Everton are lining up a £15million bid for Wigan midfielder James McCarthy, according to the Daily Star.
The Toffees are keen to sign the Irish star, but will have to sell before they can make a move for the 22-year-old.
But with Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines the subject of a bid from Manchester United, a move could happen soon for McCarthy. United had a £28million joint bid for the Everton pair rejected, with the fee not matching Martinez’s valuation of the two players.
Baines has a price tag of £18million, whilst Fellaini will cost any side at least £20million. But David Moyes is confident he can push through a transfer despite his initial bid being far from Everton’s desired value.
McCarthy is also a transfer target for Newcastle, however a move to Everton is much more likely, in a move that would reunite him with Roberto Martinez. The pair won the FA Cup together last year despite being relegated, and McCarthy is reportedly keen on a move back to the Premier League.
McCarthy played in Wigan’s defeat at Bournemouth on Saturday, as his teammate Callum McManaman was sent off for a reckless challenge. But the Irish star will be hoping it is the last Championship match he has played.
Would McCarthy do well at Everton? Is he worth £5million?
Join the debate below!
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The topic of what economic realities our Premier League clubs face in today’s footballing world is often as highly charged, as it is emotive. Ever since Uefa rubber stamped it’s intentions to go ahead with its financial fair play initiative, fans of clubs within the nation’s top flight have certainly been split about its values and morality with a keen emphasis upon the transfer fees that clubs pay for players.
But although the effectiveness of the scheme remains questionable and the concern around lofty transfer fees undeniable, it is often the concept of the Premier League wage packet that is overlooked. It may not be something that bestows the sort of instantaneous and high profile effect that the transfer fee has, but its economic effects are potentially just as sinister – if not more so.
The latest round in the debate around finance in football has seen the case for a Premier League wage cap reintroduced. The league’s chairman, Richard Scudamore, was in London last Thursday to discuss a raft of potential new measures with clubs, as fears arise over the fate of the next wave of television money.
As was widely expected, the Premier League’s new set of television deals has blown away all manner of expectations. As the country’s economy continues to struggle in the face of what feels like a continuous realm of fiscal slump, it seems as if English football’s top tier exists in a different reality – £3billion has been raked in from UK rights alone.
But the fear is that a vast majority of that massive capital, which will be distributed between clubs in the Premier League, will instantly be swallowed up by wage demands. Supporters may have lit up like Christmas Trees when they first read about the almost unworldly level of imminent riches – but don’t think for a minute that such a sum immediately equates into a boosted transfer coffer.
The problem is, that as Premier League income grows to continuous record highs, it is being almost continuously matched by an equally startling increase in player wages. As David Conn superbly pointed out in The Guardian, figures for the last financial year highlight that although the overall income of Premier League clubs grew to £2.5billion, so did players wages, eating up a staggering £1.8billion of that figure or 70%. Poignantly, of the 20 clubs that make up the Premier League, only eight managed to make a profit.
To some, the grossly inflated size of top flight wages might not come as much of a surprise, but it does often feel as if it’s an element that can be misconstrued by supporters. For example, as Tottenham Hotspur broke into the top four for the first time in the Premier League during the 2009-10 season, supporters almost routinely expected for chairman Daniel Levy to pump in their forthcoming riches as soon as they got them- and as expected, turnover increased from £119.8million in 2010 to £163.4million in 2011.
But where as some fans seem to insist that Levy and principal owner Joe Lewis are continuing to hoard that money as opposed to splashing it on the likes of a new striker, a lot of that money had in effect, already been spent. Spurs’ annual wage bill skyrocketed from an annual £67million to around about £92million; the suggested figure has been said to be more. Although their Champions League adventure is of course an exaggerated example, they prominently highlight the effervescent bond between income and wage bill.
And it is the wage bill that seemingly will always increase, no matter what the fortunes of the clubs accounts. Regardless of whether clubs’ turnover had increased over the period of 12 months from 2010-2011, every single Premier League clubs’ wage bill increased without fail. For some, enough is enough.
Stoke City chairman Peter Coates said of the almost unstoppable escalation of Premier League wages, that the culture of inflation was out of touch with reality:
“I hope this view is widely shared: we cannot have all the new money going in inflated wages and payments to agents,” the Bet365 founder said.
“There is no need to do that; we will have the same players, they won’t get better because we pay them more. It should not be beyond us to find a formula which works for us all.”
Similarly, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believes that Premier League clubs simply have to live within their own means:
“You should just get the resources you generate – that will determine the real size of the club.”
The argument here is of course that touted financial countermeasures such as a wage cap or even Uefa’s Financial Fair Play mechanism itself, simply ensure that the rich stay richer while the poor stay poorer. The nature of business demands that one must spend before they earn. It’s easy for the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal, who rake in gargantuan amounts from match day revenue to throw their weight behind the live within their means argument – as in principal, the already existing ‘big clubs’ are less likely to face any fresh competition any time soon.
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It’s a difficult balancing act and there aren’t any easy answers. Uefa’s FFP has it’s heart in the right place, but it’s ultimate sanction of a blanket ban on European football isn’t something that is likely to prove effective in policing the majority of our domestic teams.
Although there is a feeling that the Premier League are serious about implementing something to try and stop the almost unrelenting escalation of clubs’ wage bill. The issue is finding a mechanism that all the clubs can agree on. In order for any rule change to be rubber stamped, 14 of the 20 Premier League clubs must all be in agreement with each other – something that may produce a very significant hurdle indeed.
How do you feel about the introduction of a potential salary cap into the Premier League? Should clubs be forced to limit escalating wages or are we wrong to try and police the way our clubs go about business? Let me know how you see it on Twitter: follow @samuel_antrobus and bat me all of your views.
Hosts defend 115 to take 1-0 lead in five-match T20I series in Harare
Ashish Pant06-Jul-2024 India’s post T20 World Cup party hit a snag as Zimbabwe handed them their first defeat in T20Is in 2024. Having been restricted to 115 for 9, the Zimbabwe bowlers came out with gusto, picking up wickets at regular intervals to bowl India out for 102 in 19.5 overs. This, of course, was India’s second-string T20I line-up – the first-choice squad is getting some time off a week on from the World Cup final in Bridgetown.Related
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Tendai Chatara and Sikandar Raza starred with the ball, picking three wickets apiece as India collapsed in a hurry much to the delight of a Harare crowd – Harare Sports Club was packed to the rafters.India handed debuts to Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel and had no hesitation in bowling first after winning the toss. Zimbabwe started well but Ravi Bishnoi with a T20 career-best of 4 for 13 and Washington Sundar (2 for 11) orchestrated a collapse. At the halfway stage, it seemed like an easy enough chase, but the Zimbabwe bowlers had other ideas.Abhishek fell for a four-ball duck, Ruturaj Gaikwad for 7, Parag’s debut lasted three balls and Rinku Singh lasted all of two, as India lost four wickets inside five overs. And when Sikandar Raza cleaned up Shubman Gill for 31, the whole of Harare believed.There was a big crowd to watch Zimbabwe’s heroics in Harare•Associated Press
India needed 16 off the final over with one wicket in hand but still hoped to get through with Washington still around. Chatara, however, bowled a nerveless 20th, conceding just two runs off four balls and claiming Washington off the fifth to spark wild scenes in Harare. This is the lowest total ever defended against India in a T20I, and the lowest against anyone in Harare. It was Zimbabwe’s first against India in any format since 2016.
The beginning of the take-down
Not many would have given Zimbabwe much of a chance at the halfway stage, but the bowlers found their lengths from the get-go. Raza opened the bowling with two spinners – Brian Bennett and Wellington Masakadza – and his decision was vindicated immediately; Abhishek top-edged Bennett in the first over to deep backward square leg.Blessing Muzarabani then got Gaikwad to edge a back of a length ball to slip before Chatara picked two wickets in three balls to really unsettle India. Parag’s on-the-up drive only went as far as mid-off while Rinku could only manage a top-edge to a well-directed bouncer that ballooned straight up for short fine leg to take a simple catch.At 28 for 4 after six overs, India were already staring down the barrel.
Zimbabwe finish the job
Gill began the repair work with Jurel but run-scoring remained an arduous task with Raza shuffling his bowlers, who stuck to their lengths. India managed just two fours between overs six to ten, but also lost Jurel at the end of this period; he was caught at extra cover, deceived by Luke Jongwe’s slower ball.Shubman Gill was bowled in a huge blow for India•Associated Press
Raza then landed the big blow, beating Gill all ends up. He got the carrom ball to land on a length and had the Indian captain playing down the wrong line with the ball smashing into off pole. India were reduced to 47 for 6 in 10.2 overs, which soon became 61 for 7 in the 13th. Avesh and Washington then eased the nerves briefly with an 18-ball 23-run stand but when Avesh smashed a knee-high Masakadza full toss to long-off, Zimbabwe could already taste victory.Raza castled Mukesh for his third, and even though Washington took Jongwe for 12 in the 18th over, the odds were in favour of the hosts. With Washington turning down singles, Muzarabani only conceded two off the penultimate over before Chatara closed out the game. This was just Zimbabwe’s third win in nine T20Is this year.
A first-ball wicket, a slew of boundaries
Zimbabwe had the perfect start to their innings when Wessly Madhevere drove Khaleel Ahmed straight down the ground for four. Their joy was short-lived though, with Mukesh Kumar uprooting Innocent Kaia’s leg stump with the first ball of his spell (the second over of the innings).Bennett and Madhevere, however, took Zimbabwe forward swiftly. Bennett started off with a screeching square drive and then got a thick outside edge past second slip for four more. Khaleel was then taken for 17 off the fifth over between both batters, albeit in streaky fashion. Bennett first got a – fortunate – boundary over slips before Avesh made a meal of a relatively straightforward chance at deep third. Madhevere then pumped Khaleel through the midwicket and then got another edge over slip as Zimbabwe raced to 40 for 1 after five.Ravi Bishnoi was practically unplayable in the first half•Associated Press
Bishnoi’s wrong ‘uns flummox Zimbabwe
Bishnoi, with his variations, was always expected to be a tricky customer for the Zimbabwe batters and he was among the wickets straight away. Almost exclusively bowling wrong ‘uns – 22 of his 24 balls were wrong ‘uns according to ESPNcricinfo’s logs – he started by cleaning up Bennett for a 15-ball 22. It was a bail-trimmer. In Bishnoi’s next over, it was Madhevere sent back – he missed a slog sweep and his off stump took a beating.Raza struck a delightful six, straight down the ground off Avesh, while adding 23 off 24 balls for the fourth wicket with Dion Myers. But his wicket brought about a collapse of epic proportions. From 74 for 3 in the 12th over, Zimbabwe slipped to 90 for 9 in the 16th with Bishnoi and Washington the wreckers-in-chief.A rush of blood got the better of Raza who holed out to deep midwicket off Avesh. A complete breakdown in communication saw Johnathan Campbell run out first ball before Washington picked two in two. He first had Myers caught and bowled before having Masakadza stumped first ball. Jongwe survived the hat-trick ball but fell in the next over, lbw to Bishnoi. Bishnoi picked his fourth wicket by removing Muzarabani, Zimbabwe losing six wickets for 16 runs in 23 balls.That Zimbabwe reached 115 was down to an unbroken last-wicket stand of 25 between Clive Madande and Chatara – and how useful those runs would eventually prove.
“Everything should be on a reciprocal basis,” says Najam Sethi, suggesting that Pakistan’s ODI World Cup matches be held outside India too
PTI21-Apr-2023The PCB has proposed a “hybrid model” for the upcoming Asia Cup to the Asian Cricket Council, where “Pakistan plays its Asia Cup matches at home and India their matches at a neutral venue,” board chairman Najam Sethi said on Friday.The BCCI has refused to allow the India team to travel to Pakistan for the tournament because of the ongoing political differences between the two nations and demanded the continental tournament be shifted from Pakistan to a neutral venue.But, with Pakistan hoping to host as much of the tournament within the country, Sethi hoped that the visit of his country’s foreign minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, next month to Goa for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Council meeting will help find a solution.Related
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“We have been told that, maybe, the ice will keep on melting – if this happens when the Champions Trophy is held in Pakistan in 2025, India would consider playing in Pakistan,” Sethi said at a press interaction. “We have been advised to play the Asia Cup at a neutral venue and also go to India for the World Cup.” He didn’t specify who the suggestion had come from.Sethi indicated that the public mood in his country was that Pakistan should play cricket with India on level terms.”Our government has imposed no restrictions about playing against India,” Sethi said. “But I can say right now that public mood is: we are not needy and we can stand on our own feet financially and we want to play cricket with India honourably. We are also negotiating with the ACC.”
Sethi: ‘Everything should be on a reciprocal basis’
Sethi said that if Pakistan decided to shift all India matches in the Asia Cup to a neutral venue, India should also use the same hybrid experiment during the 50-over World Cup, to be held in India in October-November this year.”We feel this hybrid experiment can also be applied when it is time for the World Cup,” Sethi said. “Our stance is that everything should be on a reciprocal basis. In the old times, yes, there were security issues in Pakistan. But now there are no issues, so what is India’s excuse for not playing in Pakistan?”The ACC, led by BCCI secretary Jay Shah, is yet to respond to the PCB about the proposed hybrid model. Reports say that the other ACC members also want the Asia Cup to be held at a neutral venue to cut costs even though Pakistan will remain the tournament host.The Asia Cup will feature six teams, including Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and one team that will be identified after the qualifiers, which is currently underway in Nepal.
Head coach worried about ability of players coming into side from domestic ranks
Matt Roller18-Jan-2022Phil Simmons has echoed his limited-overs captain Kieron Pollard’s analysis that West Indies “have a batting problem” but insists he is not worrying about his job as head coach after a shock 2-1 ODI series defeat at home to Ireland.West Indies were bowled out for 269, 229 and 212 in their three ODIs against Ireland at Sabina Park in Jamaica, with Pollard describing their scores in the last two games as “totally unacceptable”, adding that “overall, holistically, I think we have a batting problem”.Speaking from Barbados ahead of West Indies’ five-match T20I series against England, which starts on Saturday, Simmons said that his batters were failing to translate their progress in training into results on the pitch, but stressed that scapegoating players already in the squad would only serve to mask the systemic failings to develop them at a domestic level.
Kensington Oval at 50% capacity
CWI have launched ticket sales for the T20I series against England with a strict 50% limit on capacity due to Covid-19 regulations in Barbados.
Only fully-vaccinated fans will be permitted entry, and those in the ‘party stand’ will also require negative antigen tests, while all fans will be encouraged to socially distance and wear masks.
Tickets are half-price for Barbados nationals and CWI said there was “a high chance” all games would sell out.
All five games will be played at Kensington Oval, with the first T20I on January 22.
“It’s there to see: our batting quality is not there,” Simmons said. “Everything comes from lower down: if you’re coming into our squad and you’re averaging 30s when you come to the top level, you’re not going to average 40 or 50.”The holistic approach means that all through the ranks, all the way from the Under-19s, we have to be looking at preparing people to play at the international level. Averaging 20s and 30s at the domestic level doesn’t prepare you for the international level.”How much the players are assessing the situation and playing the situation… it’s not really happening. Yes, [Sabina Park] was a difficult pitch to bat on for all three days at the start [of the innings], but we got through most of the difficult period and then things went astray. It’s about bad shot selection … that’s a huge part of the batting failure.”Simmons, who was re-appointed as head coach in October 2019 and oversaw West Indies’ failed defence of the T20 World Cup he won with them in 2016, insisted that he was only focused on improving the players at his disposal, not his future in the role.”If I start worrying about my job then I have problems,” he said. “I am worrying about the success of the team and I am worrying about how we get players to be playing their roles. That’s all I’m concerned about. You’re always under pressure as coaches when the team’s not doing well, in any sport you play, and when the team is doing well, the coaches are forgotten. That’s the nature of the job.”I enjoy it everyday. My role is seeing the players and working with them, trying to bring out different things in them. To be honest, when we practise, there’s a lot coming out, there’s a lot being shown. It’s just how they adjust and assess the situation when they cross the rope … because that’s where it’s falling down.Related
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“Every ball is a situation in the game and we’ve got to be able to assess that situation and know how to play. If you’re 20 for 3, you play differently to if you’re 40 for 0. These are the situations that we need to highlight and need to assess properly.”West Indies’ squad for the England T20Is contains only six players who made appearances during their Super 12s exit at the T20 World Cup, with a handful of young players including Dominic Drakes, Romario Shepherd and Odean Smith included. The trio all featured in December’s 3-0 series defeat in Pakistan – where the squad was depleted due to a Covid-19 outbreak – and Simmons said that he hoped they would continue to bring “energy” to the group.”There’s a lot of difference from the World Cup, as you saw in Pakistan,” he said. “Yes, we lost the three games, but there was a lot more energy, a lot more enthusiasm and that’s the same with this group for this series against England. There’s an influx of maybe six or seven guys who were not there against Ireland and there’s a lot of energy coming in.”It [would be] a difficult situation if we had the same team from the World Cup but we have a lot of new faces and a lot of guys who want to make an impression and be a part of the team going forward. From that point of view, it’s not as difficult as it might seem.”We as a cricketing nation always have players who have the ability to hit the ball over the fence and it’s something I don’t want to take away from my players, but I also want my players to be clinical. In situations where you don’t need to do that, well, we must be able to get ones, to get twos.”[I want them] to bowl yorkers at the end instead of missing them, and hitting them more consistently than we are right now. There’s a few things that we haven’t been doing properly and we’re working very hard on them. The important thing now is for the youngsters to come in and hone their skills and be able to execute them in the middle, not just in practice.”
Shaun Marsh’s quickfire 88 allowed Western Australia to set up a declaration
ESPNcricinfo staff02-Nov-2020Western Australia did their best to conjure a result against Tasmania but honours ended even on a surface that did not offer much deterioration. Shaun Marsh’s prolific start to the season continued, but the most eye-catching aspect of the final day was a lively new-ball spell from Cameron Green.Marsh clubbed 88 off 74 balls, falling just short of twin hundreds in the match, as he and D’Arcy Short enabled Western Australia to declare shortly after lunch setting a target of 307 in 61 overs.Green, who has returned to bowling in this match for the first time in a year, was then handed the first over of the innings – it went for 14 runs, but that barely scratched the surface as he had Charlie Wakim in all sorts of problems: two outside edges through the slips and an inside edge (off a no-ball) past the keeper.In his third over Green made the breakthrough when Jordan Silk spliced a short ball into the leg side where Matt Kelly held a good running catch from mid-on. As part of a careful return to the bowling crease, Green only bowled one more over – meaning he sent down 12 for the match – but so long as he comes through without any reaction it will be have been a very pleasing comeback as he continues to firm for a place in the Test squad following his limited-overs call-up.The early stages of the chase suggested a good finish could be possible, but Tasmania shut up shop after the fall of the second wicket. Matthew Wade, in his first outing of the season, made his second half-century of the match.Western Australia had resumed on 0 for 232 with Cameron Bancroft and Sam Whiteman unbeaten with hundreds but both were gone in the first seven deliveries of the morning. Whiteman got an outside edge against Jackson Bird and Bancroft was caught down the leg side two balls later, briefly opening up thoughts that Tasmania could apply pressure.However, that notion ended with a stand of 76 between Marsh and Green, the latter giving a sign of Western Australia’s intentions when he carved into the deep. Marsh cut loose, which included taking 21 off Jake Doran’s only over, but the benign conditions always made it unlikely they would force the result.
Donald, Aiden Markram, Sam Northeast score half-centuries as Hants top South Group and secure semi-finals spot
David Hopps05-May-2019Hampshire trounced Somerset by seven wickets with 18.3 overs to spare at Taunton to confirm themselves as South Group winners and, as a result, secure a home tie in the semi-finals.The absence of James Vince and Aiden Markram to international duties could weaken them in the knockout stages, but Hampshire might just have found an answer in the form of Aneurin Donald. Given his head as an explosive player at the top of the order while Vince was already donning an England shirt in Dublin and Cardiff, Donald has worked out rather well.He followed up his 41 against Sussex at the Ageas Bowl on Thursday with 57 from 53 balls in front of an excellent crowd at Taunton. That Somerset had little chance of defending their 216 on a used but reliable surface became apparent as early as the fifth over when he took successive sixes off Josh Davey, the second of them a wristy affair over midwicket which told of his potential. A third followed late in his innings when he deposited Roelof van der Merwe into the Sir Ian Botham stand before falling later that over by skying to mid off.Once a youthful carrier of Glamorgan hopes, Donald switched to Hampshire late last season with the aim of furthering his ambition to become the first Wales-born player to represent England since Simon Jones in 2005. He said he thought his game was stagnating, and he got out just in time before somebody write a song about him: you don’t have to show much promise in Glamorgan for the rhapsodies to begin.Those England aspirations remain a long way off as a record of only one half-century in 27 List A appearances indicated, but there is certainly something about him. He believes that he is ideally suited to the role of top-of-the-order dasher and Hampshire might have made a shrewd – if enforced – call by giving him a run. The recent call-up of Sussex’s free-spirited opener Phillip Salt into England’s T20 squad has provided further proof that reputations in such a role can be made an instant.”It’s nice to be up there having a bit of a hit,” he said. “It can be a pretty tough time down at No 7. Hopefully I can fill a hole at the top of the order. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I think my game suits it.”I knew what I was getting myself into when I joined Hampshire. I had come down to Hampshire late last season just to settle in and I was hanging around trying to get a game. I knew the white ball came round earlier this year so I’d be in the frame to get a go early on.”Tom Alsop also made punishing inroads into Somerset’s inadequate total, hitting seamer Davey for 4,4,6,4 before pulling a catch to short fine-leg off Craig Overton to give Somerset a breakthrough. But composed half-centuries from Markram and Sam Northeast followed, Northeast reaching the landmark with the winning blow – a regal one-legged flat bat off the long-suffering Davey to win the game in style.A May Bank Holiday chill had descended upon the Quantocks and spectators slumped ever deeper into winter coats as seven of Somerset’s top eight reached double figures without managing a single half-century.Yellow is back in vogue here after the local elections – but regretfully for local tastes it was Hampshire who were wearing it. About the best that can be said for Somerset’s innings, as they were bowled out with nearly 10 overs unused, was that Kewstoke Village Hall would be £25 better off. Peter Trego had promised £1 a run to their village hall fund-raising, but the new football goal posts will have to wait a little longer after he was bowled by Liam Dawson, trying to cut.Azhar Ali’s cautious innings ended when he was caught at the wicket, trying to run Gareth Berg. There were two top-order wickets, too, for Mason Crane’s leg spin, although the first of them, a loopy thigh-high full toss, left him covering his eyes in mild embarrassment as James Hildreth scooped it into the leg side. Tom Abell’s full-blooded sweep was more convincing but he picked out deep square.George Bartlett top-scored with 40 from No. 6, his best List A score, but his inexperience showed in an increasingly skittish innings which saw him perish to an inside-out drive against Dawson. There was even a one-ball partnership between the Overton twins which ended in a first-ball run-out for Jamie. Craig was entirely innocent, responding to his brother’s call instantly only for Jamie, somewhat lumbering, to fail to beat Northeast’s direct hit from mid-off.Somerset must now win their final match, under floodlights against Surrey on the same Taunton ground on Tuesday, and hope that they can secure a place in the top three for a play-off berth. Surrey might be bottom of South Group, but they still possess obvious danger for all that. Somerset’s head coach Jason Kerr termed their display “disappointing, bordering on embarrassing” as a campaign that began well with four wins but which has now lost further impetus with a third successive defeat.To satisfy local sentiments they would have to thrust the England left-arm spinner Jack Leach into the side, but he has little experience of white ball cricket and that is highly unlikely. If they balance up their side, then offspinning all-rounder Dom Bess, who started the tournament, is a likelier choice. Davey, or Jamie Overton, who came unscathed through his first bowl of the season after returning from his latest injury, would be expected to make way.
The fast bowler has ‘bone oedema in his vertebrae’, and Cricket Australia has pulled him out of the tournament to ensure he does not aggravate his condition, given his history of serious back injuries
ESPNcricinfo staff10-Apr-2018Pat Cummins, the Mumbai Indians fast bowler, has been ruled out of the 2018 IPL season with a back issue. Cricket Australia has said Cummins has “bone oedema in his vertebrae”, and that he will sit out the tournament to ensure he does not aggravate his condition any further.Mumbai signed Cummins for INR 5.4 crore (USD 831,475 approx) at the IPL player auction in January. He did not feature in the team’s season-opener against Chennai Super Kings on Saturday.”Pat experienced some back soreness during the fourth Test in South Africa. Follow-up scans have confirmed that he has bone oedema in his vertebrae,” said Australia physio David Beakley. “It is important that Pat has time off bowling, to prevent the injury becoming more serious and consequently we have made the decision to rule Pat out of the IPL.”Pat will now undergo a period of recovery and rehabilitation and we will look to re-scan him in a few weeks to assess the healing. Following this we will be in a better position to decide on Pat’s return to play timeline including participation in the limited-overs tour of the UK.”Australia are scheduled to travel to England in June to play a bilateral series of five ODIs and a one-off T20I.Cummins has a history of stress fractures in his back, which kept him out of Test cricket for nearly six years between his debut in November 2011 and his second Test in March 2017. Since his comeback on the 2016-17 tour of India, however, he has been a regular in Australia’s bowling attack, featuring in 13 successive Test matches.Cummins is just coming off a four-Test series in South Africa, where he was Australia’s highest wicket-taker with 22 at 21.45 apiece. Since making his return to Test cricket in March 2017, Cummins has bowled 594.5 overs. Only Nathan Lyon (690 overs) and the currently injured Kagiso Rabada (644.4) have bowled more.
A round-up of the Super Smash games held on December 29, 2016
ESPNcricinfo staff29-Dec-2016In his first match after undergoing surgery on his left eye last month, Ross Taylor struck an unbeaten 82 off 41 balls and added 111 off only 50 balls with Dane Cleaver to set up a 64-run win for Central Districts against Auckland in New Pylmouth.Central Districts were put in to bat and their in-form opener Mahela Jayawardene struck 31 off 19 after losing his partner George Worker in the first over. This took them off to a good start and allowed them to keep a healthy run rate. However, they were reduced to 95 for 4 in the 12th over, thanks to Hong Kong international Mark Chapman (2-36) who removed Will Young (30) and Tom Bruce (12) in consecutive overs. This brought Cleaver and Taylor together and the duo got stuck into Auckland’s bowling. Cleaver scored 47 off 26 balls with two fours and four sixes, while Taylor hit four fours and eight sixes to help Central Districts post 213.In response, Auckland were pegged back by medium-pacer Blair Tickner, who took two of the three wickets they lost within the Powerplay, before returning in the latter half of the innings to complete with figures of 5 for 19 – his best across formats. Only SM Solia (40 off 21) and Jeet Raval (31 off 18) offered any resistance for Auckland as they folded for 149, to lose by the biggest margin so far in this season’s Super Smash.Opener BJ Watling struck an unbeaten 52 to take Northern Districts to their third consecutive Super Smash win, against Canterbury in Mount Maunganui. His 48-ball innings followed a strong Northern Districts bowling performance that saw Canterbury finish with 127 for 6 in their innings.Chasing 128, Watling combined with opening partner Dean Brownlie (36 off 22) to put on a 62 before the latter was dismissed in the eighth over. Although a string of wickets – one each in the 11th, 12th and 13th overs – fell thereafter, Watling anchored Northern Districts’ batting, adding another 42 runs for the fifth wicket with Nick Kelly (23* off 19) to win the game with 13 balls to spare and six wickets in hand.Earlier, pacers Trent Lawford and Scott Kuggeleijn took two wickets each, while Ish Sodhi and Jono Boult took a scalp each to restrict Canterbury to 127. Todd Astle remained unbeaten on 37 after coming in when Canterbury were struggling at 73 for 5.
Mahela Jayawardene has proposed having greater participation from the USA national team players in future endeavours involving the Cricket All-Stars, including the potential for a USA v All-Stars exhibition match
Peter Della Penna20-Nov-2015Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has proposed having greater participation from the USA national team players in future endeavours involving the Cricket All-Stars, including the potential for a USA v All-Stars exhibition match.”If the opportunity arises, the ideal scenario would be for an All-Star team to play the USA team, if we come next time around,” Jayawardene told ESPNcricinfo in Los Angeles, during the final stop on the Cricket All-Stars tour. “If you get a few of the younger guys involved in it, who have just recently retired, you can probably have a good game. You can give [USA] an opportunity to play a match against some of the good players. I still think guys like Warney [Shane Warne] and Murali [Muttiah Muralitharan] probably still can bowl the way they were bowling. So it is a great opportunity I think.”According to several sources, a push was made behind the scenes by local officials to have USA players included in the actual All-Stars squads. At the top of the list was Barbados Tridents wicketkeeper-batsman Steven Taylor, while several other USA players who were recently chosen to be a part of a combined ICC Americas team to play in the 2016 WICB Nagico Super50 were also believed to be in the mix.Instead, a compromise was reached to have USA national and regional players serve as net bowlers in the All-Stars training sessions, with two players designated as 12th Man for either team in the games in each city. This allowed local talent to participate in the festivities and soak up tips from the All-Stars. Jayawardene is vouching for them to get more genuine opportunities on a follow-up visit though, describing their skill level as “quite good” through his interactions with them on tour.”They were getting tips from Warne and Murali and [Glenn] McGrath and all these guys, it’s fantastic for them,” Jayawardene said. “That kind of interaction for them, you understand the game in a better way, how it works in the mind as well. So it’s a great opportunity, and this is just at practice. Imagine if you could get those guys to play in tournaments as well and proper matches.”That’s something that we could look forward to if everything goes well, and something that US cricket could come up with and see whether they can have a match organised. There are opportunities and things we could try to do to get the profile of cricket in the US to a different level. If we are to promote the game and to get the kids involved and get the ball rolling, I think we just need to keep doing these kind of events on a regular basis.”Jayawardene recalled his visit with the Sri Lanka team to Florida in 2010 when they played New Zealand in the first two T20Is by Full Members in the USA. At the same venue, USA played Jamaica separately in a pair of T20 matches that were scheduled as a doubleheader alongside the Sri Lanka v New Zealand matches. Jayawardene said he felt there is no reason why a tri-series or other multi-team tournament cannot be organised instead to give Associate teams opportunities against Full Members.”It gives them a bit of exposure so that people get to see where they are and what needs to be done to improve,” Jayawardene said. “[The All-Stars] is just a byproduct I think and you need to make sure the international game should come here as well, especially places like Toronto where you have good cricket grounds.”We went there [in 2008] and it was a good tournament as well. Pakistan, us, [Zimbabwe] and Canada played in it as well, so it gave their guys a national opportunity. So we should try to see whether that kind of tournament can be organised on a regular basis.”