He had been with the BBL side for three seasons and would have earned another deal

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Apr-2021Shane Bond has opted not to seek a new contract as head coach with Sydney Thunder at the BBL to ensure he is able to spend an extended period of time at home amid the ongoing challenges caused by Covid-19.Bond, who is currently at the IPL with Mumbai Indians, had been in the role for three seasons and the Thunder reached the expanded finals series in the last two seasons – falling in the Knockout final this summer against Brisbane Heat – but could not commit to another long stint overseas.He also said he had withdrawn from his coaching role at the Hundred in the UK later this year where he had been due to work with Southern Brave.”I loved my time with the Thunder but with so much uncertainty around travel restrictions these days and not knowing what that might look like I just didn’t want to miss another summer at home,” Bond said.”I haven’t had one there for six years and my wife Tracey has had to carry the load. I want to be there again before I get to the point where my girls get to the end of high school. My son has some important cricket coming up too and I want to be there for that.”I’ll miss the boys at the Thunder, all the people from players to management. It’s a great club to be a part of. I’ll miss everybody. That will be the hardest thing.”Bond’s decision means the Thunder are searching for a new head coach and captain for next season after Callum Ferguson was cut from the list shortly after the recent season. It also comes at a time of a wider restructuring of the BBL clubs within Cricket New South Wales with the recent scrapping of the general manager roles with the Thunder and Sydney Sixers.”Shane has done a fantastic job over the last three years, ensuring the Thunder are in a good place for whoever takes on the role,” Greg Mail, Cricket New South Wales’ head of cricket, said.”He has been critical to the emergence of some brilliant young NSW based talent over the last two years whilst also bringing the best out of some of our established local and international players.”We are a values-based organisation and although we would have loved to have seen Shane at the helm next summer, choosing to spend time with his family is a decision we respect.”

Boult, Henry and Patel all among the wickets after New Zealand make six changes from Lord’s

Valkerie Baynes10-Jun-2021Half-centuries to Rory Burns and Dan Lawrence restored order for England after a New Zealand attack bolstered by Trent Boult threatened to derail the hosts on an opening day when the ball and the momentum swung at Edgbaston with entertaining effect.Boult, New Zealand’s leading seamer, linked up with the squad on Saturday having served his post-IPL quarantine period and was an automatic inclusion amid a staggering six changes to the side which drew the first Test at Lord’s.With Kane Williamson (elbow) and Mitchell Santner (finger) out because of injury and BJ Watling (back problem) replaced by Tom Blundell shortly before play began, Will Young and and Ajaz Patel came into the side. They were joined by Boult for Tim Southee and Matt Henry for Kyle Jamieson, while Daryl Mitchell replaced Colin de Grandhomme as New Zealand showed an embarrassment of riches ahead of next week’s World Test Championship final against India.When Boult prised out opener Rory Burns for 81 with his 12th ball after the tea break, he removed England’s main hope for recovery at that point. It came soon after England had lost three wickets for 13 runs in less than 20 minutes and slumped to 152 for 4 in the afternoon session.But Lawrence stepped in with an assured and unbeaten 67 to guide England to the close in a far more comfortable position than had looked likely between lunch and tea.After removing Burns, Boult struck with the first delivery of his next over, removing James Bracey for a duck – his second in as many innings – but Olly Stone survived the hat-trick ball and went on to steady the innings with Lawrence, the pair putting on 47 runs for the seventh wicket.Dan Lawrence en route his half-century•Getty Images

The Stone-Lawrence union was a much-needed bright spot for England, along with Burns’ opening stand of 72 with Dom Sibley, which had steered their side to the lunch break at 67 without loss. What ensued in between times had the potential to devastate England’s innings.Burns and Sibley batted sedately but smartly in the morning, Sibley’s knock bearing little resemblance to his grinding 60 off 207 balls which helped England salvage a draw in the fourth innings at Lord’s. Sibley struck five fours on his way to 35 from 84 deliveries, including one through square leg to bring up England’s fifty.But when they returned from lunch, New Zealand’s bowlers started to find some swing and it proved a weapon.Henry struck with the sixth ball after the break when Sibley was caught betwixt and between by a ball just back of a length and in the corridor which swung away enough to find an edge and carry to stand-in keeper Blundell.Zak Crawley’s lean patch continued as he followed up twin scores of two at Lord’s with a duck. Having been rushed into a defensive shot by a Neil Wagner ball that swung in, Crawley hung his bat out to the next delivery which moved less and edged to Mitchell at third slip.Henry then claimed his second wicket – the prized scalp of Joe Root – with a late outswinger that caught the edge and was snapped up by Blundell.Related

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Burns brought up his fifty with an authoritative drive through extra cover for two as the wickets tumbled around him. Ollie Pope stuck with him for a while but not long enough, falling for 19 when he was caught behind off Patel.As Burns and Lawrence looked to rebuild, Boult came to the fore, luring Burns into an attempted cover drive with a ball that swung away and clipped the outside edge, with Tom Latham, acting captain in Williamson’s absence, taking a good, low catch at second slip. Bracey followed and with six men down, only three had reached double figures.That’s when Stone and Lawrence got to work and they managed to stall New Zealand’s momentum until Patel had Stone out lbw. From there, Lawrence really took control though. He struck Boult for two fours in an over late in the day, the first a gorgeous drive through extra cover and then a neat clip off the pads.Mark Wood stuck with him to be 16 not out at the close, his straight hit for four off Henry mirrored by Lawrence off Boult on the next ball and the 70-percent-capacity crowd enjoyed it – and every moment of the day – if the noise, colour and movement that heralded the return of fans under a post-pandemic Government trial was anything to go by.

“Whichever opportunity I get to be back at the ground, I will be really eager for that”

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jun-2021Mumbai-based left-arm spinner Ankeet Chavan has been cleared by the BCCI to resume playing professional cricket after he received a revocation letter from the board that confirmed his ban – originally for life – had been reduced to seven years.In an email accessed by ESPNcricinfo, BCCI interim chief executive Hemang Amin confirmed that Chavan’s ban had effectively ended on September 13, 2020 based on an order received last month. The BCCI ombudsman, the email said, “has restricted the ban imposed on you from life ban to 7 years, with effect from 13 September 2013. In view of the order dated 3 May 2021, the ban imposed on you therefore ended on 13 September, 2020.”Related

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While the ban in principle got over in September 2020, unlike Sreesanth, whose order for a similar term reduction arrived last August, Chavan had to wait till May 3, 2021 to get a copy of the order from the ombudsman. Chavan subsequently requested the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) to apply to the BCCI for a confirmation letter, a requisite for him to return to competitive cricket, which he received on June 15 from Amin.”The ban has been completely over as of September 2020,” Chavan told PTI on Tuesday, soon after the development. “I am open for whatever (comes) my way. I am really looking forward to getting on the ground as soon as possible.”Unfortunately, because of the pandemic (Covid-19) and the rains, the grounds would probably be closed but whichever opportunity I get to be back at the ground, I will be really eager for that.”In 2013, Chavan was given a life ban for his alleged involvement in the 2013 IPL corruption scandal. Chavan was one of three Rajasthan Royals players, along with Sreesanth and Ajit Chandila, to be chargesheeted by the Delhi Police at the time.Sreesanth had received his order before his ban ended last year, allowing him to participate in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy earlier this year.”I got (a) letter from (the) ombudsman that my ban has been reduced to seven years,” Chavan told PTI earlier this month. “The same as what was given to Sreesanth, but his order came before the end of the ban and mine after the completion of ban. Since I didn’t get that letter, I had to write to MCA requesting them to write to BCCI for that letter.”Chavan, 35, has played 18 first-class matches, 20 List A games and 26 T20s. His last representative match was against the Mumbai Indians in the 2013 IPL season.

du Plooy top-scores with 47 before Guest smashes winning runs off final ball of the match

ECB Reporters Network09-Jul-2021Derbyshire Falcons held their nerve in a tense run-chase in the final over to defeat Durham by six wickets in their Vitality Blast clash at Emirates Riverside.The Falcons successfully chased down their total of 177 from their 20 overs as Brooke Guest smashed the final ball of the innings for a boundary to beat the home side. Guest and Matt Critchley put on a stand of 64 to defy Durham and close out only their fourth win of the competition this term.Earlier in the day, Alex Thomson claimed three wickets for 23 to limit Durham to 176 for 9. The hosts were made to rue lapses with the ball and in the field to put their hopes of reaching the last eight of the Blast in jeopardy.After Durham were inserted by Critchley, David Bedingham’s lean time in T20 cricket continued despite his excellent first-class form, edging Logan van Beek’s second legal delivery to Fynn Hudson-Prentice at first slip. Graham Clark injected Durham’s innings with pace, using his guile to make a rapid 25 in the powerplay before he chipped straight to Van Beek.Related

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Ben Raine and Cameron Bancroft continued to move the scoreboard along at a brisk pace, reaching 64 for 2 at the end of the powerplay. Raine made a solid 32 before he attempted a sweep against Critchley that was well claimed by Luis Reece. The Falcons’ excellent work in the field continued when George Scrimshaw made a great diving grab to remove Bancroft for a run-a-ball 20.Scott Borthwick played a gem of the innings through the middle overs. He notched three fours and a six before he was bowled for 33 by Thomson, who impressed with three wickets. Durham made a press towards a score of 180 in the closing overs led by Sean Dickson before being caught from the ball by Jade Dernbach for 37.The Falcons lost Luis Reece early in their reply when Bancroft produced a brilliant one-handed catch, allowing Paul van Meekeren to notch his first Durham wicket. Leus du Plooy and Tom Wood steadied the ship, and put the Durham bowlers under pressure with placement rather than power to find the fence.Wood and Du Plooy manoeuvred Derbyshire into a strong position, bringing the required rate under control in a partnership of 68. However, momentum turned when Van Meekeren broke the stand as Wood sliced a top edge to Clark at backward point. Luke Doneathy then claimed his maiden T20 wicket clean bowling Du Plooy for 47 to drag the hosts back into the contest.The Falcons found a second wind as Critchley and Guest combined to dispatch Potts for 17 in the 17th over. Guest then launched Potts for another maximum in the 19th to leave Derbyshire requiring only eight to win. The Falcons held their nerve under pressure as Guest blasted the winning runs from the final ball of Raine’s over.

Karim Janat, Ikram Alikhil return among a host of changes

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jul-2021Sediqullah Atal, Shahidullah Kamal, Abdul Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Noor Ahmad, who are all uncapped in ODI cricket, have found places in Afghanistan’s 17-member squad for their first bilateral ODI series against Pakistan. The three-match series is scheduled to be played in the UAE* in September.In addition to facing Pakistan in two Asia Cups and the 2019 World Cup, Afghanistan had come up against their neighbours in a one-off ODI in the UAE in 2012, when Pakistan won by seven wickets.Hashmatullah Shahidi is set to make his captaincy debut, having been appointed to the job in ODI cricket in May earlier this year. Rahmat Shah will be his deputy while former captain Asghar Afghan has been left out of the side altogether. Afghan had led the team in their most recent ODI series against Ireland in the UAE, which they won 3-0. Javed Ahmadi, Gulbadin Naib, Sayed Shirzad and Yamim Ahmadzai were among the others from the Ireland series who were omitted from this squad.Rashid Khan who was the first pick, by the Trent Rockets, in the ongoing Hundred, will be back to lead the spin attack along with Mujeeb Ur Rahman. Sixteen-year-old left-arm wristspinner Noor, who has already had stints in the BBL and PSL, is also part of the spin attack although he is yet to make his international debut.Left-arm seamer Farooqi, who made his T20I earlier this year and was subsequently picked by the Chennai Super Kings as an IPL net bowler, could be in line for his ODI debut on this tour.Kabul Eagles’ Atal has made the ODI squad despite having not played a List A game in his career. The top-order batter has played only seven T20s so far, scoring 114 runs at an average of 16.28 and strike rate of 107.54. His domestic captain Rahmanullah Gurbaz is the frontline keeper in the squad, with the returning Ikram Alikhil being his back-up. Alikhil has last played ODI cricket in 2019.Allrounder Karim Janat who has played only a solitary ODI for Afghanistan, back in 2017, also returned to the side.Afghanistan currently have 30 points in the World Cup Super league, having swept Ireland 3-0.Afghanistan squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Sediq Atal, Rahmat Shah (vice-capt), Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Najibullah Zadran, Ikram Alikhil , Shahid Kamal, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Abdul Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Noor Ahmad
Out: Asghar Afghan, Gulbadin Naib, Javed Ahmadi, Sayed Shirzad, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Usman Ghani, Yamin Ahmadzai
In: Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Ikram Alikhil, Shahidullah Kamal, Karim Janat, Abdul Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Noor Ahmad
Reserves: Yousuf Zazai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Saleem Safi, Qais Ahmad

Test captain praises outgoing coach’s influence on the team

Andrew Fidel Fernando20-Nov-2021Mickey Arthur is an excellent manager of players. This, essentially, is Sri Lanka Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne’s take-away after two years under this coach.Arthur had spent much of the pandemic in Sri Lanka while borders were closed, and has had a number of public endorsements from his players, including Karunaratne and Wanindu Hasaranga. He is, however, leaving Sri Lanka for a “head of cricket” role with Derbyshire, despite having wanted to stay on.