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NZ batter heads back to Trent Bridge after helping Rockets to Hundred title last year

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jan-2023Colin Munro has signed for Notts Outlaws as an overseas player for the 2023 Vitality Blast.Munro, the 35-year-old left-handed top-order batter from New Zealand, was part of the Trent Rockets team which won the men’s Hundred title in 2022.He has three centuries from 62 T20I innings with a career strike-rate of 156.44, and has represented New Zealand on 123 occasions across all formats. Munro is also the 12th-highest run-scorer in T20 history, having scored 9,195 runs.”I’ve witnessed first-hand how much the crowd get behind the team with the Rockets last summer and when I’ve been fortunate, or unfortunate, to come up against the Outlaws at home,” Munro said. “I’m joining a team which plays an aggressive brand of cricket which suits my style and how I like to go about scoring runs. I want to come in and add my experience to what is already a well-oiled machine.”Related

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Munro scored 206 runs in nine matches for Trent Rockets last season at an average of 41.2 and strike rate of 168.85. In addition to The Hundred and previous stints in county cricket with Hampshire and Worcestershire, Durban-born Munro has IPL, PSL, Big Bash and CPL experience, with titles in the latter two tournaments and a total of 365 short-format appearances around the world.Peter Moores, Nottinghamshire’s head coach, described Munro as “a quality player”.”We’ve spoken a lot about Dan [Christian] and what he brought to us; experience, quality and a positive and dynamic style of play,” Moores said. “I see Colin in the same bracket. He’s got his game sorted, he’s played T20 cricket all around the world and he will complement the likes of Alex Hales at the top of the order.”We’re conscious of the fact that Ben [Duckett] has done really well for England and there’s more than a fair chance that we’ll miss him for parts of the summer. That’s one of the reasons we wanted to bring Colin in, to make sure we have that wealth of experience to call upon.”Christian, who won the Blast with Notts Outlaws in 2017 and 2020 as part of a glittering global T20 career, recently announced that he would retire from cricket at the end of Sydney Sixers’ current BBL campaign. Duckett, meanwhile, returned to the reckoning with England’s Test and T20 sides late last year.

Shahzad, Rajapaksa romp to victory after Bopara, Munaf star with ball

Aadam Patel29-Nov-2021Chennai Braves 114 for 0 (Rajapaksa 55*, Shahzad 54*) beat Northern Warriors 108 (Bopara 2-6) by ten wicketsEleven days and 26 games later, the Chennai Braves finally got themselves their first win of the Abu Dhabi T10, at the ninth time of asking.”Better late than never,” as player of the match, Bhanuka Rajapaksa said post-match. They had the Sri Lankan to thank as he notched up his third half-century of the tournament with 55 not out off just 23 deliveries. Alongside the always-entertaining Mohammad Shahzad, who hit 54 not out off 29 balls, the pair ensured that the Braves got their first points on the board.Of course, it was all a little too late. After eight consecutive defeats, the Braves looked all but destined to end their first experience at the Abu Dhabi T10 without a win to their name. Without Nicholas Pooran – their icon player – throughout the tournament, the Braves have lacked match-winners and an injury to Yusuf Pathan certainly didn’t help.Angelo Perera, handed the captaincy midway through the tournament, praised two of their more experienced players in Ravi Bopara and Munaf Patel for orchestrating their win, as Northern Warriors were bowled out for 108. It was the first time that the Braves had managed to take more than five wickets in an innings.From the moment Curtis Campher trapped the devastating Kennar Lewis for a golden duck, the Braves looked like a team determined to end their hoodoo thus far. Campher had Moeen Ali caught at deep backward square leg, just as he was getting going and despite the tournament top scorer, Rovman Powell smashing young Englishman, Roman Walker, for three sixes in the seventh over, Shanaka got the West Indian in the next, Powell sending one straight to Campher in the deep.With the very next ball, Shanaka dismissed Umair Ali and after Bopara picked up two wickets in the penultimate over. It was left to Dhananjaya Lakshan to get rid of Imran Tahir, before Oshane Thomas was run out with a ball to spare.”A lot of credit goes to the bowling unit and also, we had a good outing in the field,” said Perera. “Yes, it was frustrating [to be winless], but today we had a different plan and Ravi and Munaf took the responsibility of talking to the bowlers and their experience has shown today. I think they executed the plan really well.”In their previous three matches, the Braves had managed totals of 107, 89 & 57, so chasing 109 was never going to be a walk in the park. However Rajapaksa and Shahzad got the job done in style. After a tight first over from Tahir, Shahzad let loose with five boundaries off Abhimanyu Mithun in the second. Together, the pair picked away at the total, sucking the energy out of the Warriors – who knew that they also had no chance of progressing to the play-offs.There was still 21 needed off three overs when Oshane Thomas was brought back into the attack. Thomas has had a fascinating tournament thus far, picking up the only hat-trick of the T10 in his first game, before returning the worst figures in T10 history with 0 for 50 in his two overs against Team Abu Dhabi. Yet, he came back from that, with three wickets the following night against the Deccan Gladiators.Related

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However, Rajapaksa ensured that this was another night to forget for the West Indian, who after getting run-out for a duck, was dispatched by the Sri Lankan for 20 in his second over. With a majestic drive over the sweeper cover, the 30-year-old brought up his fifty in style.And it was left for Shahzad to bring up his half-century too with a six, which also sealed the win. Between them, the pair hit 15 fours and six sixes and at long last, the Chennai outfit had some points on the table and something to shout about.”When I was batting with Shazy [Shahzad], I can’t really run so it’s really a case of see ball, hit ball,” said Rajapaksa. “I guess it worked tonight!”As the league stage of the tournament comes to a conclusion with just four games remaining, the four play-off spots have already been decided. Team Abu Dhabi, Deccan Gladiators, Bangla Tigers and Delhi Bulls will make up the sides ready to battle it out over two play-off days on Friday and Saturday. It remains to be seen which two sides will finish as the top two and thus have two bites of the cherry, as they look to make the final of the Abu Dhabi T10.In the earlier game, Liam Livingstone smashed a brutal 59 off 24 to help Team Abu Dhabi reclaim top spot, as they edged out Deccan Gladiators by eight runs.

‘You wouldn’t cheer if an ASDA shut down and people lost their jobs,’ Yorkshire leg-spinner says

Valkerie Baynes03-May-2020For Katie Levick, the Women’s Hundred represents a chance to prove what might have been.Having turned her back on a potential international career for financial reasons when she was 21, Yorkshire leg-spinner Levick was among the first domestic players chosen for a Northern Superchargers squad captained by England’s Lauren Winfield and featuring Australian star Alyssa Healy.But the now 28-year-old Levick is among those who stand to be hardest hit by the postponement of the inaugural Hundred season to 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. With no central contract to fall back on, her ability to earn some money playing the sport she loves has been put on hold for a year, after which she hopes to be injury-free and that “the team still wants me”.Negotiations are continuing over the make-up of squads for next year and it was against a backdrop of uncertainty that Levick was stunned by the reaction on social media to the ECB’s announcement last week that the competition launch would be delayed. Suggestions that some people would not be sorry to see the competition postponed or even scrapped prompted Levick to post a plea for sensitivity on Twitter.”Just seeing the sea of negativity against the competition and how people were so happy, I thought, can you just take a step back and have a bit of perspective? This actually affects people and it affects their jobs,” Levick told ESPNcricinfo. “You wouldn’t cheer if an ASDA shut down and people lost their jobs, so this is no different essentially.” Levick is quick to point out that, given the seriousness of the coronavirus outbreak, putting the Hundred back a year is “insignificant really in the grand scheme of things”. She does feel, however, that the women’s game will be affected more heavily than the men’s, given the limited opportunities for women not centrally contracted by the ECB to make money from cricket and the tournament’s potential to attract girls to the sport.Former England spinner Alex Hartley, who lost her central contract last year told BBC Sport: “I am missing out on a significant amount of money that I was relying on to support myself … you might see me stacking toilet roll in Tesco by the end of the summer if no cricket is played because I will have no job.”Levick, the all-time leading wicket-taker in the Women’s County Championship, considers herself fortunate in that she has a full-time job as marketing manager for Yorkshire County Cricket Club’ s coaching company, Pro Coach Yorkshire. Nevertheless, she had dared to dream about the financial and sporting opportunities the Hundred presented this year.”You don’t know what people’s circumstances are going to be next year, I could get injured before the next tournament, and then that’s probably my career over,” she said. “If people do get a job opportunity it means, ‘right, I can’t take it on next year’.”It was more money than I’d ever earned for cricket. I bought my first home at the end of last year, so knowing that then I signed my contract for the Hundred, you had plans, that money was going to be able to help me do up my house and maybe have a holiday once in my life.”So as daft as it sounds that you never had the money, you do make plans for it because of course you do, you’re only human and it does help you keep going.”ALSO READ: Where now for the Hundred following ECB postponement?Levick has been here before, in a way. Having trained for 12 months with the England Academy, she had to make the decision upon finishing university to pursue a career off the field. With central contracts still two years away, she simply could not afford to wait on the off chance she may eventually become one of the chosen few to make a living from playing.”I’m coming towards the end of my career and the Super League has just been the best experience I’ve had in cricket because you got the opportunity to play against the internationals and play on a bit of a stage where we were getting televised games and a bit more promotion,” Levick said.”With the Hundred we were going to be aligned with the men, so that’s a whole other level of publicity we were going to get and some of the stadiums we were due to play at, and the free-to-air TV games, that was going to take the game to another level and put us on a platform that we hadn’t been on before.”I’ve used the Super League and hopefully the Hundred as a way to prove that I could have done it at the next level and prove it against the top players.”Katie Levick training at the National Cricket Performance Centre in 2012•Getty Images

Levick believes some opposition to the Hundred stems from the fact it moves away from a county model to a regional one, but she struggles to understand the reasoning.”People are so purist at counties, you know, live and die by your county,” Levick said. “I just found it weird that as a sports fan, you’re putting so much onus on the team names and where the teams are located. Can’t you support a player? I might not be wearing a Yorkshire badge but I’m still very much from Yorkshire.”If you watch a football team, I reckon 90 percent of my hometown football team aren’t from Sheffield but I still support that team. I think it’s just trying to look at it from a different perspective and just take off your county goggles maybe and enjoy the spectacle.”

Richard Pybus and Trevor Bayliss in agreement about potency of squad, despite lowly world ranking

George Dobell in Grenada25-Feb-2019West Indies can cause a shock – and perhaps even win – the World Cup, according to the England and West Indies coaches.While West Indies’ recent record is not promising – they have not won a bilateral ODI series since 2014, have won only two of their last
seven completed ODIs and are currently ranked No. 9 in the world – the coaches of both sides in the current series in the Caribbean believe
they are a fast-improving, dangerous side who could beat “anyone on their day”.”I know the right West Indies combination with a fully focussed side can beat anyone on their day,” Richard Pybus, West Indies’ interim coach, said. “I wasn’t at the World Cup qualifiers but, with the group of guys we have now, we feel confident could take down anyone on their day.”Key to West Indies’ improved confidence is the return of several high-profile players. Darren Bravo returned in December, Chris Gayle returned for this series – and has responded with a century and half-century – while Andre Russell is expected to return for the fourth ODI in Grenada on Wednesday. As a result, West Indies look as if they have the firepower to damage more opponents.”The West Indies have been playing some decent cricket over the last 18 months,” Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, agreed. “With the size of their batters and the way some of them hit the ball they can be a chance of winning that World Cup.”While he was unable to confirm whether Gayle had done enough to cement his place as opener at the World Cup, Pybus did say he had made a “very resounding case” and defended his somewhat careful starts in each of the first two ODIs.”I can’t speak on behalf of the selectors but I think Chris has put forward a very resounding case,” Pybus said. “He’s just class really. It’s always great having guys in your side who are a bit scary for the opposition who know full well what they can deliver.”In those first two games, Chris was getting a feel for a spongy wicket batting first. It can be a game of two halves in Barbados. He was playing himself through. But, as we have all seen in T20, he can attack that first powerplay brutally. On good wickets he’ll be going hard pretty early.”

The announcement was made at a press conference in Colombo on Tuesday

Andrew Fidel Fernando09-Jan-2018Angelo Mathews has resumed Sri Lanka’s limited-overs captaincy less than six months after he resigned from the position. Following a year in which Sri Lanka’s ODI captaincy has been in flux, it is hoped Mathews will take the team into the 2019 World Cup, and perhaps beyond.Dinesh Chandimal retains the Test captaincy, meanwhile, and has also reclaimed a place in the ODI squad.The reinstatement of Mathews as captain is partly a reflection of the paucity of leadership options but is also among a raft of changes proposed by new coach Chandika Hathurusingha. Hathurusingha had worked with Mathews between 2008 and 2010, first as coach of Sri Lanka A team, and later as the shadow coach of the national team. Back then, he had been among the coaches who earmarked Mathews for a long international career.Mathews confirmed that Hathurusingha’s return to Sri Lanka as head coach helped draw him back to captaincy.”When I stepped down I never thought of taking over the captaincy again,” Mathews said. “But as soon as we came back from India, the president had a discussion with me. Also Hathu , and the selectors spoke to me and asked me to consider taking up the captaincy again. I took a few a few days to think about it, and because of a few reasons I decided to accept.”I’ve also known Hathu for a long time and I know how he operates. He’s not here just to survive. It’ll be very easy to work with him. When you have a coach like him that other countries are desperate to have, it’s a great thing. Cricket has given me a lot. If I turn my back in the hour of need I’ll not have done right by cricket.”The major worry for Mathews now becomes remaining fit through Sri Lanka’s heavy schedule. Over the past eighteen months, he has missed 20 of Sri Lanka’s 39 ODIs thanks to a slew of serious leg injuries. Most recently, a hamstring strain ended his tour of India early.Hathurusingha said team management and the selectors had taken Mathews’ injury situation into account, but nevertheless felt he was the best leadership option.”My thought was that he’s the best person to lead the ODI team because he warrants a place on his own performance,” Hathurusingha said. “The only concern we had was his physical fitness and we have a plan in place to help him.”

Hyderabad opener Tanmay Agarwal was taken to hospital after being struck on the head while fielding at forward short leg during the Group C Ranji Trophy match against Chhattisgarh, in Valsad

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Nov-2016Hyderabad opener Tanmay Agarwal was taken to hospital after being struck on the head while fielding at forward short leg during the Group C Ranji Trophy match against Chhattisgarh, in Valsad, on Wednesday, according to a report in the .The incident occurred shortly before lunch, when Manoj Singh’s pull off left-arm spinner Mehdi Hasan hit Agarwal’s helmet even as he seemingly instinctively tried to catch the ball.Agarwal, who felt dizziness despite being conscious, was stretched off the field and taken to the hospital in an ambulance. He was advised a scan after a preliminary examination was conducted by the medical staff at the stadium.Benjamin Thomas came in to open for Hyderabad in his place, in the second innings, after Chhattisgarh were bowled out for 188 soon after lunch. Agarwal, however, returned to bat at No. 5, just before tea, and was bowled by seamer Pankaj Rao for a five-ball duck.

The governing council of the Bangladesh Premier League has brought forward the tournament’s opening game from November 24 to November 22 while the final will be held on December 15

Mohammad Isam14-Oct-2015The governing council of the Bangladesh Premier League has brought forward the tournament’s opening game from November 24 to November 22 while the final will be held on December 15. The opening match, final and a playoff game will be held in Dhaka. The players’ draft, originally scheduled for October 31, will now be held on October 26.The players’ draft will feature 196 foreign and 122 local cricketers. Each franchise can register 12 foreign players in total, and use a maximum of four such players in a match. England and Pakistan are the most well-represented among international sides with 53 players each, including Pakistan pacers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif. Ismail Haider Mallick, the secretary of the BPL, said the ICC had provided clearances regarding Amir and Asif.”Amir and Asif have been punished. We have kept them in the list because they got ICC’s clearance,” Mallick said. “There can be allegations against them like there was against many players in the IPL. But it didn’t stop the tournament.Mallick also stated that the BCB’s own anti-corruption unit will be put in charge of this season unlike the 2013 edition when the Bangladesh board had to hire the ICC’s anti-corruption and security unit.The format for the BPL 2015 will follow the 2013 edition where finalists were decided through a four-game playoff. There will be two matches held from 2.00pm and 6.45pm, and most of the games will be held in Dhaka, with Chittagong hosting matches over four-five days.The order by which the six franchises can pick a player will be decided through a lottery system, which will allot slots to the teams. A franchise can pick two players on its allotted slot before a lottery determines the order for the next two rounds. The draft will be shown live on television.

Mickey Arthur, the coach of Australia, has outlined some of the discipline issues that had built up over the course of the tour of India

Brydon Coverdale13-Mar-2013Mickey Arthur, the coach of Australia, has outlined some of the discipline issues that had built up over the course of the tour of India, including late attendance for team meetings, back-chat and high skinfolds (tests to estimate body fat). These were among the infractions from the wider squad that led to four players being stood down for the third Test in Mohali due to their failure to complete a task in which Arthur asked every player to give ideas for individual and team improvement.When Arthur made the announcement on Monday that Shane Watson, James Pattinson, Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Johnson would not be part of the third Test due to neglecting the task, he alluded to a build-up of other behavioural issues but did not go into details. However, on the eve of the Mohali Test, Arthur has confirmed what some of the problems were, which were not specific to the four players suspended.”It has been a culmination of lots of minor indiscretions that have built up to now,” Arthur wrote in his Cricket Australia blog. “Some people may ask why it was left to get to this point, such an ‘extreme measure’. We have given lots of latitude and flexibility with a young and inexperienced squad. We know it’s going to take time for them to grow and mature, but there is only so long the leadership group can hold their hand.”This decision was about sending out a strong message that it is about time all players had some accountability for their actions. Being late for a meeting, high skinfolds, wearing the wrong attire, back-chat or giving attitude are just some examples of these behavioural issues that have been addressed discretely but continue to happen. If we’re deadly serious about getting back to number one in the world, all players need to raise the bar and lift their game.”If not, we must be content at being number three or four or five in world cricket because we won’t get any better. The players won’t learn and we’ll continue a vicious cycle. It is a strong message to everyone in Australian cricket that if you want to play for the Australian cricket team, then we demand excellence, and corner-cutting, taking short-cuts or arriving with a bad attitude will no longer be tolerated.”Arthur, the captain Michael Clarke and the team manager Gavin Dovey were collectively responsible for the decision to leave the four players out of the third Test, which could leave Australia with as few as 12 men available for the game, which starts on Thursday. Cricket Australia’s chairman, Wally Edwards, said the board was “completely supportive” of the decision taken by the Australian team management, although it has created plenty of debate from the cricket public.”When we sat down as a leadership group and made these tough decisions I knew it would polarise public opinion, but internally I certainly know we’ve made the absolute right decision,” Arthur said. “The last week and a half since the end of the Hyderabad Test has been the toughest in my 11 years of coaching.”

Gary Kirsten admitted that it is a “little bit concerning” that seamer Vernon Philander will head straight into two months of county cricket after a busy season.

Firdose Moonda28-Mar-2012Gary Kirsten admitted that it is a “little bit concerning” that seamer Vernon Philander will head straight into two months of county cricket after a busy season. Philander played in seven of the eight Tests South Africa contested this season and turned out in all formats for his franchise, the Cobras. He will not have a break until the end of May, a month before South Africa’s tour to England.Kirsten said despite the packed schedule, Philander must honour his contract with Somerset because he agreed to it before he became a nationally contracted player. Kirsten was consulted about the decision and encouraged Philander to accept Somerset offer because of the experience it would allow him to gain. “That decision was made during the first Test against Australia in November,” Kirsten said. “Philander asked me my opinion and I said I didn’t think it will be a bad idea to get used to the bowling conditions there. I don’t think anyone would have thought that he would play seven Tests and get 50 wickets and really play a major part and bowl a lot of overs for us.”Philander stunned the international stage with his consistent wicket-taking and was awarded a CSA contract in January, which comes into effect on April 1. Philander’s Somerset contract was subject to conditions relating to whether he was able to secure an IPL deal. When he went unsold in the February auction, Philander’s agreement with Somerset kicked in. He will play eight matches starting on April 5, when they host Middlesex in their first Championship match.Kirsten said it is vital Philander sees out his contract but hopes CSA can work with Somerset to ensure he is not overworked or burnt out. “He wasn’t under CSA contract when he signed the Somerset contract. He needs to honour his contract, that’s important. But we would like to create a relationship with them and say these are our needs going forward in terms of the Test series,” Kirsten said. “What’s important for me is that he has a window period, a conditioning period. We would like to create that. We will chat to Somerset and see where they are on it and hopefully we can get a significant conditioning period. As it stands at the moment he is due to comeback at the end of May.”County seasons are known to be gruelling on most and South Africans have sometimes struggled to keep up. Dale Steyn was one of the bowlers who had a tough time adjusting during his 2005 stint at Essex and Lonwabo Tsotsobe also battled in his time at the same county last season. Kirsten said Somerset have promised to be accommodating with Philander but even if they are not, he should have ample rest. “They’ve been quite good about it already. They’ve said we are not going to overuse him but I know how the county circuit works. There’s no such thing as overuse when you’ve got a game on the line,” Kirsten said. “He has got a month off when he gets back and then we go to England so it’s a decent break.”Philander’s England experience is being eagerly anticipated after his explosive start in Test cricket. He is level as the second-fastest bowler to 50 Test wickets, achieving the feat in just seven matches. Although not expressly quick, Philander has shown the worth of being a crafty bowler and has gone from rookie to being the leader of the South African attack in a short space of time.The secret to Philander’s success seems to be nothing more complicated than rewards for discipline and skill and a testament to the work he put in at domestic level. “He is very consistent, he has got good control and gets subtle movement of the ball both ways,”Kirsten explained. “He bowls very accurately and has got enough pace. He knows what he is doing with the ball and he has got a great, very simple bowling technique. But, more importantly, he has got the mental capability to make big plays when we need him to make big plays and that is very exciting. It’s very exciting that we have those types of individuals. We tried him out this summer and look at the summer he had.”

A dominant performance by Matabeleland Tuskers saw them beat Mid West Rhinos by 177 runs and move to second position in the Logan Cup table

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Mar-2011A dominant performance by Matabeleland Tuskers saw them beat Mid West Rhinos by 177 runs at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo, and move to second position in the Logan Cup table. Tuskers had a 95-run first-innings lead by early on the third day, but it was in their second innings that they really pressed home the advantage and set up the win.Openers Paul Horton and Gavin Ewing tore into the Rhinos bowlers and scored 119 each, at strike-rates of 123.95 and 83.80 respectively. The quick scoring was continued by the rest of the batsmen and Tuskers reached 335 in just 54.5 overs, giving themselves plenty of time to bowl Rhinos out.Staring at a mammoth target of 431 to win, Rhinos lost early wickets, and despite a half-century from Roland Benade at No.8, never looked like surviving. They were bowled out 42 overs into the fourth day, with seamers Thabo Mboyi and Njabulo Ncube taking three wickets each.In the first innings, most of Tusker’s top-order batsmen got starts, but it took half-centuries from Steven Trenchard at No. 5 and Tafadzwa Ngulube at No.7 to get them up to 393. Rhinos were then bowled out for 298, but it would have been much less if not for the efforts of Riki Wessels, whose 146 was the highest score in the match

While runs were aplenty in Bulawayo, they were in short supply at the Masvingo Sports Club, where table-toppers Mountaineers beat Southern Rocks by nine wickets inside three days in a low-scoring affair. Twenty-year-old seamer Tendai Chatara proved too much to handle for Rocks, who were bowled out for 177 and 94 in their two innings, with Chatara taking 6 for 33 in the first and 5 for 16 in the second.In between, half-centuries from Tino Mawoyo and Timycen Maruma helped Mountaineers reach 218 in their first innings. Rocks’ seamer Brian Vitori took 6 for 55, but there was not much he could do after his team’s batting line-up collapsed in their second attempt, leaving Mountaineers just 54 to win on the third day.