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On a day when 94 players were sold for a total of Rs 136 crore* at the IPL 2016 auction in Bangalore, it was a bunch of Indian uncapped players who drew the most attraction and a good chunk of the cash too. Top among them – and one of four men who walked away with a contract worth a million dollars or more – was Pawan Negi, a left-arm spinner who can tonk the ball down the order, who was sold for Rs 8.5 crore to Delhi Daredevils. South African allrounder Chris Morris was the other surprise million-dollar man, fetching Rs 7 crore, also from Daredevils.Australian allrounder Shane Watson bagged the biggest deal of the day, bought for Rs 9.5 crore by Royal Challengers Bangalore, while India’s Yuvraj Singh secured his third-straight million-dollar bid at an IPL auction. However the Rs 7 crore Sunrisers Hyderabad bid for Yuvraj was far less than what he fetched at the last two auctions – Rs 16 crore last year, and Rs 14 crore the year before that. He looked like he might actually go unsold this time round after setting his base price at Rs 2 crore, but at the last moment he got a bid from Mumbai Indians, followed by Royal Challengers Bangalore, before being snapped up by Sunrisers.Morris’ value exploded to seven times that of his base price of Rs 50 lakh in a three-way fight. Rising Pune Supergiants were involved in the opening rounds of bidding for him, before Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders went neck and neck. As bidding halted just one bid away from the million-dollar mark, Daredevils entered the fray, and no one challenged them.For Negi, the auction capped a great two days in which he was also named in India’s squad for the World T20.Another big surprise was seam-bowling West Indies allrounder Carlos Brathwaite, who had impressed with quickfire fifties down the order and his enthusiasm on the recent Test series in Australia. He got a winning bid of 4.2 crore from Delhi Daredevils, 14 times his base price of Rs 30 lakh.There were big surprises among the unsold players too: the in-form New Zealand and Australia batsmen Martin Guptill and Usman Khawaja. Two big Test names, Cheteshwar Pujara and Hashim Amla, also went unsold too, but a bit more surprisingly, there were no bids for Mahela Jayawardene or Michael Hussey either. West Indies allrounder Darren Sammy did not attract a bid either.Australia opener Aaron Finch went unsold in the first round of bidding, but was bought by Gujarat Lions (the Rajkot franchise) for Rs 1 crore towards the end of the day, in a second round of bidding organised for players who were unsold the first time.Karnataka batsman Karun Nair was expected to be one of the big buys among the uncapped players, and so it was soon after the lunch break with Daredevils, Supergiants and Lions all bidding for him and bumping his price up to Rs 4 crore from a base price of Rs 10 lakh. Baroda allrounder Deepak Hooda’s price went up from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 4.2 crore, secured by Sunrisers after a long round of bidding. Rajasthan fast bowler Nathu Singh also earned big, getting Rs 3.2 crore from Mumbai Indians, from a base price of Rs 10 lakh. Mumbai Indians had made the winning bid after a long back-and-forth between Daredevils and Royal Challengers.Tamil Nadu legspinner M Ashwin was the most sought after slow bowler on a day when spinners were generally ignored by the franchises; he sold for Rs 4.5 crore to Supergiants from an opening bid of Rs 10 lakh – a whopping 45 times his base price, the day’s biggest multiple from the base price. Ashwin had done well in the recently concluded domestic T20 competition, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he bagged 10 wickets in six games at 12.70 apiece, with an economy rate of 5.52.Seventeen-year-old India Under-19 captain Ishan Kishan was picked up by Lions for Rs 35 lakh. His U-19 team-mate Rishabh Pant was fought for by Supergiants, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers and Daredevils, bumping his base price up from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1.9 crore before Daredevils snapped him up. A wicketkeeper-batsman, Pant is in fine form in the ongoing U-19 World Cup. The very last player to be bought at the auction, and also the youngest, was 16-year-old spin allrounder Mahipal Lomror, who went to Daredevils for Rs 10 lakh.Kerala’s Sanju Samson was the first wicketkeeper to go under the hammer and he looked like he might not get a bid but a late call from Daredevils – the franchise’s first of the day – triggered a fight between them and Lions. Daredevils won, picking Samson up for Rs 4.2 crore – his base price was Rs 2 crore.The bidding for England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler was much-anticipated, and he went to Mumbai Indians for Rs 3.8 crore after setting his price at Rs 1.5 crore.Knight Riders were quite active when it came to the fast bowlers, winning Australia’s John Hastings for Rs 1.3 crore, before engaging in a tug-of-war with Lions for Praveen Kumar. Lions won this bid though, paying Rs 3.5 crore for him, seven times his base price of Rs 50 lakh.Knight Riders were at it again when Mohit Sharma came up for bidding, but Kings XI Punjab – who had as yet not secured a single player on the day – aggressively outbid them. Sunrisers tried a late swoop, but Kings XI would have none of it, picking him up for Rs 6.5 crore (base price 1.5 crore). He was the 45th player to be auctioned, and their first buy.All 11 spinners lined up in the morning round of bidding went unsold, including India’s Pragyan Ojha and Rahul Sharma, the in-form Australian Nathan Lyon and Sri Lankan mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis. West Indies legspinner Samuel Badree was bought the second time his name came up, by Royal Challengers, for Rs 50 lakh.None of the Sri Lankans who came up in the morning rounds were bought: Mendis, Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thisara Perera and Sachchitra Senanayake. It took till the final hour of the auction for a Sri Lankan to get a bid, and it went to Thisara, who was bought at his base price of Rs 1 crore by Supergiants when his name was called up a second time.The first and only Bangladesh buy of the day happened with Mustafizur Rahman (base price Rs 50 lakh) going to Sunrisers for Rs 1.4 crore.Another big gainer among the uncapped players was Uttar Pradesh wicketkeeper Eklavya Dwivedi, who went to Lions for Rs 1 crore (base price Rs 20 lakh). Mumbai wicketkeeper-batsman Aditya Tare’s base price also multiplied several times over, as he went for Rs 1.2 crore to Sunrisers after setting a base price of Rs 20 lakh. Legspinner Pravin Tambe became the first specialist spinner to be bought on the day, for Rs 20 lakh to Lions. Royal Challengers picked up ambidextrous Vidarbha spinner Akshay Karnewar for his base price of Rs 10 lakh.Allrounder Krunal Pandya – brother of Hardik Pandya who had debuted for India in the just-concluded T20s against Australia and was retained by Mumbai Indians before the auction – was bought by Mumbai Indians after a bidding war with Daredevils that bumped his price up to Rs 2 crore (base price Rs 10 lakh).Among the least known players to be bought on the day were allrounder Kishore Kamath (Rs 1.4 crore, by Mumbai Indians) and 20-year-old left-arm spinner Shivil Kaushik (Rs 10 lakh, by Lions) – the highest level of cricket these two have played till date is the Karnataka Premier League, both for Hubli Tigers.For a full list of players who were sold and unsold, click here.

Ninety-four players were sold in a day of surprises. Here's a quick glance at what the players were bought for

Posted by ESPNcricinfo on Friday, February 5, 2016

Tim Nielsen, Australia’s new coach, believes the three replacements for the holes left by Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer have still not been decided. While Phil Jaques seems to have sealed the opening batting place, Mitchell Johnson the bowling spot and Stuart MacGill the spinning vacancy, Nielsen said there was still time for other players to be considered for the first Test against Sri Lanka from November 8.”I don’t think the Glenn McGrath position has been finalised and it’s the same with the spin position,” Nielsen said. “There are also a lot of contenders for the opening position and Phil Jaques has done well over the past couple of weeks.”Jaques strengthened his claim with 13 and 167 against Western Australia in Perth last week while Chris Rogers struggled before his chances were ended when he was hospitalised with appendicitis. Brad Hodge, who has also signalled his intention to partner Matthew Hayden at the Gabba, managed only 61 runs in eight games in India while Michael Hussey is recovering from a hamstring strain and the Australian management wants him to stay at No. 4.Nielsen said the round of Pura Cup games over the next week would be crucial as the Australian one-day players switch from limited-overs to Test mode. Ideally he wants his batsmen to spend long periods in the middle and the bowlers to deliver two or three spells a day.”This first game will be important for the guys,” he said. “They have four days of playing, getting up and playing again. It’s something they haven’t done for a while.”The fixtures will also be important for Stuart MacGill and Shaun Tait, who are coming back from off-season operations. MacGill, who is coming back from a knee surgery, will be part of the New South Wales team which will host Queensland from Friday, the same day Victoria begin their contest with Western Australia. Tait, who is fighting to prove his fitness from an elbow problem, will have a one-day match against Tasmania on Saturday before the Pura Cup game starting next Monday.Despite the loss of the three greats, Nielsen is confident Australia will be able to provide cover. “I want to make sure there is heaps of depth to do a great job,” he said. “There’s a new focus in the team and it’s the start of a new era. It will be positive and challenging time.”

Tasmania and Queensland have fought out a dawdling six hours of play on the third day of the teams’ Pura Cup match at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane today. But, after the visitors finished at a second innings score of 5/177 (and in the lead by 291 runs overall) at stumps, the action off the field did not prove so restrained – both captains firing parting shots at their rivals’ tactics.The Tigers still appear well placed to press for outright victory on the final day. But skipper Jamie Cox was seething after watching as his batsmen were held to their score of 177 runs from as many as eighty-five overs.”You’re not going to hit it far when you’re trying to score runs against a 10-1 field and they’re bowling two foot wide of off stump,” said Cox.”If they had bowled at the stumps and tried to get us out we would have scored a lot quicker, I’m sure.”The Tasmanians’ struggle for quick runs was typified by the containment of Test star Ricky Ponting, who was forced to labour over 187 deliveries before a dubious caught behind decision down the leg side ended his innings at 61. Cox, similarly, found many of his normal avenues to scoring blocked off as he constructed an innings of 44. And, most noticeable of all in the funereal march, Dene Hills (2) was able to score from only two of the fifty-three balls that he faced.Cox’s opposite number, Stuart Law, played down such claims, suggesting that the Bulls had no option but to stem the run flow and force the Tasmanians into error.”They could have taken a few more risks and it might have been a different picture. But we were in no position to do that because we could have been six hundred runs behind if we came out and went really hard at them,” Law argued.As for Hills’ approach, Law said that it was indicative of the Tasmanians’ second innings mindset.”He was letting cuts and cover drives go … but it was obvious that they just wanted to grind us into the turf.”Earlier in the day, there was no disputing the Tigers’ right to open up their Pura Cup scoring account for the season with the two on offer for a first innings win. The Tasmanians established a 114-run lead when they initiated a spectacular late collapse to end the Bulls’ innings at a mark of 289. Spinner Daniel Marsh (3/50) and paceman Andrew Downton were the architects of the slide, four wickets tumbling for the addition of a solitary run in the space of nineteen balls as they combined to share the spoils. Accordingly, they two left armers had put the seal on a very fine overall bowling performance from the visitors on what still remains a true batting wicket.

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File photo – Peter Fulton’s 55-ball 65 helped Canterbury chase down the target in 37.4 overs•Getty Images

Fifties from Peter Fulton and Henry Nicholls stretched Canterbury’s unbeaten run in this season’s Ford Trophy to five, as they collected a six-wicket victory against Auckland.Chasing 244, Fulton and Nicholls built on Ronnie Hira and Tom Latham’s strong start. The pair added 82 for the third wicket at a brisk pace before Nicholls fell to Lachie Ferguson with the score at 181 in the 32nd over. Fulton, however, continued his assault, smashing five fours and four sixes in his 55-ball 65. He was dismissed four overs after Nicholls, but by then Canterbury were just 28 runs away from the target with over 14 overs in hand. Todd Astle and Andrew Ellis took the visitors home in 37.4 overs, further strengthening Canterbury’s position at the top of the table.In the first innings, Auckland were guided to 243 for 7 by wicketkeeper Brad Cachopa’s 107. Cachopa walked in in the fourth over and dropped anchor for the hosts, batting till the last over of the innings. He was unable to build partnerships with the middle order as quick wickets reduced Auckland to 164 for 6. Donovan Grobbelaar then slammed an unbeaten 45, adding 75 with Cachopa for the seventh boost Auckland in the death.

New Zealand’s now former ODI captain Brendon McCullum has praised his team for the way they responded to a batting collapse in the first innings and staged a 55-run win to retain the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy.McCullum, playing his final ODI innings, smoked a 27-ball 47 to set New Zealand up nicely, but the hosts lost their way towards the end of the innings, losing six wickets for just 23 runs to muster a below-par 246.If New Zealand were feeling low immediately after that slide, they certainly did not show their disappointment when they took to the field, as McCullum revealed that he had urged his players during the break to not get bogged down.”The team performance today, especially after losing six for not many, I think lesser teams would have folded,” McCullum said. “And one thing we pride ourselves on is making sure that if we are going to get beaten, we’re going to make it hard for the opposition to do so.”That was the mentality we try to take out to fielding and bowling and also just stress to the guys, it doesn’t matter what we get, it’s a matter of what they get. If we were capable of losing six for not many, it was a wicket that was tough to start on, so that was the message that was stressed at halftime.”McCullum’s words clearly lifted the team, as excellent spells from Doug Bracewell, Ish Sodhi, Corey Anderson and Matt Henry suffocated the Australia batsmen on a slow pitch, and New Zealand bundled their opponents out for 191 inside 44 overs. McCullum, who now has just two more Tests left in him before he quits internationals all together, could not think of a better way of signing off from limited-overs internationals.”To beat the world champions in the Chappell-Hadlee series, which means so much to us, is a fitting way to step away from the game. For us to be able to still step out and beat the best team in the world is testament to the depth that we’ve been able to create over a period of time.”That was a pleasing aspect of it and I thought the way the guys responded was phenomenal. Doug Bracewell, he was on the the sidelines for the last little while, and the way he came in and seized that key moment, kept it tight, started building some pressure.”And that allowed Ish, another wonderful story of a guy who’s come back in after a long time out of the side, and he bowled with confidence and he bowled beautifully. He was able to apply some pressure and get wickets.It’s great when you can see guys come in and perform in pressure situations.”

Sreesanth, the Indian seamer, is hoping a good showing at the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 will help him earn a recall to the ODI team to play against Australia and Pakistan at home.Sreesanth was dropped from the squad for the ODI series in England after his indifferent form in the Tests. Also, he has an unimpressive ODI record, having bagged 38 wickets in 29 games at an average of 34.94 and economy of 5.66.”I’m hoping to have good games in South Africa. I’ve been working on my bowling,” Sreesanth told . “I haven’t done greatly in one-dayers but I’ll try and come back hard. Hopefully I’ll do well in the Twenty20 and get back into the one-day team.”Sreesanth said he’s aiming at picking up wickets with the slower ball in South Africa. “I’ve basically been working on my slower ball. Twenty20 is about four overs per bowler and if I get my slower balls in the right areas, you end up getting a lot of wickets.””I’m hoping to stay relaxed [n South Africa] because things happen quickly in Twenty20 and as a bowler one has to think and try it at the right time for results,” said Sreesanth, who might lead India’s attack with Ajit Agarkar and RP Singh in the absence of spearhead Zaheer Khan.Sreesanth has also been working on his action. “I am working on my left arm [non bowling arm], which I almost lost during the tests in England,” Sreesanth told .India open the ICC World Twenty20 against Scotland on September 13, and will host Australia for a seven-match ODI series after the tournament, commencing with the first match in Bangalore on September 29.

Shane Warne’s manager says the legspinner’s chances of joining the Indian Cricket League (ICL) are “reasonably slim” because he does not want to be part of an unofficial event. The Indian board has threatened any local players with life bans if they join the league, which is focussing on Twenty20 matches and is planned for September.Warne’s manager James Erskine told the Australian the bowler had not made a decision on whether to join the competition. “There’s the small thing about grounds not being made available, the Indian players not being available and being threatened with bans,” he said. “I would think the chances are reasonably slim that Shane would do it because it’s flying in the face of officialdom and I know he doesn’t want to be part of anything that’s not officially sanctioned.”However, AAP reported Dean Jones, who is on the ICL’s board, had returned from an overseas holiday and would resume negotiations with Warne and Glenn McGrath. McGrath said in Canberra this week he was interested in playing, but Brian Lara is the only high-profile player committed to the league.”I’m not going to make any comments about players signing or anything like that,” Jones said. “Obviously we’re talking to them, we’re just trying to make sure it goes ahead, that’s all.”No players contracted to Cricket Australia have approached the body requesting to appear in the tournament in India. Despite the lack of big names, Jones was confident the series would go ahead.”The fans and the viewers will be quite happy with the signings we’ll get, trust me,” he said. “The fixtures and the squads will be released soon, sooner than you think.”

February was a quiet month for Tim Ambrose, which is strange when you consider he was in the throes of his first senior England tour. But now that the calendar has clicked round to March, there’s no hiding from the limelight any longer. After running the drinks as Phil Mustard’s understudy throughout the one-day series, Ambrose is at last ready to take centre stage. On Wednesday, he becomes England’s latest wicketkeeper and No. 7 batsman, as the first Test against New Zealand gets underway in Hamilton.Wicketkeepers are, as a rule of thumb, a highly-strung fraternity, but to judge from his outward appearance, Ambrose bucks that particular trend. During England’s final warm-up in the Antarctic chill of Dunedin, he was quietly confident in all that he did, easing five fours in an attractive 33, and holding onto four fuss-free catches behind the stumps. The only taut strings that Ambrose displays are those of his travelling companion, his trusty guitar, an instrument he’s been playing since the age of 14.”I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” said Ambrose, as England checked into their Hamilton hotel with three days to go until his Test debut. “I haven’t felt too many nerves so far, but I’m generally excited and looking forward to getting a chance. My game is in good order. Dunedin was a good opportunity to get some rust out and I’m very pleased with the way I’m catching.”There are few roles in international cricket that come with as many caveats as that of the England wicketkeeper. Ever since the retirement of Alec Stewart, that No. 7 position has been a merry-go-round of the tried, tested, and discarded. James Foster, Geraint Jones, Paul Nixon and Chris Read are among the players to have been chewed over and spat out, and then of course there’s the most recent incumbent, Matt Prior, a man to whom Ambrose needs no introduction. The pair sparred over the gauntlets at Sussex for five seasons from 2001, until Ambrose eventually bit the bullet and moved to Warwickshire, the battle for supremacy seemingly won and lost.Not so, it turns out. Prior impressed intermittently with his pugnacious batting, and averaged over 40 for his first year of Test cricket, but it was as a gloveman that he was found wanting. Three ugly fumbles during the must-win Galle Test in December meant that his shortcomings could no longer be overlooked, and he was axed so unceremoniously at the beginning of the year that the England selectors couldn’t even locate him to let him down gently.Ambrose may have been the beneficiary, but there were no hard feelings from his friend and rival. “I’ve spoken to Matt a couple of times since we got here,” said Ambrose. “He sent a text before we left, and he was very supportive because he’s a good friend. But as cricketers me and him are very different. We’ve learned things from each other, but I know how I play and I’ll focus more on what I can do and what I’ll bring to the side.”Part of the reason for the high turnover among English wicketkeepers has been the freakish genius of Adam Gilchrist, whose career has entered its final week with the culmination of Australia’s CB Series campaign. Suddenly every pretender to the role has to average nearly 50 while clinging onto all edges that fly their way, but Ambrose didn’t see his influence as a negative one.”I would never say he’s been detrimental, he’s been inspirational,” said Ambrose. “He’s raised the bar and it’s great to have someone at that level to aim for. There’s no reason why people can’t try to achieve what he’s done in the past. He’s an exceptional performer, and he’s been brilliant for the game and for that skill as well, but there’s nothing wrong with aiming high and trying to achieve those sorts of things.”

Now however, there’s a more immediate distraction as Ambrose embarks on his international career. In Brendon McCullum, New Zealand have unearthed the nearest thing to a Gilchrist clone – as confirmed at the recent IPL auction in Mumbai where Kolkata splashed out a cool US$700,000. In Sunday’s State Shield final in Auckland, McCullum smashed Otago to their first victory in 20 years with an incredible innings of 170 from 108 balls.The innings was being shown in the foyer while Ambrose was waiting to speak to the media, but if he was daunted by the match-up, he didn’t show it. “He’s played very well, and is striking the ball very well, so I’ll be watching him to learn as I have done for the last month,” said Ambrose. “But my game is based on a very simple technique because there is less that can go wrong that way, my keeping in particular, and it seems to suit me.”Wednesday promises to be a special occasion in more ways than one for Ambrose. If an impending debut is not enough emotion to be dealing with, he’s got a long-overdue family reunion in prospect as well. He was just 17 when he first came to England in the summer of 2000 in search of broader horizons, and ever since then his cricketing duties have denied him many opportunities to get back to his native Sydney. This week, however, his parents, Ray and Sally, are due to fly across the Tasman to witness his big moment.”Dad was over for a month last year, but I’ve not seen my mum for a few years so it’ll be good to catch up,” said Ambrose, “though she’ll probably be hiding out the back because she’s not a good watcher. But the whole occasion will mean a great deal. I was talking to Stuart Broad last night, and he was telling me about his debut in Colombo. It sent shivers up my spine, as it was a very proud moment. I’m sure I’ll feel the same.”

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The Mumbai Champs, already out of the reckoning for a semi-final spot, cruised to a consolation 35-run victory over the Chandigarh Lions. The win was set up by a solid batting display, led by their captain Nathan Astle’s breezy 42.Astle chose to bat at the toss, and the Champs lost two wickets before he and Subhojit Paul smashed 60 runs in six overs. Shreyas Khanolkar and Kiran Powar provided useful contributions before Ranjit Khirid provided the impetus towards the end of the innings. He lashed a 21-ball 32 to lift the Champs to 160.Andrew Hall turned in an outstanding bowling performance, finishing with 4 for 8 in his three overs, while Daryl Tuffey, Chris Cairns and Dinesh Mongia went for more than nine an over.After Manish Sharma was run out in the second over, Tejinder Pal Singh and Lou Vincent set up a platform for the Lions’ chase, taking them to 46 before Vincent fell in the eighth over. Shridhar Iyer then struck twice to remove Tejinder Pal and Mongia, and the Lions’ chase looked in disarray at 70 for 4, needing 91 with 47 deliveries remaining.Once Michael Kasprowicz dismissed the dangerous Cairns, the hunt looked all but over for the Lions. They closed at 125 for 8 in their 20 overs, and more importantly lost out on two points in their pursuit of a semi-final spot.

Yorkshire 237 (Marshall 4-47) beat Lancashire 196 (Flintoff 51, Chapple 51, Wainwright 3-31) by 41 runs
ScorecardYorkshire ended Lancashire’s unbeaten run in the Pro ARCH Trophy, winning the Good Friday Roses clash at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium by 41 runs.Yorkshire’s 237 was about par for the course. They should have scored more but none of their batsmen were able to build a major innings, stand-in skipper Anthony McGrath top-scoring with 41. Andrew Gale (32) and Craig White (29) got Yorkshire off to a good start with a first-wicket stand of 66 before legspinner Simon Marshall accounted for White, the first of his four wickets. Yorkshire seemed well set for a late salvo but lost their last five wickets for 28.Lancashire lost early wickets to Deon Kruis and Ajmal Shahzad and at 80 for 5 they appeared on course for a heavy defeat. But Andrew Flintoff and Glen Chapple revived the innings and raised hopes of victory before Flintoff holed out to midwicket soon after reaching his fifty. Left-arm spinner David Wainwright finished off Lancashire with 3 for 31.Flintoff bowled four overs in taking 1 for 22 and said afterwards: “I would love to play a Test match at Lord’s, but the one thing that I am not going to do is get carried away. I know that if I want to play for England, then I have got to be fit. I won’t be able to just walk back into that side.”I have got to focus all my energies on playing for Lancashire. If I can stay fit and perform, then I would hopefully be in the shake up on May 15. It wasn’t too taxing, and I am happy with the way things are … how the ankle is standing up to the rigours of bowling. I am certainly not hitting the crease as hard as I would like, but it feels good and easy.