The 29-year old announced on Twitter that he was available to play for Mumbai in their last two Vijay Hazare Trophy group matches on March 4 and 6

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Mar-20171:43

Will Rohit fit into the Test side easily?

Rohit Sharma, who was out of action since November 2016 after suffering a thigh injury, is set to make a return to cricket. The 29-year old opener tweeted that he was available for Mumbai’s 50-over matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy on March 4 and 6.Rohit, who last played for India in October 2016, missed the Test and ODI series against England, the one-off Test against Bangladesh and was unavailable for the first two Tests against Australia due to the injury that forced him to travel to London for his treatment.
Rohit hurt himself while batting against New Zealand in Visakhapatnam, where he injured his quadriceps while diving into the crease. Battling a poor run of form, he struck 70 off 65 deliveries which proved a match-winning performance.Mumbai, who are currently second in Group C of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, play Bengal (March 3), Andhra (March 4) and Goa (March 6) in Chennai for the last of their group fixtures.

South Africa and Delhi Daredevils allrounder JP Duminy has withdrawn himself from the tenth season of the IPL, citing “personal” reasons

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Mar-20170:54

Quick Facts – JP Duminy

South Africa and Delhi Daredevils allrounder JP Duminy has withdrawn himself from the tenth season of the IPL, citing “personal” reasons. Duminy informed the franchise of his decision on Monday, 16 days before the start of the tournament. The franchise has not yet named a replacement.Although both the player and franchise did not elaborate on the reason specifically, it is understood that Duminy wanted to focus on the South Africa assignments in the near future. South Africa are currently involved in a Test series in New Zealand. They then head to England for a three-match ODI series, beginning on May 24, followed by the Champions Trophy. Their tour then continues with three T20s and four Tests.”It has been a very difficult decision for me to make, but it was for purely personal reasons,” Duminy was quoted as saying by Daredevils in a media release. “I certainly hope to play a part for the franchise in the near future.”Duminy is the fifth-highest scorer for Daredevils with 1015 runs in 38 matches at a strike rate of 130.79. He even captained the side in two matches in the previous season. Zaheer Khan, who captained them in the rest of the tournament in 2016, will again lead this season.That the IPL ends 10 days prior to the Champions Trophy might have influenced Duminy’s decision. ESPNcricinfo has also learnt that the South African players are likely to stay in the IPL till mid-May, before departing to the UK for a preparatory camp ahead of the Champions Trophy. Previously, the South African players were set to leave after May 7. A final decision on whether they would be allowed to feature in the play-off matches would be taken during the latter part of the tournament.Daredevils are also sweating on the availability of Sri Lanka allrounder Angelo Mathews, who was bought for INR 2 crore at the auction. Mathews suffered a hamstring injury in the second T20 international against South Africa in Johannesburg in January, and has not played since, missing the subsequent T20 series in Australia and Test series at home against Bangladesh. Corey Anderson, Kagiso Rabada and Pat Cummins were Daredevils’ other overseas signings at the auction.

Kent’s wily seamer Darren Stevens bagged 6 for 22 to help his side to secure a dramatic three-day victory in Canterbury

ECB Reporters Network09-Apr-2017
ScorecardKent’s wily seamer Darren Stevens bagged 6 for 22 to help his side to secure a dramatic three-day victory in Canterbury where Gloucestershire were skittled for 61 in the space of 93 minutes.Stevens, 41, joined forces with James Harris – making his on-loan debut from Middlesex – to dismiss the visitors inside 21 mid-session overs and wrap up an emphatic win with four sessions of this Specsavers County Championship clash remaining.”It’s a great shame because we kept on scrapping in the field and our four lads, Liam [Norwell] in particular, bowled really well throughout for us, but we can’t afford to keep batting like that. We just didn’t stand up,” Richard Dawson, the Gloucestershire coach, admitted. “There’s not much you can say after being bowled out for 61 on a good cricket pitch. We had a quick two-minute chat and will all have time to think it over on the way home. We’ll then have a de-brief back in Bristol and re-group before we take on Leicestershire.”Gloucestershire’s unlikely victory target of 396 on a sporting St Lawrence pitch, suddenly became an insurmountable task once Kent’s new ball pairing of Stevens and Harris reduced the visitors to 14 for 4 in the space of 28 deliveries.Cameron Bancroft appeared bemused as he played down the wrong line to lose off stump to Harris, then first innings top-scorer Chris Dent suffered a similar fate when shouldering arms to a Stevens in-swinger.Will Tavare prodded forward at Harris to feather a catch to the keeper and, next ball up, George Hankins threw the kitchen sink into a drive only to be caught in the cordon by Will Gidman at third slip.Visiting skipper Phil Mustard survived the Harris hat-trick delivery but, without scoring, he nicked behind when aiming to drive a drifting in-ducker from Stevens.Graeme van Buuren withdrew the bat against Stevens to lose off stump, as did Craig Miles after groping inside the line of an away swinger to make it 24 for 7.As they moved past 31 David Payne at least spared Gloucestershire the ignominy of posting their lowest total against Kent – mustered at the Angel Ground, Tonbridge in 1903 – but, with 36 on the board, Payne sliced a back-foot force against Stevens to backward point where Daniel Bell-Drummond pouched a diving catch.Jack Taylor pushed defensively outside the line of another Stevens in-swinger to depart lbw then Liam Norwell, Kent’s tormentor with the ball, top-scored with 24 before he skied an attempted pull against Mitch Claydon to the keeper to finish the game by 3.50pm, while Harris completed his excellent debut with figures of 3 for 26 and six wickets in the game.”I certainly didn’t see that coming,” Stevens said. “There was plenty in the pitch for the bowlers if you put it in the right places and when we spoke after day one I thought 250 was a par score.”We felt Gloucestershire bowled too short in our first innings and we went on to bowl better lengths and got dramatic rewards. It was a really good cricket pitch; plenty in there for the bowlers, but if you applied yourself with the bat you could score runs on it too. Joe Denly played brilliantly for us, I scraped a 50 and I felt Chris Dent was outstanding for them in their first innings. You needed to bide your time and wait for bad balls. It was old school cricket on a great cricket pitch.”There was little or no sign of the drama that would follow at the start of day three as Kent batted on until shortly after lunch in adding 128 to their overnight total. Resuming on 118 for 4 the hosts were soon in trouble against fiery opening bursts from Norwell, who bagged 3 for 0 in five balls.Nightwatchman Harris sparred at a Norwell lifter and edged through to keeper Mustard, Stevens lost his off stump when aiming an airy drive to a full delivery then, two balls later, Rouse also departed without scoring when he feathered one from Norwell to third slip where Tavare took a sharp chance.With a five-wicket haul to his name and eight in the match, Norwell took a deserved rest, allowing experienced left-handers Gidman and James Tredwell to forge a vital eighth-wicket partnership that added an unbroken 60 through to the interval. In the process, Gidman scored a 101-ball 50 with eight fours.The hosts came out swinging for late runs after lunch, but Gidman was bowled by Taylor without addition and, two balls later, Matt Coles fell to the same bowler after heaving across the line. Tredwell (47*) and Mitch Claydon added 52 for the last wicket before Claydon clipped to mid-on.Kent banked 21 points for their opening Division Two win of the campaign while Gloucestershire headed home with only three.

Pakistan’s recent T20I successes against West Indies propelled them to third place in the ICC’s annual T20I rankings update

ESPNcricinfo staff02-May-2017England and Pakistan were the biggest gainers in the ICC’s annual T20I rankings update, climbing to second and third place respectively. New Zealand held on to the top spot despite losing two points, while India and South Africa slipped down the table.

ICC T20I rankings update

1.New Zealand (125 points)
2. England (121)
3. Pakistan (121)
4. India (118)
5. South Africa (111)
6. Australia (110)
7. West Indies (109)
8. Sri Lanka (95)
9. Afghanistan (90)
10. Bangladesh (78)
11. Scotland (67)
12. Zimbabwe (65)
13. UAE (52)
14. Netherlands (49)
15 Hong Kong (46)
16. PNG (39)
17. Oman (38)
18. Ireland (36)

England gained seven points and climbed three places on the table to second, while Pakistan, who were ranked seventh last year, climbed to third place after gaining five points. Both teams had 121 points but Pakistan were ranked behind England by a fraction. India and South Africa both lost six points and dropped to fourth and fifth on the table.Older results – between May 2013 and April 2014 – were disregarded for the points calculation while matches played from May 2014 to April 2016 were weighted at 50%, and matches played from May 1, 2016 weighted at 100%.Both India [14 wins in 20 matches] and South Africa [10 wins in 15 matches] had good results between May 2015 and April 2016, which were weighted at 100% in the previous cycle; these results are now weighted at 50%. Over the last 12 months, however, both teams have played fewer matches and have not had as much success: India played eight games with four wins, while South Africa won two of their four T20Is.Pakistan, on the other hand, had consistent results over the last year. They beat West Indies by margins of 3-0 and 3-1 in the UAE and the Caribbean respectively, while also winning a one-off T20I against England.Australia moved up one place from last year to sixth on the table, while West Indies dropped to seventh. Sri Lanka and Afghanistan remained at eighth and ninth respectively – Afghanistan gained six points over this cycle to take a 12-point lead over tenth-placed Bangladesh.The rankings are important for qualification for the 2020 World T20. Australia, hosts for the tournament, and nine other top-ranked teams as on December 31, 2018 will gain automatic entry. The bottom eight sides will join regional qualifiers in the 2019 World T20 Qualifier. Six sides from the qualifier will then join the 16-team World T20 pool.

The Anil Kumble-led panel believe teams should not lose a review if an lbw appeal returns an umpire’s call verdict

ESPNcricinfo staff25-May-2017An umpire’s call finding on a review may soon cost teams a review. The ICC cricket committee, headed by India coach Anil Kumble, recommended on Thursday that teams do not lose reviews in those instances where an umpire’s call comes into play. And if the ICC chief executives’ committee approves it, the change could come into effect this October.Currently, sides are allowed two unsuccessful reviews in the first 80 overs of a Test innings, and one per innings in ODIs. If a review is successful, they do not lose it.

The ICC cricket committee

• Anil Kumble, chairman

• Andrew Strauss, past player representative

• Mahela Jayawardene, past player representative

• Rahul Dravid, current player representative

• Former FICA head Tim May, current player representative

• Darren Lehmann, Full Member coach representative

• Kevin O’Brien, Associate representative

• Clare Connor, Women’s cricket representative

• Former WI batsman Adrian Griffiths

• NZC CEO David White, Full Member representative

• Shaun Pollock, Media representative

• Richard Kettleborough, Umpires representative

• Ranjan Madugalle, Referees’ representative

• John Stephenson, MCC Head of Cricket

• Statistician David Kendix, who formulates the ICC’s rankings

LBW decisions, in particular, will be affected. The benefit of doubt in a DRS call goes to the on-field umpire’s original call. Therefore, if they give a batsman out leg-before and it is challenged, then the third umpire has to uphold the on-field judgment if projections show half the ball hitting a zone that stretches from the outside edge of the off stump to the outside edge of the leg stump. This is the margin of error afforded to the “umpire’s call”.Now, after a two-day meeting, former international captains Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Mahela Jayawardene, current Australia coach Darren Lehmann, ECB director of cricket Andrew Strauss, umpire Richard Kettleborough among others are agreed that if an lbw review comes back with a verdict of umpire’s call, the team that called the review should not be penalised.If this system is put in place, however, sides will not have their reviews topped up at 80 overs, as currently happens.There were several other recommendations made by the group that met in London on May 23 and 24. If the ICC’s chief executives committee approves them, they could become laws starting October 1.DRS in T20 Internationals
Currently there is no provision for the system, but several players, including most recently England’s Joe Root, have advocated for the move considering one decision can change the course of a match in the shortest format. Earlier this year, the Pakistan Super League used DRS for three matches, thought to be the first time DRS had been used in T20s at franchise or international level. The ICC had been hopeful of bringing the system to T20Is in October 2017.Concussion substitutes
The committee wanted the ICC’s member countries to run a two-year trial on the use of concussion substitutes. Australia had experimented with it in their last domestic season and had been lobbying the ICC to include it in international cricket as well. Tony Irish, the head of the Federation of Cricketers’ Association, has been vocal in this regard as well, saying “We see this as an important health and safety issue for players and believe that cricket is behind other sports in dealing with it.”Red cards for players
The MCC in March had proposed the move to regulate behavior at the lower levels of cricket and the ICC cricket committee was in favour of bringing it to internationals as well. They wanted umpires to be empowered to force players off the field “in response to the most serious incidents of player misconduct, such as violence on the field.”Monitoring no-balls
The third umpire should be deputised to call no-balls off the instant replays. The ICC cricket committee came to this conclusion after reviewing footage from a trial held in England during their ODI series against Pakistan last year.Run-outs proposal
As it stands now, a batsman is dismissed if, after dragging his bat past the crease, it pops up at the point where the bails are broken. But the committee said once the bat is in and grounded, the batsman is safe, even if it bounces up later.Finally, the committee was unanimous in wanting a Test championship, supported the push to include cricket in the Olympics and restricting the edges and the depth of bats to bring better balance in the game.

India’s lower order propelled them to 600 before their bowlers left Sri Lanka five down and 247 short of the follow-on mark at stumps on day two

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy27-Jul-20171:38

Maharoof: Disappointed by Gunathilaka and Mendis dismissals

Swing, seam, pace and bounce. Dip, drift, turn and bounce. Ingredients that seemed largely absent when India piled on 600, their second-highest total in Sri Lanka, haunted the home side in their reply, as they ended the second day of the Galle Test five down with the follow-on mark still 247 runs away.Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami took the top order apart, even as Upul Tharanga hurtled along with a profusion of silken off-side boundaries. Then came R Ashwin, going around the wicket to left and right-handers alike, harnessing the sea breeze and testing both edges with drift, swinging arm balls, and the occasional instance of sharp turn. Over the course of an unbroken spell of 18 overs, he gradually discovered the ideal pace and angle of seam to extract the maximum possible help from the Galle pitch, and could have easily ended the day with more than one wicket.Umesh gave India their first breakthrough, in the second over of Sri Lanka’s innings. Swing did Dimuth Karunaratne in, a full ball curling back into the left-hander from over the wicket and forcing him to play around his front pad. He missed and reviewed Bruce Oxenford’s lbw decision, a wasted referral given there was no inside edge, and that the ball had pitched on middle stump and had straightened down that line.R Ashwin got drift and dip to be a constant threat•AFP

For a time, Danushka Gunathilaka, making his Test debut, matched Tharanga shot for shot, as the two left-handers drove repeatedly on the up during a second-wicket partnership of 61 at just under five an over. But he played one shot too many, feet rooted to the crease as he flashed at, and edged, a Shami delivery angled across him.Kusal Mendis, in at No. 4, had the misfortune of getting a Shami special when he was still to get off the mark. It hit the seam in the corridor, seamed away slightly with some extra bounce, and all he could do was nick it. Two times in five balls, Shikhar Dhawan was the catcher at first slip.The next two wickets fell during Ashwin’s long and endlessly tormenting spell. The first began with his drift and dip beating Tharanga in the air. Having jumped out of his crease and inside-edged into his pad, he turned and hurried back as the ball rolled towards Abhinav Mukund at silly point. Abhinav flicked the ball to the keeper, and when the bails came off, Tharanga’s bat, after a momentary grounding on the dive, had bounced up. A cruel end to an innings of 64 and a 57-run fourth-wicket stand with Mathews.Then came the wicket of another left-hander, Niroshan Dickwella, who pressed forward but found himself nowhere near the pitch of the ball, thanks to Ashwin’s dip. Extra bounce grabbed the shoulder of his jabbing defensive bat, and Mukund, diving right at silly point, took a superb, low one-hander.Mathews struggled initially against Ashwin, and on 32 survived an lbw decision reviewed by India when ball-tracking returned an umpire’s call verdict. He slowly grew in assurance, and ended the day batting on 54 with Dilruwan Perera for company. With Asela Gunaratne, who fractured his left thumb on the first day, unlikely to bat, Sri Lanka have quite a task ahead of them.An improved bowling display from Sri Lanka, led by Nuwan Pradeep, who finished with 6 for 132, threatened at various points to limit India’s total. But the lower order, led by Ashwin and the debutant Hardik Pandya, kept counter-punching.India lost both their overnight batsmen, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, inside 12 overs of the morning, both out to seam. Away-seam and extra bounce from Nuwan Pradeep found Pujara’s edge on 153, while Rahane, driving away from his body at a rare full ball from Lahiru Kumara, edged to slip.Despite the selection of Pandya, India stuck with Ashwin and Wriddhiman Saha at Nos. 6 and 7, trusting their experience and proven firefighting abilities ahead of the debutant’s promise. Ashwin and Saha had put on three fifty partnerships and one double-century stand, and averaged 47.50 as a pair since the start of 2016. They combined once again to stall Sri Lanka’s momentum, adding 59 for the sixth wicket.Not for the first time in his career, Ashwin began finding the gaps almost as soon as he walked in, and took three fours from successive Herath overs, twice driving him through the off side and once stepping out to clip him between midwicket and mid-on. In all, he would hit seven fours in a 60-ball 47.Both fell in the space of six balls, with lunch imminent, and when Pradeep took his sixth wicket after the break, cleaning up Ravindra Jadeja with the bouncer-yorker double, Sri Lanka may have hoped for a quick end to the innings.As it turned out, India’s last two wickets added 83 in 71 balls in a burst of six-hitting. The quicks leaked runs in an effort to pepper the lower order with the short ball, and Herath kept get hitting back over his head, notably by Mohammed Shami who hit him for three sixes. Pandya hit three sixes too, all off Pradeep, two hooked over backward square leg and one whipped over midwicket.The dismissal of Shami, caught on the square-leg boundary off Kumara, ended a ninth-wicket stand of 62, but Sri Lanka’s ordeal wasn’t yet over. Umesh Yadav, India’s No. 11, also joined in the hitting spree, taking Kumara for a big six down the ground and Herath for the lofted four that brought up India’s 600.Pandya, who had brought up his half-century, off 48 balls, in the same Herath over, fell soon after, finding deep square leg while going after another short ball from Kumara.

Liam Livingstone has many admirers in the England set-up and the first double hundred of his career will make them sit up and take notice

ECB Reporters Network29-Aug-2017
Liam Livingstone made his highest first-class score•Getty Images

Double centurion Liam Livingstone starred to put second-placed Lancashire on course for a crucial Specsavers County Championship win over Warwickshire at Emirates Old Trafford.Lancashire have reached the halfway stage of this Division One encounter with the struggling Bears at 484 for 6 from 122 overs in reply to 200.They lost only three wickets in the day in advancing from 112 for 3 overnight to lead by 284. Bad light ended play seven overs early.Livingstone has struggled to make an impact since winning England T20 honours earlier this summer, but he batted through the entire day for 215 not out off 318 balls with 25 fours and three sixes.It was his first career double and was a reminder of the ability that impressed England during a Lions tour of Sri Lanka last winter.His emphasis, though, remains with Lancashire. “It was good fun,” he said. “We’ve still got work to do tomorrow, but luckily we’re in a good position to push for the win over the next two days. Everyone’s looking for big performances. It’s a big part of the year. We’ve sort of put ourselves in a good position where we can push and try to win as many games as we can and see where we end up.”Nightwatchman Stephen Parry fell for 43 before lunch and Shiv Chanderpaul and Jos Buttler for 95 and 49 after tea.West Indian Chanderpaul narrowly missed out on his 77th career first-class century. He shared 202 in 49 overs with fifth-wicket partner Livingstone from mid-morning to early evening.Left-handed Chanderpaul turned 43 earlier this month, but he shows no signs of slowing up. This 152-ball effort, including eleven fours, came against one of his other three English counties.This is his second spell with Lancashire, while he also represented Durham and Derbyshire as well as Warwickshire briefly in 2011.In a season which has only seen the Bears win one Championship match and sit bottom of the table, there can’t have been too many more frustrating days than this.Livingstone and Parry completed a fourth-wicket stand of 85 before lunch, ended when the latter miscued Jeetan Patel’s off-spin to mid-on two short of a career best score.From there, Livingstone, who hit 168 in a win over Somerset here earlier in the summer, and Chanderpaul rarely looked troubled on a pitch which has shown rare signs of uneven bounce.Livingstone reached his second hundred of the season off 151 balls when he pulled the penultimate ball of the morning from Olly Stone for six over backward square-leg.Chanderpaul, who started particularly fluently before lunch, fell to the first ball of the evening session’s second over when he pulled Wright to Patel at square-leg, leaving the score at 376 for five in the 99th.That brought Buttler to the crease, and he got off the mark with an inside-edge for four to fine-leg later in the over before lofting Patel for six over long-on shortly afterwards as Lancashire closed in on a fifth batting point.Buttler survived a straightforward drop on 19 by Matthew Lamb at short mid-wicket off Patel before later falling for 49, caught at deep mid-wicket off Andy Umeed’s off-spinners.Earlier in the over, Livingstone reached 200 off 302 balls. The pair shared 82. Ryan McLaren will begin tomorrow’s third day unbeaten on 13.

With five of their first-choice players contracted with CPL franchises, an opportunity arises for the tested USA players to be tried

Peter Della Penna01-Aug-2017Offspinner Muhammad Ghous, who was dropped last year after captaining USA at the 2015 World T20 Qualifier in Ireland, has been recalled in a 14-man squad picked for USA’s T20 matches against St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots and Jamaica Tallawahs in Lauderhill, Florida on August 2 and 3.The games are being used as preparation for both CPL teams ahead of their season-opening slate in Florida beginning on August 5 while also providing USA’s players with a chance to impress against higher-profile opponents. These matches will be USA’s first games since they failed to gain promotion from WCL Division Three in Uganda this past May.

USA squad

Camilus Alexander, Fahad Babar, Davion Davidson (wk), Muhammad Ghous, Elmore Hutchinson, Nosthush Kenjige, Jaskaran Malhotra (wk), Japen Patel, Mrunal Patel, Nisarg Patel, Usman Rafiq, Roy Silva, Jessy Singh, Abdullah Syed

“These matches are a great opportunity for USA to compete against some of the best in the world,” USA selection chairman Ricardo Powell said. “Initiatives such as these are of critical importance for the development of our playing group and we are grateful to the CPL, St. Kitts [& Nevis] Patriots and Jamaica Tallawahs for arranging these practice matches in the lead up to the USA-leg of the tournament.”The door for Ghous’ return was opened by five of USA’s first-choice players being unavailable due to their involvement with CPL franchises. They include captain Steven Taylor (Guyana Amazon Warriors), allrounder Timroy Allen (Tallawahs), wicketkeeper Akeem Dodson (Barbados Tridents), fast bowler Ali Khan (Warriors) and legspinner Timil Patel (St Lucia Stars).Along with Taylor, the rest of USA’s batting top-four from Division Three – Sagar Patel, Ibrahim Khaleel and Alex Amsterdam – were all omitted due to unavailability on short notice. Sagar and Khaleel are both currently in Europe on previously arranged time away while New York-based Amsterdam was unable to get leave from work, according to sources. Batsman Nicholas Standford, who was part of the squad in Uganda, is also believed to have been unavailable due to work commitments.That presents opportunities to impress for a host of uncapped players including 37-year-old former Sri Lankan first-class batsman Roy Silva, Davion Davidson and Jaskaran Malhotra. Silva and Davidson were both part of USA training squads at trials held in Texas earlier this year but did not make the final cut for the 14-man squad taken to Uganda for Division Three.Former Sri Lankan first-class batsman Roy Silva also has the opportunity to make his USA debut•Peter Della Penna

Malhotra, 28, has been on the selection radar due to his high scores in private T20 tournaments held around the country but, like Silva, had not completed the ICC’s four-year residency requirement until recently. The maximum of two four-year resident non-citizen players in a playing XI for ICC tournaments has been relaxed for these games against the CPL teams, which has opened the door for not just Silva, Davidson and Malhotra but also Nisarg Patel and Camilus Alexander to all appear in the same squad.Former USA Under-19 allrounder Nisarg is yet to make his USA senior debut but played for USA against a CPL Invitational XI last year in Lauderhill. The same goes for offspinner Usman Rafiq, also included in this squad.Of the team that went to Uganda, only six players were retained for the two CPL games. Along with Alexander, the others kept in are opener Fahad Babar, who sat on the bench all tournament with a hand injury, allrounder Mrunal Patel and bowlers Elmore Hutchinson, Jessy Singh and Nosthush Kenjige.Apart from Ghous, the two other players who have been recalled are hard-hitting batsman Abdullah Syed and allrounder Japen Patel. Syed was dropped after a run of low scores during USA’s Division Four winning run last year in Los Angeles while Japen has not played for USA since the 2015 World T20 Qualifier.The two games for USA are part of a series of development initiatives organised by the CPL in Florida ahead of twin double-headers on August 5 and 6. The CPL is also working with the ICC Americas staff to run training seminars for USA-based coaches and umpires during the week.”The Hero CPL is firmly committed to spreading the game of cricket in the USA and these matches are just another example of this,” Damien O’Donohoe, CPL chief executive, said. “We see so much potential for growth of cricket in the USA and we want to make sure we are doing all we can to help that cause.”

With Rishabh Pant down with a fever, a BCCI official said that Parthiv’s inclusion was a precautionary measure since the 15-man squad did not have another specialist wicketkeeper

Shashank Kishore27-Sep-2017Parthiv Patel has been called-up to the India A squad ahead of the second unofficial Test against New Zealand A in Vijayawada. He’s been brought in as cover for Rishabh Pant, who has a fever.Pant has been advised rest, but his illness isn’t very serious, according to a BCCI official, and the decision to have reinforcement was precautionary, considering there was no other full-time wicket-keeper in the 15-member squad. Sudip Chatterjee, the Bengal batsman, kept wickets in Pant’s brief absence on the third day of the first Test last week.Should Pant recover, there is a possibility of both him and Parthiv featuring in the pink-ball match starting September 30.Pant, who wasn’t part of the four-day fixtures in South Africa last month, struck a counter-attacking 41-ball 67 in the first Test, which India A won by an innings and 31 runs. He has, however, been an India A regular in the one-day format recently.Meanwhile, Parthiv’s inclusion is perhaps an indication of the selectors’ decision to look at options for the second wicketkeeper, behind Wriddhiman Saha, ahead of the South Africa tour in January.The 48th Indian to complete 10,000 first-class runs during the Duleep Trophy earlier this month, Parthiv is coming off a memorable 2016-17 season in which he captained Gujarat to their maiden Ranji Trophy title.Midway through the season, he also earned a Test recall after eight years, for two matches against England. He sustained his form through the IPL, scoring 395 runs for Mumbai Indians in a victorious campaign.Parthiv’s last fixture for India A was against the visiting Australians in a three-day rained-out fixture in Hyderabad in 2008.

The 20-year-old Zimbabwe-born batsman signs a winter deal with Rising Stars; move raises interest in whether he will make himself available for the national side

Firdose Moonda20-Oct-2017Eddie Byrom, a 20-year-old opening batsman who recently broke into the Somerset first team, has signed a winter deal with Zimbabwe’s new domestic side, Rising Stars. Byrom, who was born in Harare and attended St John’s College, one of the top schools in the area, is on a two-year deal with Somerset but is yet to decide his national allegiance.”I spoke with Somerset about some options during the English winter to further develop my game. Overall I’m just really looking forward to experiencing first-class cricket in Zimbabwe and the different challenges it will pose compared to England,” Byrom said.With big names Brendan Taylor and Kyle Jarvis back in Zimbabwe, attention has turned to some of the country’s other expats scattered across the county scene, and it was Tatenda Taibu who contacted Byrom about the possibility of playing in his homeland.Not only is Taibu Zimbabwe’s convener of selectors but he also plays a role in development, having spent a significant part of the English winter touring with an academy side of young Zimbabwean players. The players from the academy became Zimbabwe’s fifth domestic team, Rising Stars, and it is this side that Byrom will represent, in the hope that he will bolster their batting.”Eddie has been in England, opening the batting with Marcus Trescothick in a strong Somerset side. It’s this experience that could be very useful for our squad and will definitely help to bring some stability,” Stuart Matsikenyeri, the Rising Stars coach, said.Rising Stars have lost both their Logan Cup matches so far but have earned the praise of former national captain Taylor, who played against them for Mid-West Rhinos in the season-opening round two weeks ago. Taylor scored a century but said he had to “work my butt off” for those runs and believed that the Rising Stars bowling “warranted them receiving first-class status”. He also said he thought their batting needed propping up, so it stands to reason that Byrom has been included.He has already arrived in Zimbabwe and is expected to play in the Rising Stars’ next match, against the Matabeleland Tuskers, starting on Sunday. “I’ve already had my first training session with the squad and I’ve been impressed with their hard work and commitment. Obviously we have lost the first couple of games so hopefully we can bounce back from that and I can play a part. I can’t wait to get started,” Byrom said.Byrom’s return will undoubtedly raise interest in whether he will avail himself for the national side but the administration is not looking to push him into choosing just yet. “Right now we simply don’t know [if he will play for Zimbabwe],” Matsikenyeri said. “He has his contract with Somerset and we respect that. If he can contribute with the bat and help the Rising Stars to start climbing the ladder, then we’ll be happy with that.”