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The more condensed BBL schedule has brought new challenges for the team from the west but they won’t make excuses

Alex Malcolm16-Jan-2020Adam Voges had no idea what day it was.The Perth Scorchers coach knew he was in Perth. It was Wednesday, a game day against the Melbourne Stars. But just one game in the midst of a brutal travel and playing schedule.The Scorchers are in the middle of five games in 10 days, including two return trips across the country to Hobart and Melbourne, having already made two of longest trips in the BBL, to the Gold Coast and Geelong, in the first seven days of the new year with a home game in between.Perth is the furthest outpost in the BBL, a three-hour flight from their nearest rivals Adelaide, and they do not play consecutive games either at home or on the road until the final week of the season.After a three-game winning streak, the heavy defeat against the Melbourne Stars should come as no surprise. The Stars flew to Perth on Monday two days out from the match, on the same day the Scorchers beat the Hobart Hurricanes in Hobart. The Scorchers then endured a four-hour flight delay in Melbourne prior to the second flight on their trip home on Tuesday ahead of the game on Wednesday. The Scorchers then have to front up again at the airport on Friday to travel to play the Stars in Melbourne on Saturday before flying home to host the Sydney Thunder on Monday.ALSO READ: Stars romp home after swatting aside feeble ScorchersVoges said the playing group have just endured as best they can. “Winning helps,” he told ESPNcricinfo ahead of the Wednesday’s game against the Stars. “The boys have been playing some really good cricket which I think has taken away a little bit of the schedule. We spoke about it at the start of the tournament that particularly this period was going to be tough. We tried to plan as best we could around recovery and the flights and that sort of stuff just to make sure it was as smooth as possible.”We couldn’t, unfortunately, plan for flight delays. The guys to their credit have been brilliant, they’ve just got on with it even though we got stuck a bit yesterday but they just got on with it really well. It’s been difficult. We’re tired no doubt, but the boys have been excellent.”The Scorchers have been reluctant to be critical of the schedule, as difficult as it has been. Requests for particular home fixtures in Perth, such as Boxing Day against the Sydney Sixers, as well as the new condensed season has played its part. They knew of their predicament well in advance and planned accordingly.”We’ve got massages after most flights,” Voges said. “We give the boys game days, that’s theirs. If they want to sleep all day before the game that’s really up to them. We try and get out for a walk and a stretch after every flight and have massages for the boys and we just focus really heavily on recovery after games particularly in this heavy period.”It builds resilience as much as anything. The confidence that comes with some good performances, there’s no doubt that that’s certainly helping. It’s a credit to all the players and all the staff who have spent a lot of time trying to get this right. We had three staff members at the airport yesterday with a van ready to take the kits to Perth Stadium just to make sure it’s all ready for them when they rock up today. Just the little things like that we’ve done really well. But the resilience in the group to get up and perform the way we have has been great.”There has been no chance to train during this stretch, something that the coach thinks might be helping.”Maybe that’s a blessing in one way,” Voges said. “We’ve literally just had to prepare ourselves to get up for 40 overs. We have a day off tomorrow and that will be a full day off before we jump on the plane again. Time to get some skill work hasn’t really happened. The boys have a bit of a hit before each game. I guess their mental approach has been really important in getting themselves up for each game.”But the travel has taken its toll on a group already hit hard by injuries and absences. Ashton Turner and Ashton Agar are both away with the Australian ODI squad, while Jason Behrendorff and AJ Tye have been unavailable all year through injury. Sam Whiteman was withdrawn prior to Wednesday’s clash after his second child was born much earlier than expected. Kurtis Patterson’s ongoing quad issues meant Perth had to call up Jaron Morgan from grade cricket to make his BBL debut against the Stars.After the mass exodus of title-winning players like Michael Klinger, Shaun Marsh, and Nathan Coulter-Nile, few gave the Scorchers much chance of being competitive this season yet they still sit third on the table.”I think the guys are buying into the game plan which has been really great to see,” Voges said. “The guys at the top, they know that they’ve got a bit of freedom to take the game on and I think Josh Inglis has played exceptionally well.”I think the partnership that he’s developed with Liam Livingstone has been a really important one. They haven’t always got us off to flyers but they’ve contributed in their own way. I think Mitch Marsh has been outstanding as captain and a leader.”Just seeing the things that we’re talking about being implemented out on the field has probably been the most pleasing part.”

The veteran allrounder batted through till the end of the innings in a low-scoring innings, and bowled economically as Bangladesh played meekly in their chase

Varun Shetty14-Nov-2018Sri Lanka kept their semi-final prospects alive in Group A with a comprehensive win over Bangladesh that they would not have counted on at the halfway mark. Put into bat, they managed only 97 from their 20 overs, thanks mostly to former captain Shashikala Siriwardene’s 31. The allrounder batted until the last over of an innings that never found momentum, and returned figures of 4-0-10-2 as Asia Cup winners Bangladesh surrendered early in the chase against their regional rivals.It was Jahanara Alam who had given them a strong chance once again. The seamer managed to utilise the conditions right from the first ball, getting an outswinger to curve back at Yasoda Mendis’ toes and roll onto leg stump. This made it appear like the strategy to not open with Chamari Atapattu would not make much of a difference. But Sri Lanka chose to promote wicketkeeper Dilani Manodara to No. 3.But Alam and the spinners gave away nothing to her or to makeshift opener Hasini Perera, and the Powerplay score of 17 for 1 wasn’t wildly different from what they’d managed against South Africa two days ago. And the batting experiment looked even worse as Sri Lanka fell to 30 for 3 in nine overs, that third wicket a complete mess with Manodara and Atapattu at the same end as Bangladesh got rid of the former at the other.Atapattu and Siriwardene pushed the pace over the next two overs, but with the captain’s top edge and dismissal in the 13th over, another experiment had failed. With the big hitters all gone early, Siriwardene was left with the lower middle-order, using her experience to manoeuvre the gaps on an outfield that was still reeling under the effects of rain that has affected the entire week. She hit two fours and a six, most of which came late in her innings, and fell with two balls to go. Alam, once again, cut short any momentum Siriwardene wanted to provide, and followed it up with her third wicket to stop Sri Lanka from getting to three figures.At the toss, Sri Lanka had wanted 120, and Bangladesh had wanted to restrict them to 120; but Sri Lanka fell 23 short of their target and Bangladesh fell 25 short of that. Such was the shock from left-arm seamer Udeshika Prabodhani’s two wickets in the first over, that Bangladesh looked like they had decided not to attempt any attacking shots. It was the chase of an inexperienced side, and that was visible with the first ball. Sanjida Islam received a poor decision from umpire Jacqueline Williams, being struck well outside off stump, but Ayasha Rahman was not alive to the situation and the review was not taken.Three balls later, Fargana Hoque did review, but her 50-50 lbw decision was deemed umpire’s call, the tracker showing the ball brushing leg stump. Prabodhani continued tormenting them with inswingers, but went off in the fifth over when she dropped a return catch and seemingly split the webbing between middle and ring finger.They wouldn’t need her though. The Sri Lanka spinners took charge, using the wind to drift the ball menacingly away, lobbing it slower and slower at the batsmen. Most of them defended for the most part, two of them looked to drill it through the off side only to be caught at short extra cover, and the occasional slogs didn’t go too far on a sluggish pitch.At the halfway stage, Bangladesh hadn’t even made 30, and their lack of intent made it evident they weren’t getting anywhere close to the target. In all, they hit three boundaries, and played 75 dot balls, the kind of batting performance that fits with an early exit from a major tournament.

Stand-in captain Haynes blasts unbeaten 56-ball 89 to set Australia up, Schutt clinically dismantles England’s threat with four wickets

The Report by Daniel Brettig26-Oct-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsGetty Images

If Rachael Haynes is Australia’s temporary captain, then she has put a permanent stamp on the women’s Ashes series. A barnstorming Haynes innings pushed a target beyond England’s reach and gave the hosts two wins from two matches in Coffs Harbour.Haynes’ 89 off just 56 balls, aided by 67 from Ellyse Perry, ensured Australia neared 300 after Alyssa Healy (56) and Nicole Bolton (66) provided an excellent opening stand to set the hosts on the path to a big total.At the same time, Haynes more than vindicated the selection decision to hand her the captaincy from outside the XI in the injury-enforced absence of the team’s long-term leader Meg Lanning.Victory arrived in spite of the loss of Perry from the bowling attack in the early overs, when the allrounder twice delivered inadvertent beamers with a wet ball after a rain delay. Haynes debated the umpires’ decision with some vehemence due to the prevailing conditions, but was unable to change the verdict.Into the breach stepped Megan Schutt, who nabbed a pair of new ball lbws to set England’s chase off-balance, before returning to remove Katherine Brunt, the only Englishwoman to pass 50 on the night. Schutt’s efforts were welcome in greasy conditions that did not afford much help to the spin bowlers.Schutt had wasted little time in striking when England began their chase, pinning Lauren Whitfield, so fluent at Allan Border Field, lbw in the very first over of the innings with an inswinger. Play was held up for some time by the rain delay but no overs were lost, however the adjustment to the wet ball cost Haynes the use of Perry due to the high full tosses.The loss of Perry was offset when Schutt foumd another bending inswinger to confound Tammy Beaumont, as the required run rate quickly started to creep up. Neither Sarah Taylor nor Knight could get going with the sort of run-making pace required, leaving much in the hands of the middle order.While Brunt and Fran Wilson did their best, Schutt had overs up her sleeve that were to be used to good effect. Wilson fell first, before Brunt’s stumps were disturbed in a moment that left little more than mopping up operations for a bowling attack grateful to be defending such a tall total in Perry’s absence.The day had begun with some unwelcome news for the hosts, as the pivotal player of game one with both ball and bat, Ashleigh Gardner, was out of the match after failing a concussion test. Gardner had top-edged a Brunt delivery into her helmet and was ruled out after what were described as “mild concussion symptoms”. She is expected to be fit for game three on Sunday.Sent in to bat by Heather Knight, the Australians made a swift start but, unlike England in Brisbane, were able to make the most of the platform provided by Healy and Bolton, who were not separated until the 20th over of the innings and just two runs shy of a century opening stand.After Healy’s exit, Bolton and Perry built further momentum, keeping plenty of wickets in hand so that when Bolton’s exit was swiftly followed by that of Elyse Villani, there was still plenty of room for Australia’s middle order to go on the attack. The person to do this was Haynes, stepping up admirably as captain with an innings that sent England’s fielders scurrying all over the expanses of Coffs Harbour International Stadium.So cleanly did Haynes strike the ball that the powerful Perry was placed to some degree in the shade, but she remained in the middle until the tally had reached 250 with 27 balls remaining. A further 46 runs piled up from those last 4.3 overs, with Haynes manipulating the strike expertly to ensure she faced the majority. At the end of the innings Haynes walked off satisfied, but not quite as much as when she again left the field as a victorious captain under lights. Australia have stolen the early march.

Mickey Arthur, the Pakistan coach, has admitted having sleepless nights pondering the balance of the side for the final Test against England as they search for a series-levelling victory

Andrew McGlashan09-Aug-2016Mickey Arthur, the Pakistan coach, has admitted having sleepless nights pondering the balance of the side for the final Test against England as they search for a series-levelling victory.Having been in control at Edgbaston, and holding a realistic chance of coming to The Oval 2-1 up themselves, they now have to dig deep into their resolve after a final-day collapse.”There were a lot of good things for us out of the last Test. I certainly did not feel that we ever rolled over there,” Arthur said. “We were in the contest for most of that game. I’ve taken a lot of positives out of that and reinforced the positives with the chaps.””I counted we probably won five sessions, England won three. The sessions England won, they won convincingly.”Before their demise over the last two sessions in Birmingham, Pakistan’s chances of winning had slipped away when the four-man attack tired on the fourth evening, allowing Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali to produce a game-changing partnership of 152 in 29 overs.”I said to the boys, we were probably one wicket away there from breaking through,” Arthur said. “If we could have knocked Bairstow over or Moeen early, it certainly would have put a totally different perspective on the game.”Pakistan’s lack of an allrounder – in stark contrast to England – has been a running theme throughout the series with Mohammad Hafeez’s inability to bowl being a major problem. There are no easy fixes to the problem, but Arthur hinted that Iftikhar Ahmed, who bowls offspin, could come into consideration.”Yes, he is an option,” Arthur said. “He bowls offspin and decently, England have a lot of left handers so he does give us an option as a fifth bowler if he comes in. But we have to be dead certain he can come into our top six and get runs, because we’ll be asking for runs first and bowling second.”If Iftikhar was to come in for his Test debut it would be Hafeez who would likely make way after his twin failures at Edgbaston, completed with an horrendous shot in the second innings when he pulled to long leg. That would probably entail Azhar Ali being promoted to open alongside Sami Aslam.Arthur even floated the notion of a fifth specialist bowler, calling it the “very positive option”, but it is hard to see that happening with the length of tail Pakistan already have and which England exploited twice at Edgbaston.”It’s certainly one of the options, but whoever comes in somebody has got to bat middle order, which makes it a particularly long tail,” he said. “That’s a very positive way to go. It’s one that we’ve thought about and one I lay in bed thinking about it last night. That’s a very positive option because we’ve got to get 20 wickets in this Test match. We’ve got to work through that one.”One of the key reasons that Pakistan’s attack has been under pressure is that England have countered Yasir Shah impressively since Lord’s. In the last two Tests he has combined figures of 4 for 502 having claimed 10 for 141 in the opening Test.After a difficult Old Trafford outing, Yasir performed an impressive holding role in the first innings at Edgbaston – sending down 25 unchanged – but in England’s second innings was taken for 172 off 43 overs, showing as much weariness as the quick bowlers by the end.”They have played the legspinner very well but we have to remember he’s been used in a defensive role,” Arthur said. “We bowled first at Edgbaston, there wasn’t a hell of a lot on offer, and at Old Trafford so he hasn’t had the luxury of bowling with runs on the board.”I’m hoping we can get runs on board here, it turns a bit and there’s a bit of bounce – and that’s a legspinner’s best friend. I actually think he’s bowled extremely well in both roles – attacking and defending.”If Pakistan are to level the series at The Oval – a ground where they have not authentically lost since 1967; they were in control of the controversial 2006 Test – they will need a key performance from Yasir, but their cause would also be helped by runs from Younis Khan.Younis has had a poor series with 122 runs in six knocks, his innings typified by extravagant movements around the crease which have twice played a part in him being caught down the leg side.As the Pakistan squad were given a quiet day of light training on Tuesday, Younis had an extended net on the square receiving throwdowns from Grant Flower.”I’m very confident he can make a contribution,” Arthur said. “He’s been very open to us speaking about some technical things, he has trained the house down and the hunger is there. I’ve been really impressed with how he’s handled it.”Watching him train and go about his business, he still tops the fitness charts, he’s one of the fittest in the team, his diet is exemplary. He’s so professional on and off the field. Put it this way, he’s giving himself the best chance to perform and I’ll take my hat off to chap like that any day of the week.”

A journalist covering the Bangladesh-South Africa series was assaulted by security personnel at the Shere Bangla National Stadium on Saturday

Mohammad Isam04-Jul-2015A journalist covering the Bangladesh-South Africa series was assaulted on Saturday at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. He was charged with loitering without an accreditation card but the BCB had not issued the cards at the time. The two security personnel who assaulted the journalist didn’t have accreditation cards either.Sekandar Ali, cricket reporter of Bengali daily , was waiting at a walkway regularly used by journalists, watching the Bangladesh players practise their fielding, when a security person asked him for his accreditation. Since it hadn’t been issued, he showed them his office ID and said he was a journalist who covers Bangladesh cricket. Not satisfied by his explanation, the security personnel assaulted him, at one point shoving him onto a metal grille and hurting the reporter’s hand in the process.The BCB, when informed of the incident, apologised. “We are sorry that such an incident occurred,” Jalal Yunus, the BCB media committee chairman, said. “It is certainly unexpected and we will ensure that there is a permanent solution and there is no such occurrence in the future.”Mashrafe Mortaza, the Bangladesh captain, also regretted the incident and said that previous security breaches, particularly at the end of the third ODI between Bangladesh and India when a large number of people entered the ground – with some even venturing into the dressing room’s viewing area – should also be looked into.”There is a protocol for everything,” Mashrafe said. “We all have accreditation cards even when entering the dressing-room. It is quite unfortunate that someone was physically assaulted. It is not desirable.”At the end of our last match, a lot of people came inside the ground, possibly from outside. Foreign players will feel insecure if such things keep happening. I saw it happen in the last series. I am sure those in charge of the security will look into it. All of us should maintain discipline. Everyone would want such things to end through discussion, before the series begins.”Incidents such as these have been a regular feature of international cricket in Bangladesh in recent years. Most prominent among these was during the 2006 Chittagong Test* against Australia, when several journalists were beaten up by the police for protesting the assault on a photographer on the morning of the first day.*July 5, 1147 GMT The story had incorrectly said the incident occurred during the 2006 Fatullah Test

The West Indies batsmen gifted their wickets to Bangladesh’s bowlers, according to Kieron Pollard, who said their seven-wicket defeat in Khulna was a “bad day”

Mohammad Isam in Khulna30-Nov-2012The West Indies batsmen gifted their wickets to Bangladesh’s bowlers, according to allrounder Kieron Pollard, who said their seven-wicket defeat in the first ODI in Khulna was a “bad day” and nothing more. After dominating the Test series, the visiting batsmen were rolled for 199 in 46.5 overs, despite the pre-match expectation that the big-hitters in the West Indies line-up would make life hard for the hosts.”It was mostly a bad day,” Pollard said. “They weren’t bowling anything magical. We gifted our wickets away. I think we have to blame ourselves for the way we batted. At the end of the day, we can’t look for excuses. The batsmen have to bat 50 overs, and not let the tail bat for 10 to 15 overs, like they had to do today. Now we know that when we play bad, Bangladesh will take the initiative.”West Indies had chosen to bat, the logical decision on a flat and slow pitch. But Lendl Simmons’ scratchy innings was over quickly, and Chris Gayle gave it away after making 35 off 40 balls, when he looked set for more. The major breakthrough for Bangladesh came in the 14th over, when Sohag Gazi drew the in-form Marlon Samuels into an early drive. The ball took the edge and was caught on the second attempt by Mahmudullah at slip. Samuels had made 260 in the Khulna Test but was dismissed for a duck today.”We had a very good start with Lendl [Simmons] and Chris [Gayle]. We were on just where we liked to be after 10 overs,” Pollard said. “Then we lost wickets in clusters, we lost Gayle and Samuels. But having said that, the other guys are here to play and did well before. It is a matter of us taking that extra time, that extra over or two, to continue what we have been doing.”After Samuels’ dismissal, Pollard and Darren Bravo added 52 runs for the fourth wicket before Pollard threw his bat at a short ball from Abdur Razzak, only to be caught at short midwicket. His departure in the 23rd over, with West Indies on 100 for 4, caused the rest of the innings to disintegrate. Pollard was disappointed, but promised to treat the delivery the same way the next time it is bowled at him.”It was an innings that was needed today, because we had lost three wickets,” Pollard said. “That ball, nine out of ten times, you’d hit it out of the ground, to the boundary. Little extra bounce, hit it straight to the fieldsman.”It is a soft dismissal. But that’s the way it is, I was just trying to play to the situation. If I get the same ball tomorrow, I will try to play the same shot as well. This time it will go to Dhaka.”Pollard praised Bangladesh for their performance without Shakib Al Hasan. “One guy missing is a big gap in the Bangladesh team but they played well. Whatever happened in the Test series is in the past, we didn’t turn up as we would have liked to in this game. There are four more games to go, so it is a matter of us regrouping as international cricketers.”

England, the reigning World Twenty20 champions, have been unveiled as the top T20 side as the ICC launched their rankings for the shortest format of the game

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Oct-2011England, the reigning World Twenty20 champions, have topped the ICC’s inaugural rankings for the shortest format of the game. England batsman Eoin Morgan tops the batting ratings, Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis is the top bowler and Australia’s Shane Watson the No. 1 allrounder.England have 127 points and are ahead of Sri Lanka, who have 126 in the rankings, announced on Monday. If England win their T20 against India at Eden Gardens on October 29, they will have a four-point lead over Sri Lanka. If they lose, though, they will slip below Sri Lanka and India.”The introduction of rankings for international Twenty20 cricket provides real context to the various series played between member countries on an ongoing basis,” England’s team director Andy Flower said. “Until now we haven’t had the chance to play a large number of Twenty20 Internationals so this will offer a benchmark as to who is performing at international level.”The next four teams – New Zealand (117), South Africa, India and Australia – were separated by only six points. Pakistan, who won the World Twenty20 in 2009, were ranked seventh followed by West Indies, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe.Bangladesh, along with Associate Members Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Netherlands and Scotland, which have T20 international status, will join the table as soon as they have played sufficient matches (at least eight T20s since August 2009) to qualify for a ranking.Since August 2009, England played 20 T20s, winning 12, losing six and two no-results. Pakistan played the most matches (24) during the same period, but lost more than 50% of its matches, which contributed to its low rating.Brendon McCullum and Kevin Pietersen were No. 2 and 3 behind Morgan in the rankings for batsmen, while spinners occupy seven of the top ten spots for bowlers. “I believe spin bowlers have adapted to T20 cricket better than most,” Daniel Vettori, who has retired from T20s, said. “To see spinners succeed in a tough environment is great for the game and means bowlers can enjoy Twenty20 cricket, most of the time!”Watson, the No. 1 allrounder, is followed by Shahid Afridi, David Hussey and Mohammad Hafeez. Abdul Razzaq, at No. 10, is the third Pakistan player among the top ten allrounders.

West Indies coach Ottis Gibson has said that leaving Ramnaresh Sarwan out of the squad for the Sri Lanka tour was a tough decision

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Oct-2010West Indies coach Ottis Gibson has said that leaving Ramnaresh Sarwan out of the Test team was a tough decision but one that needed to be made in the interests of the touring squad in Sri Lanka. Fitness issues and indifferent form have kept Sarwan out of the side in 2010, but Gibson said he still has a lot to offer the team.”It came down to whether we can continue to take Sarwan on tour and then have one of our best players not available to us for selection all the time,” Gibson said. “The decision was taken to give him more time to get fit. I still think he’s got a lot more contributions to make to West Indies cricket and that gives him the opportunity to do the things he knows he needs to do to not just get fit, but stay fit to make those contributions.”Gibson backed the “strong decisions” made by the selectors in picking a new-look squad, with Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo stripped of their leadership roles following their refusal to sign WICB’s central contracts. Darren Sammy took over as captain from Gayle, while Brendan Nash was named vice-captain.”The selectors have picked a team in trying to chart the way forward for the West Indies in the coming years,” Gibson said. “We are in the decision-making business and West Indies cricket, from where it sits currently, needs strong decisions and those are the decisions the selectors have taken. It’s an exciting time for Darren and Brendan but also for some of the young guys who have been picked.”The squad includes the uncapped pair of fast bowler Andre Russell and wicketkeeper Devon Thomas, who was picked in place of Denesh Ramdin. Gibson was confident that both the team and the new players stood to benefit from their presence on a potentially tough tour of Sri Lanka.”Thomas’ selection comes at the back of a very good stint at the Sagicor High Performance Center in Barbados,” Gibson said. “He has had rave reviews when they went on tour in Canada. The thinking of the selectors is that the subcontinent is a tough place to tour, and if you’re going on a tour like that you need to have cover in specialist positions so therefore the view of taking two keepers [Carlton Baugh is also in the side] is exactly that.”When I see Andre Russell, he excites me. He is a big, tall fellow and he has got some pace. We took the decision to take him along and it will give me an opportunity to work with him and introduce him into the international arena that way.”Gibson also reposed faith in the inexperienced leadership pair that will take charge of the side. Sammy has played only eight Tests since his debut in 2007, while the Australia-born batsman, Nash, has featured in 15.”Darren Sammy as a cricketer and as a leader always plays with passion. Hopefully when he leads, he continues to lead in that way. What we don’t want is for him to get the job and change the way he is. I said to him already that he must be his own man and make sure that we, as management, will take as much stress off him so he can do his job.”Brendan Nash, since he’s been here, has been very professional,” Gibson said. “Growing up in Australia, he’s got a steely Australia attitude, meticulous with his preparation. That’s what I see of Nash and that’s what I hope he brings to his role as the vice-captain of the team – to lead in that regard, continue to show the younger players in the team in that way.”

Former West Indies fast bowler hopes to instill in the squad a sense of the pride with which they dominated cricket in the past

Cricinfo staff06-Nov-2009Former West Indies fast bowler Joel Garner, recently appointed team manager for the tour to Australia, has said he hopes to instill in the squad a sense of the pride with which they dominated world cricket in the past. Garner, also a West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) director and president of the Barbados Cricket Association, will travel with the side to Australia for their three-Test tour of Australia.”There are some things that are non-negotiable, things like discipline, punctuality and I think that players know and understand that there are some things that are not negotiable, the way we approach our cricket, the way how we train, all of those things will come back into force,” he said.
“The West Indies team that we had that was a good West Indies team of the 70s and 80s was not all talent. We were successful because we worked hard and we took the time out to do the things that were right and to bring the cricket up.”Garner aimed to make a difference on the tour in an attempt to revive West Indies cricket which
has faltered, more especially over the past two decades, through weak leadership and general mismanagement. “I’m looking at bring back some of those values that made us great, back into the team,” he said. “The first thing you have to do is start talking and let them understand what it takes to get to the top. You don’t just really want to make the squad, you want to make the team and you want to keep working, you want to keep performing.”Chris Gayle was recently reappointed to lead the team, marking the end of the contractual dispute between the striking players and the WICB. Garner said the time had come to forget the bitter contractual row and strive to put West Indies back at the top of the cricketing map.”What is happening in world cricket [is[ there are divisions where you have four or five world teams who are at the top and they want to go it alone and they want to play more cricket between themselves because they have the bargaining power,” he said. “We have to understand we have to get from the position of number eight to be in those top four to be a force to be reckoned with in world cricket.”The time to put aside all the nonsense [has come] and [we have] to look forward in a positive way. If you are only going to come to the party and not participate in the party then you’re in the wrong sport.”Senior players such as Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo also returned to the squad for the three-Test series following the strike, while youngsters such as Adrian Barath, Kemar Roach and Gavin Tonge made the cut as well. For Garner, 56, one challenge was to ensure team unity.”We have a challenging period ahead with the merging of the fellows who played during the strike and those fellows who were on strike,” he said. “It is going to be a challenge to sort of get everything working smoothly and get them to play competitive cricket while we are in Australia.”That’s what is going to take most of the time and when we talk about the players who were playing and those who went on strike, this is where they need to understand they need to move on. We have to look at the future of West Indies cricket we have to look at what is happening in world cricket.”

England batter leads way as Eagles come close to breaking their drought on damp night in Hove

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay13-Jun-2025Essex’s hopes of claiming their first win of the season in the Vitality Blast were thwarted by the rain when they were well on top against Sussex Sharks at Hove.In a game reduced to 17 overs a side, Jordan Cox – making only his second appearance in the competition this season after being involved with England Lions – hit four successive balls from offspinner Jack Carson for six on his way to a 47-ball 82 in an imposing total of 177 for 4.Shane Snater then took three wickets without conceding a run as Sussex slumped to 23 for 3 after 3.1 overs when the rain which had delayed the start returned at 9.35pm. Umpires Martin Saggers and Hassan Adnan abandoned the game shortly afterwards as the rain set in.It was a frustrating outcome for an Essex team who did not play like a team beaten in their first five games and that was largely down to a high-class contribution from England international Cox.Together with left-hander Paul Walter, he added 115 in 9.1 overs for the third wicket with Walter contributing 35 from 22 balls, after opener Dean Elgar had got the innings off to a rumbustious start with 33 from 18 balls, seven of which he hit to the boundary.The best way to describe Sussex’s bowling effort would be mixed, with three overs costing a combined 70 runs. Skipper Tymal Mills had to take himself out of the attack after bowling two bouncers in his first five balls, which went for 25 and had to be completed by Tom Clark.The eighth over went for 30 as Cox struck Carson for three leg-side sixes before going down the pitch to loft the off-spinner for a straight maximum and Cox hit another six off James Coles in the tenth over which went for 15.It wasn’t all bad. Ollie Robinson was economical and Henry Crocombe, in his first T20 appearance for nearly two years, finished with 2 for 28 and picked up both Walter – lbw to a fast, full and straight delivery – and Cox, who was well caught at deep backward square by Harrison Ward off the first delivery of the final over. Cox’s runs came from 47 balls and he also hit six boundaries.Carson had the consolation of removing Elgar with his first ball, courtesy of a juggling catch at long-off by Robinson but Sussex were left to score at 10.40 runs an over.Sussex made the worst possible start. Zimbabwean Snater bowled Ward through the gate with the first ball of the reply and skipper John Simpson was taken at short fine leg off the fifth. Cox then took a terrific catch standing up off the first ball of Snater’s second over to remove James Coles and at 23 for 3 Sussex were in considerable strife before rain saved them.