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Chris Gayle said the players and Cricket West Indies need to build on a steadily improving relationship “to get the best players out on the field”

Shashank Kishore in Bengaluru13-Jul-2017West Indies could feature a full-strength squad across formats as early as August this year, according to Chris Gayle. Gayle said “things have been steadily improving” with regard to the dispute between the players and Cricket West Indies.”The fans were happy to see me back on the field representing West Indies. Hopefully, things can get better. Hopefully I can play a few more games. I definitely want to play the 2019 World Cup,” Gayle said. “Things are beginning to open up a little more now between players and the board. It’s looking good, and we’ve to try and build from this to get the best players out on the field.”Currently, Cricket West Indies follows a stringent policy of considering only those players who have featured in the domestic 50-over competition, under the regime of Julian Hunte and Ernest Hilaire. In recent times, however, the CWI have been more open to negotiation, which Courtney Browne, the chairman of selectors, too spoke of in May.Gayle said discussions regarding the possibility of featuring in a full-strength squad for West Indies’ tour of England in August were positive. “That’s what is actually in discussion. It’s for them to make the announcement, and make it formal so that we know what is what,” Gayle said. “We’ll wait and see what happens.”I can’t get into specific details, just from the little I’ve experienced since coming back, it’s been good. There’s still more discussion to be done. It’s positive. That’s the good thing about it. We’ve to just look to carry on from here. Once we are guided with the rules, if it is going to change fully, we’ll know how to take things further.”Gayle was also optimistic that investment in a young squad, particularly Evin Lewis, would pay off eventually, even though results in recent times – a loss to Afghanistan and an ODI series defeat to India apart from their failure to qualify for the Champions Trophy – haven’t gone their way.”Two centuries in two T20s against India, it’s fantastic,” Gayle said of Lewis. “He’s a small player but a powerful player. He’s very young and very hungry, he’s one for the future. Once more consistency comes into his play, he will be more dangerous. It was a brilliant innings just the other day to put us into that winning position by batting right through the end was fantastic. That’s what I love to see, especially an opener batting right through to take it till the end and win games.”With our experience, we all try and share as much as we can before we go; 2019 is just around the corner. We don’t want to miss out like what happened at the Champions Trophy. We will try and push hard for that and everyone can work collectively to make sure we’re part of the World Cup.”Gayle also said he was “excited” at seeing young fast bowlers challenge him at the nets, and impressed upon the need to maintain his fitness to take every step possible to put himself in fray for selection. “I’m still being active in the gym, putting in the work. These youngsters are very sharp, they try to take your head off saying ‘he’s old now, take him down,'” he said. “You’ve got to be mindful, got to be ready at all times. I’m trying and looking after the body. There’s a lot of travelling, so I try and monitor [my schedules and training] as much as possible.”

Glamorgan ran through Surrey for 93 at the Kia Oval to set up an eight-wicket victory in the NatWest Blast

David Hopps26-May-2016
ScorecardTimm van der Gugten celebrates one of his four wickets on the night at the Oval•Getty Images

Surrey are the gold standard for English professional cricket as far as Twenty20 is concerned: crowds that fill the Kia Oval are the norm, they are the richest county in the country, the embodiment of off-field success. But the story on the field is not so pretty. They will point to two Finals Days in three years but as they crashed to defeat in their first NatWest Blast home match of the 2016 season, they were abysmal.Championship cricket has dominated the past six weeks and this match pitted Surrey, bottom of Division One, against Glamorgan, similarly bereft in Division Two – six matches each and not a victory between them. The Blast was an opportunity for release and it was Glamorgan, unfashionable Glamorgan, who gained it by dismissing Surrey for 93 before they waltzed to a predictable eight-wicket victory with 7.4 overs to spare.The Oval crowd took its punishment quietly. Perhaps we will know that T20 cricket in England matters when they boo on nights like this. Glamorgan, meanwhile, have travelled to south London in T20 four times and won every one, including a county record 240 for 3 a year ago.Gareth Batty, Surrey’s captain, told : “We have not covered ourselves in glory. In T20, a bad day can be really bad. So scratch it off and move forward. I don’t think it is a time for getting too carried away.”Fortune also turned against Surrey. Ben Foakes was injured in the pre-match warm-up – struck on the elbow by a stray ball from Stuart Meaker. Then Azhar Mahmood’s involvement ended prematurely when the Blast’s elder statesman, at 41, propped forward to his second delivery and damaged a calf badly enough to play no further part, unable even to bat with a runner which is still allowed in English domestic cricket. A long lay-off looks likely.Glamorgan achieved their win by just doing the basics. The surface was a little grabby, and their decision to throttle Surrey with old-fashioned virtues of back-of-a-length consistency worked a treat. Timm van der Gugten, a Netherlands pace bowler via a birthplace in Sydney, emerged with 4 for 14, his dismissal of Steven Davies and Kumar Sangakkara in the space of three balls setting the tone. He found it a bit of inswing, but when he said: “I thought we bowled well as a collective,” he summed it up.Stardom? Not on a night like this. Jason Roy was back at the Kia Oval in T20 colours for the first time since England reached the final of World Twenty20. No longer was he an exciting south London upstart beginning to forge an international career. Now he had recognised quality and debates were taking hold about whether he could even develop into a Test cricketer – and if so why on earth is he batting so low in the order for Surrey in Championship cricket?But Roy 2016 vintage looked unsettled. Shots were mistimed, the pitch not suiting him, and his early forays were unconvincing. He was only 15 when he tried to manufacture a big shot over the off side against Michael Hogan, skewed it off the bottom of the bat to extra cover and Colin Ingram, back in Glamorgan’s side after injury for the first time this season, held a difficult catch pedalling backwards.Consolidation is not in Roy’s nature. Neither is it the T20 way espoused by England which is further encouragement for him to keep playing his shots. But, in the World T20, England had Liam Plunkett or Adil Rashid at No. 11; Surrey, once Foakes had withdrawn, had Mahmood at seven. Perpetual attack needs sound surfaces or batting depth, or preferably both, and Roy did not have the advantage of neither. He will undoubtedly take out his frustration on somebody soon.Roy’s dismissal was all the more damaging because it was the third Surrey wicket to fall in eight balls. Van der Gugten, had taken two wickets in the previous over, having Davies caught off an attempted leg-side flip by a craftily-positioned deep square leg, and then defeating Kumar Sangakkara’s advance to drive courtesy of a fast catch above his head by wicketkeeper Chris Cooke.It was not the sort of night, as delightful as it was to see it, for Zafar Ansari to make a return from a second thumb injury that has disrupted his career: he made a second-ball nought, edging Craig Meschede’s overpitched ball to the wicketkeeper. Many in the 15,500 crowd were just coming in; Surrey statisticians must have been toying with walking out, 37 for 4 after the six-over Powerplay already leaving their victory chances strikingly low.And it got worse. Sam Curran showed pizazz for a while, but on 21 pulled Meschede to midwicket where David Lloyd took a skilful low catch and, although Curran delayed – politely enough – in the hope of a TV umpire adjudication which would have improved his chances of survival, the umpires chose to believe the evidence of their own eyes. Van der Gugten later found a little inswing to complete his foursome, bowling Gary Wilson as he shuffled across his stumps and having James Burke, Foakes’ replacement, lbw third ball.Glamorgan’s chase was a non-event. Surrey did not go for broke with attacking fields, and an opening stand of 58 settled the game as Jacques Rudolph stroked it around with quality and Lloyd struck powerfully over the leg side. Ingram announced his return from injury by battering Mathew Pillans’ first ball over long-on for six. It was very much Glamorgan’s night.

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.”