Jos Buttler has been rested for the remainder of the one-day series against Australia and will be replaced by Jonny Bairstow for the final three matches.

Andrew McGlashan06-Sep-2015England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler has been rested for the remainder of the one-day series against Australia and will be replaced by Jonny Bairstow for the final three matches.Although Buttler’s glovework has continued to improve his batting has faded in the second part of the season against Australia. He made just 122 runs at 15.25 in the Ashes and fell for a third-ball duck at Lord’s on Saturday, lbw to Glenn Maxwell. That followed a score of 4 at the Ageas Bowl when he drove loosely to mid-off.Being England’s wicketkeeper across all three formats since the middle of last year, when he was promoted to the Test side following Matt Prior’s ultimately career-ending injury against India, has meant Buttler has had an extensive workload.He missed the last one-day international against New Zealand and the T20 earlier this season, having sustained a finger injury, but has played 43 internationals since making his Test debut against India, at the Ageas Bowl, last July. Only Joe Root, with 44 appearances, has played more for England during that period and he has been granted a rest since the end of the Ashes.Between the end of the Ashes and the start of the limited-overs leg against Australia Buttler appeared in the NatWest Blast finals day for Lancashire having also played the quarter-final between the fourth and fifth Tests. Barely 12 hours after picking up the trophy at Edgbaston, as Lancashire overcame Northamptonshire in the final, he was at a training session in Cardiff ahead of the T20 international.Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, said: “While we initially felt Jos would have enough left in the tank for this ODI series, it has become clear in the last couple of days that he will benefit from a break from cricket ahead of the winter tours. We know that for players involved in all formats finding periods throughout the year when they can rest is key and Jos has had a heavy workload throughout 2015.”Resting  players provide opportunities for others in the international arena and Jonny Bairstow now has a chance to build on the one day form he showed at the end of the New Zealand series earlier this summer.”Bairstow was unlucky to be omitted from the original one-day squad having made a matchwinning, unbeaten 83 against New Zealand, at Chester-le-Street, in June on his recall. He was then also recalled to the Test team during the Ashes at the expense of Yorkshire team-mate Gary Ballance although did not completely convince at No.5.England already had Sam Billings, the Kent wicketkeeper-batsman, in the squad but do not yet view him as an option for the gloves and have left him out of the first two matches against Australia after he played the series against New Zealand and the T20 against Australia as a batsman.While Bairstow’s call-up to replace Buttler means at least one change to the England side for the third match at Old Trafford on Tuesday they will have to consider further alternative options as they try to keep the series alive having gone 2-0 down at Lord’s.David Willey and Reece Topley, the left-armers, will come into the equation to provide the bowling attack with some variety.

Fast bowler Pat Cummins remains upbeat despite facing another lengthy period of rehabilitation as the result of a back stress fracture

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Sep-2015Fast bowler Pat Cummins remains upbeat despite facing another lengthy period of rehabilitation as the result of a back stress fracture. Cummins has been ruled out of Australia’s Test tour of Bangladesh but he has in mind the goal of returning to the national side in time for the World Twenty20 in India next March.Stress fractures of the back and foot have cruelled Cummins’ career ever since he was Man of the Match during his only Test appearance, against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2011. He has not played a Sheffield Shield game since March 2011 but was part of Australia’s World Cup-winning squad this year and at 22, he is confident that he can again return from a long injury lay-off.”I’m not really worried now, compared to a couple of years ago,” Cummins told reporters in Sydney on Friday. “The fact I was able to come back after bowling a heavy schedule over two years, and to have it culminate in a really successful one-day international series at the back end of it means I’m not worried at all.”I know I can do it. While we haven’t set out a rehab plan yet – and things will obviously be dictated by my recovery – the Twenty20 World Championship in India early next year has been targeted as a goal for me to try and return for. I will be doing all of my rehab sessions with that tournament in mind.”Cummins was only 18 when he played his sole Test match and a big future was expected, but nearly four years on and his entire first-class career still consists of only eight games. He said his latest injury would not discourage him from continuing to bowl as fast as he could – often he is able to break the 150kph barrier.”Certainly not, especially when you’re playing for your country and the batsman is trying to smash you around,” he said. “In short-form formats you have to bowl flat out because you only have a couple of overs to have an impact. Why would you bowl 140kph when you can hit 155?”Australia’s bowling coach Craig McDermott said he was confident Cummins could still have a long international career ahead of him despite the latest setback. McDermott said that although Cummins had “a little more lateral flexion than you’d like”, there was no apparent need to rebuild his bowling action from scratch.”He’s just going to be disappointed he’s got injured again and he’s got another road back of six or seven months before he is back playing competitive cricket at a high level again,” McDermott told the . “He’s already shown he can do it in all three formats so we’ve just got to be patient with him. He’ll do the rehab work, no doubt, and working your way back from those things is not much fun. It’s long, tedious work … but he’s been through it and I’m sure he’ll do the same.”I don’t think he’ll have any problems whatsoever dealing with this. He’s very mature, very meticulous with his preparation, and he’ll be back bigger and better than ever … I’ve known Patty since he was 16 or 17 … it’s disappointing he’s got injured but he’s still young, he’s got time on his side. He’s got another 10, 12 years ahead of him.”

Waqar Younis, the Pakistan coach, has criticised the inconsistency of the Decision Review System, and believes that the margin of doubt for Umpire’s Call should be increased from 50 percent to 75 percent

Umar Farooq in Dubai28-Oct-2015Waqar Younis, the Pakistan coach, has criticised the inconsistency of the Decision Review System, and believes that the margin of doubt for Umpire’s Call should be increased from 50 percent to 75 percent. The current set-up, he says, is allowing match officials to be complacent in their decision-making.An umpire’s call verdict is currently given when the TV replays suggest that an lbw decision is too marginal to be fairly overturned. Waqar believes there is excessive weight given to distinct parameters – pitching point, point of impact with batsman’s body, and whether the ball is hitting the stumps or not. Presently, if the umpire gives an appeal not out and less than half the ball is shown to be hitting the stumps, the decision will not be overturned.”I strongly believed this 50 percent formula is not fair to the players,” Waqar told ESPNcricinfo. “They should even it out a little bit by making it 70/30 or 75/25. If the ball strikes you inside the line, 25 percent it should be given out rather than making a verdict on the basis of 50 percent. Sometimes a decision is not out when it is hitting 49 percent [of the stump], even though you are convinced that it is hitting flush. So that sparks frustration, this whole mechanism needs to be tweaked.”Even if it’s hitting the stump 30 percent, it should be given out rather than applying Umpire’s Call and a 50 percent margin. We don’t mind playing with DRS but the important factor is it should involve all elements, otherwise it will kept on leaving out a lot of controversy.”DRS technology is being used during Pakistan’s series against England, although without the use of HotSpot and Snickometer, because their addition would raise the cost by more than £6,000 per day. The third umpire is explicitly prohibited from discussing whether or not a particular appeal should be given out or not, as DRS requires conclusive evidence to overturn a decision. However, with half of the technology in use, Waqar doesn’t believe this makes any sense.”This half-DRS is not acceptable and the system like this doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “You either don’t have it or have it complete. Some decisions look very ugly and that is why people complain. We have witnessed big blunders and I think the ICC should take care of it and it should be the one body controlling it uniformly for all.”Sometimes one bad decision can affect the entire game like we had in Abu Dhabi. I have already met with the ICC and suggested that they revisit their parameters. They have agreed to some extent and I hope this will be considered at their cricket committee meeting.”The issue of Umpire’s Call was raised last week in a recent ICC briefing for journalists ahead of the Dubai Test, with Geoff Allardice, the ICC’s general manager, confirming that the margin for error would be examined in the future as the technology improves.The ICC continue to point out that DRS is designed to make amends for clear mistakes, not close decisions. In 19 Tests between April 1 and September 30, 899 decisions were made, of which 179 were reviewed and 35 were reversed. Prior to DRS, ICC figures state that 95.6 percent of decisions were correct. Since then, that figure has risen to 99.1 percent.

Happy with the top order’s efforts in a rare Test win without a significant contribution from his bat, Steven Smith wants his fast bowlers to bowl better lengths with the new ball come the second Test in Perth

Brydon Coverdale at the Gabba09-Nov-20151:04

‘Burns and Warner set the tone for us’ – Smith

For once, Steven Smith had other people to talk about. Joe Burns, tick. Usman Khawaja, tick. David Warner, tick, tick, boom. So much went perfectly for Australia in this win over New Zealand that it was easy to overlook one thing that didn’t: Smith himself didn’t so much as score a half-century. It mattered not. In fact, it was kind of a good thing. It meant others had carried the batting load.This was Australia’s tenth Test victory since the start of last year, and just the second time in those ten games that Smith had failed to pass fifty – the lowish-scoring win over West Indies in Dominica last year was the only other. In fact, in seven of them, Smith had scored first-innings hundreds that helped set up the wins: 115, 100, 162*, 133, 199, 215, 143.It was not surprising, then, that Smith’s decision to move down the order from No.3 to No.4 for this series was a subject of much debate. The lack of experience in the top three could have been the source of some hope among the New Zealanders: Burns opening in a Test for the first time, Khawaja having a third crack at Test cricket at first drop.The result? A first-innings ton for Khawaja, a second-innings hundred for Burns. Not to mention a century in each innings for Warner. It meant there was little for Smith to do except suffer a case of pad rash. He came to the crease at 2 for 311 in the first innings and struck 48, and walked out at 2 for 254 in the second and fell for 1.”They did a terrific job,” Smith said. “It was tough early on day one and for Davey and Joe to get through that period was really crucial for us. The partnerships we had in the top three were crucial to our success for this Test match. It enabled me to come out and play quite freely at No.4. I thought they really set the game up for us.”The numbers were quite staggering. It was the first time in Australia’s 781-Test history that they had raised century opening partnerships in each innings of a Test. More than 80% of Australia’s runs in the Test came from their top three batsmen alone. Life without Chris Rogers and Michael Clarke could hardly have started in a more positive fashion.Of course, it will not always be this easy. More revealing will be the future occasions when Burns and Khawaja have to scrap against an attack on top of its game. Here, they faced a New Zealand attack lacking any sort of bite. Tim Southee’s new-ball spell on the first day featured a few good balls that beat the edge, but that was about it. It did not help that Southee later sat out with a back injury.New Zealand’s lack of fight was not the only disappointing thing about the match. Australia’s fielding was sub-standard, with catches dropped at slip, point and short leg. And although Australia had no trouble claiming 20 wickets, their work with the new ball was also inconsistent. New Zealand’s opening batsmen were able to allow too many deliveries to sail by without using their bats.”I think we improved this morning on our line and length,” Smith said. “I thought our new-ball bowling in this game needs a bit of improvement. I thought we bowled a little bit too short. That’s what we normally don’t do out here, we usually get the ball up and make the batters drive and I think that is going to be important for us leading into Perth, which are probably going to be similar conditions.”Crowd numbers at the WACA will also be closely watched; a record crowd attended for Australia-New Zealand contests at the Gabba but the numbers became lacklustre as the game wore on. The 1373 who attended the final day – which began with New Zealand still having seven wickets in hand – was the size of a Sheffield Shield crowd, not a Test attendance.”There wasn’t many out there today, it’s obviously disappointing as we would like everyone coming out and watching us play,” Smith said. “Both sides play a very aggressive brand of cricket and a good brand to watch, so it was disappointing not to have the crowds out here and hopefully we get a bit more support at the WACA.”

Former Pakistan fast bowler Aaqib Javed has replaced Robin Singh as coach of the Chittagong Vikings for the third edition of the BPL that begins on November 22

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-2015Former Pakistan fast bowler Aaqib Javed has replaced Robin Singh as coach of the Chittagong Vikings for the third edition of the BPL that begins on November 22.”Aaqib took the Chittagong job after Robin Singh failed to fulfill the contract with Chittagong Vikings for the season. Former Indian cricketer Robin was signed by Chittagong as the head coach but due to personal reasons had to pull out from the job,” a Vikings statement said.The press release also quoted Singh apologising for his having to back out. “It is regretful that for personal reasons I will now be unable to fulfill my contract with the Chittagong Vikings in the BPL. I would like to convey my apologies to the franchise owners, players and support staff. My best wishes go to the team for the tournament.”Javed, who helped UAE qualify for the World T20 2014, is expected to arrive on November 17 while the team has already begun training with some of their local cricketers. The Vikings will play their first match of BPL 3 against the Sylhet Superstars on November 23.

No. 9 Rayad Emrit’s unbeaten 54 gave Barisal Bulls a two-wicket win over Dhaka Dynamites, as well as much-needed confidence before Saturday’s Eliminator between the same two teams

The Report by Mohammad Isam10-Dec-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo: Rayad Emrit picked up two wickets and slammed a 28-ball 54 to stun Dhaka Dynamites•BCCI

Comilla’s win earlier in the day against Sylhet made this game inconsequential in the race for the last four, but No. 9 Rayad Emrit’s unbeaten 54 gave Barisal Bulls a two-wicket win over Dhaka Dynamites, as well as much-needed confidence before Saturday’s Eliminator between the same two teams.Dhaka seemed well on course for victory when Suhrawadi Shuvo became Mosharraf Hossain’s third wicket in the 17th over, with Barisal slumping to 94 for 8. Emrit, though, struck two sixes in the same over to reduce the equation to 29 needed off three overs.Nine runs were taken in the next over, leaving Emrit and Nikhil Dutta needing 20 off the last two. After taking three singles and a double, Emrit swung Farhad Reza for a four past short fine-leg, but crucially took a single off the last ball.Irfan’s first ball of the last over went for four and when Emrit took a single off the next ball, he reached 50 off 27 balls. Dutta ran a bye next ball before Emrit carved the fourth ball past the point fielder for a four, sealing the win. Emrit took off in ecstasy while Dhaka were left scratching their heads, especially as they had dominated most of the game.Both teams had rested four players each, including Kumar Sangakkara for Dhaka and Chris Gayle for Barisal. It gave opportunities to younger players and Mosaddek Hossain, playing on his 20th birthday, made Dhaka’s top score with 30 off 31 balls while Dutta, playing his first match in the BPL, took 3 for 18.Mohammad Irfan struck in the third over of Barisal’s chase when he had Rony Talukdar caught behind for four, after striking him with a bouncer. Nabil Samad then had Brendan Taylor leg-before for 3 and Mahmudullah bowled for 1, before Mosaddek Hossain took the big wicket of Evin Lewis, caught at long-off for 9.Sabbir Rahman was then trapped lbw by Mosharraf, although the ball appeared to be heading down the leg side. Soon after, Mohammad Hafeez took an excellent running catch, coming forward from long-off, from a Sohag Gazi miscue in the 12th over, as Barisal slipped to 59 for 6. Mehedi Maruf was batting well, attacking and picking singles at will, but he ran past a Mosharraf delivery in the 14th over to be stumped, seemingly ending any hopes of a Barisal win. His 41-ball 37 had three fours and two big sixes over midwicket.Earlier, Dutta foxed an advancing Hafeez with a wide delivery that was only toe-ended to cover for a simple catch. Hafeez had made 25 off 27 balls, helped by four fours. In his next over, Dutta bowled Malcolm Waller with a delivery that dipped late on the batsman who was trying to slog him. Nasir Hossain finally connected a slog off Dutta, but was caught at deep midwicket in the bowler’s third over. Dutta finished with figures of 3 for 18 from four overs.Mosaddek, who struck a four and a six in his 31-ball innings, came to the crease at this point and added 33 runs for the fifth wicket with Ryan ten Doeschate, who made 22 and was caught at cover off Emrit. There was a second wicket in store for Emrit in the final over of the innings, when he clean bowled Shykat Ali. Emrit would also have the last word with the bat.

Afghanistan are poised to capture a second trophy on this tour unless Zimbabwe, who have lost two matches on the trot now, can get themselves out of their funk

The Preview by Alagappan Muthu09-Jan-2016

Match facts

Sunday, January 10, 2016
Start time 2000 local (1600GMT)

Big picture

Chaos in T20 cricket is always a spectacle, like the last over in a tense chase dragging on for nine balls, including two free hits, two big hits and two massive wickets. Whilst the fans may throng into the stadium hoping for a repeat, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe might well prefer pulling the plug on such amateur hour. Dawlat Zadran had been left to defend 20 runs off six balls, he ended up bowling an over and a half. Elton Chigumbura managed to get himself run-out off a free-hit delivery, and though his eagerness to pinch runs was understandable at that stage of the game, Zimbabwe should not have put themselves in a position that forced them to steal runs.Both teams have shown growth at various stages of the tour. Afghanistan shot Zimbabwe out for 82 and Zimbabwe shot Afghanistan out for 58. There was a Mohammad Shahzad century that led a cool chase and a Chamu Chibhabha special that will not soon be forgotten. The problem though is such fine performances have occasionally dovetailed with other players not pulling their weight. Greame Cremer picked up a five-for and ended up on the losing side. Afghanistan’s bowlers had offered a chase of 176 to their batsmen, who simply self-destructed.Correcting this discrepancy will be chief among both teams’ plans, and there is one last match on this tour to do so. For Afghanistan, the incentive will be adding the T20 trophy to their ODI trophy. And for Zimbabwe, the chance to come away with a squared series and a better account of their fight in unfamiliar territory.

Form guide

(Last five completed matches, most recent first)
Afghanistan WWWLW
Zimbabwe LWLLL

In the spotlight

Afghanistan aren’t quite lacking in players fond on using the long handle, but Gulbadin Naib‘s ability to do so in the closing stages of an innings without allowing the pressure of run rates to disorient his plans has stood out. He is 24 years old, and perhaps with time he can address a batting average below 30 in ODIs and T20Is. But for now all he needs to do is see ball, hit ball, which is one of his strong suits.Zimbabwe’s bowlers haven’t had the best time of it in the closing stages of an innings, including Luke Jongwe, who has recently taken over as their death-overs specialist. But having given away 27 runs in the 17th and 19th overs on Friday, he may need to show he is worth the thinktank’s faith.

Team news

Although Afghanistan have a vast pool of players to choose from, it is unlikely that they will disturb a winning combination.Afghanistan (probable): 1 Mohammad Shahzad (wk), 2 Usman Ghani, 3 Mohammad Nabi, 4 Asghar Stanikzai (capt), 5 Gulbadin Naib, 6 Karim Sadiq, 7 Najibullah Zadran, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Mirwais Ashraf, 10 Dawlat Zadran, 11 Amir HamzaZimbabwe may need to rejig their batting order. Hamilton Masakadza is the only one bowlers would worry about among the top four, so perhaps someone like Sikandar Raza could be pushed up the order.Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Peter Moor, 2 Hamilton Masakadza, 3 Chamu Chibhabha, 4 Richmond Mutumbami (wk), 5 Malcolm Waller, 6 Sikandar Raza, 7 Elton Chigumbura (capt), 8 Luke Jongwe, 9 Graeme Cremer, 10 Donald Tiripano/ Neville Madziva, 11 Tendai Chisoro

Pitch and conditions

Sharjah offered excellent batting conditions, replete with dew to help the ball come onto the bat more. There isn’t much to suggest that will change. A pleasant night is forecast, with temperatures around 20C.

Stats and trivia

• Zimbabwe have the worst win-loss ratio – 0.235 – among all teams who have played at least 30 T20Is. Afghanistan’s 1.466 puts them in fourth place
• Zimbabwe’s bowlers, who concede an average of 7.81 runs per over, have the second-worst economy rate among all teams who have played at least 30 T20Is. Afghanistan’s 7.13 puts them at fourth again.

New Zealand were bowled out cheaply in their first innings for the third time in successive Wellington Tests, but Australia will be wary that they recovered to draw and win on the last two occasions

Brydon Coverdale in Wellington12-Feb-20160:59

‘We bowled well as a group’ – Hazlewood

For the third straight Basin Reserve Test, Brendon McCullum lost the toss. For the third straight time New Zealand were sent in on a pitch that was expected to offer the fast men some assistance. For the third straight time, they were knocked over inside 60 overs. If that scenario seems like it should favour Australia, it is worth noting that in neither of the previous two instances did New Zealand go on to lose the Test; they won one and drew the other.To that end, the Australians finished the first day pleased with their performance but wary that there remained plenty of work to come. Hefty second-innings partnerships against both Sri Lanka and India got New Zealand out of their previous Wellington troubles, when the pitch had flattened out and become easier for batting. Josh Hazlewood, who took 4 for 42, forecast harder times in the second innings.”I think while the ball is new at any stage it’s going to do a little bit, once the shine and the hardness of the ball is gone it’s quite a good wicket for batting,” Hazlewood said. “It didn’t turn much and once our ball got older it didn’t seam much, so I think it’s going to hold together pretty well. The next ten wickets that we need will be quite tough to get.”For the second time in consecutive Test matches, all ten New Zealand wickets fell to catches, as they struggled against deliveries that moved just enough, particularly from Hazlewood and Peter Siddle. Jackson Bird, playing his first Test in two-and-a-half years, could not find the right length and served up too many half-volleys and short balls, but Siddle was typically miserly and built important pressure bowling into the wind.”It does make a big difference, bowling in partnerships,” Hazlewood said. “He’s done a great job, not only this Test but throughout his whole career of just drying up one end and building those dots and that pressure which obviously ends in wickets, eventually. He was outstanding again today.”There was perhaps not as much swing as the Australians might have expected in Wellington but the ball did move about off the seam, and Hazlewood showed that he had learnt the lessons of his Ashes tour last year, on which he tried too often for the “miracle ball” instead of letting the conditions help him build pressure.Josh Hazlewood expects the Basin Reserve pitch to ‘hold together pretty well’ over the course of the Test match•Getty Images

He was well supported in the field. The coach Darren Lehmann had mentioned in the lead-up to this series that fielding was an area in which Australia needed significant improvement. They did not drop a catch on day one in Wellington and took ten, including a sharp take from Adam Voges at slip, a clever boundary juggle from Usman Khawaja, and most impressively a dive down the leg side from Peter Nevill to an inside edge off Siddle that dismissed Kane Williamson cheaply.”Not much gets past Nev, he has very high standards and that’s right up there with some of the best we’ve seen from Nev,” Hazlewood said. “We’ve done a lot of work over the last few days especially fine-tuning that catching and ground fielding and I think we saw today that we held on to everything and that makes a massive difference.”The same could not be said of New Zealand. On 18, Steven Smith was put down by Mark Craig in the cordon, and the miss cost New Zealand the opportunity to have Australia wobbling at 43 for 3. Smith went on to make 71 before Craig redeemed himself by snaring a good return catch low to his left.”Looking back I probably owe the boys 50 runs after putting Smith down at second slip,” Craig said. “No one likes dropping catches. It’s pretty disappointing personally, but we move forward.”Earlier, Craig had been one of the key reasons that New Zealand had not crumbled for something just over 100. He had come to the crease at 97 for 7 and went on to be his team’s highest scorer, finishing unbeaten on 41 and compiling impressive fighting partnerships with Corey Anderson and then Trent Boult.”You’ve got to give it to the way those Aussie boys bowled,” Craig said. “When they got it in the right areas they showed it was very tough to score. We would have liked a few more runs but the game is nicely advanced now.”The ball was a bit softer [when I batted] and it didn’t do as much as what it was doing early in the day … I wouldn’t say it was seaming massively but once they bowled that slightly fuller length it was doing enough to grab either way, grab both edges. It was definitely doing enough with that newer ball, once they got it full enough.”New Zealand’s bowlers also made a strong start and two early wickets from Tim Southee had Australia at 5 for 2, but Smith and Khawaja put on a fighting 126 for the third wicket to put Australia back on top by the end of the day. Still, only the incorrect no-balling of Doug Bracewell in the final over of the afternoon denied New Zealand the chance to have Australia four down at stumps.”If we managed to get one or two more wickets at the end it probably would have been parity, a pretty even day,” Craig said. “After losing the toss and getting put in, we’d take them five or six down any day. One or two more wickets and we’d have been really happy.”

Sunil Narine has written to the National League Representatives (NLR) after allegedly being mocked by Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) president Azim Bassarath

Nagraj Gollapudi26-Feb-2016West Indies offspinner Sunil Narine has written to the National League Representatives (NLR) asking for an independent probe into whether an email that mocked him for “pelting” was sent by Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) president Azim Bassarath.Narine, who was banned from bowling in international cricket on November 29, had undergone biometric testing at Loughborough University after being reported for a suspect action during the third ODI of West Indies’ tour of Sri Lanka earlier that month.In his letter to the six-member NLR, a copy of which has been seen by ESPNcricinfo, Narine claimed that Bassarath’s email had been sent on the very same day as his ban to various TTCB officials, including executive member Baldath Mahabir.”If indeed the letter came from Mr Bassarath and I have to stress the ‘if’ right now, it seems that he must have long believed that my bowling action was illegal,” Narine wrote.”There was such venom and almost joy in my being suspended that was evident in the email which said, “Let him start to Bowl !!!!!! He was not turning much in d first place!!!!! Straight ball and faster one all the time. !!!! PELTING !!!!!!!”But in a TTCB media release sent this week Bassarath strongly denied he had sent the alleged email. Bassarath also stressed that he would take legal recourse if the email was attributed to his name in the local media.In the immediate aftermath of his suspension, Narine claimed to have received a sympathetic email from TTCB chief executive Sooraj Ragoonath, a copy of which was sent to Bassarath, extending the board’s support to the offspinner and, soon afterwards, inviting Narine to play in the Nagico Super 50, the regional ODI tournament in which he had been the leading wicket-taker last year.However on December 18, Ragoonath wrote back, saying the WICB would not allow “any person who is debarred by the ICC” to participate in regional tournaments until cleared and that the TTCB had withdrawn Narine from the one-day squad. Narine was subsequently barred from entering the T&T players’ enclosure by the ground security at Queen’s Park Oval.”It was a time of extreme stress for me and I was grateful when I received an email from Suruj Ragoonath, the CEO of the Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board, which contained the promise to provide me ‘with all the necessary support’ and invited me to a meeting to discuss how the TTCB could assist me and to get an idea of the support I would require,” Narine wrote.Instead, Narine said that he was taken totally aback on learning that the TTCB was contemplating banning him from bowling in club cricket in T&T. At a TTCB meeting chaired by Bassarath, Narine said, “An attempt was made to change the rules of the national tournament to prevent players suspended by the ICC from participating at the national level.”Responding to Narine’s allegation, Bassarath, through a TTCB release titled ‘Email link denied’, issued by the board’s media manager, stated, “Mr Bassarath wishes to totally disassociate himself from the alleged email currently making the rounds and which is being pronounced upon to suggest that it is authentic.”The president of the TTCB reserves the right to seek legal recourse to clear his name should the alleged email be attributed to him in reports carried in the local media,” the release read.Narine concluded, “Even though I seem to have been denied natural justice by the writer of the email which accused me of “pelting”, I believe that an independent investigation should be undertaken to determine, if it was not Mr Bassarath himself, who indeed was the person who sent the Emails using Mr Bassarath’s known and familiar email address as well as Mr Baldath Mahabir.”The NLR comprises six members elected by the local T&T clubs, and they sit on the TTCB. The members of the NLR are: Dinanath Ramnarine, Daren Ganga, Giles Antoine, Andre Lawrence, Anil Kamal and Clint Pamphille.

A round-up of all the Plunket Shield matches that were played from March 15-18, 2016

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Mar-2016Seamer Lachie Ferguson’s figures of 5 for 68 in Otago‘s second innings stretched his match haul to eight wickets as Auckland claimed a narrow 10-run win in Dunedin.Chasing 218, Otago were bowled out for 207 in 49.3 overs and to add their woes, offspinner Mark Craig was struck flush on the hand by a Ferguson beamer while batting. The injury forced Craig off the field, and is likely to put him completely out of action for at least six weeks.Ferguson was quick to dismiss the openers on the third day and leave Otago in early trouble at 33 for 2. Derek de Boorder counterattacked, but lacked support from the other end. He struck 81 off 76 before he was bowled by Ferguson. Allrounder Colin de Grandhomme complemented Ferguson well by taking two wickets. Auckland eventually walked away with 18 points.The match was set up by Robert O’Donnell’s 87, which helped Auckland to 255 in the first innings, and a lead of 78 runs, after they were asked to bat. Ferguson and Grandhomme had done the damage in Otago’s first innings as well, with combined figures of 27.5 -8- 66-6. Opener Ryan Duffy carried his bat for 90* off 163, but the other end was a case of revolving doors as Otago were bowled out for 177.Auckland collapsed to 139 within 51 overs in the second innings as Craig Smith took 4 for 35, but had the cushion of the first-innings advantage, and a solid bowling attack.Wellington defended 183 against Canterbury, courtesy three-fors from Ian McPeake and Jeetan Patel. Canterbury were skittled for 129 on a maniac final day, which witnessed the fall of 20 wickets.Having been inserted, Wellington made 206 on the back of England professional Scott Borthwick’s century, which included 13 fours. After rain wiped out the second day, Canterbury, riding on fifties from openers Leo Carter and Michael Davidson, opted for a bold declaration at 159 for 2.Fast bowler Hamish Bennett raised Canterbury’s hopes with figures of 5 for 54, which dismissed Wellington for only 136, with only three batsmen managing double figures, the highest being Michael Papps’ 51 at the top of the order.However, Canterbury’s hopes faded away as they succumbed to a collapse of their own. Each of their top-four batsmen reached double figures, but none managed a substantial contribution.Big centuries by Daniel Flynn and Bharat Popli set up a 115-run win for Northern Districts over Central Districts in Hamilton.After being put in to bat, Northern Districts piled up 458 for 6 declared on the back of a 258-run partnership between Flynn and Popli. Opener Flynn struck 26 fours during his 158 while Popli collected 27 fours during his 172.Central Districts were then bowled out for 293, with several of their batsmen failing to capitalise on their starts. Riding on a 165-run lead, Northern Districts put on 332 for 7, led by fifties from Dean Brownlie, Popli and Daryl Mitchell’s 49-ball 72, before declaring to set a target of 498. Central Districts showed more fight in the second innings, but came up short. Tom Bruce led the way for them with 166 off 233 balls and No. 8 Bevan Small scored 76. Spinners Joe Walker and Anton Devcich wheeled away for 57.2 overs, to share eight wickets between them, to seal the win. Devcich finished with eight wickets in the match.