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Marchant de Lange has been withdrawn from the Titans squad that will play in the Champions League T20, and could be in doubt for the tour of Australia as he recovers from a lower-back stress fracture

Firdose Moonda25-Sep-2012South African quick Marchant de Lange has been withdrawn from the Titans squad that will play in the Champions League T20, and could be in doubt for the tour of Australia later in the year as he recovers from a lower-back stress fracture. De Lange sustained the injury in June and is expected to be match fit only by November.He is currently in the final stages of a rehabilitation process with Titans physiotherapist Ian Repton and has started some gym work. De Lange will also undergo an examination of his bowing action to see if anything can be tweaked to prevent similar problems in future. National bowling coach Allan Donald, high performance manager Vincent Barnes, Titans coach Matthew Maynard and Repton are all on the case and working with de Lange to ensure he makes a successful return to international cricket.”Where we are at the moment is that we have been sent some information from Allan and we are waiting on more footage before we will know if anything needs to be changed with Marchant’s action,” Barnes told ESPNCricinfo. “It’s a slow process but we want to make sure he is properly ready.”De Lange hurt his lower back during the unofficial T20 tri-series between South Africa, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in June but was included in the touring squad for the England Test series the following month. He travelled with the squad but didn’t recover sufficiently and was sent home during the second tour match in Canterbury. Albie Morkel replaced de Lange, who was initially thought to need eight weeks to recover from spasms.The time frame and seriousness of the injury grew once de Lange was assessed by Repton. “We did another scan when he came home and we found that he had a stress fracture of the lower back so we had to start a new process,” Reptons said. “He has been through the whole program but we only expect him to be ready to play by the time the domestic one-day competition starts.”South Africa’s one-day cup starts on November 2 and the Titans play in the first-match, against the Lions. The national team’s three-Test tour of Australia coincides with that tournament. The squad is expected to be announced next week and will leave for a training camp on October 25 with the first Test starting in Brisbane on November 9. De Lange will likely miss out on the trip, especially as he would not have played any first-class cricket in months.De Lange was said to be extremely disappointed when he was ruled out of the England tour and Barnes acknowledged that he may have similar “frustration” ahead of the Australia tour, more so because he has fond memories of playing against them. De Lange caught the eye of the national selectors when he took five wickets against the touring Australians in a warm-up match in October last year.That performance saw him included in the South African squad to play against Sri Lanka later in the summer and made his debut in the Boxing Day Test in Durban. His 7 for 81 in the first innings made him the most successful debutant of 2011. In March, he was included in the T20 and Test squads to tour New Zealand. His last over heroics with the ball in the third T20 in Auckland earned him an IPL contract with the Kolkata Knight Riders, where he played three matches.Although de Lange has played what Repton called “a lot of cricket,” in the last two years, all parties agree that he was not the cause of his stress fracture. “I wouldn’t say he was overbowled or it was caused by his workload,” Repton said. “It could be a combination of other factors, perhaps his action and he has also just turned 21, so he was probably finishing his natural development. We will make sure it’s not an issue going forward.”Barnes said de Lange has been “well managed,” at national and franchise level and will continue to be monitored. Like Australian speedster Pat Cummins, who also came to the fore in last year’s Australia-South Africa series, de Lange will have ample resources spent on him to ensure a stress fracture does not deprive the national side of his obvious talent.

Priority is to reunite the IPL returnees with families as they come out of quarantine on Monday, CA CEO says

Andrew McGlashan31-May-2021Cricket Australia has yet to start discussions over whether players will be able to head back to the IPL when the tournament resumes in the UAE later this year as those who had returned from the suspended competition completed their quarantine in Sydney on Monday.The cohort of Australians – players, commentators, coaches and match officials – endured a long journey home when the tournament was halted earlier this month, having to travel via a stay in the Maldives due to Australia’s border being closed to arrivals from India, before a BCCI-chartered flight brought them back when restrictions were partly lifted.While Australia do not have any international commitments when the IPL is due to resume it is unlikely that all the players will resume their deals. The tournament is now set to run almost straight into the T20 World Cup – which still seems likely to be moved to the UAE, although the BCCI has asked the ICC for more time to see if the showpiece event can be held as scheduled in India – meaning another lengthy stint in various biosecure bubbles for those involved in both. It will also clash with the start of the Australian domestic season, although last year players with IPL deals did skip state cricket.”Once we get back together as a group that [the IPL] is something we’ll obviously need to discuss,” Nick Hockley, Cricket Australia’s chief executive, said on the day he was confirmed in the role full-time. “Our players returning from the IPL have only today come out of quarantine, so our first priority is to make sure they are reunited with their families…we [then] have a tour to prepare for in the West Indies.”Following the T20 World Cup, players will need to do a further two weeks quarantine in Australia then those in the Test squad will go straight into the opening match of the men’s season against Afghanistan in Hobart before the Ashes in December.Australia have named a preliminary squad of 23 for the West Indies tour in July, which includes five T20Is and three ODIs, with that expected to be trimmed to around 18. They are then due to go straight from the West Indies to Bangladesh for five T20Is although those dates have yet to be rubberstamped.Related

• Nick Hockley named permanent CA chief executive

• West Indies to host SA, Australia, Pakistan in home season

• Australia's Test drought poses possible Ashes problems

• BCCI mulls moving T20 World Cup to UAE

• Australia to tour Bangladesh for five T20Is in August

The group coming out of quarantine on Monday included nine players who are part of the enlarged squad while Kane Richardson, Andrew Tye and Adam Zampa – who left the IPL shortly before Australia’s borders closed to arrivals from India – are also included.There have been reports that David Warner and Pat Cummins may not be included in the final squad so they are able to spend more time with their families. Allrounder Daniel Sams, who contracted Covid-19 shortly before the IPL started, made himself unavailable for selection.”They are clearly quite shaken by the experience, and are very appreciative to be back home, very much looking forward to being reunited with family and friends today,” Hockley said. “It’s a couple of weeks before the West Indies touring party then regroups at the National Cricket Centre [in Brisbane] and then that’s the time to refocus.”Hockley also confirmed that Cricket Australia is continuing to work towards getting the squad Covid-19 vaccines before they depart in late June.Last month the Australian government approved vaccines for Olympians who will be heading to Tokyo and the cricketers are set to come under the same eligibility criteria for those given exemptions to leave Australia for work purposes.”We really welcomed the government announcements that people with exemptions to leave Australia for work will be eligible for the vaccine,” Hockley said. “Now once the players are out of quarantine we will be working to offer them vaccinations before heading off to the West Indies.”

T20 competition fills gap after Kia Super League was scrapped to make way for the Hundred

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Feb-2021A new regional women’s T20 tournament has been confirmed by the ECB for the summer of 2021, alongside the return of the 50-over Rachel Heyhoe Flint Trophy.The increase in fixtures comes after the ECB awarded 41 full-time domestic contracts at the end of last year, in addition to the 17 centrally contracted England Women players.The Rachel Heyhoe Flint Trophy will be played in two blocks, commencing on May 29 and with the final on September 25. Southern Vipers, who won the inaugural competition, will begin their defence against Lightning at the Ageas Bowl, with fixtures on the opening weekend also being played at Headingley, Chelmsford and Bristol.The middle of the summer will be taken up with the Women’s Regional T20, starting on June 26 and again placed in two blocks. The eight teams will be split into two groups, playing each other home and away; Finals Day will be held on September 5, with the best-placed group winner going straight into the final, and the other group winner and best-placed runner-up contesting the semi-final.Northern Diamonds will take on Lightning at Headingley in a local derby to kick off the opening round of the WRT20, with fixtures also staged at Trent Bridge, Edgbaston and Taunton.The return of a domestic women’s T20 tournament comes after the successful Kia Super League was scrapped in 2019 to make way for the Hundred. The first three rounds of fixtures will be staged in June and July before a six-week break for the Hundred, after which teams will play the final three rounds and Finals Day.”This promises to be a truly memorable summer of cricket for the women’s game,” Clare Conner, the ECB’s managing director of women’s cricket, said. “We are not only set to further professionalise the game with more players on full-time contracts than ever before but, crucially, we will showcase our game to more young girls across England and Wales so that they can say cricket is a game for them.”I am particularly proud that we will continue to move forward with Rachael Heyhoe Flint’s name, with everything she represented for women’s cricket, firmly entrenched in our journey.”The launch of women’s regional cricket last summer, despite the challenges caused by the pandemic, was another significant step forward for our domestic game. We are now looking forward to seeing those regional teams play twice as much cricket this summer with the addition of the T20 competition.”England Women are scheduled to play two international series this summer, with fixtures – as well as those for the Hundred – still to be confirmed.

Women’s Regional T20

Group A: Southern Vipers, Central Sparks, South East Stars, Lightning
Group B: Northern Diamonds, Western Storm, Sunrisers, Thunder

Meg Lanning and her Australia deputy Rachael Haynes go head-to-head with the WBBL trophy in their sights

Andrew McGlashan27-Nov-2020

Big Picture

The WBBL final will pitch Australia’s captain, Meg Lanning, against her vice-captain Rachael Haynes. The Melbourne Stars, having reached the knockouts for the first time, are up against the Sydney Thunder who are in their first final since the opening edition of the tournament.The Stars have been the standout team of the tournament, storming their way through the group stage until a couple of defeats at the back-end but they regathered themselves to comprehensively dispatch the Perth Scorchers.The Thunder were less consistent in the round-robin but have won when it matters, most spectacularly in their semi-final against the Brisbane Heat when they turned around a game that seemed lost – although the players themselves said the belief never wavered.While both teams have strength throughout their XIs, it might come down to the Stars’ impactful batting verses the Thunder’s varied bowling attack – not that the Stars lack at all in that area, either. Lanning, Elyse Villani and Mignon du Preez have led the way for the Stars, backed up by Nat Sciver and latterly the rapidly developing Annabel Sutherland with crucial cameos from Alana King (who has also been a star with ball in hand).The Thunder’s attack includes the pace of Shabnim Ismail, the powerplay skills of left-arm spinner Sam Bates, the experience of Sammy-Jo Johnson and, as shown to such great effect in the semi-final, the yorkers of Hannah Darlington.Above all, though, this tournament has been a huge success to have been played in its entirety given the challenges that it had to overcome. Many players have not found hub life easy – Haynes admitted she “hadn’t enjoyed it” – but they have embraced the new normal and, by and large, the on-field action has been of high quality with established stars standing tall and young names standing out. Hopefully, the final will be a fitting conclusion.

Form guide

Stars WLLWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Thunder WWWLW

In the group stage

No result – Only four overs were possible on the wet opening weekend
Melbourne Stars won by eight wickets – du Preez’s half-century led a comfortable chase.Meg Kanning plays to the off side•Getty Images

In the spotlight

Games like these are made for Meg Lanning. Her return to the Stars has had the rejuvenating effect on the team that was hoped for. She has led from the front with the bat, scoring runs with her usual effortless style but also showing a level of power not always associated with her game – a sign of the impact of coach Trent Woodhill. She can lean on her experienced players, but also trusts her youngsters as shown by the way she has used Tess Flintoff and Sophie Day in the death overs.Hannah Darlington was Young Player of the Year last season but has certainly not suffered from any second-year blues. Her 18 wickets, including the Player of the Match performance in the semi-final, have come at 13.61 and an economy rate of 6.44. Despite still being so early in her career, she is an expert at the death with her yorkers. “It’s a nice strength to have, I do go to that ball a lot and it’s one that’s a wicket-taking delivery,” she said. “That’s the key, trying to get batters out and not being too defensive.”

Likely XIs

Melbourne Stars: 1 Elyse Villani, 2 Meg Lanning (capt), 3 Mignon du Preez, 4 Nat Sciver, 5 Annabel Sutherland, 6 Katherine Brunt, 7 Alana King, 8 Erin Osborne, 9 Tess Flintoff, 10 Nicole Faltum (wk), Sophie DaySydney Thunder: 1 Tammy Beaumont, 2 Rachel Trenaman, 3 Heather Knight, 4 Rachael Haynes (capt), 5 Phoebe Litchfield, 6 Sammy-Jo Johnson, 7 Tahlia Wilson (wk), 8 Hannah Darlington, 9 Lauren Smith, 10 Shabnim Ismail, 11 Sam Bates

Pitch and conditions

The two semi-finals have not been especially high-scoring, but the ball came on better during the second match on Thursday. North Sydney Oval is renowned as a good batting surface although there has been some turn on offer. It is meant to be a hot day in Sydney leading into a warm evening.

Quotes

“We’ve shown our skills can match up with anyone in this competition. We are looking forward to tomorrow night and it’s anyone’s game. In a final, in a big match, you saw that pressure can make people do funny things.”
“It’s great that we’ve been able to have some success. The last couple of years for them hasn’t been as they would have liked, for now we’ve done a great job to get to where we are coming from bottom to first after the round games. We’ve done a good job so far, it’s been a lot of fun, but we certainly came here to win the tournament.”

Islam struck a 51-ball 80 before Mortaza claimed his maiden five-for in T20 cricket

Mohammad Isam14-Dec-2020Gemcon Khulna became the first team to reach the Bangabandhu T20 Cup final, after beating Gazi Group Chattogram by a comprehensive 47-run margin, thanks to a rapid fifty by opener Jahurul Islam and a maiden T20 five-for from the experienced Mashrafe Mortaza.Khulna were on turbo mode as they scored 210 for 7 in 20 overs. Islam dominated a 71-run opening stand, with his partner Zakir Hossain scoring just 16 when he got out in the tenth over. Imrul Kayes blasted 25 off 12 balls with three fours and a six, before Shakib Al Hasan slammed two sixes and two fours in his 15-ball 28.Islam fell in the 15th over, but not before he top scored with a 51-ball 80 with five fours and four sixes. The captain Mahmudullah then hammered three sixes and two fours, making 30 off just nine balls. He got out in the 17th over, having scored all but one run in the 31-run stand with Shakib. Ariful Haque’s 15 off nine balls at the end took the team over the 200-run mark, which was eventually more than enough for Khulna.Mortaza then rocked Chattogram’s chase early when he removed their in-form openers Soumya Sarkar and Liton Das in his first two overs. Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Mohammad Mithun put on 63 runs for the third wicket. But just when Chattogram were getting a sniff, Mortaza broke the partnership by having Joy caught in the point boundary.As the asking rate rose, Ariful, now more of a part-time seamer, removed the Chaittogram captain Mithun, who made 53. He had struck three fours and as many sixes in his 35-ball stay, but he was deceived by a slower ball which got stuck on the pitch as he charged out of the crease.Mortaza came back to remove Shamsur Rahman, brilliantly caught by the substitute wicketkeeper Anamul Haque, and later Mustafizur Rahman, eventually ending with 5 for 35.

Warwickshire earned an away draw against Lancashire in the semi-finals of the CB40 after a 55-run Duckworth-Lewis victory over Yorkshire

27-Aug-2012
ScorecardWarwickshire earned an away draw against Lancashire in the semi-finals of the Clydesdale Bank 40 after a 55-run Duckworth-Lewis victory over Yorkshire at Scarborough.In a Group C game reduced to 29 overs by rain, Yorkshire found themselves chasing a revised target of 214 after Tim Ambrose had led the Warwickshire charge to 211 for 6 with an unbeaten 87 off 64 balls. Yorkshire managed 158 in deep gloom, with Warwickshire’s Neil Carter coming to the fore on his first one-day appearance of the season to snap up the first three wickets at a cost of only eight runs.With no chance of reaching the last four themselves, Yorkshire rested several senior players ahead of their important Championship match against Gloucestershire, and were led for the first time by batsman Gary Ballance, who scored a robust 68.They also suffered misfortune early in the match when Richard Pyrah fielded a ball at backward point and injured the same hand which he broke in similar circumstances in the opening week of the season. He took no further part in the game and the extent of the injury was due to be assessed later.Put in to bat, Warwickshire were given a sound start by Will Porterfield and Varun Chopra but with 37 scored Chopra edged an intended drive at Steve Patterson and was caught behind by Dan Hodgson. Shortly afterwards skipper Jamie Troughton gave a return catch to offspinner Joe Root.Rain, which had already caused a brief interruption, returned to bring about a reduction in the overs, but on the resumption Warwickshire took full advantage of some wayward bowling from pacemen Iain Wardlaw and Oliver Hannon-Dalby.The departure of Porterfield to Adil Rashid left the visitors on 83 for 3 but they quickly assumed command as Ambrose and Darren Maddy racked up 89 together in 10 overs before Maddy was caught on the long-on boundary by Root off Patterson for 44. Ambrose continued to dominate until the close of the innings and although he struck Patterson for six in the final over, the fast bowler still emerged with the excellent figures of 3 for 25 off his six overs.Yorkshire made a dreadful start to their reply, losing Adam Lyth lbw to the fourth ball of the innings from Carter, who also bowled Root in his next over and returned after a short rest to have Alex Lees caught by Troughton. Ballance took the attack to Warwickshire with big sixes off Steffan Piolet and Ian Blackwell, but debutant Jack Leaning was bowled cutting at Paul Best and Rashid fell lbw to Piolet before he had scored.Consecutive sixes at Best’s expense rushed Ballance to a 41-ball half-century with three fours and four sixes, and he added a further four and a six before being caught on the boundary edge. Patterson and Hannon-Dalby hit out bravely in near darkness until Patterson was out with 3.5 overs remaining.

Judge Zak Yacoob will be the chairman; interim board will “look at everything” says sports minister

Firdose Moonda30-Oct-2020Haroon Lorgat, Omphile Ramela and Andre Odendaal are part of a nine-person interim Cricket South Africa (CSA) board, which will be chaired by Judge Zak Yacoob. The names of the members and the functions of the interim board were announced on Friday by South Africa’s sports minister Nathi Mthethwa, who heralded it as a “new dawn” for cricket in the country.The interim board will include, apart from the ones named earlier, Stavros Nicolaou, Judith February, Andile Dawn Mbatha, Xolani Vonya, and Nkeko Caroline Mampuru. The members were nominated by the sports ministry, CSA’s members’ council – the highest-decision making body in the game, made up of the 14 provincial affiliate presidents – and the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA). They are expected to be in place for an initial period of three months, which could be extended, and have the overarching task of “stabilising cricket in this country”, according to Mthethwa.To that end, the selected members have been identified as “men and women with a range of skills in the areas of law, governance, business and international relations,” Mthethwa said.Among them, Lorgat is the best known in the cricket world, having held senior positions in the ICC and the CSA in the past. He left CSA in 2017, following a fallout over the defunct Global T20 League, and was replaced by Thabang Moroe, under whom the loss-making Mzansi Super League was launched. Lorgat is also working with the T10 league in Abu Dhabi.Others directly connected with cricket are Ramela, the former left-hand batsman who is the president of the SACA, Odendaal, a former CEO of Western Province Cricket, and Vonya, former president of Easterns Cricket. Ramela will have to step down from his role as SACA president to avoid a conflict of interest.The rest of the board consists of experts from outside the game. Yacoob is a former justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. February is a lawyer, governance specialist and columnist, Mbatha is a chief financial officer of the Independent Electoral Commission, Mampuru is the deputy head of the special investigation unit, a forensic investigation and litigation agency, and Nicolaou is a senior executive in the pharmaceutical industry. By that count, five of the nine members could be considered independent.That distance from the game is necessary as CSA looks to work its way out of an administrative crisis that has hung over it for the last year. The trouble began when Moroe, who was hired as CEO despite not meeting minimum requirements, lost the confidence of key stakeholders in the game including SACA (which has been in legal battles with CSA over a proposed domestic restructure and non-payment of images rights) and sponsors (Test backer Standard Bank and ODI partner Momentum have both walked away). The now-resigned board suspended Moroe in December last year and fired him in August, but in that time, CSA has descended into more strife particularly around transformation. All those factors convinced Mthethwa to step in.Nathi Mthethwa. South Africa’s minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, speaks at an event•Gallo Images/Getty Images

“I made several attempts in meeting with their board and members council, to encourage Cricket SA to pre-empt any action on my part by demonstrating that they have capacity, will and desire to self-correct,” Mtethwa said. “But it dawned on me that no matter how long we nudge cricket, no matter how long we delay the inevitable, we will be faced with it because quite clearly, there was no way that Cricket South Africa was in a position to self-correct. When I decided to intervene, I decided as a matter of courtesy to inform the ICC. I also thought I would give Cricket South Africa another opportunity to make representations to me as to why I should not intervene. In the interim, I heard that the board has resigned as Cricket South Africa, particularly the Members’ Council, managed to present me with constructive proposals to which I applied my mind and agreed to engage with them on a collaborative path that would see the replacement of the board.”Mthethwa confirmed that ICC CEO Manu Sawhney had responded to him, supporting “a
collaboration between government and cricket in South Africa” and putting CSA out of danger of breaching the ICC’s code of conduct, which forbids government interference in its members. “I decided to inform ICC because I thought it is important that there is proper alignment in what we do and that we are understood. We have no business as government to run cricket,” Mthethwa said.He said he expected the interim board to work without “fear, favour or prejudice”, and hoped they would produce a way forward within their three-month tenure. “The board is going to have no holy cows. It’s not going to be bound by decisions which may not be in the best interest of cricket,” Mthethwa said. “We are emphasising that it is an interim board. We think that within three months, they would have delivered, especially because this is a group of people who would know what to do.”CSA’s annual general meeting falls within that period after it was rescheduled from September 5 to December 5, but Mthethwa indicated it would be delayed further to allow the interim board to conclude its work. “In all practicalities, there is no way that that date will remain as the AGM,” he said. “We will have to deal with these problems, the root causes of these problems, which could have been avoided had people listened and did what they were supposed to do.”

Tim Murtagh’s Irish passport hasn’t proved an immediate route into the Ireland team

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-2012

Ireland squad

William Porterfield (capt), Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, Ed Joyce, John Mooney, Rory McCann, Kevin O’Brien, Boyd Rankin, Max Sorensen, Paul Stirling, Andrew White, Gary Wilson
Replacements: Tim Murtagh, Andrew Poynter, James Shannon, Albert van der Merwe

Tim Murtagh’s Irish passport hasn’t proved an immediate route into the Ireland team after he was left out of the 14-man squad for the ICC World Twenty20 qualifying tournament in the UAE. The squad includes 12 of the players who toured the subcontinent for the World Cup.Murtagh, the Middlesex pace bowler, had recently become eligible for Ireland but had to content with a place among the reserve players for the tournament. Rory McCann was selected as the replacement for Niall O’Brien, who wasn’t considered due to his participation in the Bangladesh Premier League which meant he didn’t tour Kenya, while the allrounder Max Sorensen also made the cut.Chairman of selectors Ross McCollum said: “We felt that the squad that had been preparing together all through the winter deserved the opportunity to gain qualification. It is indeed a very experienced squad, which we feel will serve us in good stead in high pressure games.”While we haven’t named Tim Murtagh or Albert van der Merwe in the 14, both are in our named replacements, and we’ll have no hesitation in bringing either in if any injuries occur. Stuart Poynter was unlucky to miss out, but we felt that given the prolific form that Rory McCann showed in domestic cricket in 2011 in the NCU, that he deserved his chance.”Ireland feature in Group B in the 16-team tournament alongside Scotland, Namibia, Oman, Uganda, Kenya, USA, and Italy. Two qualification places are on offer, for the World T20 in Sri Lanka in September.Ireland will head to South Africa for a training camp following their current tour of Kenya. They will play three warm-up Twenty20s against the Warriors franchise before heading to UAE.

Boyd Rankin, Tyrone Kane and Stuart Thompson miss out on contracts list for 2021

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Oct-2020Curtis Campher, Josh Little and David Delany have been awarded their first full-time senior contracts by Cricket Ireland. They are among a batch of 18 centrally contracted players for 2021, with a further two on retainer deals.Campher, a former South Africa U-19 allrounder, impressed on debut in the summer, scoring back-to-back half-centuries and taking five wickets in three ODIs against England. Little played twice in the series, picking up five wickets, while Delany has featured eight times in T20Is since his debut in 2019.Those to miss out on contracts from the 2020 group were Boyd Rankin, Tyrone Kane and Stuart Thompson – all of whom played in Ireland’s maiden Test in 2018 – while George Dockrell and Shane Getkate were switched on to retainers. Seamer Peter Chase has returned to the full-time list.Cricket Ireland announced earlier this week a change to the contractual period, with new deals running from March 2021 until February 2022, instead of in line with the calendar year. Those players retaining contracts will have their current deal extended from December 31 up until the end of February.”Two years ago the selectors embarked on a long-term strategy that aimed to identify and mould a squad of players with the right blend of skill sets that will allow us to compete on multiple fronts and in varying conditions around the world,” Andrew White, chairman of national men’s selectors, said.”A key part of this was a strategic approach to succession planning, and 2021 will see a further step in this process. We believe this selection reflects the successful implementation of that strategy – perhaps best demonstrated by the number of players under the age of 25 in our recent victory against England.”The selectors have been extremely pleased with the successful start to Curtis Campher’s Irish career, and the positive progress displayed by two exciting young talented pacemen in Josh Little and David Delany – it’s exciting for fans to see these three young players in the green, and it creates a sense of anticipation as to the potential impact they may have on the international stage.”We have also been delighted by the hard work and commitment shown by Peter Chase in improving his game – when he lost his full-time contract last year, Peter went away and worked on his action and approach to his craft, and we hope that he will once again be showing his skills at the highest levels.”Richard Holdsworth, Cricket Ireland’s high performance director, said that the decision had been taken to only offer 18 full-time contracts – as opposed to 19 in 2020 – in order to add more players on retainers. He added that “despite the uncertainty that hangs around world cricket due to the pandemic”, Ireland hoped to contest a full international programme in 2021, culminating in a trip to India for the T20 World Cup.”The limited performances in 2020 showed remarkable progress,” Holdsworth said. “Despite dealing with the obvious challenges, we can look back with great pride at wins over the West Indies in the Caribbean, England in England, and Afghanistan in subcontinent conditions. However, the result is only half the story – that many young players stepped up and began to perform on the highest stage was probably just as pleasing.”Graham Ford, Andrew Balbirnie and the selectors should be proud of the way they are moulding a competitive and confident squad. Fingers crossed for a big 2021 with many more great performances.”Full-time contracts: Mark Adair, Andrew Balbirnie, Curtis Campher, Peter Chase, David Delany, Gareth Delany, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, James McCollum, Kevin O’Brien, William Porterfield, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Gary Wilson, Craig YoungRetainers: George Dockrell, Shane Getkate

Richard Pybus, the former Pakistan coach, has been named Bangladesh coach, taking over from Stuart Law who resigned in April

Mohammad Isam30-May-2012Richard Pybus, the former Pakistan coach, has been named Bangladesh coach, taking over from Stuart Law who resigned in April. Pybus, 47, has signed a two-year deal with the BCB and is expected to join the Bangladesh side before their tour of Zimbabwe next month.Pybus’ appointment came more than two weeks after a brief reconnaissance visit to Bangladesh and after the grapevine linked other names to the job. However, he was always seen as the leading contender despite his last job as an international coach ending nine years ago.”I am delighted at the opportunity of coaching Bangladesh,” Pybus said. “I am looking forward to getting busy with the boys.”We have an active schedule ahead of us and for me the next few months will be about building relationships with the players and the coaching staff and ensuring that the progress made up to the Asia Cup continues.”BCB president AHM Mustafa Kamal said Pybus was the best option. “Pybus will join us in a few days. We have requested him to come before we go abroad, to get acquainted with the players,” Kamal said.
“He was our best option, among all those we have talked to this time. Take a look at their records and his, there is a sharp difference between him and others. I think he has a proven track record, it speaks for itself.”Pybus hasn’t been in charge of an international side since his Pakistan stint ended in 2003 but had flown to Bangladesh earlier this month to interview for the national coach’s role. He will be Bangladesh’s third coach in a year as Law had been in the post for only nine months after succeeding another Australian Jamie Siddons last July.He will be expected to take charge of a mercurial side brimming with talent and with some success in the recent past. Some in the cricket board have suggested that the Bangladesh team no longer needs a coach specialising in the development of batting but a man who is adept in man-management at the top level.Pybus arrived in Dhaka on May 10 and spent the subsequent day holding meetings with BCB president AHM Mustafa Kamal as well as some of the board directors and a handful of national players. It wasn’t deemed as a job interview as Kamal had insisted that Pybus was their only choice.Since Pybus made the short trip to Bangladesh, it was all but confirmed that it will be the South Africa-based coach who will take over from Law. But negotiations were ongoing and while the two parties spoke, the BCB continued to talk to the other coaches in their shortlist — Mick Newell, Mark Greatbatch and Kepler Wessels.Pybus was appointed Pakistan coach for their 1999 World Cup campaign, while he was with Border, before returning to the South African provincial side. He coached Pakistan again until the 2003 World Cup and had stints with Titans and Cape Cobras (South Africa), and Middlesex. He was with Cobras until March 2012 and was also linked to the South Africa job last year.