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The PCB and the PSL franchises have agreed on a new financial model for the league, bringing to an end a long-running stand-off which, at times, has threatened the existence of the league as it stands. The PCB had presented a final offer of a new model at last month’s PSL governing council meeting, which included giving the six franchises a greater share of the central revenue pool, financial relief for the Covid-hit seasons five and six, as well as fixing a USD dollar-Pakistan rupee exchange rate for all future payments.Related

• PSL signs broadcast deal with A Sports and PTV sports for USD 24 million

• PSL negotiations: Franchises weigh options after PCB's take-it-or-leave it offer

• PCB offers PSL franchises increased share of revenue pool

• PSL franchises seek legal action against PCB over financial model of league

After a few meetings among themselves, the franchises have accepted the offer.”The longstanding matters between the PCB and the franchises were causing distraction and affecting the reputation of the brand,” Ramiz Raja, the PCB chairman, said. “I am delighted that all matters have finally been resolved, which is a big step forward in building a stronger relationship with the franchise owners as we look forward to working with them to take the HBL PSL to greater and unprecedented heights.”The main changes to the model include:Increased share of Central Pool of Revenue
In the new model, all franchises will get 95% of revenue generated from all revenue streams including broadcasting rights, sponsorship rights and gate receipts from the seventh edition onward. For PSL 5 and 6, the PCB will share 98% of the central pool revenue as an additional relief in view of the Covid-19 pandemic that disrupted both seasons. In previous years, the revenue shared varied between 85% and 90%.The franchises wanted the PCB to give them rights in perpetuity but that is not part of the new model. As per the original contract franchises will have to pay an increased franchise fee [existing fee + 25% or 25% of market value of the franchise, whichever is higher].Dollar rate fixed from date of signing
One of the key points of contention has been the exchange rate of the US dollar against the franchise fee. The price of franchises when they were auctioned was set in US dollars. In 2015, when the first five franchises came on board, the rate was PKR 105 to a dollar. Currently, the rate of a US dollar hovers above PKR 170. The agreed offer means the PCB will peg the US dollar to the day the new agreement is signed. International players will continue to be paid in USD.Franchise fee payments
In its new, final offer, the PCB has revised the franchise fee payment schedule and done away with the practice of paying player fees themselves and adjusting that amount from when they pay out from the central pool revenue. In this new model, the board is asking franchises to pay 50% of player fees in advance. The condition of putting forth a bank guarantee against the franchise fee has also been removed. The new payment structure will see franchises deposit 50% of the franchise fee two months before the start of the PSL, a further 25% one day before the start first match and the remaining 25% the day before the final match. If a franchise fails to keep to this schedule, a bank guarantee three months in advance will be reinstated for that particular franchise.More money for high-profile players
In a bid to attract foreign players, the PCB offered a lucrative package offering them more money out of the available purse. If annual net broadcast revenues (including live streams) exceed PKR 3 billion, any additional revenue of up to USD 0.5 million* will be used exclusively to procure elite players from the world. Presently top players at the PSL earn about USD 180,000 to 200,000. The new, higher amount paid to elite players will be over and above the agreed player cap agreed with the franchises. Thereafter, any amount in excess of USD 0.5 million will be shared 80:20 between the PCB and the franchises.No more franchises till PSL 10
The PSL initially started in 2015 with five teams while the sixth team – Multan Sultans – was introduced in 2017. But the PCB terminated the eight-year ownership rights after the franchise failed to pay their annual fee of USD 5.2 million. PCB repossessed the ownership rights, and resold it to another owner for USD 6.35 million. But any further franchise will not be launched till the tenth edition of the PSL.

Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, will not be heard by UK audiences during this winter’s Ashes in Australia, after BT Sport followed the BBC’s decision to remove him from their TV coverage of the series.Vaughan, 47, was last week stood down from BBC Test Match Special’s coverage for “editorial” reasons, following allegations from Azeem Rafiq, the former Yorkshire cricketer, that he had said “there are too many of you lot” following the selection of four players of Asian heritage in a county fixture in 2009.Vaughan, who denies the allegations, apologised last week in an interview on BBC Breakfast for the “hurt” caused to Rafiq during his time as a player at Yorkshire, and will still be involved in this winter’s Ashes coverage through his commentary role with Fox Sports, the Australian host broadcaster.However, BT Sport – who are due to take the Fox Sports feed after choosing not to send a bespoke commentary team to Australia – announced on Tuesday that they will be taking a “hybrid” approach to their coverage, with Vaughan’s on-air stints to be overlaid with studio analysis.”As a result of Covid and travel restrictions BT Sport had made the decision to take our commentary feed from the Australian host broadcaster,” the channel said in a statement. “The recent report presented to UK Parliament uncovering institutional racism within cricket and specifically Yorkshire County Cricket Club is extremely disappointing and a concern for all.”Given these recent events and the controversy with the situation we have taken the decision that including Michael Vaughan within our Ashes coverage would not be editorially appropriate or fit with BT Sport’s values. We are still finalising plans but we are assessing the option of taking a hybrid approach, using Fox commentary where possible with the aim of putting our own commentary team in place if necessary.”Vaughan’s troubled build-up to the series continued on Tuesday, when he announced on Twitter that his arrival in Australia had been delayed by a week due to a positive Covid test. “[It] is frustrating,” he wrote. “But at least I’ll avoid the rain in Brisbane for a few days!”However, his hopes of being retained by the BBC after the Ashes have received a boost, after the corporation confirmed that they had been in “regular contact” with Vaughan since his suspension, and had held “positive conversations with him in recent days”.”Our contributors are required to talk about relevant issues, so Michael’s involvement in a story of such significance means it’s not possible for him to be part of our Ashes coverage or wider cricket coverage at the moment,” the statement added. “We’re pleased with how our conversations are going and expect to work with Michael again in the future. He remains on contract to the BBC.”The BBC’s stance was criticised this week by his former England team-mate Monty Panesar, who wrote in a column in the Daily Telegraph: “This feels deeply unethical — a classic case of someone being tried and convicted without any form of due process being undertaken.”

South Africa’s Test captain Dean Elgar signalled his return to full fitness from an abductor injury with a hundred in his third red-ball innings this summer as the Titans registered their first win of the season. Elgar, who sustained the niggle during the T20 domestic competition, was one of four centurions for the Titans, who beat Western Province by an innings and 139 runs.”The most important thing was that he got an opportunity to spend time at the crease and he took it. He has had a difficult few weeks so his goal was to make sure he is batting for a long period of time, knowing that if he does that, the runs will come,” Mandla Mashimbyi, Titans coach told ESPNcricinfo.Elgar and his opening partner Grant Mokoena, who top-scored with 154, shared in an opening stand of 231 before Jiveshan Pillay and Ayabulela Gqamane contributed 113* and 117* respectively to take the Titans to 647 for 7 declared. Despite the towering total, Mashimbyi indicated batting at Newlands was not as straightforward as the scorecard made it seem. “It was not a typical Cape Town wicket. It was a bit slowish so the batter really had to knuckle down,” he said. “We found that once guys got in, things became a little easier.”Western Province batters barely managed that. There were only two scores over 40 in their first innings as Simon Harmer’s 7 for 76 forced the follow-on, 452 runs behind. Harmer finished the match with 10 wickets, with Western Province bowled out for 313 in their second dig, where Daniel Smith and Kyle Verreynne made half-centuries.The win puts the Titans in fourth place on the table and, with one round of fixtures to go before a break, Mashimbyi is hoping for a second victory in the Cape, over Boland this week, to consolidate their position in the top-half. For Elgar, the fixture will be doubly important as he seeks to maximise his competitive batting time ahead of South Africa’s three-Test series against India, that begins in mid-December.”Dean just wants to work on a couple of specifics: things like getting into good positions and watching the ball and it’s just about emphasising those points,” Mashimbyi said. “He knows his game well and he has been playing a long time, so with some more time in the middle, he will be ready for the Tests.”

In other results:

Division One

• The Lions maintained their place at the top of the points table with an innings-and-30-run victory over Boland at the Wanderers. After bowling Boland out for 170, new ODI call-up Ryan Rickelton scored 117 as the Lions took a 180-run lead after their first innings. Boland were skittled out for 150 in their second innings with Duanne Olivier taking 5 for 57. Olivier finished with eight wickets in the match and is the competition’s leading bowler with 20 wickets at an average of 12.30.
• The Warriors have climbed to third on the log after their 130-run win over North West in Potchefstroom. Edward Moore, Lesiba Ngoepe and Diego Rosier scored half-centuries to take the Warriors to a first innings 334. North West took the lead, scoring 350, thanks largely to Wesley Marshall’s 94 before a big second innings from the Warriors swung the advantage their way. Matthew Breetzke’s 152 and Rudi Second’s 103* allowed them to declare on 342 for 2 and set North West 349 to win. They were bowled out for 218.
• Despite the win, the Warriors could not leapfrog the Knights, who are in second place after a draw against the Dolphins in a weather-affected match in Durban. The Knights bowled their hosts out for 226 and then declared their first innings closed on 397 for 4, with Matthew Kleinveldt contributing 177 but their 171-run lead could not force a result. The Dolphins second innings had reached 174 for 5 by the end of the fourth day.

Division Two

• Sean Whitehead became the fourth South African to take all 10 wickets in an innings as South Western Districts earned a 120 run win over Easterns. Whitehead’s performance came in the fourth innings of the match, with Easterns set a target of 186 runs to win. They were dismissed for 65. Whitehead took 15 in the match all told and is now joint-third on the overall bowling charts. Leus du Plooy’s 91 and 85* made him the match’s highest run-scorer.
• Kwa-Zulu-Natal Inland lead the Division Two points table after a seven-wicket win over Border. Thomas Kaber’s 103* helped Border post 384 in their first innings which KZN Inland matched exactly. Tshepang Dithole scored 162 while Kaber took 5 for 109. Luke Schlemmer’s 6 for 31 saw Border dismissed for 106 in their second innings and KZN Inland reached the target after losing just three wickets.
• In Polokwane, Limpopo and Northern Cape played out a draw despite a result appearing agonisingly close. Northern Cape were set 126 to win the match and finished on 121 for 7 with captain Aubrey Swanepoel unbeaten on 44 at the end. Earlier, Swanepoel took 7 for 56 as Northern Cape bowled Limpopo out for 290 and replied with 350, after Rivaldo Moonsamy’s 101. Limpopo were dismissed for 185 in their second innings, which gave Northern Cape an opportunity to go for victory but they were unable to close out the game.

The rescheduled limited-overs series between South Africa Women and West Indies Women is set to begin on January 28 and end on February 6 in Johannesburg to “complete preparations” ahead of the ODI World Cup, the two boards confirmed on Wednesday.According to the original schedule, the two teams were supposed to play three T20Is and five ODIs from January 15 to February 6. Now, the revised schedule will see them take part in only four ODIs – two matches under lights – and a warm-up match against a South Africa XI on January 25.

West Indies in SA

January 28

First ODI.

January 31

Second ODI.

February 3

Third ODI.

February 6

Fourth ODI.

All matches in South Africa will be played in a bio-secure environment at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.”There has been a lot of hard work and collaboration with our friends at Cricket South Africa regarding this tour and we are very pleased that we have been able to confirm this rescheduled ODI Series, allowing us to play vital high-level international competition and complete preparations ahead of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup,” Cricket West Indies (CWI) CEO Johnny Grave said. “We are extremely grateful to both CSA’s and CWI’s operational and medical teams for their efforts in confirming the schedule and we look forward to an exciting ODI series.”Head coach Courtney Walsh believes that this tour will give them a chance to get some quality game time before the World Cup, which is scheduled for March in New Zealand.”We have played less cricket than anticipated following the cancellation of the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe,” Walsh said. “This tour will show us exactly what we need to fine-tune before departing for New Zealand so that when we get there we can hit the ground running and give a proper showing of ourselves on the world stage.”The last time these two teams faced each other, in the West Indies in September last year, South Africa thrashed the hosts 4-0 in the five-match ODI series and drew the three-match T20I series 1-1.

Veteran Azhar Ali hit a brilliant 185 as an unwavering Pakistan batted a weary Australia further into the ground during a dominant second day to gain a firm stranglehold of the first Test in Rawalpindi.Azhar’s marathon 361-ball vigil ended midway through the final session when he fell seeking quick runs as Pakistan declared on 476 for 4 about an hour before stumps. Under the floodlights amid gloomy skies, Pakistan had to resort to spin to keep playing but only a solitary over from Sajid Khan was bowled before players left the field and stumps were called shortly after with Australia at 5 for 0.Pakistan might have been wiser to declare a little earlier considering the deteriorating light, which ultimately reprieved Australia openers Usman Khawaja and David Warner, but they should remain well satisfied after another commanding performance.After winning a crucial toss and electing to bat, Pakistan had three big partnerships at the top as their meticulous approach never gave Australia a sniff in the favourable batting conditions. It was a slow burn but they turned the screws in similar fashion to their success over Australia in the UAE in 2014 and 2018.In contrast, Australia toiled for 162 overs without little reward on a flat pitch and have almost been batted out of the contest during a sombre day, as the spectre of cricket legend Shane Warne’s shock passing overshadowed proceedings.A minute’s silence was observed before play in memory of Warne and victims of the terror attacks in Peshawar as players from both teams wore black armbands.The weary tourists, in their first overseas Test tour since 2019, face the daunting prospect of having to summon a rousing batting effort to stay afloat in the series opener. They will hope the pitch doesn’t start to wear after sole specialist spinner Nathan Lyon was unable to conjure rampant turn on day two that he produced early on day one. But Marnus Labuschagne found a bit of spin late on to whet the appetite of Pakistan’s spin heavy attack.It was a disciplined batting effort from Pakistan led by centurions Azhar and opener Imam-ul-Haq who combined for a second-wicket partnership of 208. Thwarting menacing short-pitched bowling from Pat Cummins, who was unsurprisingly the pick of Australia’s bowlers and the only quick to take a wicket, they stonewalled during a sedate first session yielding just 57 runs in 25 overs.After unwavering patience, as he crawled towards his 19th Test ton after lunch, Azhar went for broke on 97 and skipped down the pitch only to miscue Lyon over the leg side but safely into the boundary to trigger jubilation in the terraces, which filled towards capacity later in the day after only a smattering of spectators early, some of whom were holding placards honouring Warne.Pat Cummins was the only quick bowler to take a wicket•AFP/Getty Images

Cummins was rewarded for his persistence when he had the indefatigable Imam trapped lbw to end his brilliant maiden Test century of 157 from 358 balls. In a breakout performance, after a modest previous 11 Test output over four years, Imam reviewed in vain and trudged off but his superb knock provided Pakistan with the perfect platform to switch gears.Pakistan’s bid to accelerate suffered a setback after tea when skipper Babar Azam, who had shared a brisk 101-partnership with Azhar, was spectacularly run out by a direct throw from a pumped-up Labuschagne, who sought to lift Australia’s sagging spirit.Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhkar Ahmed were promoted up the order in a clear sign of Pakistan’s intentions after it had seemed the hosts were intent on extending Australia’s misery in the field into a third day.After eye-catching captaincy on the opening day, where he deployed eight bowlers and tapped deep into his bag of tactics, Cummins mostly stuck with his frontline bowlers although occasionally unveiled inventive fielding placings, including two fielders either side of square leg and a short mid-on to combat Azhar late in the first session.He finally turned to Labuschagne, who bowled four overs on day one, and his nice spell after tea was rewarded with the wicket of Azhar. His handy bowling further shone the spotlight on Cummins’ baffling decision to use the docile offspin of Travis Head early on day one, which sparked a slow-starting Imam into action.With the quicks being rebuffed by Pakistan’s stout batters, there was a heavy burden on Lyon who finished with 1 for 161 off 52 overs.After enduring criticism during the Ashes, wicketkeeper Alex Carey’s struggles behind the stumps continued throughout the innings marred by two dropped catches, including reprieving Rizwan on naught off Lyon in the final session.A flagging Australia will have to shrug off their tough start to the tour, their first in Pakistan in almost 24 years and with no warm-up matches, otherwise they are staring down the barrel of falling behind in the three-match series.

Jordan Thompson starred with bat and ball on the first day of Yorkshire’s LV= Insurance County Championship clash with Northamptonshire at Wantage Road.The Leeds-born allrounder struck in successive balls to remove Northamptonshire skipper Ricardo Vasconcelos and night-watchman Simon Kerrigan as the hosts stumbled to 26 for 2 in reply to Yorkshire’s 296 all out.Thompson’s double-strike followed his quick-fire 51 which guided Yorkshire from the choppy waters of 206 for 7 to the brink of a third batting point.Rising star Harry Brook top-scored for the visitors with 84, sharing a stand of 131 with Dawid Malan, while Gareth Berg, still running in at the age of 41 snared 5 for 58, his seventh five-wicket haul in first-class cricket.Berg soon gave Tykes skipper Steven Patterson reason to regret his decision to bat with three wickets in a typically probing opening spell.The elder statesman of the new-ball art was indebted to debutant Will Young for the wicket of Adam Lyth, the New Zealander hurling his 6ft 2″ frame to his right at second slip to clasp the edge inches above the turf. Berg then induced a thin nick through to keeper Lewis McManus to send George Hill packing for a duck.It should have been even better two balls later when Malan edged another ball which moved away off the seam, only for Vasconcelos to shell the most routine of slip catches.Undeterred, Berg struck again in his sixth over when Dimuth Karunaratne gave McManus more catching practice, but the dropping of Malan was to haunt the hosts for some time.Karunaratne’s demise brought Brook to the crease fresh from his unbeaten half-century in last week’s win over Gloucestershire. The 23-year-old right-hander, who made his T20 international debut on the West Indies tour this winter, also has history with Wantage Road, having made a century in Yorkshire’s win in the same fixture a year ago and he was quickly into stride, a savage pull in front of square off Aussie debutant Matt Kelly an early highlight.Meanwhile, Malan, a scapegoat for England’s post-Ashes red-ball reset, was making the most of his early reprieve as Luke Proctor made the mistake of feeding his trademark cover drive. The duo gorged on Kerrigan too in the run-up to lunch, Brook hammering the spinner over mid-wicket for six. The 100-partnership came soon after the resumption, but Berg returned to pin Malan lbw.Nevertheless, with Brook continuing serenely on, the visitors were in charge at 203 for 4 before the game took another turn. Ben Sanderson, who had not been at his best with the new ball, bowled Harry Duke before grabbing the prize wicket of Brook, both off the inside-edge and with Rob Keogh castling Dom Bess in the intervening over, Yorkshire suddenly found themselves stymied.Thompson, though, fought back aggressively, clattering a six into the advertising hoardings in a 69-ball 50, his fourth in first-class cricket, before Kelly removed him and Patterson in successive balls.Fittingly, it was Berg who then bowled Harris Rauf to complete his five-for, leaving Yorkshire four runs shy of a third batting point.Vasconcelos despatched the first ball of the host’s reply to the boundary, but Northamptonshire were largely circumspect, at one stage absorbing 36 balls without scoring.Their bid to reach the close unscathed was undone by Thompson, who trapped Vasconcelos in front before having Kerrigan taken at slip for a first-ball duck.

Big picture

MS Dhoni Ravindra Jadeja vs Shreyas Iyer. Two new captains will kick off IPL 2022, in a rematch of the IPL 2021 final, at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday. The time Dhoni has represented Super Kings strictly as a player was in 2012, in a dead-rubber Champions League T20 game against Yorkshire. A decade later, Super Kings will start preparing for life after Dhoni although a statement from the franchise said he would continue to represent Super Kings as a player this season and “beyond.”Related

• Iyer buys into KKR's 'mindset' and 'intensity'

• Moeen likely to miss CSK's season-opener

• IPL 2022: Ravindra Jadeja to lead CSK after MS Dhoni decides to step down

• Team-wise player availability for IPL 2022

Jadeja’s immediate challenge is plug the holes created by the absence of first-choice players Deepak Chahar (injured) and Moeen Ali (unavailable following visa issues). Iyer, too, will have to contend with the absence of Alex Hales and his replacement Aaron Finch, who is not available for the early part of the tournament. Iyer has vowed to follow Knight Riders’ attack-first approach, which saw them surge into the final in 2021 despite a horror start to that season.

In the news

Moeen has arrived in India and will be available for Super Kings’ second game, against Lucknow Super Giants on March 31, after undergoing quarantine for three days. In the absence of Moeen, New Zealand batter Devon Conway is likely to make his IPL debut. Head coach Stephen Fleming had previously worked with Conway when he was part of New Zealand’s preparatory camp for the 2021 T20 World Cup.Tim Southee, who got married earlier this week and joined the IPL bubble late, will miss Saturday’s game. In his absence, Knight Riders could pick Sri Lanka’s Chamika Karunaratne or an extra Indian seamer.Ruturaj Gaikwad and Varun Chakravarthy could play key roles for their respective teams•BCCI

Likely XIs

Chennai Super Kings: 1 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 2 Robin Uthappa, 3 Devon Conway, 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 Ravindra Jadeja (capt), 6 Shivam Dube, 7 MS Dhoni (wk), 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Rajvardhan Hangargekar, 10 Chris Jordan/Maheesh Theekshana, 11 Adam MilneKolkata Knight Riders: 1 Venkatesh Iyer, 2 Ajinkya Rahane, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Sam Billings (wk), 6 Andre Russell, 7 Sunil Narine, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Shivam Mavi 10 Varun Chakravarthy, 11 Umesh Yadav/Rasikh Salam DarDevon Conway could make his IPL debut in the absence of Moeen Ali•Getty Images

Strategy punt

There is a case for Super Kings to use Conway as a floater in the middle order to counter Knight Riders’ mystery spinners, who have strong records against most of the Super Kings batters. In the T20 World Cup game against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi, Conway threw both Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi, who is now part of KKR, off their lines and lengths with a variety of sweeps, including the reverse-hit. In all T20 cricket, Conway averages 61.63 and strikes at 134.65 against spin. Against pace, the average drops to 37.40 and strike rate to 126.15.

Stats that matter

• KKR have the lowest win percentage among current IPL teams at the Wankhede: 9%. They have won just one out of 11 IPL games at this venue.
• Varun Chakravarthy has dismissed Dhoni three times in three meetings in the IPL. As for Sunil Narine, he has kept Dhoni to 44 off 83 balls in T20 cricket while dismissing him twice.
• No player has hit as many sixes against a single bowler as Russell against Bravo in T20s – 23.
• Ambati Rayudu has 885 runs in 48 IPL innings at the Wankhede. Only Kieron Pollard and Rohit Sharma have more runs than Rayudu at this venue, but both batters have had the benefit of more hits with the bat.

The Vitality Blast turns 20 this year and when the competition begins with a blockbuster rematch of last year’s final between Kent and Somerset on Wednesday night, one of the main drawcards will be Will Smeed, himself only 20 years old.For most cricket fans those opening hit-and-giggle games that heralded the freshness of the first-ever summer of Twenty20 cricket in 2003 hardly feel that long ago but for the new generation of cricketers, they have known nothing else.Last summer Smeed emerged, front and centre of the new wave who have revolutionised the game over the past two decades. Smeed has grown up alongside the shortest format, sponging off an era of white-ball hitters down in Taunton: it is no wonder he plays as he does.West Indies great Chris Gayle peppering the River Tone at Taunton is one of the most enduring memories of the competition’s past, although there have been a few players of a similar style to grace the West Country in the T20 era.”He’s the one that stands out,” Smeed says, recalling Gayle’s unbeaten 151 – coincidentally also against Kent – back in 2015 when a fan jumped into the river to retrieve one of the balls he had hit out of the ground. “What he did was ridiculous.”Related

• Jason Behrendorff, Chris Green join Middlesex as Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman bow out

• Pollard reunited with Narine as Surrey deal for Blast is confirmed

• Rossouw joins Somerset for Blast

• Smeed's 99 in vain as Zalmi hold off Gladiators

• Smeed in it to ping it as Somerset seek end-of-season tonic

Smeed’s skillset epitomises the biggest change to T20 cricket in the last 20 years: the mindset of the batters. Across his fledgling T20 career, he has hit a boundary every five balls and he strikes at 155 over the past year. Smeed doesn’t care where you bowl it: you’re fetching it from the stands.Should we be surprised by these stats? Well, not really. Smeed played all his youth cricket in the age of T20. And, the result is simple. He is a product of the era – bullish, confident, and always backing himself.He stands at the crease, never afraid to take a risk, never afraid to lose his wicket, and never to change the approach that has brought him so much success.”When I was younger, I was better at red-ball cricket, but that has flipped itself around,” Smeed explains. “I’m not really sure how or why that has happened.”When batting, I don’t try to think about what has gone before. It’s about going back to basics, watching the ball, keeping it simple, and hopefully, I get a boundary away early. That usually calms my nerves.”Although Smeed has aspirations to play all three formats throughout his career, he certainly suits the shortest. And as T20 cricket has found its feet over the past two decades, so has Smeed.The last two seasons have hardly been a bad start to his career, considering he had a shoulder operation a few years ago. Smeed hit 82 off 49 balls in just his second professional match.Will Smeed starred in his first PSL season•PSL

He top-scored for Somerset in last year’s Blast final and chalked-up two 90-plus scores in the Pakistan Super League, falling agonisingly short of a maiden T20 century which is surely just around the corner.”With T20 cricket, even the world’s best players don’t come off every time,” he says, on retaining his positive ethos at the crease. “There has to be that acceptance that it’s not going your way every game, but that makes it better when it does come off. That belief feeds down from the coaches, knowing they will back you if you don’t score for a few games.”It gives you the confidence to go and express yourself. I play my best when I’m really enjoying it, I don’t try to overthink it.”This season, Smeed is focused on taking his side to the Blast title, hoping to go one step further after last year’s final defeat to Kent. “There is the belief around the squad that we can win the competition,” he adds.”I feel a lot more established in the side, so I will be looking to take more responsibility. Bowlers would have seen more of me, so I need to find ways to counteract that.”It’s about taking smarter options at the crease. Last season, I got a lot of starts but didn’t kick on. This year, I’m going to be greedy.”You can book your Vitality Blast tickets and join the 20th season celebrations via this link

James Vince hammered the highest individual score by a Hampshire player in T20 cricket as the Hawks pulled off a 14-run Vitality Blast victory over Somerset at Taunton.The visiting skipper smashed 129 not out, off 62 balls, with 10 sixes and nine fours, well supported by 19-year-old Tom Prest, who made a career-best 62, to help Hampshire to their biggest total in the competition, 208 for five, after losing the toss.After a brief stoppage for rain, Somerset replied with 193 for nine, Rilee Rossouw top-scoring with 55 off 28 balls and Tom Banton contributing 54 from 38 deliveries. Chris Wood claimed two for 26.The result left Somerset still second in the South Group table, while Hampshire moved into the top five.Vince’s amazing assault bettered the unbeaten 124 made for Hampshire by Michael Lumb in a T20 game against Essex at Southampton back in 2009.The monumental innings was even more praiseworthy for the fact that he lost opening partner Ben McDermott to the third ball of the game, caught top-edging a pull shot off Tom Lammonby.Somerset restricted the Hawks to 45 for one off the powerplay and would still have been happy with the situation at the halfway point of Hampshire’s innings when they were 83 for one.But by then Vince had cleared the ropes three times and Prest once. Both batsmen reached their half-centuries in the 13th over, Vince first off 36 balls quickly followed by the impressive Prest off 38.The next over saw Lewis Gregory concede 31 runs, Vince completing it with three successive sixes after Prest had claimed a maximum off the second delivery.Prest then departed, having faced 46 balls and hit two sixes and six fours, edging a wide ball from Jack Brooks through to wicketkeeper Banton.But by then Vince was scoring so quickly it barely mattered. He reached his fourth Blast ton with two fours and a two off the first three balls of the 18th over, his second fifty having come off just 15 deliveries.Ross Whiteley, Joe Weatherley and James Fuller fell cheaply. But when Vince launched the last ball of the innings from Peter Siddle over mid-wicket for his tenth six it completed an unforgettable innings.By the end of their powerplay, Somerset had reached 45 without loss. Both openers then began to accelerate, Will Smeed taking his tally of sixes to four before falling for 43 to a fine one-handed catch by wicketkeeper McDermott off Fuller.Rossouw hit his first two balls for four and six as the hosts progressed to 104 by the end of the tenth over, Banton going well on 38.Dropped on 43 by Prest at deep mid-wicket off Fuller, he moved to a 34-ball fifty with an audacious reverse sweep off Ellis, which cleared the stands.When Wood bowled Banton behind his legs, Somerset needed 78 from 45 balls. That had been reduced to 42 off 23 when Tom Abell was caught attempting a ramp shot off Wheal.The home side surprisingly sent in George Bartlett for his first Blast appearance of the season and he could make only two before being bowled by Wood.Momentum was lost as Wood, Wheal and Ellis combined effectively with the ball at the death.Rossouw moved to his sixth fifty in 11 South Group games off 25 balls. But when he went to the first ball of the 19th over, caught in the deep off a Liam Dawson full toss, Somerset’s race was run and a clatter of wickets saw them fall well short.

Rahul Dravid, India’s head coach, pointed to potential issues with fitness and sustained intensity among the bowlers in the aftermath of their failure to defend a target of 378 against England in the fifth Test. England chased down their highest fourth-innings target at Edgbaston with seven wickets in hand half an hour before lunch on the final day. By the end, England had scored their second-innings runs at 4.93 per over. This was also the highest target India have failed to defend in their history.Related

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The defeat denied India a first series win in England since 2007 and meant that the interrupted Pataudi Trophy was eventually shared 2-2. This result came on the back of two defeats in South Africa earlier this year, when India failed to defend 240 and 212 in successive Tests, having defended 305 in the first.”It’s been disappointing for us,” Dravid said. “I mean we had a couple of opportunities in South Africa as well and here as well. I just think it’s something we need to look at, something we need to probably work on.”We have been very good at that over the last few years, in terms of taking wickets and winning those Test matches. But, yeah, we haven’t been able to do that over the last few months. It could be a variety of factors: it could be maybe we just need to maintain that intensity, maintain that level of fitness, or maintain that level of performance right through a Test match.”India have used a combination of four pace bowlers from Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur and Umesh Yadav across those Tests with one spinner: R Ashwin in South Africa and Ravindra Jadeja at Edgbaston.It wasn’t the bowling in the fourth innings alone, however, where the Test was lost. India’s third-innings collapse of 7 for 92, which scaled back a potential target from 450-plus to under 400, played a part.”In the second innings, we have not batted as well,” Dravid said. “If you look at all the third innings of these two Test matches overseas and this one, the batting has also probably not been up to scratch. In both areas, we have sort of started the Test matches well but we haven’t been able to finish well and yeah we need to get better at that and certainly need to improve.”Post-result, there will be scrutiny – as there was all summer last year – on the exclusion of Ashwin. He didn’t play a single Test of the four last year, though India were leading the series 2-1 at the end of it. Dravid did not think, however, that the surface warranted two spinners.”In hindsight, you can always look at things and look at the combination of your team. Shardul has done a good job for us in these games,” Dravid said. “It is always not easy to leave someone like Ash out in a Test match. But having said that, when we looked at the wicket on the first day, it had a pretty good even covering of grass. We felt that there was enough in it for the fast bowlers.1:01

Dravid: The pitch ‘didn’t really turn enough to justify’ playing Ashwin

“And even going into the last day the wicket hasn’t really spun – whether it’s for Jack Leach, whether it’s for Ravindra Jadeja who bowled through the Test match. If anything, because maybe the weather played a part over the first days, and there weren’t long phases of sun, the wicket didn’t break up as much as we expected it to, or didn’t spin as much as we expected it to. It’s easy to look back on the fifth day and say it would have been nice to have a second spinner in the fourth innings, but again it didn’t really turn to justify that.”Perhaps the year-long gap for the conclusion of the series played a part. When the Old Trafford Test was called off last year, India and England were both in very different spaces. England, in particular, were in a rut of results that would see them lose the Ashes 4-0, a series in the Caribbean and, ultimately result in a comprehensive leadership change. In the interim, India also have a new captain and coach and though they have won at home comfortably, they did lose their only overseas Test series in South Africa.”I don’t want to make excuses,” Dravid said. “I wasn’t part of the team then. India was on a roll at that stage. England were probably in a slightly different situation at that point of time. But they have come here on the back of three consecutive wins against New Zealand. We have had a long gap in between Test cricket, but no excuses.”They played well over the five days. We had our opportunities, we played well over the first three days. We couldn’t maintain that. That’s why Test cricket is hard. And that’s why Test cricket means that you have got to be able to keep putting those performances right through the five days. We were not able to do that and they did that better than us and they deserved to win this Test match.”