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Royal Challengers Bangalore will target their second successive win at home when they meet Kings XI Punjab, who remain entrenched to the bottom of the table

The Preview by Arun Venugopal05-May-2015

Match facts

Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)2:19

O’Brien: Kings XI will be spectacular if they fire

Big Picture

Kings XI Punjab might wonder how their campaign has so rapidly spun out of control, after their heartwarming march to the final last year. With only five games to go, they are nailed to the bottom even as once fellow stragglers have moved up to form a cramped mid-section of the points table. It’s a no-brainer that they will have to win all their games from now on, and hope for other results to be favourable.If Kings XI were to examine the whys of their barren run, the simple answer would be their inadequate batting. They have failed to cross 150 in each of the four games they have lost on the trot.Only David Miller has managed decent contributions in the last two matches, with captain George Bailey not making his starts count. Manan Vohra being indisposed meant they had to play Virender Sehwag, who has managed 2,1,1,1 in his last four innings.Royal Challengers Bangalore don’t have such pressing issues, but will desperately seek two points with their second consecutive win at home. They rested Chris Gayle in Chennai, but they might decide against it for this clash. With their last two home games affected by rain, they will hope the weather remains kinder despite thunderstorms being forecast.

Form guide

Royal Challengers Bangalore LWWWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Kings XI Punjab LLLLW

Watch out for…

Dinesh Karthik has done very little of significance with the bat, managing only 93 runs from six innings thus far. Despite producing the odd flashy dismissal behind the stumps, Karthik has underachieved in the middle order. He was batting well in the company of his captain, Virat Kohli, against Chennai Super Kings, but once again couldn’t kick on for a more substantive score. Attracting Rs 10.5 crore in the auction, there will be pressure on him to provide more bang for buck.M Vijay has encountered problems of a similar variety. While he has never particularly looked out of touch, 197 runs from eight innings is underwhelming for an opener by any standards. The batting-friendly surface and short boundaries at Chinnaswamy are ideal for him to create a strong base for his team.

Stats and trivia

• Royal Challengers have lost four of their six games against Kings XI at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
• Chris Gayle has scored the most runs – 427 from eight innings, including a hundred – for Royal Challengers against Kings XI.

Quotes

“It’s just that batsmen are really trying very hard, but it’s not coming off. Because of that we are not able to chase down the scores which we generally have the capacity to chase down.”

Azhar Mahmood produced a remarkable all-round performance to send Auckland through to the main draw of the Champions League

The Report by Alex Winter10-Oct-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAuckland won both their qualifying matches to claim a place in the main draw of the Champions League•Getty Images

Azhar Mahmood produced a remarkable all-round performance to send Auckland through to the main draw of the Champions League. His unbeaten 55 blazed Auckland’s trail to a target his 5 for 24 had ensured was paltry. Their second victory wrapped up Pool 1, with Hampshire and Sialkot now unable to qualify.Despite their schedule in the qualifying tournament lasting two days, Auckland had spent two weeks in South Africa and their preparations proved worthwhile as they became the first New Zealand team to make the main draw of the Champions League.Mahmood benefitted from bowling and batting at the right time. With the ball in the first innings, he was able to use a pitch that began a touch sticky to induce five loose shots, but the surface was more conducive to clean hitting in the second innings. Mahmood slammed four sixes in his 31-ball knock and became the fifth player to score fifty and take five wickets in a Twenty20.His performance handed Auckland a second victory at a canter. The target was largely conquered before Mahmood’s innings in a Powerplay where Auckland scored 50 for 1. Hampshire by contrast had limped to 29 for 3 in their first six overs. The difference was that Hampshire bowled too full. Martin Guptill and Lou Vincent filled their boots; Vincent disappointed to slap the final ball of the sixth over to extra cover, and Guptill hung his head after swinging Shahid Afridi to long on, both following entertaining innings.But Azhar Mahmood ensured Auckland did not just meander to the target. He lifted Chris Wood over the leg side for his first six in the eighth over, and added further maximums with a slog sweep off Afridi and a heave over long-on and slap over extra cover against Liam Dawson – the second of which found the swimming pool.The match was a major anti-climax for Hampshire. In 2010, they announced a grand deal with Rajasthan to form a global franchise with clubs from other countries, setting up a travelling circus of money-spinning tournaments. But all that materialised of that deal was Hampshire becoming the “Royals,” in line with the Indian franchise.On the back of that deal, Hampshire would have expected to be performing on a world stage sooner than the 2012 Champions League. This was their first appearance in the competition but their active participation lasted just 34.3 overs.Auckland’s comfortable victory against Sialkot presented them with a chance to confirm their passage into the main draw of the tournament and they did so with a second chase that was set up by another miserly display with the ball.The seamers again enjoyed the surface after Gareth Hopkins had won another toss. It was slower that Wanderers and at first offered tennis-ball style bounce. As such, timing was difficult for the batsman. Clean hitting in the first innings was at a premium and the method of dismissals demonstrated their struggles.James Vince managed to time one six into the stands but his second attempt found mid-on from high on the bat; Jimmy Adams drove loosely outside off and edged behind; and Shahid Afridi – at No. 4 despite his very poor recent form – Sean Ervine and Glenn Maxwell all perished to catches in the deep. The damage was 77 for 5 in the 14th over.Hampshire’s debut rather flashed them by and it took Michael Carberry to prevent total disaster. Carberry’s timing was horrendous for the majority of his 65-ball innings but he stuck it out and made a half-century that put something on the board for Hampshire. He took nine runs off Kyle Mills’ opening over – three more than Mills conceded in four overs against Sialkot – with a gloved hook that went for six encapsulating the batsmen’s struggles on a slightly underprepared wicket.Carberry tried to lay a platform but batting didn’t get easier. He was alone though in hanging around and working the bowling to accumulate a score. Slogging as the entire middle order did was a waste of time. Carberry managed some acceleration with two boundaries in Andre Adams’ final over and two more as Michael Bates closed the innings.He fell trying to swing Mahmood over long-on and it was he that profited most from the errant strokes of much of the Hampshire order, returning 5 for 24 – his best figures in a Twenty20. The wickets of Vince and Adams came in his first over; four balls of his second were enough to lure Afridi into a slog. His final over saw Liam Dawson backing away and slapping to extra cover and Dimitri Mascarenhas carving a full ball to deep cover point. He could have have had a six-for but spilled a catch running back from his final delivery.Mahmood copped a fine at the end of the match. He was reprimanded, and fined US$1000, for breaching the tournament’s code of behaviour after dismissing Dawson. Mahmood pleaded guilty to a code relating to, “pointing or gesturing towards the pavilion in an aggressive manner by a bowler or other member of the fielding side upon the dismissal of a batsman.”

Abdul Razzaq, who will be the only Pakistan player participating in this year’s Champions League Twenty20 in India, has said he hopes cricketing relations between India and Pakistan improve

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Sep-2011Abdul Razzaq, who will be the only Pakistan player to participate in this year’s Champions League Twenty20 in India, has said he hopes cricketing relations between India and Pakistan improve, with matches between the two countries resuming and Pakistan players being included in the IPL. Razzaq will play for Leicestershire in the Champions League, and will be only the second Pakistan player to play in the tournament – Yasir Araft played for Sussex in the first tournament in 2009.”When we played in the ICL [Indian Cricket League] the whole charm of that league was Pakistan players playing in India, so I hope that after I go and play the Champions League, India also open the doors of the IPL to Pakistan players,” Razzaq said. “I have faced no problems playing in India and even in the worst of times people of India welcome Pakistan players with open hearts and I hope I am soon part of a Pakistan team playing against India.”Pakistan teams have not taken part in the Champions League, while Pakistan players have not played in the IPL since the tournament’s debut in 2008. Cricket relations between India and Pakistan were suspended after the Mumbai terror attacks of December 2008, with no bilateral series between the two countries since. Razzaq said he hoped that would change soon.”I hope the respective governments will negotiate to resume Indo-Pak cricket because without India and Pakistan playing each other, cricket is deprived of a high-profile, most-watched cricket series. Doors should always be open for sportsmen or else you change the name of cricket, because cricket is the binding force between these two countries, which we have seen in the past.”The ICC’s Future Tours Programme has scheduled a Test and ODI series between Pakistan and India for 2012, but while PCB chairman Ijaz Butt has said talks are progressing, there has been no official word from the BCCI on whether and where the series will go ahead.

Pakistan coach Waqar Younis has said that he was never consulted by the selection committee over the team composition for the England tour

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Oct-2010Pakistan coach Waqar Younis has said that he was not consulted by the selection committee over the team composition for various tours, including the tour to England earlier this year and the World Twenty20.”This is not for the first time that this has happened,” Waqar told the national assembly’s standing committee on sports, according to a report in . “I was totally snubbed during the selection of the Twenty20 World Cup team.”It also emerged on Tuesday that neither Waqar nor limited overs captain Shahid Afridi were consulted in the selection of the squad for the Twenty20 and ODI series against South Africa later this month.However, chief selector Mohsin Khan told the committee that Waqar was not in Pakistan at the time. “I am following the best practice. When the team for the England tour was announced, the coach was not even in Pakistan.”The inclusion of Yasir Hameed and Wahab Riaz, and the overlooking of former captain Younis Khan and Mohammad Sami for the England tour was said to have irked some of the selectors themselves, who were thought to have been against the decisions, and were apparently not consulted.The committee also took up on Younis’ continued omission from the team, asking the PCB to decide on the issue in a week. “We will direct Younis to contact the PCB and the board should resolve the matters relating to him within a week,” legislator Saud Majeed said. Younis is the only one among the seven players punished by the board after the Australia tour whose case is still stalled. Five of those seven players were selected to tour England, but Younis wasn’t among them.Pakistan had a positive start to the England tour, beating Australia in the two Twenty20 internationals, and then levelling the two-Test series with a victory at Headingley, Pakistan’s first Test win over Australia in nearly 15 years.However, they lost the first two Tests against England before winning the third. During their defeat at Lord’s in the final Test, the series was hit by spot-fixing allegations against the then captain Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif. They were provisionally suspended by the ICC before the Twenty20 series. Pakistan lost both Twenty20s and the subsequent one-day series 3-2.The committee has also asked the board to submit a report on the scandal and the tour itself.

The pair added 116 for the fourth wicket after a brief wobble to secure a comfortable win for India in Rajkot

Shashank Kishore10-Jan-2025Pratika Rawal continued her impressive initiation into international cricket, hitting her second half-century in four innings at the top of the order, as India secured a comfortable six-wicket over Ireland in the first ODI in Rajkot.Rawal’s partner was another rookie, Tejal Hasabnis, who notched up a maiden half-century in her fourth ODI. The pair added 116 for the fourth wicket after India briefly wobbled when they lost Harleen Deol and Jemimah Rodrigues in quick succession.While Rawal steadily shifted gears after playing second fiddle to Smriti Mandhana in a robust 70-run opening stand, Hasabnis displayed an attacking game and a penchant for the big shots from get-go.Hasabnis couldn’t break into the XI in any of the three ODIs against West Indies late last month, and only got the opportunity here because Harmanpreet Kaur was rested. She repaid the faith, getting to a half-century off just 43 balls and remaining unbeaten on 53.As India’s chase entered its home stretch, Rawal’s impending century became a matter of great interest. Rawal showed keenness to go for the runs as she raced through the 80s. With Rawal needing 25 and India just 21, she tore into left-arm spinner Aimee Maguire, hitting her for two fours and a six.The first of those fours was an aesthetically pleasing inside-out drive over extra cover against the turn. She followed that with two big hits straight down the ground. On 89, an attempt to loft the ball down the ground for six led to her holing out inches from the boundary as Orla Prendergast took an excellent catch.Tejal Hasabnis played a counterattacking knock•BCCI

Rawal walked off to a standing ovation. That she was even remotely in with a chance to score her maiden ODI century was down to her sensational strokeplay once she crossed fifty. Richa Ghosh came in to hit her first two balls to the boundary to seal India’s win in the 35th over.While Rawal couldn’t remain unbeaten, Hasabnis did her reputation no harm, showing the ability to be a big-hitting middle-order batter India would love to have. She got going very early on, when she smashed Laura Delany for two back-to-back fours in the 24th over that went for 22.When Delany pulled out midway through the over, Prendergast came under Hasabnis’ hammer as she hit a third four by slapping a length ball through extra cover. The enterprising nature of the Rawal-Hasabnis partnership allowed India to charge towards the target.Despite the nature of the defeat, it wasn’t all doom and gloom for Ireland. They challenged an inexperienced Indian attack with Gaby Lewis, the captain, leading the fight with 92 in a total of 238 for 7 after electing to bat. Lewis, who narrowly missed out on a maiden ODI century with cramps eventually leading to her downfall, was supported by Leah Paul, who made an industrious 59 from No. 5.Gaby Lewis led the Ireland batting effort with 92 from 129 balls•BCCI

The pair shared a stand of 117 to rescue an innings that appeared to be heading towards a free-fall when rookie legspinner Priya Mishra sent back Prendergast and Delany, two of Ireland’s most-experienced batters, off successive deliveries in the 14th over to leave them 56 for 4.India were off the boil on the field though, dropping four catches in all that played a role in them allowing Ireland to bat the entire 50 overs. Lewis was the first to be reprieved on 59 when Richa Ghosh bailed out of a catch to stop the healthy edge with her boot. Paul was let off in back-to-back overs, off Titas Sadhu at deep midwicket and by Mishra off her own bowling, after the batter had crossed her seventh ODI half-century.Then with Ireland looking for end-overs acceleration, Harleen reprieved Arlene Kelly at extra cover. Ireland batting out the entire 50 overs should count as a mini-victory of sorts given only two players – Lewis and Delany – had prior experience of having played in India.Cameos from Kelly and Christina Coulter Reilly helped Ireland pick up some crucial runs in the death overs, but it became evident very early on, as Mandhana turbocharged her way to a succession of pull shots in her breezy 41, that it wouldn’t be enough.

Influence with bat and ball shines through on another weather-affected day

ECB Reporters Network28-Sep-2023Ed Barnard’s effectiveness with bat and ball maintained Warwickshire’s hopes of victory over Somerset as this end-of-season, mid-table LV=Insurance County Championship clash meandered along under leaden skies at Edgbaston.At the end of a third successive heavily weather-affected day, Somerset were 90 for 2 in their second innings, 32 ahead, after bowling the home side out for 273. Josh Davey took 3 for 62 and Neil Wagner 3 for 67 but Barnard’s skilful and patient 73 (144 balls) maintained his excellent late-season form and gave his side a handy first-innings lead of 58. Barnard then took both wickets as Somerset ground their way in front.Rain and bad light have chopped 125 overs from days one to three but, with better weather forecast for the fourth, a decisive result remains possible. Quick wickets could herald a Warwickshire victory bid, or the captains could simply agree a target overnight.After Warwickshire resumed the third morning on 112 for 3, Davey struck with the fourth ball which Dan Mousley edged low to Andy Umeed at second slip. Alex Davies fell lbw to Jack Brooks and when Michael Burgess edged Wagner behind, the home side was 147 for 6, still 68 behind. Somerset sensed a lead.Barnard had set down roots, though, and received obdurate support from the in-form Danny Briggs. Confident after his 99 at Lord’s last week, the former Hampshire and Sussex player contributed 38 off 68 balls to a stand of 93 in 25 overs which moved Warwickshire in front.Briggs scooped Wagner to long leg and Craig Miles gloved the New Zealand international behind before Barnard’s excellent innings was terminated by a skied attempt to hoist Davey straight.The Worcestershire product had ensured Warwickshire a handy first-innings lead, though, and Somerset faced an awkward 15 overs batting before tea. Openers Tom Lammonby and Sean Dickson made 39 from the first 14 before the former clipped Barnard to short mid-wicket in the final over of the session.Barnard’s happy day continued when Lewis Goldsworthy feathered a pull to wicketkeeper Burgess. Still eight runs behind with two wickets down, Somerset needed ballast and Sean Dickson (36 not out) and Umeed (20 not out) supplied it with an important unbroken stand of 40 in 12 overs. Dickson’s two hours of resistance, in which he struck just three of 84 balls faced to the boundary, was exactly what his team needed in the circumstances.

Allrounder suffering from calf strain is expected to stay on since he’s part of the team picked for the Test leg of the tour

Alex Malcolm11-Jun-2022Australia allrounder Mitchell Marsh has been ruled out of the final T20I against Sri Lanka in Palekelle with a calf strain. It is estimated that he will need a week or two to recover, meaning he will miss at least the early part of the five-match ODI series that follows as well.Marsh suffered the injury during Australia’s three-wicket win in Colombo on Wednesday, that saw the visitors wrap up the series 2-0, with a game to spare. Marsh has been replaced by Josh Inglis in the side for the final T20I.The allrounder is also part of the Test squad for the two-match series which starts at the end of the month in Galle, although he is unlikely to be required unless there is an injury to Cameron Green.Australia are already without Mitchell Starc for the early part of the ODI series due to a lacerated finger. Jhye Richardson and Kane Richardson have both been called in as cover.Marsh has not played an ODI since July last year. He missed the three-match series against Pakistan prior to the IPL due to a hip flexor injury.Australia have plenty of all-round options to choose from for the ODI series in Pallekele and Colombo with Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Green, all in the squad. Green made a spectacular century for Australia A against Sri Lanka A on Tuesday and even opened the bowling in the Pakistan series. He did not bowl for Australia A and may not bowl in the early part of the ODI series as he continues to have his workload carefully monitored in the lead-up to the Test matches.

A Lahore Qalandars spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo that there were breaches of the bubble at the team hotels

Osman Samiuddin and Umar Farooq04-Mar-2021The blame game has begun in the aftermath of the abrupt postponement of the PSL, as franchises and league management begin to sift through the wreckage of a sixth season curtailed only 14 games in after a spate of Covid-19 cases among players and support staff. An investigation into what went wrong will take place, at an as-yet unspecified time in the future, conducted independent of the PCB. And though Wasim Khan, the PCB’s CEO, began a press conference by saying “this isn’t about a blame game”, the message by its end – when he spoke of “self-policing” and players needing “to take responsibility” – had subtly but clearly shifted.That is likely to have been in response to the reactions of at least a couple of franchises, who pointed to persistent breaches and loopholes in the bio-secure bubble put in place by the PCB at a hotel in Karachi. And according to at least two officials who were present, the PCB’s public statement was a change from a heated meeting between management and franchises on Thursday morning, in which the board was more accepting of the blame for all this lying at their door.Related

• PCB to outsource management of bio-security protocols with PSL to resume on June 1

• PSL 2021 to resume in June

• Non-playing PSL franchise member left bubble despite testing Covid-19 positive

• Independent team of doctors to investigate PSL safety measures

• Bangladesh Emerging Team vs Ireland A game called off after player tests positive for Covid-19

A couple of options were put forward at that meeting in a last-ditch attempt to salvage the PSL, including implementing a five-day lockdown and pause on the tournament, and going ahead with a local player-only tournament. Both ideas were shot down, the latter especially emphatically.”This isn’t about a blame game, about who’s to blame,” Khan said at a press conference a few hours after the decision to postpone. “This is a collective effort that we all had a responsibility to actually police and self-police that environment. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to do it effectively enough. Hence we find ourselves in this situation today.”We had a discussion this morning with the franchise owners and we came to the conclusion that it was best to postpone the event. We entered that meeting with the franchisees with one or two possible solutions, one in terms of looking to halt proceedings for five days until we were able to make sense of what was going on and see whether we could move forward. There was a strong consensus that it was untenable to continue based on the fact that it was outside of ours and others reasonable sort of areas because of what had taken place.”Khan did concede that trust in the PCB’s handling of the event had been broken. “When players are affected and players start to lose confidence…. Bio-secure bubbles are about trust. There has to be trust for players, with all the partners working together. We have to recognise, internationally, this will make news. It is a difficult day, a lot of work and effort went into our last major event of the calendar.”The PCB’s current priority is making sure the players can go back home safely•Pakistan Super League

The board’s immediate concern and attention is to begin the process of exiting players from the tournament and the hotel now. The seven players and support staff who have tested positive will remain in the hotel until their quarantine periods are over, with some PCB and PSL management officials also staying behind with them. But as that process continues, repercussions with franchises will begin, a few of whom are now offering a picture of the fragility of the bubble that had been put in place.A public precedent was set by Peshawar Zalmi the night before the tournament began, when captain Wahab Riaz and coach Darren Sammy breached the bubble to go and meet franchise owner Javed Afridi. They were later allowed to effectively ignore the league’s own three-day quarantine period – on Thursday, the PCB were at pains again to defend the episode.The bubble was in one hotel in Karachi where all franchise players and officials were staying and which, to some extent, had Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) put in place to keep everyone safe. Teams were cordoned off on separate floors and had designated times in which to use public facilities such as restaurants and gyms. But the hotel had not been taken over in entirety by the PCB and so public functions, such as weddings with guests, were still being staged there – away from the bubble ostensibly but on the premises. Numerous incidents are now being recalled by franchises, of smaller breaches and SOPs not being adhered to, of fans taking selfies with players, trying to high-five players, of lifts in the hotel not being initially cordoned off from public use.”Somebody has to take responsibility for this mismanagement,” the Karachi Kings owner Salman Iqbal told ESPNcricinfo. “We have worked so hard in the last five years to bring this brand back to Pakistan but due to the PCB’s negligence, me, my team and fans are disappointed.”There were breaches and nobody is accountable for it. The hotel was vulnerable and [I don’t understand] why they can’t they have booked it entirely for the duration of the tournament?”The PSL franchises have been unhappy with breaches of the bio-secure bubble at the Karachi hotel where all the teams were staying at•PCB/PSL

“It’s sad and very unfortunate the way things panned out,” a Lahore Qalandars spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo. “There were clear breaches and with growing cases we had no option but to agree to postpone it with immediate effect. It was important for the health of our players and support staff and its out duty to protect them.”We came here because we were invited by PCB as they were the host and we had trust in that, but there were loopholes. There were multiple wedding function in the same hotel with the spa and gym area had common use.”It has also emerged that two of the teams – Islamabad United and Multan Sultans – were not placed in the same hotel when they first landed in Karachi on February 14. For three days they were put up in another hotel, meaning that though they had cleared tests when they entered the official bubble – and continued to thereafter – they had spent time at a premises that had not been specifically re-purposed with bio-secure SOPs in mind.”We have to remember there’s a lot of emotions at the moment,” Khan said. “Franchises have invested a lot of money, everybody has invested time in making the PSL work. There was always going to be a lot of emotion in the first 24 hours, we fully expect that. I will say, any environment can only work if everybody is on the same page. Why did our domestic cricket work? Because it was being policed and everything was done. We had 30 matches across two venues, we delivered tournaments with multiple teams involved domestically. Fine, there is a response from franchises but this isn’t about blaming anybody. This is about Pakistan cricket. A lot of work has to be done to get cricket back up and running to get it to where it has.”Though it is correct Pakistan did carry out an entire season’s worth of domestic cricket prior to the PSL, it did not go off without incidents or breaches. Players were reprimanded for breaching protocols. A number of players tested positive after the end of the rescheduled phase of the PSL season five in November.Khan was asked whether he, or other senior officials, would resign but he sidestepped the question to say only that an investigation will take place. “We will do a full investigation. Not one done by PCB staff but we will speak to the Board of Governors and instigate an investigation in to where we went wrong and what did we not fulfil. When such situations come up everybody questions themselves. Now is a time for reflection and we will see what happens after that. Right now this is about making sure players leave and leave safely. And making sure we limit the damage as much as possible for Pakistan cricket. This is far-reaching and we need to make sure we control it, we manage it. so that we can rise again as we have in the past.”

His new role will include monitoring and developing men’s, women’s and disability cricket, along with the talent pathways

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Sep-2019Andrew Strauss, England’s former director of cricket, is set for a new role with the England and Wales Cricket Board [ECB] following his appointment as the chair of the board’s cricket committee.His new role will involve “monitoring and developing the delivery” of men’s and women’s professional cricket, as well as disability cricket, national counties, clubs and universities cricket and the talent pathway, the ECB said in a release.Strauss, who recently received a knighthood, had been England’s director of cricket between 2015 and 2018, his appointment to that role coming soon after England’s exit from the 2015 World Cup. Under his watch, England made significant strides in white-ball cricket, reaching the final of the 2016 World T20 and winning their first ODI World Cup earlier this year. The team’s Test fortunes, however, did not see as sharp an upturn as the limited-overs results.In October 2018, Strauss stepped down from the role in order to spend more time with his family as his wife, Ruth, underwent treatment for cancer. After her death in December, Strauss launched a foundation to help raise funds to research rare forms of lung cancer and to provide emotional and psychological support to patients and their families.”It is a real pleasure to return to ECB in this new capacity. ECB and the whole cricket family have been a vital source of support over an extremely difficult year and it’s really great to be back at Lord’s, a place that has become a second home to me,” Strauss said in a statement. “I’m extremely passionate about developing and growing cricket in England and Wales and I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Cricket Committee to continually drive all aspects of the professional game, including women’s, men’s and disability cricket.”I’ve seen first-hand how this summer of cricket has inspired more people to fall in love with the sport and I can’t wait to help build on its success and support the roll-out of ECB’s strategy to grow the game, Inspiring Generations.”

Four wickets for Chris Wood guarded Hampshire from recording their worst-ever Twenty20 season

ECB Reporters Network17-Aug-2018
ScorecardJames Vince and Sam Northeast’s 66-run stand coupled with four miserly wickets for Chris Wood prevented Gloucestershire from securing a home Vitality Blast quarter-final as Hampshire recorded just their second success in the competition.Gloucestershire, who had already qualified for the knockout stages, needed to beat Hampshire and hope Kent lost to Essex elsewhere to play at Bristol again in the tournament.But Vince and Northeast carefully teed up the six-wicket win, with Rilee Rossouw crashing 42 and Wood taking an exceptional 4 for 16.Hampshire had only managed a single victory in their opening 13 South Group matches but saved their best performance until last, and it started with Vince winning the toss and elected to bowl on a slow wicket under clear skies.Miles Hammond scooped the game’s first six off Dale Steyn in the second over but departed when Wood picked up his first of a tidy haul – Calvin Dickinson taking a good catch at the second attempt at point.Hampshire’s catching roadshow continued as Sam Northeast brilliantly grabbed a firm pull shot from Ian Cockbain at mid-wicket – Gloucestershire struggling to 29 for 2 off the Powerplay.Benny Howell upped the ante with a quick-fire 26 off 15 balls, including tonking Liam Dawson and Ryan Stevenson for huge maximums over deep mid-wicket and long on.The former Hampshire all-rounder rode his luck when Dawson dropped a caught and bowled chance, but he was snatched when hoicking the left-arm spinner to deep mid-wicket.Kieran Noema-Barnett was forced to retire after appearing to pull a muscle in his right thigh before Jack Taylor was bowled.Gloucestershire’s leading scorer Michael Klinger had quietly kept the scoreboard tricking as he took his Group Stage total to 407 runs.The skipper had been dropped on 17 by Stevenson, in his follow through, and eventually departed for an adhesive 42 when the fast bowler castled him.Ryan Higgins smashed 31 from 16 deliveries to send the visitors up to an average par 144 – with Gareth Roderick, Andrew Tye and Higgins all departing to Wood.Chasing, Dickinson was given his first appearance of the season, having missed out on previous matches with concussion – but only lasted four balls before he was bowled by David Payne as he tried to give himself room to hit over the offside.Opener Rossouw and Northeast rebuilt with a 58-run stand, with the former the ultra-aggressor, in particular taking to Higgins as he dispatched him for a quartet of boundaries.The South African fell for an entertaining 42 off 18 before Howell clattered into the stumps.Vince joined Northeast with the required run-rate comfortably in check, and took little risks scoring 44 not out and 42 respectively.Vince was dropped chipping to long-on while on 32, before Payne broke the partnership when Northeast edged behind and Dawson skied into the leg-side.But Hampshire strolled home with 20 balls to spare to avoid equalling their worst ever Twenty20 campaign.