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Cricket Victoria are making major changes due to the Covid-19 pandemic

ESPNcricinfo staff05-May-2020The major job losses at Cricket Victoria caused by the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic have claimed the Melbourne Renegades’ WBBL head coach Tim Coyle who had been in the role three years.Last week Cricket Victoria confirmed a significant restructuring of its organisation in the wake of cost-cutting measures with community cricket especially hard hit.During Coyle’s time the Renegades reached the finals in both the 2018-19 and 2019-2020 seasons.”The challenges delivered by the current climate have forced us to reassess every area of our High Performance program and unfortunately this has led to the end of Tim’s tenure with the Renegades,” Cricket Victoria’s general manager of cricket Shaun Graf said.”This certainly takes nothing away from Tim’s contribution to the Melbourne Renegades in his time as Head Coach. He’s led the club to back-to-back finals campaigns and a number of players have graduated to the national team under his direction.”We’d like to thank Tim for his hard work over the last three seasons and wish him well for the future.”Last year the Melbourne BBL teams, the Renegades and the Stars, were brought under the Cricket Victoria structure. They have both lost major sponsors in recent months.Coyle’s departure also means both teams are now searching for a new head coach after Leah Poulton quit her position with the Stars after less than a month to take up a job as head of female cricket with New South Wales.

Former England offspinner steps up to take charge at former club only weeks after retirement

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Feb-2019Danielle Hazell, the former England spinner, has been named as head coach of Yorkshire Diamonds, only weeks after announcing her retirement at the end of a ten-year career that encompassed two Ashes victories and a role in the 2017 World Cup triumph.Hazell, 30, will begin her new role with immediate effect, to ensure she plays a part in the Diamonds’ squad selection ahead of the 2019 Kia Super League.”There has been a lot of change for me over the last few months but it’s great to have a new challenge ahead,” Hazell told yorkshireccc.com. “I’m very much looking forward to getting started.”I’ve spent many years here at Yorkshire, but have been away at Lancashire for the last year or so, so it’s nice to come back with a completely different challenge in mind. I’m very happy with my decision to retire from the sport, I’m comfortable with it and I’m very much looking forward to what comes next.Although a product of Durham’s academy, Hazell joined the Yorkshire set-up as a teenager in 2008, and went on to make her England debut against West Indies in November 2009. Her first foray into coaching came as part of the Chance to Shine initiative, and she became a Level 3-qualified coach in April 2017.”I’ve been around the club for nearly ten years, so I’m almost honorary Yorkshire,” she said. “I’ve enjoyed my time here and Yorkshire is like my second home. It’s time now to put some of the experience I’ve gained over the years into practice and hopefully we can have a good season.”I know the girls pretty well and hopefully now I can bring some of my experience back from playing in the Kia Super League and International cricket over the last few years. I’m going to make sure the girls work really hard and that we put in some really good performances. I want them to go out there and enjoy their cricket and hopefully I can help instil some of that Yorkshire grit.”Diamonds general manager Jane Hildreth said of Hazell: “Even from a young age she’s always worn the Yorkshire badge with pride and played with her heart on her sleeve. Having recently retired, she now wants to give something back, become a role model and inspire the next generation. I’m sure she will be an excellent coach for the Diamonds in 2019″She knows all of the girls very well, she’ll bring her A-game as she always has and will grow into coaching in the Kia Super League. More importantly she understands the future of English cricket; the direction of travel. There are some exciting plans for the women’s game from 2020 and we feel Danielle is perfect to represent the club going in to this period.”Yorkshire’s CEO Mark Arthur added, “We’re delighted Danielle has accepted the offer to become the Diamonds Head Coach later this summer. We like to invest in talented people and, while Danielle is young from a coaching perspective at this level, she’s Level 3 qualified and has represented Yorkshire and England with distinction. With her tremendous enthusiasm for the game of cricket she’s an ideal person to lead the Diamonds.”

Left-arm spinner Jon Holland’s five-wicket haul gave Victoria to platform to inflict a target of 468 on New South Wales

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Nov-2017
ScorecardGetty Images

Left-arm spinner Jon Holland’s five-wicket haul sent New South Wales packing for 243 and gave Victoria a massive first-innings lead of 319. And by stumps on the third day, after they had batted again, Victoria reduced New South Wales to 2 for 46 in an improbable chase of 468.Moises Henriques’ men were always likely to face significant trouble at the North Sydney Oval considering they were 5 for 125 in reply to a total of 562. But they negotiated the first hour or so without much loss as Ed Cowan and Peter Nevill extended their sixth-wicket partnership to 47. But Holland found a way to break through the resistance as soon as he was brought back for his second spell of the day.New South Wales’ tail battled hard, with Steve O’Keefe striking 50 of the 81 runs his team made in the second session before being bowled out. However, a lack of big scores hurt them badly. Nine of the XI players fell for less than 35. Holland finished with 5 for 67 in 33 overs while fast bowlers Chris Tremain and Scott Boland chipped in with two wickets each.Victoria’s second essay was an absolute sprint as they racked up 3 for 148 at 7.04 an over. Marcus Harris blitzed an unbeaten 62 at a-run-a-ball despite the loss of Travis Dean off the first ball of the innings. Glenn Maxwell, who was left out of Australia’s Ashes squad for the first two Tests, followed up his first-innings 278 with 16. Aaron Finch blasted 43 off 28 balls, with four fours and two sixes. Shortly after his dismissal, the Victoria captain called his batsmen back in so that Holland could cause problems for New South Wales again. He bowled promising opening batsman Daniel Hughes for 21. Tremain flattened Nick Larkin’s stumps for 8 and it was left to Nic Maddinson and nightwatchman Sean Abbott to hold firm until stumps.

“We believe in our skill much more, and not focus on creating atmosphere or conditions that might suit us partially,” Virat Kohli said when asked about surfaces aiding India at home

Sidharth Monga in Indore11-Oct-20162:33

We’re focusing on our skills, not conditions – Kohli

Harbhajan Singh, India’s most successful offspinner at the moment, has opposed the kind of surfaces the team has played on at home over the last ‘four’ years. He’s stated as much in several interviews. He used the hash tag ‘tailor-made conditions for spinners’ while referring to the Indore surface. He went on to say his and Anil Kumble’s wickets tally would have been “something else” if they had bowled more on such pitches. Virat Kohli, to whom the mention of the word ‘pitch’ is a red rag, was told of Harbhajan’s comments after India had completed the whitewash of New Zealand inside four days in Indore.Kohli was then asked if he attributed these wins to pitches or “something else”. “Who made that statement?” Kohli shot back. “Harbhajan Singh,” he was told. “Oh? Okay,” he stopped.It must be mentioned that while the conversation around pitches has been subdued this season because they haven’t been as dramatic as they were against South Africa last season. Kolkata, in fact, was a seaming pitch, which brought the New Zealand fast bowlers into the game. However, Harbhajan’s is the first instance of someone criticising the pitches from inside the system. He is an active cricketer who was a part of the India squad in the Asia Cup played in Bangladesh earlier this year. Kohli refrained from directly reacting to Harbhajan’s statement although he did sound a little taken aback.”Obviously, I mean,” Kohli paused. “See even if it is a turning pitch you have to bowl well. There is no… spin doesn’t happen only off the pitch. Spin is about how many revs you impart off the shoulder first. And then the ball will do something off the pitch. I quite clearly remember after we lost to New Zealand in the World T20, suddenly their spinners were quality and we were found out. I don’t see anyone talking about that now. The same spinners have played. Why have they not been able to pick wickets? It is as simple as that. Our fast bowlers picked wickets everywhere. We never complained about anything. So… see you can give a guy a cement track to bat on. He [still] needs to have the mindset to score runs. It is as simple as that.”Earlier when asked about complete team performances on three different tracks and how much confidence that gives India for the England series, Kohli once spoke about the pitches. “Well, we knew before the series that people are going to start talking about pitches,” Kohli said. “But we made it a point that we… we knew that there are monsoons everywhere, wickets are not going to be as dry. Especially in Kolkata, we knew that it wouldn’t be dry; it was a newly laid wicket. We didn’t say anything once. We believe in our abilities, we should be good enough to do it on any surface and against any team.”That is a step in the right direction as far as our team is concerned. We believe in our skill much more, and not focus on creating atmosphere or conditions that might suit us partially. We just wanted to express ourselves the way we can on a cricket field. We finished two games in four days on perfectly fine Test cricket pitches. That gives us a lot of confidence.”

The most important moment in Hampshire’s fight to avoid relegation from Division One of the LV= Championship came in mid-afternoon – not at Trent Bridge, but at Headingley

David Hopps at Trent Bridge23-Sep-2015
ScorecardLiam Dawson continued his good form with 69•Getty Images

The most important moment in Hampshire’s fight to avoid relegation from Division One of the LV= Championship came in mid-afternoon – not at Trent Bridge, but at Headingley. It was the news that Sussex had been dismissed for 248 and narrowly missed a batting point. With that news, Hampshire instantly knew they would live to fight another day.Put simply, if Sussex lose to Yorkshire and Hampshire beat Notts, it would be Sussex who are relegated along with Worcestershire. There is life in this Division One relegation scrap yet. Hampshire, who looked as good as down a month ago, and who were said on these very pages, a little carelessly, to be “fighting a losing cause” after the first day were doing everything to question the notion.

Carter switch; Trent Bridge refit

Andy Carter has rejected a new deal with Nottinghamshire and will instead sign for Derbyshire. “I’ll have more chance to play all three formats at Derbyshire, which is where I think I should be,” he said.
Trent Bridge is set for an £8 million revamp. Nottingham’s reported that three local councils will give loans to cover the renovation of the pavilion, as well as refurbishment of the William Clarke Stand and media facilities. The works would be carried out during the winters of 2015-17.

Twice, at 89 for 5 and 203 for 8, their plight was obvious, only for Ryan McLaren and Gareth Berg to summon a defiant ninth-wicket stand of 95. When bad light took the players from the field for the second time, with more than 13 overs remaining, they trailed by only 42 runs, although they have a new ball less than two overs old to withstand in the morning.Liam Dawson’s 69 from 97 balls, ended when Steven Mullaney had him lbw, was another vital Hampshire contribution. “We bat a long way down and keep battling, that’s the make-up of our team,” said Dawson. “All we can hope is that Yorkshire do us a favour.” Well, they beat Hampshire last week, and they are the champions after all, so a favour would be nothing if not even-handed.Hampshire resumed with their first innings one ball old – enough for Stuart Broad to have sent the nightwatchman Ryan Stevenson packing – and it was not long before the left-arm quick Harry Gurney was making inroads into their top order.He struck with his first ball, a fortunate wicket as Jimmy Adams was strangled down the leg side, then followed up by having Will Smith caught at the wicket and silencing an attractive 42 from James Vince by bringing one back from around the wicket to bowl him off an inside edge. Brett Hutton then had Michael Carberry lbw.Dawson fashioned the recovery. He has been in excellent form since returning from a month’s loan at Essex, making 140 against Yorkshire in Hampshire’s last outing. Initial support came from Sean Ervine. But two o’clock arrived and, at the very moment the ECB announced, as planned, Samit Patel’s return to the England fold, Patel defeated Ervine’s vigorous attempt to hit down the ground, the catch smartly taken at mid-off by Broad, an England team-mate once more. Right on cue. If Samit did amateur dramatics (for which he has a wonderful range of facial expressions), he would not need a prompter.”From a position of 200 for 8 you would expect to knock over a side for less than 300,” Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket, Mick Newell, said, “but I think it’s a pretty good pitch but a slow pitch and that’s frustrated us today in terms of winkling out their lower order. They’ve obviously got two very good players in at 9 and 10 who made it very tough for us.”

Vijay Zol, Yusuf Pathan and Kedar Jadhav struck half-centuries to take West Zone into the final of the Deodhar Trophy with a comfortable five-wicket win over South Zone in Guwahati

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Mar-2013
ScorecardYusuf Pathan’s third consecutive fifty helped West Zone reach the final of the Deodhar Trophy•Associated Press

Vijay Zol, Yusuf Pathan and Kedar Jadhav struck half-centuries to take West Zone into the final of the Deodhar Trophy with a comfortable five-wicket win over South Zone in Guwahati. West Zone reached their target of 259 with more than eight overs to spare, and will take on North Zone in the final on Wednesday.Zol, who hit the headlines in 2011 with an unbeaten 451 in an Under-19 match, anchored the West Zone reply with a well-compiled 75 off 88 balls – his highest List A score. His 71-run partnership with Rayadu eased some early jitters after West Zone lost Parthiv Patel and Manprit Juneja in consecutive overs with the score at 26 for 2. Once Rayadu was dismissed by B Sudhakar, Zol and Pathan proceeded to shut South Zone out of the match.Pathan played his usual flamboyant game to bring up his third consecutive List-A fifty. He had a reprieve in the 23rd over after a tough chance off an outside edge went down behind the stumps, but he carried on unaffected, bringing up his fifty with a boundary over long-on. With Jadhav chipping in with a brisk 56, a comfortable win was completed.Earlier, fifties from Stuart Binny and Sachin Baby helped South Zone reach 258 for 8 in their 50 overs. The pair added 87 runs for the sixth wicket in 13.1 overs, taking the score past 200 after South Zone were struggling at 143 for 5 in the 34th over. Baby worked hard for his first List-A fifty, hitting just three boundaries in his 58, even as Binny provided a late flourish to the innings.Munaf Patel, playing only his fourth match of this season, picked up 2 for 48 in his 10 overs, while Nayar also picked up two wickets even though he conceded 49 runs in his seven overs. Jaydev Unadkat was the most economical bowler for West conceding 49 runs off his 12 overs and picking up the wicket of the centurion from South’s previous match Baba Aparajith.

Mahela Jayawardene is pleased Sri Lanka’s turnaround in the triangular series has begun with youngsters stepping up

Sidharth Monga18-Feb-2012Mahela Jayawardene is pleased Sri Lanka’s turnaround in the triangular series has begun with youngsters stepping up. Thisara Perera, the promising allrounder who is slowly becoming a key member of the side, and Farveez Maharoof, who made yet another comeback in an in-and-out career, took four wickets for 47 runs between them, and broke the back of the Australian innings.”These are the guys who are going to take Sri Lanka cricket into the future,” Jayawardene said. “Hopefully we can build on that.”I am a big fan of his [Maharoof’s]. He has been playing some good cricket back home. Especially with two new balls, he is one of the guys who can give us something extra with the bat and the ball in different conditions. It’s good to have him back. He felt really confident. He is an experienced player, he played in the 2007 World Cup as a 20-year-old.”Perera, a more regular member of the side than Maharoof, had earlier been dropped in Sri Lanka’s second match of the tournament. In their big win against Australia, he contributed to two run-outs apart from taking two wickets. “Brilliant,” Jayawardene said. “These are young guys who are coming through. They believe they belong here, which is great. The energy level they bring to the team is fantastic.”He [Perera] is a fast-bowler-allrounder, who can field at any position, he is a good slip fielder as well. It’s good to have this group of players we can work with for the future. Got other youngsters who are coming back from injury. We will get a bigger pool going forward. Exciting times as long as we keep working hard.”Apart from youngsters, Jayawardene was pleased Sri Lanka finally got a decent start to their innings. Jayawardene moved back to the opening role, dropping Upul Tharanga, and the captain and former captain put on 74 for the first wicket. “We needed a tactical change,” Jayawardene said. “We were not getting starts upfront. Upul is a very good player. But unfortunately he is going through a bit of a period. We felt giving him a break will do him justice, freshen him up. I just jumped in straightaway.”Lahiru is a middle-over batsman, he can fit anywhere. We just need to settle things upfront, make sure we get a good start, which we did today.”Jayawardene has seen good signs from Tillakaratne Dilshan. “Dilly plays his own game,” Jayawardene said. “We never restricted him. He goes out there and plays naturally. He is a fantastic player to have. On the field he saves 20 runs. Even on a good wicket he can bowl five-six overs for you. A complete package. The way he batted today was beautiful. We just want to make him a free player so he can win matches for us. He has got three good starts now, hopefully he will get a big one next game.”

Andy Flower believes coaches should have more say on international tour itineraries as England come to the end of their three-month stay in Australia before heading almost straight to the subcontinent for the World Cup

Andrew McGlashan in Perth04-Feb-2011Andy Flower believes coaches should have more say on international tour itineraries as England come to the end of their three-month stay in Australia before heading almost straight to the subcontinent for the World Cup.For those players and coaches who have been involved since the beginning of the Ashes tour at the end of October it means they’ll spend just three days in the UK until the conclusion of their World Cup campaign. It is a familiar situation for England who have had this back-to-back scheduling of two major events for the last three Ashes-World Cup cycles.Flower is now having to deal with an increasing injury toll as the exertions of the Australia trip take effect which leaves England struggling to have a full-strength squad for the World Cup and he thinks there should be more consultation about tours. “We have very little say,” he said. “Ideally the coach’s thoughts should be sought but in most instances these fixture lists and itineraries are in place way before any information is sought from the coach.”It would be quite sensible to look at how these tours are set up,” he added. “Especially this close to a World Cup, however those are the schedules we are given and we will deal with it.”The positioning of the Ashes and World Cup together for England will be broken after this year. The next Ashes in Australia being staged in 2013-14 to avoid a clash with the 2014-15 50-over event which will be staged in Australia and New Zealand. However, it means three Ashes series in the space of two years with England hosting series in 2013 and 2015.For now, though, Flower is just concentrating on trying to get his squad ready for this World Cup with England aiming to end a shocking run at the last four tournaments. The drawn out nature of the event, with a large group stage before the knockout matches being, gives England a chance to find their feet but Flower wants intensity from the start. “It’s our job to be at our peak as close to the start of the World Cup as possible so that’s what we’ll be aiming for,” he said.One player who has had a huge demand placed on him is the captain, Andrew Strauss, who has only had a short break for the Twenty20 matches since arriving in Australia. He was rested for the Bangladesh tour last year, which brought a mixed reaction, and it was with this exact scenario in mind to try and prevent burnout.Strauss has managed to maintain his form during the one-dayers, hitting 63 at Sydney, and Flower is a huge admirer of what he has achieved despite the heavy series loss. “He’s a rock solid bloke. You guys will see that, we know it from inside our own team and he has a significant effect on the side.”He’s was a huge part of winning the Ashes, he will be a very important part of our World Cup attempt and as you can see during the one-day series he holds himself very strongly given every responsibility and burden that’s on his shoulders. We are lucky to have a guy like that.”

Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand captain, has criticised his batsmen for squandering a bright start to be bowled out for a below-par score and concede the Chappell-Hadlee trophy to Australia.

Cricinfo staff11-Mar-2010Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand captain, has criticised his batsmen for squandering a bright start to be bowled out for a below-par score and concede the Chappell-Hadlee trophy to Australia. New Zealand lost their third consecutive game to surrender the series after winning the opening fixture.”Unfortunately, [we made] the same mistakes as the previous two games,” Vettori said. “We did not put enough runs on the board, lost wickets at crucial times and put ourselves under far too much pressure. When you do that against Australia, you get yourself in trouble and that’s what happened today.”New Zealand, after being put in, blazed away to an attacking start, courtesy Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill, but lost steam in the middle overs to be eventually bowled out for 238 in the 45th over. “If you look at most of the dismissals, they were relatively soft dismissals,” Vettori said. “They just made poor mistakes and whether it is the mental shift from aggressiveness to accumulation, I’m not too sure. But they’re mistakes that shouldn’t have been made constantly and they have been made in the last three games.”The hosts lost six wickets for 57 runs in close to 19 overs after their positive start, and were rescued by Daryl Tuffey’s quickfire 34, which included four sixes, and support from the lower order. But Vettori rued the fact that his team – not for the first time in the series – failed to bat out its entire quota of covers. “That just hurts you,” Vettori said. “We took a gamble again with the Powerplay, with so many wickets down and have a crack. I thought the way Daryl played, we might get 500 but at the end we were pretty poor.”We knew we were under a par score, and we had to be aggressive and take a chance because if we kept going the way we were, we wouldn’t even have had a total to defend. So we took a chance, it looks when it works and bad when it doesn’t.”The rain interruption did provide New Zealand with a lifeline, for Australia were left to chase a revised target of 200 in 34 overs. Vettori had been critical of the Duckworth-Lewis system at the end of the second ODI, where a revised target made New Zealand’s chase more difficult. But, today, he admitted the system had handed his team an opportunity.”It’s a funny system,” Vettori said. “I said at the end of the second game that I didn’t quite understand it, but it gave us an opportunity. I suppose we put some pressure on with the ball, but we couldn’t maintain it from both ends and that hurts against Australia.”New Zealand head to Wellington for the fifth and final ODI and Vettori said Nathan McCullum, the offspinner, was likely to be given a go. “We’ll definitely look at Nathan McCullum coming into it,” he said. “Westpac is a bigger ground and it allows Nathan to come into the mix a little more, but we want to end the series on a high. 3-2 is not a result we wanted but it would be a start on the road to improvement, hopefully.”

American investment fund is first to conclude negotiations as it expands Birmingham sport portfolio

Matt Roller25-Jul-2025The American investment fund Knighthead Capital has completed a £40 million takeover of Birmingham Phoenix, marking the first finalised transaction in the Hundred’s sales process.Knighthead, the New York-based group, acquired a majority stake in Birmingham City FC two years ago and were successful bidders for a 49% interest in Birmingham Phoenix in late January. The sale transaction was completed on July 15, per paperwork filed to Companies House, and the franchise will be run in partnership with host county Warwickshire.Tom Wagner, Knighthead’s co-founder, has been appointed to the Phoenix board as a director along with colleagues Andrew Shannahan and Kyle Kneisly, both of whom are on Birmingham City FC’s board. The legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady has a small interest in Knighthead but will not serve as a director.Knighthead’s purchase forms part of wider plans to create a ‘Sports Quarter’ in Birmingham, which would include a new 62,000-seat football stadium. Wagner has already successfully lobbied for government funding for new transport links and said last month that he saw the Hundred as an opportunity to underline his commitment to the city.Related

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“We really, genuinely want to see Birmingham continue to develop and grow,” Wagner told the BBC. “The Phoenix is a great way to expand the exposure of the city to a broader, more global audience. It’s also a way for us to tie-in to the substantial south Asian community that is here in Birmingham.”Warwickshire and Knighthead will assume operational control of the Phoenix after the 2025 season of the Hundred, which runs from August 5-31. The county will retain four out of seven board seats as majority owners, with Mark McCafferty (chair), Stuart Cain (chief executive), Craig Flindall (strategy director) and Adam Lowe (commercial director) serving as directors.The ECB initially planned for all eight sales transactions to be signed off by early April but negotiations over paperwork have dragged on far longer than first anticipated. “It is about the ‘what ifs’,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould told ESPNcricinfo last month. “I hate to think how many sets of lawyers are in on this, but that’s what they’re paid to do.”ESPNcricinfo has learned that several other transactions are either finalised or close to completion, though it remains to be seen if all eight will be signed off before the 2025 season starts in 10 days’ time. Four of the seven other new investors are owners or co-owners of IPL franchises, while the other three are US-based like Knighthead.