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As England had their first serious net session of the Ashes tour, events on the opposite side of Australia may not have escaped their attention as the Gabba served up a dramatic two-day Sheffield Shield match

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Nov-2010As England had their first serious net session of the Ashes tour, events on the opposite side of Australia may not have escaped their attention as the Gabba served up a dramatic two-day Sheffield Shield match with Queensland twice skittled for under a hundred. Kevin Mitchell, the Gabba’s curator, didn’t rule out a repeat of conditions for the first Test.Brisbane has suffered a large amount of rain in the early stages of the season and the bowlers enjoyed themselves on a lively surface, none more so than Mark Cameron who took 11 for 64 in the match. There are still three weeks to go before the first ball of the Ashes on November 25, but there is the prospect of England’s quicks feeling more at home than they may have imagined.”Anything is possible,” Mitchell told “If there are some cloudy and humid days [during the preparation] then the moisture will stay in the wicket and the grass will continue to grow – that’s what happens in the tropics. So it would be something that could possibly happen.”We are hoping for 10 or 12 days including the duration of the match to have nice sunny days – if that happens it will be a fantastic match. If we don’t get all that it will still be a fantastic match – you just won’t see as many runs.”However, it’s difficult to say which side a green-top would favour because pace bowling is Australia’s stronger suit, with the likes of Ben Hilfenhaus, Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle to call upon, while England will be confident of exploiting any turning conditions they encounter with Graeme Swann.”I know Ricky Ponting and the Australian guys enjoy the pace and the ball coming onto the bat – it provides fairly entertaining cricket,” Mitchell added. “But obviously when you get conditions like we have just had plus that bounce and pace, with movement and swing as well, it is a difficult wicket to play on.”Such conditions could raise the prospect of Australia playing an all-pace attack so there is some irony that Nathan Hauritz, who captained New South Wales, played in the match to regain some form instead of linking up with Australia’s one-day squad. He ended up bowling just two overs, although he did pick up the wicket of Cameron Boyce.England, though, will be wary of reading too much into conditions three weeks out from the first Test. Australia have a formidable record at the Gabba and haven’t lost since facing West Indies in 1988, 22 Tests ago. And if Andrew Strauss fears getting sucked in by conditions, he need only seek out Nasser Hussain who put Australia in on the 2002-03 tour and watched them finish the first day on 364 for 2.

For a moment, Paul Collingwood thought he’d made a fatal decision that would cost England the first Test at Centurion

Andrew McGlashan at Centurion20-Dec-2009For a moment, Paul Collingwood thought he’d made a fatal decision that would cost England the first Test at Centurion Park. Off the fourth ball of the penultimate over of the match, he called Graham Onions, the No. 11, through for a single then couldn’t regain the strike for the last over.It left Onions, who holds a first-class batting average of 12.32, to face the final over of the match from Makhaya Ntini and all Collingwood could do was offer advice from the non-striker’s end. Onions responded with excellent judgment and a straight bat, even managing to jab down on a typically scuttling delivery that had done for several more senior batsmen in the course of the match.Throughout the nail-biting final over, Collingwood had visions of a one-day international at Melbourne in 2002-03 where he left the tail on strike and the last two wickets were blown away by Brett Lee to secure a dramatic and traumatic victory.”As Straussy said, ‘all’s well that ends well’,” Collingwood said with relief. “I was hoping I was going to get a single off the last two balls. I was thinking I must face as many balls as I can. But I couldn’t get back to the other end.”When he was stuck down there I was saying: ‘Please, don’t get out, don’t get out – it will be my fault again’. But he was exceptional – very relaxed for a guy who probably hasn’t been in a situation like that. I thought he played that last over excellently.”Paul Collingwood and Graham Onions saw England through to the draw•PA Photos

Despite being county team-mates for Durham, Collingwood admitted he hadn’t seen much of Onions’ batting talents, so he probably didn’t know that his first-class batting average is almost four runs higher than that of Monty Panesar (8.58) who helped England save the opening Ashes Test at Cardiff.”He keeps bragging that he’s got the best bat in the dressing room,” Collingwood said. “So I kept shouting down ‘Remember you’ve got the best bat, just keep using it’. I was trying to keep him as relaxed as possible, and he was happy with that.”Sometimes you can over-complicate things and the nervousness can overtake you. There was one that scuttled along the floor, and he watched it really well and got the bat on it. Once he’d done that I thought he’s going to see through this over. It was a great effort.”Andrew Strauss, whose face grew glummer with every wicket that fell, didn’t sound quite so convinced about Onions’ batting pedigree. “I think hopeful would be the right word,” he said. “I know he’s got a reasonable technique. But in those circumstances, you don’t want the ball that scuttles along the ground or nips back at you.”You need a little bit of fortune on your side – and you need the player himself to stay composed, switched on and on the ball and aware of what the situation is calling for. I think he did that all exceptionally well.”Graeme Smith also expressed his surprise that Collingwood took a single so late in the penultimate over, but was left to rue not being able to dislodge Onions over the 12 deliveries he faced. “In those pressure moments batters choose to do things. He must have had his reasons,” he said. “It offered us six balls at Onions but he was dogged and stood his ground.”

Table-toppers maintain unbeaten start to Blast campaign with five-wicket win at Grace Road

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay19-Jun-2025Nottingham-based The Blaze maintained their unbeaten record in the Vitality Blast women’s competition with a five-wicket victory over Lancashire Thunder at the Uptonsteel County Ground in Leicester.England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, making her first appearance in English domestic cricket for almost two years, made 31 from 25 balls with former England international all-rounder Georgia Elwiss top-scoring with an unbeaten 43 off 30 as The Blaze won with 10 balls to spare.Scotland international Ailsa Lister rescued an otherwise sub-par effort from Lancashire, thundering nine fours and three sixes in a 38-ball 79 – the highest individual score for Thunder in this year’s women’s Blast, helping her side from 47 for three after 10 overs to 150 for nine, regaining second place in the points table.Australia all-rounder Heather Graham took three for 36, Blaze skipper Kirstie Gordon picking up two for 24.The scheduling had been tough on Thunder, who were in action at The Kia Oval only 24 hours earlier; the Blaze, by contrast, had enjoyed a six-day hiatus between fixtures, although the break had allowed both Surrey Women and Bears Women to overtake them in the Blast table.Put in, Thunder struggled to 29 for two in the powerplay. Emma Lamb was run out at the non-striker’s end when bowler Sarah Glenn deflected Eve Jones’s drive into the stumps, Jones falling to the last ball of the sixth, well taken by Gordon at mid-on. Lister had an escape when she was dropped at mid-wicket on three but Thunder still faced a big task to post a meaningful score at 41 for three after Elwiss had Ellie Threlkeld caught behind for six.They were four down for 65 in the 12th, but the fifth-wicket pair almost doubled the total before Morris hit Graham straight to backward point, sparking a rush of wickets. King holed out to mid-on next ball before Gordon took two in two deliveries at the end of the 19th as Kate Cross was stumped and Tara Norris found long-on.Lister – dropped again on 62 – could not be shifted until slicing Graham to third man off the last ball, having cleared the rope off the Australian for the second time at the start of the final over.The Blaze lost Tammy Beaumont, leg before playing across the line to Kate Cross, and Kathryn Bryce yorked by Tara Norris, but were 48 for two from six thanks mainly to Sciver-Brunt hitting four of her first 10 balls to the boundary. Marie Kelly stepped right across her stumps to be bowled by Australian leg-spinner Alana King at 55 for three. Nonetheless, the home side looked comfortable at the halfway point, needing 78 to win.They would have felt less so eight balls later when Sciver-Brunt missed a straight ball from Grace Potts that hit the top of off-stump. The departure of one England player ushered in another in Amy Jones but after adding 29 in 19 balls with Elwiss, Jones miscued to mid-on for 16.The departure of the in-form Jones gave Thunder brief hope but three fours from Graham regained momentum for the home side, Elwiss thumping her seventh four down the ground off King to win the contest.

“Certain personal situations demand his presence and undivided attention,” BCCI says of Kohli; replacement to be named soon

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jan-2024Virat Kohli has pulled out of India’s first two Tests against England for personal reasons, the BCCI said on Monday, adding that a replacement for Kohli would be named soon.”Virat has spoken to captain Rohit Sharma, the team management and the selectors and has emphasized that while representing the country has always been his top priority, certain personal situations demand his presence and undivided attention,” the board said in a statement.Kohli reached Hyderabad, the venue of the first of five Tests, on Sunday, but did not attend India’s optional training session on Monday.Related

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Kohli played India’s last Test series – the 1-1 draw in South Africa – and then missed the first T20I at home against Afghanistan for personal reasons before returning for the last two matches of the series.While Kohli was rested for the white-ball games in South Africa, he had returned to India and missed the preparatory three-day intra-squad match ahead of the two Tests there.The BCCI is yet to name a replacement, but the frontrunners include Cheteshwar Pujara, Rajat Patidar, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sarfaraz Khan.Pujara last played for India in the World Test Championship (WTC) final last year, but started this year’s Ranji Trophy with an unbeaten double-century against Jharkhand before hitting three scores in the 40s and a half-century in his next two games.Patidar and Sarfaraz both played and impressed for India A against the touring England Lions. Patidar blazed centuries in both the tour game against them and the first unofficial Test, while Sarfaraz scored half-centuries in both games, including 96 in the tour game.Shubman Gill and KL Rahul are among the middle-order batters in the India squad•AFP/Getty Images

Abhimanyu had replaced the injured Ruturaj Gaikwad as India’s reserve opener for the Tests in South Africa and is currently captaining India A.Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill are the other middle-order batters in India’s squad, while KL Rahul is also available to play as a pure batter if needed – Rahul, KS Bharat and Dhruv Jurel are the contenders for the wicketkeeper’s spot.Kohli became the second player in as many days to opt out of part or all of the series, after Harry Brook withdrew from the entire tour on Sunday, also because of personal reasons. It is, however, understood that he can rejoin the England touring party on a later date.The five-match series against England will begin in Hyderabad on January 25 and will be part of the WTC. India are currently second on the WTC points table, behind defending champions Australia.

“We’d rather have it in the first game, now where we are still in control with what we can actually do.”

Firdose Moonda24-Oct-20222:09

Du Plessis: What is mother cricket doing to South Africa?

South Africa have “no regrets,” after their washout against Zimbabwe in Hobart saw them drop a point in the T20 World Cup and believe they are “still in control” of their destiny in the tournament.”We haven’t had a good history with rain,” the outgoing coach Mark Boucher said, bringing to mind how South Africa lost in a rain-affected semi-final in the 1992 World Cup, misread a DLS sheet and exited the first round of 2003 World Cup and lost in another reduced match in the 2015 fifty-over World Cup final four. “But we’d rather have it in the first game, now where we are still in control with what we can actually do.”South Africa did everything they could to beat the weather. Chasing a revised target of 64, they hurtled to 51 for 0 in just three overs. And from that standpoint Boucher did admit they were “frustrated,” to get “so close,” only to see it “get taken away”.”You walk away from this game thinking we were hard done by, whether the game should have taken place or not,” he said.That’s where some may disagree. Zimbabwe’s coach Dave Houghton was critical of the officials’ decision to keep the players on the field on a night dominated by bad weather and a wet outfield. But Boucher only went as far as calling conditions “tough,” and indicated there was a willingness on all sides to get the match underway.”We are here to play a World Cup and obviously we wanted to play. It seemed like both captains wanted to play from the start,” he said.3:36

Boucher: ‘If Zimbabwe were in our position they would have wanted to carry on’

South Africa vs Zimbabwe was delayed by a rain interruption in the earlier game between Bangladesh and Netherlands and took place 30 minutes after it was originally scheduled. Play would have started 15 minutes from then but persistent drizzle forced a two-and-a-half hour delay and reduced the contest to nine overs a side. Zimbabwe’s innings was uninterrupted, despite some spitting that turned into a light shower, and they set South Africa a target of 80.Each team has to play a minimum of five overs for it to constitute a T20 game. This one ended 12 balls short of that cut-off.At that point, South Africa were 51 for 0 – well past the five-over DLS par score for the loss of no wickets (44). So if the rain had relented at least to the point where the umpires believed a five-over game could take place, South Africa would’ve won without even going back on the field. But the rain didn’t relent, no play was possible and the points were shared. A similar thing had happened in the 2017 Champions Trophy.Instead of dwelling on the what-ifs of the situation, Boucher was pragmatic. “There’s not much more we could do. We maximised what we could, so there’s no regrets in our dressing room,” he said. “We did what we could and unfortunately we just didn’t get another 10 balls to get the job done.”Even if the target had remained 64, they probably wouldn’t have needed that many deliveries given how Quinton de Kock (47* off 18) was playing. “Quinny is one of the most dangerous batters in the world when he plays like that. It’s nice from a coaching perspective to see him going out there and playing with that freedom,” Boucher said. “In a competition like this, sometimes guys can tense up a bit. It’s very good to see Quinny play the free-flowing game we know he is very dangerous with.”3:03

Flower: ‘Bavuma will be a talking point until he starts scoring runs’

Asked whether, especially with the rain threat, South Africa considered sending someone other than out-of-form captain Temba Bavuma to knock off the chase, Boucher said if they had that idea, it was only fleeting. “There might have been a thought but it’s a decision where you can’t play for rain. I thought it was a good opportunity for Temba to express himself and lead from the front. We want to keep giving Temba opportunity to get some sort of rhythm in his batting.”Bavuma continues to receive the coach’s backing, even as he keeps the in-form Reeza Hendricks out of the side, with Boucher using the example of benching their highest-ranked bowler in the format – Tabraiz Shamsi – as a comparison.”Temba was injured, he did own that spot and he is the captain. He hasn’t been in great form but he got sick in India and these conditions suit his game a lot better as well. He has been batting really well in the nets, is also what I can say,” Boucher said. “It’s tough, not only on him (Hendricks). We decided to go with the extra seamer today, which was a bit harsh on Shammo, but I think it was the right decision. We’ve got some good options going forward.”South Africa will continue to adopt a horses-for-courses selection strategy as they move through the tournament and into must-win situations. “It’s a tough group and there’s probably one game that is going to be a game we are really going to have to win.”Barring any major upsets in this group, South Africa’s match against Pakistan on Thursday November 3 could be the virtual quarter-final but there’s a lot that has to happen before then. South Africa play Bangladesh this Thursday and India on Sunday in results that could prove crucial later in the piece.

Coach backs legspinner Hasaranga to give Bangladesh tough time in fourth innings

Andrew Fidel Fernando24-Apr-2021Sri Lanka are still 29 runs behind Bangladesh’s first-innings total, but they think – or rather they hope – that they can still win the first Test, with one day left to play.The Pallekele surface continued to be abominably flat through large parts of day four, which Dimuth Karunaratne and Dhananjaya de Silva batted out without losing a wicket. The hosts have seven wickets in hand, though, so will likely aim to quickly establish a lead on the fifth morning before trying to skittle the opposition out.”We’re certainly thinking about winning,” said head coach Mickey Arthur after stumps on day four. “That’s how we want to play our cricket. That’s such an important culture to inculcate in a dressing room. We’re not here to make up the numbers.”I said to the guys in the West Indies [during their previous Test series] that, first of all, we want to be a team that’s hard to beat before we become a winning team, because that’s kind of the cycle. I think we are a team that’s hard to beat. We played some hard-nosed cricket in the West Indies on some very flat surfaces. We’ll show some intent tomorrow and who knows where the day goes? It is very flat, but pressure’s a funny thing. If we get ourselves enough in front and leave ourselves enough overs, who knows what could happen?”Related

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Sri Lanka’s attack is short-staffed for their second-innings victory push, though. Seamer Lahiru Kumara has picked up a hamstring strain and is out of the series. And they have played only one specialist spinner in legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga. Playing only his fifth Test, Hasaranga has so far seemed much more suited to limited-overs bowling, than a serious wicket-taker in red-ball cricket.”There will be a burst from the fast bowlers with the new ball, but if we’re going to get close tomorrow, it’s going to be Wanindu Hasaranga that’s going to get us close,” Arthur said. “I don’t want to put too much pressure, I just think he’s such a fantastic player.”Arthur did concede, though, that Sri Lanka’s plan to defeat Bangladesh on a green, seaming surface had perhaps been ill-conceived, as those kinds of surfaces are rarely seen on the island. Sri Lanka had expected much more help for the quicks on the first two days than has been evident from this pitch.”Maybe it was a little bit naive of me in terms of strategy – this is my first Test in Pallekele – in understanding the surface. We wanted to beat Bangladesh with a bit of pace and bounce, but it’s just been extremely flat. We’re going to have to reassess that. We’re going to have to look at how we go for that second Test. We’ll have a discussion about that Test tomorrow, we’ll let this Test happen first.”

India captain talks up side’s bench strength and chances of winning elusive ICC title

Deivarayan Muthu in Guwahati04-Jan-2020India’s captain Virat Kohli has said that having a strong pool of “game-ready” players has set the scene for their T20 World Cup campaign in Australia later this year.India will be without seamers Deepak Chahar (injured), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (injured) and Mohammed Shami (rested) for their upcoming three-match T20I series at home against Sri Lanka, but they have able back-up options in Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur. In addition, their premier fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah is set to return to international action for the first time September 2019.On the batting front, they will be without the rested Rohit Sharma, but they still look in fine shape, with Shikhar Dhawan returning from injury to partner the in-form KL Rahul at the top of the order.”T20 is something we don’t have any problems in picking players,” Kohli said of India’s bench strength on the eve of the series opener in Guwahati. “Because you have the IPL. At a very competitive level, the guys have been performing season after season.”And all the players you see are probably the most important Indian players in their team in the IPL. So, from that point of view, it’s about figuring out which player can fit in at what time and what’s the strongest combination you can take to the World Cup.”And everyone’s game-ready, which is the most important thing and the biggest plus of having a squad like this with guys who have played a lot of T20 cricket, as I said, at a very competitive level.BCCI

“So, yeah the next few series will be very exciting to see [as to] who stands up under pressure situations and how they react to pressure when maybe Rohit or maybe myself, or KL or Shikhar at the top haven’t fired.”In Dhawan’s absence, Rahul had enjoyed a longer stint at the top during the limited-overs series against West Indies and embodied India’s new, attack-at-all costs approach in T20Is. Now, with Rohit rested, Dhawan will have an opportunity to regain his touch after recovering from injury.Dhawan didn’t quite have the weight of T20I runs behind him in 2019, and suffered two major injuries that year. However, he was the top scorer in T20Is in 2018, with 689 runs in 17 innings at an average of 40.52 and strike rate of 147.22.Kohli discussed the possible toss-up between Rahul and Dhawan for the second opener’s slot while keeping all the cards close to his chest.”Rahul has done really well for himself and it’s good for the team as well that he’s coming into his own,” Kohli said. “We know how good a player he is and what he can do with the bat. We are happy that he’s got runs so consistently.”Look, these things happen in cricket that some guy gets injured and another guy comes in and grabs that opportunity. I think it all boils down to who is batting [well] at that moment.  You want to go into a tournament with the strongest XI you can compile. Shikhar has been unfortunate in terms of injury but he’s an experienced player. That’s the dynamic of the squad.”When Rohit comes back, it’s going to be a difficult thing to address because Shikhar is an experienced player but KL is playing so well. We have to decide the best combination to go with and what’s the best eleven we can go with.”Kohli was also particularly enthused with the progress made by both Saini and Thakur – both of whom were not part of India’s T20I squad for the West Indies series. Saini has cracked T20 cricket after bowling lengthy spells in the Ranji Trophy while Thakur has been drafted back on his back of his impressive performances in the IPL and more recently in the ODI series decider against West Indies in Cuttack.BCCI

Kohli believed that having all bases covered on the bowling front will benefit India on the larger grounds in Australia during the T20 World Cup.”Saini is a different case because he has come from the domestic set-up into the IPL and into the Indian team,” Kohli said. “So, he has bowled quite a bit and has good understanding of lines and lengths and he’s obviously got pace. Thakur, again, has played a lot of T20 cricket and has been playing the IPL for a while. And, he’s quite experienced in that regard.”Bhuvi, Bumrah, we really don’t have to discuss [about them]. Shami is again someone who will always stay in the mix. And Deepak Chahar has bowled really well for the number of games he has played.”Because the tournament is in Australia, you will need these many options and back-ups to be able to take firstly your strongest squad and have those back-ups in place who also can come in and do the job.”It’s good that we’ve identified five or six guys and it will be priority based on who goes and back-ups will be in place for fast bowlers. Small niggles can happen now and then, so we’re pretty sorted in that regard. So, not a worry at all.”India finished 2019 unbeaten in Tests, shed their conservative approach in T20Is, and were also on a roll in ODIs until New Zealand stopped them in their tracks in the 50-over World Cup semi-final. Another World Cup year has dawned, and Kohli set India’s focus towards the ICC tournament, challenging them to build on the gains from the past year.”We want to keep the standard as high as we can because it’s very important to understand that there’s a young influence that’s coming into the team now,” he said. And they need to be able to take the same culture and same mindset forward. Little transitions keep happening and we want to make sure that the guys who are coming in are on the same page and get up to speed as soon as possible.”We need to keep growing these younger guys into guys who will take the team forward. I think the main focus is on that and the ICC tournaments that are coming along, that’s something we are going to target.”

Set 179 to win in 24 overs in a rain-interrupted match, Hong Kong sneaked home by two wickets, with three balls to spare

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Sep-2018Peter Della Penna

Hong Kong have qualified for the Asia Cup on the back of a two-wicket win over UAE in the final of the Qualifiers at the Kinrara Academy Oval in Kuala Lumpur.Sent in to bat, UAE were 65 for 3 in the 16th over when rain halted their innings, reducing the game to 24 overs a side. The over reduction forced UAE to accelerate, and they managed to do so, scoring 111 in their remaining 8.3 overs. Opener Ashfaq Ahmed slammed 36 off 11 after the rain break to finish on 79 off 51 balls, and there were useful cameos from Shaiman Anwar, Muhammad Usman and Adnan Mufti too.But they also lost six more wickets in the process, and the seamer Aizaz Khan finished with figures of 5 for 28 as UAE finished on 176 for 9.Chasing a DLS-adjusted 179-run target, Hong Kong found themselves 147 for 7 in the 20th over, needing 32 to win off the last 27 balls. The match could have swung either way, and Tanwir Afzal and Scott McKechnie ensured it was Hong Kong who sneaked home, hitting two sixes and a four while putting on 29 for the eighth wicket. Tanwir fell when the equation was three off seven but McKechnie and Ehsan Nawaz took the side home with three balls to spare.Ashfaq and Chirag Suri gave UAE a 54-run opening stand before Tanwir trapped Suri lbw for 11. Aizaz dismissed Rohan Mustafa and Rameez Shahzad in quick succession, just before the rain break. After play resumed, the UAE batsmen switched gears as Ashfaq and Shaiman Anwar added 58 in just 24 deliveries for the fourth wicket. The duo took a particular liking to the offspinner Ehsan Khan, who leaked 55 from his three overs.However, both Ashfaq and Shaiman fell in the same over to the left-arm spinner Nadeem Ahmed, before Aizaz picked up three wickets in the penultimate over of the innings.Nizakat Khan got Hong Kong’s chase off to a flier, smashing Mohammad Naveed for three successive fours in the third over of the innings. Nizakat and Anshuman Rath added 64 for the first wicket in just six overs before the offspinner Rohan Mustafa got UAE their breakthrough by bowling Nizakat for a 20-ball 38. Amir Hayat and Kinchit Shah fell in the next over, making it 68 for 3.At 84 for 4, Christopher Carter and Ehsan Khan joined hands and put on 53 for the fifth wicket to move Hong Kong to within 44 runs of the target with more than six overs remaining. UAE struck back with three quick wickets, but Tanwir and McKechnie kept calm to ensure Hong Kong finished on the right side.

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.

Tim Gruijters could play his first matches for Netherlands in more than two years after he earned a recall to the Dutch squads to play Afghanistan and Nepal in the next round of the Intercontinental Cup and WCL Championship

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jul-2016Tim Gruijters is in line to play his first matches for Netherlands in more than two years after he earned a recall to the Dutch squads for the four-day Intercontinental Cup match against Afghanistan from July 29-August 1 and the two WCL Championship matches against Nepal on August 13 and 15.Gruijters has not played for his country since he went home early from the 2014 World T20 in controversial circumstances. Officially, Netherlands management applied to have him replaced after scans revealed a back injury. Gruijters’ injury opened the door for Tom Cooper to arrive as a replacement player and he wound up as the tournament’s second-highest scorer behind Virat Kohli. However, Gruijters claimed he was bullied into going for a scan in order to have Cooper enter the squad when the Australian-based batsman became available after South Australia failed to reach the Sheffield Shield final.Despite the ill-will between Gruijters and team management at the time, the two sides have since reconciled to open the door for his way back into the Dutch side. He is joined by Shane Snater, a former Zimbabwe junior representative who has yet to make his senior team debut for Netherlands. Sikander Zulfiqar has also been named in the squad for the Nepal matches.Making way for Gruijters and Snater from Netherlands most recent WCL Championship and Intercontinental Cup squads are batsmen Michael Swart and Rahil Ahmed. Cooper and Logan van Beek, who were part of Netherlands’ 2016 World T20 squad in India, have also both been omitted.Paul van Meekeren, who impressed at the World T20 and recently signed to play for Somerset for the rest of the current English County season, has made himself available as has fellow Somerset team-mate Roelof van der Merwe.Netherlands currently sit in second place on the Intercontinental Cup table, 14 points behind Ireland but five points ahead of third-place Afghanistan. Afghanistan have won both prior meetings in the four-day competition, by one wicket in 2009 and three wickets in 2012.In the WCL Championship standings, Netherlands are in first place at 10 points after six games and hold a one-point advantage over Hong Kong. Netherlands are currently undefeated, having swept the UAE and Papua New Guinea while their series against Scotland last September ended with a pair of no results after rain ruined proceedings.Netherlands squad for Afghanistan match: Peter Borren (capt.), Wesley Barresi (wk), Mudassar Bukhari, Ben Cooper, Tim Gruijters, Quirijn Gunning, Vivian Kingma, Ahsan Malik, Stephan Myburgh, Michael Rippon, Pieter Seelaar, Shane Snater, Timm van der Gugten, Roelof van der Merwe, Paul van MeekerenNetherlands squad for Nepal matches: Peter Borren (capt.), Wesley Barresi (wk), Mudassar Bukhari, Ben Cooper, Tim Gruijters, Vivian Kingma, Ahsan Malik, Stephan Myburgh, Max O’Dowd, Michael Rippon, Pieter Seelaar, Shane Snater, Timm van der Gugten, Roelof van der Merwe, Paul van Meekeren, Sikander Zulfiqar