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Cricket has always been a sport that has conjured up images of fair play and basic decency

Paul McGregor14-Jan-2011Cricket has always been a sport that has conjured up images of fair play and basic decency. Despite episodes from the last 25 years or so that have seen players pushing, shoving and kicking each other, or trying other methods of unfairly dismissing the opposition, cricket has not often been blighted like soccer has by the curse of cheating. After the unseemly events of Port Elizabeth and the reaction to them, cricket is in danger of going the way of soccer. Why?Most of the critics of Mike Denness seem to me to miss a basic point. Match referees were brought in to the game precisely because umpires around the world were being put under intolerable pressure by events both on and off the field of play. The still-evolving job of the match referee was set up to buttress the authority of the umpires, and on a wider level to promote respect in general for the laws and spirit of the game. What a position to reach – having to appoint extra officials merely to uphold respect for the umpires!In soccer, many of the 22 players who start a match do so only with as much regard for the rules as the referee on the pitch can impose. When he is not watching, or is “on the blind side” of an incident, foul play often results. Some incidents are still graced with the term “professional foul”. This is why video evidence is now used to cover incidents that on-field referees may have missed. It is hardly surprising that the referee misses things in the “win at any cost” culture which prevails in the so-called beautiful game.This is what is now happening in cricket. It is irrelevant that the umpires on the field may or may not complain about ball-tampering. If players deliberately alter the condition of the ball they are hardly going to do it in front of the umpire. The TV or stills lens finds them out, just as it does in soccer.Umpires have found themselves on the proverbial back foot in many other areas. The authorities struggle to rein in excessive appealing and sledging. Players fail to help the umpire with disputed catches, or to determine whether the ball has crossed the boundary rope.Cricket authorities have decided to appoint “neutral” umpires, referees and disciplinary panels, to combat the deterioration of player behaviour and/or outright cheating. If members of the media take a swipe at the umpire or referee, they are behaving exactly like football managers who blame the referee for a poor team performance, as if the players bear no responsibility for their own actions. Denness should not be the target. It is the players who are primarily responsible for incidents connected with the play.Unless the players clean up their act, these unsavoury incidents will continue. The referees and umpires, just as in football, are easy targets for the media just as they are for governing bodies with a wider agenda. Some players behave not with decency but indecency. For them the spirit of cricket tastes sour indeed.

Eoin Morgan, the England and Middlesex batsman, was the only English national player to walk away from this year’s IPL bid with a new contract. He was bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore, who also have Kevin Pietersen in their stable, for $220,000,

Cricinfo staff19-Jan-2010Eoin Morgan, the England and Middlesex batsman, was the only English national player to walk away from this year’s IPL bid with a new contract. He was bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore, who also have Kevin Pietersen in their stable, for $220,000, surpassing the $210,000 offered by the Chennai Super Kings.The seven other England internationals in the auction – Graeme Swann, Mark Ramprakash, Tim Bresnan, Anthony McGrath, Jonathan Trott, Monty Panesar and Robert Key – failed to secure contracts in a relatively quiet auction. One other Englishman was gifted a contract, however. Hampshire’s Michael Lumb, who has a domestic Twenty20 hundred to his name, agreed to a $50,000 deal with the Rajasthan Royals. As Lumb has never played international cricket, his move was finalised outside the auction room.Swann’s omission is perhaps the most surprising, as his variety and control with the ball, allied to his lusty lower-order hitting, has cemented his position as England’s first-choice spinner in all formats in the last 12 months. Indeed, Swann was one of only three players to start the auction with the inflated base price of $250,000, and it is thought that his unavailability for part of the IPL season – due to England’s tour of Bangladesh – harmed his chances.Trott, whose base price was a relatively modest $100,000, will also be disappointed not to have aroused any interest as he has an exceptional record in domestic Twenty20 cricket, averaging over 40 from 61 games. Of the other English IPL hopefuls, McGrath, Panesar, Ramprakash and Key did not even make it as far as the final auction list, while Bresnan failed to secure a single bid.

She last played for India in 2014, and returned to the limelight in the WPL a decade later

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Aug-2025India left-arm spinner Gouher Sultana has announced her retirement from all forms of the game. She played 50 ODIs and 37 T20Is after making her debut in 2008, and last represented India in April 2014. Thereafter, Sultana came back into the limelight a decade later when she featured in the 2024 and 2025 WPL seasons.”To have represented India at the highest level – in World Cups, tours and battles that tested both skill and spirit – has been the greatest honour of my life,” Sultana wrote in her retirement announcement on Instagram. “Every wicket taken, every dive in the field, every huddle with my teammates has shaped the cricketer and the person I am today.”Sultana finished with 66 ODI wickets at an average of 19.39, the third-best for any India bowler to have taken at least 50 wickets in the format.Related

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Sultana played in two ODI World Cups, in 2009 and 2013, and picked up 12 wickets in 11 matches at an average of 30.58. She also played in three T20 World Cups from 2009 to 2014, and took seven wickets while going at an economy rate of 5.81.Sultana was signed by UP Warriorz (UPW) ahead of WPL 2024. She played two matches in the tournament, going wicketless across five overs. In 2025, Sultana again played two games for UPW, and only got to bowl the one over.”There were times when I thought of quitting – seasons I didn’t do well, my mental health was affected,” Sultana told ESPNcricinfo before her comeback tournament in 2024. “But then even when I was about to give up, I was like, ‘No, this shouldn’t be the end. I want to end it the way I want it.’ It was not to prove anything to anybody, but I enjoyed playing and I still enjoy playing. That’s the primary reason I am still here.”Sultana, 37, is also a BCCI Level 2 coach.

The left-arm quick spent the last two months on the road, playing in the ILT20 and the PSL

Matt Roller20-Mar-2024David Willey will miss the start of IPL 2024, where he was due to play for Lucknow Super Giants, due to personal reasons. The English left-arm seamer spent the last two IPL seasons with Royal Challengers Bangalore and was due to play for LSG this year after he was signed at his base price of INR 2 crore (£190,000 approx) in December’s auction in Dubai.But Justin Langer, LSG’s new head coach, revealed on Wednesday that Willey would not be available for the start of the season, after spending the last two months on the road, representing Abu Dhabi Knight Riders and Multan Sultans in the ILT20 and the PSL respectively.Related

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ESPNcricinfo understands that Willey has not yet been replaced in the squad and could yet travel to India at some stage in the tournament. But he has been away from home for most of the English winter, having played at the World Cup in India, and he returned to the UK after playing in Monday’s PSL final.Willey is the second Englishman who is unavailable for the start of LSG’s season, after Mark Wood was pulled out by the ECB for the whole campaign to manage his workload ahead of the T20 World Cup. Wood has been replaced by Shamar Joseph, the West Indies fast bowler, while Willey has not yet been replaced.”With Mark Wood pulling out of the tournament and also David Willey won’t be coming now either, that means we lack some experience,” Langer said, when asked about LSG’s pace attack. “But what I’ve also seen in the last couple of days is that we have enormous talent. Some of our guys have had some injuries but they all look very fit at the moment.”They look fit and healthy and they’re very hungry, so we’ll just have to manage them well so that we can get them through and work through the whole tournament, not just the start of the tournament. We’ve got one overseas player up our sleeve if required, where we might be able to add some experience.”Langer also name-checked the 21-year-old Delhi seamer Mayank Yadav as a genuine fast bowler who could provide some pace in Wood’s absence. “Mark Wood is a world-class bowler, isn’t he? And he pulled out after the auction, which is disappointing but this is the world we live in,” Langer said.”We also have Shamar Joseph, we have Mayank who bowls with very good pace. Hopefully we can replace, not [Wood’s] experience, but his pace with Shamar Joseph and Mayank. He’ll be missed – of course he’ll be missed, he’s a world-class bowler – but this is the world we live in and we will adapt and we will be okay.”LSG will travel to Jaipur this week ahead of their opening match of IPL 2024, against Rajasthan Royals in an afternoon game on Sunday.

Mohammad Haris named as replacement after Fakhar aggravated previous injury against Netherlands

Andrew McGlashan02-Nov-2022Fakhar Zaman has been ruled out of the T20 World Cup*, hours after Pakistan admitted they took a risk bringing him to the tournament. He had come to Australia carrying a knee injury, which he aggravated during their match against Netherlands on Sunday. This means Pakistan will be without him for their must-win encounter against South Africa tomorrow, as well as their final group game against Bangladesh later this week.This injury was the reason Fakhar was originally not part of the 15-man squad for the tournament. He eventually came in as a late addition when he replaced legspinner Usman Qadir. Fakhar missed the defeats against India and Zimbabwe before returning against Netherlands in Perth where he made 20 off 16 balls but in the course of the game suffered further problems with his knee. Mohammad Haris, who was a travelling reserve, has been approved as his replacement by the ICC technical committee.Related

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“Obviously with any knee injury it takes time to have 100% recovery,” Pakistan team doctor Najeebullah Soomro, said. “Fakhar and the team understood the risks of coming into the tournament and we got him in. You saw how he performed with batting in the last match, unfortunately in the last match he had a bit of a twist which aggravated his injury.”We were aware of the risks of the comeback. He is obviously an important player for the team. The player, the medical staff and the team management were aware of that. We decided to bring him back in. In cricket, and any sport, we take risks. Sometimes they pay off, sometimes they don’t.”Fakhar’s absence could mean a chance for Asif Ali to return after he was left out following the opening game against India as Pakistan went for an extra bowling option. Other batting options available include Haider Ali and Khushdil Shah.Injuries dogged Pakistan in the lead-up to this tournament, most significantly around fast bowler Shaheen Afridi. He has played all three matches in the Super 12s but has just one wicket for his efforts amid much speculation about how fit he is, with Afridi himself admitting before the Netherlands match that he was still working his way back. However, from a medical point of view, Soomro insisted that Afridi had ticked all the boxes for his return.”There’s medical fitness, then in matches you need to have a different form of performance attributes,” he said. “From a medical point of view we were confident he was completely fit. You can see how he’s improving every single game…from our point of view we are very confident with how he’s going. In my view, the medical team, the specialists in involved, have all worked really hard with him, day and night, and from a medical point of view we are confident he’s back in full flow.”Even if Pakistan win their final two group matches against South Africa and Bangladesh they will need other results to go their way to earn a semi-final spot.”Yes, you do feel bad but you cannot change that,” Naseem Shah said. “You have to move on. The boys have gelled together and the morale of the team is alright. We are trying to focus on the next games and win those because you cannot do anything about the past games.”

He was the second-highest run-getter for India at the tournament

Shashank Kishore13-Jul-20212:07

When Yashpal Sharma swung Bob Willis into the stands at square leg

Yashpal Sharma, a member of India’s 1983 World Cup-winning side, has died in New Delhi after a cardiac arrest. Sharma was 66.A middle-order batter, he played 37 Tests and 42 ODIs for India between 1978 and 1985. He was the second-highest run-getter in India’s historic 1983 triumph, scoring two half-centuries: an 89 in India’s win over West Indies in the group stage, and 61 in the semi-final against England.In his first-class career that spanned nearly two decades, Sharma scored 8933 runs, with 21 centuries and 46 half-centuries.Post-retirement, he remained actively involved in coaching, commentary and cricket administration. He served as a national selector across two stints, first from 2004 to 2005, and later from 2008 to 2011. He was part of the committee that picked India’s 2011 World Cup-winning squad. He also officiated in a number of domestic matches, both as an umpire and match referee. Most recently, he was part of Delhi’s Cricket Advisory Committee.Yashpal Sharma, Sunil Gavaskar, Syed Kirmani and Roger Binny at a reunion of India’s 1983 World Cup-winning squad at Lord’s, on the 25th anniversary of the final•Associated Press

The news was met with shock by his former team-mates, some of whom he had met last month on the anniversary of the 1983 World Cup win.”It is unbelievable,” Dilip Vengsarkar told PTI. “He was the fittest among all of us. I had asked him that day, when we met, about his routine. He was a vegetarian, teetotaller, used to have soup for his dinner and very particular about his morning walks. I am just shocked.”Related

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“As a player, he was a proper team man and a fighter,” Vengsarkar added. “I fondly remember the 1979 Test against Pakistan in Delhi. We had a partnership that helped us save the game. I knew him since my university days. Still can’t believe it.”Kirti Azad, another member of that 1983 team, had also met him last month. “He told me that day we met that I had lost weight. We had a great reunion. I remember the very first game in the 1983 World Cup playing the mighty West Indies with those fast bowlers, he set the agenda and we won that game,” Azad told PTI.”He was again fantastic in the semi-final, hitting Bob Willis for a six. Nowadays people say [Ravindra] Jadeja hits the stumps regularly but so did Yashpal. He was a livewire on the field and would hit stumps all the time,” Azad said.