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Opening batter Mayank Agarwal has been added to India’s squad

Nagraj Gollapudi02-Feb-2022India have been dealt a severe blow four days ahead of their ODI series against West Indies with seven members of their camp, including four players, testing positive for Covid-19. The players are Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad and the reserve fast bowler Navdeep Saini.The other three are members of the support staff: fielding coach T Dilip, security liaison officer B Lokesh and sports massage therapist Rajeev Kumar.While announcing the development in a media release late on Wednesday, BCCI secretary Jay Shah said the selectors had added opening batter Mayank Agarwal to the ODI squad.Related

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The BCCI said that all positive results emerged after the India squad had undergone three RT-PCR tests upon landing in Ahmedabad on January 31. Dhawan and Saini returned positive tests after the first round of testing on January 31. Dilip and Lokesh also tested positive on the same day. Gaikwad, who had cleared the January 31 test, returned a positive test the next day, while Iyer and Rajeev returned positive tests on Wednesday during the third round of testing.The India squad started to arrive in Ahmedabad at the end of last week while West Indies landed early on February 2. Both teams are staying at the same hotel, but on separate floors. As per the BCCI’s guidelines both India and West Indies have to serve a minimum of three days’ quarantine in their hotel rooms before breaking out for training. India were scheduled to start training from Thursday while West Indies from second half on February 4.All members of the Indian contingent, the BCCI said, had been asked to take a PCR test before they travelled to Ahmedabad. All the seven members who tested positive will now isolate in Ahmedabad. As per the guidelines issued by Indian government, any person testing positive needs to isolate for minimum of seven days.The ODI series is set to be played behind closed doors, with India currently experiencing a third wave of the pandemic. India recorded over 160,000 fresh cases on Tuesday, with the state of Gujarat, where Ahmedabad is located, reporting over 8000 of them.Dhawan, Iyer and Gaikwad will now most likely miss the three-match ODI series, which will be played on February 6, 8 and 11. But the three batters will aim to be back for the T20I leg of the series. The T20Is will be played in Kolkata on February 16, 18 and 20.Vice-captain KL Rahul has not yet joined the India squad and is set to miss the first ODI in order to attend his sister’s wedding. This means India will have only five batters from the original squad to choose from for the first ODI: captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant and allrounder Deepak Hooda. Agarwal is likely to arrive in Ahmedabad on Thursday, which means he could slot into the XI for the first ODI, immediately after completing his three-day quarantine.

Bangladesh made three other changes to the side that played Sri Lanka while India went in unchanged

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Sep-2025Toss Jaker Ali, Bangladesh’s 12th T20I captain, won his first toss and chose to bowl in the Asia Cup Super Fours match against India in Dubai. Jaker stepped into the role – and also took over the wicketkeeping gloves – with Litton Das ruled out with a side strain.With Litton out, Parvez Hossain Emon came back into the side and is expected to open alongside Tanzid Hasan, with Saif Hasan moving down to No. 3. Bangladesh made three other changes from the XI that beat Sri Lanka on Saturday, all to their bowling attack. Out went the offspinner Mahedi Hasan and seamers Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam, and in came legspinner Rishad Hossain, fast bowler Tanzim Hasan Sakib, and the seam-bowling allrounder Mohammad Saifuddin, who plays his first match of the tournament.India were unchanged as expected.India: 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Sanju Samson (wk), 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Varun Chakravarthy, 11 Jasprit BumrahBangladesh: 1 Tanzid Hasan, 2 Parvez Hossain Emon, 3 Saif Hasan, 4 Towhid Hridoy, 5 Jaker Ali (capt & wk), 6 Shamim Hossain, 7 Mohammad Saifuddin, 8 Rishad Hossain, 9 Nasum Ahmed, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Tanzim Hasan Sakib

Batsman hopes injury will prove a ‘good thing’ in the long run and hopes to be fit for County Championship opener

George Dobell27-Feb-2020Rory Burns believes the injury that curtailed his winter with the Test team may prove “a good thing” for English cricket in the long term.Burns sustained serious ligament damage when playing football in warm-up the day before the second Test against South Africa. He subsequently underwent surgery and was ruled out of the remaining three Tests in that series and the two upcoming Tests in Sri Lanka. Having just established himself in the team – he had made two Test centuries since August and at least one half-century in four of his previous five Tests – it was a cruel blow both for Burns and for England.ALSO READ: Burns sidelined for four months after ankle surgeryBut the injury had further repercussions. As the latest in a saga of football-related injuries – Jonny Bairstow and Joe Denly were among the other members of the England squad to have sustained injuries in a similar manner – it led to the England management banning football in warm-ups. Several of the first-class counties are understood to have taken similar decisions ahead of the 2020 season.Now, as Burns contemplates his comeback, he admits he will not be playing football again. And he reflects that Ashley Giles, a long-term critic of the idea of playing football as a warm-up activity, was probably right all along. Giles is the director of England’s men’s teams.”Have I ruined it [playing football] for everyone?” Burns says with a smile. “I think I have ruined it for the county circuit. The majority of it, anyway, and certainly the England boys. But I don’t think there’s too many arguments from too many places.”While I am still a professional cricketer I probably won’t play football again. It’s taken four months out of a career and the stage I had got myself to where I was playing quite nicely.”It was an avoidable setback and when you get something that’s avoidable like that you probably re-evaluate whether you want to waste your time doing four months in a gym rehabbing or being on a plane to Sri Lanka.”Was Giles right all along? Potentially. It’s probably taken something like this to re-evaluate it; something like this to put it into perspective. It shows what the downsides of football are, I suppose. There are obviously a lot of plus points to football but I don’t think I will be playing it any time again soon.”It was a bit freakish. Most people roll their ankle on the outside; I did going over to the inside. I think my studs got caught in the floor. But if that’s the catalyst to put things right and maybe say you don’t need it and keep the boys on the park it’s probably a good thing in a weird way.”If none of those guys get injured moving forward because football has been moved out of it then I think that’s a positive thing for English cricket.”Rory Burns speaks at the PCA’s rookie camp•Barrington Coombs/Getty Images for PCA

The good news for Burns is that he looks on course to be fit for the start of the county season. While he hasn’t picked up a bat as yet, he will go on Surrey’s pre-season tour to the UAE from March 17 and is expected to return to their team for their opening Championship fixture against Somerset at The Oval starting on April 19. Barring a significant dip in form, it would be a surprise if he did not return to the Test team when England host West Indies from the start of June.As a player who has had his fair share of ups and downs in the game, Burns was a natural choice to address the 50 or so young players attending the PCA’s rookie camp earlier this week. Among other things, he spoke of the need for persistence – it took him five successive seasons of scoring 1,000 first-class runs to convince the selectors to pick him – and the dangers of social media.ALSO READ: Never a better time to be a professional cricket, but rookies learn perils are huge tooIn particular, he looks back to the aftermath of the Ireland Test – when he scored 6 in each innings – and the savaging he took from some sections of the media. Mark Waugh memorably said Burns “looked like a nightwatchman” and suggested: “don’t think he’ll be playing the Ashes.” Burns responded with a maiden Test century in the first Ashes Test a few days later.”The thing that annoyed me about the Ireland game was that people judge you very quickly – be it fans or whatever – on a snapshot of your career,” he says. “I’d had seven years of batting in first-class cricket that was overwritten in seven Tests.”In the County Championship you don’t get that level of speculation. I don’t avoid social media, but you have to taper it to the voices you want to listen to. I still had it open when I started my Test career and I didn’t read all of it but you can’t help it when it’s at the top of your mentions… Tom Noddy down the road has given his twopence.”The key is: you’re never as good as you think you are when you’re doing well, and you’re never as bad as you think you are when you’re not. You’re always somewhere in the middle and you just bounce along. It’s remembering that. Sticking to the fundamentals of what works for you.”

Their pace attack’s economy is the second-worst this season and Delhi’s dynamic batting won’t make it easy

The Preview by Sreshth Shah31-Mar-20193:08

Should Mujeeb Ur Rahman return for Kings XI?

Big picture

Kings XI Punjab should’ve won all three so far. They’ve beaten two sides comprehensively, but have themselves (and Andre Russell) to blame for losing the other. But they like playing in Mohali, where their batsmen can trust the surface and their spinners have the ability to make full use of the wide-square boundaries. They’ll now chase their sixth-straight win at home.But they’ve been on this kind of high before. Last season, they won five of their first six games before their campaign came to a grinding halt. R Ashwin wants them to approach the tournament like a marathon. What that means in terms of their team combination is yet to be seen.Delhi will be boosted by their scrappy Super Over win against Knight Riders, though. Fine, it’s the kind of win that gives you an unparalleled rush but it also allows you to reflect on the weaknesses. They need to bowl smarter after reducing their opponents to scores like 61 for 5 and the team is not yet sure of their best XI.Their enviable Indian top-order, though, matches each Kings XI batsman player for player, so it’s likely that the contest will be decided by which team bowls better on a surface with the second-highest strike-rate for batsmen since IPL 2017.

Likely XIs

Kings XI Punjab: 1 Chris Gayle, 2 KL Rahul (wk), 3 Mayank Agarwal, 4 David Miller, 5 Sarfaraz Khan, 6 Mandeep Singh, 7 R Ashwin (capt), 8 Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman, 9 M Ashwin, 10 Ankit Rajpoot/Mohammed Shami 11 Andrew TyeDelhi Capitals: 1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Colin Ingram, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Hanuma Vihari, 7 Chris Morris, 8 Harshal Patel, 9 Amit Mishra/Axar Patel, 10 Sandeep Lamichhane, 11 Kagiso RabadaBCCI

Strategy Punt

• Kings XI should bowl more spin in the Powerplay. Before Shaw’s 99 against Knight Riders, he was out to spin in five of his last eight IPL games, scoring at a strike-rate of 130 and an average of only 14.60. But it’s a Catch-22 for Kings XI. Shaw’s been out to all kind of bowlers, but not right-arm offspin. Maybe legspinner Murugan should be the Ashwin who bowls to him.
• Ankit Rajpoot could solve Kings XI’s death-overs blues. In the 12 games that Kings XI have played without Rajpoot, their economy in between overs 15-20 has been 11.20. In the four games that Rajpoot has been part of the XI, their last five overs’ economy has been only 7.90.
• Don’t bowl Amit Mishra to the Kings XI opening pair. KL Rahul scores at a strike-rate of 276.50 against him, Chris Gayle goes at 186.70 and Mishra has never dismissed either batsmen. But it will be a conundrum for Iyer on how long Mishra can be held back. Gayle and Rahul have scored six of their eight fifty-plus stands at home, and average 53.8 runs per partnership in Mohali.

Stats that matter

• Kings XI Punjab win 70% of their games when R Ashwin’s economy is less than 8.50.
• Since IPL 2015, ten of the 14 games at Mohali have been won by teams batting first.
• Since IPL 2016, Shreyas Iyer has the second-biggest difference in strike-rates between his first 20 balls and the rest of his innings. His average-strike in the first 20 balls is 110.90, but after that, it’s a whopping 167.90. The strike-rate difference of 57 is more than Sunil Narine, Shane Watson, and even MS Dhoni.

Unbeaten 47 in Australia’s win over England makes allrounder the first player – male or female – to reach the milestone

Matt Roller at Hove28-Jul-2019Ellyse Perry’s unbeaten 47 in Australia’s seven-wicket win at Hove made her the first player – male or female – to reach the all-round milestone of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in T20 international cricket.Perry had brought up her 100th wicket by dismissing Nat Sciver in the World T20 final in November, and clipped a four off her pads to bring up the 1000-run mark in the closing stages of Sunday’s chase.Dominant in 50-over cricket, Perry’s record in T20Is has been comparatively modest with the bat, with just three fifties in 60 innings, but she played a composed, measured innings to help Australia chase down their target of 122 with 13 balls to spare.In characteristic fashion, Perry downplayed the significance of her achievement. “I guess it’s lovely, but I wasn’t aware of it,” she said.”I actually think in T20 cricket at international level, we probably play it as much as the men, so I have played a pretty big volume of games now – over 100, so I suppose when you’ve played 100 games you might get close to it. That’s probably the only reason I’m there – because I’ve played a lot of games.”It was really cool to be out there with Meg [Lanning, with whom Perry put on 87]. I really enjoy batting with her and she’s incredible when she’s going. To be at the other end is quite easy really.”I think those kinds of totals are always tricky chases. You don’t want to be too reckless but you also don’t want to hold yourself back. Once we got settled, it felt pretty rhythmical and obviously Meg is in unbelievable form and she just carried on from where she left off in the last match.”Shahid Afridi (1416 runs and 98 wickets) had previously been the closest to reaching the milestone, while Shakib al Hasan (1471 and 88) is best placed to join Perry in coming years.Perry also contributed with the ball, striking with her third ball to dismiss Amy Jones for the fourth time on this tour, despite bowling as few as ten deliveries to her.And Perry suggested that Jones’ struggles had come about primarily due to pressure and poor shot selection. “Quite honestly I haven’t thought about it,” she said, “and that’s with no disrepect to Amy because I think she’s a wonderful player.”I’m not sure many of those balls have been particularly good balls. I think maybe – I hope she doesn’t mind me saying – there’s been some interesting decisions and I think she just feels the pressure a bit.”She’s trying to get things going and it’s been her shot selection to various balls which have got her out rather than my good bowling. It’s been one of those series where we’ve found ourselves up against each other a bit. I’m sure shell get out of it at some point.”Tammy Beaumont, who top-scored for England with 43, said that Jones had shown she was a “world-class player” over the past two years, despite her struggles against Perry. “She’s a young player,” Beaumont said, “and young players have hard times and you get a lot of low scores, but she’ll come through that because she’s a very good player and I fully back her.”Australia have dominated this series, leading 12-2 on points going into Wednesday’s final T20I, but Perry suggested that the margin between the sides had been something of a surprise”The way that we started with the three ODI wins, we were absolutely chuffed with that,” she said.”England are a phenomenal side and have been dominant over the last five or six years and they’re world champions in the ODI format, so to be in the position that we are with one game to go does surprise me a little bit.”But I guess it speaks volumes for how much our team has developed over the last six moths and potentially how important our professional setup is back home.”

Latest update comes after BCCI called it a “non-issue”; Dhoni likely to use the same gloves going forward, with the insignia covered by a tape

Nagraj Gollapudi07-Jun-2019The ICC has rejected BCCI’s request to allow MS Dhoni to wear wicketkeeping gloves with the dagger insignia. ESPNcricinfo understands the ICC sent it its response on Friday afternoon (UK time) explaining that Dhoni had breached two clauses of the clothing and equipment regulations: one relating to display of “personal messages” and the other concerning the logo on his gloves.The latest update followed a statement by Vinod Rai, the chairman of the BCCI’s Committee of Administrators, saying that the Indian board would not escalate the matter if the ICC insisted on following the regulations but had requested for some “flexibility” on the matter. It is expected to end a story that had run through most of Friday in India’s news cycle.The ICC raised the red flag after noticing the insignia of a dagger on the back of Dhoni’s green gloves during India’s tournament opener against South Africa on June 5. Dhoni is an honorary lieutenant-colonel in the Parachute Regiment of the Indian Territorial Army. The dagger is similar to the regimental emblem.It is believed that Dhoni is likely to continue to wear the same gloves but cover the insignia with tape.ESPNcricinfo understands that, in its email to the BCCI, the ICC explained that Dhoni had violated the G1 clause in of its clothing and equipment regulations. The clause reads: “Players and team officials shall not be permitted to wear, display or otherwise convey messages through arm bands or other items affixed to clothing or equipment (“Personal Messages”) unless approved in advance by both the player or team official’s Board and the ICC Cricket Operations Department. Approval shall not be granted for messages which relate to political, religious or racial activities or causes.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Dhoni also flouted the specific rule related to the display of logos on wicketkeeping gloves in the clothing and equipment regulations for the World Cup. The diagram in clause 19.47 shows that only two manufacturer’s identifications are allowed on the back of each glove. “No visible logos permitted other than those identified in the diagram,” the note accompanying the illustration says.Though the matter gained traction in India and even prompted the intervention of the country’s sports minister, the BCCI called it a “non-issue” earlier in the day. “We will play the game by the rules of the ICC in letter and spirit,” Rai told ESPNcricinfo. “If there is a specific norm that has to be followed, we will not break that norm. However, if there is any flexibility available, we have sought permission for the ICC to allow the player to wear the gloves.”The matter was discussed in the CoA meeting held in Mumbai on Friday, which was attended by Rai’s two other colleagues – Diana Edulji and Ravindra Thodge – as well as the BCCI chief executive officer Rahul Johri.Making the issue more complex was the Indian government’s support for Dhoni’s gloves. India’s sports minister Kiren Rijiju told the news agency ANI: “The government doesn’t intervene in affairs of sports bodies. But when the issue is related to the country’s sentiments, then the interest of the nation has to be kept in mind. I would like to request BCCI to take up the matter with ICC.”As per the rules, Dhoni would be reprimanded if he wore the gloves with the insignia on Sunday, when India face Australia in their second group match. The second offence, in case it took place within 12 months, would attract a fine of 25% of the match fee. A third offence would mean a 50% fine of the match fee, and a fourth would see the player losing 75% of his match fee.There is precedent for the ICC’s decision. In 2014, Moeen Ali was asked to remove wristbands bearing the slogans “Save Gaza” and “Free Palestine” during the third Test against India in Southampton. The ECB said Moeen’s actions were humanitarian rather than political, but the ICC’s view was that it was inappropriate for the field of play. No further action was taken. In January 2017 South Africa’s Imran Tahir was reprimanded by the ICC for a wicket celebration during a T20 match against Sri Lanka in which he revealed a t-shirt under his playing kit with an image of the late Junaid Jamshed, a one-time Pakistani pop icon and religious preacher who had died weeks before in an air crash.

Former England offspinner will travel to UAE for first week of Lions training camp

Matt Roller04-Nov-2022Graeme Swann will spend the next week working with three of England’s best young spinners in the UAE after his success as Trent Rockets’ spin-bowling coach in the Hundred.Swann’s involvement with England has been limited since his sudden retirement from international cricket in 2013 and he has often expressed his frustration that he has not spent more time working with young spinners developing through the English system.Related

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But he was a popular member of support staff in the Hundred this year, working closely with Samit Patel, Matt Carter, Rashid Khan and Tabraiz Shamsi as the Rockets won the title, and ECB announced on Friday that Swann would spend a week working as a mentor during the Lions’ three-week training camp, which starts on Sunday.There are three frontline spin bowlers involved in the Lions training group in Rehan Ahmed, the Leicestershire legspinning allrounder, Sussex offspinner Jack Carson, and Nottinghamshire allrounder Liam Patterson-White, while Dan Lawrence is also an occasional offspinner with three Test wickets to his name.Ian Bell, Swann’s former England team-mate, is also part of the Lions coaching staff and will work with the training group’s batters, along with Surrey assistant coach Jim Troughton. Jon Lewis and Durham’s Neil Killeen will work with the seamers and Kent’s Min Patel will be the main spin-bowling coach.”In Ian Bell and Graeme Swann, we have two people with so much international experience,” Mo Bobat, the ECB’s performance director who will lead the tour, said. “It’s brilliant to have them as part of the group, and I know everyone will be looking forward to working with them.”It’s a really exciting staff team for a trip that I think will be of huge benefit to all of our players. There’s a wide range of experience to call upon, from across the game, and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone come together this weekend.”

Nuggetty allround display makes the difference in tight tussle with Derbyshire

David Hopps29-May-2023Northamptonshire 152 for 4 (Zaib 37*, Willey 31, Lynn 31) beat Derbyshire 151 for 6 (Madsen 57, Guest 49) by six wicketsDavid Willey’s return to Northamptonshire as an all-action T20 Blast captain got off to winning ways at the third attempt with a hard-won six-wicket win at Derby with two overs to spare. Predictably, he was in the thick of it, backing up four tight overs and a boundary catch with a battling 31 from No. 3 that helped give Northants the base for victory. He is not about to be a shrinking violet.Willey’s elevation to the captaincy in his first season back with Northants was only officially announced shortly before the tournament, with Northants waiting for Royal Challengers Bangalore’s elimination from IPL at the group stages, and it left the incumbent, Josh Cobb, “shocked and disappointed”.The word on the streets, however, had long been that Willey had been promised considerable authority at Northants once he walked out on Yorkshire in protest at the mass sacking of staff. It was not as much what was done as the way it was done that was at issue.Willey comes in to his own on demanding days like these. For Derbyshire and Northamptonshire this was assuredly a working Bank Holiday, the sort of exacting surface that should have players claiming a day in lieu for the extra effort required, not to mention Mick Lynch calling a wildcat strike in protest and Amazon docking pay because the score wasn’t mounting quickly enough.That was encapsulated by Derbyshire’s bowling Powerplay. They had leaked scores in the high 70s in their first two games so to restrict Northants to 29 for 1 was quite a change of tone. But it was all to no avail. They now have three defeats on the bounce and a repeat of last year’s quarter-final appearance – at which point they imploded against Somerset at Taunton – does not look likely.Northants, though, give Willey something to work with. His stand of 64 with Chris Lynn was growled and grimaced rather than purred, but they have a dangerous top six. The inclusion of left-arm legspinner Freddie Heldreich for the first time this season also gave them more variety with the ball.Heldreich struck with his first delivery, bowling Anuj Dal who failed to hit him out of the ground, and did a decent job, even if Wayne Madsen did twice loft him over the ropes. A shoddy piece of fielding at fine leg, however, will not have to be repeated too often if he is to please his new taskmaster.Derby was at its most inviting: a warm and sunny Bank Holiday, a tree-lined ground that belies its basic reputation of old, and a decent, convivial crowd. That local tastes would not be easily satisfied, however, was apparent when Derbyshire lost four wickets for 49 by the eighth over – Luis Reece and Haider Ali both failing with straight hits as the pitch revealed its true nature, and Leus du Plooy playing all around one from James Sales before Heldreich made his entrance.Madsen and Brooke Guest responded with a knowing stand of 92 in 70 balls from a perilous position of 49 for 4 in the ninth. It never quite felt enough; it was just that because it was Madsen supervising affairs you felt that it might be.Madsen assesses pitches as well as anybody around. Data experts could crunch thousands of statistics. Google pitch robots could take soil samples from the surface (it’s only a matter of time). All the algorithms that money can buy (in Derbyshire’s case about 50 quid’s worth) could be put into use. Then when Madsen was informed that 175 would be a winning score, he would chew over the information before adjusting it to 151.On this occasion, he malfunctioned: Derbyshire were conservative for too long. Madsen and Guest began steadily, were steady throughout the middle phase and, as the overs ran out, remained steady. The Steelbacks removed Madsen in the penultimate over when he pulled Taylor to deep midwicket and Guest fell in the final over when he lifted Andrew Tye into the hands of long on.Northants might have dismissed Madsen when he had only a single to his name, Sales failing to produce the accurate throw needed after Reece rejected Madsen’s call for a single into the off side. He was also dropped on 40 – the former Derbyshire seamer, Tom Taylor, being the luckless bowler when he clothed one to mid-on but Tye fumbled with an ungainly dive.Although Northants lost Ricardo Vasconcelos early, pulling to short midwicket, Willey and Lynn old-manned them into a decent position. Derbyshire bowled with spirit, and when Reece removed both batters within three balls – Willey holing out at deep square; Lynn dragging on a wide one – they sensed an opportunity.But Saif Zaib was reprieved on 14 by Zaman Khan as he slapped the left-arm spinner, Mark Watt, to the edge of the circle, and Northants made light work of a target of 44 from the last six as Zaib, a fine natural talent who has remained in bud for far too long, flowered with the most attractive innings of the day.

Allrounder says CPL 2020 will be his last season with the franchise

Nagraj Gollapudi29-Apr-2020A day after Chris Gayle lashed out at the Jamaica Tallawahs management, his West Indies team-mate Andre Russell has called the franchise the “weirdest” he has ever played for. On Tuesday, a day before he turned 32, Russell also announced that the 2020 CPL season would be his last one with the Tallawahs, who had signed him in 2018 after he returned from his anti-doping ban.ALSO READ: Gayle blames Sarwan for Tallawahs exitOn Monday, Gayle blamed Tallawahs’ chief executive officer Jeff Miller and assistant coach Ramnaresh Sarwan for influencing the owner Kris Persaud to release him for the 2020 season. In a statement on Wednesday, the franchise said Gayle’s release was “strictly a business and cricketing” decision taken collectively by the leadership group that did not include Sarwan.

Sarwan not behind Gayle ouster – Tallawahs

Jamaica Tallawahs have dismissed Chris Gayle’s claims that Ramnaresh Sarwan was behind his ouster from his home franchise ahead of CPL 2020. In an outburst, released in a personal video on YouTube on Monday, Gayle also blamed Tallawahs’ chief executive officer Jeff Miller and owner Krish Persaud for “playing a game” with him.
“The ownership and management of the Jamaica Tallawahs was disappointed to see the comments made by Mr Christopher Gayle about his departure from the Tallawahs, as we would much rather have had these discussions in private,” a statement from the Tallawahs franchise said.”Mr Gayle gave several reasons for the decision that was made not to retain him in the Tallawahs. However, the truth is that this decision was made collectively by the ownership and management team, which did not include Mr Ramnaresh Sarwan, and based purely on business and cricketing reasoning.”
The Tallwahs clarified that they had let go of Gayle to rebuild for the upcoming season, having finished last in 2019.
“The Tallawahs had a very disappointing season in CPL 2019, where the team finished last in the tournament. The ownership and management team has exercised its rights in the selection of players for CPL 2020 for the betterment of the team.The ownership and management of the Tallawahs will not be making any further comment on this matter as we are focusing on building the team for the future.”

‘Unprofessionalism in this team is all about communication’
If Gayle’s ire was targeted at Miller and Sarwan primarily, Russell took a deeper view, saying the franchise suffered from “unprofessionalism”, lacking transparent communication.In CPL 2018, Russell returned to captain the Tallawahs, a development he said was “very, very good for his image”. However, he found the management’s ways of doing things odd. Before the 2018 players’ draft, Russell shared a list of names – Caribbean and overseas – he would want in the squad.”I’m a guy that play to win,” Russell said on his Instagram on Tuesday. “And I’ve won 13 championships [T20 titles]. So, I don’t play to lose. If I’m picking a friend I believe in that friend. But the way Tallawahs went about things, that first, they went in in the draft, on the day of the draft, I was trying to reach out to these people. No reply.”Russell said his intention was to “clear the air”. “During the draft still tried to reach out to these guys. No reply. After the draft they messaged me and asked me if I was happy with the team picked. I took a while to reply because I was disappointed.”Russell said the Tallawahs “did pick a good team” which lost to St Kitts & Nevis Patriots in the Eliminator. However, Russell claimed things were no better in 2019 season. “This year was different. This is the weirdest franchise that I have ever played in. And when I mean weird, people that [are] supposed to reach out to you as an individual, and I am not just a normal player in the Jamaica Tallawahs team – I was once a leader. I realise how they look at things and how they do things.”In the five matches that Russell featured in the 2019 season, his returns were underwhelming: 99 runs with six wickets. Injury then sidelined him from the rest of the CPL,where the Tallawahs finished bottom in the six-team league.Russell also said he was hurt at being “treated” as a debutant and he was “not involved in anything whatsoever” with regards to the franchise’s plans. “I felt like a first-class player that just made his debut one game ago. Your opinion is not valuable. That’s how I was treated.”Even this year, Miller had only contacted Russell to check whether he was going to sign the contract in order for the franchise to retain him. Russell said he continued to be “kept in the dark” when he asked questions. “Even when I ask questions: who you guys planning on retaining? Who you guys planning on buying? I don’t get no answer on that. So, I just leave it.”Russell said he was happy to take a “pay cut” to stay with the Tallawahs only to play in front of his “home crowd, my family and friends.” He said several other franchises in CPL were ready to pay him more than what the Tallawahs were paying him. But for Russell, “loyalty” was important.According to Russell, the Tallwahs as a franchise has to address “unprofessionalism” in the ways the management has gone about doing things. “Addressing unprofessionalism in this team is all about communication.”To illustrate his point Russell provided two examples. The first was when Floyd Reifer, who was the interim head coach of West Indies at the 2019 World Cup, messaged Russell to inform he was potentially going to take over a similar role at the Tallawahs, replacing the incumbent Donovan Miller. According to Russell, Reifer also spoke to him about his front-foot position, while bowling, which was landing in an “awkward” fashion and putting pressure on his knee ligaments. However, soon after, Russell claimed Reifer “suddenly stopped communicating”.Russell tried asking Miller, but he did not say anything. Around this time, Russell heard rumours about Gayle moving to St Lucia Zouks. By then, he had signed the contract to stay with the Tallawahs. At the same point, Russell said Gayle messaged him a picture of a newspaper article, asking Russell if he had any information on his release. Russell said he had no clue. He called Gayle “instantly” and told him Reifer was “potentially” going to be the coach. “Communication was the problem, right throughout. No one say anything to Chris. No one say anything to me.”Russell felt Reifer did not want him to be captain of the side. “All of these things happened because of Floyd Reifer gonna be the coach. He don’t want to have me as the captain because he wants to have someone he can actually talk to. Rovman Powell and Floyd Reifer have a good relationship and I respect that.”Andre Russell captained Jamaica Tallawahs in 2018•Getty Images

‘Don’t come and offer me captaincy again’
Russell said he would continue to perform for the team regardless. “I’m a free spirit player. If I’m not the captain I’m fine, I’m happy,” he said. “The communication was the biggest problem when it comes to all of this. Up till now, I don’t know nothing that is going on. I don’t know nothing that was happening in the Jamaica Tallawahs team. And now it looks like me, Rovman, Floyd Reifer plan up, and I get rid of Chris. Why would I get rid of Chris? Chris have a three-year contract with Tallawahs. You’re not supposed to breach a contract. As a franchise you can get in trouble with that.”Russell said that although he would continue to support Powell, he would not take over the leadership role in case the franchise approached him now. “All these guys have my number, no-one messages me. I’m not here to fight and say that I want to be the captain because at the end of the day, if I wasn’t Tallawahs’ first choice to be the captain, don’t come and offer me the captaincy again. I’m not going to accept it.”Russell said he felt “weird” clearing his throat on his social media account, but was left with no choice; otherwise he felt like he had been pushed “under the bus” and his head would be crushed if it moved backward or forward. But Russell was firm about not staying back at the Tallawahs once his contract expires in 2020.”I think this might be my last season for Jamaica Tallawahs. I’m just clearing the air,” he said. “I’ve another year’s contract [left] with the Tallawahs [2020 season]. I’m going to play and try and win because that’s all I play for, but this will be my last, because I’ve been getting mixed up with all this shit that is happening, and I can’t be playing cricket and I’m not comfortable. I think another franchise that has been coming last and fifth and fourth will appreciate me more [which] I am not getting it here. Honestly, I feel messed up about the whole situation.”

Adam Lyth hits 48 and takes five wickets, but ends up on losing side as Gurney and Luke Fletcher close out tense win

David Hopps at Trent Bridge25-Aug-2019There are few trickier death bowlers in the Blast than Harry Gurney and Jordan Thompson now knows that more painfully than most. Three times in the last four balls, Thompson swung at Gurney and missed, giving Notts a three-run win to take them along with Lancashire into the quarter-finals of the Vitality Blast and eliminating Yorkshire in the process.Gurney, who had been short of his best, had to defend 12 from the last over, and Yorkshire again were in the ascendancy when Will Fraine, playing against his former county, launched the first ball over long-on for six. But Fraine then fell at backward point and, although Thompson did middle one delivery to long-on for two, the dominant sound was a swishing and a cursing.Luke Fletcher also played a fine hand at the death. His first two overs had leaked 25, but a fine boundary-saving pounce at short fine allowed him to begin the 19th over with Yorkshire still needing 18 off the last two overs. He yorked Jack Leaning with his first ball and Tim Bresnan with his last to send emergency signals blaring in what had always been a tightly-judged chase.Trent Bridge was packed almost to capacity as nearly 14,000 turned up on a baking summer’s day to see Notts reach the last eight, but much of the Notts innings was little more than a backdrop because for all but the most ardent supporter it was inevitable that thoughts would stray to Headingley.The biggest ovation of the day came when Notts were 76 for 2, not because of anything before their eyes, but for news of an astounding victory at Headingley where Ben Stokes had added a heroic Ashes innings to his exploits in the World Cup final to confirm himself as one of the greats of the game. Trent Bridge felt like a part of a great cricketing family.”It got a little bit interesting for me when they hit six off the first ball of the final over but I’m always confident when you’ve got double figures to defend in the last over,” Gurney said. “I’m not sure we’ll be grabbing the back pages tomorrow but we’re all England fans in our dressing room apart from Dan Christian – and he’s getting plenty of stick.”On a slow, low Nottingham surface, nobody was thinking much about greatness. Until a thrilling climax, it was a largely desultory afternoon on a sluggish pitch in 30C heat when adequacy was hard enough and slow bowlers held sway.Notts laboured for most of their innings. Joe Clarke’s half-century held them together even though he was not at his most fluent and was dropped on 3 – he did not field later because of cramp. When Clarke and Tom Moores fell to Lyth in successive balls, Notts had declined to 99 for 5 off 16, but posted 148 for 7 with 43 coming off the last three overs.Joe Clarke swings through the leg side•Getty Images

Perhaps Christian, Notts’ Australian captain, had been working off a bit of Stokes-derived frustration. His unbeaten 31 from 16 balls shook Notts into some sort of order, 16 of three balls off David Willey in the 18th over finally achieving an impetus they had struggled to achieve. Fletcher’s six off the penultimate ball, from Lyth, was another decisive intervention from the big fella before Lyth had him caught in the deep from the last ball to return startling figures of 5 for 31.Lyth’s all-round prowess with bat and ball might not have been the most obvious route for Yorkshire to have sought to revive their Blast season, but he produced one of the best bat-and-ball displays in the county’s T20 history.He had only taken 10 T20 wickets in 110 previous appearances before he stepped out at Trent Bridge, but his gently-flighted offspin suddenly seemed to have taken on new guile. He later struck 48 from 51 balls in orderly fashion before he squirted a back-of-the-hand delivery from Gurney to backward point. With Yorkshire needing 49 from 38 with seven wickets left he had cause to hope he had done enough.Yorkshire’s T20 season has adopted many forms this summer, few of them convincing, but this was the second time in a week that an unsung offspinner made a striking intervention. Five wickets for Jack Shutt at Chester-le-Street had helped them beat Durham three days earlier, a match in which Lyth also picked up three.”We should have got over the line but credit to Notts, they grind those sorts of results out on their own patch and we crumbled a bit under the pressure at the end,” said Yorkshire’s coach, Andrew Gale. “I think 85 percent of the game we played some smart cricket.”That sums up our one-day cricket, we can’t get over the line. We’ve tied three games and lost by a run in one of them and until we stand and take responsibility in key moments under pressure then we are where we are.”Three runs was another tight margin and Gale’s frustration was understandable, but it only told half the story. Yorkshire are now nearer to solving their perennial shortcomings in T20 cricket and, outside their top three, they lack star quality.Three runs or not, that it was Notts who proceeded to the last eight felt entirely appropriate.