The Delhi High Court has lashed out at the DDCA for “crossing its limit” and undermining the authority of Justice Mukul Mudgal by sacking the selectors appointed by him

PTI07-Nov-2016The Delhi High Court has lashed out at the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) for “crossing its limit” and undermining the authority of Justice Mukul Mudgal by sacking the selectors appointed by him. The court said the association’s move “attracts contempt of court”. The bench comprising Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Deepa Sharma suspended the decision of the DDCA, restoring the selection panel appointed by Justice Mudgal.The court said the DDCA was “testing everyone’s patience here”. It slammed the DDCA for “targetting” Justice Mudgal, former Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court who was appointed by the Delhi High Court to oversee the functioning of the association, which is plagued by alleged financial irregularities and nepotism in selection of players.On November 5, the sports working committee of DDCA removed former Indian cricketers Maninder Singh, Atul Wassan and Nikhil Chopra from their roles in the senior and junior selection panels, stating conflict of interest issues. The bench said: “DDCA should have informed the court about such a move when the order was reserved so that it could have taken preventive steps at that time only.”The bench said of the selectors: “Various selections have been made by them and they are doing their job properly and there is no chance of any misconduct.”The high court also made it clear that the DDCA will not interfere with the working of the selectors and asked them to proceed with the selection of Under-14 and Under-16 players.While allowing the selection panels to continue till further order, the bench said: “We really don’t know where things are going. It is unfortunate. You [DDCA] are after the committee, you are targetting Justice Mudgal.”Justice Mudgal, through his counsel Nitin Mishra, had moved the court seeking direction to declare the DDCA’s decision as “null and void”.In a status report filed with the court, Justice Mudgal had said: “Selectors, who were appointed under my supervision through the process of interview by a selection panel, are in process of picking up senior and junior teams at the moment. The act of removing the selectors unanimously by certain directors and the convener, sports working committee (DDCA), without any approval from the selection panel formed by me or by the Delhi HC is only aimed to scuttle the domestic season.”He said the selectors were appointed by the selection panel keeping in mind the recommendations of the Lodha Committee on conflict of interest norms.Considering Justice Mudgal’s report that the DDCA has not paid the players’ dues, the bench also directed the association to make immediate arrangements for cricketers playing or staying at hotels, and clear the dues within 48 hours.The bench also asked DDCA to clear, within a week, the dues of vendors and caterers that have been pending for the last three years.

An unbroken 82-run partnership between Heather Knight and Natalie Sciver saw England to a comfortable eight-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first ODI in Colombo

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Nov-2016
ScorecardHeather Knight and Natalie Sciver saw England to victory (file photo)•Getty Images

An unbroken 82-run partnership between Heather Knight and Natalie Sciver saw England to a comfortable eight-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first ODI in Colombo.The first encounter of the four-match series did not count towards the ICC Women’s Championship, and qualification for the World Cup, but allowed England to start their tour well. Knight, England’s captain, was also the pick of the bowlers before helping chase down a target of 169 with more than 20 overs to spare.Having chosen to bat, Sri Lanka posted a 50 stand for the first wicket before Knight removed Hasini Perera for 26. Her opening partner Nipuni Hansika also made 26 but was dismissed by Danielle Hazell three overs later.Sri Lanka’s top order all chipped in with scores in the 20s, captain Dilani Manodara making 27 before being caught behind of Alex Hartley’s left-arm spin, but no one could go on. Beth Langston removed Chamari Atapattu and Katherine Brunt then struck twice and Knight claimed her second with the final ball of the innings.England’s openers got off to a good start in reply, Lauren Winfield and Tammy Beaumont putting on 77 before Atapattu parted them. Beaumont went on to make 41 before falling to Inoka Ranaweera but Knight and Sciver saw England through by scoring at more than a run a ball.

Steven Smith and Peter Handscomb capitalized on the platform laid by Matt Renshaw with an unbroken 137-run stand to take Australia to 288 for 3 at stumps

The Report by Daniel Brettig15-Dec-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:00

Chappell: Dropped catch cost Pakistan dearly

It is hard enough for touring teams at the Gabba without providing instances of charity to the hosts. On a night when floodlights and the pink ball ushered in Brisbane’s biggest ever non-Ashes Test crowd, Pakistan allowed the throng of 26,343 to salute a century for Australia’s captain Steven Smith with a pair of contrasting reprieves.The first, in the final over before the tea break, came via an unexpectedly sharp leg break from Azhar Ali and an equally surprising fumble behind the stumps by Sarfraz Ahmed. Several hours later and Mohammad Amir fizzed the second new ball across Smith to coax the thinnest of edges. This time Sarfraz took it crisply – yet it was a nick so fine no appeal was made.The fact Amir took the second new ball at all felt almost as remarkable as his return to the Pakistan side from an infamous jail sentence. Having bowled tidily early, his right knee had plugged in the Gabba outfield and seemed to have suffered an injury akin to that inflicted on Simon Jones in 2002. Yet Amir found a way to return, in a show of resilience Pakistan must now emulate collectively in order to find a way back into this first innings.Smith’s innings was the centrepiece of Australia’s day, equal parts patient and punchy, but it would not have been possible without a pair of tremendous supporting hands from the young batsmen Matt Renshaw and Pete Handscomb. Renshaw’s discipline in early stands with David Warner and then Smith blunted the new ball in the hands of Pakistan’s pace attack and also compelled Yasir Shah to bowl a high volume of overs early in the match.While Wahab Riaz was able to find Renshaw’s outside edge before he could go on to three figures, Smith and Handscomb then fought their way through to the whole final session with hope for more runs on resumption. Handscomb did not always look comfortable but fought his way through, at the same time showing no desire to depart from the batting methods that have served him well at domestic level.Renshaw played an exemplary innings, showing his usual sound judgment around the off stump but also showing an ability to hit with power through midwicket and down the ground. In doing so he invited further comparisons with another tall Queensland opening batsman in Matthew Hayden – Australia’s selectors will dream of more such performances.There had been some swing for Amir and Rahat Ali in the early overs, but Renshaw and Warner did very well to cover any movement and also punish any errors in line or length – in Warner’s case he started by punching Rahat to the cover fence first ball. Wahab’s greater pace was unable to make much of an impression, and Misbah was left to call on Yasir as early as the 11th over of the innings.Matt Renshaw scored most of his runs through mid-on and midwicket•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Bounce was plentiful even if the Gabba pitch will likely quicken up in pace on day two, but Yasir’s early overs were characterised by a somewhat odd tactic – attacking the leg stumps of Renshaw and Warner with a 6-3 leg side field. For the most part the batsmen took advantage of this, the only semblance of a chance coming when Yasir strayed wide of the off stump and Warner edged fractionally short of slip.However Amir was brought back in the lead-up to the break and was able to pin Warner as he shuffled across the stumps to try to work the ball to the leg side. Gould’s finger was raised and Warner did not review; ball-tracking showed the ball would have clipped the outside of the leg stump.Khawaja got started with one neat leg glance, but he was soon to be on his way when he lifted a Yasir delivery on the pads directly into the midriff of Misbah. Renshaw finished the session with a boundary from Azhar, before finding more gaps when play resumed – leaping out once to flay Yasir over cover.Smith also played admirably straight, refusing to be tempted into a surfeit of deliveries angled across him by the Pakistani left-armers, and the pair were looking increasingly secure until Wahab found a modicum of away movement to coax an edge from Renshaw’s bat.Coming in at No. 5, Handscomb again demonstrated his idiosyncrasies, staying deep in his crease to the pacemen while also trying to dance down the wicket to Yasir. There were a few nervy moments for him before the break, but Smith’s passing of 50 gave the hosts some cause for optimism as the match crept into the floodlit night.Intriguingly Misbah resumed with twin spin after dinner, and Smith and Handscomb were duly able to get back into rhythm. The genuine concern for Amir left the tourists a bowler short, with Rahat also looking sluggish at various points. The second new ball brought Amir’s welcome return and the aforementioned unappealing edge from Smith, and after a protracted period in the 90s, the Australian captain was able to drive down the ground for Test hundred No. 16.Of all the surprises thrown up by the first night’s pink ball cricket in Brisbane, a wicketless final session was surely the most startling. No-one will be more grateful for that than the No. 6 Nic Maddinson, who can now look forward to batting in sunlight on day two – whenever Smith and Handscomb exit the stage that is.

With a 2-1 lead, Australia have the chance to wrap up the series against Pakistan at the SCG. Their premier fast bowler Mitchell Starc has also returned to the squad

The Preview by Daniel Brettig21-Jan-2017

Match facts

January 22, 2017
Start time 1420 local (0320 GMT)Adam Zampa doesn’t want Steven Smith’s headband to be his chief contribution of the series•Getty Images

Big picture

On a weekend when Cricket Australia are toasting the members of Allan Border’s 1987 World Cup winning squad, their cricketing descendants can complete a somewhat more modest achievement by sealing the ODI series against Pakistan. Resolve to get the job done was written all over the captain Steven Smith’s hundred to lead a sturdy chase in Perth, and the hosts will be looking for a similarly solid batting display after the malfunctions of the first two games.To that end both David Warner and Usman Khawaja will be eager for the runs that have eluded them so far, with Travis Head another man eager to go on from the starts he has made in each match. Adam Zampa, meanwhile, will be eagerly awaiting an opportunity to play, having so far been left running the drinks as allrounders have been preferred to his nifty leg spin.Pakistan are in need of better displays in the field, as it is now patently clear their batsmen struggle to post the sorts of totals now commonly seen among the world’s more successful limited-overs sides. But there will be hope for their returning captain Azhar Ali that the SCG’s pitch can provide the conditions necessary for his spinners to replicate their work at the MCG, with plenty of help from Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan.Thirty years ago, Australia pushed past Pakistan on their home turf in Lahore to reach the tournament decider; Smith’s collective will want to ensure the final match of this series, in Adelaide on Australia Day, is anything but.

Form guide

Australia: WLWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan: LWLWW
Sharjeel Khan has been stylish, but Pakistan might want more substance from him at the top of the order•Getty Images

In the spotlight

For all his contribution to Smith’s decision to don a headband at the WACA, Adam Zampa would sooner be conspicuous for his bowling. Of the six ODIs Austraia have played at home this season, Zampa has appeared in only one – against New Zealand at the SCG. Based on that evidence, Sunday appears his best chance to return and demonstrate once more why he should be played more often. However, if he isn’t picked, Zampa will have reason to question the value of being in the squad at all – headbands aside.Scores of 18, 29 and 50 represent a promising upward trend for Sharjeel Khan, who has plenty of power and style at the top of the order for Pakistan. An overall average of 28.65 but a top score of 152 suggests he is yet to make the most of his talents, and he will be keen to go to the next step in Sydney, the venue where he made his Test debut at the start of the year.

Team news

Mitchell Starc is back in Australia’s squad for the SCG, while Adam Zampa will also be pushing for inclusion for the first time in the series.Australia (possible) 1 David Warner, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Peter Handscomb, 5 Travis Head, 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 James Faulkner, 9 Pat Cummins, 10 Mitchell Starc, 11 Adam Zampa.Pakistan were led by Mohammad Hafeez at the MCG and the WACA, but Azhar Ali has recovered from the hamstring injury he suffered in Brisbane and will lead the side in Sydney. Azhar is likely to replace Asad Shafiq, who made only 13 and 5 in the second and third ODIs.Pakistan (possible) 1 Azhar Ali (capt), 2 Sharjeel Khan, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Babar Azam, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 8 Imad Wasim, 9 Mohammad Amir, 10 Junaid Khan, 11 Hasan Ali.

Pitch and conditions

The SCG is towards the back end of its busiest month of the season, so the surface may be a little on the tired side. Sydney’s weather forecast is for fine, warm conditions.

Stats and trivia

• Pakistan have beaten Australia four times in ODIs at the SCG, but the hosts have been victorious on each of the past five occasions
• Steven Smith needs 31 runs to surpass Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann on the list of Australian ODI run-makers, having played 93 matches to Lehmann’s 117

Picking up seven wickets between them, the two players helped Sydney Thunder thrash Sydney Sixers with eight wickets and 60 balls to spare

The Report by Will Macpherson at the SCG14-Jan-2017
ScorecardFawad Ahmed and Carlos Brathwaite claimed seven wickets between them•Getty Images and Cricket Australia

Can the Sydney Thunder qualify for the finals? Can they?Ten days ago, the champions had lost their first four games, and were staring down the barrel of elimination from the competition. Then Eoin Morgan smote Ben Hilfenhaus into the western Sydney sky and their season lived on. They then won well in Hobart and now, sweetest of all, they thrashed their crosstown rivals the Sydney Sixers by eight wickets, having limited them to just 99 in front of 39,756 people, a domestic cricket record for New South Wales. The emphatic margin means victory in their final game, against the struggling Adelaide Strikers, gives them a shot at making the finals.For the Sixers, this was a drubbing and a humiliation. The effect on their already poor NRR has been so profound that despite already having four wins on the board – as many as any team – they likely need to win their last game against the Melbourne Stars to make the semi-finals. Still, with just seven of the 32 pool games left, no team is out, and none have qualified for the semi-finals; the BBL’s evenness remains one of its major attractions.Fawad the destroyer
Chief among the reasons for the Thunder’s win was the brilliant bowling performance of Fawad Ahmed. The legspinner’s four overs contained 12 dots, conceded just one boundary, and were worth no more than five runs each. Handily, he also picked up four wickets. Coming on after a Powerplay that had picked up both the Sixers openers at a cost of just 36, he picked up Nic Maddinson and Moises Henriques, both caught slog-sweeping, off consecutive deliveries in his second over. Colin Munro was done in by a flat legspinner in his third, then Sean Abbott slapped straight to midwicket, where Carlos Brathwaite took the catch. Fawad’s 4 for 14 was the best-ever figures for the Thunder, and the best in a Sydney derby.For the Thunder, there were decisive bowling contributions beyond Fawad. Chris Green kicked things off, conceding just 12 from his three overs in the Powrerplay, as well as bowling Michael Lumb. Brathwaite hammered a relentless line and length picked up Brad Haddin, Johan Botha and Nathan Lyon in his second, third and fourth overs, while Shane Watson was supremely tight and dismissed Daniel Hughes just as he was looking in ominous form.Sydney Thunder chased down their target of 100 with ten overs to spare•Cricket Australia

The strange decision and the disastrous consequences
The Sixers had played six games before this one, and chased in all of them. They had won four and lost just two. So why, upon winning the toss, did Moises Henriques opt to bat first? (This was the first time in 25 games this BBL that the captain winning the toss had opted to bat.)Whatever the reason, the outcome was shocking. Beyond the obviously gruesome total and the loss of all but one of their wickets, there were some striking statistics from their batting effort. They hit just seven boundaries, and failed to hit any in the second half of their innings, with a Haddin cover drive after 9.3 overs their last. They faced 53 dots balls went 27 balls (between 13.5 and 18.3 overs) without taking more than one from a delivery. They failed to take more than five from any of the last 12 overs, and they scored more than eight just once (the second, when Lumb got after Clint McKay). The biggest partnership was for the second wicket, and was worth just 22. It was a sorry tale, and their equal lowest ever score.The dab
Thunder, clearly, have been hard at work on the training ground. But they have obviously been hitting the dance floor, too. Brathwaite unveiled the BBL dab in the win over Hurricanes and he had three more opportunities to show it off here too, with Fawad joining him for a synchronised handshake, too. Only the goosestepping, tan-lined pair of streakers later in the night got a bigger cheer.A stroll of a chase
With the skies greying, Thunder were half way to the target after 29 balls, and had not lost a wicket. The low target gave James Vince the licence to throw his bat around – his on-driven four and six over cover will live long in the memory – while Kurtis Patterson used the opportunity to play himself back into form.Sean Abbott dismissed Vince and Watson, both pulling, but on the Thunder charged, romping home, with Ben Rohrer heaving hard. In the blink of an eye they were home, with half their deliveries to spare.

Ireland pacer Boyd Rankin has been ruled out of the T20 international series against Afghanistan with a lower back issue, but is expected to play a part in the five-match ODI series that follows

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Mar-2017Ireland fast bowler Boyd Rankin has been ruled out of the T20 international series against Afghanistan that began on Wednesday in Greater Noida due to a lower-back issue. However, he is still expected to play a part in the five-match ODI series, which starts from March 15.”We are really happy with the progress Boyd is making and feel confident that he will still make an impact on this tour,” Ireland head coach John Bracewell said. “We are lucky that we have cover at present, and after the safe arrival of Murtagh’s second child, Tim will also be with us for the ODI series.”Rankin had missed a significant portion of the season due to injury. The fast bowler, who turns out for Warwickshire, fractured his left leg (tibial fracture) during a training session with the county, which kept him out of cricket for five months. He missed Ireland’s one-day matches against Pakistan, South Africa and Australia as well as the Intercontinental Cup. He made his return in the Desert T20 Challenge where four matches yielded as many wickets at 18.25 and an economy rate of 6.63.He was once again rested for the ODIs against United Arab Emirates in Dubai earlier this month, but joined the team for a 10-day training camp ahead of the ongoing series against Afghanistan.The three-match T20 series will be followed by five ODIs, before the tour concludes with a four-day match. All the games are scheduled to take place in Greater Noida.

Hawk-Eye has explained the mechanics behind the David Warner lbw dismissal in the second innings of the Bengaluru Test, which to the naked eye seemed a dubious “umpire’s call” on the point of impact

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Mar-2017Hawk-Eye has explained the mechanics behind the David Warner lbw dismissal in the second innings of the Bengaluru Test, which to the naked eye seemed a dubious “umpire’s call” on the point of impact.Here is ESPNcricinfo’s commentary of the call:

9.1 83.0 kph, lbw first ball. Long long chat, and they decide to review. Warner doesn’t look convinced, but he has reviewed it. Warner has picked a ball too full to sweep and is beaten. The question is, has he got an edge or has it straightened enough? This is pitched outside off, the ball has straightened, and I don’t see any part of ball in line. However, the machine is showing “umpire’s call”. I don’t know how. I must be wrong, but I will need an explanation from somebody here. Don’t see any part of ball in line. They show umpire’s call. Both on impact and the stumps. On many more replays, perhaps one mm of the ball hit him in line. Oof 42/2

Australia ended up losing that review, and that quite possibly cost them later on; they would likely have challenged a Shaun Marsh lbw call if they had both their reviews in hand, and, as replays showed, Marsh would have been allowed to bat on.Australia’s official Twitter handle tweeted an image of the Hawk-Eye projection of the Warner dismissal.
In that image, to the naked eye, there seems daylight between the point of impact and the line of the stumps. The ESPNcricinfo commentary said in relation to the image:

Make your own minds if this was “umpire’s call”. My naked eye sees nothing, but I also know once you agree to use a machine you have to agree with it.

The machine has now explained how it returned an umpire’s call. ESPNcricinfo has seen a Hawk-Eye video that removes the batsman from the image, and zooms in on the point of the impact from the top, as they do in tennis. That shows 2mm of the ball in line with the stumps.”Although it may have appeared on first glance that the impact was slightly outside the line of off stump, in fact there was actually 2mm of the ball inside the outside edge of off stump, thus making the impact ‘umpire’s call’, resulting in the original decision of out remaining,” Hawk-Eye said.It was unfortunate for Warner and Australia that they were done in by such a minute margin, but it was not inaccurate.

The Australian Cricketers Association has put forward the request to try to avoid negotiations extending beyond the June 30 deadline

Daniel Brettig12-May-2017In the latest escalation of Australia’s player pay dispute, the Australian Cricketers Association has requested independent mediation with Cricket Australia to try to avoid the negotiations passing beyond the June 30 deadline.ESPNcricinfo has learned that the ACA lodged a formal request with CA for independent mediation on Friday, in the form of a letter from the association president Greg Dyer to the board chairman David Peever, following the the most recent meeting between the two negotiating teams in Melbourne on Thursday. It is the first time since the signing of the first MOU in 1998 that either party has felt the need to call for outside assistance.As part of the request, the ACA has offered to allow the squad selected for this year’s women’s World Cup in England, a tournament which straddles the MOU deadline, to sign a tournament-specific contract. There is unease both nationally and at state level about the contractual limbo created by the dispute, though on Thursday the fast bowler Mitchell Starc was adamant about players not wanting to enter contract talks with CA until a new MOU is signed.The request was made with little more than six weeks remaining before the expiry of the current MOU, with neither side of the debate showing any desire to back down from their publicly stated positions. It is believed that the prospect of a dispute resolution process was first broached by CA’s negotiating team early in talks, before the board presented its formal pay offer that was recently rebuffed by the players.As part of its request for independent mediation, the Australian Cricketers Association has offered to allow the squad for the Women’s World Cup to sign a tournament-specific contract•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

While the ACA is as committed to maintaining the present fixed revenue percentage model that has been in place for two decades as CA is determined to dismantle it, a major sticking point in negotiations has been the board’s reluctance to provide the players association with all the financial information it has requested and believes it is entitled to.At the same time, CA has pointed out that the ACA has declined to assent to its offer of documentation outlining a range of financial scenarios around its existing pay offer, which limits any “blue sky” money over and above fixed amounts to the nation’s top centrally-contracted male and female players. Domestic male players, by contrast, would have their wages effectively frozen over the next five years despite a looming Big Bash League television rights deal expected to as much as triple the value of the competition.In a parallel negotiation, the AFL and the AFL players association are soon to announce a new collective agreement that is set to bring a fixed revenue percentage model to Australian football for the first time.A CA spokesman declined to comment on the mediation request.

Sikandar Raza’s half century helped Zimbabwe chase down Scotland’s target of 170 with 13 overs to spare

The Report by Peter Della Penna in Edinburgh17-Jun-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball updates1:41

‘Maybe we needed to lose first game’ – Cremer

Zimbawe’s spin-bowling attack capitalized on an overeager batting approach with captain Graeme Cremer’s 5 for 29 doing the bulk of the damage to wipe out Scotland for 169 in 42 overs. Sikandar Raza’s composed half-century anchored the Zimbabwe chase to clinch a six-wicket win for the tourists at the Grange with 78 balls to spare. It meant the series finished deadlocked at 1-1, with hosts Scotland failing to complete a landmark series win against a Full Member team.When Cremer had Scotland captain Kyle Coetzer stumped for 61 in the 22nd over, it seemed at the time to be a minor speed bump with Scotland comfortable at 106 for 2. But when Calum MacLeod was bowled six overs later by Sean Williams for 58 – while exposing his stumps on an attempted back foot punch – the floodgates were opened and Cremer raided the middle order for his second five-wicket haul.Williams’ figures might appear understated on the scorecard after he ended with 2 for 26, but he played a crucial role – coming on in the fourth over – after Zimbabwe’s opening pace attack was battered by Coetzer for three fours and a six to race to 27 for 0. Williams began with a maiden to Matthew Cross, thereby foreshadowing the role that spin would play to reel Scotland’s scoring rate back under control. Cross continued to struggle, trying to get Williams away in the sixth, but the pressure resulted in him backing away for a carve to the off-side only to see his off-stump sent cartwheeling.Coetzer and MacLeod added 71 for the second wicket as Williams came off once the Powerplay concluded. The pair milked Chris Mpofu’s medium pace for easy runs and Coetzer soon reached his eighth ODI fifty off 45 balls in the 15th over. His innings ended soon after though, when he stepped down the pitch to flick Cremer through the leg side, only to miss it completely and the wicketkeeper Peter Moor did the rest. MacLeod carried on to notch his third ODI half-century in the 25th when he cut Raza’s offspin through point for back-to-back fours. But when MacLeod fell in the 28th to Williams, it triggered a collapse that saw Scotland lose their last eight wickets for 34 runs.Richie Berrington first walked too far across his stumps before missing a flick as Cremer trapped him lbw in the 29th over. Then, a miscued flick to mid-off by Con De Lange, to start the 31st, put Cremer on a hat-trick and he completed the over gaining his second lbw decision, although the dismissed Preston Mommsen appeared to be struck quite high.Rather than go into a shell at 141 for 6 in 31 overs, having just lost 4 for 6, Scotland kept the faith in coach Grant Bradburn’s mantra of maintaining aggressive intent. But wickets fell regardless. The always adventurous Craig Wallace stayed true to form by going for a reverse sweep against Cremer but missed and the stumps were rattled once again to give Zimbabwe’s captain his fifth scalp.With Williams’ quota done, Raza came back to help wipe out the tail. Josh Davey was lbw prodding forward before Alasdair Evans edged behind as the ninth wicket. Raza and Cremer were done with their bowling quota by the 41st, but the captain stayed with spin by tossing the ball to Ryan Burl to bowl his first over in ODI cricket. The over concluded with Burl’s maiden scalp to end the innings as Chris Sole missed a swipe across the line to be bowled for 2, leaving eight overs unused and Michael Leask stranded on 11, the only player outside the top three to reach double-figures.Zimbabwe were required to bat 45 minutes before lunch was taken and, like Scotland, got off to a hot start in their first few overs before Sole, who began his spell with 11 dot balls and two wickets – gave them a scare. With the score at 30 for no loss after four overs, Sole struck with his first ball, snaring Solomon Mire with a gloved pull for a leg-side catch to Cross. He then tested Hamilton Masakadza early in the seventh over with the short ball too, until the opener fell fending a catch at backward point to make it 31 for 2.Sole prised out one more before the interval – the short ball working again – as Williams creamed a cut but picked out backward point to make it 44 for 3 in 10.3 overs. The break, though, arrived at the right time for Zimbabwe and they came out far more assured when play resumed with Craig Ervine and Raza adding 55 runs for the fourth wicket.Sikandar Raza hit seven fours during his unbeaten 58•Peter Della Penna

Scotland’s chances of defending the total were severely hampered when vice-captain de Lange bowled just two overs before leaving the field after completing the 17th over. The left-arm spinner had taken his maiden five-for in the first ODI but Coetzer said after the match that de Lange could not continue due to a migraine headache.With de Lange out, MacLeod was brought on to bowl part-time spin but was ineffective, finishing with 0 for 21 in five overs. Davey bowled a controlled spell of medium pace at the other end in a bid to keep pressure on and managed to beat Ervine driving for 30. But Raza continued on with Burl, teaming for a 72-run stand to seal victory. While Burl finished unbeaten on 30, Raza struck the winning boundary through midwicket to end on an unbeaten 58 for his seventh ODI half-century.Zimbabwe leave Sunday morning for the Netherlands where the first of three one-dayers takes place in Amstelveen on June 20, before they continue on to Sri Lanka for the start of a five-ODI, single-Test tour beginning June 30. Meanwhile, Scotland’s home summer fixture-list is over before the arrival of the June 21 solstice. Their next series isn’t until October, when they tour Papua New Guinea for two ODIs in the WCL Championship and a four-day Intercontinental Cup match.

Saturday’s gala to celebrate Australia’s former World-Cup winning women’s players to be the site of an informal discussion between the two opposing parties

Daniel Brettig30-May-20173:46

What exactly is the Cricket Australia-ACA pay dispute?

The Australian women’s team will come face to face with Cricket Australia’s chairman David Peever, chief executive James Sutherland and the board of directors at a gala event on Saturday, as the pay dispute with the Australian Cricketers Association creeps to within a month of major dislocation to the game.Clea Smith and Jodie Fields, both key members of ACA staff, have been invited to the event at the Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane as members of past women’s World Cup winning squads. The function was devised to recognise the achievements of those players and award them retrospective winners’ medals, but will also offer a rare chance for members of the two opposing parties in the pay dispute to meet in less formal circumstances.On the day Sutherland again pressed CA’s case to break-up the fixed revenue percentage model that has existed for the past 20 years, ESPNcricinfo has learned that the board is eager to resume talks on less confrontational ground. These would start with discussion of the principles shared by CA and the players in the board’s pay offer, with no intention of “trapping” the ACA into agreeing to the full offer and thus an end to revenue sharing.In acknowledging how relations between CA and the ACA have broken down over the past four years, the board believes that initial talks based around common ground, such as the need for women’s pay to rise substantially, would help to develop a better rapport between the parties. That would then be useful when the fundamental sticking points – namely CA’s intent to end revenue sharing and the ACA’s to retain it – are discussed.Numerous past collective bargaining negotiations between sport governing bodies and players’ representatives have begun this way, not least concurrent talks going on to reach a new deal between the AFL and the AFL Players Association, helmed by the former ACA chief executive Paul Marsh.His successor Alistair Nicholson has been thwarted in his efforts to build a CEO-to-CEO relationship with Sutherland, and has instead had to deal with CA’s lead MOU negotiator Kevin Roberts and the recently departed cricket operations chief Sean Cary. One attempt by CA to get the two negotiating teams together in the less formal setting of a BBL match last summer was cancelled when the board suspended negotiations in December ahead of the Boxing Day Test.A graphic of Cricket Australia’s pay proposal•Cricket Australia

On Thursday CA released their formal pay offer to the players, originally revealed on ESPNcricinfo, via the board’s website. This arrived as part of a board public relations campaign Sutherland described as no longer “sitting on our hands”. Sutherland, who helped bring the dispute to its current pitch of tension by threatening to leave all out of contract players unemployed if an agreement is not reached by the June 30 expiry of the current MOU, argued that “there aren’t many people in Australia” being offered an overall payment pool increase of 15% for the next year. The majority of that increase is taken up by increases to payments for women, while domestic male players face an effective freeze on their wages for state competitions.”In some quarters, we’re being perceived as being hard or unfair on the players in this situation,” Sutherland told the . “But it’s important to note that we have a player payment pool in this current year of $79m, and our proposal for next year is for a player payment pool of $91m. That’s a 15% increase. There aren’t many people in Australia getting an increase like that, or have an offer like that on the table.”We understand that 71% of what we spend our money on basically relates to elite and high performance cricket. Another 17% relates to what we call running the game. Just 12% goes to grassroots cricket. We need to find ways to increase that. It’s not enough.”We’ve identified that through a lot of reviews we’ve done leading into this new strategic planning cycle. While the ACA has addressed [grassroots] to some extent, they don’t know anywhere near the detail we do in terms of what is involved in managing these issues both at an operational level and at a strategic and policy level.”Sutherland also noted that the “status” of the Sheffield Shield was at issue in the debate. “People are used to the model and feel like they’re losing ground,” he said. “Status is not a bad word for it actually. I understand that there’s an element of this that’s about preserving the status and tradition of Sheffield Shield, for example, in the whole makeup of Australian cricket.”