ESPNcricinfo understands that he chose to leave his post following a heated board meeting

Firdose Moonda17-Aug-2020Dr. Jacques Faul has resigned as acting CEO of Cricket South Africa, on the same day that the organisation revealed Chris Nenzani had stepped down as president over the weekend and COO Naasei Appiah had been fired. Faul, who was seconded from the Titans in December 2019, was due to return to his role with the franchise on September 15, but has opted to leave his post four weeks early.While Faul was not available for comment on Monday evening, ESPNcricinfo understands that he chose to leave his post following a heated board meeting in which his position became untenable. An acting CEO is expected to be named imminently, with Appiah, who is fighting his dismissal in court making himself “available” on a radio show minutes after news of Faul’s resignation was made public. Company secretary Welsh Gwaza, who was at the board meeting and was unable to divulge any information, is one of the names being mentioned for the acting role.The search for a permanent CEO can only get underway once the case of suspended CEO Thabang Moroe has been clarified. Moroe was suspended in December and has been on full pay since then while CSA waited for a forensic audit in order to charge Moroe for alleged wrongdoing. Last week, Moroe met with CSA but they were unable to reach a conclusion. He is expected to return to meet CSA this week with several sources anticipating he will be fired. Moroe’s lawyers have expressed an intention to take CSA to court if that is the case. Only then, and if Moroe does not return to his job, can CSA be able to begin the process of appointing someone for the job full-time.In the meantime, CSA will elect a new president on September 15 with the board under increasing pressure to step down. South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), issued a statement on Monday demanding that Nenzani appear before parliament to answer questions over his role in the administrative meltdown that led to Moroe’s suspension. The DA has also called vice-president Beresford Williams and “the rest of the CSA Board to follow suit and tender their resignations as well.”Similar calls have been made in the past by the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) and several sponsors who were concerned about corporate governance at CSA under Moroe. That led to Faul taking over as acting CEO as part of an overhaul at the top level of South African cricket, with influential former players Graeme Smith and Mark Boucher brought in as director of cricket and head coach respectively.Smith had previously declined the role under Moroe but has since confirmed he is willing to continue in his role even if the executive changed. “My commitment is still there to want to go good in South African cricket and to move forward with whoever the leadership is going to be,” Smith said on August 1. There are now worries that Smith may walk away as well, with infighting at board level increasing. Ultimately, it was the inability to see eye-to-eye with the board that ended Faul’s second stint as acting CEO. He had earlier taken over following the suspension of Gerald Majola in March 2012, and had remained in the role until his resignation in July 2012.

The travel and border restrictions will require a new-look schedule for the 2020-21 season

Daniel Brettig10-Sep-2020The tenth edition of the Big Bash League may be played in 10-game blocks in individual centres in a concession to the constraints of Covid-19, and may venture as far afield as Launceston and the Northern Territory as the tournament turns its expansive venues footprint into a series of contingencies to get its gargantuan 61-game schedule completed.Anthony Everard, Cricket Australia’s executive in charge of fan engagement and one of the BBL’s principal architects from its very first edition in 2011, said that while there had been no conception of a global pandemic in planning to take the BBL to as many venues as possible over its first decade, a choice of as many as 15 venues in which to play out the tournament meant that probable obstacles to playing in Victoria, in particular, need not be catastrophic.”It wasn’t that long ago that we basically had the six Test-playing venues around the country available, and it’s been one of the great legacies of the BBL in opening up not just different parts of Australia but creating a footprint of venues around the country from Launceston to the Gold Coast, to Geelong, to Gippsland and everywhere in between,” he said. “That gives us a heap of options we might not have otherwise had.ALSO READ: BBL finale set to be given clear air for broadcasters by shifting New Zealand series“I’m not sure we had a global pandemic in mind when we made those decisions, but it certainly is going to be very helpful when it comes to needing to move the BBL festival from market to market, particularly when you factor in that you’ve got international cricket being played in parallel also. That’s something we’re spending an enormous amount of time trying to come up with a schedule that leverages that.”One concept on the drawing board is for a travelling circus style in which all clubs, players and broadcasters would stop over in a venue for around two weeks, play over 10 days at one or two grounds and then jet off to the next available hub.”We want to try and retain as many of the successful ingredients of the BBL as possible, which is that appointment viewing night after night, school holidays, but equally we need to be responsive to our environment,” Everard said. “I don’t reckon there’s a sports league in the country that would criss-cross state borders as rapidly as the BBL over summer, a different game in a different city every night, and that’s just not going to be realistic this year.”We’ve been watching, listening and learning from how the other sports have gone about it. There is another model on the table whereby we look at adopting a travelling roadshow of BBL festivals that come to your town, 10 nights only, 160 of the best T20 players from around Australia and the world, and then the show leaves town, moving on to the next market. So we’re going to be very reliant on the support of state governments to the extent we can move the BBL around the country. We’re just going to have to be really adaptable as things unfold.”Everard’s role also takes in the staging of international cricket around the country, with this season seeing a distinct move away from a central CA events team travelling to each venue, with far more reliance placed upon the staff of each state association to put on events at and around the scheduled fixtures.”Off the field it certainly builds resilience and it has galvanised Australian cricket in a way I haven’t seen in my time,” Everard said. “On the field, if I bring it back to the BBL, there’s a lot of commentary and speculation around who will and won’t play in the BBL, but one of the best features of the BBL is the surprise and delight element, you never quite know who is going to step up.”Whether that be Jofra Archer a few years ago at the Hurricanes, or in more recent times Josh Philippe and Riley Meredith are in the Australian squad now off the back of their BBL performances. I’m really excited about who is going to seize the opportunity to have their breakout year in the BBL.”

UK-based company apparently tracks odds of at least 600 independent bookmakers to detect anomalies in betting patterns

PTI17-Sep-2020The BCCI has roped in UK-based company Sportradar to detect betting irregularities during IPL 2020.”As part of the agreement, all matches in IPL 2020 will be monitored by Sportradar’s Integrity Services to detect betting irregularities,” a statement released by the company on Thursday said. “Sportradar will also provide a risk assessment to the BCCI, driven by intelligence and data-driven insights. Furthermore the BCCI will be able to call upon Sportradar’s Intelligence and Investigation Services during the term of the partnership, if required.”An IPL source, who confirmed the development to PTI, said: “Sportradar has very recently red flagged at least half a dozen games in the Goa football league that came under a fixing cloud. They have also worked with FIFA, UEFA and various leagues across the globe.”The BCCI Anti-Corruption Unit has, in recent times, tracked unusual betting patterns during state T20 leagues, including the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), as a major betting company stopped taking bets after unusual bets were being placed.According to Sportradar, its Fraud Detection System (FDS) “is a unique service that identifies betting-related manipulation in sport. This is possible due to the FDS’s sophisticated algorithms and constantly maintained database of odds, which are leveraged for the purpose of detecting match-fixing.”It is believed that the company tracks the odds and movements of at least 600 independent bookmakers to detect anomalies in betting patterns. It processes around 5 million data sets per day.How Sportradar’s fraud detection works
As part of Sportradar’s fraud detection, a mathematical algorithm is used to study betting patterns. It is a “sophisticated model”, which monitors live betting during an event.”There are 25 live alerts, which instantly identify irregular betting in the marketplace,” The Sportradar website says. “The mathematical model uses calculated odds, which runs alongside bookmakers’ odds, in order to highlight if the odds during a specific minute or time is out of line, and therefore, potentially suspicious.”There are also “44 detailed pre-match alerts, which are based on odds movements observed at betting operators”.”An alert is generated in FDS when odds at a bookmaker changes greater than pre-defined parameters.”

David Miller, Dawid Malan and Manvinder Bisla are the other three players to have withdrawn

Andrew Fidel Fernando26-Oct-2020Five foreign players, including Andre Russell, Faf du Plessis and David Miller have withdrawn from the Lanka Premier League (LPL) less than a week after they were drafted into franchise teams.Miller, du Plessis and Dawid Malan have become unavailable because of the limited-overs series between South Africa and England, set to begin on November 27. Russell, meanwhile, has pulled out due to injury, according to Sri Lanka Cricket. Manvinder Bisla, the fifth player to exit the tournament, is not believed to have provided a reason though. The LPL is scheduled to start on November 21 and run until December 13.”The franchises that had these players will have to negotiate with other players to take their place,” LPL director Ravin Wickramaratne told ESPNcricinfo. Russell, Miller, du Plessis and Malan had all been selected as marquee players, which means the franchises are not bound by the constraints of the draft payment structure when they seek new players.Although it was suspected that the players from South Africa and England would withdraw once England’s tour of South Africa was confirmed, Russell’s exit is more of a surprise. He has not played for the Kolkata Knight Riders since the game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad on October 18 owing to a knee injury but hasn’t yet pulled out of the IPL entirely either. No update has been given on his further involvement in the ongoing tournament, although Wickramaratne cited injury as the cause of his withdrawal from the LPL.While these withdrawals are a significant blow to the tournament, they are not a death knell just yet. The hardest hit franchise is the Colombo Kings, who had all three of Russell, du Plessis and Bisla on their roster. The Jaffna Stallions had Malan.With less than four weeks to go until the scheduled start of the LPL, there are still substantial logistical hurdles to surmount before the tournament can get off the ground. A major sticking point remains the quarantine – Sri Lanka’s health ministry has insisted it must be 14 days of confinement in a hotel room, which some players have expressed dissatisfaction with.However, SLC remains optimistic that the tournament will go ahead.

Mitchell Starc has not quite found his radar in the series so far and has fallen away in ODI performance since last year’s World Cup

Daniel Brettig01-Dec-2020Though India are the team with a host of bowling problems right now, Australia are not without their own concerns. Chief among these is Mitchell Starc, who has taken 1 for 147 from 18 overs across the opening two ODI games as India’s batsmen found him somewhat easier to line up than his pace counterparts Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins.With Cummins being rested from the remainder of the white-ball games, Starc’s role may need to change according to the tactical requirements of the captain Aaron Finch, but for the most part the captain is understanding of a fast bowler who has been among the world’s pre-eminent white ball merchants for most of the past decade.This is not to say Starc has not fallen away in ODI performance in a similar manner to India’s new ball ace Jasprit Bumrah in the 18 months since last year’s World Cup, because he has. In that period since the Cup, Starc has claimed just 12 wickets at 54.25 in 11 matches, while costing 6.28 runs an over across series against India, South Africa, New Zealand and England.”I think he’s going okay. He hasn’t been at his very best,” Finch said. “You have to understand his standards are a lot higher than what you expect from most other people because of how dominant he’s been over the last 8-9 years, especially in the white-ball formats. He’s been super.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“So he’d love to be swinging the ball and getting it right early on but the reality is when you’re defending big totals and you’re playing against good players, they are coming hard at you. So, there’ll be conversations had today about what we can do slightly different. Whether it’s a tactical thing or when we’re using him through the innings. We’ll chat about that today. Definitely no panic stations here from my point of view.”The flipside, however, is Starc’s evolution as a Test bowler, for he has over a similar timeframe enjoyed the most fruitful passage of his long-form career. In eight Tests since late January 2019, he has scooped no fewer than 45 wickets at 18.42, with a stunning strike rate of 34.8 balls per wicket. Finch acknowledged that it was easier for Cummins and Hazlewood to flip from the IPL to white-ball duty at home, whereas Starc prepared by loading up on overs in the Sheffield Shield for New South Wales ahead of the Test schedule.”At times it can be easier to go from T20 back to 50-over cricket just because you’ve almost got the intent and then you can just rein it in a little bit more. He’s still bowled really well in the Shield in the first couple of rounds,” Finch said.”From my point of view, and chatting to other guys about his technique, and little things that his fellow bowlers and the fast bowling cartel really monitor, they seem to think he’s going really well. So it’s just a matter of time. There’s nowhere to hide in ODI cricket when you’re playing on some really flat wickets with quality opposition.”More broadly, Finch reckoned Australia’s bowling and fielding had improved from game one to game two, noting the outstanding catches from Steven Smith ad Moises Henriques. He was equally happy with Henriques’ canny overs of medium pace through the middle of the Indian innings on Sunday night.”Our fielding definitely wasn’t up to scratch in the first game,” he said. “A few chances went down. In the second game, I thought it was a lot better. I thought our energy and our intent was great. Moises and Smudge took a couple of absolute hangers that turned the game really. Virat [Kohli] goes on and gets 130-140-150 or Shreyas [Iyer] goes on and gets a big score and they’re probably cantering towards 390. So, I think the way that we’ve bowled through the middle overs has been very impressive.”India have come ultra-hard at the start. Obviously, like you’d expect chasing big totals and probably we’ve gone a little bit defensive really early. That happens. The way that [Adam] Zampa has bowled has been outstanding. Moises bowled seven overs the other night. They were brilliant overs to get out of him through that middle period. It was a really simple game plan and we adapted really well to that wicket as well. So, yeah all in all they’ve been pretty good performances.”As for the replacement of David Warner, Finch said he would weigh up the balance between promoting a current member of the side like Marnus Labuschagne and also leaving the middle order untouched, after it functioned so well given a strong platform in each of the opening two games.ALSO READ: Labuschagne puts hand up to open in Warner’s absence“The middle order’s been functioning really well the last little while, I think it played well in England. And it’s done a really good job in this series as well,” Finch said. “There’s a kind of not wanting to do that. Marnus is a class player. If we go that way great. Alex Carey the role of him and Maxy [Glenn Maxwell] at six and seven has been really crucial and provides a bit more freedom for that middle order to go about their business and be ultra-aggressive as well. They’re a few reasons why I wouldn’t like to do it but there’s still a lot of good players there we can choose to do that role.”Left-hand, right-hand combinations are among the issues that Finch is pondering. “It definitely has its advantages at times,” he said. “With Davey and I in particular we’re so different styles of play. Whether LH-RH it doesn’t make too much of a difference. As an example, if you use [Justin] Langer and [Matthew] Hayden as an opening combination.”They played so differently that you had to bowl totally different to each of them anyway, regardless of whether they’re both left-handed, both right or left-right. I think that’s what complements opening partnerships than just that left-right combo.”

His unbeaten 104-run sixth-wicket stand with Ravindra Jadeja gives India the advantage after two days

Andrew McGlashan26-Dec-2020A century of the highest calibre by Ajinkya Rahane put India in control of the second Test after it appeared Australia would bowl themselves back into contention. Instead, with the help of a string of middle-order allies, chiefly the recalled Ravindra Jadeja in an unbroken stand of 104, Rahane lifted his team to an advantage of 82.Australia started the day well – Pat Cummins producing a magnificent eight-over spell that removed both overnight batsmen, Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara, and included barely a delivery off line – but tailed off during the final session which included shipping 45 runs in 11.3 overs of the second new ball. Rain brought a slightly early finish, what ended up being the final delivery of the day bringing Rahane his third life when he fended a short ball to point against an increasingly frustrated Mitchell Starc but the chance burst out of Travis Head’s hands as he hit the turf.Ajinkya Rahane takes a moment after a hard-fought century•Getty Images

They had two other opportunities to remove Rahane – one a miss and the other a drop. On 57, he edged Starc between Tim Paine and the lone slip Steven Smith moments after the off-side field had been strengthened at the expense of the cordon. Then, on 73, in the first over with the second new ball a chance went to hand, Rahane jabbing at a full, wide delivery from Starc, but Smith was late to react above his head at second slip. By the end of the day, Australia were ragged and in need of regrouping.Rahane needed treatment for what appeared a back problem twice during the afternoon session (and later for blows on the hand and neck) but it did not disrupt his almost zen-like progression at the crease. His 12th Test century, and second at the MCG, came up from 195 balls with a fierce square cut against Cummins, a hallmark of an innings where his strokeplay flourished when he wanted it to. Rarely did he miss the chance to score amid over after over of keeping out the good balls, the softness of his hands ensuring when the edge was found it usually went to ground. His most prolific scoring area with 20 runs was third man.India managed just 54 runs in the first session and Australia will have come away feeling they could have had more than two wickets. Cummins was magnificent – he beat Pujara with the first delivery of the day, close to enough for Paine to burn a review – and Josh Hazlewood could have had Gill in the second over when Paine was unable to hold an inside edge diving to his left.Cummins eventually lured Gill into an expansive drive to end a promising maiden Test innings and in his next over claimed the huge prize of Pujara, although this one owed everything to Australia’s captain as he flung himself in front of first slip to hold a low chance that would not have carried. That was, however, to prove the exception in the fielding effort. At the time, Australia’s 195 was looking considerable and Cummins was rested with a spell that read 8-4-12-2.India, with Rahane absorbing a lot of pressure, did very well to take the sting out of the session, whittling the deficit down well inside three figures before Nathan Lyon, who found considerable turn on occasions to suggest a fourth-innings run chase will be a demanding prospect, removed Hanuma Vihari with a gloved sweep.Up to this point, Australia had controlled the run rate so despite a small first-innings total they always had a little bit of breathing space. That changed with the arrival of Rishabh Pant who brought impetus and quickly skipped to 24 at a run-a-ball with some measured, selective strokeplay. It appeared to help free up Rahane, too, although that was also the reward for his hours of earlier hard work.Pant was cut off by Starc, bringing up his 250th Test wicket, when he edged a cut with India still behind and Australia hopeful of something close to parity, but that door was slammed shut. Jadeja, effectively brought in as Virat Kohli’s replacement, played a central role with an innings of maturity and patience. By the close, when he had faced 104 deliveries, he had struck just one boundary – a neat back-foot punch off Cameron Green. He showed a defence to match Rahane’s and resisted trying to take on Lyon.As the wind suddenly swirled around the MCG, Starc got a delivery to climb at Rahane but it was the India captain’s day. He was getting treatment from the physio when, in what was perfect timing for India, the rain arrived and the umpires called play off. Few deserved the comfort of the dressing room more than Rahane. A chance to take stock and resume tomorrow. However, he may already have defined this game.

The offspinner took four wickets as West Indies were bundled out for 148

Hemant Brar22-Jan-2021Mehidy Hasan registered his best bowling figures as Bangladesh beat a depleted West Indies side by seven wickets in the second ODI in Mirpur to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.Mehidy bagged 4 for 25, and Mustafizur Rahman and Shakib Al Hasan chipped in with two wickets each as West Indies’ batting collapsed for the second successive game. At one stage, they were tottering at 71 for 7 but Rovman Powell, surprisingly batting at No. 8 even in this inexperienced line-up, resisted with the tail and struck a 66-ball 41. He was the last man out as West Indies were bowled out for 148 in 43.4 overs.Bangladesh faced little trouble during their chase, especially after Liton Das gave them a breezy start. Tamim Iqbal, meanwhile, looked happy to play the anchor’s role, scoring 50 off 76 balls, as the hosts chased down the target in 33.2 overs. They now have 20 points from two World Cup Super League games, while West Indies are yet to open their account.In the morning, Jason Mohammed opted to bat on a used pitch. After being bundled out for 122 in the first ODI, West Indies decided to strengthen their batting by bringing in debutant Kjorn Ottley, the left-hand opener, in place of the fast bowler Chemar Holder, but the gulf between the two sides was evident right from the start.Sunil Ambris fell in the fifth over when Mustafizur squared him up with the one that moved away off the seam. The batsman got an outside edge towards backward point where Mehidy took a sharp catch. Ottley and Joshua Da Silva looked solid for a while but failed to rotate the strike; there were 47 dots in the first ten overs.Once spin was introduced, it was the same story as the first ODI as 36 for 1 became 41 for 5 in the space of 28 balls. Ottley, who had moved to 24, tried to go over extra cover against Mehidy but failed to clear Tamim Iqbal. Three balls later, Mehidy had his second wicket when Da Silva was bowled playing for the turn against a straighter one.In the next over, Andre McCarthy tried to slog-sweep Shakib but, just like the first ODI, failed to pick the arm ball and was bowled. West Indies had added only two more to their tally when Kyle Mayers, who had scored an impressive 40 in the last outing, was run out for zero while responding to Mohammed’s call for a quick single.Mohammed and Nkrumah Bonner gave some semblance of stability during their 26-run stand for the sixth wicket before Shakib struck with yet another arm ball, this time sending back Mohammed. At the other end, Bonner chopped Hasan Mahmud onto his stumps and it looked like West Indies might be all out under 100.Powell then struck a couple of lusty blow and took the side past the three-figure mark during a 32-run stand with Alzarri Joseph for the ninth wicket. On the eve of the match, Joseph had expressed his desire to develop into an allrounder and he took a small, positive step in that direction today but Mustafizur’s cutters proved too good for him and he ended up edging one to gully.Powell and Akeal Hosein added 28 for the tenth wicket before Mehidy returned to dismiss Powell and wrap up the innings.Bangladesh started their chase positively even though Joseph found some swing with the new ball and kept Iqbal in check. But Das played some sublime drives through the off side, against both Joseph and Mayers, to ensure the score kept moving at a decent rate.Das’ innings was cut short on 22 when Hosein trapped him lbw with a quicker one. Hosein had picked up 3 for 26 in the first ODI and he impressed once again with his clever changes of pace. He found turn as well but both Iqbal and Najmul Hossain Shanto played him calmly and took the side past 50. Their 47-run stand was broken when Shanto hit Mohammed straight to short midwicket.Iqbal, though, kept dealing in ones and twos – with an occasional boundary in between – at the other end and brought up his 48th ODI half-century. He fell immediately after reaching the milestone but Shakib, alongside Mushfiqur Rahim, knocked off the remaining 40 runs without further hiccups.

Shakib had hurt his left thigh during the first Test, which Bangladesh lost by three wickets

Mohammad Isam08-Feb-2021Shakib Al Hasan has been ruled out of the second Test against West Indies, beginning in Dhaka on February 11, because of the left-thigh injury that kept him away from large chunks of the action during the first Test in Chattogram. *Bangladesh have named Soumya Sarkar as his replacement.According to a BCB statement, the board’s medical team will continue to treat Shakib, who will, however, leave the team’s bio-security bubble for the time being. “After careful consideration it has been confirmed that he will not be available for the second Test,” it read.Related

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Shakib picked up the injury during the second day’s play in Chattogram, when he attempted to stop a ball off his own bowling with his foot. He continued to bowl for a while longer, but neither batted nor bowled after leaving the field later that afternoon. Bangladesh, who had a 171-run lead after the first-innings exchanges, eventually lost the Test by three wickets with debutant Kyle Mayers hitting a stunning 210* to take West Indies to victory. Shakib had scored 68 in nearly four hours’ batting in the first innings.Shakib had earlier suffered a groin niggle during the third ODI against West Indies, on January 25 in Chattogram. He had left the field on that occasion too, and joined the national team’s training a few days before the first Test, which began on February 3.Despite the injuries, Shakib’s return to international cricket following the one-year ICC ban has been a successful one. He was the Player of the Series in the ODIs, where he returned 4 for 8 in the first game and hit 43* and 51 in the next two games as Bangladesh won 3-0.No replacement has yet been announced by the Bangladesh selectors, who had earlier named an 18-man Test squad for the two matches.*This copy was updated on February 9 when the BCB announced Shakib Al Hasan’s replacement

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Deivarayan Muthu and Saurabh Somani18-Feb-2021