Jayawardene will be joined by his Mumbai Indians colleague Shane Bond on the staff, while Edwards steps into her first head coach role

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Aug-2019Charlotte Edwards and Mahela Jayawardene have been appointed as the head coaches for the Southampton-based teams for The Hundred.Jayawardene is the sixth coach to have his appointment confirmed for the tournament for a men’s team. The two men’s sides yet to have their head coaches announced are the Oval Invincibles and Trent Rockets, with Tom Moody and Stephen Fleming expected to fulfil the respective roles.That means than none of the men’s sides will be coached by Englishmen, which Andrew Strauss, who stepped down as England’s director of men’s cricket last year, has labelled a “great opportunity” missed.ALSO READ: The Hundred a ‘great opportunity’ missed for English coaches – Strauss“Personally I think that [The Hundred] was a great opportunity for English coaches to be appointed,” Strauss said. “Each of those teams will have their own reasons for appointing experienced coaches, who have coached in T20 cricket elsewhere in the world.”You can completely understand that, but there is a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation in that unless English coaches get an opportunity, how do they get the experience?”Jayawardene, who has coached Mumbai Indians to two of the last three IPL titles, will work alongside another member of their staff in Shane Bond. Bond is bowling coach at Mumbai Indians, and head coach at Sydney Thunder, and will be an assistant coach in The Hundred.Former Hampshire captain Jimmy Adams and former England assistant Richard Halsall will also be part of the staff.The job is first head coach role for Edwards, who has spent the past two season as director of women’s cricket at Hampshire. She has also worked as batting coach in the Big Bash for Adelaide Strikers, and said “it’s the right time” to make the step up to head coach.”I feel like I’ve learned a lot from coaching overseas and working with the Southern Vipers,” she said. “It’s my time to have a go and see what I can do.”I think The Hundred is going to have a positive impact on the game at a grassroots level. I’m really looking forward to being there from the start and watching it all unfold. It’s really exciting because I’ve been to Australia and seen the impact the Big Bash has had and you just feel like we can do exactly that and more.”Jayawardene said that the tournament would be “innovative and exciting” and that it was a “great privilege to be head coach of the Southampton-based team.”I think The Hundred will interest the world’s best players because England is a great place to play cricket,” he said. “The structure of the tournament is good and that means most of the guys will put their name in the hat because this is a tournament that excites them.”Mark Nicholas has been appointed as the franchise’s chairman.

Board president Nazmul Hassan also lists out further major changes in BPL, including preferable batting positions to Bangladesh batsmen

Mohammad Isam17-Oct-2019The BCB have dismissed two NCL coaches for failing to carry out the board’s directives. Rangpur Division coach Masud Parvez Razan didn’t pick Fardeen Hasan, and legspinner Rishad Hossain, while Dhaka Division coach Jahangir Alam also lost his job for not picking legspinner Jubair Hossain in the playing XI during the second round that began on Thursday.BCB president Nazmul Hassan said both coaches have been issued with a show-cause notice for not picking the legspinners, with the BCB keen on implementing certain rules in domestic cricket to help strengthen the national side. ESPNcricinfo has learned that both Masud and Jahangir have already been replaced by Zafrul Ehsan and Mohammad Salim, as the Rangpur and Dhaka coach, respectively.”We gave clear instructions to play legspinners in the NCL, but neither [Jubair Hossain] Likhon nor Rishad [Hossain] were picked in the XI in this round,” Hassan said. “We have show-caused two coaches from Dhaka and Rangpur for not selecting the legspinners despite being told to do so. We have to give them game time. How else can they improve otherwise?”

BPL set for further radical changes

The BCB have already put in place a rule for quick bowlers and legspinners in the BPL, and Nazmul Hassan said batting orders too would be mandated based on the national team’s interest.
“They must have a legspinner in the squad and if he is a local, he must be picked in the best XI. Teams should also set a batting order which is consistent with how the Bangladesh players are suited or needed in international cricket,” Hassan said. “We will give preference to fast bowlers who bowl 140kph. You can call this season’s BPL as preparation, a trial for the World T20.”

This is the first time that the BCB has taken such drastic action against coaches for not picking a legspinner. Over the years, domestic sides in Bangladesh have mostly opted for left-arm spinners and offspinners, leading to a paucity of legspinners in domestic cricket that has been lamented by players, coaches and selectors. Jubair did make his international debut in 2014, but though he had the backing of Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza and then coach Chandika Hathurusingha, he didn’t get the same backing in domestic cricket.The BCB has reportedly made it mandatory for first-class sides to pick legspinners in their XIs in the 2019-20 season. Minhajul Abedin Afridi, whom the chief selector first spotted as a net bowler in Chittagong last year, made his first-class debut in Chittagong Division’s previous match, while Aminul Islam Biplob, who made his T20I debut last month against Zimbabwe, made his debut for Dhaka Metropolis.Hassan said that in keeping with their plan to troubleshoot weaknesses, the BCB have also put in place rules for BPL teams to pick a local or foreign legspinner in every game, as well as give preferable batting positions to Bangladesh batsmen, whether in the top or middle-order.”They must have a legspinner in the squad and if he is a local, he must be picked in the best XI. Teams should also set a batting order which is consistent with how the Bangladesh players are suited or needed in international cricket.”We will give preference to fast bowlers who bowl 140kph. You can call this season’s BPL as preparation, a trial for the World T20,” he said.Hassan said that players will also require a fitness test to play in the Dhaka Premier League from this season, a first in the tournament’s history, while the bleep test level will be raised further next year. “We will raise the fitness level next year too but we will inform them at least a year in hand.”Players have to pass fitness test to play Dhaka Premier League too, and all of them have to be done in Dhaka,” he said.”Suggestions from the senior team’s coaching staff are being taken seriously,” Hassan said. “After the World Cup, our fielding coach pointed out that there’s a basic lack in fitness and understanding of fielding’s basics among our national team. Some of them can’t even throw properly. We are working on all the suggestions from the support staff. Initially we will stumble, but it is the best for the long-term,” he said.Hassan said that the board’s focus is building a side by 2021, so that they have a settled group by the 2023 World Cup in India.”We have been playing to win, but now we will do some experiments, as part of our long-term plan. Some of our decisions may seem different but by 2021, we want to build a solid team for the 2023 World Cup. A team that can serve Bangladesh for at least four or five years,” he said.

The quick bowler was charged under CA’s code of conduct and because of previous sanctions is now suspended for a match

Daniel Brettig and Alex Malcolm17-Nov-2019James Pattinson is out of the first Test against Pakistan at the Gabba after being suspended by Cricket Australia for delivering a volley of obscene personal abuse at Queensland’s Cameron Gannon during Victoria’s Sheffield Shield match that concluded on Friday.He has been found guilty of a level two breach of Article 2.13 of Cricket Australia’s code of conduct for personal abuse of a player. The charge was driven by umpires John Ward and Shawn Craig who felt that Pattinson overstepped the mark with his language towards Gannon, with whom Pattinson has been a BBL team-mate at both the Melbourne Renegades and Brisbane Heat.The alleged abuse is believed to have been of a homophobic nature, although Gannon and the Queensland players are understood not to have taken offence. However, Pattinson’s choice of words was immediately noted by Ward and Craig, who took the charge to the match referee David Talalla.”I made a mistake in the heat of the moment,” Pattinson said. “Straight away I realised I was in the wrong, and I apologised immediately, both to the opponent and to the umpires. I have done the wrong thing and accept the penalty. I’m gutted to miss a Test match, but the standards are there for a reason and the fault is mine.”Pattinson and Victoria were visibly frustrated throughout the match with some of the umpiring decisions, including his own lbw in the first innings on day two when he was part of Mitchell Swepson’s hat-trick. Pattinson had previously been found guilty of two level one code of conduct breaches over the past year for which he received a reprimand and a 100% match fee fine, the latter for showing dissent at the umpire’s decision in a Shield game against South Australia. Australia’s captain Tim Paine did not hide his disappointment.”It’s unfortunate, it doesn’t sit certainly with our values what James has done, he knows that and understands that and he’ll learn from it,” Paine said. “Missing a Test match potentially is a hard thing to deal with, but he’ll learn from that and come back better.”I don’t know the exact details of the situation, there’s been hearings and it’s been dealt with by the appropriate people. James understands he’s let himself down, he’s let our group down and we expect him to bounce back.”The vice-captain Pat Cummins said that he was hopeful Pattinson would learn from events, the second occasion in which he has been suspended from playing a Test match: he also missed the 2013 Mohali Test against India when he was suspended alongside Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Johnson and Shane Watson in the “homeworkgate” saga.”Not ideal, especially over the last couple of years we’ve been pretty clear on our values and what we stand for as a team. Hopefully Patto learns from what he’s done,” Cummins said. “We absolutely love playing with him, love having him around. For me when I’m out there, I’ll try and stay conscious of what I’m trying to do. It’s pretty hard sometimes, the heat of the moment, concentrating on bowling and trying to take wickets, you can slip up every now and then, but I won’t be changing too much from what I try to do.”Mitchell Starc, a fellow member of the pace battery, said that while he did not want to see Pattinson lose his expressive, aggressive streak, it was critical that all members of the team were aware of their very privileged, public place as role models for Australian cricket and wider society.”I did not see the incident but Patto is very much that huff and puff type and that is what we love about him,” Starc said. “He is in your face. He is someone you love to have on your team and not play against. Apart from his bowling skills he is that old school Australian fast bowler. I don’t say or do much these days. I try and stay pretty level off the field. It is the day and age where there are cameras everywhere. Players are role models. You have to be aware of not crossing that line but there will be times when players do.”Sean Carroll, Cricket Australia’s head of integrity and security, said: “We have a duty to uphold the highest standards of behaviour and the action taken in this matter demonstrates that. On this occasion, James acknowledges he fell short of that expectation.”It appears highly likely now that Mitchell Starc will be the third fast bowler chosen alongside Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood although Pattinson did not think he would be selected in any case. Australia have not added a replacement to the squad with Michael Neser the other quick bowler available.

The New Zealand captain’s action had been reported during the Galle Test in August earlier this year

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Nov-2019New Zealand captain Kane Williamson’s bowling action is legal again, the ICC confirmed, following an assessment in Loughborough on October 11.Williamson had been reported during the Galle Test in August earlier this year. He bowled three overs of offspin in that game, conceding nine runs without taking a wicket. But now, following a test in an ICC-accredited bio-mechanics centre, it was found that the elbow extension of all his deliveries was within the permissible 15-degree level of tolerance.This was the second time that Williamson’s bowling action had come under scrutiny. He was reported in 2014 and had to make some changes before he could bowl in international cricket again.Williamson is currently nursing a hip injury that had sidelined him from the ongoing five-match T20I series at home against England but, with the ICC clearing his action, he can bowl again when he returns to play for New Zealand.

New Zealand quick plays down success despite leading the way in a tough series for bowlers

George Dobell in Hamilton02-Dec-2019It speaks volumes for the enduring skills of Neil Wagner that, while other bowlers will look back at this series and shudder, he will reflect on it with a satisfied smile.For while bowlers as celebrated as Jofra Archer and Stuart Broad have laboured without much success – Archer has taken two wickets so far at a cost of 100.50 apiece, Broad four at 38.75 – Wagner has claimed five-wicket hauls in both Tests despite surfaces offering him nothing.It’s no aberration, either. Wagner has now taken five-wicket hauls in his last four Tests. His position at No. 3 in the ICC Test bowling rankings can only have been consolidated. The likes of Jasprit Bumrah and James Anderson trail in his wake.ALSO READ: How Wagner wanged his way to the topThe ingredients of Wagner’s success are not immediately obvious. He is not especially tall, not especially quick and not, in terms of ability to generate lateral movement, especially talented. And yet there he is, again, with a five-wicket haul.So, how does he do it?”I bowl a lot of overs,” he said. “And if you bowl the majority of the overs the chances are high that you can take some wickets, too. That’s my role.”It’s a simplification, of course. Wagner has actually bowled fewer overs in the series against England than Tim Southee and, while Southee has had the new ball, Wagner has been obliged to come on later. But it is true that Wagner’s stamina allows him to bowl long spells – he has bowled more of 10-overs or more than any other bowler since his debut – with liberal use of the short ball.”One of my only attributes is that I bowl a lot of overs and I can back it up and keep going,” he said. “I’m blessed with my body that it’s been pretty good and I can bowl long spells. If you keep putting pressure on then hopefully wickets come your way.”He was equally modest about his success in the Hamilton Test. “I thought I was bit lucky to get the rewards. All the other bowlers bowled well and grafted away. It just sort of came my way and I ended up getting a couple of wickets. But all the bowlers bowled well with not a lot of luck and reward. We hunt as a pack and bowl really well in partnerships and luckily it came our way.”There’s a grain of truth in that explanation. Wagner picked up four wickets in the final seven overs of the England innings here when the batsmen decided to attempt to accelerate to set up a declaration. So, after hours of careful accumulation, Ollie Pope was punished for attempting to hit a short ball to the boundary and Chris Woakes nicked off driving on the up.But Wagner also had the skill to exploit such a situation. So Broad and Archer were both deceived by slower, knuckle-ball deliveries. And yes, Wagner’s haul included the wickets of England’s No. 9, No. 10 and No. 11 but two of those men have Test centuries behind them and, on this surface, no wickets come easily. His figures, at one stage, were 1 for 114. Over his next 19 deliveries, he claimed four wickets for 10 runs.”We felt that if we were going at two runs an over, we could try to tie them down and it would make it hard for them to get a big enough lead to put us under pressure,” he said. “So we had to play a patient game and build towards that period where we got wickets in clumps.”Sometimes in New Zealand conditions you’ve got to graft away and try and tire them out to get to a point where they try to step on the gas and you know you’ve got a chance of getting a couple of wickets. It happened that way here.”There was a moment earlier in the day when it seemed Wagner’s match might be over. Bowling to Joe Root, he saw the batsman advance down the wicket and thrash a ball back down the pitch. The crack as it hit Wagner echoed around the ground and was closely followed by gasps. A broken leg seemed possible.As it was, Wagner barely even rubbed the blow. According to him, the ball missed his knee or shins and hit a foot relatively well protected by his bowling boots. He simply carried on as if nothing had happened.”I was just lucky it wasn’t in the face or in the head,” Wagner said. “It just hit the foot and it’s just one of those things where it hurts at the time but you just jump back on it and keep going. It’s the nature of the game.”Maybe. But you suspect some other bowlers, confronted by surfaces like this, might have taken the opportunity to take some time off the pitch. For Wagner the thought wouldn’t occur. New Zealand are lucky to have him.

Kris Srikkanth and Anjum Chopra will also be presented lifetime achievement awards

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jan-2020Jasprit Bumrah’s trophy cabinet is set to include the BCCI’s Polly Umrigar award, recognising him as the best male cricketer for India in 2018-19. The 26-year-old fast bowler will be felicitated on Sunday in Mumbai alongside Poonam Yadav, who will go home with the title best women’s player of the past season.

The winners of the BCCI awards 2018-19

Kris Srikkanth – Col CK Nayudu Lifetime achievement award
Anjum Chopra – BCCI lifetime achievement award for women
Dilip Doshi – BCCI special award
Cheteshwar Pujara – Dilip Sardesai highest run-getter in Test cricket
Jasprit Bumrah – Dilip Sardesai highest wickets in Test cricket
Smriti Mandhana – Highest run-getter in women’s ODIs
Jhulan Goswami – Highest wickets in women’s ODIs
Mayank Agarwal – Best international debut (men)
Shafali Verma – Best international debut (women)
Shivam Dube (Mumbai) – Lala Amarnath award for best allrounder in Ranji Trophy cricket
Nitish Rana (Delhi) – Lala Amarnath award for best allrounder in limited-overs competitions
Milind Kumar (Sikkim) – Madhavrao Scindia award for highest run-getter in Ranji Trophy
Ashutosh Aman (Bihar) – Madhavrao Scindia award for highest wicket-taker in Ranji Trophy
Vidarbha – Best performance in BCCI domestic tournaments

Although he was already a first-choice pick in limited-overs cricket, Bumrah made his Test debut for India in January 2018 and has proven himself to be an all-format wicket-taking force. He became the first man from Asia to pick up five-wicket hauls in Australia, England, South Africa and the West Indies, and even added a hat-trick to his resume. Since his debut in the Cape Town Test two years ago, Bumrah has picked up 62 wickets in 12 Tests. Only three players have a better bowling average than his 19.24 in this period (under the condition of at least 20 wickets taken). His consistency was crucial to India winning their first ever series in Australia in early 2019, and for all that the BCCI will present him with a trophy, a citation and a cash prize of INR 15 lakh.ALSO READ: Sharda Ugra on the boy called BoomYadav, meanwhile, is the world’s top ODI wicket-taker (39) for the last two years. Her slow, teasing legspin helps the team dictate terms through the middle overs in T20I cricket as well, where she’s performed even better – 51 wickets at an average of 16.27. Recognition as India’s best female cricketer by the BCCI comes on the heels of the 28-year-old winning the Arjuna award last year.Both the senior men’s and women’s teams are expected to be at the BCCI function. “It will be a special evening in Mumbai as we will also have the 7th MAK Pataudi lecture and I am delighted to inform that it will be Virender Sehwag who will address the gathering.” the board president Sourav Ganguly said.Lifetime achievement awards will also be given to the World-Cup-winning former India opener Kris Srikkanth and Anjum Chopra, the first Indian woman to play 100 ODIs.”We wanted to make Naman [the BCCI awards] bigger and better and have introduced four new categories – highest run-getter and wicket-takers in WODIs and best international debut men and women – from this year. A total of 25 awards will be presented,” board secretary Jay Shah said.