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Irfan Karim, the son of former Kenya captain Asif Karim, starred in his campus team – Loughborough Marylebone Cricket Club University’s – seven-wicket win against European University of Bangladesh in the Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals on Tuesday

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Oct-2015Irfan Karim – the son of former Kenya captain Asif Karim – starred in his campus team, Loughborough Marylebone Cricket Club University’s, seven-wicket win against European University of Bangladesh in the Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals on Tuesday.The 23-year-old Kenya batsman struck an optimistic note about the future of cricket in Kenya, despite his team’s poor showing in the World T20 qualifiers, where they are currently placed joint-fourth with Oman, in Group B, behind Scotland, Netherlands and Afghanistan.”Teams like Kenya, Ireland and Afghanistan have shown that they can reach that level,” Karim said.”Associate cricket has done well in the World Cups, and upsets therein are a case in point. We just need to have the right structure in place and a good pool of players. There’s no reason why we can’t succeed.”His quick fire 48-ball 71, on Tuesday, helped LMCC emerge as strong title contenders in the Campus Cricket tournament currently being played in Dehradun.His performance isn’t a one-off, as he has performed impressively in the ODI format, for his national team in his short career, as well.He currently has 396 runs at an average of 44 in his short career. His statistics in T20’s are less impressive, his seven T20’s yielding just 47 runs.”I enjoy playing on the international stage. My passion for the game came from my father. I saw him play for Kenya from a young age and that’s how I got into it as a kid. It has stayed with me ever since and I am really enjoying pursuing cricket. Of course, my dad, for he inspired me to play cricket. I was always playing with him around me. “”I want to play at a higher level in England, particularly county cricket. That is why I am playing club cricket there as well. They have many opportunities, some good facilities and good coaching. They are very professional in their set up.”Asif Karim, unlike his son, was more judicious of his assessment of cricket in Kenya.”Kenya cricket is dead. It is dead and buried. Your intent can be good but if you’re not competent to do something, it doesn’t happen. We’ve had an incompetent administration for the last ten years. The results are clear. Where is the cricket now? My prediction is that from being an Associate team having ODI status we will become an Affiliate,” he told Tim Wigmore in September last year.”We’ve had an incompetent administration for the last ten years. The results are clear. Where is the cricket now?” he asserted.

Offspinner Nathan Lyon has said that he will look to exploit the footmarks created by the three left-arm fast bowlers on the fifth day

Brydon Coverdale at the Gabba08-Nov-2015For a long while after his Test debut, Nathan Lyon was viewed as a consistent performer with one key question mark still surrounding his game. Could he bowl Australia to victory in a fourth innings? A few opportunities came and went, and were not grabbed – when South Africa held on at Adelaide Oval in 2012, for example. But at the same venue two years later, Lyon proved he could do it.That was a turning point for Lyon, his seven wickets in the fourth innings against India delivering Australia victory and earning his first – and so far only – Man-of-the-Match performance. It was the first Test of a home summer and David Warner scored a century in each innings; Australia will be hoping the parallels continue on the fifth day at the Gabba, where they need seven New Zealand wickets.”I think I’ve matured a lot since making my debut and having Shane Warne’s legacy hanging above me,” Lyon said after the fourth day at the Gabba. “Saying that, it’s a fourth innings and we’ve got five bowlers out there to take 10 wickets, so we’re going to have to bowl in partnerships and it doesn’t always rely on one person’s shoulders.”That is true, but Lyon showed on the fourth day that he has plenty to offer on a Gabba surface with plenty of bounce. The presence of three left-arm fast bowlers in this match has also offered Lyon the chance to work into some decent footmarks, and on a day five pitch it will be interesting to see how much rip he can get out of those areas when he comes over the wicket.”With Trent Boult, Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc running down outside that wicket, it’s creating a lot of footholes for me to hopefully hit and create a bit of havoc for the right handers,” Lyon said.On the fourth day, he switched between over- and around-the-wicket lines to New Zealand’s right-handers, and picked up both of his wickets from over: Martin Guptill drove at one that didn’t turn much and was caught behind, and Kane Williamson was lbw to one spinning in. Lyon said he had tried the around-the-wicket line to Williamson because it brought in more modes of dismissal.”Kane Williamson is an unbelievable bat,” Lyon said. “He’s got quick hands and he’s got quick feet as well, to be able to get deep into his crease and turn it around the corner. That’s from over the wicket. Coming around the wicket brings more dismissals in for me personally, to Kane.”Guptill wasn’t really looking to score today. I don’t know what he was doing, to be honest. It was chewing up a lot of balls and … building a fair amount of pressure on Kane. I was lucky enough to take the outside edge after dropping him.”Nicknamed GOAT by his fellow players – an acronym standing for Greatest of All Time, after he overtook Hugh Trumble to be Australia’s leading wicket-taker among Test offspinners – Lyon will face the challenge on day five of working against Brendon McCullum, who went to stumps not out on 4. Although a New Zealand win is exceptionally unlikely with 362 runs still needed, if McCullum stays in for a couple of hours, runs could come quickly.”He’s a world-class player,” Lyon said. “He’s dangerous, but I love challenges and I’m looking forward to it. Bring it on.”

Former BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah, a long-time administrator and currently president of Saurashtra Cricket Association, has endorsed Shashank Manohar’s “personal” view that the ICC needs to be more democratic

Sidharth Monga08-Dec-2015Former BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah, a long-time administrator and currently secretary of Saurashtra Cricket Association, has endorsed Shashank Manohar’s “personal” view that the ICC needs to be more democratic. This comes as important support for possible change in the structure of the ICC, especially considering BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur had essentially opposed Manohar’s view.Shah had told ESPNcricinfo in November that it was not fair that everybody earned equal revenue when India contributed a majority of it. “I remember we fought against the infamous veto rights of England and Australia,” he said. “Now it is almost like we have brought back that system, except that we have added ourselves to that list.”Last week, Manohar had said in an interview with the that the revenue-sharing structure the Big Three had imposed needed changing. “I don’t agree with the revenue-sharing formula, because it’s nice to say that India [BCCI] will get 22% of the total revenue of the ICC, but you cannot make the poor poorer and the rich richer, only because you have the clout. The ICC runs cricket throughout the world.”This had brought about an opposing view from Thakur. “The [BCCI] president said this in his personal capacity,” Thakur told . “He made it very clear that it was his personal opinion. The Indian subcontinent contributes close to 70% of the ICC’s revenues. To take 21% of that is not much. That was the position with Australia and England earlier, and no one objected to it then. If this happens to India today, we shouldn’t object to it.”Shah, who will be a voting power if this issue comes up for discussion in the BCCI, believes the board shouldn’t take the view that this becomes right just because somebody else had done it in the past. Shah also compared it with the structure of the BCCI. “In India Tripura and Mumbai have the same voting powers and get the same share of the revenue,” he said and reiterated Manohar’s view that even if India contributes more to the world cricket financially, it needed good competition to do so.Shah said that if the ICC was to be restructured, the matter would be brought up in the BCCI first. Asked if he, as a member of the BCCI, would support such a move, he answered in the affirmative, but said that only a majority view was likely to be considered.

Fast bowler Doug Bracewell has been brought into New Zealand’s ODI squad for the remainder of the series against Pakistan, replacing the injured Mitchell McClenaghan

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jan-2016Fast bowler Doug Bracewell has been brought into New Zealand’s ODI squad for the remainder of the series against Pakistan, replacing the injured Mitchell McClenaghan. McClenaghan fractured the bone above his left eye during the first ODI on Monday, when the ball burst through his helmet grille while he was batting. He is set to undergo minor cosmetic surgery for the injury on Friday in Auckland.New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said McClenaghan’s health was the priority for the team, so it was decided to replace him for the second and third ODIs, which will be played in Napier and Auckland this week.”Obviously our main focus is making sure Mitch is okay, and we’ll continue to monitor him over the coming days,” Hesson said. “Doug has been in superb form this summer and we’re confident he can come in and do a good job for us. He’s an integral member of our wider bowling group and brings a lot to the side.”Bracewell had played the preceding ODI series against Sri Lanka, before turning out for Central Districts in the Ford Trophy – New Zealand’s domestic one-dayers. There, in the Ford Trophy, he had picked up only three wickets in four bowling innings, but maintained an impressive economy rate of 4.96.

India’s Under-19 captain Ishan Kishan has said that he is enjoying the expectation on him to win the trophy, like Virat Kohli did in 2008 and Unmukht Chand four years ago

Mohammad Isam20-Jan-2016India Under-19 captain Ishan Kishan has said that he is enjoying the expectation on him to win the trophy, something Virat Kohli had done in 2008 and Unmukht Chand four years ago. He has said that he finds inspiration in the fact that his team has plenty of allrounders and batting depth.India are one of two teams to have won the title thrice; Mohammad Kaif had first lifted the trophy in 2000. Australia are the other team but they have pulled out of this year’s tournament, which makes India’s job easier, as they were drawn in the same group.”In 2008 and 2012 India won the Under-19 World Cup. There’s been a four-year gap so people are expecting that from me,” Kishan said.” It is not that big of a pressure on me but I am really enjoying this moment.”Strength of my team is that almost every batsman can bowl. We have a pace bowling attack that’s good. We have a good fielding unit. Our batting goes till No 8, which is a plus point. It will help us in the matches.”Kishan said that he had picked MS Dhoni’s brains when they spent time in the middle and the dressing room during a Vijay Hazare Trophy match recently. According to Kishan, Dhoni had taken interest in explaining about field positions, bowling changes, and handling pressure.”It really inspires me a lot that MS Dhoni is from Ranchi and I am also from the same place,” he said. “We were playing a match in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. We were in the same team. Whenever a wicket use to fall, he used to call me and told me what he did right then. If bowler is bowling with good pace, what field he can set in the slog overs. So it was about what I can do in pressure situations in the World Cup. It was quite valuable for me.”When he is standing in front of you, you have to ask him questions. You know what type of captain he has been for India. I asked him what I can do in future matches in World Cup when something wrong happens.”Kishan has another inspirational figure, in the Under-19 dressing room, in the form of head coach Rahul Dravid.”His words have a lot of value for us. His appearance is very important especially when we are in a pressure situation,” Kishan said. We need his words to get out of pressure situations.”His batting tips are very helpful. He knows everyone has his own style of batting,” Kishan said.” He is a legendary batsman for a long time in the Indian team. It is great spending time with him. When he talks to us at a time of pressure, it gives us a lot of relief. I don’t remember any single line but most are very helpful.”

Rubel Hossain, who was a key member of Bangadesh’s pace attack during the 2015 World Cup, has been left out of the BCB’s list of contracted players for 2016

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Feb-2016Rubel Hossain, who was a key member of Bangadesh’s pace attack during the 2015 World Cup, has been left out of the BCB’s list of contracted players for 2016. Rubel has been troubled by injuries in recent months, and has not played for Bangladesh in any format since July 2015.Apart from Rubel, the BCB also omitted opening batsman Anamul Haque and fast bowler Shafiul Islam from its list of contracted players.In place of these three, the BCB awarded contracts to Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman and Mustafizur Rahman. All three have made big strides in international cricket over the past year, with Sarkar and Sabbir establishing themselves as opener and finisher in Bangladesh’s limited-overs batting line-ups and Mustafizur enjoying a dream debut season that culminated in his selection in the ICC ODI team of the year.List of contracted players for 2016: Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Nasir Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Taijul Islam, Mashrafe Mortaza, Al-Amin Hossain, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Mustafizur Rahman.

A collective effort from Dolphins’ bowlers, led by seamers Rabian Engelbrecht and Craig Alexander, helped them end their season with a 118-run win over Knights at Kingsmead in Durban

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Apr-2016A collective effort from Dolphins’ bowlers, led by seamers Rabian Engelbrecht and Craig Alexander, helped them end their season with a 118-run win over Knights at Kingsmead in Durban. The win, however, had no effect on Dolphins’ position in the points table, as they finished fifth, behind Cobras. The result, however, hurt Knights, as they conceded the second spot to Lions.Chasing 382, Knights were reduced to 25 for 4 in 13 overs. Rilee Rossouw, who top scored with 84, and Rudi Second, the wicketkeeper-batsman, rebuilt the innings with a 148-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Andile Phehlukwayo, the seamer, then broke the stand in the 67th over when he had Second caught by Sarel Erwee. Phehlukwayo soon had Rossouw caught behind as Knights were weakened to 181 for 6. Tumelo Bodibe and Malusi Siboto pitched in with thirties each, but Knights were eventually bowled out for 263. Engelbrecht was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4 for 43.Dolphins had begun steadily, scoring 203 for 3 in 74 overs on the opening day, after being asked to bat. Vaughn van Jaarsveld made 106 – his 14th first-class century – while Senuran Muthusamy and Daryn Smit shone with half-centuries. Dolphins were also helped by lower-order contributions from Keshav Maharaj (31), Mthokozisi Shezi (28*), Alexander (21) and Engelbrecht (28) as they finished with 375. Right-arm seamer Dillon du Preez returned five wickets for Knights.Alexander’s 6 for 60 then ensured Knights were kept to 218 in their reply. Opener Reeza Hendricks was dismissed in the third over, but Michael Erlank hit a fifty to lift his side. Rossouw and Second built on the platform, but the lower-middle order fell away, as the Knights conceded a 157-run first-innings lead.Captain Imran Khan then helped Dolphins consolidate by scoring an unbeaten 106, including 14 fours, with support from van Jaarsveld, who followed his ton with a fifty in the second dig. Dolphins declared on 224 for 3 to set Knights a steep target.

The PCB is considering the prospect of adding another team to the Pakistan Super League with the possibility of the sixth team being named Kashmir, after the territory of Pakistan-administered Kashmir in Pakistan

Umar Farooq09-May-2016The PCB is considering the prospect of adding another team to the Pakistan Super League with the possibility of the sixth team being named Kashmir, after the territory of Pakistan-administered Kashmir in Pakistan. The move looks unlikely, however, for different reasons: opposition from some of the current franchises on financial grounds and the potential for controversy given Kashmir’s sensitive status vis-a-vis India.The current structure of the PSL comprises five teams whose names are derived from provincial capitals – Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Quetta and Peshawar. According to a contract signed between the PCB and the franchises, the number of teams cannot be increased until the third edition.Sethi had tweeted last month: “My dream is to launch 6th Kashmir team in PSL this year. Hope our five franchisee partners will support me in this initiative.” Peshawar Zalmi team owner Javed Afridi supported Sethi’s initiative but the other teams were not as enthused. Sethi said Kashmir, Faisalabad, Sialkot and Gilgit-Baltistan were in the fray for the potential team.”We will not have [a new team] until the third year that is written,” Sethi confirmed in an exclusive interview with ESPNcricinfo. “But at the same time we are looking at the financials about the addition of a sixth team, in terms of whether it will be Kashmir, Faisalabad, Sialkot or Gilgit-Baltistan or any other team. That decision is pending. We have to weigh up the pros and cons and that’s the issue right now but we cannot have it until franchises agree. Without their consent we can’t make it.”The opposition from the franchises is centered around the potential cut in their share from the central revenue pool. After the inaugural edition of the PSL, 70% of the revenue was split equally among the five franchises and the percentage would have been higher had the tournament been held in Pakistan instead of the UAE. Sethi said he was trying to convince teams that the addition of a sixth side would benefit them.”Of course we have to offer guarantee to the teams that they will be better by having a sixth team and have to convince them. I have my team working on different values and estimated profits and revenues before pitching this idea to them but this idea is definitely under consideration. Basically the advice from our finance department is that this is the high time to add sixth team as the values are very high at this stage before the second edition. We have to cash in the hype we have created from the first edition and this may or may go down next year.”The PCB regulates the franchises and manages the day-to day-cash flow, bearing the cost of logistics and payment to foreign and local players to avoid any dispute. Sethi confirmed the spending cap of each franchise, currently placed at US$1.2m, has been increased by 10% for the second season.Najam Sethi confirmed the possibility of creating a sixth team to boost the league’s valuation•AFP

In a recent PCB meeting, Sethi, who is also head of the central executive committee, made a bid to register PSL as an independent entity, primarily to cut down on hefty taxes paid by the Pakistan board and the franchises. Sethi took up the case with the finance ministry, but the negotiations fell through; the only concession was the overseas players getting a tax-free salary.”The idea is to make it a non-profit, registering it as separate company, to allow PCB to re-invest the net profits into development of cricket,” Sethi said. “Right now it is still in the pipeline and may not be an easy task. Although we sought seed money from the PCB budget for the first edition, we will have our own budgets from next year. We thought it will be a PCB-owned company but absolutely independent, and whatever money PSL makes it will go down into development which will be exempted from tax.”According to Sethi the first edition of the league generated $11.4million in revenue which is 30% higher in value than the estimated $8.02million. He admitted direct and operational expenditures had increased from $7.71million to $8.93million but PCB still manage to produce an estimated profit of $2.47million. The tournament operations were started with approximately $3-4m of seed money from the PCB’s budget and more income was generated after selling the five teams for $9.3 million.”We have beaten our own expectations and the asset value of each team has increased drastically,” Sethi said. “Teams aren’t really making profit right now from the market and they need time to make themselves a proper brand but their asset value has gone up significantly. If anyone of the team want to sell their team they can get hike of one million in their original price, which is a welcoming sign. They incurred some loses and we have covered it up from our own PCB’s central pool and gave them $400,000 each apart from the 70% of our revenues from broadcaster, gate money, title sponsorship etc.”Sharing key figures from the financial report, Sethi said: “We sold franchises in $9.3million with the first year and revenue from other means was $2.11million for the first edition. We spent $1.22million extra from our estimated budget $7.71m; the expenditures were $4.71m in direct and $4.22m in operational cost which is mainly because of the high value of renting the stadium in UAE which cost us $3.27m (Dubai and Sharjah).”The PCB is also mooting workshops to give franchises an understanding on how to leverage their business further and explore different revenue streams at a time when they are yet to break even. “Teams should be profitable by the third year,” he said. “We have been insisting that merchandising is a key revenue stream for them. That is directly linked to the marketability of the franchise and so far Peshawar is the only team that has done fairly well in this regard. We also need them to step up and market themselves better.”

Heath Streak has decided not to continue as Bangladesh’s bowling coach as his two-year contract terminates at the end of this month

Mohammad Isam26-May-2016Heath Streak has decided not to continue as Bangladesh’s bowling coach as his two-year contract terminates at the end of this month. The BCB was waiting on him and would have renewed the contract if he was willing to stay.”I have decided that I shall leave my role as National Bowling Coach when my contract expires at the end of the month,” Streak said in a statement. “I would like to thank the BCB for the opportunity afforded to me in 2014. It has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience and I will continue to follow Bangladesh’s progress closely. I feel now is the right time for me and my family to make this decision and I look forward to the future as I look to continue my coaching career.”The confirmation ended days of speculation about Streak’s future in this position after it was recently reported that he had applied to the BCCI’s National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. Streak is also currently bowling coach of Gujarat Lions in the IPL.The BCB had appointed Streak in May 2014. His contract stipulated him to work for 450 days across two years and also as consultant for the other representative teams under the board.Streak was part of Bangladesh’s rejigged coaching group in 2014. Under him, Bangladesh won a Test series and two ODI series against Zimbabwe, they qualified to the knockout stage of the 2015 World Cup, and won maiden ODI series against Pakistan, India and South Africa.

Tillakaratne Dilshan has informed Sri Lanka Cricket that he will be unavailable for the limited-overs series in England and Ireland, owing to personal issues

Andrew Fidel Fernando31-May-2016Tillakaratne Dilshan has informed Sri Lanka Cricket that he will be unavailable for the limited-overs series in England and Ireland, owing to personal issues. The limited-overs squads for England have not yet been named, but Sri Lanka are scheduled to play five ODIs and a T20 international in the country, as well as two ODIs in Dublin soon after the third Test.The news is a significant blow to the team, as Dilshan has been Sri Lanka’s most-consistent limited-overs batsman over the past two years. In 2015 Dilshan hit 1207 ODI runs at an average of 52.47. That aggregate put him on third on the year’s run-scorers’ list.His withdrawal also extends the instability Sri Lanka have experienced at the top of their limited-overs batting order. Kusal Perera is expected to open the batting in the shorter formats after being cleared of doping charges, but Sri Lanka will now have to find a partner for him for the series.Dilshan, now 39, had suggested he was not thinking of limited-overs retirement during the recent World T20. He retired from Tests in late 2013.The ODIs commence on June 16, in Ireland, before Sri Lanka return to play England. The first match of that series is at Nottingham on June 21.