With the international summer about to get underway in England, there were several changes taking place within the set-up. Naturally, much of the focus was on the fresh faces drafted into the squad. Emilio Gay and James Rew have been churning out runs in County Cricket and deserved their call-ups, while Hampshire quick Sonny Baker is the third uncapped player named in the squad.
Gay is tipped to open the batting in the first Test against New Zealand and has an interesting background. He is a product of Bradford School, the same institution that produced Sir Alastair Cook and has already represented Italy in T-20 Internationals thanks to his maternal grandfather. His father migrated to the UK from the Caribbean and Gay could have represented the West Indies too, but turned down the opportunity. Now comes the biggest moment of his career in England colours with selectors seemingly running out of patience with Zak Crawley.
The news that Marcus North would take over as a selector was widely expected, but the appointment that perhaps slipped under the radar was Sarah Taylor being named fielding coach of the men’s team for the New Zealand Test series. It is the first time a female coach will work with England’s senior men’s side. Taylor has previously worked with Sussex in a similar role and is already on the England payroll. Given England’s dreadful catching during the Ashes, where 17 catches went down, she could well be drafted in as the full-time fielding coach.
Royal Challengers Bangalore became the first team to qualify for the IPL playoffs after a comprehensive win over Punjab Kings. The defending champions have shown remarkable consistency throughout the campaign and have repeatedly bounced back strongly after defeats to keep their title defence firmly on track.
Punjab Kings, meanwhile, have badly lost momentum over the last fortnight. They began the campaign like a house on fire, going unbeaten in their first seven games. Since then, however, the wheels have come off spectacularly with six defeats on the trot. They still have one game in hand and remain mathematically alive, but qualification is no longer entirely in their own hands as net run rate and other results could yet prove decisive.
The CEOs of the cricketing world will come together in Ahmedabad later this month ahead of the IPL final to discuss the future of the game. Two weeks prior to that meeting, the sport’s top executives held a virtual discussion on Saturday, with the main topic centering on the direction of Test cricket.
Currently, the World Test Championship comprises the top nine ranked teams, but there are discussions about expanding the competition to include Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe. That would create a 12-team championship and make one-off Test series almost inevitable. At present, each side plays three home series and three away series during the cycle, but expansion would almost certainly force a major structural overhaul.
The other proposed structure for Test cricket was the two Tier model. That meant while the top six teams competed in Tier ‘A’, the lower ranked six teams competed in Tier ‘B’. The project looked impressive at the start but the moment they realized that England, India or Australia could end up playing in the lower tier, the big boys got cold feet. Former New Zealand cricketer Roger Twose was appointed to look into all possible scenarios and the CEOs will decide on future of Test cricket later this month
The meeting in Ahmedabad also promises to generate a few political sparks with Pakistan’s ICC director unable to attend because of tensions between the two countries.
On the field too, things have hardly gone Pakistan’s way. They trail Bangladesh in the two-match Test series and could well end up losing 2-0 after being set an improbable target of 437. With two days to spare, Bangladesh are overwhelming favourites to wrap up the series. While it may not dramatically improve their WTC standing, it sends a strong message that Bangladesh are beginning to mean business in Test cricket as well.
To add insult to injury, Pakistan were heavily fined and docked eight WTC points for maintaining a slow over rate. They have now slipped to eighth place in the table.
Canada, who impressed during the recent World Cup and appeared one of the leading Associate nations making steady progress, have found themselves in hot water with the ICC freezing funds due to them until next year.
Breaches of ICC policies are believed to be the reason behind the freeze and it will come as a massive blow to one of cricket’s fastest developing nations, especially with ICC funding accounting for nearly 60 percent of Cricket Canada’s revenue.
While Canada are left ruing missed opportunities, Nepal continue to make steady strides. The Associate nation has shown considerable improvement over the last five years and Ireland have already signed a five-year strategic partnership with them that will guarantee bilateral cricket starting next year.
England too are exploring the possibility of playing a short series in Nepal. The former world champions were given quite a fright by the Associate nation during the recent T-20 World Cup in Bombay, where England scraped home off the final ball. Since then, there has been increasing discussion about helping Nepal develop its cricket infrastructure and England appear willing to lend a hand.
The death of one of English cricket’s icons, Mike Smith, saddened the cricketing world. He passed away on Monday at the age of 92. Fondly known as MJK, Smith represented England in 50 Tests, captaining the side in half of them.
Although born in Leicester and initially associated with Grace Road, Smith made his biggest impact at Warwickshire, whom he represented for two decades while amassing nearly 40,000 runs.
Smith later served as Warwickshire chairman from 1991 to 2003, the club’s golden era during which they won seven major trophies. He was instrumental in signing international stars such as Brian Lara and Allan Donald, both of whom left an indelible mark at Edgbaston.
