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Greg Barclay hopes Jay Shah brings “India into the international fold even more” but without making cricket “under the yoke of India”

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Dec-2024Greg Barclay, the outgoing chair of the ICC, has acknowledged the game he governed for four years is “a mess” and has warned of more challenging times ahead as he gives way to Jay Shah. In an interview with the , Barclay, who had two two-year terms at the helm from 2020, also cautioned Shah against taking the game “under the yoke of India”.Barclay stepped down on December 1, in the midst of an ongoing crisis over the Champions Trophy venues, and he admitted there was so much cricket being played that he had lost track of who was playing whom. In his tenure, three more major franchise-based T20 leagues cropped up, in the USA, the UAE and South Africa, further cramming an already packed calendar. He blamed the members’ self-interest for the situation.”I reckon, gee, I’m at the apex of the game and I can’t tell you who’s playing around the world. In fact, I didn’t realise that Sri Lanka were in South Africa until I read about Marco Jansen’s seven wickets this morning,” Barclay said. “So we’ve lost perspective. It’s not great for the game at all. It’s a mess. The calendar is incredibly congested and self-interest is such that it’s almost impossible to untangle all of that, because no one’s going to give up their content.”Related

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• CA: No cricket with Afghanistan till 'a level of progress'

Barclay said he hoped Shah would be able to leverage India’s stature take the game out of the mess it was in. “I think he’s got a great opportunity to use what he’s got in his background to help India take the game to another level, but without making it sort of under the yoke of India as well,” Barclay said. “We’re really lucky to have India, they’re a massive contributor to the game across all the measures, but one country having that amount of power and influence does distort a whole lot of other outcomes, which is not necessarily helpful in terms of that global growth.”Jay has the ability to bring India into the international fold even more. There are a number of things that India could do to help unite and grow the game, including commercially helping to pool off-shore rights, using their teams to give opportunity to smaller Full Members and emerging countries, using their clout to open new territories and markets, collaborating closely with the ICC to help benefit members, as examples.”Barclay also warned of an impending financial readjustment the game might be forced to make, in the shape of its next media and commercial rights deal. The current rights deal is the most lucrative the ICC has signed, worth over US$3 billion. The bulk of that value has come from the Indian market where Disney-Star* hold the rights to broadcast ICC events until 2027. That has resulted in revenue distributions to Full Members of a size they have never seen before, and it has become particularly important for members such as the PCB, NZC, CWI, SLC and CSA for whom annual ICC revenue makes up a significant chunk of their total earnings.Barclay said the deals were ultimately “way in excess” of the actual value and that there will be, in time, a correction.”At some point, it is going to correct,” he said. “It’s a market. Is it going to be a sharp, severe correction? Or is it going to be a long, slow one? Or maybe there’s going to be an alternative broadcaster that comes to the market? But people have been saying that for 10 years now. New Zealand cricket had a deal with Amazon, but it didn’t work, so I don’t think they’re going to be the white knight that everybody is anticipating. I just think what we’ve got in front of us is what we’ve got.”I know that when we did our current deal it was way in excess of what the valuations we got before we went to market. We got £2.4 billion just out of India. The next biggest one is UK Sky. They did an eight-year deal, which was £237 million, so that’s 10% of the India deal for double the length of time. So if we go back to what the original projection was of £800 million it more than halves ICC revenue. It could even be less than that. There’s no discernible replacement for that at the moment.”One of the prominent issues that marked Barclay’s time was the Afghanistan Cricket Board not being allowed by the country’s Taliban government to field a women’s team. Fielding a women’s team and programme is a central tenet of Full Membership and despite calls to suspend membership, Barclay said the ICC had been right in not sanctioning Afghanistan’s membership status.Greg Barclay cautioned Jay Shah against taking the game “under the yoke of India”•Associated Press

“It is not the Afghanistan board’s fault. They used to have women’s cricket. I think our approach has been right,” he said. “It would be easy to kick Afghanistan out, but their board haven’t done anything wrong. They’re just working under a decree and a series of laws that says this is what you have to do. I don’t think it would make a jot of difference to the ruling party there to kick them out.”Maybe I’m a little naïve, but I think cricket is such a force for good there, and it brings a lot of joy to a lot of people. It is better to leave it there and hope that it can foster a bit of a change.”Instead, Barclay did point to the double standards of boards – such as Cricket Australia – that have cancelled multiple bilateral series with the Afghanistan men’s team as a sanction, but has played them at ICC events. “If you really want to make a political statement, don’t play them in a World Cup. Sure, it might cost you a semi-final place, but principles are principles. It’s not about having half a principle.”*

“He makes things much easier than what it is,” Shubman Gill says about Rohit Sharma’s century in the Cuttack ODI

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Feb-2025

Rohit Sharma celebrated his century in a subdued way•Associated Press

Rohit Sharma hasn’t been in great form in Test cricket. But in ODIs, a format India haven’t played a lot of over the past year, he remains one of the best in the business. A seven-ball 2 in the first ODI against England might have raised fears ahead of the Champions Trophy, but the 90-ball 119 in the second on Sunday in Cuttack should soothe some nerves. He might not say it in so many words, but Rohit did admit after the game that he “really enjoyed being out there, scoring some runs for the team.” Not something he has done a lot of late.”I really broke it down into pieces about how I wanted to bat,” Rohit said in the post-match presentation after collecting his Player-of-the-Match award. “It’s a 50-over format, a little longer than T20 format and a little shorter than Test cricket obviously – a lot shorter than Test cricket – but obviously you still need to break it down and assess what you need to do at regular intervals and that is what I kept doing. It was important for a batter who gets set, needs to bat as deep as possible and that was my focus.”Rohit’s lack of runs in international cricket has been talked about a lot. In the last 12 months, he averages 23.70 in Test cricket, and that comes down to 10.93 since September 2024. On Sunday, though, he was in his element, playing the sort of innings that has made him a giant in the format.Related

• India seal series as Rohit roars back into form with 32nd ODI ton

“Looking at the pitch, when you play on black soil, [the ball] tends to skid on a bit, so it’s important that you show the full face of the bat when you’re batting initially,” he said about his approach. “Once I got into my innings, I understood what they were trying to do: bowling into our body and trying to not give any room, keeping it on the stumps.”And that’s where I prepared my plan as well, what I wanted to do with those kind of deliveries, trying to access the gaps which were there. It’s about understanding what you want to do as a batter and… obviously got very good support from [Shubman] Gill to start with and then Shreyas [Iyer] as well.”With Gill, his opening partner, Rohit added 136 in just under 17 overs, eating into a large chunk of India’s 305-run target, which they eventually got to in the 45th over to win the three-game series with a match in hand.Gill, who Rohit called “a very, very classy player” who “doesn’t seem to get overawed” by the situation, was effusive in his praise for his captain.”He makes things much easier than what it is,” Gill, who scored 60 in 52 balls – his second half-century in the series – said. “The way that he took on the bowlers… we have seen that over the past couple of years, how he’s been batting in the ODIs, and the way he dominated the fast bowlers today was just a treat to watch from the non-striker’s end.”It’s good portents for India ahead of the Champions Trophy, which starts on February 19. Their captain, who has been struggling for runs in Tests – he has retired from T20Is – is as good as he always was in ODIs. That’s one piece of the jigsaw that’s firmly in place.

It was his second six-wicket haul in successive Championship games

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay23-Jul-2025 Somerset 250 (Lammonby 89, Drissell 5-59) and 89 for 5 (Banton 33*, Parkinson 4-39) beat Durham 145 (Raine 42, Overton 6-23) and 190 (Gay 42, Leach 6-63, Vaughan 4-85) by five wicketsJack Leach returned figures of 6 for 63 as Somerset wrapped up a five-wicket Rothesay County Championship Division One win over Durham inside two days at the Cooper Associates Ground, Taunton.From an overnight 5 for 2 in their second innings, trailing by 100 runs, the visitors were bowled out for 190, left-arm spinner Leach claiming his second six-for in successive Championship games and off-spinner Archie Vaughan taking 4 for 85. Emilio Gay top-scored with 42, while Ben Raine contributed 36.That left Somerset needing just 86 to win, a target they achieved in 19.2 overs, not without alarm, at just before 4pm, Tom Banton ending unbeaten on 33 and Callum Parkinson taking 4 for 39. They took 20 points from the game to Durham’s three.Despite the turning pitch, Somerset elected to start the day with seam at both ends, skipper Lewis Gregory operating from the River End in tandem with Craig Overton.Gay and Neil Wagner were rarely troubled and had added 26 to the overnight score by the time Vaughan was introduced from the Marcus Trescothick Pavilion End.His first over went for 16, Gay striking fou fours and clearly intent on carrying the game to Somerset’s slow bowlers. Leach’s first over from the other end saw Wagner hit a six over long-off to bring up a half-century stand from just 57 balls.Gay struck a straight six off Vaughan and followed up next ball with a swept four as Durham’s total reached 76, just 29 runs behind, before Somerset made a much-needed breakthrough.Wagner had played well, facing 49 balls, before attempting to sweep a full delivery from Vaughan and falling lbw. It signalled a collapse as Gay quickly followed, caught by Overton, diving forward at short mid-wicket off Leach.Colin Ackermann bagged a pair when playing Leach in the air to mid-off where Banton took a similar catch to Overton’s, throwing himself forward. It was 92 for 6 when David Bedingham fell lbw to a Leach delivery that straightened from around the wicket.Durham were still 13 runs from avoiding an innings defeat. Ollie Robinson and Graham Clark ensured that indignity was avoided with a partnership of 40 before Robinson aimed a big drive at Vaughan and was bowled for 28.Vaughan almost struck again with his next delivery, Raine driving it back and the bowler just failing to hold a low catch diving full length to his right. The lunch score was 152 for 7, 147 runs having been scored in the session off 40 overs.Clark was unbeaten on 24 and Durham led by 47. Leach had figures of 4 for 50 from 17 overs and that became a five-for with 14 runs added when Clark’s 89-ball innings of 32 ended with an edged forward defensive shot to wicketkeeper James Rew.Leach struck again when George Drissell was caught and bowled off a leading edge. That left Raine with little option but to go on the attack and he cleared the ropes twice in a Vaughan over.Vaughan claimed revenge in his next over as Raine holed out to long-off and, with 46 overs remaining, a two-day finish was guaranteed. Not surprisingly, Durham gave the new ball to left-arm spinner Callum Parkinson, whose second delivery was deposited over midwicket for six by Tom Kohler-Cadmore.Drissell was greeted by a Josh Davey boundary to wide long-on as Somerset went for a quick kill. That plan suffered a setback when Davey fell leg-before to Parkinson, aiming to sweep, with the total on 13.It was 16 for 2 when Kohler-Cadmore edged Parkinson to second slip. Rew, on a pair, reverse swept his first ball for four and, on five, narrowly escaped a catch to second slip off Drissell.Tom Lammonby eased any tension with two fours off Drissell full-tosses, but was then bowled through the gate by Parkinson for 22 with Somerset halfway to their target. Rew quickly followed, caught at short mid-wicket to give Parkinson a fourth wicket.Tom Abell was bowled by Drissell on the back foot with 24 needed. But Banton used the sweep and reverse-sweep to good effect to see Somerset home.

Nottinghamshire wicketkeeper strikes his highest professional score in rain-affected match

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay05-Aug-2025Tom Moores smashed a career-best 148 from 93 balls as Notts Outlaws launched their Metro Bank One-Day Cup campaign with a comfortable victory over Essex.It is the 28-year-old wicketkeeper-batter’s highest score in senior cricket, eclipsing his first-class best of 106. He hit five sixes and 18 fours, sharing a 137-run sixth-wicket partnership with Daniel Sams (45 off 42) as the Outlaws recovered to 283 for 9, having been 41 for four inside the first hour thanks to Essex seamer Jamie Porter taking a List A career-best 4 for 29.Robin Das (46) and skipper Tom Westley (43) gave the Essex a solid start as they chased a revised target of 286 after squally showers had limited the home side to 46 overs in their innings, but from 101 for one they collapsed to 156 for 6, former Lincolnshire left-arm spinner Joe Pocklington taking 3 for 53 on his Outlaws debut, and despite an excellent unbeaten 46 from 41 balls (two sixes) from wicketkeeper Simon Fernandes, still fell for 234, seamer Rob Lord finishing with 3 for 30.After Westley won the toss and asked the home side to bat first in typical outground conditions at the John Fretwell Sports Complex, just outside Mansfield, Porter bowled his 10-over allocation in one spell to have Notts struggling.Having picked up a gift wicket when Outlaws skipper Haseeb Hameed chipped to mid-off, he found movement with the new ball to bowl Ben Slater and the 18-year-old debutant Sam Seecharan before Jack Haynes was caught behind off a thin edge.The hosts stumbled further to 74 for 5 as Lyndon James cut straight to cover, but with Porter bowled out, an Essex attack lacking Simon Harmer (on paternity leave) looked much less menacing.Moores was dropped at deep backward square on 21 off Noah Thain but responded by launching the same bowler over the same boundary for the first of his sixes in an innings that showcased his strengths square of the wicket. His first fifty came off 35 balls, his hundred from 69. His previous List A best had been 76 against Leicestershire in 2018, although this was only his 30th match in the format.Sams – available for Notts until he begins a Caribbean Premier League stint later this month – cleared the rope three times before top-edging to midwicket. Essex’s 19-year-old seamer Charlie Bennett, on his List A debut, recovered from a wobbly start to pick up the wickets of both Sams and Moores, who was eventually held at long-on.After losing Matt Critchley early, Essex looked well placed at 101 for 1 in the 16th over but after Das, who made a match-winning century for his county at Trent Bridge last summer, had miscued Lord to mid-on, Essex were never able to regain full momentum.Westley was well taken at short midwicket as Lord struck again, before 24-year-old Pocklington – handed a contract only this week after call-ups to The Hundred and Matt Montgomery’s move to Derbyshire left Notts with effectively no spinners – marked a memorable debut by bowling Luc Benkenstein, snaring Charlie Allison with a return catch and having Nick Browne caught behind off a botched reverse sweep.Lyndon James had Noah Thain and Bennett both caught at midwicket and Shane Snater caught behind as Essex – who have won just seven of 25 One-Day Cup fixtures since they reached the semi-finals in 2021 – were bowled out for 234.

The good news for New South Wales was Michael Clarke, Simon Katich, Phil Jaques and Usman Khawaja all made solid starts, but the situation wasn’t as cheery for Phillip Hughes, who failed in his last hit-out before the first Test team is named

Cricinfo staff17-Nov-2009
ScorecardMichael Clarke found some form after his long lay-off with an unbeaten 92 at the SCG•Getty Images

The good news for New South Wales was Michael Clarke, Simon Katich, Phil Jaques and Usman Khawaja all made solid starts, but the situation wasn’t as cheery for Phillip Hughes, who failed in his last hit-out before the first Test team is named. Tasmania kept running into the Blues on the opening day at the SCG and were rewarded in the first two sessions before Clarke and Khawaja took the hosts to 3 for 290 at stumps.With the squad to face West Indies being announced on Thursday, Clarke and Katich both had useful stays but Hughes’ final chance to increase his chances of being at the Gabba went when he played-on to Luke Butterworth on 12. How Clarke pulls up after the innings will also be important for the national team as he trials his back following a two-month lay-off.Clarke, the Test vice-captain, nearly ran-out Katich early in his innings but recovered his poise to post a valuable half-century and lift his side through a delicate period. He finished with an unbeaten 92, a much better return than his 8 in the one-dayer on Sunday, while Khawaja was not out on 51. Khawaja is rated so highly by his state that he is playing ahead of David Warner, who breezed to 92 off 79 balls for New South Wales’ 2nd XI in Perth.Like Hughes, Jaques (66) is also hoping for a return to Australian colours in the future and he had a couple of chances before falling to a top edge off Butterworth, which was taken by a juggling Jon Wells at square leg. Katich, the Test opener, was back at No. 3 for his state and chipped in with 62 before falling to a catch behind off Jason Krejza to the final ball before tea.