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Darren Lehmann has highlighted variety in domestic pitches as an important factor in producing players capable of performing in all conditions

Daniel Brettig09-Aug-2016As he ponders changes to Australia’s badly malfunctioning top order, coach Darren Lehmann has admitted that increasingly homogenised domestic pitches – and drop-in wickets at multipurpose stadiums – have played a role in stunting the adaptability of batsmen.When Lehmann and his contemporaries were learning their trade, each major venue had a pitch of unique character, from the bounce of Perth to the seam of Brisbane to Adelaide’s something-for-everyone, Sydney’s spin and Melbourne’s variable bounce. However the contrasts have diminished in recent years, not helped by the installation of drop-in pitches at the MCG, the Adelaide Oval and, soon, Perth’s new stadium.Another factor over time had been the preparation of increasingly friendly pitches for seam bowlers to aid each state’s bid for the Sheffield Shield, followed by a reverse directive from the team performance manager Pat Howard for flatter surfaces. While the number of runs scored in Australian first-class competition has risen, batsmen are clearly not facing the same challenges that so confounded them in Kandy and Galle.”I think we have said for a while that we would like the Shield wickets to go back a little bit in time where they are all different,” Lehmann said. “You had Perth which was grassy and bouncy and went through and swung, and Brisbane seamed and Adelaide reversed and spun and Sydney spun from day one.”All those things we would love to see happen, but the problem we’ve got now is we’ve got drop-ins at a couple of grounds, so it’s hard to do. You would love that to be the case but you are living in a different world and so it’s a bit harder. In terms of Test wickets, whatever we get we’ll trust the curators to do the best they can. I think you see it has been pretty fair in Australia for a couple of years but there is no reason it can’t improve either.”Groundsmen in Australia are hard at work trying to find ways to improve the variety of pitches they can prepare. Adelaide Oval’s head curator Damian Hough is at the forefront of experimentation with moveable surfaces, developing more porous drop-in trays that allow moisture to escape and so create the right environment for the pitch to deteriorate. Last year Adelaide provided a pitch made more or less to order for the use of the pink ball in the inaugural day/night Test.The desire to change and improve has been visible in the flurry of thoughts around the Australian team over the past few days, starting with a team decision to play more proactively in the second innings in Galle. This was most dramatically shown by Adam Voges, who repeatedly tried the reverse sweep to break up the line of the spinners, before falling to the same shot.”We have had those discussions already,” Lehmann said of the brainstorming that led to Voges’ innings. “It’s probably him going ‘I have to change’, thinking he can play a certain way, and change in other ways. So, that’s learning the game, isn’t it, and trying to adapt. But being proactive is the key to having good success in the subcontinent, not being reactive.”Lehmann said he agreed with the captain Steven Smith’s contention that the selectors needed to choose batsmen more suited to the prevailing conditions in future. However, he also added that if this were so, public and media perceptions needed to change, given the fact that no member of the current squad “deserved” to be missing from the Sri Lanka squad given their performances last summer.”Totally agree,” Lehmann said of Smith’s suggestion. “The interesting thing, though, if you have a look at our summer and the way our batters played, if we didn’t take any of those batters, how would we be viewed in the press? It’s always tough. We haven’t had the success, now we have to look outside the square.”Shaun Marsh is in contention to come into the Test XI for Colombo, as a top-order batsman with a decent record against spin and runs on his last visit to Sri Lanka in 2011. None of Joe Burns, Usman Khawaja or even Voges could have too many complaints were they omitted for the third Test, a decision Lehmann said would not count against their chances of being chosen again on more familiar home turf.”Everyone in the squad will be considered, that’s what happens when you don’t have the results you would like, we will need to have a look at the wicket, sum it up and go from there,” Lehmann said. “You don’t like dropping anyone, you feel for them when they don’t play as well as they would like. That’s the hardest thing as a coach and a selector – you have to make tough decisions sometimes.”We are playing a Test match in tough conditions; [we will] pick the best XI for that and then worry about the summer when we get home. It won’t hold against anyone, this is a squad that we think is right. Obviously results show different and say different but we have to make sure we are picking the best XI to play.”

Former England captain Geoffrey Boycott believes Bangladesh’s impressive series win over India is not enough “to send waves through the cricket world” since it has come in home conditions

Vishal Dikshit23-Jun-20152:48

Boycott: Don’t get carried away with Bangladesh’s win

Former England captain Geoffrey Boycott believes Bangladesh’s impressive series win over India is not enough “to send waves through the cricket world” since it has come in home conditions. Boycott reckons Bangladesh, who had never beaten India in a series earlier and currently lead 2-0, need to win matches abroad, especially Tests against teams like Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and England.”They’re not quite minnows anymore, they’ve had one or two good performances but I think we are getting carried away a little bit,” Boycott told ESPNcricinfo’s . “Beating India occasionally, and Pakistan or Sri Lanka, doesn’t send waves through the cricket world. Sorry, I don’t want to put a damper on your excitement for Bangladesh but nearly all Bangladesh’s good performances are at home. That doesn’t make the world of cricket sit up until you go to Australia or South Africa or New Zealand, and beat them in their countries…that will be a huge step and we will all take notice.”Bangladesh have now won 10 ODIs on the trot at home, including series wins against Zimbabwe (5-0) and Pakistan (3-0) before hosting India. During the World Cup they qualified for the quarter-final for the first time by knocking England out with a 15-run win. They had finished fourth in Group A with three wins out of six and one match, against Australia, washed out.”I accept that one of their very best performances was beating England in Adelaide in the World Cup,” Boycott said. “I was there, Bangladesh were superb, I enjoyed their cricket and it’s the best I’ve seen from them. But Bangladesh can’t live on just an occasional or odd one-day performance win. They need to go abroad and start winning Test matches against the big boys. As I said, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, England have all got much better Test sides in them in their countries. You’ve got to go and do that a bit.”Boycott emphasised that the one big advantage Bangladesh have is the hefty ICC funding they have been receiving, that other teams did not when they started out, and the television revenues they earn from the broadcasters. The Bangladesh Cricket Board sold its worldwide media rights to Gazi TV last year for US $20.02 million for a period of six years, and recently sold the team sponsorship rights to Top of Mind, a media planning company, for over $385,000.”Cricket lovers want Bangladesh to succeed, no doubt about that, but you’ve got to accept that lots and lots of ICC money has been poured into Bangladesh cricket for many years now,” Boycott said. “And quite honestly, we, the cricketing nations of the world, need to see more from them. Bangladesh have a huge cricket-mad population and I realise it takes time to be able to match the big countries. It’s always happened like that – it took time for West Indies, New Zealand, Pakistan after partition, even India were not able to match England or Australia on equal terms in the early days. Now they are.”But none of these countries received a financial help or clout that Bangladesh have had over the years. They’ve had loads of money. These countries had to make a lot on their own, there wasn’t money around, there wasn’t television revenue for ICC, or whoever run world cricket, to pour in to India, Pakistan, New Zealand, West Indies when they were in their infancy.”And Sri Lanka, let me tell you. I’ve forgotten them but I shouldn’t because they’ve been wonderful…they’ve won a World Cup. I want them (Bangladesh) to enjoy their success but I don’t think you need to get carried away, you need to keep it in perspective because more is required. An occasional one-day is lovely but we need more.”

Bangladesh scampered to a series-levelling win against Sri Lanka in the third and final ODI, in Pallekele, winning by three wickets in a rain-hit encounter

The Report by Mohammad Isam in Pallekele28-Mar-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTillakaratne Dilshan scored his fourth century in Pallekele, but it went in vain•Associated Press

Bangladesh scampered to a series-levelling win against Sri Lanka in the third and final ODI, in Pallekele, winning by three wickets in a rain-hit encounter. They were helped along by Nasir Hossain’s composed 33 off 27 balls late in the chase, the visitors showing nerves as they neared the victory – their first in 15 completed games against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka.Overall it was a fine occasion for the visitors, who had left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak becoming the first Bangladesh bowler to aggregate 200 ODI wickets, as he picked up a five-wicket haul that helped drag them back into the game after Sri Lanka’s openers had built a fine platform. The hosts didn’t build appropriately on that excellent start, ending up at 302 for 9 in their 50 overs when they looked on course for much more.Bangladesh began their innings in an equally good manner, with Mohammad Ashraful and Anamul Haque adding 77 runs for the first wicket. But rain delayed the chase for more than two hours, with the score at 78 for 1 in 13.4 overs. As play restarted at 10.20pm local time, as per Duckworth-Lewis calculations, the visitors needed to score another 105 runs to win in the next 13.2 overs, and they did.But things could have been different had Bangladesh wilted after Lasith Malinga’s final over. The two wickets he claimed in that over all but sealed the series for the home side but Nasir charged at Thisara Perera in the next, the penultimate over. He took 14 out of the 18 runs required in that over, playing an easy square-cut and two proper slogs over midwicket to snatch back the momentum. With two runs to win off seven balls, Sohag Gazi top-edged one over wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara, before turning and giving his batting partner a hug.Promoted up to No. 5, Nasir witnessed madness at the other end as the batsmen gave a chance to the calm Sri Lankan fielders and bowlers almost every over. But he minded his own end, ensuring he was there when the business end of the game came about.The madness began when Jahurul tried to slog or take off for a suicidal single every other ball, and it contributed to his dismissal. He was batting well when not charging at the bowlers, but he thought it was a situation that called for a change from first to fifth gear. The same can be said about captain Mushfiqur Rahim, who was run out after Nasir had pushed the ball towards the bowler Perera. His deputy Mahmudullah was stringing together an important partnership with Nasir when he decided to play a reverse-sweep off Sachithra Senanayake when the team needed just 39 off 33 balls.But the home side waited far too long to bring on the offspinner Senanayake after the rain break, and that probably cost them. Senanayake’s angle from around the wicket gave the Bangladesh batsmen too much to think about, and there were several moments when wickets were just inches away. He took 2 for 26 from his six overs. Jeevan Mendis hasn’t bowled an over in the series and given the visitors’ weakness against legspinners, Mathews missed a trick there too.It was a completely different game than the one played earlier in the afternoon under brilliant sunshine. Sri Lanka posted a formidable target with Tillakaratne Dilshan scoring his 16th ODI hundred, and second of the series. Along with Kusal Perera, he added 116 for the first wicket but the Bangladesh spinners gained some footing and it ultimately held Sri Lanka back in the final ten overs too.Perera scored his first ODI fifty in the typical manner that everyone has been awed by so far in his short career. He went after the bowling from the third over when he hit a straight six, and then continued to pelt the pace bowlers who went for plenty in the first seven overs.Dilshan went after the bowling in the two Powerplays but remained the anchor through most of the innings. However, he found little support at the other end.The middle-order shuffle didn’t help the hosts as none of Thisara Perera, Mathews or Mendis could contribute as they were expected to. It was left to Lahiru Thirimanne, who was pushed down the order, to bang out two sixes in his quickfire 25, which took them past the 300-run mark.Razzak’s five wickets apart, Mahmudullah and Sohag Gazi tightened things up whenever they were asked to bowl. Mahmudullah made up for his poor run of form with the bat, bowling his ten overs for 50 runs while Gazi was once again accurate during most parts of his spell. And in the end, it all added up to victory for Bangladesh.

Glenn Maxwell has been a valuable impact player for Victoria over the past two years, and now he has a chance to prove himself at international level

Brydon Coverdale15-Aug-2012If you mention the name Glenn Maxwell to the casual Australian cricket fan you can expect one of two responses. Either they’ll think they’ve heard him commentating on the radio (no, that’s Glenn Mitchell and Jim Maxwell), or they won’t know the name at all. But the more dedicated followers of Australia’s domestic cricket are well aware of Maxwell, and have no doubt kept an eye on his progress since February 9 last year.That was the night when Maxwell rewrote the record books with a 19-ball half-century for Victoria against Tasmania, the fastest fifty ever scored in Australia’s domestic one-day history. He demolished a pretty good attack featuring Ben Hilfenhaus and James Faulkner, and most impressively set Victoria on the path to victory having come to the crease with 66 runs needed at more than ten an over. It was his sixth one-day game for Victoria. He had not yet made his first-class debut.Soon, Maxwell will have the chance to prove his talent at international level. He has been in Darwin over the past week, training with the Australia squad as they prepare to fly out for a one-day and Twenty20 series against Pakistan in the UAE, and he is also expected to be part of the squad for the World T20 in Sri Lanka next month. And don’t expect anything different from Maxwell when he walks out in the national colours.”I won’t change too much when I play for Australia,” Maxwell told ESPNcricinfo. “I’ll still keep my natural flair but also rein it in when I need to and really be that rock if it’s needed. I’m looking forward to getting some opportunities in the batting order and looking forward to doing what the team needs from me in the right situations, whether that be quick runs or saving our arses.”Sometimes, as the chase against Tasmania showed, the two are one and the same. Not that he has coasted solely on that performance since then. A month later he made his first Sheffield Shield hundred, an unbeaten 103 from 118 balls against South Australia, and as a T20 player he has earned contracts from the Delhi Daredevils and Hampshire. In his third county match this year, his 66 not out from 32 balls delivered a crushing victory over Kent.And yet, it is for his offspin and athletic fielding as much as his batting that Maxwell has earned a call-up from Australia. His presence in the T20 squad can be seen as a like-for-like swap for Steven Smith, who has had his chances at international level without quite grasping his opportunities. Both are impact players, thrilling to watch but at times unpredictable. Australia’s T20 captain, George Bailey, is excited by what Maxwell can offer in the World T20 in Sri Lanka.”Maxy is someone who in terms of the 15 for the World Cup just comes with a really specific skill set that we really like,” Bailey said. “He’s performed well in the IPL, he’s been over playing in England, he’s played a lot of cricket. He’s an outstanding fielder, an outstanding athlete.”When he strikes the ball he’s one of the best strikers going around. He can win a game off his own bat. He’s really destructive, which we love to see. He’s flexible – he can bat close to the top or in the lower order. And he’s a handy offspin bowler, and that was an area where we felt we needed a bit more cover.”Maxwell, 23, will be one of three spinners in Australia’s squad for the Pakistan one-dayers and T20s, along with Smith and Xavier Doherty for the ODIs and Doherty and Brad Hogg for the T20s. A useful man to bowl through the middle overs, Maxwell is looking forward to working in what he expects to be favourable conditions in the UAE.”The good thing with the UAE and the conditions we’ll get there is that I probably can be considered a frontline bowler and be a real go-to option to bowl eight to ten overs in a one-day game,” he said. “It will depend on team balance and what they need, if they want to play extra quicks, I’m not sure if the conditions will suit that. I think they’ll play a few spinners, so I reckon I’ll have a good chance of playing a few games over there.”And if he shows what he showed that night in Hobart, especially when Australia move on to World T20 in Sri Lanka, even the most casual Australian cricket fan will know the name Glenn Maxwell. Because his namesake, Jim, will have just shouted it.

County Championship Division Two leaders Northamptonshire were left frustrated on the third day of their match against Leicestershire at Wantage Road with not a single ball bowled

26-May-2011
Scorecard
County Championship Division Two leaders Northamptonshire were left frustrated on the third day of their match against Leicestershire at Wantage Road with not a single ball bowled. Rain fell on and off throughout the day meaning that Leicestershire will go into the final day still on 52 without loss, 53 runs ahead of Northants, with their openers Will Jefferson and Matthew Boyce on 15 and 36 respectively.Twice the umpires ordered the covers to come off but on both occasions the heavens opened once more, leading to them being hastily relaid. Eventually, after a further inspection at 3.40pm, the men in the middle decided enough was enough and the two sides will try to force a result tomorrow.

Former Pakistan captain Aamer Sohail hit out at PCB chairman Ijaz Butt, over the controversy surrounding the selection of injury replacements for the World Twenty20 tournament

Cricinfo staff21-Apr-2010Former Pakistan captain Aamer Sohail has hit out at PCB chairman Ijaz Butt, over the controversy surrounding the selection of replacements for the World Twenty20 tournament. First-choice players Umar Gul and Yasir Arafat were ruled out with injuries at the eleventh hour, following which Butt rejected the selection committee and team management’s choice for one of the two replacements.”I must say that this one-man show will have to be stopped,” Sohail was quoted in the . “It’s the chief selector’s job to pick players in consultation with the captain and coach. But unfortunately it is the PCB who is calling all the shots. If you have to make all the decisions then why have you appointed these people. There should be distribution of power otherwise we can’t have any improvement in our cricket.”Shahid Afridi, Waqar Younis and Mohsin Khan – the team’s captain, coach and chief selector respectively – held press conferences naming Mohammad Sami and Mohammad Irfan as the replacements, without Butt’s approval. The lack of communication is believed to have irked Butt, who later over-ruled the selection, picking Abdur Rehman ahead of Irfan. Sohail was critical of the manner in which Butt handled the matter.”If you don’t want the chief selector and coach to do their jobs then why are you throwing away money by paying them salaries? It will be better for Pakistan cricket if all these players are fired because it will help the PCB chairman in his drive to cut down costs,” Sohail said.This is not the first time Sohail has gone against Butt – the former opener had served as the director of Pakistan’s National Cricket Academy, before quitting in July 2009, over differences with Butt, who was the PCB chairman then as well.

Todd Greenberg assures players that he will travel to Pakistan with them; Nick Hockley is also expected to make the trip

PTI11-Jan-2022Todd Greenberg, the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) chief, has assured the country’s cricketers that he would travel to Pakistan with the squad if the tour gets the go-ahead, and would be fine with “one or two players” backing out of the trip.”I’ve made an assurance to the players that they won’t go alone,” Greenberg was quoted as saying by the . “If they’re going to Pakistan, I’ll be going with them and I think that’s important. It’s an opportunity to show the players that we’re in this together.”The ACA accompanied Cricket Australia on a pre-tour of Pakistan late last year, and the reports were all very positive. But we’ll continue to take the advice of DFAT [Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade] and other government organisations, as we need to be able to satisfy not just the players, but their families, that it’s safe to tour.”International teams have been reluctant to travel to Pakistan since the terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in 2009, though international cricket has taken place in fits and starts in the country recently. If Australia get the security clearance to travel, it would be Australia’s first tour to Pakistan since 1998, when Mark Taylor’s side won the three-Test series 1-0.”There may be one or two players who won’t be comfortable despite the best advice we give, and that’s OK, we need to respect that,” Greenberg said.He stressed that while Australia were keen to fulfil their international commitments, they would allow players to make their own choices. “We have to be kind and patient with each other, and there’ll be a player or two who say, ‘You know what, this is not for me at this particular point in my life and career, I’m not comfortable going’,” he told SEN Radio during the fourth Ashes Test in Sydney. “If that’s the case, we need to have great respect for that.”CA chief executive Nick Hockley is also planning to travel to Pakistan for at least a part of the tour, while the interim chair Richard Freudenstein may visit for a period to meet with his counterpart Ramiz Raja, unless a new permanent chair is chosen by then, according to the report in the newspaper.Pakistan are scheduled to host Australia in March-April for three Tests, three ODIs and one T20I, with the Tests in Karachi, Rawalpindi and Lahore, which will also host all the limited-overs matches.

“I think we saw a lot of heart, a lot of commitment. What’s important to our group is our commitment to our style of cricket”

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jun-20213:08

Is this the greatest New Zealand Test team?

New Zealand’s captain Kane Williamson has described winning the inaugural World Test Championship in Southampton as a “special feeling”, but would not go as far as calling it the biggest day in the history of New Zealand cricket.”Certainly is a very special feeling. A couple of close ones and then to get one [final win is special],” Williamson said before collecting the Test Championship trophy. “India are a formidable side and we knew coming into the game it was going to be an incredibly tough challenge.”It’s the pinnacle, isn’t it, being involved in the final,” he added in the post-match press conference. “Even coming into the last day, although it was staggered with the weather and all the delays that we had, all results were on the table. It was just great the heart the team showed to take it across the line.”We saw both teams grab the momentum at certain points in time, and then to have the sixth day as back-up made for a fantastic game to be a part of. For us it’s a very proud moment in our history and a proud moment, just as a team really, to stick to what we do well and come away with the win, which is a really great feeling.”After the heartache of consecutive World Cup finals in 2015 and 2019 – the latter an agonising loss on boundary countback after both the match and the subsequent Super Over were tied – the triumph was sweet vindication for a New Zealand squad that has arguably never been bettered in the country’s history. Williamson, however, was keeping his emotions in check.”It’s a very special occasion and a fantastic feeling,” he said. “We’ve been involved in a couple of finals previously, and I suppose the first one [2015] was one-sided, the second one was pretty interesting, and this feeling is a bit different to those, which is great. I know the guys will celebrate that.”2019 was a great occasion and a brilliant game of cricket as well,” he added. “But obviously it’s a slightly different feeling, being on the right side of the result for us, and also a part of a great game of cricket and a great occasion, the first official World Test Championship. This is a really good feeling.”Related

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Williamson also said that while 11 people took the field for the WTC final, he wished to pay tribute to all 22 squad players who were part of the New Zealand Test side in the championship cycle. He also said that it was his players’ “heart and commitment” that earned them the final win.”I think for us, we know we don’t always have the stars, and we use our bits and pieces to stay in games and be competitive,” Williamson said. “I think we saw that in this match. I think we saw a lot of heart, a lot of commitment. What’s important to our group is our commitment to our style of cricket. And we had to, we know how strong this Indian side is in all conditions. We’ve seen it for a long time.”It’s not always easy I suppose when you’re playing in a one-off Test match as a final where anything can happen, and it’s a fickle game, and we respect that, but yeah, throughout all six days it ebbed and flowed and no one really got the upper hand for a long period of time.”The key partnership on the final day was Williamson’s unbeaten 96-run stand with Ross Taylor, who struck the winning boundary to finish unbeaten on 47. The pair first played together in Williamson’s Test debut back in 2010, also against India in Ahmedabad, and the captain paid tribute to his veteran batter.”It was fantastic to be a part of a partnership like that,” he said. “Obviously Ross is our most experienced player and a leader in the group, so it was nice that we were able to soak up some of the pressure and then score a few together, although it was really difficult to come by. But having an experienced hitter like Ross out there was certainly helpful.”It was a really special feeling to be there at the end together and tick those runs off. Even though it was 130-odd, on that surface you never felt comfortable. It was nice to soak up some of that pressure and put together a partnership.”Williamson also praised his lower-order batters in the first innings, who helped New Zealand take a 32-run lead. He said that while he personally found it tough to score runs against an “amazing” Indian attack, the way the lower order played with the freedom to take them to the lead played a big role in New Zealand eventually winning the match.He also praised the surface prepared for the final, calling it a “sporting wicket” for providing a result despite only four days of cricket possible.”That was tough obviously, an amazing attack, didn’t give you much to hit for long periods,” he said. “It was certainly tough going but we had to apply ourselves and the lower order played with a bit more freedom to take us closer to some sort of lead, which was important on a wicket like this. A very sporting surface, I suppose, and only four days of cricket produced some result.”The result, while a disappointment for India, was warmly greeted by the final’s neutral viewers around the world, who have taken to New Zealand’s style in recent years – starting with Brendon McCullum’s commitment to attacking cricket, and continuing through Williamson’s five-year tenure, including his grace in defeat in 2019.But after it was suggested on the match commentary that ‘nice guys do finish first sometimes’, Williamson insisted that the team’s only aim was to remain true to themselves.”In terms of our team and our behaviours, we try and commit to what’s important to us,” Williamson said. “People can comment on that, or tag us how they’d like, but it’s not about being anything other than authentic to us as a group and the sort of cricket that we want to play, and the behaviours that are important to us day in, day out. That’s something that is important to us as a team.”

England captain says ‘there are still a lot of issues to be a girl in sport’

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-2020Heather Knight believes comments by former Football Association chairman Greg Clarke have highlighted that there is still work to be done for sportswomen to achieve equality with their male counterparts.Clarke resigned from the FA and from his role as FIFA vice-president this week after using a series of racist and offensive phrases while speaking at a parliamentary committee meeting.He was also criticised for saying a coach had told him that a lack of women’s goalkeepers was because girls “don’t like having the ball kicked at them hard”.Knight, the England women’s cricket captain, said there were still “lots of issues” surrounding how women in sport are viewed and treated.”To have someone so high up in football to say that is not a great place to be,” Knight told Sky Sports News. “There’s a lot going on at the moment in terms of women’s football academies not being able to train whereas the boys’ academies are [under UK Covid-19 restrictions].”It highlights that there are still a lot of issues to be a girl in sport. It’s not a problem purely for football, there are lots of examples from other sports where girls don’t get the same opportunities as guys. I think it highlights there’s still a lot of work to do in that area and still a lot of changes that need to be made.”Boys’ football academies were allowed to stay open during a second national lockdown because they met government requirements for elite sport, but girls’ academies initially remained closed because they fell outside the FA’s interpretation of those rules.Following political pressure, girls’ academies will be allowed to open, although Baroness Campbell, the FA’s director of women’s football, told Telegraph Sport that she expected only “one or two” to be able to do so because of the costs involved in complying with Covid-19 prevention measures – a problem not faced by the significantly better resourced boys’ academies.Knight acknowledged that many positive changes had occurred in women’s cricket and women’s sport over the course of her decade-long England career.”When I was growing up [cricket] was very much a male-dominated sport,” Knight said. “I played men’s cricket down in Devon and you had to have a thick skin sometimes [due to] the comments you got.”Luckily a lot of that has changed. I think perceptions to women in cricket and in sport in general is miles away from where they were while I was growing up.”It has become a lot more normal to become a woman in sport, and a lot easier for young girls to aspire to be that and to emulate the people they are now seeing a lot more in the media, obviously with women’s sport being a lot more visible. I think we’ve still got progress to make, but in terms of my career playing for England for the last 10 years, it’s changed massively.”During a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee hearing on Tuesday, Clarke referred to “coloured footballers”, stereotyped south Asians and Afro-Caribbean people as possessing “different career interests” and described homosexuality as a “life choice”.Asked in the hearing if he would like to withdraw the use of the word “coloured”, Clarke apologised for using the term.In his resignation statement, Clarke said: “My unacceptable words in front of Parliament were a disservice to our game and to those who watch, play, referee and administer it. This has crystallised my resolve to move on. I am deeply saddened that I have offended those diverse communities in football that I and others worked so hard to include.”

Coach’s message to county’s supporters appeared to suggest links between the teams

Matt Roller17-Dec-2019Lancashire have removed an “inadvertently misleading” statement from Manchester Originals head coach Simon Katich from their website amid fears about the blurring of lines between the the county and the new Hundred team based at Old Trafford.Katich’s ‘open letter’, written to Lancashire supporters with the intention of encouraging them to attend games in the new competition, claimed that “the Originals are an extension of this great county” and that “the squad…is built around a core group of Red Rose players”.Lancashire share a senior member of coaching staff with the Originals, with the county’s head coach Glen Chapple set to work as an assistant to Katich, while four Lancashire players are also in the Originals’ squad: Jos Buttler, Matt Parkinson, Saqib Mahmood and Dane Vilas.ALSO READ: Blast stars frustrated by Hundred draft as smaller counties struggle for attentionKatich also told the last week that he “would have liked to have drafted a few more Lancashire boys, but the way the draft panned out a few things didn’t go to plan”.Andy Nash, a former ECB board member and an outspoken critic of the Hundred, claimed on Twitter that the letter represented “clear evidence [that the Hundred] elevates the eight hosts and leaves ten counties as bystanders”.The potential for concern is particularly notable in the case of the Manchester team. Every other Hundred team has at least two counties affiliated with it, but Lancashire are the only county linked with the Originals. The overlap in senior members of coaching staff raises the fear that players who impress for Lancashire are more likely to be signed in future drafts, providing players with an added incentive to sign for the county.Jos Buttler of Manchester Originals looks on prior to The Hundred Draft•Getty Images

An ECB spokesperson reiterated that there is no overlap in the two teams’ governance, that Katich is not employed by the club, and that it has introduced safeguards to ensure that no conflict of interests arises. Each new side will be run by a team board with an independent chairman, and regulations have been put in place to make sure contracts with counties and with Hundred teams cannot be linked.”Lancashire Cricket Club is wholly supportive and committed to the Hundred and the opportunity to attract a new and diverse audience,” a spokesperson said.”The letter was taken down as it was inadvertently misleading. We look forward to hosting Manchester Originals in the same way we’re looking forward to hosting England v Pakistan for the Specsavers Test next year and delivering a first class experience here at Emirates Old Trafford.”December 18, 1300 GMT – This article was updated to reflect the fact Mark Chilton will no longer be working for the Originals in the Hundred