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“I think the idea of paying a Test fee of US $10,000 is not even window dressing,” he said

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Aug-2024The outgoing Cricket West Indies (CWI) CEO Johnny Grave reckons the idea of paying players a fee of US $10,000 for a Test match is “not even window dressing,” suggesting that the proposed US $15 million Test fund will not “make any difference to anything.”Recent reports suggested that the ICC could propose a dedicated fund from next year to reinforce Test cricket in nations outside of the Big 3, Australia, India and England. The initiative which is driven by Cricket Australia (CA) chair Mike Baird, has the support of the BCCI and the ECB, and is aimed at creating a central fund by which there will be a minimum standard match fee for players across the board, reported to be around US $10,000.Grave, who is stepping down as CWI CEO in October 2024, appreciated the initiative but didn’t feel that it is going to be the “saviour of Test cricket.””Cricket as a game needs to think much more as a league and needs to understand everyone’s business models a bit better,” Grave said on talkSPORT’s podcast. “I think there are some positive noises from the Big 3, I think the Test fund was a good initiative. I don’t know if US $15 million a year will make any difference to anything.Related

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“I think the idea of paying a Test fee of US $10,000 is not even window dressing. We pay our players US $10,000. So, I sort of smiled when I saw that come out in the press. I thought, ‘how is it going to change cricket and how’s that going to be saviour of Test cricket when our players are already getting paid that?’ It’s not going to make any difference to us.Grave reckoned that if the ICC wanted to save Test cricket in the West Indies, it needed to organise more three-match series, have dedicated Test windows and more ‘A’ team programmes.While he agreed that the Test fund was a “significant amount of money” for CWI, it was like a “rounding error” for some other sides.”What will make a difference, in my opinion, to improve West Indies Test cricket is by playing more three-match series rather than two-match series, by having dedicated Test windows where you’re not competing against franchise opportunities, or actually supporting our ‘A’ team programmes. We’ve really struggled to get ‘A’ team tours,” Grave said.”But actually the best stepping stone for a player to go from…I don’t think any player that I’ve ever met in my 25 years of working in the game has said that there’s very little difference between playing county championship and Test match cricket. It’s completely different and the ‘A’ team environment does help in terms of, even if there’s a difference in standards, at least you’re touring, you’re away from home, playing in foreign conditions. So, when you next go to England, some of the things you’re facing as a human rather than as a cricketer you’re a bit more accustomed to.”And little things like that, in my opinion, will make more of a difference to West Indies cricket than US $15 million divided by 12 Test match teams. That’s still significant money to Cricket West Indies but it’s a rounding error for lots of others.”‘The fact that we hosted the 2024 [T20] World Cup was a change in mindset and philosophy’•ICC via Getty Images

Grave ‘welcomes the slight change in mindset’ of the Big 3

He, however, said that the proposed Test fund reflects a change in the mindset of the Big 3, with a desire for stronger opposition beyond just each other. West Indies and USA co-hosting the T20 World Cup 2024, and South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia co-hosting the 2027 ODI World Cup are some examples of the “change in mindset” from the Big 3, according to Grave.”I welcome the debate and I’m not saying that I or we at West Indies cricket have all the answers, but we welcome the debate, we welcome the slight change in mindset which is the Big 3 can’t just play against themselves, they’ve got to have a stronger opposition,” he said. “We’ve got to get jeopardy back in, we’ve got to get competitive balance. To a certain extent, some of that has changed.”The fact that we hosted the 2024 [T20] World Cup was a change in mindset and philosophy because the previous eight years, all those high-revenue men’s events were exclusively held in England, Australia and India. So the fact that we’ve hosted with US, that South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia will co-host one, New Zealand will co-host with Australia, and Ireland with England. That is a change in mindset that we welcome.”So hopefully we continue on that path of thinking as a team, thinking like we’re a game of cricket and we rely on and need each other and maybe a little bit less self-interest and a bit more love and care for the long-term future of the game would help.”

Australia will also host Pakistan for white-ball cricket in November while schedule has also been drawn up to boost the BBL

Alex Malcolm26-Mar-2024Perth Stadium has dethroned the Gabba as Australia’s preferred first Test venue with the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy to begin in Perth on November 22 this year before the series moves to Adelaide for the day-night Test, Brisbane, Melbourne for Boxing Day and Sydney for the New Year’s Test.Cricket Australia unveiled their international schedule for next summer with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as the summer’s showpiece event. After Perth, the second Test will be a day-night pink-ball encounter played at Adelaide Oval from December 6-10. The third Test will be in Brisbane from December 14-18. The fourth Test will be at the MCG in the traditional Boxing Day slot on December 26 and the fifth Test will be at the SCG starting January 3.Australia has an unblemished record at Perth’s newest venue having won four out of four Tests there including the first one against India in December 2018, although India went on to claim the series. Perth did not host a Test between Australia and India in the 2020-21 series, which India also won when the final Test was held in Brisbane.Related

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Peter Roach, CA’s head of scheduling, said the decision to award Perth the first Test over Brisbane was due to a range of factors with the friendly broadcast timezone for both Australian east coast audiences and India viewers being the final tipping point.”The clear advice from our national team is that there is a preference to start series strongly at venues where they’re really comfortable and Perth and Brisbane they believe are somewhat comparable in terms of the advantage they get out of that,” Roach said. “They’re the hardest and bounciest pitches in Australia. They also believe that playing day-night Tests in Adelaide is a significant advantage and the stats there are pretty conclusive too.”So they will look at this schedule and some will say Gabba first would have been better than Perth. Others will say Perth then Gabba. I think that gap has really closed in recent times and the way our players think about that, and having Adelaide as the day-night Test, they’ll be really buoyed about that again. So we’re really comfortable that this gives us a great opportunity to compete with a really strong Indian team.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Outgoing WA Cricket CEO Christina Matthews is hopeful of a big crowd in Perth after disappointing attendances in recent years, although her preference was to host the pre-Christmas Test.”I would be looking at crowds of 30-35,000 on day one [for India],” Matthews told ESPNcricinfo as part of an interview to be published later this week. “Getting a space in the calendar is really important. Our preference is the last Test before Christmas. But if it’s the first Test, as we’ve had [the past two years], if we know that’s when it’s going to be then it makes it easier for everybody to plan. If we can know if it’s the first Test of every summer or the third Test every summer, that’s the important thing.”While Australia hope to maximise their advantage by starting with Perth and Adelaide, a nine-day gap has been scheduled between the first two Tests. It is understood the BCCI are keen to use that period for India’s players to get some specific pink-ball practice and options are being explored as to whether some form of match practice will be scheduled. A Prime Minister’s XI match in Canberra is on the cards but whether it is before or after the first Test remains to be seen.

BBL window, but availability issues to remain

Test players look likely to miss the BBL finals due to a tour of Sri Lanka•Getty Images and Cricket Australia

The decision to start with Perth and then the day-night Test also means there is a clear window for the BBL to begin after December 10, as those matches are played at night while the Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney Tests are played during the day. CA had to halt the BBL for five days early in the season last summer while the Perth Test between Australia and Pakistan was played in late December. Then the Adelaide Test against West Indies was a day game in mid-January before the day-night Test was held in Brisbane after the BBL had been completed.The BBL will likely start during the three-day break between the Adelaide and Brisbane Tests and will run through until Australia Day on January 26, with Australia’s Test players set to be available for a few weeks after the Sydney Test is completed on January 7.However, Australia have a two-Test tour of Sri Lanka scheduled for late January and early February which could mean some players are withdrawn from the BBL finals as there is a preference for a seven to 10-day build-up for that series to acclimatise to conditions. The dates for the Sri Lanka tour are yet to be announced. Australia’s ODI players will likely head straight to the Champions Trophy after the Sri Lanka tour, with the tournament likely to start on February 19.

Pakistan return for white-ball cricket

Australia will host Pakistan in three ODIs and three T20Is in early November before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy begins. The ODIs will be part of both teams’ preparation for the Champions Trophy and is likely to be Australia’s last official ODI series before that tournament begins in Pakistan.The ODI series will start at the MCG on Monday, November 4, the night before the Melbourne Cup public holiday in Victoria. The series will then move to Adelaide on November 8 and finish in Perth on November 10.The T20I series will run close to the Test series against India and will likely mean that none of Australia’s Test players will feature. There is set to be significant turnover in Australia’s T20I side by the time the November series starts following the T20 World Cup in June and Australia will likely use the series to develop younger T20I specialists for future World Cups.The final match of the series takes place in Hobart on November 18 with the first Test against India starting in Perth just four days later.There is no men’s international match in Canberra next summer although there will be a women’s T20I during the multiformat Ashes in the lead-up to a historic day-night four-day Test at the MCG between Australia and England starting on January 30, which will celebrate the 90-year anniversary of women’s Test cricket.Australia Men fixtures for 2024-25 seasonODI Series vs Pakistan
4 November: MCG, Melbourne (D/N)
8 November: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (D/N)
10 November: Perth Stadium, Perth (D/N)T20I Series vs Pakistan
14 November: The Gabba, Brisbane (N)
16 November: SCG, Sydney (N)
18 November: Bellerive Oval, Hobart (N)Test Series vs India
22-26 November: Perth Stadium, Perth
6-10 December: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (D/N)
14-18 December: The Gabba, Brisbane
26-30 December: MCG, Melbourne
3-7 January: SCG, Sydney

Sri Lanka coach Graham Ford said that Lasith Malinga’s contribution in “certain scenarios” could still be useful in the Champions Trophy even if he could not bowl ten full overs

Andrew Fidel Fernando02-May-2017Early signs suggest Lasith Malinga will be fit enough to bowl ten overs per match by the time the Champions Trophy rolls around, according to Sri Lanka’s head coach Graham Ford, though he also hinted there was a possibility Malinga could play even if not quite fully fit.Effectively, the feeling in the Sri Lanka camp seems to be this: they need Malinga. They need him bad.Malinga’s returns in the 2017 IPL so far – a tournament he has historically dominated – have been mixed. He has claimed wickets in most matches, but has also been expensive at times, most notably against Kings XI Punjab, against whom he conceded 58 runs. But he does seem to be getting through his four overs comfortably, and both SLC and Sri Lanka’s coaching staff are adamant that his workload is gradually being increased at training.Fortuitously, Malinga’s coach at Mumbai Indians happens to be Mahela Jayawardene, who, having captained Malinga, will understand at what rate the bowler’s fitness will have to progress if he is to be ready for the Champions Trophy.Malinga has not played an ODI since November 2015, thanks to various leg injuries, but he had made a return to international T20s against Australia in February, following a year-long layoff.”I’m really hoping that he’s going to be 100% fit,” Ford said of Malinga. “Before he left for the IPL, some of the work that he was putting in gave me great confidence. I’m not at all looking at the possibility that he might be half-fit. All the reports I’ve had is that he’s going really well. I’ve spoken to Mahela a couple of times, and when Mumbai left him out for one game I quickly got hold of Mahela wondering if there was something wrong. He said there’s nothing wrong with him, but that the programme is so hectic that they have plans to win the competition and they need him to go the whole way through. Rest time is important. “”All the indications are that he’s going to be able to give us something special. What I saw of his attitude is that he’s missed international cricket and missed doing wonderful things for Sri Lankan cricket. As time runs out on his career, he’s very determined to make an impact on this Champions Trophy.”Sri Lanka have sorely missed Malinga’s bowling in their limited-overs cricket, having bombed at last year’s World T20 without him, and having been mostly miserable in ODIs in the past year. They had won a tri-series in Zimbabwe against two sides who did not qualify for the Champions Trophy, but were winless in ODIs on tours of England and South Africa. It is hoped Malinga’s return can help give the attack a little more menace.Malinga returned to international cricket during the T20I series against Australia in February•Associated Press

“I think he’s very determined to really make an impact,” Ford said. “Even if he’s not giving us the full ten overs, he is a class act in setting that tone up front and finishing the innings off. If we can have the privilege of using him in those scenarios, that’s going to stand us in good stead.”One of Sri Lanka’s recent shortcomings in the ODI format has been their death bowling, and Ford reflected that Sri Lanka have largely been weak in this area because they had not managed to groom a death bowler to take over from the waning seniors.”For a long, long time we relied on the genius of Malinga at the death, and we also had Nuwan Kulasekara, who was a really good partner,” Ford said. “Those two looked after the death on many an occasion. I’ve had the privilege of sitting in the dressing room knowing that even though the opposition might be ahead of the rate, we’ve got these two really good death bowlers to finish off. That was always a comforting feeling.”Unfortunately, no young guys really got the experience of doing that job. Suddenly we’ve got some young guys doing that job, and it’s not an easy job. Experience is important in being able to handle the pressure, and of course do a lot of hard work on your skills so that you can handle the pressure easier. I think maybe, in a way, because those guys knew they were never going to be asked to do it because we had the two experts doing it, they didn’t have to work very hard on those skills. It’s been a new experience for some of them. They’re getting a heck of a lot better. In modern-day cricket you probably need three or four that can execute those skills at the end.”Most of the Champions Trophy squad begin their training in Colombo over the next few days, before captain Angelo Mathew joins them on May 10 – when they head to a training camp in Pallekele. Malinga will be allowed to stay on at the IPL and work on his fitness remotely – SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala stating that him being involved in competitive matches was better for Malinga than joining the rest of the team at the camp.Sri Lanka have also hired fast Allan Donald as a fast bowling consultant for the Champions Trophy. Donald has arrived on the island and will begin his work with the team over the next few days.

All four were part of the 2016 T20 World Cup-winning squad

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jan-2024West Indies’ Anisa Mohammed, Shakera Selman, Kycia Knight and Kyshona Knight have announced their international retirement. All four were part of the 2016 T20 World Cup-winning squad.Offspinner Mohammed, who made her ODI debut as a 15-year-old in 2003, retires as the leading wicket-taker for West Indies in both ODIs and T20Is. She took 180 wickets in 141 ODIs and 125 wickets in 117 T20Is. She was the first cricketer, male or female, to take 100 T20I wickets, and also the first West Indies woman to take a T20I hat-trick.Mohammed was part of five ODI World Cups and seven T20 World Cups. Her last international outing was in March 2022, the ODI World Cup semi-final against Australia.”The last 20 years have been truly amazing, I have enjoyed every single minute of it,” Mohammed said. “The highs and the lows. I believe the time has come for me to step away from the game and allow the young players to live their dreams as I have lived mine. I was privileged enough to step onto the field wearing my maroon 258 times in my career.”Medium-pacer Selman’s international career started in 2008, with an ODI against Ireland in Dublin. She has 82 wickets in 100 ODIs and 51 wickets in 96 T20Is. She last played for West Indies in February 2023 at the T20 World Cup in South Africa.”I am proud of playing with and against legends, and lucky to have dismissed a few,” Selman said. “My aim was always to inspire and assist others in their dreams. As I transition to the next phase of my career, I look forward to continuing to share my passion for the game in new ways.”Twins Kycia and Kyshona, who will turn 32 next month, made their West Indies debuts in 2011 and 2013 respectively. Wicketkeeper-batter Kycia has made 1327 runs in 87 ODIs and 801 runs in 70 T20Is. Middle-order batter Kyshona has 851 runs in 51 ODIs and 546 runs in 55 T20Is. They both last played for West Indies in December 2022, in a T20I against England in Bridgetown.The Knights said: “As this marks the end of an enjoyable and amazing journey, we would like to take this time to thank our family, friends, team-mates and supporters for the continued love and support throughout the years. None of this would have been possible without the support and love from you guys and for that we are forever grateful.​ Lastly, thank you to CWI for the opportunities granted and memories that will be forever cherished.”

Sam Northeast’s marathon run without dismissal comes to an end as Derbyshire edge opening day

ECB Reporters Network12-Apr-2024A career-best bowling performance from Alex Thomson led the way for Derbyshire on the first day of the Vitality County Championship match against Glamorgan in Cardiff. Glamorgan managed 237 all out as Thomson claimed seven wickets to justify Derbyshire’s decision to put Glamorgan into bat on a sunny day.Glamorgan’s top scorer was Kiran Carlson who made 74 but regular wickets throughout the day meant that the highest partnership that the home side managed was 60.Derbyshire faced 16 overs before the close to finish on 46 for 1 with Luis Reece the one man to go. It will be Derbyshire who are the happier of the two sides but there is enough in this pitch to suggest that this could be a tight contest.Having been put into bat by Derbyshire, Glamorgan looked reasonably settled in the opening overs. That changed when New Zealand international Blair Tickner entered the attack. He got appreciable movement through the air and off the seam and he had Billy Root caught behind for 23 with his fourth delivery.That brought Sam Northeast to the crease. As a man who had scored 521 runs in first class cricket since his last dismissal, and fresh from his record-breaking 355 not out at Lord’s last week, he was the wicket Derbyshire would have most prized. It was Tickner who delivered once again, with a ball that seamed back into Northeast and crashed into his stumps when he was on just 11.A 60-run partnership between Kiran Carlson and Zain-ul-Hassan brought Glamorgan back into the game post the lunch interval. Zain had played some lovely drives straight down the ground on his way to 35 and was looking increasingly comfortable against the aging Kookaburra ball, but a nicely flighted delivery from Thomson saw him advance down the pitch past the ball and he was well stumped by Brooke Guest.Carlson was the fourth man to go, squared up by a ball from Thomson that trapped him lbw for his second score in the seventies in as many innings this season.As the Glamorgan innings progressed spin became more of a threat with Thomson bowling with real intelligence to both keep things tight and claim wickets. He induced a flashy drive from Colin Ingram that was caught in the covers and had Chris Cooke brilliantly taken at leg slip by David Lloyd who was captaining Derbyshire against his former county.Thomson continued to cause issues for the Glamorgan batting line-up, dismissing the hard-hitting Dan Douthwaite for 23 when he claimed a low catch off his own bowling. He then made it past the attempted sweep shot of James Harris to bowl him for just 4.It was Thomson who finished off the Glamorgan innings when Mason Crane missed an attempted hoick over long-on and was bowled for 13. Thomson bowled unchanged for 25 overs from the River Taff End with his bowling contributing to a Glamorgan collapse of five wickets for 36 runs.Thomson’s 7 for 65 goes past his previous career best of 6 for 138 which he secured against Hampshire for Cardiff MCCU in 2016. It was also the best return for a Derbyshire spinner since Geoff Miller’s 8 for 70 against Leicestershire in 1982.

“It leaves us with no room for error, we have to probably win every game from here on in”

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Oct-2023Jos Buttler admitted that England had “potentially” made a mistake when choosing to bowl first on the way to a 229-run thrashing by South Africa at the Wankhede, before conceding his team will likely need to “win every game from here on in” to keep their World Cup defence alive.Asked to bat first in Mumbai, South Africa piled up 399 for 7 during their 50 overs despite losing a wicket to the second ball of the innings, with Heinrich Klaasen’s 61-ball hundred building on top-order half-centuries from Reeza Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen. Marco Jansen also struck 75 off 42 balls as he and Klaasen added 151 in 12.4 overs for the sixth wicket.By that stage, England’s players were visibly wilting in the heat. The bowlers made regular trips off the field, with Adil Rashid suffering from an upset stomach and David Willey felled by cramp during one over. In addition, Reece Topley suffered a suspected broken finger when fielding the ball in his follow through, and had to leave for treatment with one ball of his fourth over unbowled.When asked at the post-match presentations whether bowling first was a mistake, Buttler said: “Yeah, potentially. You always look back and reflect on the decisions you make. Obviously incredibly tough conditions here in the heat, we saw that with the boys in the field. Everyone put in a great shift. I still believe if it was 340-350 and we got off to a good start it would have been a great chase. But yeah, potentially should have batted first with the heat.”Related

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Aiden Markram, standing in as captain for South Africa due to Temba Bavuma suffering from illness, said they had been “slightly” surprised by Buttler’s call. “We know England do like chasing,” he said. “We were going to bat first. Happy that it worked out the way it did, we felt comfortable doing that and I think it helped us a lot that our big quicks weren’t in the sun cooking.”Although Topley returned to deliver another five overs with a strapped finger, he looks set to be ruled out for the rest of the tournament. With three defeats in their first four matches, the defending champions are already in a struggle to qualify for the semi-finals via a place in the top four.”It leaves us with no room for error, we have to probably win every game from here on in,” Buttler said. “That’s the situation we find ourselves in.”England made three changes for the game, having suffered a shock defeat to Afghanistan in their previous outing. Ben Stokes was fit to make his first appearance of the tournament, while Willey and Gus Atkinson both made World Cup debuts, as Liam Livingstone, Chris Woakes and Sam Curran made way.Buttler denied that the changed personnel contributed to England’s poor showing, as South Africa recovered from losing Quinton de Kock early to post the second-highest total of this edition of the World Cup.”I don’t think so. Throughout the first innings, lots of things didn’t quite go to plan. We started nicely, [but] Reece picked up that injury and then the unknown as to whether he’d come back or not, trying to fiddle a few overs in. Those kind of things, couple of guys struggling with the heat, etc. So it was a tough 50 overs there, the boys fought hard, a lot of effort.”I thought if we could have restricted them to 340-350, probably on this pitch it would have been a really good chase. They just got away from us there at the end.”Having been baked out in the middle during the hottest part of the day, England were quickly cooked during their chase, slipping to 38 for 4 inside the powerplay on the way to their heaviest defeat by runs in ODIs.”[It was] certainly tough, the humidity and the cramps and all the other challenges – yeah, it was tough,” Buttler said. “We needed to get off to a really good start, chasing a score like that. The ball did a bit, a couple of dismissals, caught down the leg side, caught leg slip – when those kind of things start happening you feel like the writing’s on the wall a bit.”