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Somerset sign former Warwickshire opener until end of 2023 season

Matt Roller22-Jul-2022Andy Umeed, the former Warwickshire opener, has become the first graduate of the South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA) scheme to sign a multi-year contract with a county after agreeing a deal with Somerset until the end of the 2023 season.SACA describes itself as an “intervention programme designed to tackle the inequalities highlighted by research regarding the lack of British South Asian representation in professional cricket” and was launched in full this season in partnership with Birmingham City University.The research underpinning the scheme shows that 30% of recreational cricketers in England and Wales are British South Asian, compared to only 5% of professional British male players. A SACA XI has played regular fixtures against county second XIs this season and a number of players have earned county trials as a result.Umeed trialled for Yorkshire this season after making 77 against their second team and has now earned a contract with Somerset which runs until the end of next season. Somerset have struggled with the bat this season and Umeed will effectively replace James Hildreth, who is expected to retire at the end of the year and has not played in the Championship since May.He becomes the second SACA graduate to sign a professional contract after Kashif Ali, who played seven games for Worcestershire in the T20 Blast and has signed a deal that runs until the end of this season.​”I’m really grateful for this opportunity and it means everything to me,” Umeed, 26, said. “Being a cricketer is all I’ve ever wanted to do. My journey has highlighted how much I love playing cricket. Being out of the game has given me perspective and made me realise just how lucky I am to be able to keep pursuing my dream.”There have been ups and downs in my career so far, but this goes to show that if you keep doing your best and work hard then the rewards will come.”The South Asian Cricket Academy have helped me a lot. They’ve given me the opportunity to train through the winter and given me access to quality coaches. That has helped me to bridge that gap between club cricket and the professional game.”Related

• Rain prevents Somerset's victory charge against Yorkshire

• Matt Milnes stars as defending champions Warwickshire slide to heavy defeat

• Surrey consolidate top spot after Overton's 'day-hawk' gambit

• Umeed records second slowest century in Championship history

• SACA set up to help British Asian players into county cricket

Andy Hurry, Somerset’s director of cricket, said: “We have been impressed with what we have seen from Andy during his time with us this summer. Andy’s story is a great reflection of his determination to succeed.”Having had the opportunity to observe him within the Second XI Championship this summer, where his assuredness, approach and method to scoring runs has impressed both coaches and fellow players, we are delighted he has agreed to join the club and we look forward to seeing his journey within the game continue to evolve”.Meanwhile, Tom Banton has hinted that he will extend his stay at the club, having been linked with a move away. Banton’s contract is due to expire at the end of the season but he told the club’s YouTube stream during their game against Yorkshire: “There’s only one club I’ll be at next year so don’t worry.”I’ve been signing stuff in the crowd and I’ve heard all sorts. I’m only ever going to be at one club. I think it had to be addressed because everywhere I went it was getting asked. Don’t worry.”

Abhishek, Klaasen and Markande shine for Sunrisers to keep Capitals rooted to the bottom of the points table

Shashank Kishore29-Apr-2023In a game of high drama where both sides kept landing punches at each other with neither backing off, Sunrisers Hyderabad pipped Delhi Capitals to arrest a three-match losing streak on a low, slow pitch at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.At one stage, Capitals were on track to gun down a 198-run target when Mitchell Marsh and Phil Salt put together 112 in just 11 overs after David Warner fell for a second-ball duck.Then one wicket led to another, and before Delhi could realise, Sunrisers had clawed back courtesy the guile of Mayank Markande, who picked up 2 for 20. Sunrisers now have three wins in eight games to Capitals’ two in eight, which keeps them rooted to the bottom of the points table.

Abhishek’s powerplay salvo

Back to open the innings after a game in the middle order, Abhishek Sharma began positively, lofting Ishant Sharma for two successive boundaries in the opening over. Mayank Agarwal’s dismissal to a short ball gave Ishant some joy in his second over, but Abhishek wasn’t in a mood to slow down. He took Ishant for four boundaries in the seamer’s third over, hitting 43 in Sunrisers’ 62 for 2 after the first six.The reverse scoop, Heinrich Klaasen way•BCCI

Capitals’ comeback

The next four overs belonged to Capitals as they conceded just 21. Marsh left his mark on the game during this phase by taking pace off, the short boundaries notwithstanding, and allowing batters to force the pace on a surface where the ball was holding up. Two balls after he had Aiden Markram picking out deep midwicket, Harry Brook toe-ended a pull to the edge of the ring, Axar Patel the catcher on both occasions.

The Klaasen kick

After Abhishek raced to a 25-ball half-century, Heinrich Klaasen got into the game by taking apart Mukesh Kumar as the 11th over went for 24. Abhishek began it with two back-to-back fours and Klaasen finished it with a monstrous six down the ground off a legcutter. Axar, though, proved difficult to get away as he varied his pace and angles to finish with 1 for 29 from his four overs, the reward being the big wicket of Abhishek for a 36-ball 67. It could’ve been far more impressive if Klaasen hadn’t belted him for two sixes to end his spell. A 53-run stand between Klaasen and Abdul Samad off 33 balls and some late runs from Akeal Hosein helped Sunrisers muscle 62 off the last five overs.Mitchell Marsh and Phil Salt’s 112-run stand had kept Capitals in the contest•BCCI

Warner falls but Marsh fires

Sunrisers couldn’t have asked for a better start; Bhuvneshwar Kumar got Warner to chop on second ball of the chase. But Marsh and Salt raised the half-century of their partnership in just 29 balls by going after Hosein’s left-arm darts. Sunrisers tried to get overs out of spin seemingly in a bid to negate dew, but Hosein was far too short and the batters helped themselves to a nice spread against the short square boundaries.After five overs, ESPNcricinfo’s forecaster pegged Capitals’ chances of victory at 19.43%, but after seven, this figure had jumped to 45.68%. The reason for that partly was Marsh’s take-off against Umran Malik. Malik kept bowling short and into the body for Marsh to get inside the line and simply help it to beat long leg twice for sixes in a 22-run over. Salt opened and closed that over with two bludgeoning fours of his own against the short ball. That put Sunrisers under the pump.

Markande leads spinners into it

Markande used the slowness of the pitch to string together dots before dismissing Salt with a return catch that he just managed to hold on to. It was a big wicket considering Salt’s maiden half-century had set the tone for the chase. Then seven balls later, Manish Pandey ran down the track only for Abhishek to shorten his length and beat him in the air and off the pitch.It was now all on Marsh to see Capitals home, but that wasn’t to be as Hosein hit back superbly after the early onslaught by dismissing him. After being walloped out of the ground on the previous delivery, he bravely tossed it up for Marsh to go again, except this one gripped and turned and Marsh sliced it to Markram. That, right there, was the game for Sunrisers. Axar muscled a few towards the end, but the middle-order slowdown after the Salt-Marsh stand proved to be the difference.

An assessment revealed that his deliveries exceeded the 15 degrees limit permitted under playing regulations

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jan-2019West Indies offspinner Shane Shillingford has been suspended from bowling in domestic cricket with immediate effect after an independent assessment found his action to be illegal. The assessment revealed that Shillingford’s deliveries exceeded the 15 degrees limit permitted under playing regulations.Shillingford, 35, was reported for a suspect action during the opening match of the West Indies domestic four-day tournament in St Lucia last month, where he finished with match figures of 5 for 115 in Windward Islands’ 125-run loss to Guyana. He played another match before his action was deemed to be illegal, in which he picked up 12 wickets to hand Windward Islands a 76-run win against Trinidad and Tobago in Tarouba.According to a CWI release, he will remain suspended until his action is found to be legal and is expected to undergo remedial work supervised by the Windward Islands franchise.He can apply for a reassessment after modifying his bowling action in accordance with the regulations, either by an opinion report from Loughborough University or by an independent analysis from an accredited testing centre.This is the third time Shillingford’s bowling action has come under scrutiny. In December 2010, he was suspended from bowling as his action was found to be illegal following independent tests in Perth, though he underwent remedial action and was cleared by the ICC in June 2011.In 2013, Shillingford was suspended again during the tour of New Zealand, following tests in Perth which showed both his doosra and conventional offspin breached the limit laid down by ICC. Subsequent testing at the University of Western Australia showed that his offspin and straighter ball were within the regulations, but his doosra still remained illegal.Having made his international debut in 2010, Shillingford has played 16 Tests for West Indies, and has 70 wickets at an average of 34.55.

Angelo Mathews’ calf tear has ruled him out of the remainder of Australia’s tour, while allrounder Thisara Perera and left-arm wrist spinner Lakshan Sandakan have been released from the squad for the fifth ODI

Andrew Fidel Fernando02-Sep-2016Angelo Mathews’ calf tear has ruled him out of the remainder of Australia’s tour, while allrounder Thisara Perera and left-arm wrist spinner Lakshan Sandakan have been released from the Sri Lanka squad for the fifth ODI. In place of these three players, Sri Lanka have drafted in batsmen Upul Tharanga and Niroshan Dickwella, as well as seam-bowling allrounder Dasun Shanaka.Mathews has not undergone a CT scan for the injury he sustained during the fourth ODI, but the team management has already confirmed he will be unavailable for the remaining ODI and two T20Is. Mathews had hobbled off the field during his innings on Wednesday and, though he returned to bat towards the end of the innings, had been substantially hampered by the injury.Perera had played all four ODIs as the primary seamer but, although he claimed 3 for 33 in Sri Lanka’s sole win, at Khettarama, he has since been less effective. Perera had also been dropped for the England tour, following a long stretch of modest returns. He is effectively being replaced by Shanaka, who had some success in that tour of England and Ireland – he claimed three wickets in the first innings of Test at Headingley, and also took a five-wicket haul in an ODI against Ireland, in Dublin.Tharanga had also been somewhat effective in England, making a 53 not out and 40 from the lower middle order. Following Dilshan’s retirement, the selectors may wish to bat him at the top of the order again, though Dickwella is also a candidate for the opening spot. In his last three List A innings, against England Lions and Pakistan A, Dickwella hit 51, 44, and 60.Sri Lanka have already lost the ODI series. The final match is set to be played in Pallekele, on Sunday.

Pakistan have opted for split-captaincy of their women’s side with Sana Mir retaining the role for ODIs and Bismah Maroof taking over the T20 side for the tour of England in June

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jun-2016Pakistan have opted for split-captaincy of their women’s side, with offspinner Sana Mir retaining the role for ODIs and middle-order batsman Bismah Maroof taking over the T20 side for the tour of England in June. The decision was taken after Mir stepped down as captain of the T20 side after the Women’s World T20 earlier this year.

Changes in Pakistan squad

Ins in ODIs: Bismah Maroof, Nahida Khan, Muneeba Ali, Sadia Yousuf, Sidra Nawaz, Aiman Anwer
Outs: Batool Fatima, Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Zafar (standby), Diana Baig, Marina Iqbal, Rabiya Shah (standby), Sumaiya Siddiqi
Ins in T20Is: Sania Khan, Aiman Anwar
Outs: Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Zafar, Diana Baig

There were six changes from the 50-over squad that last played in October 2015, in West Indies, including a call-up for the uncapped 24-year old Aiman Anwer. All of the inclusions – Maroof, Nahida Khan, Muneeba Ali, Sadia Yousuf, wicketkeeper Sidra Nawaz and Nain Abidi – represented Pakistan in the World T20. Pakistan were in with a chance of making the semi-final, but a defeat to England in their final league match knocked them out.Javeria Khan, who had fractured her right thumb after being hit by a bouncer in the World T20, had recovered and was named vice-captain of the T20 team. Maroof was named vice-captain of the ODI team.Ayesha Zafar, who was at the World T20, was put on standby along with Rabiya Shah and Maham Tariq. Of the 15 women who played that tournament in India, only Aliya Riaz and Diana Baig were not in the squad for the England tour.The series comprises three ODIs, all of which contribute to the Women’s Championship where Pakistan are ranked second from bottom, and two T20s. It begins in Leicester on June 20 and ends in Southampton on July 5.Pakistan ODI and T20 squad: Javeria Khan, Nahida Khan, Sidra Ameen, Bismah Maroof (T20 capt), Muneeba Ali, Sana Mir (ODI capt), Nida Dar, Iram Javed, Asmavia Iqbal, Anam Amin, Sania Iqbal, Sadia Yousuf, Aiman Anwer, Sidra Nawaz (wk), Nain Abidi

The BCCI fears some of its day-to-day operations will be at a standstill if the Lodha Committee does not reply soon to an email sent by its secretary Ajay Shirke last week, seeking directions from the committee

Nagraj Gollapudi31-Oct-2016The BCCI fears its daily operations might come to a standstill if the Lodha Committee does not respond immediately to an email sent by board secretary Ajay Shirke last week seeking directions from the committee on how to proceed in the wake of the October 21 Supreme Court order.Without the committee’s consent, the BCCI cannot take important decisions that include: signing of the memorandum of understanding with the ECB for the bilateral series starting on November 9, setting a new date for the IPL media rights tender which was postponed last Tuesday, and determining the threshold value for any financial transaction of the board relating to future contracts (the Lodha Committee was asked by the Supreme Court to set the threshold value, and all contracts in excess of that amount would need the committee’s approval).In its interim orders, passed on October 17 and then 21, the court had categorically put clamps on the BCCI releasing any funds to the states unless they submitted an affidavit saying they would adopt all the recommendations of the Lodha Committee. The court had also asked the committee to appoint an auditor, who would oversee all the contracts the BCCI had got into since the July 18 order which made it mandatory for both BCCI and the state associations to subscribe to the committee’s recommendations.Despite the BCCI raising this matter of the email now, it should be aware that the committee had already made it clear last week that the ball is in fact in the board’s court. The committee had written to Shirke on October 24 saying that BCCI president Anurag Thakur needs to give an undertaking “on behalf of the BCCI to unreservedly comply” with the court’s October 21 order. The BCCI had also asked both Shrike and Thakur to meet to the committee within two weeks from the date of the order. The board has been quiet on that front, as to whether Thakur would submit the affidavit and whether he and Shirke will be meeting the committee this week.”We sent the letter detailing a lot of day-to-day stuff we need to do. If you don’t get a clarification quickly the operations can come to a standstill,” a senior BCCI official said. “Since the court has appointed the committee as the custodian, we have asked it to advise us or take the decisions [itself].”The committee had not responded till Monday evening, the official said. No one from the committee was available for a comment. An explanation offered by RM Lodha, the chairman of the committee, in the past was that the court’s orders have never come in the way of all the existing contracts the BCCI has entered into, neither have they disrupted the various match schedules of the board.The BCCI official did not agree with that viewpoint in this instance. He said despite the longstanding courtroom battles, the BCCI’s daily operations were never disrupted till the October 21 court order. “Now when you stop all contracts, then our day-to-day commercial contracts comes to a halt. For everything we have to take reference from them.”According to the official, a pressing concern was the releasing of funds to all the state associations that will be hosting the England series as well as the ongoing the Ranji Trophy and age-group tournaments. England begin their five-Test series in Rajkot on November 9. They will then return post-Christmas for a limited-overs series. In the new year, India play a one-off Test against Bangladesh and a four-Test series against Australian in February-March.”The order says every contract has to be monitored and there has to be an auditor. It also does not allow us to give any hosting fee to any of the states. Now with the England and Australia series coming up, we don’t know what to do. We need the permission for that,” the board official said.The official said another immediate priority for the board is preparing for next year’s IPL. “There are numerous nuts and bolts that need to be kept ready: grounds, taking over stadiums, merchandising, team hotels, airlines, hospitality. These all need contracts. In the absence of an auditor, how do we proceed? And we don’t know what amount we can enter or not.”The BCCI is anxious not just about the present, but also about the future. A handful of important contracts need to be signed in the next year, the board official pointed out.The first is the IPL media rights tender. After that the BCCI has to sort the India title shirt contract, which currently with Star till next March. The official said that contract needs to be finalised by end of December as it would take few months for the new designs and logos, if any, to be printed on the new jerseys. On March 31, the IPL title rights, owned by Vivo currently, will be up for renewal.The official said two other important tenders the BCCI will need to negotiate by mid-next year are the IPL management contract with IMG and the bilateral media rights for international series for the new cycle commencing from 2018. “Each tender takes minimum of three months. So we have five major tenders one after the other. So we need clarification now.”The official said Shirke had listed all these details in the email to the committee. He said without a timetable in place, things could slide. “Doing things last-minute gives BCCI a bad name. The BCCI has very large operations. There are many domestic tournaments taking place simultaneously. Big international series are coming up. IPL is coming up. Your business has to go on, right?”Despite BCCI’s apprehensions, some of the state associations like Saurashtra Cricket Association, Andhra Pradesh Cricket Association and Tamil Nadu Cricket Association have stated they have enough funds to host the Test matches assigned to them by the board. Rajkot and Visakhapatnam will host the first and second Tests of the England series, which will end at Chepauk in Chennai in December.The whole episode concerning the Indian board and the Lodha Committee stems from the IPL 2013 fixing scandal. The court had initially appointed the Lodha Committee to determine appropriate punishments for those involved, and propose changes to the BCCI’s functioning to ensure best practices. In July the court accepted the majority of the committee’s recommendations, covering wide-ranging aspects of Indian cricket at the central and state level, making it binding on the BCCI to implement them. The BCCI has since questioned the benefits of some of these reforms – particularly the “one state, one vote” policy, the age cap on board officials, and the cap and cooling off periods on their terms in office – and missed some deadlines for their implementation, prompting the committee and the court to pursue the matter further.