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BCB president Nazmul Hassan has said he was happy to see the allegations of fixing in the Bangladesh Premier League being thoroughly investigated by the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, even though the entire episode has been distressing

Mohammad Isam13-Aug-2013BCB president Nazmul Hassan has said he was happy to see the allegations of fixing in the Bangladesh Premier League being thoroughly investigated by the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, even though the entire episode has been distressing. It was necessary to take strict and swift action, he said, given how “corruption is spreading in sport”.”I am not happy at all [about the alleged corruption in BPL],” Hassan said. “Many of our favourite players and people are involved. We trusted them and if anybody breaks the trust, it is painful. But at the same time, I am also happy that we took this initiative.”If we didn’t do anything, [at the rate at which] corruption is spreading in sport, it will be almost impossible to stop it in the future. We are happy for the ACSU to do a thorough investigation, and whatever the result, it will be a message to everyone that whoever is found guilty will not be spared.”On Tuesday, the BCB and ICC jointly announced that nine individuals have been charged with various offences allegedly committed in the BPL in violation of Bangladesh’s anti-corruption code. The nine persons were not named, but the Bangladesh cricketers who are among the nine will not be able to participate in the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League, the domestic one-day tournament, which is scheduled to begin on September 3.ESPNcricinfo has learned that the BCB had wanted to name the nine individuals during the press conference but ICC chief executive officer Dave Richardson wanted to strictly adhere to the provisions of the anti-corruption code.Explaining how the case will progress, Richardson said the hearing for the accused could still be a couple of months away. “The prosecution of the case and conduct of the hearing will be carried out on behalf of the BCB by the ICC,” he said. “There will be pre-hearing procedures where the ICC will make its own submissions once we know whether the charged have pleaded guilty or not. Then the accused will be able to reply to those submissions. Then, once everyone is available – the tribunal, the witnesses and all the accused – a date will be set. We think that it is still a couple of months away.”If any of the nine individuals are from overseas, they are still liable under the BCB’s anti-corruption code, Richardson said. “All those individuals who have been charged have submitted to the jurisdiction of the BCB’s anti-corruption code. Obviously one is required to sign a contract with the BPL as a foreign player, by which one of the terms would be to submit yourself to the jurisdiction of the code. The same applies to support personnel, or any other person involved with the teams.”Now, the BCB, as per Article 5 of the anti-corruption code, is required to appoint a disciplinary-panel chairman. The chairman is supposed to be a retired justice of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. He is required to then form a 10-member disciplinary panel, which should comprise of three retired judges, three eminent civilians and four cricket experts. Then, the chairman must form a three-member anti-corruption tribunal – which will hear the case – from among the disciplinary panel’s members, with one representative from each of the panel’s three groups.Hassan said that the BCB will immediately initiate proceedings to form the disciplinary panel, though the anti-corruption code specifies that BCB directors choose only the disciplinary panel’s chairman. “The tribunal will be formed immediately,” Hassan said. “The [disciplinary] panel will be announced within the next two or three days. It will be a ten-member panel from which three members will form the tribunal. We are just re-confirming the panel.”

Steve Magoffin proved the match-winner for Sussex in a gripping climax to their match against Durham

21-Jul-2012
ScorecardSteve Magoffin proved the match-winner for Sussex in a gripping climax to their match against Durham at Arundel. The Australian fast bowler took 6 for 22 as Durham were dismissed for 93 in their second innings, then scored 23 not out to see his side to a two-wicket win.Needing 94, Sussex looked doomed when Magoffin went to the crease at 50 for 7, but Kirk Wernars helped him put on 23 then he and James Anyon knocked off the remaining runs.Durham were almost entirely dependent on their two swing and seam bowlers, Callum Thorp and Chris Rushworth, who had taken four wickets each in the first innings. They shared seven second time around, while home captain Mike Yardy was run out, but once they began to tire the balance tipped back in Sussex’s favour.With 11 runs needed Paul Collingwood gambled by bringing on Ben Stokes in place of Rushworth, who had bowled 15 overs. But eight runs came off the over and Anyon was able to pick off the three remaining runs against Thorp, who finished with 4 for 38 in 17 overs.Sussex’s third win of the season kept them in the top half of the table while defeat left Durham even further adrift at the bottom, still looking for their first win.After the sides finished level on 231 in the first innings, Durham began the day on 80 for 7 and were all out for 93. Collingwood failed to add to his 29, falling in the first over to Kirk Wernars when he became one of the game’s 15 lbw victims. Magoffin did the rest, pinning Thorp lbw before taking out Mitch Claydon’s middle stump.Rushworth had Luke Wells lbw with the sixth ball of the Sussex innings then Joe Gatting was well caught by Scott Borthwick at second slip off Thorp, who also bowled Chris Nash. It became 27 for 4 when Yardy pushed the ball to midwicket and set off for a risky run, which Murray Goodwin declined.When Rushworth brought one sharply back to rock Luke Wright’s off stump Durham were favourites. After lunch Ben Brown was adjudged lbw when well forward to Rushworth and Goodwin nicked a ball on to his pad and was caught at slip.Phil Mustard, standing up to Thorp, took a brilliant leg-side catch to end Wernars’ resistance, but by that time Magoffin had stolen the initiative by running Thorp to the vacant third man boundary then cutting him for four. Those two shots eased the pressure and Collingwood’s overnight prediction that Durham would need a lead of 120 proved accurate.

Rahul Dravid has made a surprise comeback into India’s limited-overs plans, after two years in the wilderness, while the injured duo of Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh are the notable omissions

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Aug-2011Rahul Dravid has made a comeback into India’s limited-overs plans, after two years out of the side. The injured Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh are the notable omissions in the squad for the five-match ODI series and the only Twenty20 international against England.Dravid, who has over 10,000 runs in the ODI format, was a regular in the Indian side for most of the last decade. He was dropped from the team following a poor home series against Australia in 2007, but was recalled to bolster an inexperienced line-up in the lead-up to the Champions Trophy in 2009. His second coming lasted only six matches, and he was axed again following India’s early exit in that tournament in South Africa. He didn’t figure in India’s successful World Cup, but has had a good run in Tests since, including three centuries in five matches.Yuvraj and Harbhajan both picked up injuries in India’s crushing defeat in the second Test at Trent Bridge, ruling them out of action for four and three weeks respectively. Chief selector Kris Srikkanth confirmed that the senior duo was left out on fitness grounds, addressing speculation that Harbhajan may have been dropped.Harbhajan has been dogged by poor form since the World Cup, both in the West Indies and in England, before contracting an abdominal strain at Trent Bridge. He managed only six wickets in four ODIs in the West Indies, and was overshadowed by legspinner Amit Mishra. Harbhajan’s form dipped further in the Tests that followed, as he picked up five wickets in the first two Tests, though there was an improvement in the third Test in Antigua, where he returned match figures of 6 for 101. He has struggled for impact in England, picking up a wicket apiece in the first two Tests.Yuvraj hasn’t played an ODI for India since winning the Man-of-the-Tournament award at the World Cup. He missed the West Indies tour with a lung infection, but scored a half-century on his return to the national side at Trent Bridge before enduring a fractured finger on his left hand in the second innings. Yuvraj’s other World Cup-winning team-mates, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, made their ODI comebacks.Sreesanth, who returned to the Test side for England after missing out on the West Indies tour, was left out again, while R Vinay Kumar kept his ODI spot as the back-up seamer. Zaheer Khan, as expected, returned to the one-day scheme of things after sitting out of the West Indies tour. Ashish Nehra, who picked up an injury that kept him out of the World Cup final, remains on the sidelines.Parthiv Patel, who opened the batting and kept wicket in MS Dhoni’s absence in the West Indies, also retained his place as the second-choice limited-overs wicketkeeper. But there was no place for allrounder Yusuf Pathan, who had a poor World Cup and failed in the West Indies. Manoj Tiwary, Shikhar Dhawan and S Badrinath, who toured the Caribbean in the absence of the regular batsmen, missed out this time.Squad: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag (vice-capt), Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Parthiv Patel (wk), Amit Mishra, R Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Vinay Kumar

The PCB has ruled out the immediate return of Younis Khan to the Pakistan team because the player and his lawyer made “inappropriate statements”

Cricinfo staff06-Jul-2010The PCB has ruled out the immediate return of Younis Khan to the Pakistan team because the player and his lawyer made “inappropriate statements”. Younis was not selected for the tour of England despite his indefinite ban being lifted.”Younis and his lawyer have given inappropriate statements,” Butt told reporters after meeting federal sports minister Ijaz Jakhrani. “There is a players’ code of conduct in place and we will not spare anyone who violates the code.”Younis stepped down as captain and player ahead of the tour to New Zealand, which preceded the Australia series, over differences with his team-mates. He missed the Australia Tests, and did not make an impact during the ODIs under Mohammad Yousuf’s leadership. Following the tour, PCB came down strongly on seven national players, including Younis who was banned for creating infighting within the team – an accusation he staunchly refused.The captain Shahid Afridi hoped to have Younis’ services for the Tests at least, but when the team was being picked for the tour, the PCB hadn’t yet given clearance for his selection.
Younis however played down the issue with the PCB and said he is ready to play for Pakistan.”I am available to play for Pakistan whenever required,” Younus told a Pakistani television channel in England. “I have no fight with the PCB nor can I think of it. I am a known player because of Pakistan and the PCB.”

Keith Fletcher expresses fury at CDC verdict after incident in April

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Sep-2024Essex’s faint hopes of victory in this year’s County Championship are effectively over after the club was docked 12 points by the Cricket Discipline Commission, after one of their players, Feroze Khushi, was found to have used an over-sized bat during their opening match of the season in April.The sanction, which had been anticipated at Chelmsford for much of the season, has been accepted by the club in an official statement. However, there is also fury behind the scenes, with Keith Fletcher, the former Essex and England captain who is now the club president, telling the The Times that the decision was “absolutely stupid”.The issue arose during Essex’s second innings of their opening Championship fixture, against Nottinghamshire on April 6. Khushi, who had made 21 at the time, when the onfield umpires, Tom Lungley and Steve O’Shaughnessy, found that his bat became stuck in their measurement gauge.Essex went on to win the match by 254 runs, but have now lost 12 of the 20 points that they took from that fixture, meaning that they trail Surrey by 56 points with two rounds remaining, including what could have been a critical final-round clash between the two clubs at Chelmsford.Essex lodged an appeal when the original charge was raised by the Cricket Regulator, and in a 31-page judgement issued by the CDC, it was acknowledged that some of the gauges used to assess Khushi’s bat “did not comply precisely with the specifications”.In his evidence to the Regulator, Khushi said that he had trusted his bat manufacturer to provide equipment that confirmed to MCC’s regulations, with Law 5.7.2 stipulating that a bat’s width should be 10.8cm. He added that he never intended to use a non-conforming bat, but received a reprimand for his part in the issue.”Essex CCC regrets the outcome and, although disappointed with the appeal decision and subsequent sanctions, accepts the charges of the CDC panel,” a club statement said.”The club remains fully committed to upholding the integrity of the game and ensuring strict compliance with all relevant regulations moving forward.”In light of the concerns raised during the appeal, the club will be writing to the CDC, Cricket Regulator and the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to formally highlight the matters which arose during the process, such as those raised by the club in relation to the bat gauges.
“Essex CCC hopes that these concerns will prompt action to address inconsistencies and enhance the fairness and transparency of future regulatory processes.”Speaking to , Fletcher accused the appeal panel of “trying to flex its muscles”, adding that the whole side had been penalised by the process.”We realise we are not going to catch Surrey now and there is money at stake for the players and prestige for a non-Test-match club such as ourselves involved in where we finish,” he added. “We are always up against it with the Test-match clubs, which already have the money to attract the best players.”Anu Mohindru KC, the Essex chairman, added: “We appealed the initial judgment and it was supported by the cricket regulator, but the initial decision was upheld.”Since then, no other bat has been tested. My issue is with the apparatus for testing not being standard. I’m not suggesting we did not fail the final test and I don’t have any criticism of the umpires and match referee but it is not a level playing field if we are all using different gauges. I would like to think we are not being singled out in this matter.”

Alex Griffiths fifty, three wickets each for Nicole Harvey, Piepa Cleary keep Storm in the hunt

ECB Reporters Network02-Jul-2023Marie Kelly led by example as top-of-the-table Blaze beat Western Storm by five runs at Bristol’s Seat Unique Stadium to extend their unbeaten run to six matches in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.She made up for losing the toss by top-scoring with 54, while Michaela Kirk contributed 40 and Sophie Munro and Teresa Graves posted 41 apiece in adding 74 for the seventh wicket as Blaze recovered from 149 for 6 in the 33rd over to raise 245.Nicole Harvey took 3 for 32 in the middle overs and new signing Piepa Cleary returned figures of 3 for 42 on her debut to keep Storm in the hunt. But the inspirational Kelly then ran out opener Emma Corney and claimed the key wicket of Sophie Luff to dent Storm’s run chase.Alex Griffiths posted a superb 67 and Fran Wilson weighed in with 43, but Blaze bowled and fielded with impressive discipline to restrict Storm to 240 for 7 and return to winning ways following defeat to Southern Vipers in last month’s Charlotte Edwards Cup final.Without England bowlers Lauren Filer and Dani Gibson, who were away on Ashes duty, Storm put their trust in a previously untested new ball pairing of Academy product Mollie Robbins and Cleary, the Western Australia right armer signed just 48 hours earlier to bolster a depleted seam attack.Although wayward and a touch expensive, the inexperienced Robbins engineered an early breakthrough, Sarah Bryce driving loosely to point with the score on 17, while Cleary, in her first competitive outing since February, shed any initial ring rust to have Georgie Boyce held at silly mid-off in a new-ball burst of 1 for 17 from five overs.Unperturbed by events at the other end, Blaze skipper Kelly set her stall out to bat through, going quietly about the business of accumulating runs, while the more aggressive Kathryn Bryce cashed in whenever she was afforded width, plundering three boundaries to give the innings impetus and help advance the score to 73 for 2 at the end of the powerplay.Having put on 41 for the third wicket with her captain, Bryce was caught at the wicket for 20 in the act of cutting Chloe Skelton’s off breaks as Storm struck a telling blow. But the visitors continued to hold sway, aided and abetted by a lucky break when Cleary put down a presentable chance at mid-off to gift Kirk a life on 19, much to the chagrin of Skelton.Kelly combined clever placement and hard running, especially against spin, to keep the scoreboard moving. Her reward was a chanceless 50. Yet just as she was threatening to take the game away from Storm, she came unstuck, top-edging a pull shot and holing out to short fine leg, Harvey terminating a progressive fourth-wicket alliance of 42 in the 26th over.Having been cruising at 130 for 3, Blaze slumped to 149 for 6 in the face of an incisive spell from Harvey, who claimed three wickets in 15 balls with her leg breaks to fundamentally alter the balance of power. Nadine de Klerk was bowled and fellow South African Kirk pinned lbw in the act of sweeping as the middle order miss-fired.Storm sensed an opportunity to shut the innings down and there followed eight overs in which Blaze failed to register a single boundary as Graves and Munro battled to repair the damage. Demonstrating sound temperament and determination, the seventh-wicket pair eventually prevailed as a see-saw innings swayed back in the visitors’ favour.These two both contributed 41 from 50 balls to put the innings back on track before falling to the returning Cleary, who proved particularly effective at the death alongside Alex Griffiths, who removed Ella Claridge and Lucy Higham to finish with 2 for 25 from 5.5 overs.Having learned from the first innings, Griffiths and Corney embraced a low-risk strategy to provide Storm’s reply with solid foundations, the openers proving adept at putting the bad ball away while scoring predominantly in singles to post 69 in 17.4 overs.Their partnership was broken in bizarre fashion, Griffiths striking the ball back down the track and bowler Kelly diverting it onto the stumps with the unfortunate Corney out of her ground. Run out for 29 from 40 balls, Corney had nevertheless helped set things up, heading back to the dressing room with Storm requiring a further 177 runs at 5.47 an over.But Blaze do not boast an unbeaten record in this format without good reason, and the ubiquitous Kelly further undermined the chase when bowling the influential Luff for eight with the score on 91 in the 24th over.Storm were heavily dependent upon Griffiths and new batter Fran Wilson, who were aware of the need to accelerate from 99 for 2 at the halfway stage. Sure enough, Wilson quickly caressed three off-side boundaries at the expense of Kathryn Bryce and Kelly to set the scoreboard moving again, and Griffiths went to her first 50 of the summer via 97 balls as the third-wicket pair injected crucial momentum into their batting.Griffiths had advanced to 67 from 118 balls with eight fours and the partnership was worth 59 when the Welsh all-rounder chanced her arm once too often and holed out to Kirk in the deep off the bowling of Graves with the score on 150 in the 33rd over. Hesitation then proved fatal for Niamh Holland, run out for eight, as Blaze brought further pressure to bear on the home side.Wilson moved to within seven runs of a half-century before attempting to hook Graves and top-edging a catch behind, at which point Storm were 176-5, still 70 short of victory with the cream of their batting back in the pavilion.Storm refused to give in, Nat Wraith striking 20 before falling to Graves and Sophia Smale making a spirited 24 as the home side took it to the very last over.

England opener hits 76 off 44 as Lightning slip to third defeat from four

ECB Reporters Network29-May-2022England opener Danni Wyatt cracked 76 from 44 balls at Trent Bridge as Southern Vipers made it four wins from four in the Charlotte Edwards Cup, which all but guarantees their place at next month’s finals day.Lightning, who suffered a third defeat in four, were bowled out for 141 in 19.4 overs, Vipers chasing down their target in the 17th to win by five wickets.Wyatt hit 11 fours and a six before she was caught by England team-mate Tammy Beaumont on the midwicket boundary with Vipers in sight of the win.Related

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Wyatt, whose maximum was driven over mid-on, was dropped twice, on 61 and 65, although both were difficult chances in the deep and it is debatable whether it would have altered the outcome had one of them stuck.Marie Kelly hit 36 from just 12 balls as Lightning overcame the early loss of Beaumont for one but a powerplay worth 57 runs came at the cost of four wickets and the home side were grateful to Kathryn Bryce (23) and Lucy Higham (31) for leading a recovery from 77 for six.Former Lightning skipper Georgia Elwiss took three for 28, with 17-year-old left-arm seamer Freya Kemp claiming the wickets of Kelly and Beaumont. Higham also took 3 for 30 with her offspin for Lightning.After Lightning had won the toss, Kelly shrugged off the loss of opening partner Beaumont, clearing the leg-side boundary three times off Lauren Bell before cracking three consecutive fours off Kemp.