All posts by csb10.top

Arron Lilley has joined Leicestershire on a two-year-contract. Lilley, an offspinning allrounder, was released by Lancashire at the end of the season and joins seamers Chris Wright, from Warwickshire, and Will Davis, from Derbyshire, in signing for Leicestershire.Lilley developed through the Lancashire system and has a decent record in all forms of the game. Due to Lancashire’s strength in spin bowling, however, he struggled for opportunities – he has played only one first-class and one List A match in the previous two seasons – and saw most of his appearances come in T20 cricket, where he has batted in the top-order and sometimes opened the bowling.He was a member of the Lancashire side that won the T20 Blast in 2015 and will join left-arm spinner Callum Parkinson, who also developed through the Lancashire Academy, at Leicestershire.The club hopes the signing of Lilley will go some way to filling the chasm left by the departure of Ben Raine, who has returned to Durham. Zak Chappell has also left, signing for Nottinghamshire, while Ned Eckersley, Richard Jones, Tom Wells, Mark Pettini and Rob Sayer were released at the end of the season. The club have also been in a long-running dispute with Michael Carberry, who has not played since he was deposed as captain in May. It seems most unlikely he will return.Leicestershire also confirmed last week that Pakistan seamer Mohammad Abbas, who had an outstanding 2018 season, will be returning next year.”Arron will add great value to our side,” Leicestershire’s head coach, Paul Nixon, said. “He is a three-dimensional cricketer who will be valuable in all formats. Lancashire are renowned for producing high-class spinners, and he wants to compete for a place in all three competitions.”Arron also has a very good white-ball record and will add to our plans nicely. Arron is a hard-hitting batsman, fine off-spinner and tremendous fielder, and we’re delighted to have him on board for the 2019 season.”Lilley said: “I am delighted to be joining up with Paul Nixon and the squad. I am keen to develop my game in all three formats and am confident that Grace Road is the best place for me to do that. I can’t wait to get started.”

Forty-eight hours from the start of the day-night Test against Australia in Adelaide, India know what their batting order is going to look like, particularly who their openers are going to be.”I’ve been told [my position],” KL Rahul, who began the Border-Gavaskar series as opener, said on Wednesday. “But I’ve also been told not to share it. We’ll have to wait for day one or maybe when the captain [Rohit Sharma] comes here tomorrow.”So it seems Rohit, who has been a regular for India at the top of the order for the last five years, has made his decision. He batted at No. 4 in Canberra, where Virat Kohli didn’t take part in the practice game against a Prime Minister’s XI. That was the only opportunity India had to face the pink ball in a match situation and it feels telling that they were happy with Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top.Related

• Has 2024 been annus horribilis for Australia's batters?

• Kohli vs Bumrah highlights India's practice session

• Marsh 'hopefully right and ready to go' for Adelaide Test

• Australia's Bumrah problem: how to prep for a one-of-a-kind genius?

India have since moved to Adelaide and spent two sessions at the nets, getting used to the rhythms of day-night cricket, and they have found it quite enlightening. Rahul said it hasn’t always been straightforward to see the ball out of the hand. Mohammed Siraj said holding it in the hand can feel a bit weird at the start. Those are steps one and two of batting and bowling and they are almost having to re-learn it. Only eight members of this squad have ever played day-night Test cricket and of those only three – Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and R Ashwin – have experienced the quirks of this format in Australia.These quirks rise out of the pink ball having a few extra layers of lacquer to protect it from wearing and tearing too quickly and that seems to have a significant impact in the way it behaves. “[It] seems a bit harder than the red ball,” Rahul said. “While fielding as well, you can feel it hitting your hand a lot. A lot quicker and a lot harder. Same with batting. It just seems to get to you much quicker than the red ball.”It does seam around a little bit more than the red ball [too]. So that’s the challenge we’re looking forward to. For me it’s exciting because it’s my first pink-ball game. So I’m going in with a clean state. I’ll go there and see what really happens. And try and face up to whatever comes my way.”These few days have only been about understanding how the ball reacts. And how easy or hard it is to play against the pink ball. If you look at all the games that have been played with the pink ball, it hasn’t really lasted a long time.”So that tells you that there will be a lot of help for the fast bowlers. And there will be a lot of seam movement. That’s something that we faced even in the nets. But that happened even in Perth on day one. There was a lot of seam movement. And I’m sure that will be the same [in Adelaide].”There are strategies unique to day-night Test cricket as well. Australia, who have won every day-night match in Adelaide, typically try to bat first, bat big, and set themselves up to bowl at twilight on day two. The 15-20 minutes leading into sunset – which will be around 8pm local time – and the 15-20 minutes after that are the times teams pay particular attention to.”It’s just getting used to seeing the ball off someone’s hand and just getting used to that,” Rahul said. “And I feel like that’s step one of a batter. If you can pick that, then you give yourself the best chance to react and be in good positions. So yeah, that’s been something that all batters have been speaking about and trying to play a lot more balls so that you get used to it.”The curator Damian Hough will be leaving 6mm of grass on the Adelaide pitch – same as the 36 all out game and same as a few nail-biting games in the Sheffield Shield this season. South Australia hung on for a nervy draw against Western Australia in the closing stages of day four, helped a little bit by some rain. There are thundershowers forecast for Friday, the first day of the Test match, but from there on the weather should be clear and conducive for cricket.”Everything seems to stay the same,” Hough said about the pitch he is preparing. “So it’s, of course, matted grass, even grass cover, good, deep moisture, but dry and hard. So, something where quicks will get a bit out of it, spinners will be able to get some height and bounce, but also important for [batters] to get some partnerships in at the most, and be able to play their shots.”Both teams have, like, elite bowlers, world-class bowlers. I mean, we’ve seen enough day-nighters to know that if you get the new rock under lights with two new batters in, that it can be very tricky. So, you know, the teams obviously play that game and adapt and are quite tactical when they do that. If there’s an opportunity to get the new ball under lights, it’ll be tricky. So if they don’t, which the Shield pitch showed, that if you didn’t get the new ball under lights and you had a couple of set batters in, you’re able to see through some night-time cricket.”

Discarded Test captain Neil Brand, who led a second-string South African side in New Zealand in February, has been tasked with leading a South Africa A side against Sri Lanka A next month. Brand will take charge of a home series that includes two four-day matches aimed at preparing players considered to be on the fringes of the national side to make the step up. The red-ball matches are preceded by three one-day games, with Test wicket-keeper Kyle Verreynne in charge of the white-ball squad.South Africa’s fifty-over playing group also includes David Bedingham, who scored a Test century in New Zealand under Brand, Tony de Zorzi, who made his ODI debut last year and Tristan Luus, who played at the Under-19 World Cup. The four-day squad also has Matthew Breetzke from the current Test tour to West Indies. Dewald Brevis, the breakout star from the 2022 under-19 World Cup, is in both squads.Interestingly, the number of black African players in the squads far exceeds the national target of two players per XI (on average over the course of a season) with six black African players in the one-day squad and four in the Test squad. Allrounder Mihlali Mpongwana, who is currently captaining a South African Emerging squad in Zimbabwe, is in both squads along with Lutho Sipamla, the bowler who has been capped 17 times across all formats internationally but has struggled with recent injuries. In the four-day squad, batters Tshepang Dithole and Sinethemba Qeshile are included while in the one-day squad batters Andile Mokgakane and Andile Simelane are joined by allrounder Andile Phehlukwayo.The selection indicates a clear focus on Cricket South Africa’s aims to develop more black African batting talent as they plan for the home ODI World Cup in 2027. There were no black African batters at the recent T20 World Cup and only Temba Bavuma plays regularly in ODIs. CSA’s recently concluded Diversity, Equality and Inclusion conference placed an emphasis on ensuring there is enough black African talent at provincial level for the national coaches to select, after white-ball coach Rob Walter asked for the domestic set-up to “up the ante,” when it comes to advancing transformation.The series is set to run from August 31 to September 18. Walter and Test coach Shukri Conrad selected the two squads. Conrad will oversee the entire tour, with Walter involved with the national team on trips to West Indies and the UAE. All three one-day games will be played in Potchefstroom and the four-day matches in Kimberley and Benoni. South Africa A one-day squad: Kyle Verreynne (capt), David Bedingham, Eathan Bosch, Matthew Breetzke, Dewald Brevis, Tony de Zorzi, Dayyaan Galiem, Tristan Luus, Mihlali Mpongwana, Andile Mogakane, Senuran Muthusamy , Andile Phehlukwayo, Andile Simelane, Lutho Sipamla, Codi Yusuf South Africa A four-day squad: Neil Brand (capt), Marques Ackerman, Matthew Breetzke, Dewald Brevis, Tshepang Dithole, Jean du Plessis, Patrick Kruger, Rivaldo Moonsamy, Mihlali Mpongwana, Migael Pretorius, Sinethemba Qeshile, Lutho Sipamla, Prenelan Subrayen, Beyers Swanepoel, Codi Yusuf

Sanjiv Goenka, the Lucknow Super Giants owner, did not give much away about his team’s retention plans and captain KL Rahul’s future with the franchise, but admitted that the upcoming mega auction will mean the team “resets” in some aspects ahead of IPL 2025.Speaking to the media in Kolkata alongside newly unveiled mentor Zaheer Khan, Goenka said LSG’s retention decisions will not be made with a short-term view.”All decisions are medium-term and need to be thought of carefully,” he said. “When you have a mega auction you are bound to have a reset. But you try and maintain as much of the core as possible. The coach Justin Langer continues, [support staff] Lance Klusener and Jonty Rhodes will also be there. So it is a question of improving and going further from where you are now.”Rahul, the LSG captain since the team’s first IPL in 2022, was in Kolkata this week and met Goenka. Goenka did not get into the details of their conversation, but called Rahul “family”.”I have been meeting KL on and off regularly over the last three years,” Goenka said. “Frankly I am surprised this meeting is getting a lot of attention [in the media]. He is integral [to LSG]. He has been here since the inception. For me personally and for [my son] Shashwat [Goenka, who is also involved in running LSG], he is like family.”After two playoff appearances in IPL 2022 and 2023, LSG missed the playoffs for the first time in the 2024 season, finishing seventh on the table because of a poor net run rate. It was the first time the franchise did not have the services of mentor Gautam Gambhir, who had moved to Kolkata Knight Riders. In the coming season, Goenka believes Zaheer’s presence “will do wonders” for the team.”Beginning of a new relationship. Zaheer has impressed me as a player, coach and strategist,” Goenka said. “His hunger for success is something that attracted me to bring him into the LSG franchise.Zaheer Khan was formally named Lucknow Super Giants’ mentor on Wednesday•Sreshth Shah/ESPNcricinfo

“A couple of weeks ago, I realised he wasn’t with any cricket franchise. I called him up. We spoke. He agreed. And he’s here. It’s as short and as quick as it gets. We are very excited to have him on board.”Zaheer, who had been associated with Mumbai Indians from 2018 to 2022 as director of cricket and head of global development, said he will serve in a similar role at LSG. He said he was particularly impressed with the “building blocks” put together by a “young franchise in only three years”, and felt that he shared the owners’ vision.”Yes it happened exactly in the same words how Mr Goenka explained. We got on a call and realised we have a similar stance on many topics about cricket,” Zaheer said. “We discussed the direction, the culture, the brand the team wants to play. The building blocks are already in place. It’s a relatively young franchise but it doesn’t seem like that. Reaching playoffs in this fiercely competitive league isn’t easy and [seeing their progress] gives me confidence.””It is a team game, so I will be serving the team in every capacity possible, and yes, it includes bowling. If I am there in the set-up, does the team need another bowling coach?” he said with a smile. “When you see LSG, their journey is only three years but they are as comparable to the teams who have played the IPL for 17-18 years. The building blocks are in place and we need to take them forward. Decision-making will be something we’ll work on, since it is something that can differentiate teams.”As it stands, LSG’s roster includes Rahul, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Quinton de Kock, Naveen-ul-Haq and Devdutt Padikkal, among others. The teams are expected to know the IPL’s retention rules in early September, after which they will decide on whom to retain, possibly with a late-November deadline, before the mega auction leading into IPL 2025.

Four-hundred-and-fifty-three days since he last played a competitive match, India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is “jittery” to resume playing cricket on Saturday afternoon when he will lead Delhi Capitals in their IPL opener against hosts Punjab Kings. The hiatus was forced on Pant after a life-threatening car crash on December 30, 2022, from which he successfully recovered after extensive rehab.”Jittery, nervous, excited – all of it,” Pant described his emotional state on the eve of his first IPL match in two years, having sat out the 2023 season. “But at the same time, just happy being able to come back to professional cricket. I’m just looking forward to playing my first game tomorrow.”As soon as the BCCI’s medical team had declared Pant fit, both as a wicketkeeper and batter, Pant flew to join the franchise’s preparatory camp in Visakhapatnam, where Capitals will play home matches in the schedule announced so far. Like a kid who had been kept away from doing his favourite thing, Pant batted obsessively in the nets, according to Capitals’ head coach Ricky Ponting.Related

• Rishabh Pant is back – celebrating life, loving cricket

• Inside the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium, Punjab's new open-air venue in Mullanpur

• Pant's return eclipses all else as Kings vs Capitals launches IPL's 36th venue

Pant felt he did that because he wanted to practise as much as possible and give himself “the best chance to become a better cricketer”.Ponting described Pant as the “heartbeat” of the team. “There’s no doubt last year we missed our captain, we missed one of the best players in the world,” he said. “Just his attitude, his smile, the way he goes about his cricket, he’s a winner. He wants to win games.”He wants to do the best he can for the team all the time. And when you have that attitude coming back into a team, that’s infectious. Everyone wants to be like Rishabh and play the way that he plays his cricket. He’s our leader. He’s the heartbeat of this franchise and having him back is going to make this team a lot better and a lot stronger.”Ponting the coach is usually a positive and smiling person, but Pant’s return has got him super excited for the new season as Capitals attempt to win the IPL for the first time. “The fact that he is back smiling puts a smile on my face as well. Knowing that I’ve got my captain back, knowing that I’ve got one of the best players in the world in all three formats back in my team, I’m smiling, his team-mates are all smiling.”

Rishabh Pant will start IPL 2024 as Delhi Capitals’ captain but will not keep wicket in the first half of the season, franchise co-owner Parth Jindal has said. In a chat with ESPNcricinfo, Jindal also said Capitals were expecting South Africa fast bowler Anrich Nortje to be fit to play from their opening game, against Punjab Kings on March 23.Jindal said the Capitals think-tank, led by the team director Sourav Ganguly and head coach Ricky Ponting, was confident about Pant starting the IPL, subject to fitness clearance from the BCCI which is imminent.”Rishabh is batting. He’s running. He has started his wicketkeeping. He is likely to be fully fit for the IPL,” Jindal said on Thursday. “I am expecting Rishabh to play IPL and he will lead from match one. First seven games we are going to play him only as a batter and depending on how his body reacts, we will take a call for the rest of the IPL.”Related

• Pant on his comeback: 'Feels like I'm going to make my debut again'

• Rishabh Pant suffers multiple injuries in serious car crash

• Pant on his life-threatening car crash: 'I felt my time in this world was over'

• Ponting: Pant is 'very confident' of playing entire IPL 2024

• Rishabh Pant begins match-simulation exercises in Bengaluru

The IPL will mark Pant’s return to competitive cricket since the Test series in Bangladesh in December 2022. After his horrific car crash on December 30, 2022, Pant has worked hard to make a remarkable recovery post successful surgeries to three major knee ligaments in his right leg. Having told his doctors that he would shave at least six months off their prescribed time of recovery, Pant played practice matches in Bengaluru this week, which were organised by the National Cricket Academy.On Tuesday, Pant also posted a video on his Instagram doing some wicketkeeping and mobility drills, which have become part of his lower-body conditioning over the past six weeks. On Wednesday, he batted and fielded in a 20-over match, which comprised a series of match-simulation exercises. The game was overseen by the BCCI medical staff. There were no visible concerns. Pant is expected to play at least a few more such games before joining Capitals. Once the BCCI clearance comes, he will join the side for a preparatory camp in Visakhapatnam, where the team will also play two home matches.With the second half of WPL 2024 – comprising 11 games including the playoffs – set to be played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, the Capitals men’s team had to shift their home base for the early part of the IPL to ensure they didn’t start on tried pitches. In the 21-match IPL schedule released on Thursday, Capitals are scheduled to play two home and three away matches. Jindal confirmed the team would return to Delhi for their remaining five home games.

Anrich Nortje ‘good to go for first game’

Nortje, who has been out of action for a while because of injuries, is good to go and is also expected to join the camp in Visakhapatnam, Jindal said. Nortje had recovered from a groin injury to play ten matches for the side in the 2023 season before heading home for personal reasons. He was retained by the franchise ahead of the 2024 auction.While he played the inaugural season of Major League Cricket in the USA, he pulled out of the ODI series at home against Australia in September following a suspected stress fracture in the back and was eventually ruled out of the ODI World Cup as well. Doubts about his availability for IPL persisted after he did not play the SA20 either.Anrich Nortje played ten games in IPL 2023•Associated Press

“He’s fit,” Jindal said. “Right now, he is bowing at 80% intensity. Next week, he will bowl at 100%. He’s going to make his comeback in the IPL. He is going to join our camp and should be good to go for our first game.”Jindal also said Australia fast bowler Jhye Richardson is unlikely to be fit for the initial part of the tournament as he recovers from a side strain that had ruled him out of the latter half of the BBL as well as the home ODI series against West Indies. Richardson was bought by Capitals at the mini-auction in December for INR 5 crore (US$ 602,000 approx).”He’s touch and go but will definitely be available for some part of IPL,” Jindal said.

Harry Brook set for No. 6 role

Jindal was confident Capitals would make the playoffs mainly because Pant’s return provided the right balance to the team. He also said Tristan Stubbs and Mitchell Marsh made the team a well-rounded unit.”We feel very confident, the balance of the team is a lot better with Rishabh coming back in,” he said. “We have a very good squad and a lot of options with players like Tristan Stubbs, who had a phenomenal SA20 [with champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape], and Mitch Marsh becoming captain of Australia’s T20I team.”Jindal said he was also expecting big things from David Warner, an IPL legend, who is likely to feature for one last season at Capitals with the mega auction in 2025. Jindal also said he was looking forward to England power hitter Harry Brook playing a key role in the lower order.Another key reason behind Jindal’s optimism for this season is the recruitment of a fresh batch of uncapped Indian players who, he said, were scouted and recommended by Ganguly. Among the uncapped Indians bought by Capitals at the auction are Jharkhand wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Kushagra, Haryana allrounder Sumit Kumar and Madhya Pradesh batter Ricky Bhui (who is currently the leading run-scorer in Ranji Trophy).”We know our younger Indian players [better], we know which players to back in what positions a lot better than we did in the last season,” Jindal said. “A lot of credit goes to the systems and processes put in place by [Ganguly].”

Agni Chopra has become the first batter to score centuries in his first four first-class games after making his debut for Mizoram in the Ranji Trophy Plate League earlier this month. Chopra, 25, is the son of film critic Anupama Chopra and filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who recently made the popular movie (KC Cariappa) and Mohit Jangra,” he told PTI. “They are inclusive and welcoming and I never felt like an outsider. I have been taught a few Mizo words and phrases and I don’t feel in a vastly different place.”Chopra admits that moving from Mumbai to Mizoram in the domestic circuit would not have been a lateral move and the bowling attacks in the Plate League would not be the same. While the top 32 teams in the domestic circuit play in four groups of the Elite League, six other teams, five of which are from the north-east region, feature in the Plate League.He says his current aim is to help Mizoram qualify for the Plate League final, which will promote them to the Elite League next season.”People will say what they have to say but, at the end of the day, it’s your performance and there are lot many players who are playing in the same division and not scoring that many runs. The standard is same for everyone.”I think I am trying to be in present and my aim is to take Mizoram to Elite division. If we are in Elite division, then there is nothing to think about in terms of quality of bowling and I will play for Mizoram.”