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Richard Thompson was named on Tuesday as the new chairman of Surrey County Cricket Club.

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Oct-2010Richard Thompson was named on Tuesday as the new chairman of Surrey County Cricket Club. Thompson, 43, becomes the youngest chairman in the country and also the youngest in the club’s history. He replaces the outgoing chairman David Stewart, who led Surrey for seven years.Speaking after his confirmation, Mr. Thompson said: “I am honoured to become chairman of Surrey County Cricket Club. David Stewart will be a tough act to follow and Surrey owes him a great deal of thanks for the contribution he has made in the past seven years as Chairman and further seven as Honorary Treasurer before that.”Surrey is a unique and great club. Despite a period without trophies, I am confident that with the players coming through, the foundations are in place for a period of success in the future. Our members and supporters have been patient and supportive over the past few seasons. I hope with a policy of growing and developing our own talent wherever possible, that any success Surrey CCC may enjoy will be built on firm foundations with Surrey grown talent at the core.”Cricket is going through a period of great change. I will do all I can, to help steer Surrey through those challenges and be a stronger club as a result.”David Stewart added: “It has been most enjoyable and a real privilege to have steered the Club through such exciting and challenging times these last seven years. I am convinced that Richard is the right person to lead the club through the next chapter in its rich history.”

Tamil Nadu captain banned for one Ranji Trophy match after being found guilty of breaching the BCCI Code of Conduct

Cricinfo staff14-Nov-2009Dinesh Karthik, Tamil Nadu’s captain, has been banned for one Ranji Trophy match after being found guilty of breaching the BCCI Code of Conduct and has been warned over his future conduct. Karthik, the wicketkeeper-batsman, was found guilty of a Level 1 and 2 offence during Tamil Nadu’s Super League match against Gujarat in Ahmedabad.Sanjay Patil, the match referee, found him guilty of breaching Level 1 and 2 of the conduct rulebook, which refers to bringing the game into disrepute by excessive appealing and charging toward the umpire. Karthik was fined 75% of his match fee.The incident took place when Jay Desai was on 68 during Gujarat’s second innings and Karthik excessively appealed for a catch off offspinner R Ashwin, who was also issued a verbal warning for arguing with the umpire. Desai went on to score 108 as the match ended in a draw.Elsewhere, in Mohali, Hyderabad captain VVS Laxman was fined 20% of his match fee for bowling five overs less during Punjab’s second innings. The rest of his team-mates were docked 10% of their match fees per the BCCI’s ruling. Punjab just escaped copping a fine after their captain Ankur Kakkar rushed through 20 overs during the last hour of play on the final day, using a bunch of spinners.At the Eden Gardens, match referee Sanjib Paul fined both Bengal and Baroda captains, Connor Williams and Laxmi Shukla, 20% of their match fees for a slow over-rate. The players were fined 10% each. Satyajit Parab, on whose classy 154 Baroda made merry against the hosts, was given an official reprimand for aggressive appealing during Bengal’s innings.

The left-arm spinner was reported by the match officials after the first ODI against India on January 10

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Feb-2025Ireland left-arm spinner Aimee Maguire has been suspended from bowling in international cricket with immediate effect after her action was deemed to be illegal.Maguire, 18, was reported for a suspect bowling action during the first ODI against India in Rajkot on January 10, where she picked up 3 for 57 from eight overs.She subsequently got her action tested at the ICC-accredited testing centre in Loughborough on January 21, where it emerged that the amount of elbow extension in her bowling action exceeded the 15-degree level of tolerance permitted under the ICC regulations.”As a result, in accordance with clause 6.1 of the regulations, Aimee is immediately suspended from bowling in international cricket,” an ICC release said. “Her suspension will remain in effect until she undergoes a re-assessment of her bowling action which confirms that she can bowl with a legal action.”Maguire was initially named in Ireland’s squad for the recent Women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup in Malaysia. Since the assessment window fell in the middle of the tournament, she had to be withdrawn.Maguire made her international debut in 2023. So far, she has played 11 ODIs and nine T20Is, taking 25 wickets in all with a best of 5 for 19 against England in an ODI last year.

Victoria’s formidable attack was irresistible late on day three as they tore through a struggling NSW batting order

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Oct-2023
Peter Handscomb defied a challenging MCG surface before captain Will Sutherland produced a hostile spell of pace bowling as Victoria closed in on a big Sheffield Shield victory over New South Wales.Victoria’s formidable attack was irresistible late on day three as they tore through a struggling NSW batting order and they need just two wickets to claim their first win of the Shield season.Chasing a daunting 379 runs in bowling-friendly conditions, NSW openers Ryan Hackney and Daniel Hughes started doggedly but faced an uphill battle against masterful new ball bowling from Scott Boland and Fergus O’Neill.Hackney succumbed to a typically metronomical Boland after he was sharply caught by Handscomb at first slip. O’Neill then clean bowled Hughes with a superb delivery from around the wicket before a pumped-up Sutherland took over after tea.He had skipper Moises Henriques trapped lbw before dismissing Blake MacDonald caught behind with a brute of a short delivery. Sutherland’s purple patch was complete when late movement deceived Matthew Gilkes, whose off stump was rattled after shouldering arms.Offspinner Todd Murphy, playing in his 17th first-class match, bowled for the first time in a Shield match at the MCG. Having not been needed to bowl in NSW’s first innings, Murphy dismissed Ben Dwarshuis lbw in his first over and later claimed Chris Tremain with a return catch.Play was extended by an extra half an hour, but Victoria’s push to wrap up victory before the close of play was thwarted by Jason Sangha, who made a fighting half-century in a lone hand.With sunny conditions forecast on day four, Victoria should complete a convincing victory to get their season back on track.After falling short to Western Australia in the last two Shield finals, Victoria armed with a blend of youth and experience entered the season confident of going one step better.But innings defeats to WA and Queensland on the road have caused concern in a sluggish start to the season. Victoria have clearly enjoyed returning home in what has been a domination of NSW, who finished with the wooden spoon last season.Resuming on 40, having lifted Victoria from 92 for 5, Handscomb took the contest away from NSW with composed batting as he notched his first half-century of the Shield season.Handscomb did his best to shake being pigeonholed as a subcontinent specialist as he thwarted NSW’s quicks, particularly Tremain who was the Blues’ most threatening bowler.He also used his feet nicely to curb Test offspinner Nathan Lyon, who bowled accurately but without reward. Handscomb appeared set for a deserved century until falling on 90, when he was caught behind off an outside edge to DwarshuisLyon had his first wicket of the match when he had understudy Murphy caught at short-leg. In his second game since returning from a calf injury that ended his Ashes tour, Lyon finished with match figures of 1-81 from 36 overs.Victoria were left frustrated by tailenders Boland and O’Neill, who effectively threw the bat and reached his maiden first-class half-century with a boundary.Boland contributed just one of the 58 runs in the last-wicket partnership before he was bowled by the hardworking Tremain, who finished with eight wickets for the match.O’Neill’s cavalier unbeaten 70 left NSW dejected and they never recovered.

Phil Salt half-century guides visitors before Phoenix crumble to lowest total in men’s Hundred

Matt Roller28-Aug-2022Manchester Originals won their fourth game in a row to set up a qualification decider against Oval Invincibles in the final fixture of the Hundred’s group stage, bowling Birmingham Phoenix out for 75 to silence a 20,836 crowd at Edgbaston.Originals’ 154, which owed much to Phil Salt’s third fifty of the season, looked like a competitive score on a used pitch. Despite the absence of Liam Livingstone, Phoenix’s leading run-scorer who was ruled out of the final stages of the tournament through injury earlier on Sunday, a short boundary towards the Eric Hollies Stand meant that the home side would have fancied their chances at the interval.But their chase never got going and their eventual total was the lowest across both seasons of the men’s Hundred, beating their 87 all out in the reverse fixture in 2021. Tom Hartley struck twice in the first five balls of the chase, removing Miles Hammond and Moeen Ali, and came back to dismiss Brett D’Oliveira and Ben Dwarshuis to return 4 for 22 from his 20 balls.Will Smeed hit 31 off 17 but no other Phoenix batter passed 13, as Originals closed out a 79-run win despite the absences of Jos Buttler, their injured captain, and Andre Russell, who has left for the CPL. They will almost certainly qualify for the eliminator if they beat Invincibles at Old Trafford on Wednesday night.However, Phoenix’s qualification hopes have taken a significant dent following a heavy net run-rate swing: they will need to beat London Spirit convincingly at Lord’s on Tuesday night to stand a chance of sneaking through to the play-offs.Phoenix flounder
Laurie Evans made a brave move to throw Hartley the new ball at the start of the chase, after Moeen had used only 10 balls of spin in the first innings, with Imran Tahir surprisingly left out in favour of Dwarshuis, the Australian left-arm seamer, but his move was vindicated with two wickets in the first five balls.Hammond, the left-hander, looked to reverse-slap his third ball over the infield and towards the short off-side boundary, but picked out extra cover, and after Moeen punched his first ball through point for four, he lost him off stump looking to swing down the ground. It set the tone for an abject Phoenix innings, which saw Chris Benjamin and Tom Helm dozily run out.”We knew we had to use our cutters and spin options,” Hartley said. “We saw Southern Brave do it last year when they lost their first two games; we lost our first three but picked up good rhythm and the boys are really getting along. There’s no reason why we can’t [keep winning].”Moeen described Phoenix’s performance as “a bit soft” after Josh Little had sealed the deal with two late wickets. “We’ve got some young players. Livi is a big miss, obviously, but players like myself have to take more responsibility. We were poor. We need to be a bit smarter at times.”Brilliant Benny
Originals made a bright start thanks to Salt and Laurie Evans, reaching 73 for 1 at the halfway stage, but were pegged back by a superb spell in the middle of the innings from Benny Howell. After Evans had sliced Kane Richardson to short third in the powerplay, Wayne Madsen scooped Howell straight to short fine leg where Henry Brookes took a sharp catch, having earlier dropped Salt on 8.Howell’s changes of pace flummoxed Originals’ middle order on a slow surface, and he struck twice when bowling 10 consecutive deliveries between balls 71 and 80: Tristan Stubbs chipped a knuckleball to extra cover, while Paul Walter’s leading edge found Brookes, diving forwards at short cover. When Howell completed his allocation, Originals were 111 for 4 and struggling for impetus.Salt Late City
Salt has been in excellent form in the Hundred and raced to a 33-ball fifty after an early reprieve, slog-sweeping Brookes over the shorter boundary and into the Hollies. But just as he was eyeing a launch at the death, he was controversially given out when Richardson skidded a full ball into his pad.Salt opted to review after a long discussion with Ashton Turner and was furious when Alex Wharf told him that the 15-second timer had already run out by the time he had made his signal. Almost inevitably, replays confirmed that the ball had struck him outside the line of off stump. “We had to calm him down a little bit,” Evans told Sky, laughing.Lammonby’s late blitz
Originals were 113 for 5 with 18 balls remaining after Salt’s dismissal, but a 41-run stand for the sixth wicket between Tom Lammonby and Turner hauled them up to a competitive score. Lammonby, playing his first game of the season, was particularly effective: he made 26 not out off 12 balls, scooping Richardson for four and Helm for six as Phoenix lost their way at the death.”It’s a huge win,” Evans said. “They’ve been must-win games all the way through for us, ever since we lost three out of three. The boys were outstanding. We thought we were a little bit under par, but it turned out to be a pretty competitive score.”

The groundwork for the marquee event in October will have been laid by both teams irrespective of the result

Andrew Miller19-Mar-20216:31

Will England field same XI? Kishan instead of Rahul for India?

Big Picture

Here we go then, this is the contest that makes all the agonies and frustrations of recent months worthwhile. In the midst of a pandemic, we’ve got a treat in store. The world’s top-two ranked teams going head to head in a contest that, to judge by the ding-dong battle we’ve enjoyed so far this series, could yet be a full dress rehearsal for the T20 World Cup final in just over six months’ time.The only pity is that there will be no crowd present to create the full bear-pit atmosphere that this contest deserves. There were 66,000 spectators present to watch India’s series-leveller in game two, before the gates were slammed shut once again due to Gujarat’s surge in Covid cases – and all the signs point to a similar arrangement when the ODIs begin in Pune next week. But in keeping with the impressive intensity that cricket at all levels has managed in this lock-down era, there will be no let-up on either side when the teams stride out to the middle on Saturday.Eoin Morgan was granted his full-strength squad for this series, to the chagrin of those who believe that England’s prospects in last month’s Test series were compromised as a consequence. But he has consistently stressed the need for his team to learn their lessons fast before the mad schedule of the English summer pulls his star players in every direction. And so, while he would no doubt have been delighted to wrap up the series with a better showing in match four, it’s not simply a case of putting on a brave face when he says he is relishing this chance to road-test his troops in their highest-stakes contest since 2019.Related

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After all, England have made it their business in recent years to embrace the expectation that comes with their front-running style of white-ball cricket. And while the circumstances are somewhat different, this contest carries with it the same sort of manufactured gravitas that England conferred on their fifth ODI against Australia at Old Trafford in 2018, when the chance was there to serve their greatest rivals a 5-0 series drubbing, and Jos Buttler dragged them over the line with a thrilling century in a one-wicket win. It’s not putting too fine a point on it to suggest that that chase, and the lessons learnt within it, were instrumental in England holding their nerve in the following years’ World Cup final.As for Virat Kohli, the lessons and pointers that he too has gleaned in the past four games have been invaluable. England have won three out of the four tosses in the series to date – a significant advantage given the onset of dew under the floodlights. But Kohli’s consistent message, that he was unconcerned about his team having to do it the hard way, bore fruit on Thursday evening, when they put enough runs on the board to squeeze England until they squeaked in their mounting run-chase.The manner in which India have won their two matches has been particularly instructive. On both occasions, it has been the devil-may-care exuberance of their rookies that has sparked the team into life, with Ishan Kishan’s debut fifty in game two giving way to Suryakumar Yadav’s scintillating 57 from 31 on Thursday. But neither has had a chance to come good in the same contest yet – and nor has Rishabh Pant, although with four scores between 21 and 30, and 102 runs from 79 balls all told, he doesn’t seem far away from cutting loose in his habitual fashion.The concern once again for India has been elsewhere in their batting order. KL Rahul’s struggles just will not go away, and while he does have an IPL looming in which he can re-find his range, the manner in which England have gone for the jugular in the powerplay, with Jofra Archer and Mark Wood dovetailing with such violent intent, will be hard to replicate outside of contests against Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada at Delhi Capitals in the IPL.Rohit Sharma, likewise, has not yet found his range, in spite of a first-ball six on Thursday – Archer has now bagged him three times in 15 balls in T20s, at a cost of ten runs. Shreyas Iyer has been an important source of mid-innings momentum, most notably in the two games when Kohli has been undone by Adil Rashid, but for a side that is actively targetting a fearless new approach to their batting, the feeling persists that they have at least one too many anchors in their current first-choice line-up.In the bowling stakes, the two teams have subtly different problems. India remain wedded to their five-man attack, which offers no wriggle-room on a day when one of them gets taken for a journey – as it nearly happened on Thursday to Washington Sundar. But equally, that pressure to perform on a ball-by-ball basis can create some seriously hardened competitors. Hardik Pandya was the under-sung hero in match four, as he skidded through his four overs for 16 runs, while Shardul Thakur held his nerve at the death, just as Archer was threatening to reprise his IPL range-hitting. Sometimes, when you are walking a tight-rope, that imperative not to look down can be emboldening.England have broader options, but rather less defined roles. Archer, Wood and Rashid are the clear backbones of their World Cup line-up, but with no second spinner – not even a part-time option such as Joe Root provided in 2016 – the less express seam of Sam Curran, Ben Stokes and Chris Jordan has proved a touch too hittable at key moments in this campaign. Curran’s indefinable status in the side epitomises England’s uncertainty. He bowled four overs for 22, including a wicket-maiden in the powerplay in game two, but just five for 45 as England’s sixth option in the rest of the series combined.These are, however, fairly good problems to have in the final approach to a major tournament. Win or lose in the series decider, both England and India will emerge from these five games with their plans a touch more clear, and their hunches explored in an environment that they couldn’t have ascertained against less potent opponents. The groundwork for October will have been laid by both teams, come what may.

Form guide

India WLWLL

England LWLWW

In the spotlight

This could be Dawid Malan’s moment of reckoning. England’s No.1-ranked T20I batsman has endured a series of untimely fallowness in India – 80 runs from 77 balls all told, with four scores between 14 and 24, and no real sense that he was about to cut loose before he was cut short. It doesn’t feel like an over-extrapolation to suggest that Morgan hasn’t ever rated Malan quite as highly as his remarkable record might deserve, but this is the sort of dress rehearsal that can make or break perceptions. More than anything, the skipper values big-game players, so a matchwinning hand on Saturday’s stage may yet ink his name among the must-haves for October. That said, the manner of Malan’s demises in this series have been revealing – his attempts to force the pace against the spinners have come unstuck in each of his last three outings, and if that’s a sign that he’s liable to get bogged down in the middle overs in India where previously he has skipped through the gears, then his card may already be marked.Suryakumar Yadav slog-sweeps one fine•Getty Images

Suryakumar Yadav’s maiden international innings was an utter joy to behold. As carefree as his Mumbai Indians’ team-mate Kishan in match two – and all the more valuable to his team in that it came in the first innings of the match, and effectively landed a blow against the head in this toss-and-dew dominated series. The raucousness of his opening blow, a Roy Fredericks-esque pull for six over fine leg off a fired-up Archer, was so timely for his team, for it showed he would not be cowed by the express pace of England’s quicks, and signalled a charge towards, first, their best powerplay total of the series, and ultimately the top innings score too. He admitted afterwards that he had been encouraged by Kohli to keep things simple and play as he has been doing so consistently at the IPL. If he can follow that showing up with a similarly unfettered display on Saturday, it’ll take something special from England to match it.

Team news

Rahul’s struggles got no better on Thursday – in fact, his 14 from 17 balls was arguably a worse contribution than another short sharp duck would have been. But having been backed to battle through his form slump by Kohli, it would be intriguing to see him get the heave-ho now, even though Kishan’s potential recovery from a groin niggle sends a challenge to India’s brains trust. If there is to be a change, then T Natarajan, and his line in pinpoint yorkers, could get a chance to bolster India’s bowling now that he has emerged from his quarantine period. Sundar had his moment in the second game, but his offspin landed squarely in the hitting arc of Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow on Thursday.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Ishan Kishan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Shreyas Iyer, 6 Suryakumar Yadav, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Washington Sundar/T Natarajan, 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Rahul ChaharIt’s hard to see England changing their formula right now (thanks for coming, Moeen Ali) although their surfeit of left-handers in the middle order did encounter a bit of a pile-up when Thakur got his wide cutters going towards the back-end of the innings. Could there be a temptation to mix up the batting order a touch? Stokes snuck in ahead of Morgan in match four and reaped the benefits of a longer lead-in with his best innings of the series, 46 from 23, but as suggested by Dinesh Karthik on , his natural fit in these conditions could be as high as No.3. Certainly, if he did grind along to a run-a-ball 20 in the early stages of his stay, he’s proven beyond any doubt that he would have the gears to go big.England (probable): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Jos Buttler (wk), 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Jonny Bairstow, 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Eoin Morgan (capt), 7 Sam Curran, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Mark Wood.

Pitch and conditions

It’s back to the scene of India’s victory in match two on Saturday, as the teams line up once again on the pitch where Kishan and Kohli made short work of England’s target of 166 for 3. According to Paul Collingwood, England’s assistant coach, there’s been water added to the surface since that game and the cracks have sealed back up, and he doesn’t expect it to prove as slow and low as was the case when batting first in that match. And there’s a precedent for recycling in this series already: the black-soiled surface for the last game, used in the opening match too, proved to be the best batting pitch of the series so far, with enough carry off the deck to reward shots in both innings. Although, as Kohli acknowledged afterwards, the dew factor was a bigger consideration than ever in the closing overs of the game.

Stats and trivia

• One way or another, a lengthy unbeaten series record will come to an end tomorrow. England have won seven and drawn one of their last eight T20I series, dating back to their last tour of India in 2018.
• India, meanwhile, have won six and drawn one of their last seven T20I series, dating back to Australia’s victory in February 2019.
• Malan is still on course to break Babar Azam’s record for the fastest batsman to 1000 T20I runs – 26 innings. He needs another 65 in his next two knocks, having reached 935 from 23 to date.
• England have been fined 20 per cent of their match fees for a slow over-rate in the fourth T20I, a penalty that took into account the lengthy delays for two third-umpire reviews for catches by Malan and Rashid on the fine leg / third-man boundary.
• Both Archer and Wood have gone at less than a run a ball in the powerplay in this series so far. Archer has claimed two wickets in 48 balls, at a cost of 45 runs; Wood has picked up three in 30, while conceding 18 runs.

Quotes

“I’m enjoying it a lot. Even when I’m playing in the IPL or domestic cricket, I bowl a lot of overs in the death or fourth, fifth or sixth over in the powerplay. So, I bowl a lot of overs where batsmen come hard at bowlers. Kind of getting used to it now.”

Shardul Thakur says he relishes the pressure of bowling the tough overs in a T20 contest“We go into the next game with a huge amount of pressure on our shoulders as a team, because whoever wins that game wins the series. That’s great for us as a team, especially with a T20 World Cup coming up because the more pressure situations we get put into as a team the more I think we’ll benefit from it.”

Ben Stokes wants England to feel the heat as the World Cup draws ever closer.