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Starc had appeared set to join Hazlewood in a move that would have granted the club arguably the world’s best white-ball bowler, drastically altering calculations for every other team

Daniel Brettig11-Dec-2019Recruiting regulations and the possibility of a Big Bash League marquee player draft will be reviewed by Cricket Australia after a hectic last week of negotiations almost saw Mitchell Starc join Josh Hazlewood in what would have been a near tournament-winning play by the Sydney Sixers.While Hazlewood was signed by the Sixers at the very end of the contracting period on Friday, Starc had appeared set to join him in a move that would have granted the Sydney club arguably the world’s best white-ball bowler for the pointy end of the tournament, drastically altering calculations for every other team.CA were understandably eager to get every possible high profile player involved in the tournament and were disappointed that Starc ultimately did not join in time to meet the contracting deadline. The absence of Pat Cummins from the Sydney Thunder list, which left the club with a final list of 17 players rather than the maximum 18, was also a blow.However rival clubs were less than enchanted by the fact that the Sixers were able to add Hazlewood and potentially Starc to what was already a full list by simply paying out the contracts of two lower profile players. The seam bowler Henry Thornton lost his place on the Sixers list but will have his contract paid out, with the possibility that he can earn more money by returning as an injury replacement later in the tournament.This is not to say the Sixers were themselves happy with the scenario. The club’s general manager Jodie Hawkins was required to disclose and explain the Sixers’ plans to recruit Hazlewood and Starc on a conference call with officials from all clubs last week. Senior figures contacted by ESPNcricinfo at three BBL clubs agreed that while all wanted the best players involved in the competition, the process by which this took place needed some serious work.”The BBL has always been known for constantly innovating,” CA’s head of the BBL Alistair Dobson told ESPNcricinfo. “We’ll review list and contracting rules to make sure they work as best they can for the competition and a big priority is making sure the best overseas and Australian players can play. To work with our clubs closely on what might need to be adjusted to make sure that happens is one of our key priorities at the end of each season.”This year, the way the fixture was able to be built and condensed has made both international and local windows better. We’ve changed some of the overseas replacement player rules to make it easier for clubs to bring international replacement players in and out of the competition, and that’s shown in some of the players who’ve been able to find their way into the BBL this season.Josh Hazlewood is set to play in the BBL for the first time in six seasons•Getty Images

“It’s relatively clear communication between the leagues and clubs as players are put on lists, we make sure clubs are given the information in a timely fashion, at the same time making sure clubs have got the opportunity to then negotiate with players and get the contracts done as required. Everything’s quite transparent and well communicated with clubs.”There is a considerable advantage for the Sydney BBL clubs in the fact that, should they deign to take part in some or all of the BBL, the nation’s leading pace bowlers Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins are all based there. Other imbalances in the competition that have been sore points in the past have included complaints from the two-club Sydney and Melbourne markets about the ability of clubs in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and Hobart to better balance their state and BBL contract lists in order to retain players.”We work closely with all our clubs on their different list builds and stay in touch with them on how those lists are coming together,” Dobson said. “From our point of view, it’s great for us to have as many Australian players, particularly high profile ones, playing in the Big Bash as possible, not only out of the Test team but even this year the way we’ve been able to build the fixture to make it a better opportunity for some other big name Australian players to play more BBL.”It’s been a really big priority, we’re really excited about how that’s progressed. As you come towards the end of a contracting period there’s always a flurry of activity, the Sixers have got great relationships with those players and they’re really keen to be part of the season and we’re really excited the Sixers were able to get it done.”The other major recruiting issue for the BBL remains the broad spectrum of contract value available in different T20 leagues around the world, particularly the Bangladesh and Pakistan leagues that clash with the Australian tournament and can offer far more money for a lot less game time. The recruitment of players like AB de Villiers to the Brisbane Heat requires far more than what can simply be offered within each club’s cap, resulting in a rash of third-party deals that have the ring of an exhibition tournament rather than a fully-fledged league.”We work with all our clubs constantly on how we make sure they can build and recruit players in the best interests of the competition,” Dobson said. “From time to time we work with them on the best way to do that, and that might mean the league supporting that in different ways.”I think from our perspective we’re reviewing each year the salary cap and the ability for clubs to recruit the players they need to put on the best possible competition. But at the same time we’re mindful that our selling proposition to players extends to the best stadiums, the biggest crowds, the best-run competition, the most exciting cricket.”So while being competitive in the market from a salary point of view is important, we’re also mindful of ensuring the other things around the offering to players are as good as they can be, and the BBL is showing over time it delivers on those. That said the competitive landscape is constantly shifting and we need to make sure we’re on top of it.”

Michael Neser and Mark Steketee’s brisk 64-run stand left the game evenly poised at the end of day two in Canberra after Nathan Lyon took four wickets

The Report by Alex Malcolm17-Nov-2018Mark Steketee celebrates a wicket with his teammates•Getty Images

A four-wicket haul from New South Wales spinner Nathan Lyon was overshadowed by a stunning rear-guard from Queensland duo Michael Neser and Mark Steketee to leave the game evenly poised at the end of day two in Canberra.Queensland looked in danger of giving up a significant first innings lead when Lyon had Jimmy Pierson stumped to leave the Bulls 7 for 146.But Neser and Steketee unleashed a vicious counter-attack. The pair put on 64 in just 11 overs to tick the total past 200. Neser struck 10 fours in his 62 before falling caught and bowled to Lyon. He has now scored three consecutive Shield half-centuries. Steketee hammered four sixes and two fours in his 41 before holing out at deep midwicket off Pat Cummins.Earlier, Marnus Labuschagne made a compact half-century as he continued to push to retain his spot in the Test side. He cruised to 52, with six fours, before chopping on off Cummins. Matt Renshaw was one of Lyon’s four wickets, edging behind trying to force square off the back foot for just 21.Blues openers Nick Larkin and Daniel Hughes made it to stumps to give New South Wales a lead of 52 with 10 wickets in hand heading into day three.

Defending champions Southern Vipers bowled struggling Lancashire out for 87 in a six-wicket win at Liverpool to qualify for next week’s Finals Day with a group game to spare

ECB Reporters Network23-Aug-2017Defending champions Southern Vipers bowled struggling Lancashire out for 87 in a six-wicket win at Liverpool to qualify for next week’s Finals Day with a group game to spare.The Vipers consigned the Thunder to their fourth straight defeat with an impressive, but not perfect, performance built on success with the ball.Spin proved crucial as the Vipers took their first four wickets for just seven runs in 17 balls, although they dropped a couple of catches and later slipped to 41 for 4in reply.The hosts, who elected to bat, failed to recover from losing key batsmen Sarah Taylor and Amy Satterthwaite in the space of five balls to the off-spin of Hayley Matthews and left-armer Lynsey Smith as the score fell to 9 for 3 in the fourth over.Taylor was brilliantly caught one-handed for one by West Indian Matthews off her own bowling. Either side of the two international dismissals, Smith bowled Emma Lamb and Eve Jones to return 3 for 16.Former Thunder batsman Danni Wyatt then held the Vipers chase together with a composed unbeaten 29-ball 46 following the loss of star player Suzie Bates.New Zealander Bates still managed to stay in the thick of the action. She had Sophie Ecclestone caught at mid-on with her first ball as Lancashire fell to 57 for 8 and also took two catches.She is the leading run-scorer in the competition with 227, the leading catcher with six and the second leading wicket-taker with seven.Lancashire at least gained some respectability through captain Danni Hazell, who hit three sixes in 37, and Kate Cross with 19. They shared 21 for the ninth wicket to avoid the competition’s lowest score across two seasons – 64.Spin continued to prosper in the Vipers chase as left-arm spinner Ecclestone struck twice in her first over, the second of the innings, as the score fell to 7 for 2.She had Matthews caught at mid-off and bowled Georgia Adams before Jess Jonassen had Bates caught at mid-off and Hazell bowled Mignon du Preez.From there, Wyatt was helped along by fifth-wicket partner Arran Brindle, who hit 19 not out. They shared an unbroken 47 and won with 5.1 overs remaining.Vipers host Yorkshire Diamonds at Arundel in their final group game on Saturday afternoon, and a win could still hand them a direct passage into the final with them three points behind Surrey. Lancashire travel to Bristol to face Western Storm.

Michael Klinger again proved to be Essex’s nemesis as he guided Gloucestershire serenely to an eight-wicket win in the NatWest T20 Blast at Chelmsford

ECB Reporters Network16-Jun-2016
ScorecardMichael Klinger continued to dominate Essex attacks (file photo)•Getty Images

Michael Klinger again proved to be Essex’s nemesis as he guided Gloucestershire serenely to an eight-wicket win in the NatWest T20 Blast at Chelmsford.The Australian rattled up two unbeaten T20 centuries against Essex last season, and added a third in the LV= County Championship for good measure.Essex finally got their man here, but not before he had hammered 78 of the 132 runs scored while he was at the wicket.With Hamish Marshall he put on 126 for the first wicket in 13.3 before the two men from Down Under, with a combined age of 72, departed in the space of four balls.Marshall, who had earlier been dropped by James Foster when on one, was the first to go when he played on to Quinn for 42 off 34 balls.And Klinger followed at the start of Wahab Riaz’s first over from the River End when he edged a lifter through to wicketkeeper Foster. His imperious innings lasted 49 balls and included seven fours and four sixes. It condemned Essex to a fourth defeat in five T20 games this season.Klinger had started Essex’s agony when he won the toss on a slow track and scotched any hopes the home team might have had of another run chase by opting to bowl at them first.That it wasn’t going to be Essex’s night was evident when Jesse Ryder went first ball, fishing outside off-stump to Matt Taylor to be caught behind by Gareth Roderick.Tom Westley took up the attacking mantle, cracking Taylor through the covers, another through midwicket and turned Norwell backward of square for a third boundary.Norwell’s second over went for 13, but he might have had the wicket of Westley only for Andrew Tye to dive over a lofted drive at mid-on as it raced on for another four.Tye was into the attack in the fifth over for his first spell since he was removed from the attack last Friday for bowling two beamers in the game against Glamorgan. His first over cost just three runs.Krishen Velani, playing his first T20 in a year, and opening the innings, lifted an effortless six straight into the black sightscreen at the Hayes Close End off Norwell. But he was always the junior partner in a second-wicket stand of 46 before he chopped on to the same bowler for 16.
Ravi Bopara was off the mark with a six, a push into the covers for two tripled by four overthrows. Westley hit a more conventional maximum, pulling Tom Smith over midwicket.But having laid the foundations, Westley was deceived by a slower ball from Benny Howell and was bowled for his fourth forty in five T20 knocks this season. His 36-ball 46 included five fours and that six.Ryan ten Doeschate followed soon after, run out for two by a direct throw from Chris Dent at mid-off after a review by the third umpire.Dan Lawrence survived a caught-and-bowled attempt by Smith, and next ball Bopara top-edged the bowler over midwicket for six. But when Kieran Noema-Barnett replaced Smith at the River End, Bopara tapped his third ball tamely back into the bowler’s hands to depart for 28.The Essex mid-innings slump continued when Lawrence aimed to leg but lobbed up a dolly to Michael Klinger at silly mid-off to give Howell figures of two for 15. Essex were then 108 for six in the 16th over.Ashar Zaidi livened up proceedings when he went after Noema-Barnett, hitting successive sixes over midwicket and cow corner. But having reached 17 off 10 balls, he fell to a slower ball from Tye.Wahab Riaz took Essex to 150 in the last over when he hit Tye back over his head, but lost partner James Foster off the last ball, run out attempting a second run.There was a rare occurrence at the start of the Gloucestershire reply when the usually infallible Foster failed to hang on to a chance high to his right when Hamish Marshall snicked Matt Quinn. The ball sped off the wicketkeeper’s gloves and to the boundary for four.Klinger continued his liking for the Essex bowling. The Australian straight-drove David Masters for six and also hooked Quinn for two sixes, the first when the ball was dug in very short.Marshall, who was one when he received his reprieve, was scoring for much of the innings at the same rate as his partner, but only receiving half the number of balls. He, too, cleared the boundary ropes off Masters.Klinger raced to his half-century off 32 balls with an ambled single of Zaidi, the fifty reached with four fours and three sixes.The Gloucestershire captain added a fourth six, putting Lawrence over long-off before adding a boundary all along the ground to the same part of the ground.Once the two openers had gone, Ian Cockbain and Dent eased Gloucestershire over the line with 19 balls to spare.

Leicestershire made it consecutive wins in the NatWest T20 North Division as Durham’s batsmen struggled to come to terms with a well-grassed but relatively slow pitch at Grace Road.

ECB/PA28-May-2015
ScorecardKevin O’Brien saw Leicestershire home with an unbeaten innings•Getty Images

Leicestershire made it consecutive wins in the NatWest T20 North Division as Durham’s batsmen struggled to come to terms with a well-grassed but relatively slow pitch at Grace Road.Durham skipper Mark Stoneman’s decision to bat first after winning the toss looked like it might pay off when the first over, bowled by part-time offspinner Neil Pinner, yielded 15 runs. But Foxes captain Mark Cosgrove turned to his seamers, and in the third over Stoneman, looking to pull a short delivery from Rob Taylor, bottom edged the ball into his stumps.Calum MacLeod was becoming increasingly frustrated when he stepped across his stumps and attempted to scoop a Kevin O’Brien delivery over the wicketkeeper’s head, and succeeded only in edging a simple catch to Ned Eckersley at point.Phil Mustard pulled and square drove boundaries off O’Brien in the 11th over, but in the 12th Paul Collingwood tried to lift the offspin of Jigar Naik over long-off, and was well held by Grant Elliott. The New Zealander then dropped a fierce chance off Mustard, on 41, but the left-hander added only four more runs to his score when he was held by Rob Taylor at long off from the bowling of O’Brien.John Hastings did his best to increase the scoring rate, hitting three beautifully timed boundaries in going to 21 off 13 balls, and together with Gordon Muchall, who made 31 off 27 balls, added 37 for the sixth wicket.A target of just over six an over always looked likely to be inadequate, however, and though Hastings bowled well at Cosgrove when Leicestershire began their innings, youngster Paul Coughlin was lofted high over long-on and into the player’s car park by the Australian left-hander.Coughlin got his revenge, catching Cosgrove at deep-extra cover off Usman Arshad, and Scott Borthwick pinned Eckersley leg before wicket so that after ten overs the Foxes were only just ahead of the required rate.Had Borthwick won a stumping decision when Elliott was only 3, matters might have become really interesting, but after several replays, third umpire Tim Robinson decided there was sufficient doubt to reprieve the New Zealander. Salt was rubbed into the wound when Borthwick’s next over went for 20, and offspinner Ryan Pringle received similar treatment as Leicestershire cantered home with 27 balls to spare.”I don’t think the pitch was too bad at all, I think we bowled pretty well on it, and then the batsmen took us home,” Cosgrove said. “It’s good to back up on beating Derbyshire in our last match, and hopefully we can take the form into our game at Worcester on Friday night.”

Cricket Australia Chairman’s XI and Sri Lankans played out a draw at the Manuka Oval in Canberra. Just 31 overs were bowled today and the visitors finished on 396 for 6

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Dec-2012
Scorecard
Cricket Australia Chairman’s XI and Sri Lankans played out a draw at the Manuka Oval in Canberra. Just 31 overs were bowled today and the visitors finished on 396 for 6. They added 120 runs on the day, with Prasanna Jayawardene and Dinesh Chandimal scoring half-centuries. The pair added 110 for the fifth wicket in 27 overs. Both fell before the close. Sri Lanka’s batsmen, though, had begun their tour on a positive note, with three half-centuries and a century in response to CA Chairman’s XI’s 439. The game ended by mutual agreement between the captains.

Zimbabwe Cricket will face minimal monetary losses in the hosting of its popular Twenty20 tournament which starts on Friday, ZC managing director Ozias Bvute has said

Firdose Moonda25-Nov-2011Zimbabwe Cricket will face minimal monetary losses in the hosting of its popular Twenty20 tournament which starts on Friday, ZC managing director Ozias Bvute has said. The 10-day event features five franchises and 16 foreign players, and has been the highlight of the domestic calendar since its inception three seasons ago. It is also a sign of the growing financial viability of cricket in Zimbabwe after a period of instability.”We will be very close to breaking even this year and we are not too far from making it a sustainable and profitable tournament,” Bvute told ESPNCricnfo.ZC made losses on each of its three incoming tours this summer, when it hosted Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand and made a historic comeback into Test cricket. They have secured major sponsors in recent times, to cushion the blow, and are also making inroads into the television rights market.South African-based broadcaster SuperSport has bought the rights to the T20 tournament and all 14 matches will be screened live across the continent. The company has made a name for being one of the most comprehensive sports broadcasters in the world and secures rights to most major events.Clinton van der Berg, SuperSport communication manager, said they viewed the series as important to their African objectives. “SuperSport is a Pan-African broadcaster and Zimbabwe is one of our key areas,” he said.Alistair Campbell, chairman of the ZC cricket committee, said that he hopes SuperSport’s involvement will be able to “increase the profile” of the tournament. “As it becomes more popular, we will able to leverage more on the sale of the TV rights,” he said. “Everything can’t be funded by sponsors but we are working on this, it will happen down the line.”For now, the focus is to grow the competition and ZC appears to be willing to accept lesser revenues in order to do that. While van der Berg could not reveal the specific numbers, he admitted that SuperSport were “very satisfied with the commercial arrangement” they made with ZC.The event is expected to be well attended, with Campbell predicting “packed crowds on the weekends, especially the finals weekend, which will fall over school holidays”. Viewership figures are also expected to be on the up, after ZC secured big names such as Chris Gayle, Shaun Tait, Dirk Nannes and Ryan ten Doeschate to play in the event. “Being a new tournament, it may struggle initially, but the big names ought to help,” van der Berg said. “Given the popularity of T20 elsewhere, we would expect it to do reasonably well.”ZC and Gayle have both confirmed that they were “unable to pay him what he could command elsewhere” but that players such as him were willing to play in the short event, for less money than usual. “He knows we don’t have the resources to pay him what he may deserve, but he was willing to help us out and we are most grateful,” Campbell said. “As the event grows, we will be able to get more big names and pay more.”Although money is one of ZC’s main concerns, Bvute said the primary aim of the competition is to promote cricket in the country, which has only just started to become more inclusive to the majority population. “We are transitioning from a period when cricket was an exclusive sport played by less than 600 people in a population of well over 13 million; to a place where cricket is a majority sport accessible to everyone – players and spectators alike,” Bvute said. “From the onset, this competition has been a major success, generating record numbers of spectators.”

While most major teams are finalising their preparations for the World Cup, Pakistan cricket’s internal discord continues to divert attention off the field. Can they turn the corner against South Africa?

The Preview by Siddhartha Talya25-Oct-2010

Series Facts

October 26 and 27, Abu Dhabi

Start time 20:00 (16:30 GMT)Amid the negativity, Misbah-ul-Haq’s return could be a crucial boost for Pakistan•Getty Images

The Big Picture

Pakistan’s lead-up to this tour can be described as chaotic at best. While most major teams are finalising their preparations for the World Cup, Pakistan cricket’s internal discord continues to divert attention off the field. The captain and coach have complained of not being consulted over team selection, the board has warned the captain and defended not seeking the coach’s opinion, while former cricketers have hit out at the rift between players and the board. Such negativity augurs badly for a team still attempting to recover from the spot-fixing controversy and working towards restoring faith in its fans.
Amid the negativity, however, there are a few things to look forward to. Discarded for most of the year, Misbah-ul-Haq has been catapulted into the role of Test captain and won his place back in the limited-overs squads as well. Things have come a full circle for Younis Khan, who, after being banned indefinitely by the board for disciplinary reasons, has been drafted back in the side.The return of experienced heads has strengthened the batting department. But the bowling, shorn of two quality seamers who have been provisionally suspended by the ICC, will look to Umar Gul for leadership. The series kicks off with a couple of Twenty20 internationals, and Pakistan, who have been short of match practice and possibly struggling for focus, could just be facing a better team. Their captain, Shahid Afridi, however was not too concerned by the absence of Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir. “We know we are without two of our best bowlers, but we still have ample talent to counter South Africa who are a very good side in the shorter form of the game.”South Africa have been spared the distractions. They have kick-started their preparations for the World Cup by easily overcoming Zimbabwe at home. South Africa’s batting, led by Hashim Amla, has been prolific and they will welcome back Dale Steyn and Jacques Kallis, who were rested against Zimbabwe. Graeme Smith has said that controversies may not necessarily have a bearing on Pakistan’s performance but, with a strong and stable side at their disposal, South Africa have an excellent chance of upstaging their opponents in their home away from home.

Form guide

(most recent first)

Pakistan: LLWWL
South Africa: WWWWL

Watch out for…

Misbah-ul-Haq: He last represented Pakistan in the World Twenty20 this year and it will be interesting to see how he handles the pressure of an international return, with the burden of a Test captaincy in the back of his mind. Lucrative returns in domestic cricket, experience and his reputation as a solid middle-order batsman have prompted the Pakistan board to repose faith in his abilities, especially in the absence of Mohammad Yousuf’s stability in the middle order.
David Miller: A hard-hitting middle-order batsman, Miller has already made an impression in international cricket with strike-rates of 146.80 and 132.29 in one-dayers and Twenty20s respectively. The South Africa selectors will consider him a potential World Cup candidate, and after facing significantly weaker opponents like West Indies and Zimbabwe, Miller faces his first major challenge against a competitive albeit depleted Pakistan attack.

Team news

It will be interesting to see if South Africa include all the players they rested against Zimbabwe, for the tour opener. Morne Morkel injured his ankle early in the Zimbabwe series and missed a few games. Will he be brought back too?
South Africa (possible): 1 Graeme Smith, 2 Loots Bosman, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 Colin Ingram, 5 AB de Villiers (wk), 6 JP Duminy, 7 David Miller, 8 Albie Morkel, 9 Johan Botha (capt), 10 Robin Peterson, 11 Dale Steyn.Gul and Shoaib Akhtar will lead the attack with Abdul Razzaq and offspinner Saeed Ajmal as the support options. In the absence of Kamran Akmal, Zulqarnain Haider takes over wicketkeeping duties while Imran Farhat is likely to open with Shahzaib Hasan.Pakistan (possible): 1 Imran Farhat, 2 Shahzaib Hasan, 3 Umar Akmal, 4 Fawad Alam, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Shahid Afridi (capt), 7 Abdul Razzaq, 8 Zulqarnain Haider (wk), 9 Umar Gul, 10 Shoaib Akhtar, 11 Saeed Ajmal.

Stats and trivia

• The Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi will be hosting its first Twenty20 international between two Test-playing nations. The two matches that have been played here – Afghanistan v Scotland and Kenya v Netherlands – were quite low-scoring, with an average score of 127.75.
• Two of the three Twenty20 matches played between the teams have come in the World Twenty20, in 2009 and 2010, both won by Pakistan. South Africa won the first game between the two sides, in 2007.
  

  Quotes

  “Playing Pakistan is always a great challenge and they knocked us out in two major Twenty20 matches.”

  “My players are professional and have put all the controversy behind them.”