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Adi Birrell to take over in 2025 as Hampshire strengthen ties with local Hundred team

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jan-2025Stephen Fleming has stepped down as Southern Brave’s head coach in the men’s Hundred, citing family reasons. Fleming replaced Mahela Jayawardene in the role ahead of the 2023 season and twice led the Brave to the knockout stages, losing the eliminator in his first year in charge and the final last season.He will be replaced by Adi Birrell, the Hampshire head coach, for the 2025 season, with Hundred franchises growing stronger ties with their host clubs as part of the ongoing privatisation process. Birrell has enjoyed recent success in franchise cricket, leading Sunrisers Eastern Cape to back-to-back SA20 titles.Birrell will become the first county head coach also taking charge of a men’s Hundred team, though several have served as assistant coaches. He will be replaced as Hampshire coach during the Metro Bank Cup, the 50-over competition which runs parallel to the Hundred, but remains in charge for the County Championship and the T20 Blast.Fleming’s resignation avoids a situation in which he would coach a team part-owned by a rival IPL franchise, given his long-running association with Chennai Super Kings. Hampshire were sold to the GMR Group – co-owners of Delhi Capitals – last year and are set to become majority shareholders in the Brave this year.Related

• Richard Gould: ECB 'unapologetic' about attracting top talent to Men's Hundred

• GMR Group 'keen' on Southern Brave investment after securing Hampshire deal

He has coached Chennai since 2009, and has also taken charge of their affiliated franchises in Major League Cricket (Texas Super Kings) and the SA20 (Joburg Super Kings), where he is currently. Fleming said in a statement that stepping down from his role with the Brave would allow him to spend more time at home.”I absolutely loved my time at Southern Brave, working in the Hundred and working with a great group of people at Utilita Bowl,” Fleming said. “We got close to winning a couple of times so it’s difficult to step down but for family reasons I need to be able to dedicate more time to being at home this season. I wish everyone at Southern Brave the best for 2025.”Giles White, who is director of cricket at the Brave and Hampshire, said: “Stephen created an excellent environment for the players and it has been an enjoyable and successful stint with us… In his place we are delighted to welcome Adi Birrell and look forward to seeing him build on the team’s success in 2025.”White and Birrell have until February 24 to work out the core of their squad for 2025, with each team permitted to retain up to 11 players (including one designated central contract player). These can include one direct overseas signing for 2025, with the ECB hopeful that a new top men’s salary of £200,000 will attract some of the world’s best players to the Hundred.The Brave are the fifth Hundred team to recruit a new coach this winter. Justin Langer has replaced Trevor Bayliss at London Spirit’s men, while Ali Maiden (Birmingham Phoenix), Michael Klinger (Manchester Originals) and Lisa Keightley (Northern Superchargers) have taken over from Ben Sawyer, Stephen Parry and Dani Hazell respectively in the women’s competition.

Mir Hamza and uncapped fast bowler Shahnawaz Dahani also included

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Dec-2022Pakistan have strengthened their bowling resources by adding fast bowlers Shahnawaz Dahani and Mir Hamza and offspinner Sajid Khan to their squad for the two-match Test series at home against New Zealand.Sajid has played seven Tests so far and was part of the Pakistan squad for the three-match series against Australia in March. Hamza played just a solitary Test back in 2018 against Australia, while Dahani is uncapped.Related

• Shahid Afridi named interim chief selector of Pakistan men's team

• Second Test moved from Multan to Karachi because of weather concerns

• PCB overhaul – chief selector Wasim sacked, all committees formed after 2019 disbanded

The decision was taken by the Shahid Afridi-led men’s interim selection committee on Saturday.”We had a good discussion on the squad and agreed we needed to strengthen our bowling department to give ourselves the best chance of taking 20 wickets in a match,” Afridi said in a PCB media release.”I am confident the inclusion of three additional bowling resources will give Babar Azam more options to field the best available squad for the first Test.”While Sajid did not have the best of times during the Tests against Australia, returning only four wickets in three matches, he fared much better in the 2022-23 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan’s premier first-class competition. The offspinner picked up 21 wickets in seven first-class matches at 34.04 for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He had recorded the fourth-best figures in an innings for a Pakistan bowler in 2022, when he took 8 for 42 against Bangladesh.Hamza, too, has shown decent form in the tournament, having picked up 16 wickets in four games at an average of 24.00. Dahani played only two games for Sindh this season but has been involved with the Pakistan white-ball sides.The two-Test series against New Zealand will get underway on Monday in Karachi. Earlier on Saturday, it was announced that the second Test will be moved from Multan to Karachi because of weather concerns. The entire series now – two Tests and three ODIs – will now be staged in Karachi.

Western Australia made early inroads to put Tasmania under pressure in pursuit of setting a fourth innings target

Alex Malcolm26-Oct-2018Shaun Marsh says no to a run•AFP

Australia Test batsman Shaun Marsh has done his first Test chances no harm with a fluent 80 against Tasmania on a day when the bowlers held sway at the WACA.Marsh played some exquisite strokes off both the front and the back foot amongst his 17 boundaries. Anything overpitched was driven with conviction and he was savage on anything short, cutting and pulling with trademark ease. He faced 140 balls for his 80 and threatened to take the game away from the Tigers before falling to Sam Rainbird, chipping a simple catch to cover from a ball that might have held up a fraction in the surface.WA did not capitalise on Marsh’s innings as the ball continued to swing and seam throughout the day on a pitch that still retained a healthy coverage of grass.The Warriors were bowled out with a slender lead of 17 and that was only due to a 37-run 10th wicket partnership between Matt Kelly and David Moody. All five Tasmanian seamers picked up a wicket, with Gabe Bell taking 3 for 45, including the key wickets of Hilton Cartwright and the in-form Marcus Stoinis.WA made early inroads to put Tasmania under pressure in pursuit of setting a fourth innings target. Jhye Richardson had Alex Doolan caught at second slip while Cameron Green removed Beau Webster cheaply for the second time in the match to leave the Tigers two down and just 14 runs in front.But Jordan Silk and Jake Doran steadied. Silk moved to 46 not out at close while Doran faced 52 balls for his unbeaten 13.

Anil Kumble, Faf du Plessis and Andy Flower are in favour of changing the rule

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Oct-20223:30

Should teams be allowed to change XIs after the toss if it rains?

Teams should be allowed to make changes to their XI if rain curtails play after the toss but before a ball has been bowled, according to ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time Out experts Faf du Plessis, Anil Kumble and Andy Flower.Kumble and Flower, who have extensive coaching experience in T20 leagues, and Du Plessis, the former South Africa captain, said the tweak in the rules would allow teams to field their best XI for a rain-hit contest.The discussion happened while South Africa and Zimbabwe were made to wait after the toss for the start of their Super 12 match because of rain in Hobart. The game was eventually reduced to nine overs a side after Zimbabwe had chosen to bat.”That’s something I’m sure will get discussed in the next committee meeting, especially in this format,” Kumble said, when asked whether changes should be allowed to the playing XIs after the toss in such situations. “In a game like this, where the toss has happened, the teams have been announced, it could eventually be a five-over game, so yes.”Kumble said, however, that both teams knew there was rain around before the toss, so they would have taken that into account.Flower, who coached Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2022, said the best combination for a five or six-over match would be different to a 20-over match.”What the fans want to see is the best contest between the best two elevens, and if the best two elevens need to be altered slightly given that the match changes to a five or a six-over game, then the fans would like to see the best elevens take each other on,” Flower said. “I don’t see why sticking with the status quo makes particular sense. I’d like someone to explain that to me if possible at some stage.”Du Plessis, who captains RCB in the IPL, said that the potential rule change will be good for the fans. “From a captaincy perspective, it’s quite a decision-making process when there’s rain around,” he said. “From a captain’s point of view, you try and push the umpires to say let’s wait for the toss, because you do want to pick the right team if it gets affected by the rain.”In terms of the rule change, I think it will be nice, especially for the fans, to see team changes and stuff after the toss.”

Aneurin Donald and John Turner have too much firepower for Yorkshire

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Aug-2022Hampshire 313 for 9 (Donald 76, Brown 60, Revis 4-77) beat Yorkshire 241 (Turner 5-41) by 72 runsAneurin Donald’s blistering, career-best 76 set in-form Hampshire up for a resounding Royal London Cup victory against Yorkshire at Scarborough, ensuring a home semi-final next Tuesday as a result.Group B winners Hampshire’s 16th win in 17 games across all competitions – they comfortably defended a 314 target to win by 72 runs – also left the Vikings sweating on their own qualification hopes.Yorkshire knew a final day win would have secured third place in the table and an away eliminator clash on Friday. But defeat opened the door for Kent to bear them to a play-offs place.Donald clattered five sixes in a 31-ball innings which was the feature of the Hawks’ 313 for nine having been inserted, while opener Ben Brown made 60 and Tom Prest 55.Matthew Revis claimed his own career-best four for 77 from nine overs before adding 41 as Yorkshire attempted to recover from 31 for four in reply before being bowled out for a respectable 241 inside 46 overs. New-ball seamer John Turner impressed with five for 41 from 8.3.<!–#cricinfo_insert
type: editorspickHampshire lost Nick Gubbins for 38, lbw sweeping at the off-spin of Dom Bess, as their score fell to 87 for one in the 19th over on a pitch which nibbled early on.Brown scored the bulk of his runs behind square on both sides of the wicket. Prest slog-swept Bess over midwicket for his first six and drove Revis on the up over cover for his second. The latter came two balls before Brown drove the same bowler to cover, leaving the score at 150 for two in the 33rd. But that only paved the way for Donald's pyrotechnics.Prest was 40 when the Welshman arrived at the crease, and both men were on 52 when the latter reached his fifty off 23 balls. At one stage, he hit four sixes in as many balls, three off Jack Shutt's off-spin. He pummelled the leg-side boundary and scattered spectators in a 3,500 crowd.Yorkshire sought to limit the onslaught. Firstly, they removed Prest and Donald with successive balls at the end of the 41st over and the start of the 42nd – 243 for four. Prest was superbly caught at long-off by a diving Will Luxton, who was on as substitute fielder, off Bess before Donald picked out cover against Matthew Waite.Revis then added another three wickets as Hampshire lower order succumbed against a host of miscues, the visitors losing seven wickets for 76 in the last 10 overs.Revis had Fletcha Middleton caught and bowled, Toby Albert caught at cover and Turner caught at backward point.However, Yorkshire's top order was obliterated inside eight overs amidst significant new ball movement through the air and off the pitch.Turner jagged one back in at Will Fraine and bowled him before getting a squared-up Fin Bean caught behind. Either side of those wickets, Ian Holland forced Harry Duke into a miscued pull to wide mid-on and bowled George Hill through the gate with an inswinger, leaving the hosts 31 for four after 7.1 overs.A 55-run stand between Jonny Tattersall and Waite, 25 and 28, gave Yorkshire brief respite. But they fell caught at midwicket and behind inside three overs to seamers John Campbell and Scott Currie – 106 for six in the 17th.Revis and Bess (27) then shared 64 for the seventh wicket as Yorkshire battled back again. However, the latter was forced to retire hurt having been struck on the back of the head by a wild throw from Middleton at cover as he tried to complete a quick single.That came at 170 for six after 32, bringing Harry Sullivan into the game as concussion sub. Revis was caught at point by Middleton off Currie shortly afterwards before Ben Coad (24) handed Turner his third wicket at 228 for six after 42.He bowled Sullivan for wicket number four before the game was wrapped up when Shutt top-edged him behind. Loten finished unbeaten with a consolatory 43, Yorkshire's top score.

The seven final bidders comprise Disney Star, Sony, Viacom-Reliance, Zee, Fun Asia, Super Sport and Times Internet

Nagraj Gollapudi11-Jun-2022Amazon has pulled out of the race to own the media rights to the IPL for the next five years. ESPNcricinfo has learned the global e-commerce giant is not among the final list of seven bidders participating in the e-auction on Sunday to decide who will get to broadcast one of the most lucrative tournaments in the cricket calendar.Amazon has been a lead player in acquiring lucrative streaming rights across global sports and was expected to bid aggressively for the IPL’s digital rights packages. In 2021, the company struck a billion-dollar-a-year deal (for 10 years) to broadcast just 15 Thursday night matches in the National Football League in the USA. Their withdrawal will be a blow to the IPL.It is learned that the decision not to pursue the media rights was made by Amazon’s top brass in the US and that it was communicated to the IPL on Friday – the deadline for bidders to submit their paperwork.With Disney-Star, Sony, Viacom-Reliance, Zee, Fun Asia, Super Sport and Times Internet still in the running, the number of bidders this time is exactly half that of the previous auction, when 14 companies vied for the broadcast rights of the IPL from 2018 to 2022. Star India beat all comers with a record bid of $2.55 billion in the global consolidated category (TV and digital for India and rest of the world), making it the richest media rights deal in cricket.This time, though, the IPL has segregated the TV and digital rights into their own packages. Package A consists of TV rights for the Indian subcontinent. Package B caters to digital rights for the Indian subcontinent. Package C contains digital rights for a special bouquet of matches, including the playoffs, for the Indian subcontinent. And Package D, TV and digital rights for the Rest of the World, which is divided into two sub-categories: combined ROW or five individual regions.The auction will start at 11am IST on Sunday with the simultaneous sale of Packages A and B. Only once winners are decided for them will Packages C and D come up for bidding. Also, given there is a half hour interval between every bid, there is a strong chance the auction may spill over into a second day.Every bidder can compete for more than one category but will need to list their price on a per match basis. For Package A, the base price per match is INR 49 crore (USD 6.3 million approx.). For Package B, it is INR 33 crore (USD 4.2 million approx.). For Package C, it is INR 16 crore (USD 2.05 million approx.). For Package D, it is INR 3 crore (USD 390,000 approx.).The IPL has made one change to the e-auction though. The winner of Package A can enter into a contest for the digital rights with the winner of Package B. Originally, this contest was supposed to feature bid increments of at least 5% but now it’s become a direct face-off. No minimum bid increments. The same process would be repeated to determine the winners of Packages C and D.