Tim David’s power surge seals 18-run victory for MI Emirates over Gulf Giants

Tim David’s power surge seals 18-run victory for MI Emirates over Gulf Giants
Fazalhaq Farooqi of MI Emirates celebrates the wicket of Jordan Cox of Gulf Giants during the match 4 of the DP World International League T20. (Supplied)
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Updated 22 January 2024
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Tim David’s power surge seals 18-run victory for MI Emirates over Gulf Giants

Tim David’s power surge seals 18-run victory for MI Emirates over Gulf Giants
  • Nicholas Pooran scores a brisk half century and Fazalhaq Farooqui shines with 4 for 25 for MI Emirates

ABU DHABI: Nicholas Pooran and Tim David helped the MI Emirates convert a lukewarm start into a comfortable 18-run victory against reigning champions the Gulf Giants in the fourth match of the ongoing DP World ILT20 at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

Moving at a run-a-ball for his first 17 deliveries, Pooran smashed three fours and four sixes to score 51 runs in 18 deliveries. David hammered 41 runs in the death overs to set the Gulf Giants a formidable target of 180 runs to win.

In response, the Gulf Giants’ run chase began with a promising half century by James Vince. James Overton’s 41 off 18 balls studded with five sixes gave his team a much-needed injection, but a clinical performance by the MI Emirates’ bowling unit led by Fazalhaq Farooqi, restricted the Giants to 161 for nine. Farooqi was the pick of the bowling with figures of four for 25.

Pooran said: “We were ready with the result, and happy that the guys responded to the challenge. With wickets in hand, you can always go big in the last five to six overs.”

David, who was named Player of the Match, said: “It is nice to make any contribution for the side. The boys laid the platform, and I just took it on. It’s about finding a method that is going to work for you in that game, take that risk and see what happens.”

Vince, who is the skipper of the Gulf Giants, conceded that his side could have performed better.

“We never quite got ahead in the game, their finish with the bat was superb. I think we got bogged down before I got out and that was a key moment in the game. We will have a quick debrief ahead of the next game and see where we can improve,” he said.


English county side Essex fined after racism probe

English county side Essex fined after racism probe
Updated 18 September 2024
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English county side Essex fined after racism probe

English county side Essex fined after racism probe
  • Half of Essex’s fine is suspended for two years
  • The county have also been cautioned over their future conduct after being reprimanded by the Cricket Regulator

LONDON: English county side Essex have been fined £100,000 ($131,000) after admitting a failure to address “systemic” racist language and conduct at the cricket club between 2001 and 2010.
Half of Essex’s fine is suspended for two years and the county have also been cautioned over their future conduct after being reprimanded by the Cricket Regulator (CR).
The CR panel said the length of time covered by the charge and the systemic use of racist and discriminatory language suggested a culture that was “embedded” across most levels of the club.
The panel added: “This conduct continued without meaningful challenge from either Essex’s management or other senior playing members of the club even when it was brought to their attention.”
The panel accepted in mitigation Essex’s early admission of the charge and the punishments handed to individuals arising from the separate independent review commissioned by the club.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)’s own investigation had been prompted by allegations of racism made by former players Jahid Ali, Maurice Chambers and Zoheb Sharif.
ECB chief executive Richard Gould said: “Racism has no place in our sport. I’m appalled by what those who experienced racism at Essex have been through, and the way this behavior could become normalized.
“It is vital that as a sport we listen and learn from their experiences, and ensure that no one suffers like that again.
“I welcome the action Essex has taken in recent years to address these issues and become a more inclusive club, and the commitment it has shown to make further progress.”


Australia smash England for 193 in 2nd T20

Australia smash England for 193 in 2nd T20
Updated 13 September 2024
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Australia smash England for 193 in 2nd T20

Australia smash England for 193 in 2nd T20

Cardiff, UK: Jake Fraser-McGurk top scored with 50 as Australia set England a demanding target of 194 to keep a their three-match T20 series alive in Cardiff.
England looked set for a chase in excess of 200 as the tourists made another rapid start with captain Travis Head smashing 31 off just 14 balls.
Australia were cruising along at 119-2 in the 13th over before Fraser-McGurk’s flashy innings came to an end when he was caught off the bowling of Liam Livingstone.
Just like in the opening game of the series, which Australia won by 28 runs, it was left to the English spin attacking to limit the damage.
Livingstone also took the wicket of Marcus Stoinis but was surprisingly given only three overs despite being the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2-16.
But Josh Inglis’ 42 off 26 balls put momentum back into the Aussie innings before Cameron Green and Aaron Hardie hit Sam Curran for 20 off the final over to post a total of 193/6.


England’s new white-ball era off to shaky start in loss to Australia in first T20 cricket match

England’s new white-ball era off to shaky start in loss to Australia in first T20 cricket match
Updated 12 September 2024
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England’s new white-ball era off to shaky start in loss to Australia in first T20 cricket match

England’s new white-ball era off to shaky start in loss to Australia in first T20 cricket match

SOUTHAMPTON, England: A new era for England’s white-ball teams got off to a shaky start with a 28-run loss to Australia on Wednesday in the first of three T20 matches between the fierce cricket rivals.
Australia was put into bat and dismissed for 179 with three balls remaining — an under-par score at the Utilita Bowl in Southampton given the team smashed 86 off the powerplay and was 118-2 after 10 overs. Travis Head hit a 19-ball fifty in his knock of 59 to get the Australians off to a rapid start.
England, with a batting lineup missing injured captain Jos Buttler and including uncapped Jordan Cox and Jacob Bethell, stumbled to 52-4. After Liam Livingstone (37) and Sam Curran (18) threatened a fightback with a 54-run partnership for the fifth wicket, England lost three wickets in 10 balls to plunge to 113-7 and was eventually all out for 151 with four balls left.
The other matches in the T20 series are in Cardiff on Friday and Manchester on Sunday. Then comes a five-match ODI series between the teams, where Buttler — England’s white-ball talisman — may return from his right calf injury that will cause him to miss the T20s.
With the 30-year-old Jamie Overton also selected for the first time, England’s lineup included three uncapped players as well as a stand-in captain in Phil Salt. Australia’s more-established team had too much for the hosts, with the 86-run opening partnership between Matthew Short (41 off 26 balls) and Head building an excellent platform.
Head crashed 30 runs off the first over bowled by Curran, who quickly disappeared from England attack.
It took the arrival of spinners Adil Rashid and Livingstone to slow the run-rate, and Australia started to quickly lose wickets — with the last eight departing for 61.
In the chase, the 23-year-old Cox was out for an unconvincing 17 off 12 balls and the 20-year-old Bethell managed only 2. Overton was also in the top seven of an inexperienced and fragile batting lineup, and made 15.
Australia’s fielding was brilliant, with Tim David’s catch — on the dive after turning round and running into the leg side — to remove Cox particularly standing out.


A remarkable act of batting defiance

A remarkable act of batting defiance
Updated 05 September 2024
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A remarkable act of batting defiance

A remarkable act of batting defiance
  • Ian Bestwick recently added his name to those of the great ‘blockers,’ facing 137 deliveries and scoring zero runs in an English county league match

Cussedness — deliberate obstinacy — is a behavioral trait often associated with people in northern England. My experience of this quality stems from an upbringing in mining communities in Derbyshire, in the East Midlands.

When Ian Bestwick strode out to bat for Darley Abbey Cricket Club’s 4th X1 in Division Nine South of the Derbyshire County Cricket League on Aug. 24, he could have had little idea that he was about to take cussedness to a new level.

Bestwick was to face the might of Mickleover CC’s 3rd X1 bowlers. In 35 overs, these opponents had amassed a total of 271 for four declared, of which 19-year-old opening bat Max Thompson blasted 186. In the Derbyshire league, matches in Divisions 7 to 10 consist of 80 overs, with the team batting first limited to a maximum of half the overs. However, teams are allowed to declare their innings closed after 30 overs have been bowled. Perhaps Bestwick was piqued that Mickleover did not declare after 30 overs with their total on 192.

There has been many a cricketer who has felt that the opposition should have declared earlier than they did. This is one reason limited-over cricket was introduced. The reason for the introduction of the declaration option by this league at this level of cricket is not clear. It is also unclear why the matches are not “win or lose,” in which the team scoring the highest number of runs in a fixed number of overs is the winner.

A combination of the declaration option, which varies the number of overs available to both teams and which allows the possibility of a drawn match, provided the context for Bestwick’s innings. His team was young and inexperienced and had just been subjected to a battering. They also had to face 45 overs, since the overs unused by Mickleover were carried over. Added to this, both teams were near the foot of the table and desperate for points. An attempt to deny Mickleover points would be a logical justification for slow batting.

Bestwick took this attempt seriously. He batted throughout the innings, faced 137 deliveries and scored zero runs. Remarkably, he was dismissed early in his innings, but the delivery was declared a no-ball by the umpire, who was his captain. After that Bestwick grew into his task. It seems that he refused to run when he could have done so, not only off his own batting but also as the non-striker. This behavior was deliberately and determinedly stubborn, not helpful to others, and must have been of immense irritation to the opposition. One wonders what sort of remarks they may have made during the course of the innings.

The upshot of his efforts was that his team’s total score after 45 overs was a paltry 21 for the loss of four wickets. Nine of those runs were extras and a further four were scored in a single shot by Bestwick’s son, Thomas, with whom he shared a partnership of 11 in 24 overs. If the original intention was to deny Mickleover points this was partly achieved. They gained 18 points in achieving a winning draw as opposed to 27 on offer for an outright win. However, Darley Abbey gained only three points for scoring so lowly in a losing draw and, with three matches remaining, the points difference between them, Mickleover and one other team is 42 points, a gap which may be too much to bridge.

Reports have suggested that the mood in Darley Abbey’s team after the match was euphoric. Bestwick’s extraordinary feat of defiance and concentration made headlines not just in Derbyshire, but also in the UK’s national media and other parts of the world. Inevitably, comparisons have been made with slow scoring innings and players in professional cricket. There are many examples. The most frequently quoted in terms of number of deliveries faced without scoring a run was by New Zealand’s Geoff Allott, who failed to score from 77 deliveries in 1999. This effort helped his team secure a draw.

Other players have been cast as slow scorers, not always fairly. One example is Geoffrey Boycott, who was once dropped by England after scoring 246 in 555 deliveries against India in 1967 in a match which England won. Boycott described his exclusion as “the deepest wound of his professional career.”

Chris Tavare is another who acquired a reputation as a blocker. In his younger days in county cricket Tavare was an elegant attacking batter. At that time, England required an opening batter and he was asked to adapt his game for the sake of the team, something he achieved with notoriety. Among his slowest innings was one of 35 runs scored in Madras in six-and-a-half hours in 1982. Among Indians, a slow innings is referred to as “doing a Tavare”.

It remains to be seen if “doing a Bestwick” becomes part of cricket’s lexicon. While constructing this column the name Bestwick began ringing other bells. Digging deeper, I discovered a Billy Bestwick and, to my surprise, he was born less than half a mile from my birthplace in Heanor, Derbyshire, but a long time earlier in 1875. He played 323 matches for Derbyshire between 1898 and 1925, claiming almost 1,500 wickets. These included the rare feat of all 10 in an innings, all of which were bowled.

Billy Bestwick’s record would have been more impressive but for a verdict of “justifiable homicide” brought against him in 1907 after a man was killed in an establishment which he frequented. He was fired by Derbyshire and moved to South Wales, rejoining Derbyshire in 1919. After retirement he became a Test match umpire in which role he acquired a reputation for cussedness, upsetting several famous names with decisions of which they did not approve. In conclusion, it should not be assumed from these cautionary Bestwickian tales that cussedness, cricket and products of Derbyshire mining communities are synonymous, although I can think of many other examples.


Cricket federation aims to attract more Saudi children to the sport

Cricket federation aims to attract more Saudi children to the sport
Updated 30 August 2024
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Cricket federation aims to attract more Saudi children to the sport

Cricket federation aims to attract more Saudi children to the sport
  • We have been working with international schools, and now we are targeting Saudi boys and girls, says coach Kabir Khan

RIYADH: The popularity of cricket is growing among fans and players in the Kingdom, and this year the Saudi Arabian Cricket Federation launched its Schools Cricket program, the aim of which is to promote the sport to boys and girls across the Kingdom.

As part of the program, the SACF recently ran a summer camp at Al-Rowad International Schools that, according to the federation, saw around 100 children take part.

In an exclusive interview with Arab News, SACF head coach Kabir Khan said: “We started our schools program this year. But we have been working closely with all the international embassy schools — like those of Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh — for the past three years. And now we are targeting Saudi boys and girls.

“We are digging deep into the school system, and more schools are going to be contacted now,” he continued. “Several schools are already aligned, and we are planning go to all the others and engage with as many as we can. We all know, for any sport, if you don’t go deep into schools then you don’t have the junior system, and without a junior team it won’t be a productive and sustainable model. So, to make it more sustainable, and to get more boys and girls to play the game, we have to start from junior cricket and promote cricket at grassroots level.”

Khan said the number of children at the summer camp was “encouraging,” but added that the SACF “has to make an effort as well.”

He said: “It depends a lot on our efforts, so we are focused on how we introduce the game and how we involve them, the new cricketers.” He went on to explain that it was important to stress the fun side of the sport to get children interested, and then “slowly get them to a competitive level.”

One of the biggest challenges the federation has faced is cricket’s image among Saudis.
“There is a general perception that it’s a street game — and a dangerous one as well,” Khan said. “We need to change that perception. Cricket is a sport from England. It’s the national sport in the UK. It’s not a street sport. Basically, it was a game of gentlemen and gradually got famous in different parts of the world. Now, it’s the second biggest sport in the world.”

Cricket is hugely popular across the globe, second only to soccer as the most-watched sport. It has been played in Saudi Arabia for decades, but mainly by expatriate workers from the South Asian countries. Now Khan hopes Saudi children will take it up.

“We are providing proper playgrounds, academies, and a safe environment for all the kids who want to play — whether as a hobby or (with a view to making it) a career. It has got a lot of potential,” he said.

“Saudi schools are going to play a huge role in the future of Saudi Arabian cricket, for both males and females, as part of the vision of our chairman, Prince Saud bin Mishal Al-Saud, and our CEO, Tariq Ziad Sagga. This year, we are just contacting (schools) and creating events. We want all the boys and girls to play for fun and start slowly. Step by step we will make pathways for them so that they go to the national team,” he continued. “In 10 years, we hope there will be enough numbers for the senior male and female national teams to represent Saudi Arabia and make a name for the nation, for them, their families, and for us as well.

“I should say that we don’t want Saudis — whether male or female — in the junior or senior teams just because they are Saudis. We want to train them as hard as we can. And obviously we want people to see that they are talented, that they can perform, and that they are good enough to represent their country,” added Khan. “We don’t just want them to participate; we want them to perform and win as well. That might take a bit of time, but we want to have Saudis reach the highest level. We want them to be as good as anyone in the game.”