The Australia fast bowler will play his first Sheffield Shield match in nearly six years and says he wants to play with no restrictions and without having to worry about his fitness

Daniel Brettig06-Mar-20171:39

Playing Shield cricket one of my goals for the year – Cummins

Pat Cummins will officially return to contention for a place in Australia’s Ashes team for next summer when he plays his first Sheffield Shield match in almost six years, for New South Wales against South Australia at the SCG from Tuesday.Cummins made his state debut at 17 and his Test debut later that year, before a series of foot and back injuries prompted the national selectors and Cricket Australia’s medical staff to drastically alter their plans for him.Now 23, Cummins’ body is approaching a point of maturity that is hoped will reduce his risk of injuries, after the fashion of the incumbent Test bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. As such, he is now in line to play in the Shield for the Blues and possibly Australia A in South Africa later this year ahead of next summer’s home Ashes series.”There’s the Ashes, which is a goal for probably everyone playing Shield cricket this year at the moment,” Cummins told reporters in Sydney. “I think for me getting back into first-class cricket was the No.1 goal for the year and I’m absolutely pumped to be back. I think if I get through these games then hopefully next year I can start off the year just like any other cricketer.”Cummins’ bowling action has gone through numerous adjustments over time, while his range of skills and experiences have broadened to add to his capabilities this week. While Cummins always demonstrated exceptional intelligence for a fast bowler, as evidenced by his memorable display against South Africa at the Wanderers on his 2011 Test debut, it has taken time for his body to catch up to his mind.”Probably given the extra week that we waited after the T20s has just given me a chance to prepare for the game once I got back in the frame for playing Shield cricket,” Cummins said. “I just wanted to go in [to Shield cricket] with no restrictions and not have to think about my body really, so all good.”I feel like I’m a lot more consistent now than I probably was a couple of years ago, and I think that’s put down to a few things. I think having a long pre-season, I was able to just work on quite a consistent rhythm and tempo rather than trying to bowl 180kms every ball.”I think the beauty of red-ball cricket is the ball normally swings out here [in Sydney]. After some rain hopefully it might seam around a little bit so actually bowling within yourself that 5 or 10% can actually provide some better results. Pace is one tool a bowler uses, but it’s not the be-all and end-all.”NSW have also added the English wristspinner Mason Crane to their squad for the match after a series of stand-out performances in Sydney grade cricket. However, the same overcast and damp weather that may aid Cummins to swing the ball may work against Crane’s chances of a Shield debut as the second spinner behind Will Somerville’s off-breaks.The Blues need to win both their remaining matches outright to have a chance of making the Shield final, while their opponents South Australia are in second place and can solidify their own chances with victory at the SCG.

The BCCI said “there are no serious concerns which will hamper his speedy recovery” and he will continue to receive treatment, which will assist him to play the match.

Karthik Krishnaswamy16-Mar-2017Virat Kohli is undergoing treatment after suffering a strain in his right shoulder on the opening day of the Ranchi Test and is expected to continue playing the Test, the BCCI has said. The board also stated that “there are no serious concerns which will hamper his speedy recovery” and he will continue to receive treatment, which will assist him to play the match.Kohli suffered the injury in the 40th over of the day, when he chased a drive from Peter Handscomb off Ravindra Jadeja. Sprinting from mid-on towards the long-on boundary, Kohli dived to pull the ball back before it reached the rope, tumbled, and landed on his right shoulder as he did so.He went off the field immediately, and did not return for the rest of the day, with Ajinkya Rahane standing in as captain. Kohli watched the rest of the day’s play from the dressing room with an ice pack strapped to his shoulder.Given that the injury is an external one, India have been told that Kohli can bat at any position he chooses to.The ICC’s playing conditions state that if a player is absent from the field for longer than eight minutes, the player, “shall not be permitted to bat unless or until, in the aggregate, he has returned to the field and/or his side’s innings has been in progress for at least that length of playing time for which he has been absent or, if earlier, when his side has lost five wickets.”However, the clause does not apply if the player has suffered “an external blow (as opposed to an internal injury such as a pulled muscle) whilst participating earlier in the match and consequently been forced to leave the field. Nor shall it apply if the player has been absent for very exceptional and wholly acceptable reasons (other than injury or illness).”Soon after the day’s play ended, India’s fielding coach R Sridhar had said Kohli had suffered a shock on the shoulder after landing badly and he was rested as a precautionary measure.”Virat Kohli’s injury, the exact status of it will be known by tomorrow morning,” Sridhar had said at the time. “He’s going to undergo some scans later today and we’ll know the exact status of it tomorrow morning and what happened today is that we took a precaution to make sure he doesn’t aggravate that injury.”And as far as the technique of the dive is concerned I think it was quite an intense chase to the boundary line and in his intent to save that one run he stopped the ball and landed on his right shoulder when he rolled over. Impact was quite heavy because of the momentum he was carrying and so there was a shock on his right shoulder. That is the current status.”

Dinesh Karthik’s 77 off 107 anchored Tamil Nadu’s chase after left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore’s four-wicket haul had helped restrict Baroda to 219 in the first semi-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Mar-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
File photo – Dinesh Karthik scored 77 off 107 to anchor Tamil Nadu’s chase in the first semi-final•BCCI

Fifties from Dinesh Karthik and Vijay Shankar took Tamil Nadu to the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, with a six-wicket victory against Baroda. The TN spinners had helped restrict Baroda to 219 before Shankar finished the chase with 15 balls remaining.Baroda had put on a solid start after electing to bat, with Kedar Devdhar and Aditya Waghmode putting on 92 for the opening stand. Left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore broke that stand by getting Devdhar before Washington Sundar (2 for 20) and Rahil Shah (2 for 36) made double-strikes in the 27th and 33rd overs respectively to reduce Baroda to 138 for 5. Captain Irfan Pathan (27) and wicketkeeper Pinal Shah (36) put on 44 for the sixth wicket to steady the innings before Sai Kishore had Pathan caught. A 30-run stand for the seventh wicket took Baroda to 212 before they folded for 219. Sai Kishore finished with 4 for 59 to take his career tally to six wickets after only two List A games.TN openers Kaushik Gandhi and Ganga Sridhar Raju were dismissed by medium-pacer Atit Sheth (3 for 36) off consecutive overs with only 35 on the board. The early wickets were negated by two consecutive fifty partnerships – 60 for the third wicket between B Aparajith (28) and Karthik, followed by 88 between Karthik and Shankar, who remained unbeaten on 53. Karthik, who was named Player of the Match, struck four fours during his 107-ball 77 before he came down the track but missed and was bowled off Sheth. By that point, TN needed 37 to win and they got them without further loss.Bengal or Jharkhand, who play the second semi-final on March 17, will face TN in the final on March 19 in Delhi.

Coming off the back of a defeat via the Super Over, Gujarat Lions are set to miss the services of fast bowler Andrew Tye for the remainder of the IPL owing to a shoulder injury he picked up on Saturday

The Preview by Annesha Ghosh30-Apr-2017

Match facts

Rising Pune Supergiant v Gujarat Lions
Pune, May 1, 2017
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)2:36

Hogg: Christian a better option than Stokes for Pune

Head-to-head

This season: Gujarat Lions’ hat-trick hero Andrew Tye led his side to a seven-wicket victory at home, where Lions nailed a 172-run chase with two overs to spare.Overall: Lions have won all the three games played between the two teams and have done so while chasing.

Form guide

Rising Pune Supergiant (fourth): defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by 61 runs, lost to Kolkata Knight Riders by seven wickets, beat Mumbai Indians by three runs
Gujarat Lions (sixth): lost to Mumbai Indians in the one-over eliminator, defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by seven wickets, lost to Kings XI Punjab by 26 runs

In the news

Rising Pune allrounder Ben Stokes, who has missed a couple of matches due to an injured shoulder, has regained fitness and is likely to be available for selection.Gujarat Lions bowler Andrew Tye is slated to head back home after dislocating his shoulder. The Australian quick was stretchered off the ground midway through Lions’ match against Mumbai Indians after he fell on his left shoulder while diving for a ball at the boundary. Nathu Singh, who was replaced by Irfan Pathan in Lions’ previous game, is understood to be recovering well from a back niggle.

The likely XIs

Rising Pune Supergiant: 1 Ajinkya Rahane/Mayank Agarwal, 2 Rahul Tripathi, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Manoj Tiwary , 5 MS Dhoni (wk), 6 Dan Christian, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Lockie Ferguson, 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Imran Tahir 11 Jaydev UnadkatGujarat Lions: 1 Ishan Kishan, 2 Brendon McCullum, 3 Suresh Raina (capt), 4 Aaron Finch, 5 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Dwayne Smith, 8 James Faulkner, 9 Basil Thampi, 10 Nathu Singh/ Irfan Pathan, 11 Ankit Soni

Strategy punt

Jadeja has dismissed Steven Smith four times in nine innings in the IPL; no other bowler has dismissed Smith more than twice. Against Jadeja, Smith has scored only 45 runs off 46 balls. In the recently concluded Test series, Jadeja got Smith out three times, while the other India bowlers could collectively dismiss him only four times. It will, thus, be no surprise if an encore of the Jadeja-Smith contest unfolds at the MCA Stadium again on Monday.

Stats that matter

• That Gujarat Lions rely heavily on Finch to deliver is established by his contribution in the team’s three wins: 33* off 19 against Rising Pune, 31 off 15 against Kolkata Knight Riders and 72 off 34 against Royal Challengers Bangalore. His highest score in a losing cause is only 19.
• Among 16 players who have opened the innings and scored 100 or more runs in the tournament so far, Ajinkya Rahane has the worst strike-rate – 121.26. Barring the first game, where he made 60 off 34 at 176.47, he has struggled to score at a rate in excess of 130.
• Suresh Raina has scored 310 runs in the nine innings so far this year – the most he has in any season in the first nine innings. The last time he crossed 300 after playing nine games was in 2009, where he had made 309.
• Brendon McCullum has struggled against Jaydev Unadkat’s pace, having fallen to the left-arm bowler twice in two innings. McCullum has, however, had more success against Imran Tahir, scoring 38 off 15 balls without being dismissed once in two innings.
• Ravindra Jadeja has been effective against both MS Dhoni and Manoj Tiwary, conceding 26 off 18 and 32 off 29 respectively. He has dismissed both Dhoni and Tiwary twice in the IPL.

Ryan ten Doeschate’s first hundred of the season put Essex in a good position after another day of heavy run scoring against Surrey at Guildford

ECB Reporters Network10-Jun-2017
ScorecardRyan ten Doeschate’s first hundred of the season put Essex in a good position after another day of heavy run scoring against Surrey at Guildford.The Essex captain has struggled to recapture the form he showed last season when he scored 1,226 runs with four centuries, but he finished unbeaten on 120 with Essex 367 for 7 in reply to Surrey’s 399.He came in when his side were in a spot of bother. Surrey skipper Gareth Batty had taken two quick wickets to reduce Essex to 134 for 4, but Ravi Bopara helped ten Doeschate rebuild the innings with a stand of 120 in 27 overs, of which Bopara contributed 64, his first half-century of the season.Ten Doeschate had a life on 37 when wicketkeeper Ben Foakes put down a difficult chance down the leg side but grew in confidence as he built his innings, playing authoritative shots on both sides of the wicket. A leg glance off Stuart Meaker took him to his hundred, off 120 balls, and by stumps he had faced 144 balls and hit a six and 18 fours.Surrey’s attack stuck to their task throughout and there were moments in the day when they looked to be in control. Sam Curran had Alastair Cook lbw with a touch of late inswing on the stroke of lunch and after Tom Westley was squared up by Mark Footitt, Batty struck twice with Nick Browne lbw working to leg and Dan Lawrence cutting straight to point.But Bopara and ten Doeschate took advantage of quick-scoring conditions to build a useful partnership which ended when Stuart Meaker returned to the attack and found a touch of reverse swing to pin Bopara, offering no shot, having hit nine fours and two sixes.Footitt returned to pick up James Foster and Simon Harmer but Neil Wagner helped ten Doeschate add 41 for the eighth wicket on a day when 413 runs were scored.Earlier, Mark Stoneman completed a career-best 197 but just missed out on a maiden double hundred. The left-hander resumed on 181 and scored the seven he needed to take him past his previous best, made for former county Durham against Middlesex in 2014.Ryan ten Doeschate’s hundred rallied Essex•Getty Images

Essex wicketkeeper Foster dived in front of slip to take the edge after Stoneman made his first mistake, driving outside off stump at a delivery from Wagner he could have ignored. He faced 248 balls and hit two sixes and 26 fours.Batty drove to point off Bopara before Jamie Porter switched ends to finish the innings when he picked up Ravi Rampaul and Footitt in five balls as Surrey lost their last four wickets in four overs for seven runs.

Gary Ballance is to have an X-ray on his left index finger after sustaining a blow on it when batting on the fourth day of the Trent Bridge Test

George Dobell17-Jul-2017
Gary Ballance is to have an X-ray on his left index finger after sustaining a blow on it when batting on the fourth day of the Trent Bridge Test.Ballance was hit by a delivery from Morne Morkel as England slid to a 340-run defeat at the hands of South Africa. It is, in terms of runs, the second-largest defeat South Africa have inflicted upon England.Any break would render Ballance a severe doubt for the third Investec Test which starts at The Oval on July 27.With only 85 runs in the series at an average of 21.15, Ballance has not made a compelling case for his continued selection. While recent policy would suggest the selectors would allow him until the end of the series to prove himself, it is not impossible they could be swayed by any injury doubt.Mark Wood’s bruised left heel will also be monitored over the coming days, with an England spokesman suggesting “he might have a scan” if it was deemed necessary. Wood returned to Test cricket at Lord’s for the first time since October 2015 and has undergone three bouts of surgery on his left ankle.The England selectors are expected to meet over the next couple of days to name their squad for the third Test.Speaking after the game, England’s new captain Joe Root kept his options open in terms of selection, but hinted that he favoured no dramatic changes.”We will sit down over the next couple of days,” he said. “The top six are talented players and they will be desperate to make their chances count when they come along.””It’s important at The Oval we try to get off to a really strong start especially in the first innings and those guys are more than capable of doing it. The way they’ve gone about things in practice and the runs they’ve scored in county cricket have been outstanding and now it’s just about doing it in international cricket.”

A cricket club in Essex is pursuing legal action against its local league in a move that could have far-reaching consequences for the recreational game

George Dobell26-Jul-2017A cricket club in Essex is pursuing legal action against its local league in a move that could have far-reaching consequences for the recreational game.Frinton-on-Sea CC are seeking an injunction against the Two Counties League (TCL), which is open to clubs in Essex and Suffolk, on the grounds of discrimination after they were penalised for fielding an overseas player deemed to be ineligible.The case is due to be heard in court in Chelmsford on Thursday and, if Frinton win, it could eventually set a precedent that would clear the way for many other players to return to action in club cricket across England and Wales. While around 110 players are understood to be directly affected by the ruling, the consequences for future generations could be far reaching.At the heart of the case is a largely unspoken intention to reduce the reliance upon overseas players in leagues and create more opportunities for young, England-qualified cricketers. At the same time, however, there is a growing realisation that such a policy could compromise the intention to encourage those same young, England-qualified cricketers from gaining experience overseas.The issue has been brought to a head by the case of Blake Reed. While Reed, a 22-year-old Australian, was initially registered without complication by both the TCL, an ECB feeder league, and the East Anglian Premier League (EAPL), an ECB premier league, in May and holds a Youth Mobility Visa (granted in April 2016 and valid for two years), which allowed him to play as an amateur at Exeter CC last year, Frinton were informed in mid-June that he should not play until further documentation was provided supporting his eligibility claim.The TCL was concerned that, as Reed had played six times for the Western Australia Under-19 side in 2013, he had been on a “player pathway”, which had effectively made him a professional player. As a consequence, he was not eligible to be considered as an amateur. The judgement, which was supported by the ECB, suggested that anyone who had played Grade cricket in Australia (the equivalent of ECB premier league club cricket) would also be considered to have been on a pathway and effectively end their hopes of ever playing as an amateur in England or Wales.Officials from Western Australia have confirmed that Reed was never paid by them and has not been considered part of their pathway since 2013.When legal advice taken by Frinton-on-Sea, who have hired an experienced QC, suggested Reed should be deemed an amateur, they decided to play him once more on July 1. As a consequence, the TCL imposed a points penalty upon them on the grounds that Reed was an ineligible player.Now Frinton-on-Sea hope the injunction will allow them to field Reed, a top-order batsman and seam bowler, until there has been a thorough hearing into the issue on the understanding that they will pay any losses incurred by the league should the club lose the case.Frinton claim there is no mention of “player pathways” in the relevant Tier Five visa regulations and that such stipulations cannot be added once the visa has been granted. They also claim that such an interpretation should not have been made without parliamentary approval. Reed would not, they say, have flown to the UK had his registration not been accepted. They further claim the ECB is aware of numerous cases of English players being paid to play club cricket while still being considered as amateurs so the “inconsistent” action against an Australian is discriminatory.They also claim that, if the measures are enforced, it could lead to other nations – particularly Australia and New Zealand – applying similar policies to UK passport holders. That could lead to a situation where young players from the UK would no longer be eligible for Grade cricket, where so many have honed their skills over the last few decades.The ECB declined to comment.

Karun Nair fell for 90 with his side two away from victory, but Ankit Bawne and Hanuma Vihari applied the finishing touches with six wickets to spare

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Aug-2017Captain Karun Nair’s 90 helped India A finish the chase within 63 overs•Associated Press

After losing the first unofficial Test by 235 runs and conceding a first-innings lead of 46 in the second, India A hit back and chased down 224 to square the series in Potchefstroom. Opener R Samarth’s second fifty of the match and captain Karun Nair’s 90 helped India A complete the chase in 62.3 overs.South Africa A had started on a positive note, with Stephen Cook and Aiden Markram adding 167 for the first wicket – the highest partnership of the match – after the hosts had opted to bat. Cook, who was dropped for the four-Test series in England, strengthened his case for a return, following up his match-winning 120 in the first unofficial Test with twin fifties in this match. Markram, another contender for the opening spot in the senior team, gave a good account of himself with 74 in the first innings but managed only 19 in the second.Omphile Ramela, who came in at No. 3, also made a fifty in the first dig, which added to South Africa’s 322. Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem was the pick of the bowlers for India A, finishing with 4 for 118.In response, India’s A top three also made strong starts but they lost their last eight wickets for 95 to be bowled out for 276. Samarth was the visitors’ top scorer with 77 off 113 balls, including 13 fours.South Africa A then collapsed to 177 all out in their second innings with seamer Ankit Rajpoot and Nadeem sharing six wickets between them. Cook carried his bat, digging in for 70 off 196 balls. He ended the series as the top scorer with 320 runs in four innings – 126 runs more than the second-placed Markram.India A lost Chatterjee and Shreyas Iyer early in the chase, but Samarth and Nair put the side back on track with a 74-run stand. Samarth was then dismissed by offspinner Dane Piedt for 55 and Nair fell with his side two away from victory, but Ankit Bawne and Hanuma Vihari applied the finishing touches with six wickets to spare.

Jason Holder has said that while he has heard Chris Gayle’s talk of a Test return he does not believe many of the absent West Indies’ players are interested in the longest format

George Dobell09-Sep-2017Jason Holder has played down the prospect of “big name” West Indies players re-joining the Test team, stating “we have the best of the lot right now.”With Cricket West Indies having recently relaxed their selection criteria and offered an amnesty to those players who have chosen to play in T20 leagues, it had been presumed the likes of Sunil Narine, Darren Bravo, Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard (who has never played Test cricket) might come into consideration ahead of series against Zimbabwe and New Zealand.But Holder, West Indies’ captain, suggested that, apart from Bravo and perhaps Gayle, he “didn’t think there’s anybody interested in playing Test cricket that we can call upon.””Darren Bravo is a guy who has done well for us in the recent past,” Holder said. “But apart from Darren I don’t think there’s anybody else who’s interested in playing Test cricket that we can really call upon or the so-called big names people are looking for.”Chris has probably hinted that he would like to play if he’s fit enough. He’s always said he would like to play. I spoke to him a while back. We would love to have a guy like Chris in our side. He brings a lot.”But apart from those two players I don’t think there’s anybody else we can really look to.”While Bravo’s return would appear close to automatic – Kyle Hope failed to take his chance in England, averaging just 6.83 batting at No. 3 in the series – Holder described himself as “extremely proud” of the performance of his young team and hinted that he would be reluctant to see too many of them replaced. Shane Dowrich, who averaged 4.80 and struggled with the gloves, might also come under pressure from the likes of Denesh Ramdin.”I think we’ve got the best of the lot [playing] right now,” he said. “I’m really, really happy with this squad to be honest. I enjoy playing cricket with this squad and I enjoy leading this squad. I wouldn’t trade this squad for the world.”Speaking after being beaten in the deciding Test against England at Lord’s, Holder was encouraged with the way his side had pushed for what would have been a shock series victory.”I’m extremely proud, can’t really fault the guys for effort,” he said. “We’ve still got a lot of room for improvement, still got a long way to go before we can get consistent performances. That said, not a bad tour of England, could have been better, obviously, but I’m still very proud.”The credit must go to the bowlers. After the Headingley Test match we asked for another big effort. The way we came out here first innings and bowled, I think at the start of the match if you said we’d have got England for 190, we’d have taken that.”While the bowling was consistently challenging after the aberration of Edgbaston, West Indies’ win at Headingley in the second Test – their first in England for 17 years – was built on the batting performances of Shai Hope, who scored hundreds in each innings, and Kraigg Brathwaite.Holder said he wanted the team to build on what they had started in their next two tours, in Zimbabwe next month and then New Zealand.”For a first tour here for many of us, I still think it’s a hell of an achievement and fight we put up,” Holder said. “Hopefully we can learn from this, we have New Zealand at the end of the year which could be similar conditions and similar type of bowlers, so it should be good chance to take what we’ve learned here into that series. But first we’ve got Zimbabwe, in a few weeks time, so hopefully we can really kick on from there.”Obviously Shai was outstanding in this entire series and we must not forget Kraigg’s contribution as well, he really did a hell of a job, especially at Headingley. Unfortunately we didn’t get more batsmen to carry on, lots of us got starts but didn’t carry on, and we let ourselves down with our fielding, probably this entire series. We dropped quite a few chances and gave good players two opportunities to bat, and in international cricket they’ll make you pay for it.”I think we’ve shown improvement. When we sit down and critique each series, we just try to look for improvement. We’ve definitely shown that, especially in our bowling, improving our consistency there … But hopefully guys can gain a lot of confidence form this series against a world-class side and top-class bowling unit. To be able to achieve something in this series speaks a lot.”

WAPDA captain Salman Butt has questioned Peshawar’s sportsmanship after their fast bowler Taj Wali clinched a three-run win by mankading non-striker Mohammad Irfan

Umar Farooq18-Oct-20170:43

WATCH – Taj Wali Mankads Mohammad Irfan

Law 41.16: Non-striker leaving his/her ground early

If the non-striker is out of his ground from the moment the ball comes into play to the instant when the bowler would normally have been expected to release the ball, the bowler is permitted to attempt to run him/her out. Whether the attempt is successful or not, the ball shall not count as one in the over. If the bowler fails in an attempt to run out the non-striker, the umpire shall call and signal Dead ball as soon as possible

WAPDA needed four runs to win, with more than 78 overs left in the day. Peshawar needed one wicket. Three days of cricket and here we were, the game delicately poised. And then Peshawar fast bowler Taj Wali decided to mankad the non-striker Mohammad Irfan – who had casually taken a step out from the popping crease while the bowler was about to deliver. Following the law, the umpire had no option but to give Irfan out once the bowler appealed – a close finish in this season’s Quaid-e-Azam Trophy made controversial.Ahmed Shahab and Faisal Afridi, the on-field umpires, consulted after the incident, and asked the fielding side if they wanted to rethink their appeal. They didn’t, and Peshawar won by three runs – a rare win for a regional side over a department one, and, in this case, no less than the tournament’s defending champions.WAPDA’s captain Salman Butt questioned the spirit of the act.”What’s the point of this law when the winning team isn’t proud and ashamed instead?” Butt told ESPNcricinfo. “We had a great game, fully competitive throughout four days, which saw both teams’ fortunes fluctuate. And suddenly this mankading spoiled it. Sportsman spirit should have been the top priority but the game didn’t end in a proper way. What’s the point of this law when the opponent team despite winning apologises to us?”Peshawar coach Abdul Rehman said his team did nothing wrong since it was within the laws of the game. “We haven’t done anything illegal. If there is something that is allowed by the law then it is legal. If a team or player does something that is within the laws then you shouldn’t say it is against the spirit of cricket.”According to the ICC playing regulations, mirrored in Pakistan domestic cricket, the dismissal was clearly fair. “The bowler is permitted, before releasing the ball and provided he has not completed his usual delivery swing, to attempt to run out the non-striker. Whether the attempt is successful or not, the ball shall not count as one of the over. If the bowler fails in an attempt to run out the non-striker, the umpire shall call and signal dead ball as soon as possible.”