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Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsWith an Aaron Finch century at the top of the order, a staunch middle-order partnership and acceleration at the end, Australia seemed pretty well placed at the halfway mark of the first ODI. That expectation was turned dramatically on its head by a rampant Jason Roy, who soared to England’s highest ever 50-over score, and in the company of a rejuvenated Joe Root helped England fly to the steepest ever ODI chase on the MCG with seven balls to spare.If this was the first match of a series lacking much in the way of context, Roy’s combination of daring and determination – with a dash of good fortune via numerous skiers that landed safely – will allow England to look optimistically towards next year’s World Cup. It was on this ground, of course, where Australia had thrashed England in the opening match of the previous tournament, setting the scene for their ultimate success.This time around, England showed themselves to be at the vanguard of the new ODI breed, while Australia, with eight losses from their past nine games, look some way off the pace. Steven Smith’s side were left with plenty to think about after looking toothless in the face of England’s high tempo game. Jonny Bairstow and Alex Hales had fallen early, but Roy was far from perturbed in dictating terms against an Australian bowling attack that seemed flat after a combination of Ashes and Big Bash League duties. By contrast, Roy had barely fired a shot for Sydney Sixers, but came into his own for England.Well as Finch, Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis played, they were forced to regather lost ground after the day’s English tone was set by a fast and hostile Mark Wood, who made the Australian top order hop around early on after Eoin Morgan sent the hosts in to bat. Wood notably made life difficult for David Warner, and left open the tantalising question of what a difference he might have made to England’s Ashes tilt. Adil Rashid was expensive, but produced a pair of teasing deliveries that accounted for Smith and Marsh amid some looser offerings. Moeen Ali completed his overs with admirable economy placed in context by what was to follow.Having dumped Glenn Maxwell and Matthew Wade from the team in response to a pattern of middle-order failures last year, Australia’s selectors would have been pleased by the way Finch combined with Marsh before Stoinis and Tim Paine played with verve in the closing overs. However, they were reminded of how England have become one of the 50-over game’s trendsetters in pushing aggressively for runs from a deep batting order, finding a level of freedom that has been maintained even without Ben Stokes.Roy’s determination to punish anything even slightly loose was demonstrated in the very first over of the pursuit, when Mitchell Starc concluded an accurate over with something slightly wider that was hammered through the covers. By the fourth over England had galloped to 47, meaning that even after Bairstow fenced at Starc to do what is now known as a James Vince, edging behind, the momentum stayed with the tourists. Hales’ return was brief, bunting an attempted pull shot at Pat Cummins to midwicket, but a tally of 60 after six overs would have been regarded as a decent powerplay in Twenty20, let alone an ODI.Above all else it meant that Root and Roy could reassess their target without needing to worry too much about finding the boundary every over, even as the latter reached his 50 from just 32 balls. Australia’s fielders and many in a crowd of 37,171 cursed their ill-luck as Roy lofted numerous shots barely over the top of the infield, at times landing these blows with the precision of Frank de Boer’s long ball to Dennis Bergkamp at the FIFA 1998 World Cup.Roy had progressed to within nine runs of a century when Adam Zampa fooled him with an excellent wrong-un that brought a frenzied appeal and a raised finger from the umpire Simon Fry. After consulting with Root, Roy reviewed, and was judged to have been playing a shot, bat behind pad, when the ball struck him fractionally outside the line of the off stump. As if to underline the moment’s importance, Roy then clumped the very next ball down the ground for six, and Zampa was not a factor thereafter.Aaron Finch celebrates his ninth ODI hundred•Getty Images

So comfortably then did Roy carry on, and so neatly did Root complement him with deft placement and plenty of impetus running between the wickets, that it seemed likely for a time that England might get to the total without further loss. Smith rotated his bowlers without success, and the records started to flow, including the biggest ever third-wicket stand in an ODI at the MCG, Roy’s score surpassing Hales’ against Pakistan in 2016 as the best for England, and then topping Mark Waugh’s 173 against West Indies in 2001 as the biggest 50-over innings in Melbourne.Ultimately Roy was to fall within sight of victory, and Morgan also came and went, as did Jos Buttler before Moeen Ali finished it with a boundary. Australia’s ODI debutant AJ Tye was by a distance the most economical bowler, but the overall lack of threat posed by the hosts’ attack contrasted sharply with the way Wood began proceedings.Sharing the new ball with Chris Woakes, Wood immediately made his presence felt with a series of fast, rising deliveries that challenged Finch and Warner in ways that had not been seen during the Ashes. Wood’s short run and piston-pumping action touched speeds up to 149kph, and Warner in particular was made to hop around before a lifter took the shoulder of his bat and looped gently to Root in the slips – how he would have loved to witness such a moment during the Tests.Wood’s speed and trajectory caused further problems for Finch and the captain Smith, who evaded one lbw appeal for a delivery that beat him for pace, on a surface notably more grassy than the one prepared for the Boxing Day Test. However, there was a lack of pressure coming from the other end, as Woakes offered up rather more pedestrian stuff that Finch in particular was able to capitalise upon off both front and back foot.Smith, too, was quickly into stride against everyone other than Wood, but would slip up unexpectedly against the leg-spin variations of Rashid. The ball after leaving a wayward leg side wide, Smith offered an open face to the googly and the resulting thin edge was clasped by a juggling Buttler. When Travis Head chopped onto the stumps from the bowling of the serviceable Liam Plunkett, Australia were wobbling in a manner familiar across their poorly ODI record in 2017.But as if to underline how this area had been recognised by Australia both in terms of selection and attitude, Finch and Marsh refused to panic, working the ball around patiently in recognition of the overs remaining, before signalling a phase of acceleration when Marsh hammered Moeen into the members enclosure beyond long on. Moeen missed a half-chance for a return catch off Finch, who was also at the centre of proceedings when England lost their lone review – Rashid pushing hastily for an lbw referral to a wrong’un comfortably sliding past leg stump.Finch duly went to his third ODI century against England on this ground, and second in as many innings after the opening match of the 2015 World Cup, by swinging Rashid into the crowd with plenty of bottom hand. Both he and Marsh departed soon after, the latter deceived by a well-pitched slider from Rashid, but Stoinis and Paine maintained Australia’s momentum with another intelligent partnership in the closing overs, mixing hustle with heave to take the tally past 300.Their efforts ensured England would need to break all manner of records to achieve victory. Thanks largely to Roy’s renaissance, Morgan’s men had remarkably little trouble in doing so.

England’s women have capped a memorable year by claiming the Team of the Year award at the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Dec-2017

The England women’s cricket team have capped a memorable year in which they won the World Cup at Lord’s in a pulsating final against India, by claiming the Team of the Year award at the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards in Liverpool.On a memorable night for England’s women cricketers, who have for so long lived in the shadows of their male counterparts, Heather Knight’s team topped a shortlist of teams including the British & Irish Lions, Celtic, Team GB’s para-athletics and England’s World-Cup-winning U17s footballers.Their award was richly deserved following a World Cup triumph that could hardly have been a more worthy advertisement for their sport. In a showpiece event in front of a packed house at Lord’s, England battled back from the brink of defeat thanks largely to the efforts of Anya Shrubsole, who claimed five wickets in nine balls to seal an agonising nine-run victory with figures of 6 for 46.Off the back of her efforts, Shrubsole became the first women’s cricketer to be nominated for the individual SPOTY award, which was eventually claimed by the athlete, Sir Mo Farah.The announcement was a timely fillip for English cricket, coming as it did on the eve of what could well be an Ashes-sealing defeat for the men in Australia, when play resumes at Perth overnight. The women’s team were also unsuccessful in their own Ashes campaign in October, although they did emerge with honour intact after battling back from an 8-4 points deficit to square the multi-format series 8-8.Despite still being considered the national summer sport, cricket has been noticeably under-represented at the SPOTY awards in recent years – arguably due to the sport’s invisibility on free-to-air TV. The last player to be nominated for the individual award was Ian Bell in 2013, while Andrew Flintoff was the last winner, following his starring role in the 2005 Ashes victory.”Without a doubt I sense this is a good thing for the sport, not just women’s cricket,” Shrubsole told The Guardian in the wake of her individual nomination. “Anytime cricket gets recognised on something like that – on a national scale, on a huge evening celebrating sport – it’s brilliant. And having a female cricketer shows where the sport is at. A few years ago, you’d never have had that.”

Despite a seven-month inquiry having run its course over the suspicious Tier B first-class match between Panadura Sports Club and Kalutara Physical Culture Club, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and the independent committee it appointed have not been able to determine who made the decision to manipulate the result of that match.The board has since punished the players of both the clubs – captains Chamara Silva and Manoj Deshapriya having been banned from “cricket-related activities” for two years, while the other players were served one-year bans. However, there remains no clarity on who – if anyone – instructed the players to manipulate the result.”We can’t pinpoint it was this person or that person who made the decision,” chief inquirer Asela Rekawa said. “We didn’t get any evidence to support that. That’s why we had to punish more generally – even the captain, coach, we had to punish.”The reason for coming down hardest on the players, however, was due to the lack of evidence that any party other than the players were complicit, SLC said. It was on the cricketers, that SLC claims, original charges had been laid. And though the inquirers said they have provided players multiple opportunities to defend themselves, few players utilised that opportunity – many of them have remained completely absent from the inquiry’s many hearings.According to the inquirers, the players of each team had only been represented by lawyers, which is why the committee had later even requested the players to make written submissions if they had anything relevant to add. This process, in fact, was cited as one of the reasons why the inquiry took seven months to conclude, instead of the few weeks it was originally expected to take.Despite all this, questions remain as to why many players spurned the opportunity to personally defend themselves at the inquiry.One of the other strange aspects of this case, however, is that Silva* was actually not on the field on the final day of the match, when the suspicious scoring rates occurred. And yet, he has been handed the harshest sentence.Rekawa said this was because as far as his committee was concerned, the inquiry was about whether the spirit of cricket had been tarnished through the course of the three-day match as a whole, and not whether it had occurred on a single day alone. Moreover, though Silva had not taken the field that day citing a stomach illness, Rekawa said the inquiry could not establish whether he had been at the venue or not.”In terms of the documentation provided, it was very clear that [Silva] was not present on the last day. But there was no suggestion that Mr. Chamara Silva was not there at the [venue] premises. So there was no defense taken that he was not there and he didn’t know anything about [the decision to manipulate the result]. He was in the same category as the other players. He didn’t come [to the inquiry] in person. No lawyer appeared for him to suggest he was taking up a different position.”In fact, only over the last two days, after the media had begun to discuss Silva’s absence, did I find out about his stomach ailment. It wasn’t much of a concern for us as we were not only concerned about the third day.”Rekawa and SLC did concede that having taken the decision to suspend the players, the board could be the subject of a legal challenge from them. In fact, at least one player has already retained a lawyer with a view to appealing his ban.*This story had earlier erroneously said Silva was the only affected player to have represented Sri Lanka.

The Real Madrid-bound forward is still only 17 years of age but he's played a pivotal role in a nail-biting title race

Football can be a cruel game. It's never over until the final whistle blows. Titles can sometimes be lost even after they appear to have been won. Nobody will ever forget Newcastle and Kevin Keegan cracking under the pressure applied upon the Premier League's great entertainers by Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson's mind games in 1996.

Or the time a Real Madrid team containing Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, Luis Figo, David Beckham and Roberto Carlos went from first to fourth in La Liga after losing six of their final seven games.

And there's Steven Gerrard's infamous slip in 2014, when Liverpool were perfectly placed to end a championship drought that stretched back to 1990, only to see their captain gift Chelsea a goal that still haunts him today.

However, when it comes to spectacular collapses, the almost-unbelievable Botafogo bottle-job of 2023 trumps the whole lot. Never before have we seen a team in one of the world's top leagues squander such an advantage at the top of the table, through a costly combination of misfortune, mismanagement and the sensational form of a 17-year-old striker who looks set to take the Santiago Bernabeu by storm next season…

Getty A stunning fall from grace

On Sunday, August 12, Botafogo beat Internacional 3-1 at home to complete a record-breaking first half of the Brasileiro Serie A season. They had dropped just 10 points in 19 games – and were 13 clear at the summit.

A first league title since 1995 appeared a formality. Some excited supporters even got tattoos of the trophy. Perhaps they should have known better. Botafogo and bad luck have long been bedfellows. Perhaps an implosion was inevitable.

Still, nobody could have foreseen what unfolded: a second half of the season as historic as the first – just for all the wrong reasons.

Botafogo face Internacional again on Wednesday night – but are now fifth in the table going into their final fixture of a truly astonishing campaign, their title dream already dashed in the most devastating of fashion.

Incredibly, the former runaway leaders have gone 10 games without a victory and will equal their worst-ever winless run in the Brasileiro if they fail to triumph at the Estadio Beira-Rio.

AdvertisementGetty Ronaldo key to Castro's shock exit

So, how did it come to this? Well, funnily enough, Cristiano Ronaldo played a part, with the striker recommending that Al-Nassr hire Botafogo boss Luis Castro as their new head coach during the summer.

Castro quit at the end of June to join his fellow Portuguese in Saudi Arabia and, despite some positive early results, Botafogo slowly began to unravel under his successor, former Wolves manager Bruno Lage, who was appointed on July 8 but sacked less than three months later after losing the dressing-room during three consecutive defeats in September.

The players convinced the club to put Under-23s coach Lucio Flavio in charge until the end of the season. However, the fan favourite failed to stop the rot, overseeing just two wins in eight outings in all competitions, and Tiago Nunes took over at the tail end of last month.

Incredibly, the situation was still salvageable at that stage, but Botafogo have since drawn all four of their league games under Nunes and last weekend's scoreless clash with Cruzeiro meant that the Rio-based side could no longer win the league, prompting a bitter fan backlash at the Nilton Santos. Some supporters had even thrown popcorn at the players before kick-off, as '' in Brazil is associated with wasting strong starts.

Getty Botafogo's bad luck begins

The fans' frustration is understandable, in fairness. The way in which Botafogo have contrived to drop points has been truly astounding.

Luck certainly hasn't been on their side at times. The winless run began in October against Athletico-PR, when Botafogo went 1-0 up early on through top-scorer Tiquinho Soares only to see a floodlight failure result in the suspension of play.

When the game resumed, the VAR technology stopped working and that proved crucial, as Athletico equalised with a goal from Pablo that should have been disallowed for offside.

However, even accounting for bizarre occurrences or clashes with the coach, the players have to take a significant share of the blame for Botafogo's capitulation.

The likes of Lucas Perri, Adryelson, Victor Cuesta, Eduardo and Tiquinho Soares have suffered dramatic dips in form, while the team has repeatedly failed to hold onto big leads.

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Endrick fuelled by the 'fire of hatred'

At the start of November, Botafogo hosted Palmeiras in a game that would have a colossal impact on the title race. The home side went 3-0 up inside 36 minutes and the game appeared to be over. However, Endrick dragged the defending champions back into the contest with a scintillating solo strike shortly after half-time before Adryelson was sent off with 14 minutes of normal time remaining.

Even then, though, Botafogo had the chance to finish Palmeiras off for good, but Tiquinho missed an 83rd-minute penalty.

Just over 60 seconds later, the ball dropped for Endrick on the edge of the Botafogo box. He sat down one defender with an outrageous dummy before finding the bottom corner with a low strike.

Jose Manuel Lopez levelled in the dying embers of normal time and then Murilo struck in the 99th minute of the craziest of encounters to leave Botafogo and their fans crestfallen.

Local hero Lucas Verthein was particularly upset, as he had inadvertently played a part in an incredibly driven display from the game-changing Endrick.

The teenager admitted after the game that he was fuelled by the "fire of hatred" in his heart after hearing Botafogo fans seemingly singing about their team being crowned champions.

"I wasn't going to let them shout that, given our fans had come here to support us," Endrick explained afterwards. "Botafogo has everything it takes to be champions, but that's what Palmeiras already are – and Palmeiras will never stop chasing.

"And I'm going to fight every minute, every second, to win this Brasileirao. As my friends, my father, my managers say, I'm a player who shows up at times when it's difficult. I like games like this."

In reality, though, the Botafogo fans had merely been paying tribute to Verthein winning a gold medal at the Pan-American Games in Chile.

"Not even in my worst nightmares would I have imagined that my victory could be responsible for having Endrick like that," the rower wrote on social media.

Harry Maguire "may look to go elsewhere" this summer in search of first team-football but only after a conversation with manager Erik ten Hag, according to Ben Jacobs.

Is Maguire leaving Man United?

Having continually failed to convince at Manchester United since he became the world's most expensive defender in 2019, the tragic saga that has been Maguire's Red Devils career may be coming to a timely end.

Having made 175 appearances for United, the 30-year-old has been offered plenty of opportunities to shine, very few of which he has taken.

He has become, sometimes fairly and sometimes not, a scapegoat for anything and everything that is going wrong at Old Trafford, as patience among fans wears increasingly thin.

Maguire's minutes have diminished significantly in the last year with the Englishman only making 16 appearances in the Premier League across the entire campaign. Compare that with the 30 he made in the previous season and it is obvious that Ten Hag isn't confident in Maguire's abilities.

With his days numbered at Old Trafford, Maguire could well jump before he is pushed and journalist Jacobs believes a move could crop up this summer as he attempts to maintain his place in the England squad ahead of Euro 2024. However, he will need to have some honest discussions with Ten Hag first.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Jacobs said: "There will be a conversation between Erik ten Hag and the player. They'll both set out their position. Obviously, ten Hag's perspective is that Maguire is going to get diminished game-time, but he is valued as a leader at the football club.

"Maguire may look to go elsewhere because he has to start thinking about the Euros and, ultimately, the long-term England game-time. I think John Stones is quite locked in his position, but there's definitely a question mark over Maguire for England. The less he plays for Manchester United, the more chance there is that someone takes his spot."

Jacobs added: "Obviously, there is a realistic possibility that Maguire goes during the summer. But, first and foremost, he has to have that conversation with ten Hag, and then we'll start to understand what the possibilities are."

Despite his lack of regular minutes in Manchester, Gareth Southgate has continued to put faith in Maguire and has normally been rewarded by the centre-back.

However, it will become increasingly difficult for the England boss to justify Maguire's selection the longer he goes without playing regularly. For all parties – Manchester United, England and Maguire – a move away from Old Trafford may be the sensible solution.

Where could Maguire go?

The centre-back is now valued at around £30m but will turn 31 next March. Considering pace and agility have never been Maguire's strongest attributes, one can assume that these deficiencies in his game will only worsen as he gets older.

At present, staying in England looks the most likely option for Maguire. Tottenham have shown some interest in the former Leicester City man as they look to rebuild their leaky defence under new coach Ange Postecoglou, but the defender is arguably a little too similar in profile to Eric Dier.

Aston Villa have also been touted with a move for Maguire in recent weeks. Whether Unai Emery's pursuit of Pau Torres brings such rumours to an end remains to be seen but the Spaniard is probably one of the few managers in the league who you can guarantee would improve the defender.

Eddie Howe has also shown interest at Newcastle United but a move may be scuppered by the fact that the Magpies seemingly were interested in a loan deal, something the Red Devils are unwilling to sanction.

Clearly Maguire still has the respect of many coaches in the Premier League and will likely have no trouble finding a new club depending on Man United's leniency in negotiations. However, forking out £30m for Maguire may put some potential suitors off a deal.

The BCCI and PCB will meet in Dubai on May 29 to discuss the MoU to play six bilateral series between 2015 and 2023

Sidharth Monga25-May-2017

The BCCI and PCB will meet in Dubai on May 29 to discuss the MoU to play six bilateral series between 2015 and 2023. Because of the strained relations between the two countries, the BCCI has not had the federal government’s clearance to honour the MoU, which was signed in 2014. India didn’t play the proposed series in 2015, and look set to give it a miss in 2017 too.Earlier this month, the PCB had sent a notice of dispute to the BCCI, claiming losses for the BCCI’s refusal to tour in 2015. Although the BCCI indicated this MoU was “just a letter” and not a formal “contract”, it wrote to the government of India again about two weeks ago. Amitabh Choudhary, the acting BCCI secretary, said he communicated the same to PCB’s chairman Shaharyar Khan. Choudhary said the PCB’s response invoked a provision in the MoU for dialogue should a series not go ahead. Choudhary will represent the BCCI in the meeting with Shaharyar and/or PCB’s legal representatives.”We still remain committed to playing,” Choudhary said, “but the position doesn’t change: the series cannot go ahead without the permission of the government of India. After PCB wrote to us, we have written to the government of India again, and are awaiting the response. I believe the dialogue should go on, which is why we are meeting.”However, India continue to play Pakistan in multi-team events, as they did in Kolkata in the World T20 last year, and will do again in Birmingham during the Champions Trophy, six days after this meeting between the two boards.India were supposed to play away against Pakistan in 2015, and are scheduled to host them in 2017. In 2015, the BCCI had offered PCB a series at home, which the PCB declined. India in turn refused to play Pakistan’s home series at a neutral venue without specifying any reasons. “We are not asking any permission from the government,” the then BCCI president Shashank Manohar had told ESPNcricinfo. “We are not playing in UAE. That is certain. There are reasons. But I don’t want another debate on that. So I will not tell you the reasons.”

Barcelona want to give Frenkie de Jong a contract until the end of his career, but it remains to be seen if he will be willing to sign such a deal.

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Barca desperate to keep midfielderPreparing remarkable contract offer

May not be willing to sign

WHAT HAPPENED?

report that Barcelona hope to convince De Jong to commit his long-term future to the club with a deal that would essentially tie him to Barca for life. However, such a deal would involve a staggered wage agreement, with De Jong initially taking a two-year pay cut.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

His current contract ends in 2026 and he has been linked away previously. Man Utd have been linked in each of the last two summers. In 2021, Barcelona were open to a deal, and that has apparently soured their relationship with the player, and he is not said to be willing to countenance a pay cut. That has complicated matters in terms of his Barca future, although he remains a key player for manager Xavi.

DID YOU KNOW?

De Jong has made 190 appearances for Barcelona in total, scoring 16 goals and registering 21 assists. He has also won 54 caps for the Netherlands.

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Getty ImagesWHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

It remains to be seen whether De Jong will be convinced to put pen to paper, but he has expressed on numerous occasions that he is happy in Catalonia and wants to stay at Barca.

Tim Southee was happy with New Zealand’s fightback after a 127-run stand between Shakib Al Hasan and Soumya Sarkar in Christchurch

Mohammad Isam in Christchurch20-Jan-2017Two “burgles” down the leg side, a newcomer sucked into an uppish drive, one stubborn tailender bounced out and another trapped plumb lbw – Tim Southee couldn’t have scripted a more diverse five-wicket haul.He would have bowled far better in previous Tests and not picked up a wicket, but Southee had luck on his side at Hagley Oval, where his first scalp was the Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal, caught down the leg side. It was only after Trent Boult ended the third-wicket stand of 127 between Soumya Sarkar and Shakib Al Hasan that Southee begin to bowl better.Sarkar had struck Southee for six fours, scoring 43 off 49 deliveries from the bowler. Shakib took 12 off 15 balls. Southee eventually dismissed Shakib, and later Nazmul Hossain Shanto, the debutant, to spoil Bangladesh’s chances of a bigger total. He also took the wickets of Taskin Ahmed and Kamrul Islam Rabbi during his 28.3-over effort to end the Bangladesh innings on 289.”I felt all right, it’s always nice to pick up wickets,” Southee said at the end of the first day. “There were a couple of burgles down the leg side, which are always nice. It looks good in the score book – caught Watling bowled Southee. On other occasions you bowl probably better and haven’t got the wickets, but it’s nice to contribute and take wickets.”Southee said that it was to New Zealand’s credit that they fought through the Soumya-Shakib partnership. The batsmen were hardly troubled as they cut and drove frequently.”If you can bowl a side out on day one it’s a good effort,” Southee said. “They came out again with a positive intent and looked to put any balls that we missed away to the fence and they did that, especially in that period before lunch. I think we managed to claw the run rate back a bit towards the end so it’s a good day.”We were pretty good at the start. Then they got a bit of a partnership going, but we know it happens quite quickly. You get a couple wickets, then you can grab a couple more, and we knew if we could hang in our areas for a long period of time then it was our best chance of taking wickets.”Southee’s 5 for 94 took him to 198 Test wickets and he is in line to become only the fifth New Zealand bowler to take 200 wickets. “It will be nice if it comes but you don’t set out to do too many individual milestones,” he said. “They’re the sort of things you tick off along the way. The next job is to try to knock them over again. Hopefully after a little bit of rest.”

The Lodha Committee has permitted the BCCI to pay players and officials in domestic tournaments directly and under existing terms, board secretary Ajay Shirke said

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Nov-2016The Lodha Committee has told the BCCI that payments to players and officials for all board-organised tournaments, like the Ranji Trophy, can be made directly under existing terms, the board secretary Ajay Shirke said.The Committee’s permission came after the BCCI sought direction on the release of funds for the Rajasthan Ranji Trophy team and the state’s various age-group teams.According to the , Shirke had written to the Committee last week stating that the association was cash-strapped and would not be able to play their next round of matches in the respective tournaments without funds. The Rajasthan team is currently playing a Ranji Trophy match against Karnataka in Vizianagram.”The Hon’ble Justice Lodha Committee has communicated today to the CEO of the BCCI (Rahul Johri) that payments to players and officials can be made directly to them as per the agreed existing terms. This is for all BCCI-organised tournaments,” Shirke told the . “We didn’t have problems for all state associations. They pay themselves (to their players). Because the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) is suspended, the problem was only for them.”The BCCI sought clarification from the Lodha Committee following an order from the Supreme Court of India on October 21, in which the board was directed not to distribute funds to its state associations until they submit affidavits stating compliance with the recommendations of the court and the Lodha Committee within two weeks. The Rajasthan Cricket Association’s suspended status was also a factor.The BCCI had suspended the RCA in May 2014 after the latter elected Lalit Modi, an expelled administrator, as its president. The board then omitted the RCA from the 2014-15 domestic programme.Rajasthan eventually got to play – though not under the RCA banner – after the Rajasthan High Court heard a writ petition signed by 75 players, and directed the Rajasthan Sports Council, the RCA and the BCCI to work in tandem and appoint selection committees to select teams for the board’s senior, junior and women’s tournaments. Before the 2015-16 season the board appointed an ad-hoc committee to run cricket in Rajasthan.Rajasthan have two more Group B matches to play before the end of the Ranji Trophy’s league stage. They are scheduled to play Delhi in Wayanad from November 21 and Vidarbha in Mumbai from December 7.

A stalwart effort from Nick Gubbins kept Middlesex in contention at Trent Bridge as they faced a stiff challenge from a Nottinghamshire side fighting for their first division lives

George Dobell at Trent Bridge07-Sep-2016
ScorecardNick Gubbins resists for Middlesex at Trent Bridge•Getty ImagesIt was more constrictor than cobra, more glacier than waterfall but, if Middlesex do go on to win the County Championship title this season, they may look back on Nick Gubbins’ innings here as a key contribution.With Yorkshire passing 400 at Leeds and Middlesex reeling at 81 for 5, this could have been the day their title challenge fell away. But through Gubbins’ skill and determination, they will resume on day three with the match in the balance and their first Championship title since 1993 still attainable.Gubbins has already contributed heavily this season. With 1122 Championship runs at an average of almost 60, he is not only his club’s highest run-scorer, but the fourth highest in the top division. He has played three fewer innings than all above him.But many of those runs have been scored on the slow and flat – the painfully slow and flat – surface at Lord’s. And while Angus Fraser, Middlesex’s director of cricket, reasons that such surfaces may benefit his team in the long-term (“they give batsmen confidence and teach bowlers the value of control,” he suggests), they can also inflate the records of some of those playing there.Here, though, in conditions where the ball moved all day for the seamers and on a slow, used surface that provided assistance to two spinners with international wickets to their name, he was forced to prove his quality in far less benign circumstances. And, after an opening over hat-trick on the first evening, he did it under the pressure of knowing his team needed him more than ever.It was, as he admitted himself, “a bit of a grind” at times. He went, at one stage, 38 overs without a boundary and 80 deliveries over the accumulation of five runs. His share of the stand of 42 with Stevie Eskinazi was just five and his half-century took 187 balls.But it was, in its way, compelling viewing. Forced to play straight and wait for the poor ball – and Nottinghamshire made him wait a long time – he refused to be drawn into playing away from his body and refused to let his impatience or frustration change his approach. For a 22-year-old, it was an impressively disciplined, selfless effort. Without it, Middlesex would have been in deep trouble.Gubbins is a batsman with far more to him than grim defence and crease occupation. He made his breakthrough as a List A batsman (he averaged 56.50 in that format in 2015) and has scored his Championship runs at a rate of 53.27 this season. He has a a trademark force off the hips – a stroke he can play on the ground or in the air off a good length ball on off stump – that can make a bowler wonder why he bothers.But reasoning that he is in this game for the long-haul, he has decided that such strokes are, for now, low-percentage. He has decided, like many top-order players before him, to play within himself (“that shot forces my head too far over to the off side,” he explains) and concentrate on a tight defence before worrying himself about domination. In conditions like this such a method will serve him – and, one day perhaps, England – well.There were still some elegant shots. When Brett Hutton dropped short he was cut, when Jake Ball – a little off colour, despite the five-wicket haul – he was driven. Imran Tahir’s odd loose balls were similarly punished. As Gubbins put it: “I never really felt I had dropped anchor, but they bowled very well, had in out fields and we had to battle hard to reach parity.”It was no surprise to hear that he has been spending time with Nick Compton. There were times here when this was much like watching Compton of 2012 vintage: a watertight defence and love for batting slowly breaking down the bowlers and feeding off their mistakes. It’s old school but it works.Such feats of concentration and mental and physical endurance can wear any player. It may be that both Compton and Jonathan Trott one day look back on their careers and reflect that they simply exhausted themselves. But, for now at least, Gubbins has the energy and the talent to relish the battle. If he can sustain it, he will be prove of great service to country as well as club.Notts looked far better than a bottom of the table team. Hutton produced a beauty to account for John Simpson – the ball swung in, pitched and moved just enough to beat what appeared to be a perfectly respectable forward defensive stroke and hit the top of off stump – while Harry Gurney bowled impressively dry and delivered four maidens in succession at one stage.If Dawid Malan felt himself unfortunate to be given out leg before – he held his head in his hands with disappointment – James Franklin felt to a loose upper cut to deep backward point and Eskinazi was well beaten by Imran. Gubbins’ fine innings was eventually ended by Hutton’s first over with the second new ball, when he was forced to play another beauty that swung in, held in the pitch and took the edge.Notts are not out of this game. With a potent leg-spinner to call upon, Middlesex face a tough challenge in the fourth innings on a used pitch. If Notts can just bat a little better in their second innings – and they started brightly – the great escape remains a distant possibility.Meanwhile Mick Newell, who is soon to be director of cricket at Nottinghamshire, hinted that a place could be found for James Taylor on the club’s coaching staff. Taylor, who was forced to retire with immediate effect in April after being diagnosed with a serious heart condition, has made no secret of his desire to try his hand at coaching.Notts have missed not just his runs, but his experience and spirit this season. While a role as a full time coach seems unlikely, it seems a part-time position mentoring young batsmen – especially in white ball cricket – could be created.”He’s interested and there’s scope for him to work with us,” Newell said. “I think he can work with young batters like Tom Moores. We lost a lot of mental toughness when he went. It was a big loss.”