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Concerns over Moeen Ali’s fitness continue to cloud England’s preparations ahead of the day-night Test in Adelaide

George Dobell in Adelaide01-Dec-20173:34

The cricket should be the main focus – Root

Concerns over Moeen Ali’s fitness continue to cloud England’s preparations ahead of the day-night Test in Adelaide.While the England captain, Joe Root, confirmed that Moeen would play whether he was able to bowl or not, concerns over his spinning finger – cut in Brisbane and now blistered – have raised questions over how much he will be able to bowl and how effective he may be.Moeen cut his finger within his first few overs in Brisbane. Having bowled little in the warm-up games due to a side strain, his fingers had not sufficiently hardened before the Test and, brought into the attack with a ball just eight overs old, he found the Kookaburra seam quickly left him with a cut. While he played down the extent of the problem after the game, he was comprehensively out-bowled by the Australia spinner, Nathan Lyon.Moeen only delivered four overs in the second innings in Brisbane and has not bowled in training since. But he will have a long bowl in training on Friday, with the England management and medical team seeing how his finger reacts before making a decision over team selection. While Moeen is confident he will be able to bowl, there has to be some doubt as to how many revolutions he will be able to put on the ball and, as a result, how effectively he can perform.England have not sent for a backup spinner – the likes of Jack Leach – from the Lions squad, which suggests they are confident in Moeen’s recovery.”At the end of practice we’ll have a clear indication if he’ll be fit to bowl throughout the game,” Root said. “If there’s any more damage to it then we’ll have to make a decision.”His batting has been a huge part of this team for a long time now, so I think he would still play as a batter.”Saqlain Mushtaq inspects Moeen Ali’s injured finger•AFP

Whatever happens, it remains likely that England will stick to a team containing four seamers, with Moeen and Joe Root sharing the spin bowling duties. The conditions in Adelaide – it is a day-night match and the weather is currently overcast – are expected to provide a little more assistance for seamers.But Root has not ruled out a debut for 20-year-old legspinner Mason Crane, who impressed the England management with his temperament in the warm-up games.”It’s definitely not out of the question,” Root said. “It’s important we take everything into consideration at the end of practice. We’ll look at Moeen, see how bad his finger is and look at the conditions.”There is also theory that the seam of the pink ball is harder to pick-up under lights, which renders legspinners, in particular, harder to read. In the previous two day-night Tests at Adelaide the visiting teams have given debuts to spin bowlers – New Zealand picked left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner here for the first time in 2015 and South Africa picked left-arm wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi last year – and England could follow suit.It was a point made previously by Steve O’Keefe, Australia’s left-arm spinner. “The hardest thing for batsmen is to pick up the seam on the pink ball,” he said in 2015. “When spinners bowl, it can be difficult at times to see the seam or the revolutions through the air, which certainly helps. All the spinners who have bowled with the pink ball in Adelaide have generally had success.”Kookuburra have adapted the ball to aid visibility. While the version used in the first day-night game had four green and two white seams, the one used here will have six black seams which has increased the contrast against the pink surface and should improve visibility.If Crane did play, it would probably be in place of Jake Ball as England cannot afford to lengthen their tail any further. Stuart Broad and Ball both look a place too high at No. 9 and No. 10. Not for the first time, the absence of Ben Stokes – who could bat in the top six and provide the fourth seam-bowling option – is causing Root a headache.

West Indies Women cricketers on retainer contracts with the WICB are set to receive enhanced compensation packages from October 1, including increases in annual retainer fees and match fees

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Sep-2016West Indies Women cricketers on retainer contracts with the WICB are set to receive enhanced compensation packages from October 1, including increases in annual retainer fees, sponsorship payments, match fees and captains’ allowances. The number of women on retainer contracts will also be increased to 15, from the current 11. The estimated increase will cost the WICB just under US$600,000 for the upcoming year.Captain Stafanie Taylor, who led their victorious World T20 campaign earlier this year, welcomed the move.”I believe we are stepping in the right direction. England and Australia are the two top teams where women’s cricket is concerned and I think we can mirror what they are doing and get on their level,” Taylor said. “It’s good that the retainers and match fees have been increased and the girls love it. We hope that, as time goes by, more things will be improved.”Former captain Merissa Aguilleira also lauded the development. Noting the team’s hard work and success, Aguilleira added that “an increase like this will only encourage [the team] to work harder and continue representing the people of the Caribbean to the best of [their] abilities.”The new packages, which emerged from negotiations between the WICB and the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA), were hailed by both parties. WICB CEO Michael Muirhead said that the packages would “serve as an additional incentive for the current set of women” and also “serve as a drawing card to more women to be attracted to cricket”. WIPA president and CEO Wavell Hinds said the enhanced packages were “well deserved” given the women’s teams’ performances over the past decade.West Indies Women’s next international assignment is a home five-match ODI series against England in October. The last three ODIs of the series will count towards Women’s Championship points, offering the sides the chance to seal their spot in next year’s World Cup in England. West Indies are currently second in the Women’s Championship, behind Australia.

A list of stories and videos on the subject of Michael Clarke’s retirement from cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Aug-20152015August 24
Mark Nicholas – Clarke pulls his final few tricks
August 23
Ian Chappell – Clarke second only to Taylor as captain
News – Clarke’s parting plea for better Test pitches
Press conference – ‘I didn’t let the emotions get to me’ – Clarke
August 22
Daniel Brettig – Lyon is Clarke’s greatest legacy
August 19
News – ‘I can’t wait,’ says Clarke on retirement
Daniel Brettig – Clarke’s career ever so near to greatness
Simon Barnes – Where’s the love for Clarke?
Russell Jackson – A fan’s notes
Brydon Coverdale – Gutsy in Cape Town, resilient in Adelaide
Video – Clarke’s chance for glorious finale
Press conference – Clarke looking to finish on a high
Clickbait – The Michael Clarke highlights
August 18
News – Clarke leaves behind a ‘legacy of aggressive, entertaining cricket’ – Mark Taylor
Illustrated report – ‘A bloody good bloke to boot’
Gallery – Clarke’s career in photos
Video – Chappell: Tactically, Clarke was second only to Taylor
Video – Boycott: Australia won’t miss Clarke because of his recent form
August 14
Numbers Game – The highs and lows
August 11
News – ‘Baggy green culture eroded under Clarke’ – John Buchanan
August 10
Video – Chappell: Not surprised Clarke’s career has been a short one
August 9
Press conference – ‘Clarke will be remembered for courage’ – Sutherland
August 8
Jarrod Kimber – A battle for greatness and love
Press conference – ‘Been lucky enough to captain Australia’ – Clarke
Video – Ponting: Clarke put his heart and soul into the game
News – Clarke removes captain’s mask
News – Clarke announces retirement after Ashes
Video – Brettig: Clarke left with little choice
By the numbers – A statistical look at Clarke’s recent poor form
August 7
Video – Australia fans call for Clarke’s retirementAugust 5
News – Clarke is not retiring
August 4
News – Stubborn Clarke digs his heels in

The ECB has set April 22 as the date to hear Danish Kaneria’s appeal against the lifetime ban for involvement in fixing handed down to him by a disciplinary panel last year

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Feb-2013The ECB has set April 22 as the date to hear Danish Kaneria’s appeal against the lifetime ban for involvement in fixing handed down to him by a disciplinary panel last year. A first hearing was adjourned in December after initial legal submissions.Kaneria, who has been in London since December, is appealing against the ban, along with the £100,000 costs that were imposed on him. Despite being found guilty of corruption in relation to the Mervyn Westfield spot-fixing case, Kaneria has continued to deny his involvement and previously called for the appeal to be heard in front of an independent panel.The legspinner was barred from playing for the Pakistan national side in 2010 and the PCB has said that it would stand by the sanctions imposed by the England board, as the ICC’s anti-corruption code mandates. Kaneria’s ban from all cricket currently stands, pending the appeal result, and he has not played since March 2012.Kaneria is Pakistan’s leading Test spinner, with 261 wickets, and fourth-highest wicket-taker overall. He spent several successful seasons with Essex but was arrested in 2010, along with team-mate Westfield. Although no police charges were brought against Kaneria, he was found guilty by the ECB panel of inducing Westfield to under-perform in a 2009 limited-overs match and of bringing the game into disrepute.Westfield was jailed for four months for his part in agreeing to concede a set number of runs in an over during a CB40 match against Durham, in return for £6000. He was also banned for five years by the ECB, but can play club cricket after three.

Brendon McCullum has said BJ Watling has got “natural ability” as a wicketkeeper, and has backed him to do well with the gloves in New Zealand’s one-off Test against Zimbabwe

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jan-2012Brendon McCullum has said BJ Watling has got “natural ability” as a wicketkeeper, and has backed him to succeed in New Zealand’s one-off Test against Zimbabwe in Napier.McCullum kept wickets for New Zealand in 51 Tests but in 2010 he decided he wanted to play as a specialist batsman. Since then Gareth Hopkins and Reece Young have played in the role, but New Zealand are now looking for a new Test wicketkeeper. Watling, who played six Tests as a batsman, will have an opportunity to prove he can fill the position long term.McCullum said the fact that Watling had only played two first-class games as a keeper was a concern but not a major one. “The only thing you worry about is if he [Watling] has got the volume under his belt. But none of that matters; if he gets a go we’ve got to get right behind him.”I know he’s got the skills to do it and I guess everyone will be taking a punt on the fact that he can handle the workload as well. He’s certainly got some natural ability. It’s just about him getting back to keeping for long periods. I’m sure he’ll do well. It’s not a bad deck to start on as well.”Ross Taylor, the New Zealand captain, said they had decided to pick Watling ahead of the other keeper in the squad, Kruger van Wyk, even before Watling scored 84 in the practice game against the Zimbabweans.”I guess every time you select someone there’s the hope they take the spot and can fill it for years to come,” Taylor said. “I think BJ always had the inside running. The way he kept in Gisborne was promising and he had a good knock with the bat in the first innings. It was always going to be BJ but it was nice to see him score some runs and keep pretty well.”Taylor also said New Zealand would not relax after beating Australia for the first time in 26 years, in Hobart in December last year. “We’ve got to build on the momentum we’ve gained from the Hobart Test,” he said. “We don’t want to dine off that for years to come; we know we created history but we want to get consistent performances. What better place to start than our first home game of the season.”New Zealand will use the same combination in Napier as they did in Hobart, with Daniel Vettori at No. 6 and four quicks in the side. McCullum said that line-up suited New Zealand’s style of play.”I like that balance; it allows the batters to play with a bit more freedom knowing they’ve got an attack that can bowl a team out,” McCullum said. “The formula for us winning Test matches consistently could well be similar to the formula we had over there [in Hobart]; play four seamers and have a little bit in the wicket.”We probably will not have high-scoring 400-500 games, but games more along the lines of trying to eke out 280-300, or if you bat well you get 350-400.”

Praveen Kumar has been ruled out of the World Cup due to an injured elbow, and his place will be taken by Sreesanth

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Feb-2011Praveen Kumar, the India fast bowler, has been ruled out of the World Cup due to an injured elbow and will be replaced by Sreesanth. The decision comes a day after Praveen underwent a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore to gauge whether he had recovered from the injury sustained before the start of the one-day series in South Africa last month.Praveen, 24 had been sent back immediately from South Africa as a precautionary measure to recuperate at the NCA. The recovery did not go as planned, however, and he consulted Dr Andrew Wallace, a London-based surgeon who has treated many Indian players including Sachin Tendulkar. Praveen has been a regular with the Indian one-day side for the past couple of years and was set to be a certain starter in the World Cup, but his injury healed too slowly to allow him to participate in the global tournament.Sreesanth has established himself in the Test side but has been on the fringes of the one-day outfit. He has played only 51 one-dayers in more than five years since his debut in 2005, and has a bloated career economy rate of 6.01. But he proved effective in the two ODIs he’s played over the past 12 months, bagging seven wickets for 77 runs.The other fast bowlers in the Indian squad are Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Munaf Patel.

Kenya’s fall from Associate powerhouse to also-rans continued with their seven-wicket defeat to Netherlands at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Cricinfo staff11-Feb-2010
Scorecard
Kenya’s fall from Associate powerhouse to also-rans continued with their seven-wicket defeat to Netherlands at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Rocked by Steve Tikolo’s first ball dismissal, Kenya never fully recovered and were bowled out two balls short of their allotted overs for 130. Eric Szwarczynski’s 45 led Netherlands’ reply, and they chased down the target with five balls to spare.With a place in the Super Fours at stake for the winner of this game, Kenya would have been hoping for a strong performance from their top order. Tikolo’s 126-run opening stand with Alex Obanda steamrollered Canada on Wednesday, but they had added only a single run today when Tikolo hit Mudassar Bukhari’s second ball to Szwarczynski to depart for a duck.Pieter Seelaar, Netherlands’ left-arm spinner, distinguished himself with a tight spell under pressure in the win over Canada, and he performed superbly again to finish with 4 for 19 in his four overs. After Bukhari removed Obanda for 5, Seelaar worked his way through the middle order, dismissing captain Maurice Ouma, Collins Obuya, Rakep Patel and Tony Suji in consecutive overs as Kenya slipped to 67 for 6.Kenya’s final total owed a lot to Jimmy Kamande’s enterprising innings. His 42 contained three sixes, and carried Kenya to 126 before he fell to Mohammad Kashif in the penultimate over. After his dismissal, Bukhar had Shem Obado caught by Seelaar, and bowled Lameck Onyango to wrap up the innings.Kenya needed to replicate Netherlands’ early breakthroughs to give themselves a chance of victory, but Szwarczynski and Alexei Kervezee stole the game with a 72-run partnership in the first half of the innings. Kervezee eventually fell after he had compiled a domineering 33, and Szwarczynski departed five short of what would have been a well-deserved half-century, but their dismissals came too late for Kenya. Although Onyango’s effort with the ball took the match into the final over, the reality was that Netherlands won at a canter.Their reward is a place in the Super Fours, and with it the chance to make it to the World Twenty20 in West Indies. In the absence of the experienced Thomas Odoyo, the lack of incisiveness in Kenya’s bowling attack was exposed in this tournament, and they will also be left ruing the disappointing defeat to UAE in their opening game, where pedestrian batting scuppered their pursuit of 165.

Home side make a game of it having been 55 for 8 but Bouchier, Devine steer successful chase

ECB Media16-Aug-2025Southern Brave 109 for 4 (Bouchier 42, Devine 41*) beat Trent Rockets 106 (Gordon 32, Corteen-Coleman 4-13) by six wicketsA dominant bowling performance followed by a measured if not nervy run chase saw the Southern Brave to a six-wicket win over Trent Rockets in The Hundred women’s competition at Trent Bridge.Electing to bowl first, Georgia Adams’ decision was justified almost immediately when 17-year-old Tilly Corteen-Coleman struck two huge blows in her opening set, removing Bryony Smith caught off a leading-edge and Nat Sciver-Brunt brilliantly stumped by Rhianna Southby.Despite a 16-ball 25 from captain Ash Gardner, the Rockets top order faltered miserably. From 36 for 2 at the conclusion of the powerplay, it was complete Brave dominance as Rockets collapsed to 55 for 8.Left-arm spinner Corteen-Coleman bowled brilliantly, also dismissing Heather Graham and Emma Jones – the former another stumping by the impressive Southby – on the way to brilliant figures of 4 for 13. Lauren Bell returned to strike twice in three balls, becoming the first woman to take 50 wickets in the Hundred in the process, finishing her 20 balls with 3 for 16.Alana King and Kirstie Gordon then staged a recovery to keep their side in the game. They shared a record tenth-wicket stand of 50 from 44 deliveries to help the Rockets to 106 and give them something to bowl at.In the run chase, Rockets struck early – Danni Wyatt-Hodge run out by King after a miscommunication with Maia Bouchier. Laura Wolvaardt was then caught by Sciver-Brunt off Gordon to see the score 10 for 2 with two in-form batters back in the shed.Bouchier and Sophie Devine played cautiously against probing bowling from King and Gardner, steadily chipping away at the target as the Brave reached 52 for 2 at halfway with 55 runs still required.Bouchier began to open her shoulders as Brave approached their target, but she targeted King one time too many, running past a wide one to be stumped for 43.Devine was joined by Freya Kemp who, after cracking a huge six off Gordon, went caught on the boundary with eight still required from seven balls. But Devine stayed calm, striking a crucial boundary off Graham as the Brave got home with two balls to spare.Meerkat Match Hero, Corteen-Coleman, said: “It’s been fantastic, such a great team performance. Good to get another win on the board. There’s a bit of a track record of Trent Bridge being a bit slow and having a bit of turn so I thought I might be in the game.”I can’t complain, it’s been a great day. We’re a great group. We’ve been working really hard and obviously off the back of last year I feel like we’ve got a lot to prove and we’re on our way to doing that.”

He is believed to have batted without any discomfort but did not keep wickets

Shashank Kishore21-Feb-20246:27

Rishabh Pant on his accident: ‘I felt my time in this world was up’

Rishabh Pant has begun going through a series of match-simulation exercises as he continues his recovery from a life-threatening car accident in December 2022 and targets a return to competitive cricket during IPL 2024.On Tuesday, Pant and Hardik Pandya, who is recovering from an ankle injury, played a 20-over practice game at the KSCA facility in Alur, Karnataka, under the supervision of National Cricket Academy physios and trainers. They are expected to have another round of conditioning and match-simulation drills on Thursday and it’s likely this exercise will continue until early March.ESPNcricinfo understands Pant experienced no discomfort while batting for the entire 20 overs and the team monitoring him is believed to be satisfied with his endurance levels. Pant, however, didn’t keep wicket and has reportedly been advised to resume that aspect of his training in March. If he’s ready in time for the IPL, he is like to play as a specialist batter for Delhi Capitals.On Tuesday, Pant had a posted a video on Instagram in which he’s seen doing some wicketkeeping and mobility drills, which have become part of his lower-body conditioning over the past six weeks. The NCA staff is mindful of not overloading Pant and want to ease him back into the rigours of training in a high-intensity environment.Related

• Pant to lead Capitals, play first half as batter in IPL 2024: Capitals co-owner

• Ponting: Pant is 'very confident' of playing entire IPL 2024

• Pant on his life-threatening car crash: 'I felt my time in this world was over'

• Rishabh Pant suffers multiple injuries in serious car crash

Ricky Ponting, Delhi’s head coach, had spoken earlier this month about “managing Pant” through IPL 2024, if he wasn’t ready to play every single game.”We’ll just keep our fingers crossed and hope that he can be out there and play,” Ponting had said. “Even if it’s not all the games, if we can manage him through 10 of the 14 games or whatever that might be, then whatever games you can get out of him will be a bonus.”Rishabh is very confident that he’s going to be right to play. In what capacity we’re not quite sure yet. But I’ll guarantee if I asked him now he’ll say, ‘I’m playing every game, I’m keeping every game and I’m batting at No.4.’ That’s just what he’s like, but we’ll keep our fingers crossed.”Pant hasn’t played competitive cricket since the accident in December 2022, when he was driving from Delhi to his hometown of Roorkee to meet his family. After being treated initially in Dehradun, Pant was airlifted to Mumbai, where he had knee surgery under the care of BCCI’s specialist consultant.Since last April, Pant has mostly been at the NCA in Bengaluru for his rehab under the guidance of physio S Rajnikanth, who has worked with several India age-group teams and also been part of the DC support staff.Rajnikanth had previously helped Hardik, Jasprit Bumrah and M Vijay recover from serious injuries. Thulasi Ram Yuvaraj, another NCA physio, has also been working with Pant on mobility and speed drills.In an interview aired earlier this month on , Pant had spoken about how he insulated himself from the outside world to focus on his recovery. “I am focusing on recovery cut off from the world,” he said. “It helps me in recovering fast, especially when the injury is so serious. For recovery, you have to do the same thing every day. It’s boring, it’s irritating, it’s frustrating, but you have to do it.”Hardik is believed to be recovering well from the ankle injury he picked up midway through the 2023 ODI World Cup. He had begun training in Baroda last month and checked into the NCA for regular fitness monitoring. He is reportedly on track to lead Mumbai Indians at IPL 2024.Last week, BCCI secretary Jay Shah had said Hardik would be Rohit Sharma’s vice-captain for the 2024 T20 World Cup beginning on June 1 in the USA and the West Indies.

The mini-auction is expected to be held in the third week of December

Nagraj Gollapudi16-Oct-2022The IPL has started the process for the upcoming mini-auction by asking the ten franchises to submit their list of retained players by November 15. While a date for the auction has not yet been finalised, it is expected to be held in the third week of December.Unlike the mega auction last year, when two new franchises were added and the old teams could retain a maximum of four players, there is no such cap for the mini-auction ahead of IPL 2023. In addition to the money left over from the previous auction, each team will have an additional INR 5 crore (approx. US $607,000) to spend, making the overall auction purse INR 95 crore (approx. US $11.5 million).Punjab Kings had the largest purse left – INR 3.45 crore (approx. US $425,000) – after last year’s auction, while Lucknow Super Giants had exhausted their entire purse. Chennai Super Kings had INR 2.95 crore (approx. US $358,000) remaining, followed by Royal Challengers Bangalore (INR 1.55 crore, or approx. US $188,000), Rajasthan Royals (INR 0.95 crore or approx. US $115,000) and Kolkata Knight Riders (INR 0.45 crore, or approx. US $55,000). Defending champions Gujarat Titans were left with INR 0.15 crore (approx. US $18,000) while three teams – Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals – had INR 0.10 crore (approx. US $12,000).Despite franchises having smaller purses, mini-auctions have produced some of the most expensive buys in the past. At the 2021 auction, South Africa fast bowler Chris Morris became the most expensive player after Royals bought him for INR 16.25 crore (then approx. US $2.2 million), which was INR 25 lakhs more than Delhi’s winning bid for India allrounder Yuvraj Singh in 2015.Overseas players have often been big earners at mini-auctions with Pat Cummins getting INR 15.5 crore from Knight Riders in 2020, while Ben Stokes’ first IPL pay cheque was INR 14.50 crore from Rising Pune Supergiant in 2017.Stokes along with his England team-mate Sam Curran and Australia allrounder Cameron Green are some of the overseas players franchises expect to attract the biggest bids if they enter the auction.Three teams – Kings, Capitals and Super Giants – bought only seven overseas players at the previous auction, so they could be on the lookout to fill up the last spot. Other teams could release one or more of their overseas players to create vacancies and increase their purses.Also, six franchises had brought in injury replacements during IPL 2022. These franchises will have to decide whether to retain the replacement player or the original player, or both provided the player limit allows. Following is the list of players originally bought and their replacements:

• Adam Milne, replaced by Matheesha Pathirana (Super Kings)
• Tymal Mills, replaced by Tristan Stubbs (Mumbai)
• Nathan Coulter-Nile, replaced by Corbin Bosch (Royals)
• Mark Wood, replaced by Andrew Tye (Super Giants)
• Alex Hales, replaced by Aaron Finch (Knight Riders)
• Jason Roy, replaced by Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Titans)