Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming said that Dhoni took the field only to get clarity since there was confusion about the no-ball decision

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Apr-20191:46

Dhoni was fired up by the way the no-ball decision was handled – Fleming

Rajasthan Royals batsman Jos Buttler believes Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni’s decision to step onto the field to protest an umpiring call was “probably not” the right thing to do in the last over of their match on Thursday night. The incident took place with Super Kings needing eight runs off three balls. Ben Stokes bowled a waist-high full toss to Mitchell Santner, and even though umpire Ulhas Gandhe had signalled a no-ball immediately, square-leg umpire Bruce Oxenford later shook his head to overturn the original decision.That led to lengthy discussions mainly between Santner’s partner Ravindra Jadeja and the umpires before Dhoni, who had been dismissed off the previous ball, walked out to join them. Dhoni was later fined 50% of his match fees for a Code of Conduct breach.”I’m not sure if that’s the right thing to do or not,” Buttler said at the post-match press conference of Dhoni’s decision to walk out on the field. “Obviously the tensions are running high in the IPL and every run counts. Yeah, it was a big moment in the game, but whether stepping onto the pitch is quite right? No, probably not.”Obviously, it’s a bit controversial. The umpires came to a decision but I was at the boundary so I wasn’t quite sure what was going on.”Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming later said that Dhoni took the field only to get clarity since there was confusion about the no-ball decision. He did not say if it was the right thing to do or not.”What wasn’t right was the confusion around the decision. It’s above my paygrade to really get further than that,” Fleming said.”My understanding and discussing it with the captain was we saw a no-ball called, and then there was confusion. Our understanding was that the umpire at the bowler’s end had called the no-ball and then there was confusion around whether it was a no-ball or not. MS was after some clarity and it didn’t seem to be coming. So, he took the opportunity to go out and discuss it with the umpires. That’s how I saw it and that’s how I discussed it with him afterwards.”He only just wanted clarity. The rights and wrongs will be discussed by everybody, including Mahi, I’m sure. But, I think, it’ll be a discussion for the umpires afterwards and I am a watcher as you guys are, for now. But he was certainly fired up about the way the decision was handled and why it was overturned or if it was overturned. So, there was a lack of clarity, obviously, for him and he wanted to get it clarified at a key moment. It’s unusual but he’s usually pretty calculated. It’ll be something he will be questioned about for sure, for a long time.”MS Dhoni is irate at a contentious no-ball call•BCCIRoyals had put on 151 for 7 and had Super Kings in trouble on 24 for 4 in the sixth over before Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu salvaged the chase with a 95-run stand. Both batsmen scored half-centuries and struck two fours and three sixes each to snatch the momentum from Royals.”It is a tough one to take, getting into a winning position and not able to get over the line, the boys will be very disappointed,” Buttler said. “But, I think that’s been the story of our season so far. We have had some games that we should have won and closed out but for a few reasons, we have not been able to do it. We need to get it right, fast.”Royals are now only above winless Royal Challengers Bangalore on the points table with one win from six games.How do they get out of it?”The way out is simple, we have to play better and longer,” Buttler said. “We are just not putting those performances together. We have played well in stages but against quality oppositions and some of the best players in the world, if you can’t do it for the whole 40 overs then it’s tough to win the game.”Fleming, too, admitted the weaknesses in his side, even though they sit on top of the table with six wins from seven games. The two main areas he identified that needed their attention were their fielding and death bowling.”There’s a lot of areas of concern,” Fleming said. “Our top order has been playing on a tough wicket in Chennai so we’ve got to make sure our confidence is high. Being 20-odd for 4, you’re not going to win many games. And [another concern is] just finishing off an innings with our death bowling. It’s hard and most teams are struggling. But if there are two areas we want to get better at, we’re working hard on, is that and we have to work hard on our fielding. We’ve got a number of holes but we know where they are and we’ll try and cover them up as much as we can.”

With spin set to play a key role at the World Cup, Maxwell could have a vital part to play in providing Australia the balance they want

Andrew McGlashan in Brisbane05-May-2019

The closest Glenn Maxwell got to the IPL this year was texting David Warner about his outstanding form, but he is hopeful of being proven right in having opted for county cricket before the World Cup after his brief first spell with Lancashire produced an unexpectedly key role with the ball.While some of his Australian team-mates were in India, Maxwell played one County Championship match and six one-day games. Though his top score was just 35, it was his success with the ball, which included a maiden five-wicket haul in the Championship and eight one-day wickets, that has proved timely.Australia captain Aaron Finch has said that he expected spin to play “huge role” in the World Cup, but it would appear tough for Nathan Lyon and Adam Zampa to both find a starting place in the XI in England with Australia likely to want a third frontline quick in the ranks compared to the balance they had in India and in the UAE. That puts the onus back on Maxwell to be the second spinner and after his role with Lancashire over the last few weeks, his confidence is high.Maxwell bowled his full allocation of ten overs in four of his six limited-overs matches and signed off with 3 for 42 against Durham, which included the wicket of Cameron Bancroft.”Certainly the bowling part I didn’t expect,” Maxwell said during Australia’s pre-World Cup camp in Brisbane. “I was able to get a lot of overs and find a rhythm I probably haven’t had for a while. To get some time at the bowling crease and get some real good feel out of that was nice.””I think with myself and Marcus Stoinis able to be a fifth or sixth bowler, depending on what sort of side we go with, to have those extra overs is really important for Aaron to have at his disposal. If we can be relied on to bowl key overs, even if it’s in the Powerplay or at the end, that’s going to be really important.”It was a great month, and I’m looking forward to going there at the back-end of the World Cup as well. Hopefully I have a successful World Cup and then we can give it a big tick.”Glenn Maxwell of Lancashire claimed a career-best 5-40 against Middlesex at Lord’s•Getty Images

However, Maxwell’s role at this year’s tournament is unlikely to be the same as in 2015, when Australia shunned a frontline spinner in favour of hitting the opposition with pace, leaving Maxwell as the only spin option. In the intervening years, spin has played an increasingly important role for all one-day sides, but Australia had lagged behind until quite recently when they threw their weight behind Zampa and Lyon.Still, it’s with the bat that Maxwell could really light up the World Cup. Having slipped to No. 7 during the home summer, as Australia tried to work out how they wanted the one-day side to play, he emerged with the role that many have long thought was right: floating in the middle order, ready to take on the game situation, the way he did in the last World Cup during which his lone ODI hundred came from No. 5: 102 off 53 balls against Sri Lanka. In India and the UAE, he batted from three to six, closing that run of matches with scores of 71, 98 and 70. They were vital innings for a player who has dealt with a host of mixed messages.”It was probably only after the Dubai series where I felt really comfortable with where my game was at,” he said. “I was able to play three really consistent innings, and all completely different – I went about it in different ways in all three of them. So I think that adaptability and consistency is something that Australian cricket and the fans have always really wanted from me. So to do it in three different ways, at different times, was really pleasing for me personally, but it’s something I need to continue to work on to continue being successful.”I generally work with JL [Justin Langer], just keep asking him what he wants from me, and it’ll get to a point where he’ll say ‘go put ’em on’. He’ll send a message out to Aaron, ask him what he thinks, and that’s how we get to that decision. It was something that I did reasonably well in 2015, so we’re sort of trying to emulate that in this World Cup. Hopefully I can do it similar.”English conditions are not foreign to the Australian squad, but Maxwell’s spell with Lancashire, though early season, also gave him the chance to get a taste of what could be on offer. He was involved in an extraordinary game at Trent Bridge, where Lancashire came within a whisker of chasing down Nottinghamshire’s 417. Australia play two of their group matches, against West Indies and Bangladesh, at Trent Bridge and it was also the venue where their under-strength team was plundered for a world-record 481 by England last year.Some of the domestic one-day games were played to the edges of wicket blocks while the main pitches were protected for the marque games to come, but Maxwell still expects some heavy scoring at the World Cup.”There might be a couple of games that are extremely high-scoring. That was the extreme part at Trent Bridge where you’ve got the corner boundary which is quite a cut off. We should’ve basically chased 417, and that’s the sort of conditions we’re going to be exposed to. It didn’t really spin a whole lot. It wasn’t lightning fast, the wickets, and there wasn’t a lot of swing. It should be interesting for the bowlers over there.”

A vital final day awaits for New South Wales after they managed to break through Tasmania’s promising start

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Mar-2019New South Wales’ pacemen bared their teeth to grant the visitors a chance to press for outright victory and a place in the Sheffield Shield final against Victoria with one day of the match against Tasmania remaining.At 2 for 145 on the third morning with Alex Doolan and Matthew Wade well entrenched, it appeared that the Tigers would take some serious dislodging with more than half of the game’s available playing time elapsed while Western Australia, the other team with a chance of the final, were making good progress against Queensland.However, the ever reliable Trent Copeland was able to find a way through Doolan’s defences to open up one end, and when the Blues captain Moises Henriques teased a catch out of Wade, the game had turned.Wicketkeeping debutant Baxter Holt then enjoyed a passage replete with action, snaffling five catches in quick time including two in as many balls twice from Copeland and then Harry Conway. Ben McDermott, lacking support, was last out for 53.In seeking a lead the Blues did not have it all their own way, tied down by the new ball and then losing two wickets in three balls, the second of them the captain Kurtis Patterson, to the swing and seam of Gabe Bell. Henriques was able to reclaim some momentum, leaving the Blues in control of their destiny.

Ashantha de Mel was appointed as team manager and selector-on-tour for the World Cup and had clashed earlier with the coach over selection choices

Madushka Balasuriya02-May-2019Sri Lanka Cricket believes that coach Chandika Hathurusingha and Ashantha de Mel will have no issues working together in the Sri Lankan dressing room, after the pair is said to have “thrashed things out” prior to the latter’s appointment as team manager and selector-on-tour for the World Cup starting at the end of this month. Since de Mel took the reins as chief selector ahead of Sri Lanka’s tour to New Zealand, the pair had clashed over several selection choices – most notably the exclusion of Dinesh Chandimal and Lasith Malinga’s captaincy.Other decisions taken by SLC’s executive committee

Chandima Mapatuna appointed as the logistic manager of the team for the World Cup. Mapatuna, who is also the head of international cricket of SLC, will travel with the team for the World Cup

In the wake of recent tragic incidents in the country, SLC will take additional measures to strengthen the security of the team at the World Cup. SLC is working on it in consultation with the Ministry of Sports and the ICC

Roy Dias appointed as coach of the ‘A’ team for the upcoming tour of India, in May, while Chaminda Mendis has been appointed as team manager. Mendis will also continue to function as a national selector

Avishka Gunawardena appointed coach of the emerging team for the tour of South Africa, in June. Hemantha Wickramaratne appointed team manager and will continue to function as a national selector

SLC has decided to donate Rs. 2 million to the Relief Effort Fund set up by His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith The Arch Bishop of Colombo, to support the victims of the affected areas and parishes following multiple attacks on Easter Sunday

“Before the appointment we got the both of them together to talk things through,” SLC secretary Mohan de Silva told ESPNcricinfo. “They eventually thrashed things out and now we’re very confident that they’ll work quite well together.”De Mel’s appointment, which was rubber-stamped by SLC at an executive committee meeting on April 30, had been mooted for some time, but speculation had been rife over whether he and Hathurusingha would be able to get along over the course of the six-week tournament.It was a spat with the new selection committee that culminated in Hathurusingha being removed from the role of selector-on-tour in February. And since then Hathurusingha’s job security has only become more tenuous.In March, he was given “a break” during Sri Lanka’s T20I series against South Africa after rumours surfaced of him having fallen out with certain players and staff. The situation was so dire that SLC CEO Ashley de Silva flew over personally to hold crisis talks, following which Hathurusingha returned to the island for further mediation. During this period, there were also reports of SLC seeking legal advice over possible options with regard to prematurely terminating Hathurusingha’s contract which will only run out in 2020.However, following clear-the-air talks with the board, Hathurusingha is understood to have agreed to rein in his methods as a “total dictator”, much of which de Silva believes had manifested during the course of the nine-month SLC power vacuum, when the governing body was run by a sports ministry-appointed competent authority.”We were in two minds whether to discontinue him or not,” de Silva said. “We needed to know if he was amenable to our way of thinking and whether he would change his attitude. Because to be quite honest, he had become a total dictator after we left, and that’s also one of the reasons that the selectors were gunning for him.”But he has now promised to toe the line with the administrators and the selectors, because to be honest his thinking in terms of the national team has been good, although the results haven’t followed unfortunately.”Sri Lanka will begin their World Cup campaign against New Zealand in Cardiff on June 1.

Australia international scores third ton of the season as Sussex bowlers continue to be repelled

ECB Reporters Network29-May-2019

Australia batsman Marnus Labuschagne scored his third hundred of the season as Glamorgan continued their impressive fightback on a rain-shortened day of their Specsavers County Championship division two match against Sussex.Just 21 overs were possible on the third day at Hove before rain arrived with Glamorgan 218 for 1 in their second innings – still 16 behind – with Labuschagne 131 not out.Labuschagne, who made his Test debut for Australia last October, has already made 121 against Northamptonshire and 137 against Gloucestershire during his stint as Glamorgan’s overseas player and the 24-year-old hasn’t offered a chance here on a pitch which has flattened out since 15 wickets fell on the first day.Opener Nick Selman, who carried his bat in the first innings, has so far helped Labuschagne add 218 with the Glamorgan record for the second wicket against Sussex of 238, set in 1962 by Alan Jones and Tony Lewis at Hastings, now in their sights.They resumed on 137 for 1 with Labuschagne quickly adding the 23 runs needed to lodge his seventh first-class hundred, which he reached with a leg glance to the boundary off Chris Jordan. Labuschagne hit two boundaries in an over off four different bowlers and always looked to play positively.Sussex skipper Ben Brown rung the changes, using six bowlers in the 80 minutes of play before the rain arrived but neither batsman looked troubled by either the four seamers or two spinners he employed.While Labuschagne played with more freedom, Selman was happy to accumulate patiently as the partnership grew. When they came off he had faced 174 balls for his 64 with eight fours while Labuschagne has hit 22 boundaries from 190 deliveries so far. They added 81 runs in 21 overs before going off.The rain intensified during the afternoon and after two inspections umpires Paul Baldwin and David Millns abandoned play for the day at 5pm. Glamorgan still trail by 16 runs but will fancy their chances of avoiding defeat now with a day to go and maintaining their unbeaten start to the Championship campaign.

Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham has penned an emotional tribute to Toni Kroos after his Real Madrid team-mate announced he'll retire after Euro 2024.

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• Kroos to hang up his boots after Euro 2024
• Midfielder has enjoyed trophy-laden career
• Bellingham sends message to Real Madrid team-mate

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Kroos has announced he will call time on his phenomenal footballing career after this summer's Euro 2024 tournament in Germany. The midfielder will go down as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation after starring for Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and the German national team during his career. Kroos has won league titles in Spain and Germany, the 2014 World Cup and lifted the European Cup on five separate occasions.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Bellingham joined Kroos at Real Madrid in the summer from Borussia Dortmund and has already collected silverware alongside his team-mate after Los Blancos were crowned La Liga champions. The England international has made it clear just how much he has enjoyed playing alongside the veteran at the Santiago Bernabeu in a touching post on social media.

• WHAT BELLINGHAM SAID

  Bellingham wrote on Instagram: "One year was not enough. Thank you for everything you have given to the game, it’s been an absolute pleasure to enjoy your football and personality as a fan and even more so as a teammate. Still some more work to do this season but wish you all the best for whatever is next for you and your family. LEGEND! 🐐8️⃣🤍"

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Kroos has won the Champions League on five occasions – in the history of the European Cup/UCL, only Paco Gento (six times) has won it more often, with the German able to equal the record this year

Feyenoord boss Arne Slot has confirmed that he will take over from Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool coach.

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Slot confirms takeover from KloppFeyenoord send emotional tributeKlopp to leave Liverpool after nine yearsWHAT HAPPENED?

Earlier this year, Klopp announced that he would be leaving Liverpool after nine seasons at the helm of the club. The Merseyside club had initially targeted Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso, however, after he decided to remain with Die Werkself for another season, Liverpool shifted their focus towards Slot and have already signed a contract with the Dutchman to take over a coach this summer. Feyenoord also posted an emotional tribute to the departing coach ahead of their final match of the season.

AdvertisementWHAT SLOT SAID

Speaking with the media, Slot said [via ESPN]: "I can confirm that I will become the trainer there next year.

"Until now I was not thinking about this being the build up to my last match, but that starts coming now. At the beginning of the week you are thinking about training and those kind of things. But the feeling gets stronger now. That is why I'm a little bit late now [for the news conference], because I wanted to say goodbye to some people personally and take time for them, more then just shaking hands.

"So yeah, the feeling grows. I understand that good results help, but it is very nice to feel that people really are thinking it's a pity that I'm leaving. You can say that with words, but you can feel it if people truly think that way. That does mean a lot to me."

Getty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Slot has been compared with Klopp in terms of his playing style and bringing the Dutchman over to Anfield will cost Liverpool close to £13m ($16m) to be paid as compensation to Feyenoord as per reports. The 45-year-old won the Eredivisie last season with the club and ended this season in second place behind title winners PSV.

WHAT NEXT FOR SLOT?

The Dutchman will lead Feyenoord at De Kuip on May 19 for the last time as they take on Excelsior before Slot says his goodbyes to the Feyenoord faithful.

MS Dhoni lauds his bowling unit for bouncing back to keep Kings XI on the field for long enough to ensure a top-two finish for Super Kings

ESPNcricinfo staff05-May-20193:00

‘We were off on a number of fronts’ – Fleming

KL Rahul’s assault up front and Nicholas Pooran’s slam-banging later on in Kings XI Punjab’s successful chase of Chennai Super Kings’ 170 for 5 was difficult on their “nerves and anxieties”, Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming admitted after the game.They were the first of the teams to qualify for the IPL 2019 playoffs, and a win in Mohali on Sunday afternoon would have ensured a top-of-the-table finish for Super Kings. But, after being pegged back at the close of their innings – they added just 16 runs in the last two overs – and Rahul’s 19-ball half-century made them rework their priorities. If not a straight win, Kings XI had to be kept on the field for 14.3 overs or more – that would ensure a top-two finish for sure, and two bites of the cherry as far as qualification for the tournament final was concerned. They managed that, Kings XI finally getting to the target in 18 overs.”Overall, it was a very good batting effort from their side, but still, we did whatever we could, we tried to manoeuvre our bowlers, it didn’t work a lot. (But) if you can’t really win a game, the next thing you try to do is to make sure the opposition get the number of runs in the most number of overs,” MS Dhoni, the Super Kings captain, said on the official broadcast. “We were able to do that, and quite happy with the way we bowled. Yes, we went for runs, but still we bowled well.”That’s something as a leader you have to keep in mind,” he went on, when asked about the 14.2-over factor. “It’s not like you go into a game thinking 14.2 overs is what we are looking at. You want to win the game but, at the same time, if the opposition gets the kind of start it got in this particular game, it’s very important to quickly reassess and adapt as to what’s the next best thing that we need to do.”I think the bowlers did well. I think the first seven overs we were down quite a bit, but after that also it needed some hard work from the bowlers to make sure they don’t get the number of runs in 14 or 14.2 overs, and at that point of time, it seemed as if they will be able to if they push hard. So I think credit needs to go to the bowlers to bowl the last eight or nine overs how they did.”For a while, when Faf du Plessis (96 in 55 balls) and Suresh Raina (53 in 38) looked like they would take Super Kings to a total in excess of 180. Sam Curran, however, sent Raina back in the 17th over and, after R Ashwin bowled a four-run over, Curran came back to concede just 11 runs in the 19th, while also bowling du Plessis. Mohammed Shami finished an impressive spell by giving away just five runs and picking up two wickets in the last over.Super Kings ensured a top-two finish despite the loss•BCCI

That gave Kings XI the momentum going into the break, and once Rahul – partnered by an unusually sedate Chris Gayle – scored 68 in the Powerplay, Super Kings were well and truly under the cosh. The fours and sixes were flowing, but Harbhajan Singh, after conceding 41 runs in his first two overs, came back to pick up three wickets to calm the Super Kings nerves, and ensured the victory charge was delayed for long enough.”It’s a difficult day, because on the one hand you have an eye on the equations that you need. We ran as well as we could in the last four overs, they bowled well, and it stopped our momentum for 185-190. And when we fielded, we were aware that we had 14.2 overs to defend,” Fleming reflected. “We’ve played a number of these games, and they are difficult, they do mess with your mind, and we were off on a number of fronts. But we hung tight and the first job for us today was to secure one of two spots, and we’ve done that.”But all’s well that ends well – as far as the league stage is concerned at least – and it’s over to tougher battles ahead, starting with the first qualifier in the home comforts of Chepauk.”Their batting in the first six to eight-ten overs was great, and it was difficult on our nerves and anxieties. But we hung tough and did enough towards the end to just sneak through. It’s job done, but it was a performance we’ll just flush away. I don’t think we’ll over-analyse this one,” Fleming said. “We did what we had to do and now we look forward to going back to Chennai. It’s familiar. Regroup. And, like I said, we won’t over-emphasise on our performance here, although Faf was great with the bat.”But we go back to Chennai now and our concentration will be on recovering from a day’s cricket and a long flight tomorrow.”Fleming also suggested that, apart from finding a replacement for the injured Kedar Jadhav, the XI will largely be the same.”It ebbs and flow throughout the tournament. We can still get better on all facets. Bowling-wise, it’s been our strength, somewhat surprisingly, throughout the tournament,” he said. “We’re now getting into one-off games, and we’re going to back these players right through to the end.”So it’s about recovery and just making sure the options and executive are as good as can be. We have drifted a bit in the last couple of games with a little bit of fatigue and a little bit of being near the top of the table. But that’s over now, and we can focus on the one-off game in Chennai and go wherever we need to go after that.”

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are being backed to invest “heavily” at Wrexham, with there no need to be “careful” until reaching the Championship.

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• Red Dragons have bounced into League One
• Need to reinforce in order to be competitive
• Hollywood co-chairmen make funds available

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The Red Dragons are hoping to take that step up in the not too distant future – preferably in 2025 – but for now they are readying themselves for life in League One. Back-to-back promotions have lifted the Welsh outfit into the third tier of English football for the first time in 20 years.

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  WHAT FINANCE EXPERT SAID

  Reynolds and McElhenney have bankrolled a meteoric rise for Wrexham, with their every move being caught on camera by an award-winning documentary, and football finance expert Dr Dan Plumley has told of why more cash can be splashed in 2024: “I think if you look at where we’re at right now, and you’ve seen what Wrexham have done already, I think it’s likely that they’ll continue to invest. And as I say, you know, they’ve got big aspirations. So it’s when you get into the Championship that you have to be a little bit more careful. But I’d certainly see them pushing again this year.”

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Plumley added on why the Red Dragons are free to spend in League One, with the confirmation of a July general election likely to postpone the implementation of an independent regulator in English football: “There is the election and the independent regulator in the background as well and that will take time to see what that looks like from a regulation point of view in the detail. But even given the way the current [regulations] are at the minute, it’s still likely that Wrexham, as an example, will spend and we’ve seen Stockport do it as well haven’t we in the last couple of years. There is a soft salary cap in League One, it’s something called a Salary Cost Management Protocol but it’s based on wages to turnover ratio. Sixty per cent recommended but not enforced so, theoretically, Wrexham could still spend heavily in League One before you’ve got to look at ‘if you get to the Championship, then you’ve got to conform with profit and sustainability regs'.”

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  WHAT NEXT FOR WREXHAM?

  Wrexham are in the process of drawing up recruitment plans for the next transfer window. Phil Parkinson has made it clear that he wants to further bolster his ranks, with reinforcements required in order to compete with more established clubs in League One.

Only two players – Sana Mir and Nida Dar – feature in the top bracket, with Bismah Maroof and Javeria Khan demoted to the second grade

Umar Farooq25-Jun-2019The PCB has brought down the number of centrally contracted women cricketers from 17 to 10 in a bid to increase remuneration for those in the new retainers, and also, it says, in recognition of a small national pool of players. A condensed list has left Sana Mir and Nida Dar in the ‘A’ category, while Bismah Maroof and Javeria Khan have been demoted to category ‘B’ and the fourth level, ‘D’, has been removed altogether.The trade-off for the reduction, however, is that the compensations are now higher. All three categories – A, B and C – come with higher pay now: a hike of 20%, 18.5% and 18% respectively. In addition, the length of each contract – hitherto always six months – has been increased to a year, starting from July 1. For the first time in 12 years, daily allowances have also increased – in training camps they have been doubled, making it Rs 2000 (approx. $13), as well as on foreign tours, going from $50 to $100. Travel upgrades for tours have also been introduced so that the team will now be traveling business class. All women cricketers will now also earn a match fee for each game of domestic cricket.The contracted players

Category A: Nida Dar and Sana Mir
Category B: Aliya Riaz, Bismah Maroof, Javeria Khan, Nashra Sandhu, Sidra Ameen and Sidra Nawaz
Category C: Diana Baig and Nahida Khan

“The announcement of the new central contracts is a great story for the women’s game in Pakistan and indicates the exciting times that lie ahead for cricketers in the country,” Urooj Mumtaz, chief selector for the women’s team, said. “The women cricketers have shown tremendous improvement recently and this is reflected in the central contracts being offered to them, which are reward-and incentive-based.”With more international cricket scheduled over the coming months, this will motivate the girls to continue to perform strongly. Apart from the enhanced central contracts, we have also introduced incentives for the players in domestic cricket, who will now earn Rs 10,000 [approx. $64] per match. This is a small step in making women’s cricket more professional and inspiring young women cricketers to take up the sport with a realistic opportunity to represent the country.”Meanwhile, PCB managing director Wasim Khan stressed that the changes reflected the respect and importance the board have for women cricketers. “The enhanced new central contracts form a key part of the vision to enhance the profile of women’s cricket and our aim to strive towards a fairer system,” he said in a statement. “As a responsible and professional organisation, we remain committed to investing in the growth and development of women’s cricket. We want to strengthen the women’s and girls’ game at all levels so that our national team can continue to go from strength to strength.”That said, it’s worth noting that Pakistan recently won an ODI series against West Indies for the first time under Bismah’s captaincy – in February 2019 in Dubai – and subsequently drew the series in South Africa. Bismah’s form with the bat hasn’t been great in this period, but Javeria has been one of the stars, scoring 212 runs in nine innings in the past year, second only to Sidra Ameen’s 241. Their demotion, therefore, does strike as odd.Pakistan are currently fifth on the ICC Women’s Championship table, and have a top-four finish, which will help them qualify directly for the 2021 Women’s World Cup 2021 in New Zealand, very much in their sights. Their next assignment is against India.