Month: May 2020

3:27 PM IST Aiden Markram has made his ambitions to take over as South Africa’s Test captain known but has caveated it by insisting that he was not hell-bent on being appointed. “I really enjoy captaincy. I enjoy the responsibilities that come with it. I would give an absolute arm and a leg to be able to do it, but I have said it before in the same breath, it’s…

2:39 PM IST Andrew Fidel Fernando International cricket may begin in Sri Lanka as early as July, if Sri Lanka Cricket’s (SLC) plans to go ahead with the forthcoming series against Bangladesh and India work out. As of now, neither the BCCI nor the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has confirmed the series, which will have to involve substantial logistical challenges, including having player quarantine measures in place, in light of…

2:33 PM IST Stuart Cain is set to be named as Warwickshire’s new chief executive. ESPNcricinfo understands that Cain will be appointed later this week with a remit to further diversify the business of the club. He is currently chief executive at Wasps Holdings, which includes management of the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, and is believed to have prevailed from a shortlist that also included Paul Faulkner, the former Aston…

1:10 PM IST Bangladesh bowling coach Ottis Gibson has urged Mashrafe Mortaza to retire from international cricket as he doesn’t see the bowler in head coach Russell Domingo’s plans for the 2023 World Cup. Mortaza, who stepped down from captaincy during Bangladesh’s last home series, against Zimbabwe in February, hasn’t made any announcements about retirement despite being constantly questioned about it since December 2018. Gibson, who joined Bangladesh in January…

11:18 AM IST Darwin is set to see the resumption of cricket in Australia for the first time since the sport was shut down by the Covid-19 pandemic and Northern Territory Cricket (NTC) is open to being a testing ground for how the game needs to adapt. The Darwin and District Cricket Competition, which would have normally begun in April, will now start with a T20 tournament over the Queen’s…

11:20 PM IST On Sunday, the Indian government relaxed restrictions on sporting events, allowing them to resume behind closed doors in the country, and as far as cricket is concerned, it means the IPL could take place in 2020. The BCCI welcomed the government’s decision, but said it was premature to think about the IPL at this point. The IPL, though, can take place subject to travel restrictions being eased…

4:22 PM IST ESPNcricinfo staff The PCB is “very optimistic” about the operational plans being put into place for this summer’s tour of England by Pakistan and has reached an agreement in principle after ECB assurances, as elite-level cricket plots a re-start after months of worldwide lockdown. The two boards held a meeting on Friday in which the ECB talked the PCB through plans for keeping players in a bio-secure…

10:36 AM IST ESPNcricinfo staff Chris Gayle has avoided sanction for his public criticism of Ramnaresh Sarwan and other Jamaica Tallawahs personnel, after the CPL Tournament Committee (CTC) said in a media release on Friday that it was satisfied with the batsman’s statement, even though he stood by his comments – calling Sarwan a “snake” and “vindictive”, and accusing the franchise owners of “playing a game”. A three-member independent tribunal…