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Over 2,000 fans have tickets cancelled for Emirates Old Trafford fixtures at last minute

George Dobell01-Jul-2021Lancashire have “apologised unreservedly” after a shortage of stewards forced them to reduce the number of spectators allowed at Thursday’s T20 double-header at Emirates Old Trafford at short notice.The club say the third-party company which supplies their “safety stewards” notified them on Wednesday that they were unable to honour their commitment. As a result, Trafford Council were uncomfortable with the original capacity agreed for the game (which was 4,500) and insisted upon reducing it (to 2,292).With Lancashire deciding to prioritise members, they were obliged to contact all other ticket holders and cancel their tickets. They have been promised a refund “as soon as possible” as well as two free tickets to other matches. Spectators will have a choice of Hundred, Blast or One-Day Cup games. Lancashire have also promised to “review” their “external stewarding provision”.Lancashire’s women’s team took on Ireland in the first fixture of the day, with Lancashire’s men’s team playing Worcestershire under lights in the evening.Related

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“Lancashire was hugely disappointed and frustrated to have had to reduce the capacity of today’s T20 double header, particularly at such short notice,” a Lancashire spokesperson said in a statement.”After extensive collaboration with Trafford Council on Wednesday evening, there was a concern around the capability of our external stewarding provider with regards to the number of qualified stewards that were available for the fixture”Unfortunately, as a result of this, the capacity had to be further reduced for today’s fixtures. As a consequence, we are undertaking an immediate review of our external stewarding provision.”Lancashire Cricket, as a members’ club, made the decision to prioritise members’ tickets.”We apologise unreservedly to those supporters that have had tickets cancelled. This is not a decision that was taken lightly but the safety and security of our supporters remains our number one priority.”Lancashire have also emailed members to apologise for, among other things, the difficulty – and cost – of attempting to contact the club by phone, cancelled tickets for the T20 match against Durham for reasons unrelated to stewarding, and difficulties for disabled spectators at Old Trafford.

The batter will undergo surgery in Adelaide on Tuesday after the injury during training

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jan-2022Australia have suffered a huge blow ahead of the Ashes with Beth Mooney suffering a fractured jaw during training on Monday and she will undergo surgery.A timelime for Mooney’s return has yet to be determined but there remains hope that she will still be able to feature later in the multi-format series. However, with the condensed nature of the matches it may yet be the focus shifts to recovering in time to leave for the ODI World Cup in New Zealand next month.The incident occurred when she was getting throwdowns from head coach Matthew Mott and was struck by a short delivery.Mooney would have been a lynchpin of Australia’s top order across the three formats. Earlier this season she played one of the finest ODI innings with an unbeaten 125 against India in Mackay.Related

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“Unfortunately I played a pivotal role,” Mott said. “Throwing balls to Beth, she was batting incredibly well, and as can happen just a rogue ball came up and put her in a pretty tough position. She tried to get out of the way and unfortunately copped it on the side of the chin.”The good news is that our doctors are pretty positive that the way jaw surgeries are working these days the comeback time is a bit shorter. We are looking for her to play, Beth certainly wants to play, but we’ll have to be smart and listen to the surgeons. She’s an incredibly tough character. The ball hit her quite hard and her reaction was very stoic.”You never want to get one of those but on the eve of an Ashes is probably the worst time. We’ll get through that. She has a lot of great supporters here.”Her absence means there will need to be a reshuffle of the batting order at least for the T20I series with a new opening partner alongside Alyssa Healy. One option would be to promote Rachael Haynes although Australia like having her security in the middle order. Mott said the Australia vs Australia A matches on Tuesday were a chance to assess options and for players to stake a claim with uncapped Georgia Redmayne, who was in the squad against India, another in the mix.Australia’s preparations have also been hit by Covid-19. Ellyse Perry will miss the intrasquad warm-ups in Adelaide on Tuesday having been involved in what was termed a “scare” although is expected to link up with the team later in the day and be available for the T20Is which start on Thursday.Australia A players Molly Strano and Katie Mack will also miss the warm-up matches after testing positive to Covid-19 and will not travel to Adelaide. Mack will remain at home in Canberra ahead of the Australia A 50-matches against England A, while Strano will travel direct to Canberra once she completes her period of isolation at home in Hobart.”Think we’ve moved past trying to avoid Covid completely and there’s a realisation that it may infiltrate our group,” Mott said. “Where we’ve tried to be really smart is to keep as separated as we can for as long as we can so if someone does go down that we can isolate that really quickly and not take the whole group down. There’s probably more to come, but watching the Big Bash and the way teams have been able to move and get on with it is something we really need to do for this series.”South Australia and Melbourne Renegades allrounder Courtney Webb has been called into the Australia A squad as cover for Strano and Mack.

The MCC has announced a change to the Laws meaning a bowler hitting the stumps during their delivery stride will result in a no-ball being called

Alan Gardner21-Feb-2013If Steven Finn needed any further incentive to drop his habit of kneeing the stumps in his delivery stride, it has been provided by the announcement that it will in future be called a no-ball. The change to the Laws, rubber-stamped by the the MCC Committee, has been brought about specifically in response to Finn’s persistent problem, which the England bowler is still trying to eradicate.The new ruling will come into effect from October 2013 but it is possible for the ICC to change the playing conditions for international cricket to immediately reflect the Law.The issue came to wider attention during England’s home series against South Africa last summer, after a complaint from the batsmen that it was causing a distraction during the second Test at Headingley. Graeme Smith was caught at slip off a delivery that was called dead-ball by the umpires, as Finn had clipped the stumps at the non-striker’s end. At the time, the MCC announced that it would review the Laws.Although Finn has been working to deal with the problem in his delivery stride, the habit has seen umpires call dead-ball with regularity since last August and cost Finn another wicket during the ODI series in India, when Suresh Raina edged to slip. In his most recent outing, the second ODI against New Zealand, Finn trialled a new, shortened run-up, with four strides removed – but still clipped the stumps at one point during the match.Until now, umpires only had recourse to Law 23.4(b)(iv) which states a dead-ball should be called whenever a batsman is “distracted by any noise or movement or in any other way while he is preparing to receive, or receiving a delivery”.In practice, Finn has been allowed one warning per series before a dead-ball is called but even this caused confusion on the New Zealand tour, when Finn collided with the stumps during the second ODI and Brendon McCullum hit the delivery for four. The delivery was allowed to stand and Alastair Cook could be heard asking the umpire, Rod Tucker, why a dead-ball wasn’t called, as Finn had been warned during the T20 series.The MCC’s head of cricket, John Stephenson, said: “MCC continues to act as a robust guardian of the Laws of cricket, and must ensure that it consults widely within the amateur and professional game before making changes that will affect anyone who plays the game.”MCC’s decision today to make the breaking of the stumps during the act of delivery a no-ball provides clarity to the situation and removes the need for a subjective assessment to be made by the umpire as to whether the striker has been genuinely distracted or not. It also ensures that the striker will still be credited with any runs that he scores from the delivery, and will act as a significant disincentive to the bowler from doing it.”The change was recommended by the MCC’s Laws sub-committee, which includes the ICC chief executive, Dave Richardson, and Simon Taufel, the former umpire who is now the ICC’s umpire performance and training manager, after discussion with the MCC Cricket committee.

Preview of the match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals in Hyderabad

The Preview by Abhishek Purohit16-May-2013

Match facts

May 17, 2013
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Rahul Dravid: Man for all occasions•BCCI

Big Picture

It is that time of the year again. Exactly a year ago, the BCCI suspended five Indian domestic players for alleged corruption. Three more, all from the same franchise, have been suspended a year later, and this time, a Test cricketer is allegedly involved. Rajasthan Royals will barely have had time to let the revelations sink in. They had a day’s gap between their penultimate league game in Mumbai and their last one in Hyderabad, and were travelling when the news was being broken to the outside world.The statements from Delhi police, shocking and disturbing as they are, don’t take anything away from Rahul Dravid and Royals, who have done exceedingly well this season to make the playoffs ahead of fancied sides such as Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders. They now need to pick themselves up to face Sunrisers Hyderabad, who are also coming off a defeat to Mumbai Indians.While Royals have lost nothing at home this season, they have won only two of seven away matches. The playoffs won’t be in Jaipur. This is their last chance to try and finish in the top two so that they get two shots at making the final. A win may not take their minds completely off what has happened but nevertheless, a win is still a win.Sunrisers are among the three sides in contention for the final playoff spot and are also the best placed among them, though their net run-rate at the moment is lower than Royal Challengers and Kings XI Punjab. After a scarcely believable assault from Kieron Pollard, they are back at their home ground, where their bowlers have tied down visiting sides this season. Sunrisers have another match to go against Knight Riders on Sunday, but considering their run-rate, would not want to leave it for then.

Form guide

Sunrisers Hyderabad: LWLWW (most recent first)
Rajasthan Royals: LWWWW

In the spotlight

Rahul Dravid came back after a year away from the game to lead Royals again. He’s made runs, he’s dropped himself down the order when needed, he’s shown rare anger at an umpire’s decision, and he’s led his side to the playoffs. Domestic players such as Sanju Samson and Stuart Binny have flowered under his watch. No captain will like to see three of his players suspended for the reasons they have been going into the business end of the season. It is a professional world, and each man is out for himself, but in Dravid, Royals have just the man to guide them, on and off the field, through these developments.
He’s charged in like he wants to take a wicket every ball, and he’s still gone for just 5.73 an over. Dale Steyn has shown that genuine speed and real class can have a place in the world of Twenty20. Pollard’s fury of hitting was sandwiched between two overs from Steyn which were too good to be slogged away. Whether you like T20 or not, four overs of Steyn are worth watching anytime.

Stats and trivia

• Royals have won two of the three games they have played in Hyderabad
• Sunrisers have conceded just 6.68 runs per over at home, easily the best figures this season

Quotes

“Batting-wise we have been controlling the innings really well. Partnerships have been amazing with Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane and we know that everyone is going to chip in at some stage and on one day it is going to be our day. I think bowling-wise we are certainly bowling better towards the end of our innings as well.”

There have been times over the past few years when Yorkshire must have been close to losing patience with Adil Rashid but five years after making his Championship debut, the extra responsibility he has accepted appears to have transformed his cricket.

Myles Hodgson at Edgbaston16-May-2013
ScorecardAdil Rashid has been a revelation this season•Getty Images

There have been times over the past few years when Yorkshire must have been close to losing patience with Adil Rashid and his failure to impose his talent consistently on first-class cricket. Five years after making his Championship debut, the extra responsibility he has accepted appears to have transformed his cricket.Dropped last summer after struggling with bat and ball and unsettled about his future with Yorkshire, Rashid has been a revelation so far this season after putting in extra training during the winter, which prompted a promotion to No. 6 in the order. He has responded by hitting a career-best 180 against Somerset last week and hit an unbeaten 68 here to help Yorkshire take control against Warwickshire.Having dismissed Warwickshire, the county champions, for 128 on the opening day, Rashid’s wristy strokeplay helped them establish a 190-run advantage by the close after he shared a 75-run seventh wicket stand with Tim Bresnan, who arrived at Edgbaston at lunch after being released from England duty at the opening Test at Lord’s.”The way he’s gone about his training since Christmas has been fantastic – he’s really knuckled down,” Andrew Gale, Yorkshire’s captain, enthused. “We’ve always known the talent he’s got. When you look at some of the shots he plays, he’s definitely one of the more talented batsmen in our team, but it’s about how many runs and wickets you get and we’re starting to reap the rewards of his training.”The added responsibility seems to have done wonders for him, batting number six. He’s got a lot more consistency in his life, in his training. It’s no surprise to us that he’s started the season the way he has.”Rashid’s confident display, which included eight fours, built on a solid batting performance throughout the day. Resuming on 11 without loss, they were aided by sunshine rather than the swing-friendly conditions that aided their attack on the opening day.Yorkshire’s progress was also boosted by three dropped catches, with Gale being dropped at point by Chris Woakes off Boyd Rankin, and then caught at long leg, only to carry the ball over the boundary before he could flick it back into play. Adam Lyth also benefitted from Warwickshire’s largesse when he was missed at backward point.None of the three misses were costly in terms of runs, but it helped Yorkshire build a momentum that Warwickshire found difficult to break despite a disciplined bowling display. Yorkshire’s day was given a flourish by Gary Ballance, watched by Ashley Giles, England’s one-day coach, hitting an eye-catching 52.Ballance became one of three victims for Jeetan Patel, who exploited turn from the City End that suggests Rashid’s leg-spin may also have a major impact on the future outcome of the game as Yorkshire attempt to build on their promising start to life in division one.

Sussex’s commitment to mending broken players is seen again their signing of Rory Hamilton-Brown and Chris Jordan for the 2013 season

George Dobell05-Apr-2013Last year: 4th, CC Div 1; Semi-finals, T20; Semi-finals2012 in a nutshell: Such has been the success at Sussex over recent years – they had won seven major trophies in the previous decade – disappointment over a season that finished without tangible reward was inevitable. But Sussex again pressed hard in the limited-overs formats and finished above many larger clubs in the Championship. They were in a bit of trouble after winning just one of their first seven Championship games, but then threatened a top three finish before losing the last two games to slip back into mid-table. They topped their group in both the CB40 and FLt20, but lost to Yorkshire in the T20 semi-final of the T20 and Hampshire in CB40. Steve Magoffin – with 57 Championship wicket at 20.05 apiece – led the bowling manfully, supported by the decidedly sharp Jimmy Anyon and the relentless Monty Panesar. Ed Joyce and Chris Nash led the way with the bat in the Championship, with Luke Wright – who made three CB40 centuries – exceptional in limited-overs cricket. Matt Prior and Scott Styris were both excellent in T20, with Michael Yardy back to his mean best with the ball. Murray Goodwin was released at the end of the season2013 prospects: Sussex may not have the bowling depth to mount a sustained Championship challenge, but they remain a very dangerous limited-overs unit.
In keeping with their reputation as a mender of broken players, they have brought in Rory Hamilton-Brown and Chris Jordan, two highly-talented cricketers who had lost their way a little at Surrey. Andrew Miller, a tall seamer who previously represented Warwickshire, has joined, too. But John Hastings has pulled out of his T20 contract through injury, Kirk Wernars has taken a year off to explore other career opportunities and Luke Wright will miss the start of the season on IPL duty. They will require more runs from Joe Gatting and Michael Yardy this year, while Ben Brown’s wicketkeeping also remains a work in progress. But with the likes of Nash, one of the unsung heroes of English cricket, contributing with impressive consistency, they should have enough quality to avoid relegation. Off the pitch, the club continues to be particularly well run and understand its role in the wider game under a new chief executive, Zac Toumazi.Key player: Monty Panesar. It’s not just the wickets he takes, it is his ability to perform the role of stock bowler. Should he be required by England for lengthy portions of the summer, Sussex will have a huge hole to fill.Bright young thing: Luke Wells is a batsman with a great deal going for him. Blessed with a similar temperament to Alastair Cook but, perhaps, more elegant, he seems to have the ideal game to step-up to Test cricket. A lack of limited-overs experience – he has only played one T20 and six List A games – cannot help, but this is a 22-year-old who could go a long way in the game.Captain/coach: Ed Joyce, 34, probably takes on the captaincy at an ideal stage of his career; established, experienced and with little more to prove as a player, he will be able to dedicate his energy towards the role. Mark Robinson, the head coach, will continue to coax the best out of his eclectic squad with a calm and quiet wisdom that, in a shrill world, could easily be undervalued.ESPNcricinfo verdict: Chris Adams described Sussex as the ‘benchmark team’ of the Championship; a description that makes sense: finish above them and you are challenging; finish below them and you are in trouble. They are likely to be very competitive in the limited-overs formats.

Sri Lanka Cricket has decided not to recognise player agents and will take a harsh view of players who decline contracts, SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga has said

Andrew Fidel Fernando14-Feb-2013Sri Lanka Cricket has decided not to recognise player agents and will take a harsh view of players who decline central contracts, SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga has said. Players will still be allowed to have agents represent them elsewhere, but will not be able to involve their agents in dealings with SLC.Ranatunga said he had made SLC’s stance on player agents clear to new captains Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal, and that the new policy to ignore agents and deal directly with players was borne out of a belief that agent involvement constituted a net negative to cricket in Sri Lanka.”If you look at the past, the board used to correspond and communicate with the player agents,” Ranatunga said. “At that time the board felt agents would allow the players to concentrate on the game as the agents would do the other work. But after what has happened in the past few years, the board took a clear decision not to recognise player agents, because they bring more negatives than positives.”We explained to the new captain and the vice-captain that if there are any players who don’t sign the SLC contracts within 10 days, we don’t expect them to be in the national team.”In 2011, Lasith Malinga turned down a central contract with SLC, citing dissatisfaction with the amount the board had offered him. Malinga was placed in the top salary bracket, but was only eligible for 40% of the $100,000 the other players would receive, because he did not play Test cricket. He has, however, made himself available for every ODI and Twenty20 match for Sri Lanka since.Ranatunga also emphasised that SLC’s purview extended beyond the interests of the elite band of players who have agents, and suggested that in representing a handful of players, agents had been detrimental to both the game at large, and players without agents in particular.”Agents are interested in looking after their players financially, and SLC has felt that they don’t have the best interests of cricket at heart,” he said. “Our job isn’t to look after the 20 or 25 players who have agents. We have to think about every cricketer from 13-year-olds upwards, as well as club cricketers and provincial players. There are some who haven’t earned a cent from the game, and we need to look after them and appreciate their efforts as well.”The Sri Lanka cricketers’ central contracts expire at the end of February, and a new contract list will be drawn up and released by SLC soon after. In 2012, players and the board were locked in almost five months of negotiations over their contracts, after a heavily indebted SLC had failed to pay its players for almost eight months. Players threatened to boycott the Sri Lanka Premier League, and a clause requiring players to seek permission from the board before speaking to media had to be struck out, before an agreement was reached in July last year.

South Africa coach Gary Kirsten says he is undecided on whether AB de Villiers will return as wicketkeeper in one-day cricket.

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jan-2013South Africa coach Gary Kirsten says he is undecided on whether AB de Villiers will return as wicketkeeper in one-day cricket.De Villiers hinted that he is overburdened with captaincy and keeping wicket but Kirsten said that no final decision has been taken on who will take the gloves in one-day cricket moving forward.”In terms of our situation with AB, it’s more exploratory,” Kirsten said in a wide-ranging press conference. “We are going through a phase of exploring and understanding his keeping. We haven’t closed the door on whether he will become our one-day keeper.”De Villiers has been South Africa’s wicketkeeper in all forms since Mark Boucher was forced to retire from an eye injury sustained in a tour match in England last summer. But Quinton de Kock, at just 20 years old, was brought in to keep wicket for the current series against New Zealand.”The decision not to keep in this one-day series was a very specific decision which wasn’t his own,” Kirsten explained. “He is not making his own decisions. There is a process we go through in the team. Individuals don’t just stand up and make their own calls. We felt that it might be a good idea for this series specifically that AB had an opportunity to focus on his captaincy. He is a young captain and there is a lot to do on the field.”De Villiers’ opportunity to captain without the responsibility of keeping was cut short by his suspension for a drastically slow over rate in the first ODI in Paarl meaning he was banned from the final two matches of the series. Kirsten expressed his disappointment that such a calamitous mistake has cost de Villiers the chance to try out a new role ahead of the Champions Trophy in June.”I had a concern right from the outset when I spoke to the selectors that doing the job of batting at No. 4, captaining and keeping was going to be really tough on him. He was happy to do it. He is always happy to do it. I just felt I would like to see him focus on his captaincy so it is really unfortunate what has unfolded where he is missing two games and is not able to gain more experience in his captaincy.”De Villiers will return to the South African side for the start of the Pakistan series on February 1. Kirsten was unsure whether de Villiers would come straight back as wicketkeeper.”We are thinking where we want to go long-term,” Kirsten said. “If you look at the Test team: it’s foolproof in many ways although we have brought in a lot of new players. I don’t want to make rushed decisions.”The one nice thing about AB not keeping is that it has given us the opportunity to explore another young talent in Quinton de Kock. He has done a good job behind the stumps and has shown real potential with the bat. There’s been a lot of talk about him and it’s nice that he has been given an opportunity at a higher level.”