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“I have resigned for the greater interest of cricket,” he told ESPNcricinfo

Mohammad Isam19-Aug-2024Jalal Yunus has resigned from his position as a BCB director and the chairman of the cricket operations committee.Jalal’s resignation comes after the National Sports Council, the control authorities of 41 different sports bodies of Bangladesh, asked him to step down.Jalal, a former fast bowler who played professionally in the 1980s, has been a sports organiser since the late 1990s. He has been in the BCB continuously in important roles since 2009, and became the cricket operations head in December 2021.”I have resigned for the greater interest of cricket,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “I am all for cricket running properly and correctly. I am alright with their intention to replace me as per the constitution. I don’t want to be a stumbling block for cricket’s progress.”Meanwhile, Ahmed Sajjadul Alam, the other NSC nominated director in the BCB, turned down the board’s request to step down on the same day.”I told them that since they nominated me as the NSC councillor and then I became a director, they have to do it. They can inform me their decision regarding me,” he told ESPNcricinfo.Alam is also a veteran sports organiser, who is currently the BCB’s tournament committee chairman.The NSC’s move follows the new sports adviser, Asif Mahmud, calling for reform in all sports federations in Bangladesh, including the BCB.He has said that he wants to see a politics-free sporting arena. BCB, the custodian of Bangladesh’s most popular sport, was built on political clout particularly in the last 15 years.BCB chief Nazmul Hassan was the country’s sports minister, while there was a member of parliament, a former MP, a former mayor and two cousins of the country’s prime minister in the BCB’s board of directors. Even two of Bangladesh’s top cricketers were members of parliaments.The NSC can now nominate another individual to replace the resigned Jalal as their director in the BCB. Reportedly, Faruque Ahmed, the 58-year-old former Bangladesh captain and two-time chief selector, is likely to be the NSC-nominated director.

Fines also handed out to John Blain, Matthew Hoggard and Rich Pyrah

ESPNcricinfo staff26-May-2023The ECB’s Cricket Disciplinary Commission (CDC) has announced sanctions in the wake of its hearings into allegations of racism at Yorkshire, with a range of suspensions and fines for the six former players and coaches – Gary Ballance, John Blain, Tim Bresnan, Andrew Gale, Matthew Hoggard and Rich Pyrah – who were found guilty of using racist and/or discriminatory language.The bans will only take effect if the individuals seek to return to playing/coaching within the ECB’s jurisdiction. They each have until Friday, June 9 to appeal the CDC decisions.Gale, the former Yorkshire captain who went on to be head coach between 2016-2021, was fined £6000 and given a four-week suspension from coaching, although he has not been involved with the game since being sacked by the club.Related

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Ballance, who retired last month having recently switched from representing England to Zimbabwe, received a £3000 fine and six-match playing suspension, having admitted to his offence in advance of the hearing. Bresnan and Hoggard, both former England internationals, were fined £4000, with Bresnan also receiving a four-match ban.Both Blain, the former Scotland seamer, and Pyrah, who was Gale’s assistant at Yorkshire, were handed £2500 fines. All six were reprimanded and urged to take an “appropriate racism/discrimination education course identified by the ECB”, at their own expense.All of the sanctions were less severe than those recommended by the ECB earlier this month.The charges were laid in the wake of evidence given by former Yorkshire allrounder Azeem Rafiq, following revelations before a parliamentary select committee in 2021. A seventh player, former England captain Michael Vaughan, was cleared of a similar charge of using racist language.Yorkshire, who admitted four ECB charges ahead of the hearings in March, also face being penalised, with the CDC panel – made up of chair Tim O’Gorman, Mark Milliken-Smith KC and Dr Seema Patel – set to hear submissions on June 27.

‘I’m confident in that and when the big game comes Finch and Warner will nail it’

Alex Malcolm20-Feb-2022Matthew Wade has no doubt captain Aaron Finch and David Warner will be Australia’s opening combination for their T20 World Cup title defence later this year despite questions surrounding Finch’s form after a lean series against Sri Lanka.Australia lost the final T20I at the MCG but claimed the series 4-1 overall. However, Finch made just 78 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 91.76. In his last 17 T20I innings he has reached fifty just once and has nine single-figure scores with a strike rate of just 111.Related

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But Wade recalled the questions surrounding Warner heading into the last T20 World Cup and in the UAE, which he answered emphatically, and believes Finch will do the same.”It feels like these questions have come before potentially before the last World Cup and after the first couple of games about David,” Wade said. “Everyone had their say about Davey and he got player of the tournament in the World Cup. Finchy is a class player and I’ve heard people questioning where he’s at. He averages 40 and strikes at 140 for a reason.”He’s the captain of our team and the questions are always going to come when you get a little bit older and you don’t do well in one series.”They’re class players for a reason and the best we’ve had in T20 cricket ever, and I don’t expect any change at the top of the order to be honest. So those two will be there in the World Cup. I’m confident in that and when the big game comes they will nail it.”Wade made a brilliant 43 not out off 27 balls to lift Australia to a competitive total after they slumped to 5 for 82. It was just his third innings of the series and just his sixth in his last 12 T20I internationals. But his ability to deliver as Australia’s new finisher in that timeframe has been remarkable, having produced match-shaping hands in four of those six innings.Australia are intent on developing more chemistry between Wade and Marcus Stoinis in the lower-middle order and showed that intent by elevating Ashton Agar to open for two games in the series so that the pair could get more repetitions in the death batting roles.”It was nice to get a hit,” Wade said. “I know the role I’m playing now within this team. I know that opportunities aren’t going to come thick and fast. It was the same in the World Cup. It’s going to be the same in the next few series as well.”The position that I’m going to play dictates that I’ll just go there and take the opportunity that I can.”I feel really confident in what we’re doing down there. I feel backed by the coaching staff and the selectors that there’s going to be a real opportunity down there for myself and Marcus to kind of form that partnership that we’re looking for when the big games come around. Opportunities might not swing my way over the next little bit. But when I get an opportunity I feel confident that the whole team behind me.”Wade was also excited to potentially play a variety of roles in the IPL after he was bought by Gujarat Titans at last week’s auction.”I haven’t spoken to them exactly about what my role will be, but I would assume anywhere from opening down to seven I’m pretty comfortable with,” Wade said. “It doesn’t worry me too much. If middle order comes my way, then it’s another opportunity to get some game time in and play that role.”I know what I can do at the top of the order. I’ve done it for a long period of time now as well. I’m just really, really happy that I got the opportunity. It’s been a long time since I have.”I feel blessed in that I’ve been given the chance to go over there and play IPL again.”

Tom Blundell will take over as wicketkeeper and move down the order

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Dec-2020Will Young has been handed his Test debut against West Indies in Hamilton after BJ Watling was ruled out with a hamstring injury.Tom Blundell will take the wicketkeeping gloves and move down the order with Young partnering Tom Latham at the top.

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Young, 28, has been close to a Test debut before and was set to play against Bangladesh in 2019 before the final Test in Christchurch was cancelled following the terror attack in the city.He averages 43.76 in his first-class career with ten centuries, the most recent of which came against West Indies for New Zealand A last week”It’s an exciting opportunity for him at the top of the order and I know he’s just looking forward to getting involved after some near opportunities that didn’t eventuate,” captain Kane Williamson said. “He’s been around the environment for some time without getting his first opportunity so I think that’s also a real positive. Often you come into teams and it’s new, you are trying to get a feel for the group but he’s got that feel, he’s an experienced player, has played a lot of first-class cricket and to a very high standard and he deserves that opportunity.”He’s pretty calm and relaxed and knows that he just wants to go out and contribute as much as he can to the team so that attitude is a great thing to have.”Watling picked up the injury during his last outing in the Ford Trophy and following assessment in Hamilton it was decided there was too much risking including him for a Test.”He has seen it all before,” Williamson said. “He knows his body better than anybody. Obviously, he has got a sore hamstring at the moment, but he’s very confident that he can get back to full fitness quite soon. He himself is aware of the challenges you put your body through over a five-day period, and so it’s very difficult to go into a match at a sort of half-fitness.”He cares about the team more than anybody, so he sees it from that perspective. Through discussion with the management, they found that was the best option. He’s a leader in the group, and he showed that through the conversations we had yesterday.”A decision over the rest of the final XI is yet to be made with one of the key debates whether New Zealand go in with a frontline spin option in Mitchell Santner, who was called up in place of the injured Ajaz Patel, or opt for an all-pace attack.”It’s a little bit tricky,” Williamson said of the make-up of the likely XI. “Naturally that is always a bit of a challenge playing in New Zealand, and looking at the roles that you might believe have larger factors. It’s unique to here more than in other places in the world.”

ESPNcricinfo has learned players weren’t allowed to enter the ground after a suspicious package was found unattended at the venue

Peter Della Penna28-Jul-2019A bomb threat delayed the start of the GT20 clash between Montreal Tigers and Winnipeg Hawks on Friday in Brampton. While little information has been forthcoming about the 90-minute delay that truncated the fixture to 12-overs-a-side, ESPNcricinfo spoke to a number of players from both squads.Global T20 Canada organisers said, “play has been delayed due to some technical reasons” through their Twitter account in a tweet posted at 4:50 pm local time, 20 minutes after play was scheduled to begin. However, a running scroll on one of the official TV broadcasts said “security issues” were the reason for the delay. A number of fans tweeted images of standing in long queues outside the ground, after being denied entry by the police.The players ESPNcricinfo contacted confirmed they weren’t allowed to enter the makeshift ground at the CAA Centre after a suspicious package had been left unattended at the venue. The police then closed off the venue to perform a sweep of the facility, by employing bomb-sniffing dogs.”Routine sniffer dogs checks found a substance that alerted security,” one player told ESPNcricinfo. Another source also said that alarms were raised after a hole was found in a temporarily constructed perimeter fence that surrounds the cricket portion of the facility, contributing to the precautionary measures taken by local police.The players were eventually let in to warm-up and begin the match after the package was deemed not dangerous. The reduced-overs match went off without any further hiccups.When the match finally began, the only other mention for the delay came through one of the commentators, who said a “security situation” was the reason without elaborating further. Montreal Tigers won by 24 runs, courtesy Sunil Narine’s 30-ball 59.

“Competent Authority” appointed by sports ministry to oversee day-to-day affairs of the board, even as elections continue to be pushed back due to procedural violations

Madushka Balasuriya01-Jun-2018The running of Sri Lanka Cricket has temporarily been brought under the Sri Lankan government after a “Competent Authority” was appointed to oversee day-to-day affairs. The move comes after the term of the present board, headed by Thilanga Sumathipala, ended on May 31, even as the election of a new governing body failed to materialise. The elections had been postponed due to procedural violations, with an injunction having been imposed by the courts.The Competent Authority is headed by the secretary of Sri Lanka’s sports ministry, Kamal Padmasiri.For the time being it is unclear how this will affect SLC’s standing in the eyes of the ICC, which in the past has not taken kindly to government interference in cricketing affairs. In 2015, when the government had appointed an interim committee, SLC had had its ICC voting rights suspended, while payments due to SLC were also held in escrow.Sumathipala, who emphasised that he was against government intervention, said he would have preferred to be allowed to run the board until fresh elections could be held, for the sake of stability.”With a South Africa tour, Asia Cup, and England tour coming up, these next four-five months are incredibly challenging for us, and we require stability to carry out these responsibilities,” he said. “As the ICC could demote us to observer status, it is also doubtful if we will receive the next set of funds from them. These are huge problems that need to be considered.”However despite pleas by Sumathipala for an extension so as to allow him and his officials to continue in their posts till elections are held, Sri Lanka’s sports minister Faiszer Mustapha maintained this was the only decision available to him given the circumstances.”We have to act within a particular legal framework and as per the advice of the Attorney General, I have chosen the most prudent approach,” Mustapha said. “I believe in a democratic process, and that democratically elected office bearers should run sports bodies. But, consequent to a writ application and an interim order, I am compelled to take this decision to ensure the continuation of Sri Lanka Cricket.”This appointment is the latest turn of events in a months’ long election saga in which SLC has twice run foul of Sri Lanka’s sports law, despite seemingly being granted special dispensation by the sports ministry on each occasion. As it stands, the announcement of fresh elections will be contingent on the matter being taken up in court on June 14. Mustapha has stated that elections will take place by at least July 31.

Queensland wicketkeeper Chris Hartley will miss his first Sheffield Shield match in nearly 10 years after breaking a finger while batting in club cricket at the weekend

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Feb-2017Queensland wicketkeeper Chris Hartley will miss his first Sheffield Shield match in nearly 10 years after breaking a finger while batting in club cricket at the weekend. Hartley is expected to be sidelined for at least three weeks by the injury, which will allow gloveman Jimmy Peirson to play his first Sheffield Shield game, against South Australia at Adelaide Oval starting on Saturday.Opening batsman Joe Burns will captain Queensland for the first time in the absence of state captain Usman Khawaja and Hartley, the regular stand-in. Hartley’s injury – a fracture to the middle finger of his left hand – comes at a time when he was displaying strong batting form: in his past three Shield innings he had made 102*, 15* and 86*, and has 460 runs at 92.00 this Shield season.Hartley recently went past Darren Berry as the owner of the most wicketkeeping dismissals in Shield history, and in his most recent match completed the rare feat of 100 consecutive Shield games. Last time Hartley missed a Shield match was October 2007, when Murray Bragg replaced him behind the stumps against Tasmania at the Gabba in what became the only first-class match of Bragg’s career.Although Hartley is expected to miss at least two matches, he could yet return for the final regular-season match against Victoria, starting at the Gabba on March 16. He will be joined on the sidelines for this week’s match by fast bowler Michael Neser, who injured his ankle while playing club cricket at the weekend and will be replaced in the squad by Luke Feldman, who has recovered from a side strain.Meanwhile, wicketkeeper Seb Gotch is set to make his first-class debut in Victoria’s game against Western Australia in Perth, also starting on Saturday. Gotch has been called in to replace Sam Harper, who suffered concussion during the previous game when he was struck in the head by Jake Lehmann’s bat.Harper is still being monitored in hospital, but Cricket Victoria said his condition was improving and there was a chance he would be released from hospital later this week.Queensland squad Joe Burns (capt), Peter Forrest, Marnus Labuschagne, Sam Heazlett, Sam Truloff, Jack Wildermuth, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Jason Floros, Mark Steketee, Peter George, Cameron Gannon, Luke Feldman.Victoria squad Marcus Harris, Travis Dean, Marcus Stoinis, Rob Quiney, Aaron Finch, Cameron White (capt), Daniel Christian, Seb Gotch (wk), James Pattinson, Chris Tremain, Scott Boland, Jon Holland.

New Zealand’s inability to bowl out Australia during the Trans-Tasman series has placed the spotlight on their highly regarded pacemen Trent Boult and Tim Southee

Brydon Coverdale in Christchurch25-Feb-2016At the start of this summer, New Zealand had two bowlers inside the top ten in the Test rankings: Trent Boult and Tim Southee. Australia had one, Mitchell Johnson, and unbeknownst to them he was about to retire. But the inability of New Zealand’s attack to take 20 wickets in any of the five Tests between the teams this season was a major factor in Australia’s domination and retention, twice, of the Trans-Tasman Trophy.Perhaps the most surprising thing was that in their home conditions in Wellington and Christchurch, New Zealand’s attack, led by Southee and Boult, struggled to find anywhere near as much swing as Australia’s fast men. The conditions played a part – Steven Smith won the toss and sent New Zealand in on green pitches in both matches – but Australia also proved capable of finding reverse swing later in the Tests.The final wicket tally for the five Tests home and away makes for lopsided reading. Josh Hazlewood topped the wickets with 22 at 32.63, Nathan Lyon was second with 20 at 27.75, and Boult was third with 18 victims at the inflated average of 42.11. No other New Zealander took more than 10 wickets across the five Tests and only Neil Wagner and Mitchell Santner, who each played only one Test, averaged under 40.Southee’s tally was especially disappointing. He finished the summer with nine wickets against Australia at 62.77, and rarely looked seriously threatening. Although Southee took 13 wickets at 16.30 in the two home Tests against Sri Lanka that came between the two Trans-Tasman contests, outgoing captain Brendon McCullum said after the loss in Christchurch that Southee could soon face competition for his place.”It’s probably not my question to answer any more. He is a strong leader in the group but Tim’s got some challenges in the next little while,” McCullum said. “There’s other guys coming through who are performing very well, Matt Henry in particular, and it’s going to push Tim to make sure he’s operating at his best which we saw for a good 12 to 18 months. He’s got some challenges but I still believe he’s a strong leader in the group and he’s just got to smooth out some of his rough edges.”One man who did himself plenty of favours at Hagley Oval was Wagner, who collected match figures of 7 for 166 and was tireless in enacting the team plan of repeated short-pitched bowling to a packed leg-side field. It was a desperate tactic used because the New Zealanders were failing to swing the ball, but Wagner’s willingness to bowl long, hard spells will make him an attractive option for the selectors going forward.”The beauty of Neil is that he makes things happen,” New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said. “Even on benign surfaces, where we play the majority of our cricket, he does generate wicket-taking opportunities. I think he got 6 for 70 in the first innings once he decided to bowl 25 overs of bumpers and there are not many people around the world who can do that.”I have been fortunate enough to work with Neil for a long time, so I know he’s a gutsy performer. But I thought the skill he showed, that’s a really a difficult thing to do, to get the ball between chest and head consistently and I thought his ability to keep them in that area and keep challenging was world-class and certainly kept us in the match.”Should the selectors decide to grant more opportunities to Wagner and Henry in New Zealand’s upcoming Test campaigns, it could mean something of a changing of the guard, with the attack having been based around Southee and Boult for some time. Hesson conceded that choosing New Zealand’s attack would not necessarily be as straightforward as it had at times in recent years.”I think there will be [tough selections],” Hesson said. “Tim and Trent for two years have been exceptional for us but we have different guys in the squad who do different things. We have alluded to Neil. He brings a different option. Dougie Bracewell is a bit different, as is Matt Henry, so within those five we have got, we should be able to get a pretty good attack in all conditions around the world.”New Zealand finished the five Tests against Australia this summer with four losses and one draw, but Hesson said he felt that the battle had been somewhat closer than that scoreline suggested.”In Australia we felt we were pretty close in Adelaide,” Hesson said. “I think over here, to be fair, we weren’t close in the end result but certainly felt that if things had been a little different then we might have been able to put a bit more pressure on them.”

Simon Jones took the wickets of Eion Morgan and Adam Voges with consecutive balls as Glamorgan won their rain-affected Yorkshire Bank 40 Group C match against Middlesex by 11 runs in Cardiff

14-Aug-2013
ScorecardSimon Jones showed some of his old spark to claim two key wickets•Getty Images

Simon Jones took the wickets of Eoin Morgan and Adam Voges with consecutive balls as Glamorgan won their rain-affected Yorkshire Bank 40 Group C match against Middlesex by 11 runs in Cardiff.It was their second win in three games – they beat Somerset on Monday – as they moved up to second place in the group, level on points with leaders Somerset with a game in hand.Glamorgan lost the toss and made 153 for 9 in a match reduced to 25 overs per side, but Middlesex, who will struggle to now make the semi-finals, could only make 142 for nine despite skipper Neil Dexter scoring 54 from 52 balls.Glamorgan made a fortuitous start when Gareth Rees top-edged Steven Finn for six in the first over but Finn got his revenge having Mark Wallace caught at point while at the other end James Harris delivered a tight three overs as the home side reached 31 for 1 after seven overs.That became 38 for 3 after Toby Roland-Jones struck twice to remove Chris Cooke and skipper Marcus North. Jim Allenby’s arrival saw some impetus injected into the Glamorgan innings as he took a four and a six off consecutive balls from Dexter, before Paul Stirling’s part-time offspin claimed two wickets.Allenby holed out on the midwicket boundary before Murray Goodwin top-edged a sweep to short fine leg as the Welsh county found themselves 85 for 5. Harris made that 89 for six as Rees was bowled making 32 from 53 balls.Some much-needed impetus to the Glamorgan innings came with 14 coming off an Ollie Raynor over including a Ben Wright six over long off and 18 from an over from Harris.The start of the batting power play saw Wright holing out to Finn ending a 43-run partnership with Wagg, who helped Glamorgan take 21 runs from the final three overs.Middlesex struggled at the start of their reply. Allenby bowled Dawid Malan with the fifth ball of the Middlesex innings and a good Michael Hogan over saw Joe Denly edge behind to leave Middlesex 14 for 2 at the end of the fourth. Allenby struck again in the seventh over as Paul Stirling drove him straight to mid-off to Middlesex 30 for 3.And Jones turned the game right in Glamorgan’s favour with two wickets in consecutive balls to leave Middlesex 32 for five in the eighth over. He got the prize wicket of Morgan with his third ball helped by a good catch by Cooke diving forward at cover and followed that up by trapping Voges lbw.But Middlesex recovered through John Simpson and Dexter who put on 59 in nine overs until the impressive Simpson was snaffled at mid-wicket off Dean Cosker, who took three wickets from 11 balls as the Panthers found themselves 138 for 8.Dexter, with the only half century in the match, got it down to 20 required from the final over but he holed out to the second ball of the final over.

Ireland will host a Test nation for the first time in an international Twenty20 when Bangladesh arrive for a three-match series. The matches on July 18, 20, starting at 5pm, and 21, at 4pm, will all be played at Stormont in Belfast.

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jul-2012Ireland will host a Test nation for the first time in an international Twenty20 when Bangladesh arrive for a three-match series. The matches on July 18 and 20, starting at 5pm, and 21, at 4pm, will all be played at Stormont in Belfast.Ireland are stepping up their preparations for the World T20 in Sri Lanka in September and their coach Phil Simmons is keen to play more T20, believing his squad can find success in the shortest format.”We have a number of players ideally suited to the short form of the game,” Simmons said. “There are still a few slots up for grabs and it’s an ideal opportunity for the players to make a case for themselves to be included in the World T20 squad.”Kevin O’Brien struck the winning runs in Ireland’s victory over Bangladesh at the 2009 World T20 in England and is hoping for more success in this series. “We’re currently ninth in the world rankings and a series win would help us in our quest to get extra points to get up the ICC Rankings,” O’Brien said. “We’ve just beaten Afghanistan and we’ll be looking to keep that winning momentum going. I’m sure the Irish public will flock to what is always a great evening out.”Cricket Ireland have promised to lay on an extravaganza of entertainment and ticket holders for the abandoned ODI against Australia can gain free entry to one match of the series.