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Former India allrounder says the new format is an “exciting” development and could be ideal for the Olympics

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Nov-2019Yuvraj Singh, the former India allrounder, believes that 100-ball cricket could have an impact on the game similar to that of T20s.The Hundred is set to be launched in England next year, with the ECB deciding to promote a new format as part of its bid to attract fresh audiences. Although Yuvraj is not due to be involved – only one Indian player, Harbhajan Singh, entered the draft and he subsequently withdrew – he praised it as an exciting concept that may come “close to a revolution like T20″.Yuvraj, who retired from international cricket and the IPL in June, is currently participating in the Abu Dhabi T10, which got underway on Friday. Speaking to Maratha Arabians media, he suggested that 100-ball cricket was of interest to him.”I think the new 100-ball format will be an exciting format, because it’s not T10, it’s not T20, it’s about 100 balls,” he said. “That I feel could be an exciting format, close to a revolution like T20 – but we have to wait and watch.”While Eoin Morgan, England’s limited-overs captain who is also playing in Abu Dhabi, has described T10 as cricket’s perfect vehicle for Olympic Games inclusion, Yuvraj said The Hundred could also be an option.”If the tournament [Olympics] is over about two weeks, I think 100-ball would be perfect,” he said. “If the tournament is, say, ten days, then obviously T10 would be perfect. Depending on the timeframe of the Olympics. I think an Olympic gold is very prestigious, so it has to be something in which an athlete should be able to bounce back in situations, so you have to decide that.”As for the merits of ten-over cricket, Yuvraj said he was uncertain about whether it would spread further, because “you don’t have any time to get set and get going”. Yuvraj made a run-a-ball 6 in the Arabians’ defeat against Northern Warriors as the T10 league opened for its third edition.”It’s definitely an exciting tournament but I’m not sure, in terms of pacing yourself in a match – 50-over, Test match, T20 also you have time to pace yourself, but in T10 you don’t have time,” he said. “So I’m not sure, is it going to expand or is it not? T10 in Abu Dhabi and Dubai has been very popular, and the crowds have been huge, so I’m sure it’s something to look at.”

A win for Durham at Chester-le-Street would be a nice way for Paul Collingwood to go and there is every chance after Matt Salisbury set up a dominant opening day

ECB Reporters Network24-Sep-2018
ScorecardDurham have made the perfect start to Paul Collingwood’s final match, producing a strong performance to lead Middlesex by 106 runs on day one of their Specsavers County Championship Division Two clash at Emirates Riverside.Coach Jon Lewis demanded that his players put in a display to reflect the career of the former England all-rounder to respond from their humiliating defeat at the hands of Leicestershire last week. Matt Salisbury rose to the occasion with the ball, claiming his best figures in first-class cricket of 6 for 37 to bowl out the visitors for 121.Gareth Harte and Michael Richardson made fifties to lead the way with the bat as Durham bounced back from their abject efforts from Grace Road. Collingwood’s hopes of ending his career in style were dashed when he was dismissed for 32, although Harte was there at the close unbeaten on 76 with the home side ending the day 227 for 5.Middlesex made the curious choice to bat on a chilly September morning at Chester-le-Street, allowing Collingwood to receive a guard of honour from his team-mates. Nick Gubbins and Sam Robson made a decent start scoring 32 off the first seven overs. However, Salisbury made the breakthrough, producing a fine delivery to take Gubbins’ edge behind to Stuart Poynter for 19. The 25-year-old displayed a good rhythm after an underwhelming first over and he notched his second wicket of the morning by trapping Robson lbw.Chris Rushworth beat the bat several times before being rewarded with the scalp of Middlesex captain Dawid Malan. Salisbury kept bounding in with menace with almost every delivery, accounting for the wickets of Stevie Eskinazi and Robbie White. Mark Wood put Durham in control with the wickets of Max Holden and James Harris.Durham wrapped up the tail in just 16 deliveries at the start of the second session. Salisbury struck twice in the same to claim his maiden five-wicket haul in first-class cricket, dismissing James Fuller courtesy of a bizarre stroke along with Ethan Bamber. Wood wrapped up the innings when he bowled Tim Murtagh, claiming his third wicket of the day.The home side needed a response with the bat after being skittled twice in the sixties in their humiliating defeat at the hands of Leicestershire at Grace Road. Cameron Steel and Alex Lees were composed in the early stages, although both openers were out after making starts as Murtagh and Harris made inroads.Harte and Richardson held firm at the crease, guiding Durham past Middlesex’s first innings total. Richardson past fifty for the second time of the campaign, reaching the milestone off 67 balls, including six fours. However, he was unable to kick on as Murtagh struck to break the partnership of 89.Richardson’s dismissal brought the arrival of Collingwood, who received his second guard of honour of the day – this time from the visiting side. Harte eased the pressure on his skipper playing two fine strokes to reach his fifty off 98 balls.Collingwood was dropped on nine by Eskinazi, who took a blow to the face in the process, forcing him to exit the field. The Durham skipper played a couple of crisp drives through the covers before he fell for 32 to Bamber – leaving the crease at the Riverside for potentially the final time.Harte continued his innings unbeaten with Poynter at the end, with Durham boasting a healthy lead of 106 runs at the close.

The BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), which had been tasked with finalising India’s new head coach, was yet to reach a decision by Tuesday evening

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jul-20172:12

Kohli will be consulted, but he’s not the main decision-maker – Ganguly

By Tuesday evening, no decision had been reached on the next coach of India, despite the Committee of Administrators’ urging the BCCI to make a decision as soon as possibleA BCCI official said the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), which was tasked with finalising India’s new head coach, was yet to arrive at a unanimous choice, but was hopeful that a decision would be made on Tuesday night.”CoA has advised us to that effect and rightly,” the official said. “We are also of the same view.”The official, though, said the BCCI was not pushing the CAC to make a hurried decision. “Nobody is pushing them,” he said. “There is no problem, and they are also equally sensitive to the fact that the conversation should be comprehensive. But it should also be time-sensitive.”The CAC, comprising former India cricketers Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar, had interviewed five candidates in Mumbai on Monday, and said they would make their final decision after speaking with captain Virat Kohli. Ganguly even hinted that India could embark on their tour of Sri Lanka with the current set-up of batting and fielding coaches, but no head coach or bowling coach.ESPNcricinfo understands that CoA chairman Vinod Rai suggested to the BCCI that if a decision had been made it was best to announce the final pick and end all uncertainty and speculation. Rai offered that suggestion once he was told that there was a difference of opinion within the CAC as to when they should finalise their choice.Ganguly indicated that the CAC had not expected the CoA to push so strongly for a quick announcement.”We’ll speak to him. He’s a very respected man, Mr. Vinod Rai, and I will speak to him this afternoon,” Ganguly said. “I was supposed to go to Delhi, so obviously that’s been cancelled now because of this. We’ll speak to him, because what all was announced yesterday was with all permission and everybody was informed about it.”Although the CoA had not been involved in the interview process, it was happy with the CAC’s decision to speak to Kohli on his return from the USA to discuss the issue before announcing the new coach.”The COA was fine with the CAC having a discussion with Virat – not about him getting involved with their decision, but whatever decision they made surrounding the coach,” a BCCI official said. “There is no harm in having a discussion with the captain saying we have gone through a process, this is the individual that we believe is good for the team. These are his views in terms of how he views his role. Hopefully this will work out so that there is no repeat of the Kumble situation. So there is no harm in a having a transparent conversation and then making it public.”

Deepak Shodhan, who was the first Indian to make a Test century in his debut innings, has died aged 87. He had been India’s oldest Test cricketer.

Nagraj Gollapudi16-May-2016Deepak Shodhan, the first Indian to make a Test century in his debut innings, has died aged 87. He was India’s oldest living Test cricketer.Shodhan passed away at his residence in Ahmedabad. He had been suffering from lung cancer, which was detected in February this year. The funeral was scheduled for 11 am on Monday.An attractive left-hand batsman who bowled left-arm pace as well, Shodhan was given his first India cap at 25, against Pakistan at Eden Gardens in 1952, and made an immediate impact. He walked in at No. 8, with the score on 179 for 6 and no specialist batsmen left, and he walked out with 110 against his name. India claimed a lead of 140 runs, but the match ended in a draw.”I was in the reserves for the series against Pakistan in 1952-53, the historic first Test series between our two newly independent nations,” Shodhan had said in a recent interview. “In the final Test match, at Calcutta, I was drafted into the playing XI after our captain Vijay Hazare pulled out unwell. It was Lala Amarnath, who was captaining India in Vijay Hazare’s absence, who asked for me to be brought in – ‘that tall Gujarati boy who had done so well in the trials and other matches’.”Despite that bright start, Shodhan played only two more Tests, on a tour of West Indies in 1953. The team had journeyed to the Caribbean by a small boat, which kept tossing and turning. Everyone got sick at some point or other and Shodhan remembered being the last man standing. Having made 45 and 11 in the first Test at Port-of-Spain, he did not play the next three and was taken ill when he returned for the fifth one in Jamaica. That didn’t stop him from walking out at No. 10, after West Indies had taken a 264-run lead, to try and salvage a draw.Madhav Apte, the 83-year old former opening batsman who was part of that series, recollected Shodhan’s bravery. “He was down with flu and was admitted to the hospital and did not bat in the first innings. [In the second innings] We needed someone to waste time and delay the West Indies batting. Deepak managed to just do that and consumed enough time to help India draw that match.”Shodhan had a long domestic career, playing for Gujarat and Baroda in the Ranji Trophy and was a title-winner in 1957-58. “I loved playing cricket. My first-class career stretched on to 1962, ten years after I played my last Test match,” he had said in April. Shodhan had made his debut in 1946-47, in the same match that his older brother Jyotindra, currently 91 years old, had struck his first century.Datta Gaekwad, father of former India allrounder and coach Anshuman Gaekwad, has become India’s oldest living Test cricketer at 87 years and 202 days.

Nottinghamshire fast bowler Luke Fletcher is joining Surrey on a month’s loan for red ball cricket, but will remain available for Notts Outlaws in the NatWest T20 Blast

ESPNcricinfo staff15-May-2015Nottinghamshire seam bowler Luke Fletcher is joining Surrey on a month’s loan for red-ball cricket, but will remain available for Notts in the NatWest T20 Blast.He will be with Surrey for Division Two fixtures against Northamptonshire, Kent, Lancashire and Leicestershire as they seek to cover pace-bowling deficiencies that threaten to derail their promotion challenge.Fletcher is yet to make an appearance for the Nottinghamshire first team in 2015, but director of cricket Mick Newell expects him to feature prominently between now and the end of the season.”If we’re going to challenge in three competitions, we need a strong squad of bowlers,” said Newell. “Having that strong group isn’t just about having them in the squad, it’s about maintaining their form and match fitness too. This is a good opportunity for Fletch to get some red ball bowling under his belt.”If he takes wickets down there and comes back with some confidence and form behind him, it will certainly help his chances of playing in our four day team. It would be good for Fletch, good for Notts and good for Surrey if that was the case.”In the meantime, we know what he’s all about in Twenty20 cricket. He has a set of skills with the white ball that he consistently executes. Even if the batsmen know what’s coming, it’s another thing batting against it, so Fletch will have a big role to play for us in T20 cricket, during this loan and beyond it.”Fletcher has taken 203 first-class wickets in 66 appearances for Nottinghamshire, as well as earning plaudits for his specialist death bowling in the shorter formats of the game.

Pat Cummins has revealed he was booked into the Australian Institute of Sport to have his bowling action examined for signs that it had contributed to his injury-ridden year

Brydon Coverdale and Daniel Brettig02-Nov-2012Pat Cummins has revealed he was booked into the Australian Institute of Sport to have his bowling action examined for signs that it had contributed to his injury-ridden year before the back stress fracture that has blocked him out of a second home summer in a row.Cummins, 19, is expected to miss nearly all of the 2012-13 season due to a stress fracture in his lower back. The diagnosis means Cummins will not be part of the Test series against South Africa or Sri Lanka, and almost certainly will not be considered for the Test tour of India in February, while his possible involvement in the Ashes tour of England might depend on whether he is able to play any first-class cricket before then.On his return to Sydney from Melbourne where examinations confirmed the fracture, Cummins said there had been plans afoot for some time to have his action assessed scientifically. He also admitted that the surfeit of Twenty20 cricket he had played in the UAE, Sri Lanka and South Africa in recent weeks had allowed bad habits to creep into his technique.The back stress fracture means the aforementioned AIS appointment will not be taken up while Cummins rests, but it is understood that analysis is likely to begin with pre-existing video footage.”We were talking about going down to the AIS, we were already booked in to have a look at my action while we had time. We’d been planning to do it for a while, just to see what it came up with,” Cummins said. “One thing I noticed was I might’ve been falling away a bit more than say a year ago. When I’m bowling with a red ball I try to swing it and when I’m swinging the ball everything’s going well.”But when you’re bowling cross seamers with a white ball you kind of fall into bad habits maybe.”The most recent first-class match Cummins played was his Test debut last November in Johannesburg, where he collected seven wickets and was Man of the Match. Australia’s selectors had hoped he would be available for the third Test against South Africa at the WACA, but scans in Melbourne this week confirmed that he would be out of the equation for an extended period.Cummins had back soreness during the Champions League Twenty20 but kept playing, including in the Sydney Sixers’ victory in the final. That might have seemed a risky course of action given his injury history, but Australia’s team physio Alex Kountouris said the niggle at the Champions League did not appear a major issue.”He had a little bit of back pain towards the back end of the Champions League, which wasn’t a big concern,” Kountouris said. “He played all the games and was training and was functioning okay. But because of his age and his history we decided to investigate it and unfortunately he’s got an early stage stress fracture of his spine, which is disappointing.”The good news is we’ve got it nice and early, because we have had a high index of suspicion with him. Now we’re going to manage it early and expect to get a good outcome from it. He’s now going to start his rehab. We do expect him to miss most of the season, if not all of it. But he will come back and he’ll be fine once he gets back in to playing cricket again.”Pat had a spine bone stress injury a few years ago but the current injury is new and in an entirely different part of the spine. We expect he will recover fully from this injury and will be closely monitored to determine his return to the playing field, but expect that he will miss most of the 2012-13 domestic cricket season.”As far as his management is concerned, Cummins said there was nothing he would have changed about the past few months, as he recovered from a side strain he picked up in England to play a series of T20 matches. However the latest setback is sure to cause another round of thinking about how Cummins should be handled.”I’ve got to sit down with the people that manage me and give them my thoughts as well,” Cummins said. “It’s a group effort. I probably wouldn’t have changed anything from the last few months. I thought I was bowling enough and not bowling too much. I got through 20 games in the last few months so it was playing every two or three days.”The one thing with all young people is they’re more susceptible with injuries, you can’t really be too wrapped up in trying to pick and choose. If you’re ready to go you’ve got to go out there and play, and if you get injured that’s just what happens. It’s what’s on the schedule, so looking forward if it’s not the end of this summer hopefully the Champions Trophy in England and obviously the Ashes is a major goal. Certainly not ruled that out yet, hopefully I’ll be right for them.”Cummins missed most of last summer due to a foot injury and has managed only four first-class matches – including his Test debut – in his short career. He also suffered a side strain during the one-day tour of England this year and was sent home mid-series.His latest injury means Australia will have one less bowler to rotate through the Test attack this summer, which could mean a heavier workload for James Pattinson and Mitchell Starc. Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus are the mature-bodied fast bowlers in the group, while there remains a chance of Ryan Harris recovering from injury in time for the series against Sri Lanka.

Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lanka batsman, has called for stability in the team after they gave themselves a chance of staving off a Test match and series defeat by Australia in Pallekele

Daniel Brettig in Pallekele11-Sep-2011Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lanka batsman, has called for stability in the team after they gave themselves a chance of staving off a Test match and series defeat by Australia in Pallekele. While he acknowledged the team’s poor performances with the bat so far in the series, he said the batsmen needed to be given extended runs without the constant fear of being dropped. Only that, he said, could bring positive results – Sri Lanka have not won a Test match since the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan..”The first thing is the guys have to be pretty solid in their minds about what their roles are,” Sangakkara said. “They’ve also got to be comfortable in the fact they’re here because they’re good enough and also that they’re going to be given a nice, long-lasting run to prove what they can do. No-one comes here easily, everyone’s done the hard work in the A side or in first-class cricket to get to this level and earn a Test cap for Sri Lanka.”But it’s hard for batsmen to play looking over their shoulders; they need to be told ‘we trust you enough to go out and do the job for the country’ and these guys will respond to that. I think [Tillakaratne] Dilshan’s done that pretty well. You’re seeing slow results, but at all times the senior guys have to keep putting their hands up and performing; that’s what’s going to allow the newcomers to perform even better.”Sri Lanka started the fourth day in Pallekele 237 runs behind after a first-innings surrender for 174. By the close they were 223 for 2, just 14 behind, with Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene in occupation on the cusp of the second new ball.”It was important we showed some character in this innings,” Sangakkara said, “especially since the last three innings we’ve had opportunities to try to win Test matches but we haven’t done that with our batting. Today was another opportunity for the guys to go out there and graft the runs and if we get a good start again tomorrow morning we can put some pressure back on the Australians.”Under a new captain in Michael Clarke, Australia brought an inexperienced bowling attack to Sri Lanka, but Sangakkara expressed genuine respect for the way the visitors have gone about their work, forcing the hosts to accept that hard graft was the only path to runs.”It’s pretty disappointing but we can’t point the finger at anyone else but ourselves [about the batting so far]. Test matches are usually won or lost on first-innings totals; very rarely do you see huge comebacks in the third and fourth innings. As a batting side we’re going up against an Australian attack that’s come out here and showed us how disciplined and well planned they are in their bowling. We’ve got to be up for the fight.”It is not just a case of batting a session or batting two sessions, it is about batting five, six, seven sessions against these guys to build up good totals. It’s hard to allow bowlers to dominate the course of things throughout, but they’ve done a really good job of bowling straight, bowling great areas and bowling to their fields. This is not a side against whom you can score a hundred in a session or two, it is a case of pushing the Australia bowlers into their third or fourth spells, tiring them out and then grafting your runs.”The DRS caused some more headaches for both sides on the fourth day, as Tharanga Paranavitana was first the beneficiary then the victim of its vagaries. In both instances replays suggested there might have been a deflection to the keeper but there did not appear to be conclusive evidence of an edge; however, while Paranavitana survived the first review, the second not-out decision was overturned. Sangakkara said technology was not yet 100% accurate, and therefore a state of compromise had to be reached between those providing technology and those compelled to use it.”We’ve all seen technology; we’ve seen the good and the bad of it. We’ve seen Hawk-Eye not picking up the turn of the ball, depending on the distance between where the ball pitches and where it hits the pad; you’ve seen Hotspot sometimes fail in the India-England series, so the debate will go on.”Today we saw Paranavitana given not-out on the field and the decision overturned by the third umpire, so that’ll probably be another point of debate. I think everybody’s got to come to a middle ground, where you’ve got to accept that it’s not 100% if you’re using it and be comfortable with that, or go back and say we’ll wait until technology is 100%.”

On a day when Bangladesh went one better than the series victory, completing a memorable whitewash against top opposition, it was Rubel Hossain’s abilities with new ball and old that made the difference

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Oct-2010Shakib Al Hasan’s all-round brilliance and the dominance of Bangladesh’s spinners may be the lasting memories from this series, but today both those factors were reduced to secondary roles. On a day when Bangladesh went one better than the series victory, completing a memorable whitewash against a top opposition, it was Rubel Hossain’s abilities with new ball and old that made the difference.Defending a decidedly under-par 174, Rubel had more than played his part in his opening spell, nipping out New Zealand’s top three batsmen in his first three overs. New Zealand’s resilience had, however, brought them back into the game and Rubel was called on for the final over against a rampant Kyle Mills, with seven runs to defend.Rubel would have had a sense of déjà vu as he ran in for that last over. When Mills slammed the first ball for four, Rubel would have remembered the fateful tri-series final against Sri Lanka last year, in the same ground, when Muttiah Muralitharan’s targeted onslaught against him in the batting Powerplay stopped Bangladesh inches short of their most memorable cricketing moment.Things were about to turn out differently today, though. Two inch-perfect yorkers on leg stump followed, the second one cleaning up Mills and sending Mirpur into a frenzy. Rubel later revealed that he never felt the pressure, even after that boundary ball.”I thought it was only a matter of one good delivery and it never really crossed my mind that we could lose,” he said. “The captain also told me that they need four runs and we needed one wicket and that it was my day and he believed I could win the match for Bangladesh.”Shakib would have had a sense of déjà vu of his own; this was not the first time he was taking over the reins from an injured Mashrafe Mortaza to lead his side to a whitewash. The same template had been followed when Bangladesh beat West Indies 3-0 last year. “Maybe you should ask him to get injured in a series again and then we’ll try to find out if this formula works every time”, Shakib said light-heartedly. “When I bat I don’t think of myself as a captain with specific or special responsibilities. I just play my own game. Similarly, when bowling I try to pick the best bowler to bowl in a particular situation and if that bowler happens to be me then I come in.”With four wins this series, Bangladesh have emphatically addressed their previous inability to build on hitherto sporadic victories against top sides. Shakib said it was the winning habit, developed on the back of three authoritative performances, that stood his side in good stead despite a poor total today.”We didn’t have a defendable total and yet the moment the first wicket fell there was a buzz in the field and we believed we could pull this game back our way,” Shakib said. “This was a result of the three victories in a row. Often in the past with a similar score I have seen shoulders dropping and the belief disappearing but today we saw what winning teams are made of.”Shakib was also careful enough not to get too caught up in the euphoria of the victory and ignore the areas for improvement. “I still think our top-order batting was not up to the mark as we lost wickets at the wrong times. We want atleast one of the top four batsmen to get to a good score and try to hold the innings together. Apart from the second game where we chased that did not happen in this series.”The bowling and fielding was satisfactory but you can always improve on that. We also did not execute the Powerplays very well and often we found ourselves with too many wickets down when the last Powerplay arrived. Ideally you should have five or six wickets in hand when the final Powerplay starts.”The 4-0 scoreline brought Bangladesh within a few decimal points of toppling West Indies from the eighth spot in the ODI ratings. The upcoming series against Zimbabwe will give them a chance to push ahead and Shakib knew the importance of that tour.”We should definitely continue working hard and prepare for the next series against Zimbabwe in December,” he said. “They are a much improved side and although we have had a stranglehold over them in the last few years the matches often have been quite competitive. They are also playing pretty well in South Africa although the results haven’t gone their way.”

The popular former Australian opener was known as a courageous, obdurate player who was held in incredibly high regard by both teammates and opponents

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Dec-2024Former Australia batter Ian Redpath has died at the age of 83.Redpath, who became known as an obdurate opener, played 66 Tests and five ODIs in an international career that ran from 1964 to 1976.He came close to a century on Test debut against South Africa at the MCG when he was bowled by Joe Partridge for 97. “I hit an off-drive for four and there was another one I thought was in the same spot, and I licked my chops. Beautiful follow-through, it was,” he recalled to newspapers last year.It was not until February 1969, against West Indies at the SCG, that he made his maiden century with 132 in the second innings against an attack of Wes Hall, Charlie Griffith, Garry Sobers and Lance Gibbs.Seven more centuries would follow, with a career-best 171 against England at Perth in 1970, and he closed out his Test career with three in four innings against West Indies in 1975-76. On the first of that trio, at the MCG, wrote: “Although Redpath was at once subjected to plenty of short stuff, he ducked and weaved in his own effective way and went on to complete an important century for Australia and one which underlined the value which he has been to Australia over many years.”Despite clearly still being good enough, Redpath retired to work full-time for his antique business in Geelong. However, he would be lured back to the game a year later by an offer to play World Series Cricket where he featured for two seasons although missed most of the first one due to injury.In a piece for the last year, Gideon Haigh wrote: “As there’s precious little footage of Redpath, how to picture him? He was a hard man to dismiss: he knew where his off stump was; he played straight, with a short pick-up, mainly off the back foot; he was a swayer and a ducker of bouncers rather than a hooker in those pre-helmet days. On his Sunicrust cricket card, he was pictured playing a leg glance.”Early in his international career he had been the last Australian to play as an amateur when he turned down his match fee in 1963-64 in order to maintain his amateur Australia Rules Football career.He was vice-captain to both Ian and Greg Chappell, batting alongside the latter when he brought up a century on debut against England in 1970-71.”My first innings in Test cricket was, as you might expect, a trying experience, but proved to be one of the best cricket lessons of my career, thanks to Ian Redpath,” Greg Chappell later wrote, “…Fortunately we both succeeded and our partnership put us into a sound position, but from my point of view I had received an invaluable lesson in what Test match batting was all about from one of the most courageous batsmen ever to play for Australia.”Redpath retains the record of scoring the most runs off an over by Australian: in 1969-70 against Orange Free State he took 32 (four sixes and two fours) off Neil Rosendorff. However, his first six in international cricket did not come until his penultimate Test against West Indies.In 1975 Redpath was awarded an MBE and would go on to coach Victoria. In January 2023 he was indicted into the Cricket Australia Hall of Fame. In 2024, the Geelong Cricket Club renamed their scoreboard in honour of Redpath.”Ian was a much loved and revered figure and everyone in Australian cricket will be enormously saddened by his passing,” CA chair Mike Baird said. “As a fine opening batter, Ian was a mainstay of the national team through one of the great eras of Australian cricket and beloved by many throughout the world for his courage, impeccable sportsmanship and wry humour.”We were privileged to hear Ian speak of the wonderful experiences and relationships cricket had provided upon his induction into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2023 and this deep love of the game was manifest in his enormous contribution to cricket at first-class and community level.”The thoughts of everyone at Cricket Australia are with Ian’s family and many friends at this sad time.”Cricket Victoria chair Ross Hepburn echoed those sentiments.”This is enormously sad news as we farewell one of the greats of our game and a very proud Victorian in Ian Redpath,” Hepburn said. “On behalf of Cricket Victoria, I would like to extend our sincere condolences to Ian’s family, particularly to his four children and many friends and team mates from across a generation of cricket.”Ian’s talent on the field and leadership saw him contribute to one of the great eras of Australian cricket and he leaves behind a remarkable legacy to the game at national, state and local level.”‘Redders’, as we affectionately knew him, was a gifted storyteller with a wonderfully wry sense of humour. His friendship and presence will be missed by many in our cricket community.”

Originals heavily beaten after losing captain Ecclestone in warm-ups

Ciara Fearn23-Aug-2023Danni Wyatt led the Southern Brave into Sunday’s Hundred final at Lord’s with a superb 60 off 32 balls, as they chased down 119 to beat Manchester Originals by eight wickets in their final group fixture at Emirates Old Trafford, where there was drama on and off the field.England spinner and Originals captain Sophie Ecclestone was ruled out after suffering a shoulder injury during warm-up. She pulled out at the last minute and Amara Carr stepped in as her replacement, with Ellie Threlkeld skippering the side.Ecclestone later went to hospital for a scan, as her England team-mate Wyatt was carrying the Brave to a seventh win in eight group fixtures.The Brave have topped the table and now advance to play the winner of Saturday’s Eliminator between Northern Superchargers and Welsh Fire at The Kia Oval.Wyatt was well supported by England team-mate Maia Bouchier, the pair sharing 93 in 44 balls for the second wicket, Bouchier finished unbeaten with 47 off 25 balls.Batting first, Fi Morris and Laura Wolvaardt were the leading duo for the Originals with 50 and 46, both facing 39 balls.Georgia Adams (obscured) struck early for Southern Brave•ECB/Getty Images

They shared a second-wicket partnership of 88 in 69, advancing from 7 for 1 after eight balls to underpin a total of 118 for 4.Morris played the spinners well, eventually departing after attempting an ambitious reverse shot against a well-directed bouncer from Lauren Bell – 95 for 1 after 77.From there, the Originals would have wanted more, but gathering singles wasn’t going to be a good enough against a strong batting line-up for the league leading Brave. South African opener Wolvaardt looked good, particularly eye-catching on the drive.But, after an expensive start, Anya Shrubsole returned to get her and Deandra Dottin both caught in the deep as the innings lost momentum inside its last 10 balls.While Shrubsole finished with 2 for 33 from her 20 balls, Bell and Georgia Adams were both excellent for 1 for 15 and 1 for 19 respectively.The Brave started their reply knowing they needed to reach 112 to stay ahead of the Northern Superchargers and qualify directly for the final even with a defeat.Indian Smriti Mandhana was run out by a direct hit from Amanda-Jade Wellington early in the Brave chase – 15 for 1 after 13 balls – but that was the only blip.From there, it was smooth-sailing for the league-leaders, who are chasing their first title after two previous final defeats to Oval Invincibles.Wyatt and Bouchier were both strong down the ground, though the former did reach her fifty off 28 balls with a swept six off Emma Lamb, who she had hit for three fours moments earlier.By that time, it was game over at 97 for 1 after 50 balls. Wyatt was bowled by Kathryn Bryce but it was too little too late. Southern Brave won by eight wickets and will be straight into the final at Lord’s this Sunday.