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Former Indian allrounder chosen for highest honour the BCC can bestow

Cricinfo staff10-Nov-2009Mohinder Amarnath, the former Indian allrounder, has been chosen for the CK Nayudu lifetime achievement award, the highest honour the Indian board can bestow on a former player. It will be presented to him later this month in Mumbai.The CK Nayudu award comes with a trophy, a citation and a cash prize of Rs. 15 lakh (approx. US$ 3w,000).Amarnath – or Jimmy as he prefers to be known – scored 4,378 runs at an average of 42.50. Yet he will perhaps most be remembered for winning Man-of-the-Match awards in the 1983 World Cup semi-final against England and in the final against West Indies, when India achieved one of the game’s most unexpected victories.A technically accomplished and orthodox right-hander, he saved his best performances for the fearsome West Indies pace attacks. He made 85 in Trinidad in 1975-76 as India made the highest ever fourth innings score to win a Test (406 for 4) and was the brightest start of the 1983 Lord’s final, scoring 26 and taking 3 for 12 with his useful medium-pacers.The preceding winter Amarnath showed remarkable consistency in making 1182 runs at 69.53 in 11 overseas Tests, five of which were in the Caribbean and none of which India won, although the following winter he made just one run in six innings as the West Indian fast bowlers wreaked their revenge.The son of the great Indian captain Lala, Amarnath also captained Delhi to the Ranji Trophy in 1981/82 – he scored 185 as they overhauled Karnataka’s 705 to win an extraordinary final – and made a century before lunch against Northants in 1986.

Jimmy Neesham has been withdrawn from the T20I squad to return home for the birth of his first child

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Aug-2023Kane Williamson has two weeks to prove his fitness for the ODI World Cup after he linked up with the New Zealand squad in England to continue his rehab from the ACL injury picked up at the IPL.When Williamson suffered the injury in April he was viewed as only a very slim chance of making the World Cup, but his progress in recent weeks has been encouraging and he will be given every opportunity to prove he is ready.The 15-player squads need to be submitted to the ICC by September 5 but can be changed without approval up to September 28.Related

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“[We’ve] got about two weeks from now until we name that side,” New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said. “Going to give him every chance and use that full amount of time.”He’s in full rehab mode, he’s back batting in the nets again which is great to see. He’s progressing really well but again there’s a lot of work for him still to do to make sure he gets to where we need him to be.”It could be that Williamson will be included even if he won’t be ready for the early matches in the World Cup, or another option could be to have him as one of the travelling reserves although there would then need to be an injury in the original squad for him to be brought in. There will also be longer-term considerations taken into account.”They are all the things we are weighing up right now,” Stead said. “There’s a chance that even if Kane was named that he wouldn’t be available right at the start of the tournament. But he also might be, and he also might not be ready.”It’s still a little bit of crystal-ball gazing [about] where he will be at. Yes, of course, we want him at the World Cup but there is that bigger picture in mind that we want Kane Williamson fit for the rest of his career.”They’ll be honest conversations that Kane and I will have with each other around exactly where he is at, to make sure we get the best outcome for our team but also the best outcome for Kane Williamson and his long-term career.”Meanwhile, Jimmy Neesham has been withdrawn from the T20I squad for the series against England so he can return home early ahead of the birth of his first child. Cole McConchie will now remain on the tour.”The birth of a child is a special time and we are a family environment,” Stead said. “We are glad to be able to support Jimmy in heading home.”Neesham played two of the T20Is against UAE in Dubai before taking up a brief Hundred deal with Oval Invincibles who he helped to the title on Sunday with an unbeaten 57 off 33 balls, adding 127 with Tom Curran after the team had been 34 for 5.

Greg Shipperd, the Sydney Sixers’ coach, will take charge until the end of the season

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Nov-2022Former Australia batter Phil Jaques has lost his job as New South Wales head coach after the state’s poor start to the domestic season which sees them bottom of both the Sheffield Shield and Marsh Cup.A planned mid-season review during the BBL break was brought forward following NSW’s latest Shield defeat against Western Australia last week and it was announced on Tuesday morning that Jaques had left his role.Greg Shipperd, who is currently Sydney Sixers’ coach in the BBL, will take temporary charge until the end of the domestic season. He will begin with this week’s Shield match against Victoria before moving into his Sixers’ role then back to NSW for the latter part of the summer.Jaques came into the head coach role for the 2018-19 season having done two years with Queensland between 2015 and 2017 before returning to NSW as batting coach. NSW won the Sheffield Shield in the 2019-2020 season which was curtailed by the pandemic and the Marsh Cup in 2020-21.”On behalf of all at Cricket NSW I’d like to thank Phil for his contribution to cricket in NSW as both a player and coach,” Greg Mail, the NSW chief of cricket performance, said. “Phil is an immensely passionate NSW person and has given his all in his time as head coach, but we feel that now is the right time to make a change. We wish Phil well in his future endeavours.Shipperd is one of the most highly-regarded coaches in the Australian game and has also filled various roles around the world.”Greg Shipperd’s cricket acumen and his coaching record is well renowned, and we are very pleased that he has agreed to guide our Blues program while we take the time to understand our next move,” Mail said. “He has existing relationships with many of the players and staff and I expect his transition into the group, starting with this week’s match against Victoria, will be seamless.”

The Mumbai Indians captain felt they let Gujarat Titans score 20-25 runs extra and failed to stitch partnerships in the chase

ESPNcricinfo staff26-May-20232:03

Will Mumbai be happy with their season?

Mumbai Indians’ IPL campaign in 2023 came to an end with a 62-run defeat against Gujarat Titans in the second Qualifier in Ahmedabad. Their captain Rohit Sharma said that their batting and especially the performance of some of the younger players was the biggest positive for them from this season.Mumbai adopted an ultra-aggressive approach to compensate for the loss of several of their first-choice bowlers to injury, including Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer. It saw them post totals of more than 200 six times this season, the most by any team in one edition of the IPL.”I mean playing this game, qualifying as third in the tournament, you know, it gives us a lot of confidence,” Rohit told the host broadcaster after the game.Related

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Mumbai had a slow start to the season, before coming out on top of a mid-table jam to make it to the playoffs. They then beat Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator to reach the second Qualifier.Players like Tilak Varma, who smashed 43 off 14 deliveries in their defeat on Friday, and Nehal Wadhera played a role in their run to the third-place finish.”Our batting actually was the biggest positive,” Rohit said. “Some of the younger players who have come through this tournament really well is a big positive for us, something that we can take into the next season and see what we can do with the squad.”On Friday, a glorious century from Shubman Gill powered Titans to 233. While Tilak, Suryakumar Yadav (61 off 38) and Cameron Green (30 off 20) played handy knocks, Mumbai were bowled out for 171.”Yeah, look, it was a great total. Shubman batted really well. The wicket was really good. We thought, you know they got 20-25 runs extra. But you know with the batting line-up we had, we were quite positive once we went inside after the first half,” Rohit said. “Couldn’t stitch long partnerships. Greeny and Surya batted well in the middle, but we just lost our way there a little bit.”Suryakumar Yadav made 61 off 38 against Gujarat Titans•AFP/Getty Images

Rohit felt that because they lost three wickets, Mumbai didn’t make the most of the powerplay, even as they raced to 72 after the first six overs.”We thought about giving it a good crack. We wanted to be positive. And you know, you’ve got to make full use of the powerplay as well, which didn’t go well for us. We lost a couple of wickets there and then, yeah, couldn’t get that momentum which you actually want when you’re chasing a target like that.”But I thought Surya and Greeny batted well in the middle, got something for us there. But yeah, you know what? We wanted one batter just like what Gujarat did, Shubman batted till the end. We wanted someone to go and bat and take the game till deep and you never know, anything can happen.”Mumbai had to improvise plans after Ishan Kishan suffered a concussion while fielding. He collided with Chris Jordan by accident and went off the field and was replaced by Vishnu Vinod, who became the IPL’s first concussion substitute. Wadhera opened with Rohit in Kishan’s absence.”Yeah, I mean, it’s something that we didn’t expect. He had a bit of a concussion there. I dont know how that happened, but yeah, it was a last-minute change,” Rohit said. “But you know as a team you’ve got to adapt. That is something that we’ve been talking about since the start of the tournament.”You’ve got to adapt to different conditions, different situations of the game. But yeah, I’m not going to look at that. We just didn’t play well to win the game.”Vinod came out to bat in the 12th over, ahead of Tim David, and made 5 off 7 deliveries. Rohit said that decision was so that David could get a later point of entry, which seems more suited to his game.”Tim through the season, we’ve given him a role, given him a certain situation of the game where he where he is going to bat. But yeah, I mean, look, we wanted Vishnu to come and play his game,” Rohit said. “He is a good player. We have seen that. I have seen that personally. I mean, like I said, it didn’t come off today. So I’m not going to look at any judgment that we made today went wrong. Its just that, you know, Gujarat came on top today.”

Test squad members Dickwella and de Silva added to T20I squad for remaining games

Andrew Fidel Fernando25-Feb-2022Spinner Maheesh Theekshana and Kusal Mendis have been ruled out of the ongoing T20I series against India with hamstring issues, Sri Lanka Cricket confirmed on Friday.Seam bowler Shiran Fernando, who is in the squad and is yet to make his international debut, has been ruled out of the T20Is too, with a glute injury.To bolster the squad, Niroshan Dickwella and Dhananjaya de Silva – members of the Test squad – have been added to the T20 set up for the remaining matches.Related

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There is one piece of better news for Sri Lanka, however. Seamer Binura Fernando, who had tested positive for Covid-19 in Australia, has been medically cleared to begin regular training, and should be available for selection for the two T20Is to be played in Dharamsala.It had appeared unlikely Mendis would’ve been risked in the T20Is with a Test series beginning on March 4 in Mohali. Mendis has not played Tests since January last year, when he was dismissed for four consecutive ducks, but has been in better form since returning to competitive cricket from a six-month ban for breaking Covid protocols. In fact, he was the player of the match in the most recent international he played – the fifth T20I in Australia.Theekshana’s absence is a substantial blow to the T20I side, however, with Wanindu Hasaranga also ruled out having tested positive for Covid. Theekshana had been one of Sri Lanka’s go-to powerplay bowlers over the past six months.Sri Lanka lost the opening encounter while the second and third T20Is are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday with both games to be played in Dharamsala.

Five players, all between 20 and 26 of age, have given the visiting side a rare day to remember in New Zealand

Mohammad Isam02-Jan-2022Bangladesh were desperate to have their batters go about their work in a (calm) way, and find some joy in the process after a tough 2021. Appropriately, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mahmudul Hasan Joy, with a patient 104-run second-wicket stand, did the needful in the first Test against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui.New Zealand are the Test world champions, especially formidable at home. Therefore, to bowl them out for 328 and then finish the second day on 175 for 2 – just 153 short – with the runs coming from two young batters means a lot for a struggling Test side like Bangladesh.”The younger guys today played phenomenally,” Neil Wagner, who has picked up both the Bangladesh wickets to fall so far, said after the day’s play. “I thought they played patiently. They didn’t really give too many opportunities. They hung in there. They were prepared to dig in. They left the ball quite a lot. It made us ask more questions, and take wickets. It gave them the opportunity to score.Related

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“I thought that they played really well. Full credit to them. I thought when the ball was there to be scored, they scored. They also left well and defended well.”But, to make it Bangladesh’s day, it needed more than just those runs. Shoriful Islam, the 20-year-old left-arm quick, added Rachin Ravindra’s wicket to the two he had on the first day to get Bangladesh going on the second morning, and offspinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz, very experienced despite being just 24, got rid of most of the tail. This was the first time New Zealand were bowled out for less than 350 by Bangladesh on home turf.That put the onus on the batters. If they failed to build on the bowlers’ work, the pressure would be right back on the top four, who were woeful at home against Pakistan recently.Shadman Islam, older than the others at 26, 23-year-old Shanto and 21-year-old Joy were part of the top four that looked incapable of buying a run against the likes of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali, and were expected to be under fire against New Zealand’s quicks. On the day, they were not.Shadman and Joy added 43 for the first wicket to set a platform, but Shanto batted like the ideal No. 3, mixing defence and attack smartly. He was the aggressor of the two during their big stand, driving beautifully – he hit Neil Wagner, Trent Boult and Kyle Jamieson for fours straight down the ground.Shoriful Islam picked up three crucial wickets•Getty Images

“Joy and Shadman gave us a nice platform. It was handy for me. When I joined Joy at the crease, we just focused ball-by-ball, over-by-over and then on to the number of hours,” Shanto said. “We didn’t want to force the issue. We didn’t set big goals, like runs or overs. Joy batted well, but I think it would have been a better day had I remained unbeaten at the end too.”Joy did survive a close lbw shout off Wagner – the New Zealanders thought he had inside-edged the ball, but a review would have sent the batter back. But otherwise, it was a chanceless 211-ball stay for Joy, who ended the day on 70. Shanto got out for 64, but he had done the job before that.Mehidy, who has come up through Bangladesh’s Under-19 system like Joy, Shanto, Shadman and Shoriful, said that the batting performance had given the team a lot of confidence.”It was a very good partnership,” he said. “Our top order wasn’t getting these partnerships recently, so this has given us a lot of confidence. We have to bat well in the first session tomorrow. I think we have a long way to go.”Mehidy was particularly effusive in his praise for Joy’s performance. “His innings is definitely a positive sign for our team,” he said. “His batting definitely helped the team. Joy batted well, took his time. He didn’t look like he was a new player. He adjusted well to the conditions and situation.”He is a member of the Under-19 World Cup-winning team [in 2020]. He did well in South Africa last year, and also made runs in domestic cricket before coming into the senior side. I think he has a lot to give to Bangladesh. The whole team has appreciated his batting.”

There will be no camp in Chennai before the CSK players leave India

PTI10-Aug-2021Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni landed in Chennai on Tuesday ahead of the departure of a group of players to the UAE, which will host the remainder of IPL 2021 starting next month.A bunch of Indian players will travel to the UAE most likely on August 13.”Indian players in the team, whoever is available, will travel to UAE on August 13 in all likelihood,” Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanathan told PTI.Fans celebrated Dhoni’s arrival in Chennai on social media.