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Kane Williamson was named New Zealand’s Cricketer of the Year and awarded the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal at NZC’s awards function

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Feb-2016Kane Williamson was named New Zealand’s Cricketer of the Year and awarded the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal at NZC’s awards function, following a judging period in which he scored five centuries, set a New Zealand record for most runs in a calendar year and became the No. 1 ranked Test batsman. He was also named the Test Player of the Year and won the Redpath Cup for his first-class batting exploits.

The winners

Player of the Year: Kane Williamson
Test Player of the Year: Kane Williamson
ODI Player of the Year: Martin Guptill
T20I Player of the Year: Martin Guptill
Winsor Cup (first-class bowling): Trent Boult
Redpath Cup (first-class batting): Kane Williamson
Women’s Player of the Year: Suzie Bates
Domestic Women’s Player of the Year: Amy Satterthwaite
Bert Sutcliffe Medal for Outstanding Services to Cricket: Rex Smith

Since the beginning of 2015, Williamson has scored 1314 Test runs in 10 matches at an average of 77.29, including a match-saving unbeaten 242 against Sri Lanka in Wellington. Across the three formats, Williamson made 3339 runs in 53 games at an average of 60.70, with eight centuries. He also made seven consecutive fifty-plus scores in limited overs against England and Zimbabwe between June and August.Martin Guptill, who enjoyed a breakthrough year in the limited-over formats and earned a recall to the Test side, was named the ODI and T20I Player of the Year.Guptill scored 1891 ODI runs since the start of 2015 at an average of 55.61 and a strike rate of 97.22. He also struck the second-highest score in ODIs, a 163-ball 237 against West Indies in the quarter-final of the 2015 World Cup.Suzie Bates, who capped off a stellar year with an ODI ton against Australia in Mount Maunganui on February 24, was named the Women’s Player of the Year for the third consecutive year. In 18 games since February 2015, Bates has managed 799 runs at 53.26 and two centuries.

New Zealand’s contract list has undergone a significant shake-up for 2013-14, with eight changes from last year’s group. Tom Latham, Corey Anderson, Bruce Martin, Mitchell McClenaghan, Colin Munro and Hamish Rutherford have all been contracted for the fir

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jul-2013New Zealand’s contract list has undergone a significant shake-up for 2013-14, with eight changes from last year’s group. Tom Latham, Corey Anderson, Bruce Martin, Mitchell McClenaghan, Colin Munro and Hamish Rutherford have all been contracted for the first time, while Peter Fulton and Grant Elliott have returned to the list after missing out for the past couple of seasons.James Franklin, Daniel Flynn, Andrew Ellis, Tarun Nathula, Rob Nicol and Kruger van Wyk have all missed out from last year’s group of contracted players, along with Jacob Oram, who was replaced during the year by Neil Wagner. Also gone from the list are the newly-retired Chris Martin and the veteran Daniel Vettori, who turned down a contract due to uncertainty over his recovery from surgery on his Achilles tendon.There was no room for Andrew Ellis, Luke Ronchi, Adam Milne, Ian Butler or Jeetan Patel. Mike Hesson, the New Zealand coach, said the 20 players who received deals were those most likely to feature for the team over the next 12 months, which includes tours of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and West Indies, along with home series against India and West Indies.”There’s still a strong core of experienced players who have been a part of the team’s progression over recent months,” Hesson said. “Some of the younger players such as Corey Anderson and Hamish Rutherford have also demanded a spot, after making strong starts to their international careers.”As always, some difficult decisions had to be made and a number of last year’s contracted players will be disappointed to have missed out. However, there’s nothing to say that they can’t force their way back into the team in the future through strong domestic performances.”Contracted players Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Dean Brownlie, Grant Elliott, Peter Fulton, Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Bruce Martin, Mitchell McClenaghan, Brendon McCullum, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Colin Munro, Hamish Rutherford, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson.

Sunil Joshi, the Karnataka left-arm spinner, has announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket

Siddarth Ravindran21-Jun-2012Sunil Joshi, the Karnataka left-arm spinner, has formally announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket. Joshi, 42, hasn’t played competitive cricket in more than a year, and was the coach of Hyderabad last season.His international career lasted between 1996 and 2001, spanning 15 Tests and 69 ODIs. His most famous international performance was his 10-6-6-5 spell against South Africa in 1999. In Tests, he was Man of the Match in Bangladesh’s inaugural match, after an all-round effort, taking eight wickets and also scoring a battling 92 in the first innings.On the domestic circuit, he was a stalwart for Karnataka, finishing as the third highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy, behind Rajinder Goel and S Venkataraghavan. He won the Ranji Trophy three times – 1995-96, 1997-98 and 1998-99. He was also a handy batsman, finishing with 5126 first-class runs at an average of 26.71. With the Karnataka State Cricket Association recently launching its plan to revive Karnataka’s fortunes, it will be players like Joshi that it would be looking to unearth.At a function organised by the KSCA to mark the occasion, Joshi was warmly praised by some of the state’s greatest players, several of whom were his team-mates at both the domestic and international level. Anil Kumble hailed his impact both on the field and off it. “Congratulations on a terrific career, for being a fantastic servant of Karnataka cricket. His determination and dedication was always evident,” Kumble said. “He is an exceptional allrounder whose services will always be missed. Not just stats, he also contributed by supporting and encouraging younger players.”

Joshi’s favourite domestic game

He rated the come-from-behind victory over Madhya Pradesh in the 1998-99 Ranji final as the most cherished moment in his domestic career. “We had conceded the first-innings lead and we had to push for an outright win. We couldn’t sleep all night after the fourth day, as it was raining (and reducing our chances of victory),” he said. “The next morning it had stopped raining, but MP were batting out time.” At tea MP were 130 for 4, and seemingly safe. “After tea, I managed to get Abbas Ali out (who batted four hours for 47) and Vijay Bharadwaj took over, cleaning up the MP tail to win the match with two overs to spare.” The last six wickets went down for 18 runs.

Rahul Dravid called him ‘an ornament to the game’ and highlighted the importance of experienced players like Joshi in the domestic game. “Even 10 years after his last game for India, he was still playing for Karnataka,” Dravid said. “It is people like Joshi who make domestic cricket the breeding ground for talent. His experience and class helps younger players and also rivals.”Dravid also highlighted Joshi’s commitment. “He led by example. I remember a Ranji semi-final against Hyderabad, he bowled the first over of the day and I didn’t take him off till the end of the day. He bowled 45 overs for me.”The tributes all referred to Joshi’s rise from the small town of Gadag in northern Karnataka, and his struggles to make the Ranji team. An emotional Joshi himself recalled the early days. “As a 12-year-old I used to take the Gol Gumbaz express everyday at 3.30am from Gadag to Hubli (a larger town where he practised),” he said about a journey he undertook for several years.When he finally broke into the Ranji team, after several seasons of junior state cricket, his first match didn’t go to plan. “My first cap was in 1992, there was a lot of pressure on me. I made 83 not out on the first day, and bowled a single over before stumps,” he said. “The next day the match was called off due to the Ayodhya riots.” He went on to become the most capped Karnataka player.Roger Binny, the former India allrounder, said Joshi paved the way for other small-town cricketers in the state. “I was the coach when Joshi came into the state team,” Binny said. “He has been an inspiration to cricketers from mofussil areas. In the recent past, Vinay Kumar has also done the same thing.”Javagal Srinath was the last of the state’s legends to pay tribute, and had the audience in splits with his anecdotes about Joshi’s cooking, their Under-22 days and Joshi’s retort after Srinath, not usually a close-in fielder, dropped a sitter at slip during Bangladesh’s first Test (telling him angrily that fast bowlers should always field in the deep).Joshi was presented a memento by the KSCA, and was surprised by a coffee table book showcasing his career that was put together by his family. The evening of bonhomie and respect was the perfect way to acknowledge the end of one of the great careers in domestic cricket.

The secretary of the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA), Ijaz Farooqui, has accused the PCB of deliberately neglecting players from Karachi when selecting the national team

ESPNcricinfo staff15-May-2011The secretary of the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA), Ijaz Farooqui, has accused the PCB of deliberately neglecting players from Karachi when selecting the national team. “They have used different ways to overlook them and discard those already in the national team,” he told reporters.The KCCA had complained about the non-selection of Karachi players like wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed, Danish Kaneria, Khurram Manzoor, Faisal Iqbal and Mohammad Sami – each of whom has represented Pakistan – among others. “Sarfraz did so well and we all were thinking that he will be automatically selected for the longer format but shockingly Mohammad Salman was picked up [for the West Indies tour],” Farooqui said.The PCB issued a show-cause notice to Farooqui over his complaints but he was undeterred. “We will continue to raise our voices in order to provide justice to our players. We wrote letters to the PCB about our reservations over the selection but the board did not pay any attention on the issue, which has forced us to come out on the roads and protest.”As far as Pakistan cricket’s problems in the recent past are concerned, Farooqui held what he called the “dictatorship” of Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, responsible for it. “Our cricket has suffered because of one man’s dictatorship. Once the dictatorship starts objectivity ends.”

England coach Andy Flower has given Andrew Strauss a ringing endorsement over his captaincy of the one-day side

Andrew McGlashan07-Jun-2010England coach Andy Flower has given Andrew Strauss a ringing endorsement over his captaincy of the one-day side ahead of the series against Australia later this month following speculation that the leadership position may be under debate.Comments by Geoff Miller, the national selector, on Sunday didn’t appear to give Strauss unequivocal support when he said: “If we think it is right to go elsewhere we will do that.” Following the victory against Bangladesh at Old Trafford, Strauss was quizzed about his position but insisted he wasn’t aware of Miller’s comments and was preparing to lead the one-day team against Scotland on June 19 followed by five matches against Australia and a series against Bangladesh.Flower was surprised that Strauss had been asked to defend his position and was in no doubt that he would be the captain. “He did not mention any of that to me last night,” Flower said. “Andrew Strauss will be captaining in the one-dayers.”England’s triumphant Twenty20 campaign in the Caribbean has led to calls for the same side to be fielded in the 50-over format, but Flower is comfortable with Strauss’s role in one-day cricket and believes he had an impact on the success in the shortest format.”He is a fine leader and a fine batsman,” he said. “I think in the last 12 months he has done some really good things for us in one-day cricket. He bats aggressively up front. His specialist area is facing the quick bowling.”He has been the architect of the attacking type of cricket England’s one-day side has been playing. In a way, he was the catalyst for the attacking cricket we have been able to play in Twenty20 as well. Over the past 12 months, he has played some very good limited-overs cricket.”England will name their one-day squad on Thursday, but one man who certainly won’t be there is Steven Finn despite his Man-of-the-Series performance against Bangladesh after taking 15 wickets in two matches. The selectors have decided he requires a conditioning programme like that undertaken by Stuart Broad and won’t be considered for any ODI action ahead of the Pakistan Test series at the end of July.Flower was also keen to temper expectations for 21-year-old Finn with comparisons already being made with Glenn McGrath and talk of a vital role he can play in the Ashes series later this year.”I don’t like to make those comparisons,” he said. “Steven Finn is unique in various ways. He is very much his own man. Comparing him to other fast bowlers, to me, is not useful. But he has a lovely action.””He has been very impressive. He’s played four Test matches now, and it’s fair to say he’s learning all the time,” Flower added. “He has very, very good control for a 21-year-old fast bowler. I think that comes from his action, and also a very sound and grounded personality. It is a great start for him, but he also realises that he has great scope for learning and progress.”The position likely to create most debate for the one-dayers is that of wicketkeeper following Craig Kieswetter’s impressive performances in West Indies which followed on from his maiden hundred against Bangladesh in Chittagong. Matt Prior hit 93 at Old Trafford, but his ODI average is a mediocre 25.38 having been shunted around the order during his career and it’s unlikely there will be room for both in the squad.”Michael Slater was an attacking and quick-scoring Test player but never really fitted the bill in limited-overs cricket,” Flower said. “Matt is an attacking, often counter-attacking, batsman in Test cricket. He has had a lot of opportunities up the order in one-day cricket and has not quite grasped them, and has consequently been playing a role in the middle order.”With Prior missing out on a hundred in Manchester it means his last three-figure score for England was in Trinidad last March. Since then he has admitted to putting in a huge amount of work on his keeping, but Flower said it was important he maintained his standards in both roles.”I don’t think it needs to be a balancing act between wicketkeeping focus or batting focus,” he said. “Everybody has the time and energy to do both. There is no scope for saying you are working hard on one and therefore the other suffers, at all.”Matt, in his career with England so far, has done some really good things – with the bat and gloves. There was evidence of that again in this last Test match. He had a really good and important partnership with Ian Bell.”

For SA, this series will precede their five white-ball games against Ireland, also in the UAE

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jul-2024South Africa and Afghanistan are set to play their first-ever bilateral series, with three ODIs scheduled in Sharjah between September 18 and 22. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) will host the series, Cricket South Africa (CSA) said in a statement.This series was not part of the Future Tours Programme (FTP) originally and CSA chairman Lawson Naidoo said it was a “significant milestone” in the partnership between the two boards. The series will end five days before South Africa’s scheduled matches – two T20Is and three ODIs – against Ireland in Abu Dhabi start on September 27.

South Africa’s tour of the UAE

ODI series v Afghanistan: September 18, 20 and 22.
T20I series vs Ireland: September 27 and 29.
ODI series vs Ireland: October 2, 4, and 7.

“We are excited to embark on this historic ODI series with Afghanistan, who have become a very competitive all-round team as evidenced by their recent performances in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 and most recently at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024,” Naidoo said. “This is a significant milestone in our cricketing relations, and we look forward to a competitive and entertaining series.”These fixtures were not initially part of our FTP. Still, based on our productive negotiations with our counterparts at Cricket South Africa, we concluded that we will host the Proteas for an ODI series in September,” ACB Chairman Mirwais Ashraf said. “They are an excellent team, and we are eagerly looking forward to hosting them and playing them regularly in the future.”Before heading to the UAE, though, South Africa have two Tests and three T20Is lined up in the Caribbean against West Indies, starts August 7. For Afghanistan, the South Africa games will provide another chance to impress against a Test-playing nation and will be played less than a week after their maiden Test against New Zealand in Greater Noida, India, which will be contested from September 9 to 13.