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A round-up of fifth-round matches of the Regional Four Day Competition

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Mar-2013
ScorecardShane Shillingford’s match-winning effort against Barbados helped Windward Islands go to the top of the league•WICB Media

Shane Shillingford took his good form from the Test series against Zimbabwe into the Regional Four Day Competition, taking 12 wicketsto set up a 216-run win for Windward Islands against Barbados. Shillingford, who took 19 wickets in two Tests at an average of 10.52, bowled well in both innings to help dismiss Barbados for 64 and 205. The win puts Windwards at the top of the points table with 48 points.Batting first, Windwards managed 184 in their first innings. Ashley Nurse and Sulieman Benn took four wickets each as Windwards crumbled after a strong start. In reply, Shillingford and medium pacers Nelon Pascal and Keon Peters dismissed Barbados for a paltry 64.Openers Devon Smith and Tyrone Theophile extended Windwards’ 120-run lead, with an opening stand of 170. While Theophile fell for 91, Smith smashed an unbeaten 150 as Windwards declared at 301 for 4, setting Barbados 422 runs for a win.Shillingford then spun out Barbados for 205, picking up eight wickets for 82 runs off 37 overs. Barbados opener Kraigg Braithwaite held on end up, scoring an unbeaten 91 off 266 balls but Shillingford’s dominance proved too much for Barbados.
ScorecardTrinidad & Tobago routed Combined Campuses and Colleges by 10 wickets in Port of Spain. Put into the bat, T&T were in trouble at 19 for 3 before a 117-run fourth-wicket stand between Jason Mohammed and captain Dwayne Bravo lifted them to safety. Mohammed anchored the T&T innings, stitching together partnerships of 80 runs and 104 runs with Kieron Pollard and Stephen Katwaroo respectively, and scored his second first-class hundred. T&T declared their innings at an imposing 406 for 9.CCC began their reply well and a 107-run partnership between captain Kyle Corbin and Raymon Riefer for the fourth wicket took them to a solid-looking 168 for 3. However, the innings went downhill after Corbin was dismissed for 62, with the score at 168 for 4. CCC lost their next six wickets to fast bowler Rayad Emrit for just 20 runs to be dismissed for 188.CCC were in danger of facing an innings defeat, tottering at 53 for 5 after T&T enforced the follow-on with a lead of 218 runs. Floyd Reifer and Chadwick Walton added 98 runs for the sixth wicket to lend some stability to the innings while a 72-run stand between Walton and McClean helped CCC edge past T&T’s lead. Another lower-order collapse – four wickets in five runs – ensured that T&T needed a mere 11 runs for a win. The T&T openers took two overs to reach the target and bring their side to second place on the points table, level with Jamaica.
ScorecardLeft-arm spinner Nikita Miller’s 11-wicket haul set up Jamaica’s 170-run win over Leeward Islands. Put in to bat, Jamaica were dismissed for 209 in their first innings. Leewards offspinner Justin Athanaze picked up four wickets , while Quinton Boatswain took 3 for 21 in nine overs.In reply, Leewards crumbled to 108 all out as Miller picked up seven wickets, conceding a miserly 13 runs in 20.2 overs. Jamaica struggled in their second innings and were 116 for 9 at one stage, before a 109-run tenth-wicket partnership between Odean Brown and Sheldon Cotterrell took them to 225. Brown scored his second first-class fifty before he was dismissed by Athanaze for 59.Leewards had a poor start in their chase of a steep target of 327 runs. Quick wickets from fast bowler Andrew Richardson and Cotterrell reduced them to 20 for 4. A 91-run partnership between captain Sylvester Joseph and Jahmar Hamilton restored some stability to the chase but Jamaica were on top after Leewards lost their next four wickets for just 11 runs. Miller dismissed Hamilton for 52 and took three more wickets to give Jamaica a convincing win.

ESPNcricinfo previews the eighth match of IPL 2012 between Pune Warriors v Kings XI Punjab in Pune

The Preview by Devashish Fuloria07-Apr-2012

Match facts

Sunday, April 8, Pune
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Following his solid cameo in Pune Warriors’ opening game, can Robin Uthappa produce a typical blitz?•AFP

Big Picture

After spending a season playing at their surrogate home ground in Navi Mumbai, Pune Warriors are back where they ought to be – in Pune. Here, they will take on Kings XI Punjab at the new Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium. The ground is 28 kms away from the city centre, but optimists among the fans would say that’s 100 kms closer than the DY Patil Stadium. Fresh from their 28-run heist against their more fancied neighbours, Mumbai Indians, Warriors will look to build some momentum against a Kings XI side that was razed by Ajinkya Rahane and Kevin Cooper in Jaipur on Friday.In that game, Adam Gilchrist’s side lacked bite in their bowling. With his reduced pace, Praveen Kumar has been easier to score off all season, and on the flatter pitches of the IPL his form is particularly worrisome. Kings XI’s follow-up bowlers lacked control and variety, and that makes a case for the inclusion of an experienced Twenty20 player like Azhar Mahmood.Warriors will be still be wary though, after their batting appeared light in their last match. In-form Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal could make his IPL debut. Their bowling attack, with its variety, wouldn’t solicit a change.

Players to watch

Robin Uthappa scored an uncharacteristically sedate 36 in Mumbai but, more importantly, controlled the slide with a crucial partnership in the middle overs. A strong hitter, Uthappa would fancy his chances against a less than commanding Kings XI bowling attack.Twenty-year-old Mandeep Singh was the top-scorer for Kings XI in their last outing. In a batting order dominated by the likes of Gilchrist, Shaun Marsh and David Hussey, Mandeep has the talent to become the local mainstay.

2011 head-to-head

Warriors overwhelmed Kings XI twice in an otherwise sorry campaign last year. The bowlers led them to a seven-wicket win in Navi Mumbai and repeated the performance in Mohali, ensuring a five-wicket victory.

Stats and trivia

• Shaun Marsh averages 50.96 for Kings XI, the highest in IPL history.
• Rahul Sharma leads Warriors bowling charts with 17 wickets at an average of 17. Neat.

Quotes

“There is a problem with the white ball on the flat subcontinent wickets. [For the] first few overs it’s manageable, but then both the new balls are an advantage to the batsmen.”

“We have been strictly instructed by Preity [Zinta, Kings XI’s owner] to go slow on serving the players any oily food, even if the cravings are intense.”

The bowlers dominated the opening day of the Logan Cup final between Mountaineers and Matabeleland Tuskers at Mutare Sports Club, with 14 wickets falling for 251 runs

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Mar-2011Stumps
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
The bowlers dominated the opening day of the Logan Cup final between Mountaineers and Matabeleland Tuskers at Mutare Sports Club, with 14 wickets falling for 251 runs in the course of the day. Mark Mabuza’s 54, and some stubborn lower-order resistance, took Tuskers to 195 after they had been reduced to 118 for 7. Mountaineers had the ascendancy after the first innings, but in less than a session swing bowler Keegan Meth brought his team strongly back into the game with four quick wickets to reduce Mountaineers to 56 for 4 at stumps.Mountaineers had their full team fit and available, but Matabeleland Tuskers were badly depleted, especially in their top-order batting. Their regular captain Gavin Ewing has a dislocated shoulder, so Keith Dabengwa took over the reins. Terry Duffin and Sean Williams are yet to recover from injuries they picked up during the World Cup, while the English professionals Paul Horton and Adam Wheater, who had both done outstanding jobs for the franchise this season, have gone back to England for the start of the county season. Williams has only played three matches for the team, but the others are the four leading run-scorers for Matabeleland Tuskers in 2010-11 – a very serious blow.After Tuskers won the toss and decided to bat on a hot, sunny day, the makeshift opening pair of Mark Mabuza and Brad Staddon began in defensive fashion, digging in deep, although both had lucky escapes when mistimed pulls dropped clear of the fielders. They seemed to have weathered the new ball and were starting to look actively for runs when, after almost an hour, Staddon’s forward defence was beaten by a ball from Shingi Masakadza that took the edge and was taken by the keeper. Charles Coventry took a single from his first ball and from his next, the first bowled in the match by Natsai Mushangwe, he went for an extravagant drive and was caught at the wicket, a soft dismissal.Wickets fell regularly thereafter, and 71 for 4 at lunch became 103 for 6 when Mabuza was finally out for 54, scored off 130 balls. He had played the anchor role very capably, but found no partner able to assist him for long. The seventh wicket went down at 118 and a total of 150 looked unlikely when Chris Mpofu came in at No. 9, but it proved to be the start of a fightback that was as good as anything that could be imagined considering the personnel involved. Mpofu played a good defensive role while Tawanda Mupariwa took any scoring opportunities on offer, choosing the right ball to hit and making 34 off 66 balls before being out just before tea.After the interval Njabulo Ncube swung merrily to reach 29 off only 17 balls, his best score in first-class cricket, and finally holed out on the long-on boundary playing the stroke that was intended to take his team past 200. Despite the low score, the pitch had given the bowlers little or no help: their success came partly due to their own determination and persistence, and partly due to the largely unnecessary disintegration of the depleted Tuskers batsmen.Mountaineers were also to make surprisingly heavy weather of their batting, as Tuskers bowlers fought back with great determination. Tino Mawoyo did not look comfortable and was struck on the helmet by a ball from Mpofu. Soon after, he edged a ball from Meth to second slip. Meth, in the opinion of the Tuskers coach Dave Houghton, has been the best bowler in the country this season (an opinion backed up by statistics), the only one who can swing the ball consistently either way, and he it was who brought Tuskers back into the game.Bernard Mlambo did a good job in scoring 22 runs until he was beaten playing forward to Meth and trapped lbw. Next ball, Jon Beukes unwisely padded up to a ball swinging in and was also adjudged lbw. Mountaineers were battling on 38 for 3, and not long afterwards Meth also removed Donald Tiripano before the close for 7, taking 4 for 14 in his nine-over spell. He did not remove Hamilton Masakadza who is still there on 18, however, and much will depend on how he continues on the second day.

Derbyshire wrapped up their first County Championship win in SE11 since
1966 by 208 runs after dominating play over all four days at The Oval

12-Apr-2010
ScorecardDerbyshire wrapped up their first County Championship win in SE11 since 1966 by 208 runs after dominating play over all four days at The Oval.Inspired by 340 runs from Australian captain Chris Rogers, Derbyshire clinched only their fifth ever victory at The Oval with 35 balls to spare. With just over five hours remaining in the game, Surrey went in to bat for a second time facing a target of 374 in the remaining 76 overs.They were two down by lunch, six down by tea and deep in trouble soon after the final interval when Steve Davies fell for 56. Left-arm seamer Mark Footitt gave Derbyshire their first breakthrough when Arun Harinath (five) chopped onto his stumps. Three overs later Tim Groenewald accounted for first innings century-maker Mark Ramprakash, this time without scoring.Surrey’s demise gathered momentum after lunch when Usman Afzaal had his stumps
rearranged when Greg Smith nipped one through the left-hander’s gate to make it
16 for 3.Though Rory Hamilton-Brown doubled his side’s total, he had scored only eight
when he edged Graham Wagg to the wicketkeeper. Soon after, opener Matt Spriegel edged onto his leg stump when cutting at one of Smith’s offspinner’s.Either side of tea, Gareth Batty (12) fell lbw to Groenewald and, with 27 overs remaining, the resistance of Davies came to a surprising end when his attempted drive against Footitt cannoned onto off stump off a thin inside edge. Stuart Meaker went for a dogged 21, clean bowled by left-arm spinner Robin Peterson, who finished with 3 for 32 after pinning Andre Nel leg before and having Jade Dernbach caught at silly point.Earlier, visiting skipper Rogers duly scored the single he needed from the first delivery of the day from Matt Spriegel to become the first Derbyshire batsman in history to hit single and double hundreds in the same game.Not content with his 127-ball century, the determined opener added a further 40 runs during his four-hour stay before declaring soon after noon with his score on 140 and his side on 274 for 6.The left-hander lost Greg Smith (20), Dan Redfern (44) and Wagg (16) in a lively opening hour in which the visitors added 114 runs to effectively bat Surrey out of the game.

Former NZ quick suggests caution since another injury in the same spot where Bumrah has already had back surgery “could be a career-ender”

Nagraj Gollapudi11-Mar-20251:54

Bond: Transition from IPL to Tests a danger period for Bumrah

Another back injury for Jasprit Bumrah in the same spot where he had surgery “could be a career-ender” according to former New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond, whose career ended prematurely due to chronic back problems.Bumrah has not played since he walked off for scans on the second afternoon of the New Year’s Test in Sydney this year. What was reported as back spasms then turned to be a stress-related injury, which forced him to miss the Champions Trophy. Bumrah is currently at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru doing rehab and there is no clarity yet on when he will be fully fit or whether he will start for Mumbai Indians (MI) at IPL 2025.This is the first time Bumrah has suffered a back injury since he had surgery in March 2023. Bond, who has worked with Bumrah in the past – he was bowling coach with MI for several years – and is currently in India as bowling coach at Rajasthan Royals, said that Bumrah’s workloads need to be managed conservatively to avoid another relapse.Related

• Bumrah to miss Oval Test against England; Akash Deep likely to replace him

• Shane Bond: 'If you ask any injured player if they're okay to play, they'll say yes'

“When he went off for scans, it was at Sydney, there was some messaging coming up around that he had sprains and stuff like that,” Bond told ESPNcricinfo in a wide-ranging chat* during the Champions Trophy, when he was one of the experts on the analysis show Match Day. “I worried that it wasn’t going to be a sprain, it might be a bony injury around that area [the back]. I thought he may struggle to make the Champions Trophy if it was.”Bond was probably the first fast bowler, at least this century, to undergo back surgery, which he had at 29, the same age at which Bumrah had his surgery. Despite persistent injuries Bond continued to play until he was 34 before deciding to retire, first from Tests and then from all formats in less than six months. In a chat with ESPNcricinfo in 2010, Bond said, “I broke if I played few games on the bounce” in first-class cricket and he was sick and tired of doing rehab.The “danger” zone where fast bowlers suffer injuries, according to Bond, is when they quickly transition from T20 to Test cricket. And that, Bond highlighted, would be his primary concern for Bumrah too, considering India will travel to England to play five-Test series in June barely a month after the IPL ends on May 25.”Look, I think Booms will be fine, but it’s just that [workload] management [matters],” Bond said. “Looking at the tours and the schedule going forward, where are the opportunities to give him a break, but really where are the danger periods? And often it is that the [transition from] IPL to the Test championship will be a risk.Jasprit Bumrah poses with his ICC Awards for 2024•ICC/Getty Images

“Anywhere you transition from particularly T20 to a Test match, it’s challenging. If you are playing a one-day series, it’s generally not too bad. You will play three games a week, you will have a practice, you are sort of in around that 40 overs [range], that’s pretty close to a Test match week anyway. But in T20, particularly in the IPL, when you might be playing three games in a week, there’s two days of travel, you might get one training [session], you are sort of bowling 20 overs maybe if you’re lucky. That’s sort of half of a Test match load or even under a half of, which then is a big jump and you are not bowling back-to-back days. That’s a big jump when you transition out of that.”India’s schedule for the England tour is a tight one with five Tests between June 28 and August 3. Bond said that India cannot give Bumrah the kind of workload he carried during the 2024-25 Australia tour, which also comprised five Tests. Overall, Bumrah bowled 151.2 overs in nine innings including 52 in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, his most in a Test match.Going forward, Bond said, he would not want Bumrah to play more than two consecutive Tests at one go.”He’s too valuable for the next World Cup and stuff. So you’d be looking at five Tests in England, I wouldn’t want to be playing him in any more than two in a row. Coming out of the back end of the IPL into a Test match is going to be a huge risk. And so how do they manage that is going to be key.”They may say, look, it’s four Test matches in total. Or three. If we can get him through the English summer and he’s fit, we can probably then go with some confidence that we can carry him across the rest of the formats. So that’s hard because he is your best bowler, but if he has another injury in the same spot, that could be a career-ender, potentially, because I’m not sure you can have surgery on that spot again.”With the Indian domestic season over, the IPL is the only competitive series Bumrah can feature in before the England tour. While Bond felt the IPL “maybe touch and go” for Bumrah, he said “there will be an element of risk depending on the intensity that he’s bowling at by the time he gets back”.Bond said that it was also Bumrah’s responsibility to work in tandem with the decision-makers in Indian cricket to chart out a safe path that would help him extend his career. “So it’s going to take some good management and just some open conversations with the player and say, look, we are doing this with your best interest in your career. Any player who’s gone through that, and having myself [gone through it], you are desperate to play, but you also understand there are some risks at certain times and you have to make some compromises.”* The full interview will be published on ESPNcricinfo later this month.

Oval Invincibles and former Kent captain says big clubs have ‘moral responsibility’ to non-host venues

Matt Roller22-May-2024Sam Billings has called for a fair distribution of revenues from the ECB’s proposed sale of stakes in Hundred teams to private investors, and believes that the biggest clubs have a “moral responsibility” to ensure that all 18 first-class counties can thrive.There is broad agreement between the ECB and the counties that stakes in the eight Hundred teams should be sold later this year. But there are still some sticking points over the proposed distribution of funds: the 11 counties who do not host a Hundred team are seeking independent advice to ensure that they get a fair deal from the seven Hundred-hosting counties and MCC.Billings, who led Oval Invincibles to the men’s Hundred title last year, spent six years as Kent’s club captain and believes that private investment could prompt “the revitalisation” of county cricket. But he fears it could be “very worrying” for a club like Kent if the distribution of funds entrenches the existing financial disparities between bigger and smaller counties.”The Hundred is here to stay,” Billings told ESPNcricinfo, speaking at the Hurlingham Club where he was competing in the Alfred Dunhill Padel Classic. “With private investment, if the money that is going to come into the game is used correctly – and that is the key thing – then it could benefit everyone incredibly, and be the revitalisation of county cricket and of cricket in this country.”I’ve benefitted from the county system from the age of seven and it has produced so many players from every single corner of the country. Kent means the world to me. They’ve given me everything in my cricketing career and it’s my duty to do everything I can to try and repay that club and leave that in the best place possible.”Billings has captained Oval Invincibles since the Hundred’s inaugural season and says that he has always seen the team as “a joint venture” between Surrey and Kent. Kent have provided several players to the Invincibles, while their chief executive Simon Storey sits on the board and their coach, Matt Walker, is one of Tom Moody’s assistants.”I went into the Hundred as an individual, but with the Oval Invincibles being a Kent-Surrey joint venture, a partnership,” Billings said. “The cricketing structure, the backroom staff, the committee: it is all provided by Kent and Surrey, and based at The Oval. It has to be a relationship between all parties, and it just has to be fair.”Kent outshine a lot of the Test-match grounds in terms of producing England cricketers recently – in both the male and female game – by a country mile. That is a key quality of everything we do at Kent: it has always been about trying to produce homegrown cricketers to play for England. If you don’t want to invest in that, that could be very worrying for the bigger picture overall.”Related

• Sam Billings overcomes Hundred scepticism as tactical 'nuances' test his captaincy

• Surrey chairman outlines plans to bring Oval Invincibles under club banner

• ECB secures counties agreement on Hundred 'direction of travel'

• Canterbury Tales speak of a world in retreat

The latest proposals involve the seven host counties and MCC being handed 51% of the shares in their respective Hundred teams, and they will then choose how much – if any – of those they wish to sell. Oli Slipper, Surrey’s chairman, has told the club’s members that he wants to change the Hundred team’s name to ‘Surrey Invincibles’ if they become majority owners.But Billings is unequivocal: “That just shouldn’t happen,” he said. “Look, Surrey is a fantastic club and I haven’t got a bad word to say about them. They are the gold standard for any county cricket club from a business point of view and their production line of England cricketers is arguably the best in recent years.”But being such a powerful player in the game, you’ve got to use that as an opportunity to uplift others who need it more – you’ve got a moral responsibility, in my opinion. I haven’t been in the counties’ meetings on the Hundred but I hope that the big clubs balance their own ambitions with making sure it’s a fair deal for everyone – and for English cricket as a whole, not just individual entities.”Kent were overlooked by the ECB last month when bidding to host a ‘Tier One’ women’s team from 2025, a decision that their chairman Simon Philip said was “difficult to swallow”. The club’s second home at Beckenham, in south-east London, formed a key part of their unsuccessful bid and a significant dividend from the sale of Hundred teams would help Kent to fund their plans to invest in facilities there.”Beckenham is really exciting in terms of the potential of the club,” Billings said. “It should be right at the forefront of our plans both for the male and female game – it has to be. We’ve got three million people in the local catchment area and it’s a great opportunity for Kent.”

The duo added 124 to go past Hurricanes’ highest T20 total

AAP05-Jan-2023Matthew Short celebrated his captaincy debut with a heroic, maiden T20 ton to help Adelaide Strikers pull off the greatest run chase in BBL history.After Hurricanes posted an imposing 229 for 4, Short crunched Pakistan allrounder Faheem Ashraf for back-to-back boundaries in the 20th over to raise his century and victory by seven wickets with three balls to spare.With regular skipper Peter Siddle sidelined, Short celebrated his temporary elevation to the captaincy role by crunching 100 not out off 59 balls.Scratchy early, Short received two lives off Riley Meredith’s bowling – dropped by Mitchell Owen first ball and a sitter by Nathan Ellis on 22 – and he made Hurricanes pay.After the early departure of Ryan Gibson, Short and Chris Lynn, who made 64, added 124 off 58 balls for the second wicket to turn Strikers’ dream into a reality.Lynn smashed four sixes in his whirlwind 29-ball knock before falling to the impressive spinner Patrick Dooley during the power surge.On 20, English import Adam Hose holed out to Tim David at mid-on but was reprieved when third umpire Eloise Sheridan deemed Faheem’s full toss to be above waist height.Hose duly belted the free hit for six, one of three he struck in Faheem’s over, which reaped 22. Hose eventually fell for 38 before an even higher high full toss from the struggling Faheem in the 20th over conceded another free hit, allowing Short to pounce.Dooley suffered a nasty injury to his left shoulder while diving to save a boundary in the 19th over, compounding the pain for Hurricanes who looked in an impregnable position at the halfway mark.Half-centuries to Ben McDermott (57), Caleb Jewell (54) and Zak Crawley (54*) underpinned Hurricanes’ record score.They smoked 14 sixes in their innings and appeared on track to make it two wins over Strikers in five days, while consigning the home side to a fourth successive defeat before Short stole the show.

Paul Franks takes over as head coach after outbreak in squad

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jul-2021Andy Flower, the Trent Rockets head coach, will be absent from Monday’s men’s Hundred fixture against Northern Superchargers, alongside two other members of the team’s support staff, after the trio tested positive for Covid-19.Steven Mullaney and another support staff member have also been withdrawn from the evening fixture, after being identified as close contacts, with Paul Franks stepping in as Trent Rockets’ head coach.The development looks set to force Flower and his colleagues to self-isolate for the next ten days, a period that that encompasses two more Rockets fixtures, both of them away – against London Spirit at Lord’s on July 29, and against Birmingham Phoenix at Edgbaston on August 1.The former England head coach, who has been a fixture on the T20 franchise circuit in recent seasons, took over as Rockets’ head coach in February, when their original choice, Stephen Fleming, withdrew due to the ongoing Covid-related travel restrictions.Mullaney, Nottinghamshire’s club captain, played in Rockets’ opening fixture of the Hundred, a nine-wicket win against Southern Brave on Saturday, meaning that the team will be required to make at least one change to that victorious line-up.Trent Rockets is also the Hundred team of the England Test captain, Joe Root – and with nine days to go until the first Test against India, also at Trent Bridge, the news will be of particular concern to the ECB, which was forced to pick a brand-new ODI squad for their series against Pakistan earlier this month following a dressing-room outbreak during the preceding Sri Lanka series.Covid has also wreaked havoc on the county circuit this month, with Derbyshire forced to abandon their Championship match against Essex before pulling out of the Vitality Blast, and Kent fielding a team comprised of second XI and club players for their recent fixure against Sussex.

Adelaide and Perth may be able to host larger crowds than Melbourne

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jun-2020Former Australia captain Mark Taylor has raised the prospect of the Australia-India Boxing Day Test being moved away from the MCG if other venues are able to host larger crowds.Although still six months away, the recent spike in Covid-19 cases in Victoria – 75 were recorded on Monday – has brought into doubt when crowds will be able to return in the state.Adelaide and Perth have been talked of as alternatives for the Boxing Day encounter with both South Australia and Western Australia continuing to ease restrictions. Perth Stadium is set to be able to fill its 60,000 capacity for football matches from the middle of July while Adelaide Oval is able to host crowds of up to 25,000 – 50% of its capacity.”If you look at what’s happening around Australia, by Christmas time the MCG may only be able to host 10,000-20,000 people, which is not going to look great when you’ve got a real iconic Test match,” Taylor told Nine’s Sports on Sunday.”You move that match to Optus Stadium or even the Adelaide Oval, you’re going to get full venues. The Adelaide Oval and Optus Stadium will be working hard to try and get that game because they would look better with full crowds.”While the prospects of the Australia-India series taking place have been promising for some time, there had been a talk of the possibility that it would have to be played behind closed doors – as will be the case when international cricket returns with the England-West Indies series next month – with India potentially using a single venue as a hub.However, as the Covid-19 situation improved in the country so too did the hopes of a traditional schedule although the situation in Victoria is a reminder of how quickly things can change. The current schedule has the series being played in Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney with Perth hosting Afghanistan in late November but Cricket Australia had said all fixtures were subject to change. Western Australia though voiced their anger at not being given a lucrative India Test.Speaking last week, Australia captain Tim Paine said he hoped to be playing in front of crowds this season.”Given the current circumstances, I dare say everything is well and truly on the table. We are hopeful that everywhere we play come summer time, we would be able to have crowds,” he said. “How big they are, we don’t know, obviously. But it’s a difficult one for anyone to answer because there is so much changing week to week, day to day. Give it is three or four months, we just don’t know what it is going to look like.”Certainly, from a player’s point of view, we want to be playing in front of big crowds at the best venues and a big day like Boxing Day is something that everyone looks forward to and a big part of that is playing at the MCG.”Fingers crossed things are going well enough that we can do that but, as I said, we are spoilt for choice here in Australia with some world-class stadiums. If something had to change, then, again, we have plenty of options.”

Spinning allrounder played a key role in Perth Scorchers’ recent title wins in the Big Bash

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Mar-2019Ashton Agar, the Australia left-arm spinner, has joined Birmingham Bears for the entirety of this season’s Vitality Blast campaign, including the knockout stages should the team progress.Agar, 25, has played 15 T20Is for Australia, and was a key member of the Perth Scorchers teams that won the Big Bash League in 2014-15 and 2016-17.He is best remembered in England for his remarkable Test debut at Trent Bridge, in the opening match of the 2013 Ashes, when he made 98 from No.11.”I’m thrilled to sign for Birmingham Bears for this year’s Vitality Blast and to make Birmingham my home for July, August and hopefully September!” said Agar.”Whilst they missed out on qualification last year, the Bears have been one of the top teams in the Blast over the last five years and I would love to play a lead role in bringing them back home to Edgbaston for Finals Day this year.”Having played at Edgbaston for Australia in last summer’s IT20 against England, I’ve certainly experienced its atmosphere and know just how passionate the supporters can be. I’m certainly looking forward to having them behind us when we start our Blast campaign in July.”Agar will join up with the Bears squad ahead of their opening Blast fixture on July 19, against local rivals, and reigning champions, Worcestershire Rapids. He will then remain available throughout the campaign as they seek to make a fourth appearance at Finals Day in six seasons.”Ashton has won major T20 trophies and possesses quality international experience,” said Jim Troughton, Birmingham Bears’ first-team coach.”Securing him for the entire Vitality Blast campaign bolsters our bowling attack and gives us an excellent spin pairing with Jeetan Patel. However, Ashton has also proven himself to be a very capable and powerful batsman who can clear the ropes, whilst also being an excellent fielder.”In addition to having excellent cricketers, it’s important that we have the right characters taking to the field for the Bears and, having played alongside Ian Bell during Perth Scorchers victorious Big Bash campaign in 2016-17, we have no doubt that he’ll wear the Bear with pride and be a great addition to the dressing room.”Having now agreed terms with Ashton, as a club we would like to thank New Zealand international Colin de Grandhomme for his attitude and commitment to the Bears in our last two Vitality Blast campaigns and we wish him every success in the game moving forward.”