The ECB is not in a position to provide venues for the games keeping in mind Covid-19 restrictions

Matt Roller09-Apr-2021Ireland’s planned two-match T20I series against Pakistan in England in June has been postponed, with scheduling issues the main reason for the decision.The series was initially pencilled in for 2020, but was postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which wiped out all of Ireland’s home fixtures for the season. ESPNcricinfo reported in January that Cricket Ireland was in talks to stage the games in England, with one of Ireland’s international grounds, in Clontarf, still unavailable after the square was relaid.Talks reached an advanced stage, but with Pakistan players due to be involved in both the rescheduled PSL, and then with the World Test Championship final and England women’s international fixtures also due to start in June, there were too many variables for the ECB to confirm the fixtures.Related

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Richard Holdsworth, Cricket Ireland’s performance director, told ESPNcricinfo: “We had agreements drawn up with two grounds but the ECB came back to us and said that they had so many international teams coming into the country already, and that the logistics around bubbles and Covid protocols are such a significant operation that having another two countries in at that time was just too much.”It is a shame, especially in a T20 World Cup year, but we still have three [T20Is] lined up against South Africa in July and against Zimbabwe in August. We’re trying to reschedule the Pakistan ones for a future date at some stage down the line.”Holdsworth also confirmed that Ireland’s away Test in Sri Lanka had been postponed once again, after being pencilled in for December, meaning their period without playing a Test would extend to at least two-and-a-half years.”[The Future Tours Programme] is a real mess now that everyone is trying to reschedule stuff. There’s a stack of overlaps,” Holdsworth said. “When you add in quarantine times, the whole scheduling issue has become a nightmare for everybody. SLC are committed to us still playing that Test before the end of the FTP cycle, but not in December.”

The batter has a grade one strain and will look to return to action next week

ESPNcricinfo staff03-May-2021Ross Taylor has been diagnosed with a grade one calf strain after he limped out of New Zealand’s first training session ahead of their departure for England with a calf injury.*He was batting in the marquee that has been built at the high performance centre in Lincoln to enable the squad to train over the next couple of weeks. An update from NZC on Tuesday said he would remain with the squad for his rehab.”Taylor will to return to batting and running next week before linking up with the Test squad ahead of their departure for England next weekend,” a statement said.Taylor said he had felt the tightness last week as he continued the rehab from the hamstring injury which disrupted the end of his home season but was confident he had time to get right before the England Tests.”Pretty happy with where it is, timing has been really good,” he said. “Would like to be injury free, obviously, but timing-wise it’s not too bad.”New Zealand coach Gary Stead admitted any injuries this close to a tour were a concern. “You are always worried when any injuries happen but someone of Ross’s standing and calibre as a Test player you always have a little bit of a concern,” he told reporters on Monday. “Fingers crossed everything is good and we still have time on our side, but we’ll just have to wait and see what the medical team say.”Related

• Neil Wagner: England Tests are not warm-ups for WTC final

• Majority of New Zealand Test contingent arrives in UK

• de Grandhomme 'should be ready' for England tour

• Ross Taylor: 'I've still got ambitions for the T20 World Cup'

• Can New Zealand's perfect summer be a precursor to silverware?

The New Zealand squad are due to depart for England in the middle of May ahead of the two-Test series that begins on June 2 to be followed by the World Test Championship final against India in Southampton.Stead hinted that even if there was some doubt over Taylor’s immediate fitness he would likely make the trip. “Ross has a great Test record behind and we want him in our team,” he said.New Zealand are likely to be without their IPL-based Test players – Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, Kyle Jamieson and Mitchell Santner – for at least the first match against England and potentially both given the strict quarantine rules now in place for arrivals from India that require 10 days isolation.They have named an expanded squad of 20 for the two England Tests which will be trimmed to 15 ahead of the WTC final.Devon Conway is in line for a Test debut while the uncapped Rachin Ravindra has also been included. All the players in New Zealand have had their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine and will have their second before leaving.Monday was the start of two training camps they will have prior to departure with conditions created to as closely resemble what they’ll encounter in England as possible.”We’ve got two open wickets, the groundstaff have done an amazing job in getting the facilities up pretty close to what I think English conditions would be like then we have the marquee as well,” Stead said. “We are still a month away from playing England so there’s still four weeks of good, solid preparation so today is the start of that for us.”11.52pm GMT, April 3 – the story was updated with details of Taylor’s injury

Visitors avoid follow-on by one run, then decline chance to chase 150 in 21 overs

ECB Reporters' Network22-May-2021Rain quashed Hampshire’s push for victory against Leicestershire as a match dominated by the weather finished in a draw at the Ageas Bowl.After the start of play was delayed by three hours due to a wet outfield, Leicestershire avoided the follow-on by one run after a last-wicket stand of 30 from Ed Barnes and Alex Evans helped their side limp to 84 all out in response to Hampshire’s first innings score of 233.With 22 overs of the day remaining, James Vince opted during the tea break to forfeit his side’s second innings and dangle the carrot of a 150-run victory target in front of Foxes skipper Colin Ackermann.But the Group Two cellar-dwellers refused to take the bait, blocking out 17 overs for 26 runs, losing only opener Sam Evans, who became Kyle Abbott’s seventh wicket of the match in what was a typically wholehearted and high-class bowling performance.The players shook hands at 6pm with four overs of the day remaining, shortly after a moment of mild controversy when Australia opener Marcus Harris looked to have edged Keith Barker to Liam Dawson at slip, but much to the chagrin of the allrounder it was adjudged not to have carried.Just 80.5 overs were bowled across the first three days before play finally got underway at 2pm with the Foxes resuming on 28 for 5 and needing another 55 runs to make Hampshire bat again.Hampshire, chasing their fourth win of the season, struck in the third over of the day when Abbott had Harry Swindells caught superbly by Dawson for eight. Two further rain delays accounted for 11 more overs but Abbot and Mohammad Abbas, who took 3 for 19, continued to run amok in perfect bowling conditions as the visitors slumped to 54 for 9 when the South African quick ended the admirable resistance of Rishi Patel for 27.Abbott bowled superbly for his 6 for 47 – his third successive five-wicket haul after the 11 he picked in the victory over Middlesex last week.However, the young fast bowling duo of Barnes and Evans dug in manfully as Leicestershire nudged their way past the follow-on target before Lewis McManus took a simple catch when Brad Wheal located the edge of Evans’ bat.

Batter returns from injury to rescue team with half-century after familiar top-order slump

ECB Reporters Network13-Jul-2021Middlesex 324 (Robson 154, Davis 5-66) and 176 for 7 (Eskinazi 53*) lead Leicestershire 228 (Ackermann 82, Inglis 49) by 272 runsStevie Eskinazi made an unexpected return from injury to score a vital half-century and strengthen Middlesex’s hopes of forcing a rare LV= Insurance County Championship victory against Leicestershire.Eskinazi, who had seemed unlikely to play any further part at Merchant Taylors’ School after he pulled up in pain while batting on day one, emerged with a runner to salvage Middlesex’s second innings after they crashed to 17 for 4.The 27-year-old blunted the Leicestershire attack and top-scored with a gritty 53 not out as he and James Harris shared a sixth-wicket partnership of 77, lifting Middlesex to 176 for 7 at stumps – a lead of 272.That leaves the Foxes, who were earlier dismissed for 228, with the prospect of chasing an awkward target on the final day.Resuming on 174 for 5, Leicestershire chipped away at the deficit until the introduction of Daryl Mitchell paid immediate dividends, with both Ben Mike and Callum Parkinson caught behind.Wicketkeeper Robbie White claimed his fourth catch of the innings when Ed Barnes, fuelled by the momentum of last week’s career-best 83 not out against Somerset, misjudged an ambitious pull shot against Harris.Foxes captain Colin Ackermann, having spent almost five and a half hours over his watchful 82, eventually fell to an Ethan Bamber delivery that swung away to hit off stump.The Middlesex seamer finished with 3 for 54 when the diving Joe Cracknell caught last man Will Davis low at first slip – but the home side’s lead of 96 was made to look flimsy as their top order crumbled second time around.Davis added another three wickets to his five from the first innings, while Ackermann completed a trio of slip catches, the best of them at shoulder height to remove Josh de Caires.However, Mitchell and White batted sensibly to repair the damage, adding 38 before the New Zealander was adjudged lbw to Mike despite the hint of an inside edge.White, dropped early on by Davis at third slip, went on to make 34 and looked on course for a potential match-winning knock until he chipped Parkinson to backward square leg just before tea.But Eskinazi, having taken almost half an hour to get off the mark, held firm and joined forces with Harris in a resolute stand that combined patience with good shot selection.Barnes eventually pinned Harris lbw for 26 with an inswinging yorker, but Eskinazi carved the last ball of the day for four to bring up his half-century.

Four defeats in a row for 2019 champions in absence of England stars

ECB Reporters Network26-Jun-2021Sunrisers 133 for 3 (Scrivens 34*) beat Western Storm 129 for 6 (Wraith 36*) by seven wicketsGrace Scrivens top-scored with an unbeaten 34 to guide Sunrisers to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Western Storm in Group B of the Charlotte Edwards Cup at Taunton.Set 130 to win in 20 overs, the visitors reached their target with 14 deliveries to spare to register their first success since their formation in 2019.Put into bat, Storm never fully recovered from the loss of early wickets and had to settle for a below-par 129 for 6, Nat Wraith and Sophie Luff making 36 and 31 respectively. The pick of the Sunrisers bowlers, Sonali Patel claimed 2 for 26, while Katie Wolfe, Kelly Castle and Scrivens all weighed in with a wicket apiece.Defeat was a chastening experience for a Storm side deprived of England stars Heather Knight and Anya Shrubsole, and the 2019 champions have now suffered four straight defeats in all competitions.Former Storm players Naomi Dattani and Alice Macleod gave Sunrisers’ reply the perfect start, adding 39 inside six overs. Both were out driving, Dattani for a 21-ball 22 and Macleod for 13. Building upon the solid foundations afforded them by the openers, the third wicket pair of Scrivens and Mady Villers combined deft placement and quick running between the wickets to stage a crucial stand of 45 in eight overs.Danielle Gibson clean bowled Villiers for 36 with an in-swinging yorker to make Sunrisers think again, but Scrivens then set the tempo in an unbeaten alliance of 38 with Amara Carr, who struck the winning boundary in making 18 not out. Demonstrating a maturity beyond her years, Scrivens made 34 from 35 balls and helped herself to a brace of fours and a six.Storm opened their innings brightly enough, but then succumbed to a clatter of wickets as they were reduced to 49-5 inside 12 overs. Patel was rewarded for bowling a full length when removing Fi Morris and Gibson with successive deliveries in the fifth over. Panic appeared to have set in when Georgia Hennessy was run out in a mix-up with Luff, who sent her back and watched her depart for 18.George and Alex Griffiths then came and went with indecent haste, both dismissed in single figures attempting to play across the line, as Sunrisers took control. Relief for the hosts came in the form of a restorative stand of 42 in 5.2 overs between Luff and Wraith, who found the gaps regularly enough to apply pressure for the first time.Lured onto the front foot, Luff was stumped by Carr when going well, after which Wraith struck a two sixes and shared in an unbroken alliance of 36 with Lauren Parfitt, who contributed 15 not out. Storm finished strongly, but it proved too little too late.

Rest of squad take PCR tests ahead of Thursday’s game against Manchester Originals

Matt Roller09-Aug-2021Two players in Northern Superchargers men’s squad in the Hundred have returned positive lateral flow tests, casting doubts on the viability of their fixture against Manchester Originals on Thursday.The Superchargers squad took PCR tests on Monday after the two unnamed players returned positive lateral flow tests, with results expected to come back late on Monday night.ESPNcricinfo understands that the Superchargers believe they have followed the Hundred’s Covid-19 regulations and are hopeful that they will be able to field a side on Thursday evening, though the team is not expected to comment publicly until Tuesday morning.There were fears that the Hundred would be significantly affected by positive Covid tests after several county cricketers were forced to self-isolate in early July, but only one player – Steven Mullaney – has had to isolate in the competition to date.Three members of Trent Rockets coaching staff, including men’s coach Andy Flower, tested positive in the first week of fixtures, while Shane Warne, London Spirit men’s coach, has also been self-isolating after testing positive.Players and support staff in the tournament have not been subjected to a strict bio-bubble but have been asked to minimise social contact and, for example, to avoid eating indoors at pubs and restaurants.According to the tournament’s playing conditions, if any group game is cancelled, the final table will be decided on a points-per-game basis. The Superchargers are sixth after two wins, three losses and a no-result in their first six games and unlikely to qualify for the knockout stages. The Originals, their opponents on Thursday, are fourth, two points off leaders Trent Rockets with a game in hand.

Seven no-balls from Southern Punjab highlighted the ill-discipline in a bowling attack that never seriously threatened to defend 174

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Oct-2021
An ill-disciplined bowling performance from Southern Punjab saw Balochistan take full advantage, romping home by eight wickets to condemn Sohaib Maqsood’s side to their fifth straight defeat.Southern Punjab got off to the worst possible start, losing three wickets in the first four overs while managing little over a run a ball in that period. A quickfire half-century from Maqsood steadied the innings somewhat, but Umaid Asif and Junaid Khan continued to plug away, removing Hassan Khan and Khushdil Shah, among others, just when they began to look dangerous. Cameos from those two, however, and 25 off 12 from Aamer Yamin at the death helped take Southern Punjab to 174, something that appeared unlikely after the start SP had endured.However, it needed a bowling performance to match if SP were to hold Balochistan off for their first win, and they expressly didn’t get that. Among general sloppiness, there were seven no-balls – five from Dilbar Hussain in two overs that went for 35, and unlike SP’s struggles, Balochistan flew to 57 inside four overs. Abdul Bangalzai and Abdullah Shafique put on 84 for the first wicket, and, in effect, broke the back of the chase there and then. Bangalzai went on to score a half-century, while an unbeaten 35-ball 47 from Haris Sohail ensured SP were frozen out altogether. In the end, Balochistan’s ruthless batting display got them home with eight balls and eight wickets to spare, leaving SP staring elimination in the face.

Elgar is in top 10 for the first time since January 2019, Khawaja re-enters the batting rankings after twin tons

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jan-2022Kyle Jamieson and Litton Das have achieved career-best positions in the ICC Test rankings following the drawn series between New Zealand and Bangladesh. South Africa captain Dean Elgar broke into the top 10 for the first time since January 2019. Also, Australia’s Usman Khawaja re-entered the rankings after his twin tons in the men’s Ashes.Jamieson, after his eight wickets across two Tests against Bangladesh, advanced eight places to No. 3 and crossed the 825-rating point mark – only the fifth New Zealander to do so after Richard Hadlee (909 in November 1985), Neil Wagner (859 in December 2019), Tim Southee (839 in November 2021) and Trent Boult (825 in May 2015). Boult, himself, moved up three places to 12th after picking up nine wickets in the series.Test bowling rankings•BCCI

Bangladesh’s Das, whose 102 went in vain for the visitors in the second match, gained 17 places to No. 15. He ended the series with 196 runs. The other notable movers in the Test batting rankings were Mominul Haque (up eight places to 37th) and Najmul Hossain Shanto (up 21 places to 87th). Fast bowler Ebadot Hossain – who rattled New Zealand in the first Test with figures of 6 for 46 in the second innings – jumped 17 places to 88th.Among New Zealand batters, stand-in captain Tom Latham, who scored 252 in the second Test, moved up two places to No.11 while Devon Conway, who hit centuries in both the Tests, advanced 18 places to No. 29. Ross Taylor ended his Test career at 28th, having attained a career-best fourth position and 871 rating points in December 2013.Test batting rankings•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Meanwhile, Elgar’s match-winning knock of 96 not out in Johannesburg has taken him into the top 10. Duanne Olivier’s four wickets in the second Test helped him re-enter the bowlers’ list in 22nd place. India pacer Shardul Thakur also advanced 10 places to No. 42 after picking up eight wickets in the same game.

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Khawaja’s scores of 137 and 101 not out in the drawn fourth Test between Australia and England in Sydney meant he re-entered the Test batting rankings in the 26th position. Steven Smith has pipped Kane Williamson at No. 3, while the fast bowler Scott Boland’s seven-wicket haul in the match saw him gain 24 positions to be ranked 49th in the bowling list. Cameron Green is another Australian player gaining in the rankings.The latest rankings also see Ben Stokes (up nine places to 18th) and Jonny Bairstow (up 16 places to 55th) thriving among batters, while Stuart Broad (up two places to 14th) and Mark Wood (up three places to 41st) also made gains in the bowlers’ list.

Bob Willis Trophy shelved, Yorkshire retained in Division One, Blast to be played in single block

Andrew Miller20-Jan-2022″Lessons have been learnt” from England’s poor Test showing in 2021, according to Neil Snowball, the ECB’s managing director of county cricket, following the announcement of a 2022 domestic schedule which will provide prospective Test players more opportunity for red-ball cricket in the lead-up to their encounters with New Zealand, South Africa and India this summer.In the wake of a disastrous showing in the Ashes, and following a home Test campaign last summer in which England lost 1-0 to New Zealand and were trailing 2-1 to India before the postponement of the decisive fifth Test, the ECB’s tentative pledge to “reset” their red-ball fortunes has been backed up with a block of five County Championship matches in June and July, ahead of the South Africa series in August.Two “County Select XI” fixtures against New Zealand and South Africa, distinct from the England Lions set-up, have been added to the schedule as well, to provide Test candidates with further opportunities to pit themselves against the tourists. This comes after complaints in 2021 that England were undercooked going into their main campaign of the summer, against India in August and September, following just two Championship rounds in early July prior to the launch of the first season of the Hundred.”It’s obviously well documented and acknowledged that recent results were extremely disappointing which again has called for a look at our approach to red-ball cricket,” Snowball said. “Clearly, the men’s domestic game has got a significant role to play in that, in terms of making sure that we can develop the best possible Test players who can then go on to aspire to be the best team in the world. We don’t think that county cricket has all the answers, but it certainly has some of the answers, and it certainly has an important role to play going forward, along with the first-class counties and the PCA and other stakeholders.”Related

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• County Championship comes in from the margins in rejigged 2022 schedule

Yorkshire have been included in the schedule as a Division One team, in spite of the ongoing investigation into the racism scandal that rocked the club in 2021 and may yet lead to further sanctions from the Cricket Discipline Committee (CDC), while both the Bob Willis Trophy final and the traditional Champion County versus MCC fixture, which has been held in the UAE and Barbados in recent seasons, have been shelved.The Bob Willis Trophy, hastily arranged for the delayed 2020 season, was a success in providing context to a condensed first-class programme and culminated in a showpiece final at Lord’s. However, last season’s final was an anti-climax – comfortably won by Warwickshire, for whom it was a distant second to their County Championship triumph.”The Bob Willis Trophy served us very well in 2020 to rescue the season, and of course we played for it last year as well,” Snowball said. “We’re very keen to continue to celebrate Bob’s legacy with a Bob Willis Trophy in some format but we’re not quite sure what that’s going to be yet. We’re in discussions with his family on that.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The format of the season falls along the lines that ESPNcricinfo revealed in November, and includes a tweak for the Vitality Blast, in what is set to be its 20th season. This year, the whole competition will be played in a seven-week block from May 25 through to Finals Day at Edgbaston on July 16, an amendment that should allow more of the counties’ overseas stars to be involved in the knock-out rounds. Luke Wright, Sussex’s captain, was a prominent critic of the previous schedule, which had involved a five-week hiatus after the group stages.In a bid to maximise the counties’ preference for Blast fixtures towards the back end of the working week, 99 of the 126 fixtures have been scheduled for Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. And, in an echo of the successful staging of the Hundred, in which the majority of women’s fixtures were played as double-headers alongside the men, ten Charlotte Edwards Cup matches will also feature on the same bill as the Blast, and at their respective county HQs.Alan Fordham, the ECB’s head of cricket operations, said that the counties’ desire to put the women’s game on an equal footing to the men had been a factor in the double-header decision – as had the double bank holiday at the beginning of June, which encompasses half term and will provide an opportunity for more families to attend the matches. At this stage, one of the double-headers is due to be televised on Sky Sports.A further boost for the women’s game will come with the final of the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, which is due to be held at Lord’s for the first time, on Sunday, September 25. The men’s Royal London Cup final will once again be held at Trent Bridge, but has been moved back to a Saturday (September 17), having been held on a Thursday last season.”The women’s game is just going to have a phenomenal year,” Snowball added. “We’ve got the Ashes starting in Adelaide. We’ve got the Women’s World Cup and then the Commonwealth Games In Birmingham as well as the second edition of the Hundred. So it’s a huge year for women’s domestic cricket and international cricket. We look forward to seeing how that unfolds.”

Mandhana, who missed the one-off T20I, is still at the quarantine facility along with quicks Meghna Singh and Renuka Singh

Annesha Ghosh09-Feb-2022India batter Smriti Mandhana is set to miss at least the first ODI against New Zealand. ESPNcricinfo understands she is expected to spend a few more days in the New Zealand government’s MIQ (Managed Isolation and Quarantine) facility.Mandhana missed the one-off T20I along with quicks Meghna Singh and Renuka Singh, who are also still in MIQ. Yastika Bhatia, who took Mandhana’s opening position in the T20I on Wednesday which India lost by 18 runs, said as much after the game.”Smriti, Meghna Singh, and Renuka Singh are in compulsory MIQ by the New Zealand government. That’s all we can say at the moment,” Yastika said at the virtual post-match press conference.While there has not been any official word on the matter from the BCCI yet, it is learnt that travel-related issues are at the heart of Mandhana still being in quarantine with Renuka and Meghna while the other 15 members of the squad have moved to Queenstown for the six-match limited-overs assignment.No positive Covid-19 cases have been officially reported from India’s touring party in New Zealand, where two selectors are also understood to be present.Mandhana’s likely absence from the ODI series opener would see Yastika retaining the opening position. Should Renuka and Meghna, too, be unavailable for selection owing to quarantine, India, with just the addition of veteran Jhulan Goswami, would be required to field the same pace attack as the one-off T20I, with Pooja Vastrakar sharing the duties with Simran Bahadur, who was picked as one of the three reserves in the squad for the bilateral series and the World Cup.India are due to play five ODIs in Queenstown, starting on February 12, with the series expected to serve as vital preparation ahead of the 50-over World Cup in New Zealand starting March 4.