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The ACA has questioned the process followed by Cricket Australia in arriving at the sanctions for the players, and whether the severity of the punishments were befitting of the offence

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Mar-2018While acknowledging that Steven Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft had made “serious mistakes” by ball-tampering in South Africa, the Australian Cricketers Association has questioned the process followed by Cricket Australia in arriving at the sanctions for the players, and whether the severity of the punishments was befitting of the offence.Smith and Warner were banned from international cricket for 12 months by Cricket Australia, and Bancroft for nine. Smith and Bancroft were also banned from leadership positions in Australian cricket for a further 12 months after the end of their ban, while Warner was banned from captaincy positions for life.The ACA said in its statement that while it was right for the players’ mistakes to be sanctioned, there were “a number of glaring and clear anomalies in the process to date which causes the ACA to query the severity and proportionality of the proposed sanctions.”They were as follows:

• The grading and sanctions proposed are considerably higher than the ICC’s grading and sanctions.
• The disproportion between the proposed sanctions and those previously handed down in world cricket for ‘changing the condition of the ball’ – including by Captains of international teams applying artificial substances
• The activation of CA’s Board as a deliberative body on the proposed sanctions
• That public statements by CA to date have not referenced consideration of contextual factors including the environment in South Africa during the series and the impacts on individual players
• The rush to place players before the world’s media last Saturday night without the benefit of considered and coherent advice

The ACA said that it would continue to provide welfare and legal support to the players.Smith, Warner and Bancroft will have the right to challenge CA’s verdicts and also the duration of their penalties via a CA code of behaviour hearing with an independent commissioner, who can also choose whether the hearing is public or private. Players at the hearing will be permitted to call as many witnesses as they like, and also to have legal representation.

CSA and SACA have also agreed on a 6% annual increase in salary for all national and franchise players and that the revenue-share model with the players will be maintained

Firdose Moonda26-Apr-2018Cricket South Africa has re-committed to the revenue share model with its players and has also reached an interim agreement with the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA), which will remain in place until the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is completed at the end of June.The MoU between the parties will expire next Monday. Negotiations for a new deal have not been completed in time for a new agreement to come into immediate effect. That carries the risk of leaving most of the country’s professional cricketers – apart from those on two-year deals – out of contract, but the interim arrangement has made a provision for player contracts to move ahead.CSA and SACA have also agreed on a 6% annual increase in salary for all national and franchise players and that the revenue-share model will be maintained. The CSA will have an extension on player commercial rights until the MoU is finalised, which means the CSA can continue to advertise for events, such as the next home summer using players’ images.The longer-term financial arrangements, such as benefits, which will be similar to those in the previous MoU, have not yet been discussed. Crucially, CSA and SACA have agreed on specific dates on which they will negotiate in May and June, which has been absent previously. In the past week, SACA claimed that CSA had avoided communication with them, had not responded to messages and that negotiations had not even started. Now, SACA are pleased with the progress that has been made.”We are satisfied that this Interim Agreement addresses the uncertainty that has existed amongst players regarding the MOU and their contracts and it ensures that no national or franchise player in the system going forward is left without a contract come May 1, 2018,” Tony Irish, SACA CEO, said. “The Interim Agreement also contains commitments to key issues outside the player contracts and commits the parties to further structured negotiation over a two-month period which aims to finalise the full ambit of player benefits, and other player relevant matters, to apply over the longer, four to five-year term of the MoU.”The MoU between CSA and SACA is renewed every four years. This time, CSA are proposing a five-year MoU, which will be in place until 2023. CSA will also look to redefine their relationship with SACA, though they have not outlined what they want to change. “There is still a long way to go in these negotiations but CSA and SACA have both acted in the best interests of the game by setting a clear platform needed to jointly and constructively get this done within a two-month period,” Thabang Moroe, CSA Acting CEO said.There was also no update on the Global T20 League. Moroe has hinted CSA will make an announcement on the tournament’s future within the next week.

Also, for the first time ever, the BCCI will recognise the top women players of the year, at their awards function on June 12 in Bengaluru

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jun-2018India captain Virat Kohli will receive the BCCI’s Polly Umrigar award – honouring the best international cricketer – for the fifth time in his career following his consistent performance over the past two seasons.Also, for the first time ever, the BCCI will recognise the top international women players of the year, at their awards function on June 12 in Bengaluru. Harmanpreet Kaur wins it for 2016-17 and Smriti Mandhana for 2017-18.The current No.1 ODI batsman in the world, Kohli has been in phenomenal form for the past three years, amassing 2757 runs at an average of 91.90. He also became the first batsman to score four double-centuries in consecutive Test series during this period. The 29-year old went past 5000 runs with his 20th Test ton during the series against Sri Lanka in December 2017. Under Kohli in the last three years, India equalled Australia’s record of nine consecutive series wins in Tests. They are also ranked No. 1 in Test cricket.

Harmanpreet has been equally prolific in women’s cricket. She played significant roles in India’s campaigns at the women’s World T20 in 2016 and the Asia Cup win in 2017, but her crowning achievement remains the unbeaten 171 she made against Australia in the World Cup semi-final. It was the second-highest score by an Indian in women’s ODIs and it helped her break into the top-10 ODI rankings for batsmen.Mandhana began the 2017 World Cup with a 90 against England and then struck her second ODI hundred in the series against West Indies. In March 2018, she scored the fastest fifty for India in a T20I, off only 30 balls. She was also named the Player of the Series when India hosted England in April.

Uncapped Anthony Bramble has been handed a call-up while Andre Russell is included but faces a fitness test

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jul-2019Sunil Narine and Kieron Pollard have been recalled to the West Indies T20I squad for the opening two matches against India, with uncapped wicketkeeper-batsman Anthony Bramble also earning a call-up.Allrounder Andre Russell has been included subject to passing a fitness test following the knee injury which forced him out of the World Cup. John Campbell, the opening batsman, takes the spot vacated by Chris Gayle who is unavailable due to playing in the Canada GT20.Narine, who last played T20Is nearly two years ago, is joined in the spin attack by left-armer Khary Pierre. Narine was in the frame to be part of the World Cup, but did not feel confident getting through 50-over cricket after a finger injury. The selectors are casting their eye forward to next year’s men’s T20 World Cup in Australia, where West Indies will defend their title, with the captaincy reverting to Carlos Brathwaite after Jason Holder took charge for the series against England earlier this year to try and bring some continuity ahead of the World Cup.”We felt that players like Narine and Pollard, who have played well in T20 leagues around the world, once they are fit and mentally ready to play, we must give them the opportunity to represent the West Indies again,” Robert Haynes, the intern chairman of selection, said.”It’s not just about the present – the India tour of the West Indies – but we are also looking at the T20 World Cup coming up next year and it is important that we find the right combination of players and the right formula for defending our title.”We have to make sure that we put certain things in place now, so that when it comes to picking the squad for the T20 World Cup, it becomes easier, so we are giving more players the opportunity to play and get the exposure.”Bramble, 28, will provide wicketkeeping back-up to Nicholas Pooran despite not having played an official T20 in close to three years. He did, however, captain West Indies B at last year’s Canada GLT20 and was picked up by Guyana Amazon Warriors in the CPL draft in May.”He is young and has a lot of ambition, and we saw his character come out in the way he batted whenever Guyana Jaguars were in problems in the West Indies Championship and Super50 Cup, so we know he is capable of getting the job done,” Haynes said.The selectors could make changes to the squad for third T20I in Guyana. India’s tour also includes three ODIs and two Tests.Squad Carlos Brathwaite (capt), Anthony Bramble (wk), John Campbell, Sheldon Cottrell, Shimron Hetmyer, Evin Lewis, Sunil Narine, Keemo Paul, Khary Pierre, Kieron Pollard, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Rovman Powell, Andre Russell, Oshane Thomas

Glamorgan bowled out for 265, with promotion already secured

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay24-Sep-2025Lancashire 55 for 0 trail Glamorgan 265 (van der Gugten 53, Crane 42, Bailey 5-51) by 210 runsLancashire took control over Glamorgan with early wickets on day one of the final Rothesay County Championship match.Tom Bailey took a five-wicket haul, including a wicket with the first ball of the game to reduce Glamorgan to 114 for 6 at lunch. An 82-run seventh-wicket partnership kept the visitors at bay until they finally wrapped up the innings on 265 with 20 overs remaining in the day.Personal milestones included a half-century in Timm van der Gugten’s 100th match, Kiran Carlson’s 1000th run for the season, and Mason Crane’s highest score of the summer, 42. But they were not enough to prevent Lancashire from dominating the day.Both clubs’ fates had been decided already. Glamorgan’s second-placed promotion was confirmed after a rain-affected round of fixtures last week. Meanwhile Lancashire, currently in sixth, can rise to third if results go their way.Tom Bailey bowled Zain-ul-Hassan around his legs with the first ball of the match, and with James Anderson absent due to a side strain sustained last time out, Jake Blatherwick shared the new-ball duties and quickly helped reduce Glamorgan to 20 for 2. Asa Tribe, even in his remarkable purple patch, was unable to do much to one nipping away.Blatherwick’s success ended there, and though Tom Aspinwall went unrewarded, Bailey and George Balderson had Glamorgan six wickets down inside the first session.Carlson scored typically quickly to reach 22, and his 1000th run, and though he fell soon afterwards, Chris Cooke put up a fight either side of lunch in what was a session dictated mostly by poor shots to explain the scoreline than anything else.Van der Gugten and Crane’s resisted for a while but Bailey fittingly finished the innings off, having claimed a wicket in each of his opening overs of his first three spells. It fell to Keaton Jennings and Luke Wells to ensure an unscathed final 20 overs of the day. The left-handed duo stood strongly against early movement from Van der Gugten, before a flourish of boundaries from Jennings to close the day on 55 for 0.

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Aug-2019Gloucestershire 172 for 7 (Salter 4-12) tied with Glamorgan 172 for 5 (Fakhar 58)Glamorgan’s Andrew Salter returned the superb figures of 4 for 12 in three overs, including a first-ball wicket and three more in the space of seven deliveries, but AJ Tye battled back for Gloucestershire to seal a thilling tie in the Vitality Blast clash at Cardiff.Gloucestershire, set a daunting 173 for victory following a brisk half-century from Fakhar Zaman and a turbo-charged 42 from 21 balls from Chris Cooke, suffered a terrible start when Miles Hammond was deceived by Salter’s offspin, knocking a simple catch back to the bowler off the first ball of the innings.Two overs later, the visitors lost their second wicket, when James Bracey was caught off Marchant De Lange on the midwicket boundary.Gloucestershire were 46 for 2 after six overs, but in the next over Michael Klinger edged Dan Douthwaite’s fifth ball to the wicketkeeper, and with Graham Wagg conceding just three runs from his first over, Glamorgan’s bowlers held the upper hand.After ten overs Gloucestershire required a further 100 runs, but Cockbain raised their spirits by taking 14 runs from Wagg’s third over before Salter burst back into the action, ending his stay for an aggressive 40.With five overs left, the visitors required 57, but Salter struck twice more in three balls to dismiss Higgins and Jack Taylor. Billy Root held on to a low catch at mid-wicket to dismiss Higgins before Taylor drove to long-on.Tye, however, was not done yet, and hauled Gloucestershire back into contention with a violent innings of 38 from 19 balls, including three fours and a six.He struck De Lange’s penultimate over for 19, though he was also dropped by Colin Ingram in the process, a simple chance at mid-off.
With 14 needed in the final over, Benny Howell smashed Lukas Carey for six to keep his side in the hunt, only to fall the next ball, but Tye scrambled Gloucestershire to parity with a brace of twos off the final two balls of the innings, and deny Glamorgan their first win of the Blast campaign.

The India T20I captain defends herself against accusations of fake degree certificates

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jul-2018India women’s T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur defended herself against allegations that her graduation degree was fake, and said that had she known something was amiss, she would have “done graduation again, maybe two or three times over”.Harmanpreet had been appointed a Deputy Superintendent of Police by the Punjab government after her remarkable showing in the 2017 World Cup, which included a stunning 171 not out in the semi-final against Australia. However, reports emerged on July 2 that the Punjab police were set to demote her to the rank of a constable with the Chaudhary Charan Singh University of Meerut saying Harmanpreet’s enrollment number did not exist in their records.Harmanpreet, who had initially refused to comment on the reports, defended herself on Tuesday and pointed out that she had even been accepted into a postgraduate course on the basis of her graduation degree, although her blossoming cricket career meant she could never complete her postgraduate degree.”When you did your graduation, did you go to the head office to verify your enrollment number? Nobody does that,” Harmanpreet told the . “If I am playing, my focus is obviously on cricket. Apart from that, I just wanted to complete my graduation. On the basis of my graduation certificate, I took admission for a post-graduation course in a different university, but could never take my exams because of overseas tournaments. Today, that very degree is being called fake.”Harmanpreet also said that so far the Punjab police had not communicated officially with her about the speculated demotion in rank. “The department should initiate action against me. I am waiting for word from my department… I have not received any notice from my department.”Harmanpreet was previously employed by the Indian Railways and given the rank of office superintendent, in Mumbai, and said she had been offered that post on the basis of the same degree that is being questioned now. “I completed my graduation through distance learning from Chaudhary Charan Singh University in 2009-11,” she said. “Earlier, I was pursuing my graduation from a college in Jalandhar, where I did my first year. Thereafter, I was not able to pursue it as my cricket schedule and the examination dates used to clash always. Besides, as the college principal had changed, and they did not like me pursuing sports, they did not adjust exam timings as per my cricket schedule. So, I had to migrate to another university. I have been playing for India after completing my Class XII.”I have cleared all my exams and my every certificate is legal. My examination centre used to be in Delhi. My subjects were sociology, political science, English and general awareness.”Harmanpreet, 29, made her debut for India in 2009 a day before her 20th birthday on March 7. She has played two Tests, 87 ODIs and 83 T20Is, and is also an Arjuna Award winner. She is in 12th spot on the ICC rankings for batsmen in women’s ODIs, and on seventh for the corresponding T20I list. She took over as the full-time T20I captain in October 2016 and her skills have put her in demand in T20 leagues around the world; she has played in the Women’s Big Bash League for two seasons and signed for the Kia Super League for the 2018-19 edition, starting next week.

Opener completes the task of securing draw after rain wrecked day three

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay01-Aug-2025Kent 445 for 8 (Compton 221, Finch 54*) drew with Leicestershire 471 (Rehan 119, Patel 85) The Rothesay County Championship match between Division Two leaders Leicestershire and Kent at Canterbury ended in a draw, after the hosts reached 445 for eight on day four, trailing by 24 when bad light stopped play.Ben Compton hit a career-best 221 and Harry Finch made 54 not out, while Rehan Ahmed three for 134, but the chances of a positive result were effectively neutered on day three, when a mere 9.5 overs were bowled.Leicestershire remain top of the table, while Kent stay bottom.Conditions were significantly better on Friday morning but as soon as Kent passed the follow-on target of 321 a draw seemed inevitable.The nightwatch, George Garrett, survived 67 balls spread across days two, three and four but he was the first man out when he edged Logan van Beek to Louis Kimber for 10.The first shot of Ben Dawkins’ first-class career was a stylish drive that might have gone for four but for the slope, but he was out for seven, inside-edging Ben Green behind.Compton, 111 not out overnight, reached 150 in the penultimate over of the session when he cut Tom Scriven for four and Kent eased to 307 for four at lunch.Scriven subsequently had Joey Evison caught behind for 38, but an elegant sweep off Rehan saw Compton to 200. He took a single off Patel to pass his previous highest score of 217 and was finally out when he came down the wicket to Rehan and was stumped.Rehan then had Matt Parkinson lbw for two and Kent were 429 for eight at tea, after which Finch cover-drove Rishi Patel to bring up his half-century, but play was suspended at 4.40pm and both sides looked as eager as the umpires to shake hands on the draw.

The left-arm quick first played for them in 2023 and then helped them to the Division Two title in 2024

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Oct-2024Jaydev Unadkat will continue his association with Sussex after extending his contract with them for the 2025 and 2026 County Championship seasons. He will be available for the final run-in in both seasons.”When I came to Hove last year, I wasn’t sure what was on offer in the County Championship and how would I adapt to it. But after a few games now, I can definitely say Hove is my home away from home and Good Old Sussex by The Sea has my heart,” Unadkat was quoted as saying in a release by the team.”Everyone at Hove is very pleased and excited that Jaydev [Unadkat] has signed a two-year extension and will be returning to the Club for the next two seasons,” Sussex head coach Paul Farbrace said.”Jaydev’s quality on the pitch has been so evident for everyone else to see, but just as importantly his qualities as a person make him one of the most popular and nicest guys any team could wish for.”Unadkat first signed for Sussex in 2023, and took 11 wickets in three matches. He returned to the team in 2024 and took 22 wickets at an average of 14.40 in five games, helping Sussex win the Division Two title.Unadkat is currently leading Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy, which got underway on Friday.

With Burger, Williams and Nortje also injured, SA may need to dig deep into their reserves to fill a fast-bowling position for the Champions Trophy

Firdose Moonda17-Jan-2025 • Updated on 19-Jan-2025South Africa’s bowling stocks have taken another hit after Gerald Coetzee, who was expected to be named as Anrich Nortje’s replacement in the the Champions Trophy squad, missed Joburg Super Kings’ match against Pretoria Capitals with a hamstring injury on Thursday and was subsequently ruled out of the remainder of the SA20 on SundayCSA, however, said Coetzee “remains in contention for selection” for the Champions Trophy and that a decision on his inclusion would be made in the first week of February. The deadline for submitting the final squads to the ICC is February 11.Coetzee had played JSK’s previous match against Durban’s Super Giants at Kingsmead, which was his first competitive game since the Test against Sri Lanka in Durban, where he injured his groin. He was ruled out of the rest of the international summer, after he had come back from a hip niggle and a 12-week conditioning block. He did not play any cricket between a game at the MLC in July (his only one in the competition) and a domestic match for the Titans in October. Then, he appeared fitter and faster than before, playing in all four of South Africa’s T20I fixtures against India, and took 4 for 85 in the first Test against Sri Lanka before he was ruled out again.Related

• Ryan Rickelton, the new showstopper at Newlands

• Jury's out on South Africa's Champions Trophy picks as SA20 provides selection pointers

• Rassie van der Dussen consciously evolves his white-ball game amid injury scare

• Back injury rules Nortje out of Champions Trophy

It was confirmed by South Africa’s white-ball coach Rob Walter that Coetzee had been in line for a Champions Trophy place but left out in favour of the more experienced Nortje. With Nortje sidelined with a back problem and Coetzee now injured as well, Walter, who is the sole selector of the team, will have to mine the depths of the reserves.With Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jansen and Wiaan Mulder already in the squad, Walter could look to 18-year old tearaway Kwena Maphaka or South Africa’s most recent ODI cap, Corbin Bosch, if he is looking for pace or may have to move away from that entirely. Death-bowling specialist Ottneil Baartman is another option with almost everyone else in contention currently injured.Nandre Burger will not return to action this summer after suffering a lower-back stress fracture while Lizaad Williams is recovering from knee surgery. Daryn Dupavillon, who was playing for Pretoria Capitals, is also ruled out of the SA20 with a hamstring concern.Dupavillon is the eighth seamer to be injured this summer. The others were Ngidi (groin), Coetzee, Mulder (broken finger), Nortje (broken toe, then back), Williams, Baartman and Burger. Barring Burger, Nortje, Williams and now, Coetzee, the others have returned to action.