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A letter from Tom Harrison encouraged the PCA to support a 20% wage cut for players

George Dobell01-Apr-2020England’s centrally contracted players appear – at this stage – to have declined the offer to accept a temporary pay cut as part of the sport’s efforts to combat the challenges set by the COVID-19 pandemic.Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive, wrote to Tony Irish, his counterpart at the Professional Cricketers’ Association (the PCA; the players’ union who negotiate pay on behalf of centrally contracted players), on March 29 to broach the subject. ESPNcricinfo has a copy of this letter.In the letter, Harrison revealed that he personally would be taking a 25% pay cut “for at least three months” as the ECB “confronted… the biggest challenge the sport has known in the modern era.” It is understood that other ECB executives have volunteered a 20% pay cut and some staff will be informed on Wednesday morning of a decision to furlough them.It is unclear how much direct input the players had on the decision, although writing on Twitter, Ben Stokes responded with fury at the suggestion that England’s centrally contracted players had personally turned down the request.While there were some exchanges between the PCA and the players on WhatsApp groups, the PCA stance has remained that pay cuts should only be seen as a last resort. Jos Buttler, meanwhile, is auctioning off the shirt he wore when England clinched the World Cup to raise money for a health service charity.ALSO READ: Losing whole summer would cost over £300m – ECB chief executiveWhile the ECB understood they could not compel the players to accept a pay cut, they had hoped they might volunteer one as a “gesture” in an unprecedented crisis. But, after receiving a less than enthusiastic response to the idea, in a media conference on March 31, Harrison said the ECB “are not seeking pay cuts from England players”.”In these circumstances,” Harrison wrote, “it is my strong belief that a leadership example must be set.”These measures will be far more effective with the support of our professional players and we seek your help and understanding in this. We are rightly proud of the role our England players play in wider society and how they are helping people through these difficult days and across the country we recognise the valuable role that professional cricketers play in support of the cricket family. In unprecedented times like these, it is important for the whole cricket family to show a willingness to be part of the solution.ECB chief executive Tom Harrison sent a letter to PCA CEO Tony Irish last week•Getty Images

“Whilst the health of the nation is under threat, the future of our sport depends on every single one of us sharing the load right now. In light of this, I am encouraging the PCA and all professional players to support the recommendations the first-class counties present to you next week, which may very well propose a 20% reduction in salaries for April and May, with a view to revisiting this on a monthly basis until we have navigated through the crisis.”I am hopeful that our players are able to contribute in rising to this unprecedented challenge. If we can all pull our weight in working together and come through this, then we will not only reinforce the truly inspiring spirit of the cricket family, but we will safeguard the future of our sport and the livelihoods of everyone who works within it.”An excerpt from Tom Harrison’s letter to Tony Irish•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

ESPNcricinfo understands that the PCA is yet to receive a proposal from the first-class counties, and will wait for that to arrive before considering it. Irish’s most recent public comments stressed the need for collective solutions. Many county players have now been
furloughed. While some counties are making-up the full difference between the government contribution and their full salaries, some are
not.There is an additional element of negotiation for centrally contracted players due to the Team England Player Partnership (TEPP), which effectively decides the value of central contracts for international players. Irish is also chair of TEPP.It remains possible that the PCA stance will change but it does seem they have not taken the first opportunity to act in this unprecedented situation.

Sri Lanka fast-bowling coach Rumesh Ratnayake admitted it was rare to see so many instances of batsmen being hit on the helmet in one match

Melinda Farrell in Canberra03-Feb-2019Kusal Perera will likely bat in the fourth innings at Manuka Oval, despite being forced off the field after suffering a blow to the helmet, as Sri Lanka try to salvage a positive finish and some much needed confidence ahead of their next series in South Africa.*SLC confirmed in a press release late on Sunday night that Kusal had been “cleared of any injuries”, and that his participation would depend on an assessment done on the fourth morning of the Test.Earlier, Sri Lanka’s fast-bowling coach, Rumesh Ratnayake, was confident Kusal would be cleared to bat, after the batsman was hit on the side of the helmet as he attempted to duck under a Jhye Richardson bouncer. Kusal initially played on, but left the field in the following over. He was replaced by Dimuth Karunaratne, who had been struck on the back of the neck by a short ball from Mitchell Starc on the previous day, but was cleared to play by the Sri Lanka medical staff.There were two other instances in the match of batsmen being hit around the head. Kusal had already been struck by Richardson earlier in the day, while a Pat Cummins short ball hit Dhananjaya de Silva on the helmet. Ratnayake later admitted it was rare to see so many incidents in one match.The former fast bowler speaks from experience: he once forced West Indies batsman Larry Gomes to retire after striking him with a short ball in an ODI at the MCG and, most famously, broke the nose of New Zealand opening batsman, John Wright, with a ferocious bouncer during a Test in Wellington.”When it hits the head it’s certainly a huge concern for us but this match was a lot on the head, wasn’t it?” said Ratnayake. “More so than any other game. So we would like to say it’s just one of those games but you can’t take the bowling off.”I mean Starc, who was not even a surety of [playing] this match, bowled extremely well and he was really on fire. And so did the other two who supported him as well. It was quality bowling, you can’t just take that away. Quality bowling I felt [affected] two of our guys [getting] hit on the head.”You can’t put it as a pattern. I mean I’ve seen bowlers hit batsmen on fast tracks also and certainly if there isn’t much pace the ducking process becomes different and the inconsistencies of a pitch – I’m not saying this pitch is inconsistent at all – it’s just sometimes you tend to duck for a ball that you shouldn’t be ducking. And that we saw in Kusal’s thing, he ducked into a ball which was not as ferocious as the ball to Karunaratne.”Kusal was replaced at the crease by Karunaratne, who added only 13 runs to the 46 he had scored before retiring hurt, but Ratnayake praised the character shown by the batsman.”I thought that showed a lot of guts and character from Karunaratne,” said Ratnayake. “That showed a lot for the team and we really thought that could help the morale so to speak. Those are things which we would like to talk on and hopefully the second innings we’ll sort of capitalise on that. When I say morale, [I mean] confidence.”Since they embarked on a challenging Test tour that began in New Zealand, injuries have forced Sri Lanka to field a side with little experience and, with two Tests looming in South Africa, there is little respite in the near future. Ratnayake said Suranga Lakmal, who missed out due to a stiff back, will be fit for the first Test against South Africa later this month but Sri Lanka don’t expect to have Nuwan Pradeep, Lahiru Kumara and Dushmantha Chameera available. It places a heavy burden on the young bowlers who have been drafted in, but Ratnayake believes a strong finish to the match could provide a significant boost to their confidence.”It’s still a learning curve because the Test isn’t finished but I’m sure they’ve learnt a lot, especially Chamika Karunaratne , who’s in his first Test.”It was kind of a shock to him to know the standards of Test level and it just happened that he was just – I wouldn’t say he was forced into it – he was sort of taken into it in a rush but he has shown a lot of character, he’s shown a lot of confidence, he’s showed a lot of things which he did just prior to the game. It was really encouraging but I think watching the Starcs, the Cummins, all of them I think certainly helped him on and it’s a learning curve.”‘”It is very important to finish off strongly here. And a good strong close-out of the match would certainly be a big gain for the boys in confidence, which hasn’t been all that great in the recent past, if you take the tours we’ve had in the [past] two years even, and it would certainly be a strong thing for the boys.”GMT 1824 *The story was updated to include details from the SLC’s release.

With Tim Paine surprisingly recalled by Australia, ESPNcricinfo picks out a few other selection calls that came out of the blue

Andrew McGlashan16-Nov-2017Peter TaylorEngland had wrapped up in the 1986-87 Ashes with a match to spare, so the Sydney Test was about saving face for Australia. They pulled a rabbit out of the hat in offspinner Peter Taylor, dubbed ‘Peter, who?’ when he was called up, with one TV crew congratulating Mark Taylor on a maiden call-up instead. Taylor (Peter) had played just six first-class matches, but on an SCG surface which offered some assistance bagged 6 for 78 in England’s first innings to help set up a consolation 55-run victory. He would play another 12 Tests, the last of which came against India at Melbourne in 1991. In the next Test, at Sydney, a certain SK Warne made his debut.Darren PattinsonHeadingley has a history of making England selectors do odd things, but this can claim top billing. Darren Pattinson, brother of James, was born in Grimsby, before being raised in Australia, so had an easy route into English county cricket where he began the 2008 season with a bang for Nottinghamshire, having previously played first-class cricket for Victoria. Still, it was scarcely believable when he was summoned into the side to play South Africa after an injury to Ryan Sidebottom. His first Test wicket was a decent scalp in Hashim Amla but captain Michael Vaughan later admitted the bizarre selection had unsettled the side in what became a heavy defeat. Pattinson was quickly moved aside and didn’t play again.Martin BicknellEngland were not far away from bringing together the fearsome foursome that would power their rise to the 2005 Ashes, but the tail-end of the 2003 season had a more makeshift look to the attack. Martin Bicknell had made his debut in the 1993 Ashes but played just two Tests and despite consistently being among county cricket’s best performers could not earn a recall. That was until he was brought into the side to face South Africa at Headingley in 2003. He struck with his second ball back and claimed a respectable four wickets, but saved his best for his home ground at The Oval. After Marcus Trescothick, Graham Thorpe and Andrew Flintoff had powered England past South Africa’s daunting 484, Bicknell helped dismantled their second innings with 4 for 84. His set-up of Jacques Rudolph on the fourth evening – a series of away swingers before the nip-backer to pluck out off stump – remains a dismissal of enduring beauty. That was it for Bicknell’s England career, but what a way to finish.RP SinghRP Singh was enjoying the sunshine in Miami when he was called to join the rapidly disintegrating India Test side in England. He hadn’t played a Test in two years, or any first-class cricket since January (it was now August), but when Praveen Kumar pulled up lame on the morning of the final Test at The Oval, Singh was parachuted in. His opening couple of spells on a truncated first day were barely threatening at not much more than dobbing medium pace and by the time England declared in 591 for 6 he had 0 for 118 from 34 overs of toil. He has not played another Test since.The reports on the surprise selection of Peter Taylor (left) for the Sydney Test•Getty Images

Michael BeerPerhaps Australia’s selectors were hoping for the Peter Taylor effect when Beer – first included in the squad midway through the series in Perth – was given his debut at Sydney in early 2011 with the Ashes having been retained by England the previous week in Melbourne. It was a more mundane debut. He claimed 1 for 112 as England gorged themselves with 644 – being the last bowler to remove Paul Collingwood in Test cricket – but perhaps is best remembered as the final man dismissed in the series, which led to the line from Nasser Hussain on commentary: “Put the beer away, put the champagne on ice.” Just one more Test followed in 2012 but he became a very effective T20 bowler.Jeff WilsonJeff Wilson’s career is a remarkable tale. As a 19-year-old he made his ODI debut for New Zealand, playing four matches against Australia, before leaving the game to focus on a career in rugby union where he became a 60-cap All Black who scored 44 tries. He retired at 28 and gave cricket another crack, which slowly caught the attention of the selectors. Initially he was called up for the matches against a World XI, which replaced the Sri Lanka one-day series in 2004-05 following the devastating tsunami, and did enough to keep a spot for the visit of Australia. Twelve years after his first cap, he pulled on the Blackcaps shirt again for two more ODIs.Tauseef AhmedA case of being in the right place at the right time. As Pakistan were netting in Karachi the day before the 1979-80 Test against Australia, a bystander sidled over to Mushtaq Mohammad, the former Pakistan captain and at this time coach, and suggested a friend was a better bowler than anything Pakistan had. Offspinner Tauseef Ahmed was asked to show what he could do and caused Pakistan’s batsmen enough problems that Mushtaq told him he was in. However, no one at the team hotel – where he was asked to meet his new team-mates – believed him and he had to sit in the entrance until midnight. Finally identified, he claimed seven wickets on debut in Pakistan’s seven-wicket win and would go on to claim 93 wickets in a 34-match career.

James Anderson insists he will be fit to play a role in England’s Test tour of India next month, even though he is unlikely to start bowling again for another three weeks

Andrew Miller04-Oct-2016James Anderson insists he will be fit to play a role in England’s Test tour of India next month, even though he is unlikely to start bowling again for another three weeks as he continues his recovery from a long-term shoulder injury.Speaking at Lord’s ahead of the NatWest OSCAs, Anderson admitted his frustration at missing out on the Bangladesh leg of England’s campaign, following a stress fracture of his left shoulder blade that caused him to miss the first Test against Pakistan in July.However, he took umbrage at the suggestion that – at the age of 34 and with 463 Test wickets to his name in a 14-year England career – his body is beginning to struggle with the intensity of his international workload.”I feel fine,” Anderson told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s a frustrating injury where everything feels good, the rest of my body feels great, but as soon as I try to bowl I’ve got a bit of pain there. It’s something that’s going to take a few more weeks to rest and recover. I’ve got another scan in three weeks to see if it’s healed enough for me to start bowling.”I’m not going to miss the entire trip, no,” he said. “I’m very confident I’m going to be involved in the India series, it is a frustrating injury, something I want to get right, but it does happen in cricket, in sport, you get injured, you’ve just got to deal with it, and hopefully I can get as fit as possible as soon as possible.”Despite Anderson’s optimism, the timescale is a concern, with England facing five Tests against India in the space of six weeks, starting in Rajkot on November 9, one week after the conclusion of the Bangladesh tour.James Anderson at the NatWest OSCAs at Lord’s•ECB

Anderson has not bowled in a competitive fixture since the fourth Test against Pakistan at The Oval in August, and with no warm-up games scheduled for the early weeks of the India leg, there will be scant opportunity for him to regain his match fitness ahead of one of the toughest assignments in Test cricket.What is more, having not missed an England Test through injury since the Sri Lanka series in 2011 (at Edgbaston in 2012, he was rested alongside Stuart Broad for a dead-rubber against West Indies) Anderson has now had to sit out four of England’s last 16 Tests – two against Australia in the 2015 Ashes, and one each against South Africa and Pakistan.His situation is such that Andrew Strauss, the director of England cricket, admitted after the squad’s arrival in Bangladesh earlier this week that he “didn’t know” whether to expect Anderson’s return at any stage of the tour, adding that he may require careful management over the next 12 months if he is to survive a hectic schedule that culminates in next year’s Ashes tour of Australia.Anderson, however, disagreed vehemently with that assessment – much as he had done during the Pakistan series, when his protestations of fitness ahead of the Lord’s Test were over-ruled by England’s selectors and medical staff.”No, I don’t think like that at all,” he said. “I’ve had a couple of injuries here and there in the last 18 months, which is pretty much all I’ve had in my career. I don’t think that’s going to deter me from wanting to play in every single game that I possibly can.”I love playing the game, I love playing for England and I don’t want to miss any cricket. I’m sure that the management and medical team will have different opinions to me, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it down the line.”I don’t think my body has let me down in any shape or form,” he added. “I feel as fit as I ever have, I feel very strong, the rest of my body I’ve been working hard on, I’ve done a lot of running, and I’m confident that I can come back fit.”There’s little doubt that England would dearly love to have Anderson back for what promises to be an intense contest, as India – the newly-crowned No.1 Test team – seek to avenge their home-and-away defeats in their last two series against England.In spite of those who maintain that Anderson loses his impact away from England’s green seamers, his record in India stands up to scrutiny – 22 wickets in seven Tests at 29.81, including matchwinning spells in Mumbai in 2006 and Kolkata in 2012. He knows that his experience with the new ball could be crucial in helping to guide the fortunes of a talented but largely untested attack.”Do I have to prove myself?” he said. “I’ve enjoyed bowling out there, it’s a huge challenge as a seam bowler, and I think that gives you more fulfilment and satisfaction if you do do well.”Certainly myself and Stuart [Broad], having been there before, we’ll need that experience when it comes to playing in that series, as we’ll have plenty bowlers who won’t have been there before, so we’ll have to help the guys settle into that environment as quickly as possible.”Recent contests between England and India have been understandably feisty affairs, and Anderson – who became embroiled in an ugly row with Ravi Jadeja during the last series in 2014 – expects this next campaign to be little different.”We are two teams that play with great passion,” he said. “I watched the India-New Zealand series recently and you could see the passion the India side has got, led by Virat Kohli.”We are a very similar team in that respect. We go out there wanting to win and we play with a lot of passion. And when two teams play like that, then inevitably you are going to get some fieriness on the field.”As for the Jadeja row, he added: “That’s in the past. We shook hands at the end of the series and, for me, that was the end of it. And I think for him as well too. I’m sure there will be battles between individuals when we are out there, but hopefully it will be with bat and ball.”In the meantime, however, the focus will be on England’s fortunes in Bangladesh, and in Anderson’s absence, it may fall to the breakthrough star of the English summer, Chris Woakes, to exploit what little movement may be on offer on what are expected to be slow and low wickets at Chittagong and Dhaka.”What he brings with bat and ball is crucial to the balance of our team,” said Anderson. “He’s an amazing talent, he can swing the ball both ways, he can reverse the ball, and he’s got pace so he’s got everything you need to be successful.”And he’s been working on subtle variations – offcutters, legcutters – that you need out there. He is crucial to the balance of our team, he brings depth, and I’m sure he’ll go from strength to strength in the next few years.”James Anderson was speaking at the NatWest Outstanding Service to Cricket Awards (OSCAs), which recognise the contribution that volunteers make to the game. To find out more, visit natwest.com/cricket

Albie Morkel, whose international career is probably over, is set for leadership and mentorship roles in domestic cricket

Firdose Moonda02-Sep-2015Albie Morkel has played for his country, played for his franchise, played for three IPL teams, three counties, and a CPL team. He has played a Test, played more than 100 limited-overs internationals and over 500 representative matches. Until 22 games ago, he had played more T20s than any other player, a title which now belongs to Kieron Pollard, but that does not take away from Morkel’s myriad achievements.”He has done everything in the game, except lead,” Mark Charlton, the coach of provincial side Northerns, told ESPNcricinfo. But this Saturday, that will change.Morkel will captain Northerns in the Africa Cup, the new T20 tournament being played by South Africa’s provincial team as well as invited teams from Zimbabwe, Namibia and Kenya, as a precursor to taking over the leadership of the Titans franchise in limited-overs formats. Morkel’s accepting of the armband is an admission of what most already knew: his international career is probably over and he is looking at other ways to play a part. Mentorship has emerged as one of them.”He is a very calm, assured, respected player and he is a guy everybody can take something from,” Charlton said. “He has already been spending a lot of time with the young bowlers and guys are seeing that they can lean on his experience. We’re hoping he’ll have the same kind of effect Jacques Rudolph had at the Titans.”In the last two seasons, Rudolph had provided stability to a Titans’ team in transition. He provided experience both in batting terms and behind the scenes as the squad went through retirements of some of their senior-most men like Martin van Jaarsveld and Paul Harris besides change in coaches. Rudolph has decided to finish his career in England and it is hoped that Morkel will take over from where he left off.Titans, the franchise team which both Northerns and Easterns feed into, are still experimenting with a mix of players as they filter through a talented younger pool. Twenty-two year-old-opening batsman Theunis de Bruyn is one of them, while last year’s Under-19 World Cup winners Corbin Bosch and Aiden Markram are two others. All three of those players will turn out for Northerns in the Africa Cup and Charlton hopes they will blossom under Morkel, with Markram in particular identified as someone who can feed off Morkel.”Aiden is someone we have earmarked as a potential future leader, although we haven’t quite decided in what capacity,” Charlton said. Markram, who captained the national Under-19 side to World Cup glory last year, could end up as part of the leadership group of provincial team, for example.Markram was awarded a semi-professional, provincial contact for the 2015-16 season after solid performances for Northerns last season. He played 10 first-class matches, scoring 424 runs at 30.28, including three fifties. He has not yet pushed on to franchise cricket but Charlton thinks that could change soon.”He has been steadily going about his work and learning his game,” Charlton said. “Quietly, he has been building his career and I think big things could come for him. He has a good base and a competition like this, the Africa Cup, is a chance for a player like Aiden to show he can compete with franchise players and to learn from them with guys like Albie also involved.”

Cricket Australia and Hampshire Cricket have announced a partnership which will see some of Australia’s most talented young cricketers spend the next English summer at the newly-formed Ageas Bowl International Cricket Academy

David Hopps17-Jan-2013Cricket Australia and Hampshire Cricket have announced a partnership which will see some of Australia’s most talented young cricketers spend the next English summer at the newly-formed Ageas Bowl International Cricket Academy.The deal confirms Hampshire’s status as the host of one of the best-equipped cricket academies in the world and left Rod Bransgrove, the county’s cricket chairman and long-time driving force, purring with delight at another sign of progress for the project that has long been his life’s obsession.”Cricket Australia has been an admirer of the Ageas Bowl for some time and we are delighted that they are sending six high-performing young players to the Academy in its inaugural year,” Bransgrove said. “We are one of the few professional grounds in the world with two full-sized cricket pitches immediately adjacent to each other which means our outdoor facilities are available even when there is a match on. That is a great advantage. We are a genuine international cricket academy.”Lord’s will always have its tradition and a presence second to none, but our ambition is simply to create the finest ground in the country.”English players have long had the advantages of winter stints in Australia, South Africa and India as part of their overall development and now Hampshire’s academy offers an opportunity in reverse which Cricket Australia has been quick to grasp. Hampshire promise access to world-class coaching, sports science and medical staff.As part of the programme the Australian players will play in the Southern Electric Premier League for the duration of the English domestic cricket season. “That’s an extra benefit – that six league clubs get an overseas player free of charge for the whole of the season,” said Bransgrove. “I’m not in favour of clubs using their hard-earned funds for recreational players even if they commit to regular coaching and have the club at heart.”Bransgrove has reason to be satisfied. The launch of the academy follows Hampshire’s achievement in winning the Friends Life Twenty20 and CB40 tournaments last season and the securing of a £45m investment from Eastleigh Borough Council to secure the final stage in the development of the Ageas Bowl which will include the construction of a 4-star hotel, additional conferencing and hospitality facilities and a state-of-the-art media centre.Although he has handed over the chief executive role to David Mann after ceaselessly driving Hampshire forward for 12 years, Bransgrove is not the sort for for semi-retirement. “I have taken a back seat in the day-to-day running of the business,” he said. “After 12 years the club needed new energy. But I’ve got so much emotion – and money – wrapped up in it I can’t run away.”The partnership will form part of the 2013 Australian Institute of Sport men’s cricket programme and The Kerry Packer Foundation will provide scholarships to the selected players.Pat Howard, Cricket Australia’s team performance manager, said: “CA is very excited about this partnership and opportunity for our very best young players. The opportunity to experience cricket in a different country will grow them as players and as people. For those chosen it will be an important part of their development.”English counties have occasionally faced criticism for employing Australian players on short-term contracts ahead of Ashes series but Bransgrove is confident that within the cricket community at least the presence of some of Australia’s top young cricketers in Hampshire will be universally seen as a success story. Discussions are also underway with India and Sri Lanka for similar tie-ups.”The ECB fully recognises that we have a responsibility to maximise our income,” he said. “We are talking about the development of young players. Every country seeking to develop players wants to use the facilities of other countries in the off season. For England players not to have the chance to go abroad would be disastrous and it is only right that we reciprocate. I would like to think that cricket can be more high-minded about the development of young cricketers.”

Daniel Vettori could miss nearly a month due to the injury to his left hamstring that ruled him out of the second Test against Australia in Hobart

Brydon Coverdale at the Bellerive Oval09-Dec-2011Daniel Vettori could miss nearly a month due to the injury to his left hamstring that ruled him out of the second Test against Australia in Hobart. Vettori arrived at Bellerive Oval with tightness in the muscle and aggravated the problem during New Zealand’s warm-up, forcing him out of the side and allowing fast bowler Trent Boult to make his debut.Fortunately for New Zealand, their next international appointment is not until the end of January, when they take on Zimbabwe in a one-off Test. That means he should only miss out on Twenty20 cricket, with both New Zealand’s HRV Cup and Australia’s Big Bash League – Vettori has signed with the Brisbane Heat – to be played in late December and early January.”Unfortunately Dan sustained a recurrence of his left hamstring injury that’s been problematic for him over the last few years,” the New Zealand physio Paul Close said. “We expect him to be rehabbing the injury and back to full fitness within three to four weeks. We are confident he will be back to play some HRV Cup cricket at some stage in the new year.”The loss of Vettori was a major blow for New Zealand in Hobart, after he again proved himself one of their most reliable batsmen in the first Test at the Gabba. He also sent down 37 overs and collected two wickets, keeping things tight in Australia’s first innings, and in his absence New Zealand might need to find extra overs of part-time spin from Kane Williamson and Martin Guptill.”He started to warm up and realised that it wasn’t good enough and decided to pull the pin,” the batsman Dean Brownlie said after play. “With it seaming, hopefully our four seamers can do the job. Hopefully it doesn’t prove any price [cost] really.”

Playing a single Twenty20 between a Test and ODI series makes it hard for the players to adjust to the format

Sidharth Monga in Durban08-Jan-2011is ironic that, from a cricketing point of view at least, the game that will draw the biggest crowd of the season is the least anticipated. Although, on second thought, it is perhaps unfair to ask a Twenty20 game to match up to what was a thrilling Test series, and that too, a Twenty20 game played in a football stadium, on a pitch expected to stay low, with short square boundaries.Still, 50,000 are expected to sell out the Moses Mabhida Stadium and they will have plenty to watch: Makhaya Ntini playing his last international match, Johan Botha continuing his audition as potentially South Africa’s next ODI captain, some flashy Indian youngsters trying to hit balls into the streets, and some song and dance from Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Anil Kapoor.For the players, though, it will be difficult to adjust. They first have to get over the hangover from the Test series, which should take some time, and then prepare for the ODI series, which will be the real deal going into the World Cup. “Of course it is a difficult one, because more often than not whenever there is a Twenty20 game, you play just one-off game,” MS Dhoni said. “It’s very difficult to get into that groove, and then come out of that groove and play ODIs. Of course we will give it our best shot. We have got players who are part of the ODI squad, but along with that there are T20 specialists also. That will help.”Forget the change of ball and change of kits, there is a change of stadium too. Both the teams seek to draw on their experience of playing cricket in New Zealand, where some of the grounds double up as rugby stadiums. At times in New Zealand, even as the post-match presentation is going on, the groundstaff start starts removing the drop-in pitch to get the ground ready for a rugby game to be played the same week.”You may say the experience we have of paying in New Zealand will come into effect,” Dhoni said. “Of course the sides will be pretty small compared to the long front boundaries. We haven’t seen the ground yet, but after the practice session that we are having right now, we are planning to go to the stadium. Before starting cricket, play a bit of football there. And then a fielding session. And exactly see what it looks like. It looks really different from the outside, but very similar to a football stadium.”Johan Botha, who will be captaining South Africa in Graeme Smith’s absence, concurred. “I haven’t been to the ground yet. We will be going after this to do a bit of fielding there, just see what the different dimensions of the ground are. But both teams have to bat and bowl on it. Hopefully, we can play well on the ground with the specific distances. It’s almost like a New Zealand ground.”The game feels like a transit airport in a long journey right now. You don’t know much about it, you don’t expect much out of it, you don’t have a proper sense of time and space either. It will pass in a blur, but both teams will look to find better bargains at duty-free shops.

New Zealand Cricket has confirmed that Ross Taylor will have a more senior role with the national team, naming him as a ‘stand-by’ captain for the upcoming Bangladesh and Australia series

Cricinfo staff29-Jan-2010Ross Taylor has been named as ‘stand-by’ captain for the upcoming Bangladesh and Australia series, giving him a more senior role with the national team. A statement by New Zealand Cricket said Taylor was not vice-captain but will take over as leader if Daniel Vettori is unavailable for any match over the home summer.Brendon McCullum was Vettori’s deputy till last October but was relieved of his duties soon after Andy Moles stepped down as national coach. Geoff Allott, NZC’s general manager of cricket, said both McCullum and Taylor were potential captains and that the latest move was an effort to polish Taylor’s leadership skills.”The Black Caps have deliberately not named a vice-captain in recent times as we wish to allow development of a broader leadership group,” Allott said. “We are fortunate to currently have two outstanding individuals in Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum, who could both assume the captaincy in the event Daniel Vettori was not available.”The elevation marks a rapid rise for Taylor, who made his international debut less than four years ago. “Brendon has recently fulfilled the role of stand-by captain, and Ross now gets his opportunity this summer,” Allott said. “Both players have offered on-field support and assistance to Dan during recent tours and it is anticipated that this will continue.”Taylor’s appointment should not be seen as a demotion for McCullum, said Justin Vaughan, the NZC chief executive. “This by no means is saying the Ross is number two and Brendon is number three – that isn’t the case,” he said. “Brendon will play the stand-by captain’s role in future series.”New Zealand’s next international assignment is the Bangladesh series, which starts with a Twenty20 on Wednesday in Hamilton.