David Graveney, the former chairman of selectors, could be among those leaving the ECB after a fresh round of redundancies

George Dobell09-Jan-2017David Graveney, the former chairman of selectors, could be among those leaving the ECB after a fresh round of redundancies.ESPNcricinfo understands that Graveney, the former Gloucestershire and Durham captain, has been informed that his current position as National Performance Manager has been made redundant. He has been invited to apply for the new role, which will be entitled National Talent Manager.Graveney’s current role encompasses assessing the county academies and age-group cricket, as well being one of the selectors of the England Under-19 side. As such, he plays an important role in spotting emerging talent and ensuring the best coaching and opportunities are provided to help young players fulfil their potential.Others affected by the redundancies in recent times include Tim Boon, the England Development Programme coach, Iain Brunnschweiler, Rob Ahmun and Mike Mustoe. Gordon Lord, previously the Head of Elite Coach Development, is also leaving the ECB to take up a similar position with the RFU.It is understood the changes – most of which come in the area of talent development – are not so much about cutting costs as improving the effectiveness of the talent pathway and come after a review of the current set-up by Andrew Strauss, the director of England cricket, and Matt Dwyer, the director of Participation and Growth. With such minor title changes to the roles, it is hard to avoid the suspicion that individuals are being removed to make way for fresh blood.Graveney was chairman of selectors between 1997 and 2008, a period that was characterised by greater continuity of selection. He was also asked to reapply for that job in 2008 but lost out to Geoff Miller.Now aged 64, this latest episode could end a career that has included a long spell as a player (his career stretched from 1972 to 1994 and saw him become Durham’s first captain upon their elevation to first-class status), a time as CEO of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, the role of team manager on the rebel tour of South Africa in 1989-90, and his 11-year stint as selector.

England’s Ben Stokes, Eoin Morgan and Chris Woakes are among seven players who have listed their prices as INR 2 crore in the upcoming auction for IPL 2017

Nagraj Gollapudi06-Feb-2017England allrounders Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes and their limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan are among the seven players who have listed themselves at the highest base price of INR 2 crore (approx US $298,000) for the IPL player auction scheduled in Bangalore on February 20. India seamer Ishant Sharma, Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews, and the Australian fast bowlers Mitchell Johnson and Pat Cummins are the rest of the players in this set.

Also in the top bracket

INR 1.5 crore: Jonny Bairstow, Trent Boult, Brad Haddin, Nathan Lyon, Kyle Abbott, Jason Holder

*INR 1 crore = INR 100 lakh = INR 10000000 = USD 149 thousand approx
INR 1 lakh = INR 100 thousand = INR 100000 = USD 1490 approx

A total of 799 players were part of the initial roster which would be pruned once the franchises submit their choices before the deadline this weekend. There were 160 capped players from eight countries – leaving out Bangladesh and Pakistan – and 639 from India, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and West Indies. Of the 24 capped Indian cricketers, everyone barring Ishant has listed their base price at INR 30 lakh.Considering they will have to put a majority of their players back into the auction in 2018, some franchise officials said they would not be too aggressive in buying players this season. However, they did agree that there would be considerable interest in the English players.Although the IPL is yet to decide on the retention rules, franchises expect the right-to-match option to be available. This allows franchises to buy back a specific number of the players they have released for the auction, by matching the highest bid those players attract; if they match the bid they win the player.With the impressive all-round skills he showed during England’s recent tour of India, Stokes tops the list of marquee players that several franchises have said they would like to have.0:47

Quick Facts: IPL 2017 Auction

After Andrew Strauss took over as the ECB director of cricket last year, he has allowed England players the freedom to play in domestic T20 leagues like the IPL to gain wider exposure. Morgan, who has played for three different teams, Jos Butler (Mumbai Indians), Sam Billings (Delhi Daredevils), Chris Jordan (Royal Challengers Bangalore) have all commented on the positive influence of playing the IPL.Many England players who attended media briefings during the six-match limited-overs series in India last month spoke about the attraction of the IPL. Wicketkeeper batsman Jonny Bairstow (INR 1.5 crore), hard-hitting opening batsmen Alex Hales and Jason Roy (INR 1 crore) and fast bowlers Jordan and Tymal Mills (INR 50 lakh) have put their names up for auction.Franchises retained a total of 140 players and released 89 ahead of this IPL auction. Among those released and now trying to make a return are Johnson (Kings XI Punjab, INR 6.5 crore), Mathews (Delhi Daredevils, INR 7.5 crore), Ishant (Rising Pune Supergiants, INR 3.8 crore) and Morgan (Sunrisers Hyderabad, INR 1.5 crore).ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Former South Africa fast bowler Kyle Abbott, who recently moved to Hampshire as a Kolpak player, has listed his base price at INR 1.5 cr. Abott was bought by Kings XI in 2016 for INR 2.1 crore but was released in December. Another player attempting to make a return is New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult, who was hired by Sunrisers in 2015 for INR 3.8 crore. Boult has now listed his base price at INR 1.5 crore.West Indies ODI captain Jason Holder has also kept his price at INR 1.5 crore. He was with Kolkata Knight Riders, who had bought him for INR 75 lakh in 2014, until last season. India left-arm spinner Pawan Negi, who was the second-most expensive player bought at last year’s auction by the Daredevils for INR 8.5 crore comes into the auction with a base price of INR 30 lakh.

Parthiv Patel scored 143 and steered Gujarat through a chase of 312 to lead them to their maiden Ranji Trophy title

The Report by Shashank Kishore in Indore14-Jan-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details3:42

Kishore: Parthiv impeccable in tense chase

In December 2015, Parthiv Patel struck his maiden List A century to steer Gujarat to their first domestic 50-over championship win. Just over a year later, he was at the forefront of yet another title triumph with an innings that was physically and mentally more demanding than any other he has played in recent memory.Having kept wicket for 221 overs across two innings and over three days and made a combative 90 that gave Gujarat the first-innings lead, he steered a fourth-innings chase of 312 with a remarkable 143. His 25th first-class ton helped Gujarat clinch the Ranji Trophy for the first time in the very city where they lost to Holkar in their only previous final, 66 years ago.In doing so, with five wickets in hand – a proposition that had looked unlikely when they lost three early wickets on the final day against a fired-up Mumbai gunning for their 42nd title – Gujarat also achieved the highest-successful finals chase in the tournament’s 83-year history. They eclipsed Hyderabad, who had chased down 310 against Nawanagar in 1937-38.Parthiv’s 143 took Gujarat to within 13 runs of victory and will deservedly hog the headlines, but Manprit Juneja’s 54 was no less important. When he walked in, Gujarat were 89 for 3. Mumbai were ascendant, the runs weren’t quite flowing, and there was a stillness to proceedings. Balwinder Sandhu, who was expensive on the fourth evening, returned rejuvenated and was getting the ball to jag back in sharply.During the course of the next two hours, Parthiv and Juneja didn’t just rebuild the innings but also went into overdrive. By the time Juneja was dismissed, getting a faint under-edge to a sweep off Akhil Herwadkar, the 116-run fourth-wicket stand had wrested the momentum back in Gujarat’s favour.Another wicket at that stage may have turned things around. But Aditya Tare dropped Rujul Bhatt on 1 off Shardul Thakur, starting to celebrate before completing the catch cleanly. It had a deflating effect on Mumbai. Parthiv and Bhatt then added 94 to all but seal Gujarat’s full set of national titles, achieved across three successive seasons. The wining moment came off Thakur, Chirag Gandhi hitting him for two successive fours to trigger wild celebrations.The match could have been much closer than it eventually panned out. Gujarat lost Priyank Panchal, the season’s highest run-getter, in the second over of the day when he was pouched in the slips. Bhargav Merai was bowled shouldering arms to Sandhu, and Samit Gohel was caught behind off Abhishek Nayar in debatable circumstances. Gujarat were tottering. Mumbai were masters of controlling these kinds of situations – they had been in 11 finals and won each one of them since their last runners-up finish in 1990-91.Despite the loss in the final, Mumbai would be pleased with the advent of young players like Prithvi Shaw•PTI

Parthiv and Juneja had to contend with plenty of chirp from the slip cordon. Mumbai had been visibly unhappy at Gujarat’s delaying tactics on day four. On a number of occasions, the umpires had to intervene to get Gujarat moving. In the end, they were 14 overs short when Mumbai’s innings closed. Particularly keen on letting his displeasure be known to Gujarat was Shreyas Iyer, who a couple of days ago admitted to “being bored” with Gujarat’s approach.The umpires intervened again, this time to cool things down and let the game take its course. Parthiv, sensing an opportunity to score, took on Sandhu, who until then had bowled a superb first spell that read 7-2-20-2. Six boundaries came off the five overs that immediately followed the fall of the third wicket, among which were successive fours for Parthiv off Sandhu, a slap through cover followed by an imperious drive past mid-off. Juneja didn’t hold back either, driving and flicking his way to four boundaries in the same period.On one hand, Tare had to contend with the frustration of the partnership. On the other was the dilemma of whether or not to keep attacking and risk conceding more boundaries. Nayar, who has time and again delivered in crises, eased his mind from one end, bowling in the corridor and troubling Juneja with balls that deviated away. But by then, both batsmen were in control.In a bid to mix things up, Tare brought in the left-arm spinner Vijay Gohil. Juneja peppered the cover boundary by driving him inside-out from the rough, from where there wasn’t much help. Parthiv used his feet to get to the pitch and milk runs. Gujarat had reached base camp. The century stand had come in little over two hours.But as is the case with most high-pressure clashes, there was a twist. Juneja relaxed just a wee bit against Akhil Herwadkar’s part-time offspin, and Tare gave him an angry send-off while the other Mumbai players gestured towards the dressing room.There was life in the contest, and plenty of needle as well. But Parthiv wasn’t perturbed. He stepped across and whipped Sandhu for three fours off his next over to enter the 90s. Mumbai took the second new ball in the 82nd over. Given Gujarat’s rate of scoring, this had to be the last roll of the dice.Parthiv inside-edged Thakur to the fine leg boundary, the ball nearly shaving leg stump. Then came a confident lbw appeal off an indipper. It wasn’t given out, but replays suggested it was much closer than it had initially looked. It was a slice of luck for Parthiv, but a man who had played a knock of this magnitude deserved some.

ESPNcricinfo’s wrap of the first day of the Sheffield Shield match between Victoria and Western Australia in Alice Springs

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Mar-2017
ScorecardFile photo – Fawad Ahmed took 3 for 14 in his first Sheffield Shield game for nearly a year•Getty Images

Fawad Ahmed enjoyed his return to Sheffield Shield cricket for the first time in nearly a year, collecting 3 for 14 as Victoria skittled Western Australia for 146 in Alice Springs. However, at stumps on the first day, the Bushrangers had also stumbled with the bat and were 5 for 106, still trailing by 40 runs, with Daniel Christian on 5 and Chris Tremain yet to score.Jason Behrendorff and David Moody had picked up two wickets each, but it was D’Arcy Short who picked up the key wicket of Marcus Stoinis for 46 in the last few overs before stumps. Earlier, the Warriors had suffered a top-order collapse to be 4 for 17, with Cameron Bancroft, Jon Wells and Adam Voges all falling for ducks.Ashton Turner (59) and Short (42) ensured the Warriors pushed their score up past 100, but the legspin of Fawad then ripped through the lower order. It was Fawad’s first Shield game since March last year, and he struck with his first delivery when he had Josh Inglis trapped lbw, before adding two more wickets.

The offspinner will be out of action for six to eight weeks, but is expected to regain full fitness ahead of India’s title defence at the Champions Trophy in June

Arun Venugopal31-Mar-20171:48

Kalra: Pune will rue not having any frontline Indian spinner

R Ashwin will miss the entire season of the upcoming IPL for Rising Pune Supergiant because of a sports hernia. Ashwin reported groin pain and has been advised six to eight weeks of rehabilitation, but is expected to regain full fitness ahead of India’s title defence at the Champions Trophy in June.M Vijay too is in danger of missing the entire tournament for Kings XI Punjab because of wrist and shoulder injuries that he played with for a better part of India’s long home season. Vijay will require surgery to his right wrist and also undergo rehabilitation for his left shoulder and “may not be able to participate in IPL 2017,” a BCCI release said on Saturday*.Ravindra Jadeja and Umesh Yadav, the BCCI further stated, will need two weeks to recuperate from their respective injuries. Jadeja has “issues” with his spinning finger while Umesh reported soreness in his right hip and lower back. Both will miss the first two matches for their respective franchises. Gujarat Lions’ first two matches are on April 7 and 9 before their third on April 14 against Supergiant in Rajkot. Kolkata Knight Riders, the team Umesh represents, also play their first two matches on April 7 and 9 with the third against Kings XI at home on April 13.Ashwin, 30, has had an unprecedented workload during India’s marathon home season that featured 13 Test matches against New Zealand, England, Bangladesh and Australia. During the period, Ashwin bowled 738.2 overs – the most ever by a bowler in a Test season – and picked up a record 82 wickets. Along with Jadeja, Ashwin claimed 153 wickets at an average of 24.14 to become the most successful bowling pair in a season.Ashwin first picked up the injury immediately after the Test series against England in December. In the aftermath, he withdrew from Tamil Nadu’s Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Karnataka.*0530 GMT Player availabilities were updated after the BCCI issued a release

West Indies allrounder Dwayne Bravo is almost certainly not going to play in the 2017 IPL because of his ongoing rehabilitation for a hamstring injury he suffered in December

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Apr-2017West Indies allrounder Dwayne Bravo has been ruled out of the 2017 IPL because of his ongoing rehabilitation for the hamstring injury he suffered in December. Bravo has been with his IPL team – Gujarat Lions – this season but has not played a game, and his captain Suresh Raina said it was perhaps time to think about a replacement.”No Dwayne Bravo. He’s been doing proper rehab and it might take three-four weeks, so he might be out of the tournament,” Raina said at the toss of Lions’ game against Kings XI Punjab in Rajkot. “So now we have to talk to the management and think about a replacement.”A couple of hours after Lions lost to Kings XI, Bravo put out a statement confirming his withdrawal from the tournament this year. “While recovery is going well and I have made vast improvement and have participated in team trainings with the Lions, my body is not ready to perform at its fullest potential,” Bravo said.Lions are presently at the bottom of the table, having won only two out of their first seven games. In 2016, their debut IPL season, Lions had finished on top of the league with nine wins in 14 games, but did not make the final. Bravo had been their second highest wicket-taker last year, with 17 wickets.Bravo suffered the injury while fielding for Melbourne Renegades – his BBL team – against Perth Scorchers on December 29. He had been stationed on the off-side boundary, and injured himself when he ran across and lowered himself to field a ball. He clutched at his hamstring as soon as he went down, and had to be taken off on a MediCab.Bravo has not played a match since, missing the Pakistan Super League and West Indies’ fixtures in the lead up to the IPL. With West Indies not part of the Champions Trophy in June, their next fixtures are a home series against Afghanistan at that same time.

Nottinghamshire seized the initiative on the second day of their Specsavers County Championship match against Gloucestershire at Trent Bridge

ECB Reporters Network27-May-2017
ScorecardLuke Fletcher was among the wickets as Gloucestershire folded•Getty Images

Nottinghamshire seized the initiative on the second day of their Specsavers County Championship match against Gloucestershire at Trent Bridge.The unbeaten Division Two leaders reached 430 for 9 before declaring and then unleashing their potent attack upon the visitors.With Luke Fletcher taking 3 for 32, and England’s Stuart Broad bagging 3 for 40, Gloucestershire were skittled out for only 149 in just 44.1 overs.For the third match in a row Notts enforced the follow-on and reduced Gloucestershire to 37 for one in their second innings, still 244 runs behind.The morning had begun with Nottinghamshire resuming their first innings on 375 for 5 and the home county quickly sped to maximum batting points as Chris Read and Riki Wessels plundered 55 runs from the first 13 overs of the day.Read was dropped on 29 as Graeme van Buuren spilled a regulation offering at backward point as the Nottinghamshire skipper sliced Chris Liddle to backward point.Gloucestershire’s second bowling point was gifted to them as Wessels miscued Matt Taylor high to mid-off for 37. A decent short delivery from the same bowler then accounted for Read, who had made 36.The batsman had been hurried into taking evasive action but the ball brushed the bat face and carried through to the diving Phil Mustard.Craig Miles, who claimed 4 for 123, picked up his last wicket as an ugly swish from Brett Hutton ballooned straight up in the air for a regulation caught and bowled.Broad made just 5 and the declaration came moments after he’d sliced Kieran Noema-Barnett high to point.Gloucestershire’s hopes of a solid foundation were torn to shreds as Fletcher’s second delivery had Cameron Bancroft caught behind, giving Read his 900th first class catch for his county and an eventful first session was brought to a premature close as Broad bellowed a successful lbw appeal against Will Tavare.The first full over of the afternoon session brought the downfall of Chris Dent as the left-hander nicked Fletcher behind, for just a single.Bowling with good rhythm, despite the gusty conditions, Fletcher then reduced the visitors to 43 for four as he knocked over van Buuren’s middle and off stumps for 15.George Hankins also reached 15 before falling to Harry Gurney, with Read snaffling up his third catch of the innings.Phil Mustard, playing his 200th first class match, had a life on 17 when Wessels, at first slip, grassed an edge off Gurney.The Gloucestershire skipper advanced to 53 but then mistimed a pull off Broad and saw Fletcher take a fine diving catch at mid-on.Steven Mullaney enhanced his reputation as a partnership breaker by snaring two quick wickets. Noema-Barnett assisted the bowler by shouldering arms and losing his off stump for 14 and then Miles was caught behind for four.Chris Liddle was the last man to depart, slashing wildly at Broad and seeing the ball sail all the way into the hands of Cheteshwar Pujara at third man.Batting for a second time, in gloomy conditions with the floodlights burning brightly, Notts could afford to spill Dent on nought before Fletcher removed him for 2.The third stoppage of the day, at around 6.10pm, brought proceedings to a halt, with 15.3 overs still remaining.

Ramachandra Guha has left with a scathing resignation letter that expresses extreme frustration with the inaction of the committee over several issues while also accusing it of not keeping every member in the loop regarding important decisions

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jun-20174:22

Bal: Guha saying CoA hasn’t fulfilled its mandate

Ramachandra Guha, the prominent historian who stepped down from the Supreme Court-appointed committee of administrators (CoA), has left with a scathing resignation letter that expresses frustration with inaction over conflicts of interest, superstar culture, poor treatment of domestic players who don’t play IPL, among other issues.”It has been clear for some time now that my thoughts and views are adjacent to, and sometimes at odds with, the direction the Committee is taking as a whole,” Guha wrote.Here is a summary of Guha’s concerns:Conflict of interest of coaches
Guha was unhappy with the system where national coaches are contracted for 10 months a year and then go away for IPL duty. Rahul Dravid, R Sridhar, Sanjay Bangar and Bharat Arun are examples of coaches who are, or have been, part of the support staff of both national teams and IPL franchises.Guha also alleged preferential treatment when it came to awarding these contracts. “The more famous the former player-turned-coach, the more likely was the BCCI to allow him to draft his own contract that left loopholes that he exploited to dodge the conflict of interest issue,” he wrote. “I had first raised this issue to my COA colleagues in an email of 1st February, and have raised it several times since. I had urged that coaches and support staff for national teams be paid an enhanced compensation, but that this conflict of interest be stopped.”Guha went on to mention an NCA camp where at least one national coach was not available because of IPL duties.Conflict of interest of commentators
Guha said Sunil Gavaskar was a BCCI-contracted commentator and the director of PMG, a player management company, which has Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan on its rolls.”Sunil Gavaskar is head of a company which represents Indian cricketers while commenting on those cricketers as part of the BCCI TV commentary panel,” Guha had written to his colleagues on March 19. “This is a clear conflict of interest. Either he must step down/withdraw himself from PMG completely or stop being a commentator for BCCI.”Without naming possibly Sourav Ganguly, Guha wrote: “One famous former cricketer is contracted by media houses to comment on active players while serving as President of his State Association.”Superstar culture in awarding national contracts
Even though the new contracts rewarded Cheteshwar Pujara’s Test performances, Guha also noted: “As you will recall, I had pointed out that awarding MS Dhoni an ‘A’ contract when he had explicitly ruled himself out from all Test matches was indefensible on cricketing grounds, and sends absolutely the wrong message.”Ramachandra Guha questioned awarding a Grade-A contract to MS Dhoni, who retired from Test cricket in 2014•AFP

Superstar captain
In all likelihood, India’s coach Kumble will not get an extension of his contract even though India have won every series bar one – a rain-affected T20 dash against West Indies in USA – under his watch. The reason being given by BCCI officials is that Kumble has lost the trust of the captain Kohli. The news broke a day after Kumble made a presentation for better contracts for all stakeholders.”Kumble was left hanging, and then told the post would be re-advertised afresh,” Guha wrote. “Clearly, the issue has been handled in an extremely insensitive and unprofessional manner by the BCCI CEO and the BCCI office-bearers, with the COA, by its silence and inaction, unfortunately being complicit in this regard.”Guha questioned the timing and intent of the advertisement for the coaching job. “If indeed the captain and the Head Coach were not getting along, why was not this attended to as soon as the Australia series was over in late March?”Surely giving senior players the impression that they may have a veto power over the coach is another example of superstar culture gone berserk?”Poor payments for domestic cricketers
Domestic cricketers end up making about INR 1.4 lakh for a Ranji Trophy match, but they are paid only INR 10,000 upfront. The balance is often delayed.”There are many more Indian cricketers who make their living via the Ranji Trophy than via IPL; besides, for us to have a consistently strong Test team (especially overseas) we need a robust inter-state competition and therefore must seek to compensate domestic players betters,” Guha wrote. “And yet, shockingly, Ranji match fees have remained at a very low level (a mere Rs 30,000 odd for each day of play); moreover, cheques for match fees sent by the BCCI are sometimes not passed on by the state associations to the players.”CoA complicit in Champions Trophy pullout threats
Guha did not spare the CoA for its inaction until the last minute when the BCCI delayed the team selection for the Champions Trophy because they were unhappy with the outcomes of the ICC meetings.The BCCI meetings that decided this course of action were attended by disqualified officials such as N Srinivasan and Niranjan Shah. “All these illegalities were widely reported in the press; yet the COA did not bring them to the notice of the Court, and did not issue clear directions asking the offenders to desist either,” Guha wrote.Not everyone kept in loop
In perhaps the most damning indictment of the CoA, Guha accused the commitee of changing its lawyer without informing him. “There were several crucial decisions made where all the COA members were not brought into the loop,” Guha said. “For instance, a capable, non-political Senior Counsel representing the COA and the BCCI in the Supreme Court was abruptly replaced by another Senior Counsel who is a party politician.”Male cricketer missing
Guha said he believed CoA’s inaction was down to the absence of a senior male cricketer in the committee. He said he had suggested the names of Bishan Bedi and S Venkataraghavan to the committee, but both of them were disqualified by the virtue of their age over 70. He then suggested the name of Javagal Srinath, but this was not acted upon. He ended the letter saying he hoped he would be replaced by a senior male cricketer.