid for those missed games. He would like to be paid the rest of the amount for the 10 matches in which he appeared.Ahead of Rajshahi’s game against the Rangpur Riders, the BCB had requested the franchise to rest Tamim, as Bangladesh were set to tour Sri Lanka two weeks later. He didn’t play the last two matches, after which he says that he took permission from several people in authoritative positions to leave the team hotel and go to Chittagong to meet his family.Last month however, Mushfiqur told the media that he had asked the board not to pay Tamim. “I have only barred the board from paying Tamim. He did not play some matches due to the board’s request. Also, he went abroad without taking the team management’s permission,” he told reporters on August 30.Tamim rebuffed Mushfiqur’s statement on the same day, saying he talked to everyone in Rajshahi’s management and in the BCB who needed to know, before he left the country.”Immediately after my left wrist was diagnosed with a crack, I informed Mushfiqur and the board president that the BPL is over for me,” Tamim told reporters. “I talked to our coach Khaled Mashud, and later when I went to the Shere Bangla National Stadium, I talked to the team owner once again, telling him that I will leave the team hotel.””I left for Chittagong subsequently, the board president can vouch for me. I went abroad after 4-5 days. BCB’s medical staff has all the written records. That injury prevented me from playing the Galle Test in March. I cannot understand why he [Mushfiqur] has said this.”Meanwhile, Tamim’s teammate Ziaur Rahman has made a similar claim, after he was told by his franchise that he would not receive his full amount.”I am absolutely fine if I am not paid for the matches that I missed due to injury but they still owe me money,” Ziaur told . “They bought me for $137,000 at the auction. I have received 50 percent of it and now they are asking me to compromise $37,000. They said it is because I couldn’t perform [according to their expectations].””I am sorry for [not meeting their expectations] but this is not professional at all. I was a contracted cricketer of that team and my performance should have no effect on the remuneration. Even the contract doesn’t say so.”* 13:11 GMT – Tamim Iqbal’s quote was changed

Tim Southee, the New Zealand fast bowler, has said his team cannot be counted out of the Jamaica Test just yet

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Aug-2012Tim Southee, the New Zealand fast bowler, has said his team cannot be counted out of the Jamaica Test just yet. Following a dramatic collapse on day three, in which New Zealand slipped from 56 for 2 to 154 all out, West Indies were left chasing a target of 206. New Zealand did nip out four wickets by stumps but, by then, the hosts needed only 71 more with six wickets in hand to sweep the series 2-0.”Look at the last couple of mornings, [there have been] been wickets early; if we can grab [Shivnarine] Chanderpaul early, and a couple of others, we’ll be right back into it,” Southee said. “If we do manage to pull it off, it’ll be a very memorable win.”After two early losses in the chase, West Indies consolidated through a partnership of 74 between Assad Fudadin and Marlon Samuels. First-innings centurion Samuels had followed up with another half-century, but the pair was dismissed in the final session. Getting Samuels gave New Zealand a boost, Southee said. “Samuels is one of the best batsmen in the series, especially in this game anyway. To get Marlon, when he’s batting well and [after he] got a decent start, it was a great time to pick one up.”New Zealand’s meek collapse, Southee admitted, was a letdown. “Obviously, there [aren’t as] many runs as we’d like to play with. The batsmen knew that they’d sort of let that one slip.”West Indies, giving them credit, they came out and bowled extremely well in the morning and a few shots there, that our batters played, weren’t ideal.”New Zealand had looked to be ahead in the match, after bowling West Indies out for 209 in their first innings to secure a 51-run lead, that too without two of their most experience bowlers, Daniel Vettori and Chris Martin. Their four-pronged pace attack – Southee, Neil Wagner, Trent Boult and Doug Bracewell – clicked, sharing all ten wickets among them and again, on the third day, each of the four picked up a wicket apiece.Southee said it felt good working in tandem with the other bowlers. “You’d always like to get more wickets [but] if you’re not getting the wickets, somebody else’s going to get them. With the four bowlers there, I think we’ve all bowled pretty well at times and chipped in.”It’s just [about] doing your job and if it gets you a wicket at the other end, then you are just as happy as you are if you get a wicket.”