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Cricket Australia’s chief executive James Sutherland has proposed the scheduling of limited-overs triangular series among leading nations in the USA

Daniel Brettig27-Nov-2015Genuine international contests may return to the United States if the Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland has anything to do with it.Following on from the notable crowds drawn by the Twenty20 All-Star matches concocted by Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne, Sutherland has proposed the scheduling of limited-overs triangular series among leading nations in the USA, a concept flirted with more than a decade ago but more recently ignored by teams protective of television rights.In the week of the inaugural day-night Test match, Sutherland spoke boldly of USA as “potentially a great asset for cricket” and pointed out that it was Australia’s third biggest overseas television market behind India and England, ahead of the likes of Pakistan, South Africa and New Zealand.”I’d love to do it one day with the shorter forms of our game,” Sutherland told . “It would be a great thing to play a triangular series with say England and India or South Africa and Pakistan. We can really nurture the US market and get their people engaged. We’re talking about our third biggest overseas television market.”When we sell our rights overseas, India is the biggest, England is the second biggest and then North America third in terms of dollars they spend. There’s huge potential. There are more players in America than there are in New Zealand. During the World Cup we had 90,000 visitors to Australia and New Zealand and a quarter of them came from North America. A lot of it is born out of South Asian expats. This market is potentially a great asset for cricket.”Numerous attempts have been made to build regular cricket fixtures in North America, but most have floundered after a few years. The first day of the day-night Test in Adelaide drew a crowd of 47441, and Sutherland has clearly been encouraged to think more bullishly about where to take the game in the future. “This Test in Adelaide is a great example of what we’re trying to do,” he said.”It’s got a Melbourne Spring carnival type atmosphere about it. It’s a major event which brings people to the cricket. I think this is a game changer. It’s all about the fans and making cricket accessible. When people are working and kids are at school, it’s hard to sell Test cricket on a Thursday or a Friday. Moving it to the evening makes a big difference.”Right now kids have multiple choices in terms of what sports to play and computer games etc. We’re competing for people’s leisure time. Our focus is very much about giving fans a proposition to come to our games or watch us on TV. We want cricket to be a priority in their lives. We need to make sure the at-match experience is great because it’s such a good sport to watch on TV. We’re all about inspiring the next generation of players and fans.”

Given the bowling strength of both Comilla Victorians and Barisal Bulls, the better batting side will have a chance to dominate the BPL 2015-16 final

The Preview by Mohammad Isam14-Dec-2015

Match facts

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Start time 1830 local (1130 GMT)2:53

Key battles of the BPL 2015-16 final

Big picture

Given the bowling strength of both Comilla Victorians and Barisal Bulls, the better batting side will have a chance to dominate the BPL 2015-16 final. More importantly, given the way these two teams have fought through the league stage and the qualifiers, the final has the promise of a far better contest than the one-sided matches in 2012 and 2013.Comilla have been dogged by injuries throughout their BPL 2015-16 campaign, but still eked out wins in the league stage and reached the final with a convincing win over Rangpur Riders in the first qualifier. Mashrafe Mortaza’s inspirational leadership has certainly helped, along with Abu Hider’s 21 wickets, Ashar Zaidi’s all-round show, and match-winning efforts from Imrul Kayes, Shoaib Malik and Nuwan Kulasekara.Mashrafe has struggled with his hamstring injury but bowled well off a short run-up in the first qualifier. His batting, too, could come in handy. Their catching, particularly that of Shuvagata Hom, has also been a key factor in reaching this far in the competition.Barisal have momentum on their side, having won their last four games. They have been led well by Mahmudullah, whose batting has always been the anchor of the line-up. Rony Talukdar’s form may be worrying but Sabbir Rahman’s return to form is encouraging. Kevon Cooper, Mohammad Sami and Al-Amin Hossain have combined perfectly as a pace-bowling unit while Mahmudullah has been shrewd in his use of spinners Seekkuge Prasanna and Taijul Islam, whenever necessary. Their fielding will have to be electric if they are to stop Comilla.The final could also decide the highest wicket-taker of this season with only one wicket separating Hider and Cooper (20).

Form guide

Comilla Victorians: WWLWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)

Barisal Bulls: WWWWL

In the spotlight

Sabbir Rahman finally came to the party for Barisal in the last two matches, with scores of 41 and 79 respectively. He is an attractive stroke-player at the best of times and a BPL final should rouse him on to another big innings.Comilla will once again rely heavily on Ashar Zaidi, who has delivered almost regularly as a middle and late-order big-hitter, and an accurate left-arm spinner. Barisal will be quite wary of his contribution.

Team news

Comilla have a number of injury worries but it is more than likely that Mashrafe, Malik and Kulasekara will feature in their playing XI. They will, however, miss the all-round skills of Andre Russell, who has left for his Big Bash League commitments in Australia.Comilla Victorians (probable): 1 Imrul Kayes, 2 Liton Das (wk), 3 Ahmed Shehzad, 4 Shuvagata Hom, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Ashar Zaidi, 7 Alok Kapali, 8 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Mahmudul Hasan, 11 Abu HiderBarisal have shown they can function without Chris Gayle, and they will have to do the same in the final. Rayad Emrit could be picked over Evin Lewis as one of the four foreigners in the playing XI.Barisal Bulls (probable): 1 Rony Talukdar, 2 Mehedi Maruf, 3 Sabbir Rahman, 4 Shahriar Nafees, 5 Mahmudullah (capt), 6 Seekkuge Prasanna, 7 Rayad Emrit, 8 Kevon Cooper, 9 Mohammad Sami, 10 Al-Amin Hossain, 11 Taijul Islam

Pitch and conditions

The pitches in Mirpur have been the main talking point throughout this BPL season and it’s not different ahead of the final. During the qualifiers and eliminator on Saturday and Sunday, players said that the pitch was soft and difficult for stroke-play, despite decent efforts by teams batting first. The weather remains foggy, though not cold, and it will aid bowlers as the pitch is likely to remain on the softer side.

Stats and trivia

• Comilla have defeated Barisal in both their league-stage matches.
• Comilla’s Imrul Kayes (259 runs) is best placed among the tournament’s active batsmen to vie for the top run-getter’s position. Currently, Kumar Sangakkara tops the run charts with 349, while Kayes in fourth on the list.

Quotes

“It is now very clear that we have reached the stage by playing in our way. We are hopeful and positive about the final. We will get something good in the end if we play the way we have done in matches that we have won.”
“We have done well in the league phase and the qualifiers to come to the final. We want to play similarly. We don’t want to think of it as a final, but play like we have done previously. I think that will help us.”

Mohammad Amir has been granted a visa by Immigration New Zealand (INZ), paving the way for the pacer’s return to international cricket after serving a five-year ban for spot fixing

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jan-20161:09

Mohammad Amir had served three months in jail for his role in the 2010 spot-fixing case

Fast bowler Mohammad Amir has been granted a visa by Immigration New Zealand (INZ) on Thursday and will travel with the Pakistan side for the limited-overs tour of New Zealand, which starts from January 15. Amir, who has been picked in the ODI and T20 squads for the tour, will travel to New Zealand with the team on January 9.The PCB had earlier sought legal advice on whether Amir could get a visa because the bowler had served three months in jail for his role in the 2010 spot-fixing case in England and New Zealand has rules against granting visas to individuals with criminal convictions.”Immigration New Zealand can confirm that a visitor visa has been approved for Mohammad Amir to travel as part of the Pakistan Cricket Team set to tour New Zealand this month,” Michael Carley, INZ area manager, told . “In making this decision, INZ considered factors including the support of the New Zealand and Pakistan Cricket Board and that Mr Amir had served his sentence for his previous actions.”New Zealand’s immigration authority, on its website, states that, “People with criminal convictions or who have provided false or misleading information will not be granted a visa unless a character waiver is granted.” It further specifies that, “In the case of character waivers, each application is considered on its individual merits and taking into account, for example, the seriousness of an offence, number of offences and how long ago the event/s occurred.”Carley said Amir’s visa had been approved after taking into account the purpose of his visit to the country. “Taking into account all the circumstances and with full understanding of the purpose of his visit, a visa has been approved for Mr Amir,” he said.Amir’s visa for England was rejected in 2014 and the PCB had feared that his case for New Zealand would be weak. It was also reported that the PCB were seeking legal advice from England and had roped in Amir’s lawyer in case there was a need to present evidence again.New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum had earlier backed Amir’s inclusion in squad saying the pacer should be given a second chance and that he had no qualms playing against Amir, “He was a very young man at the time and he’s gone through a sound rehabilitation program,” McCullum had told AP. “If he gets out on the field against us, then you play against the man you’re playing against, not a man who may have made some mistakes as a youngster.”NZC chief David White had also shown support for Amir’s inclusion. “He was a very, very young man, a boy really. He showed remorse at the time, admitted to it,” White said. “He’s gone through all the rehabilitation and education as prescribed by the ICC. I’m personally comfortable with him coming to New Zealand and playing.”In November 2011, Amir – along with Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif – was sentenced in a London Court on charges conspiracy to accept corrupt payments and conspiracy to cheat at gambling after a plot was uncovered in a sting operation to bowl deliberate no-balls in a Test against England in 2010.Amir was given a six-month jail sentence and served half of it at the Portland Young Offenders Institution in Dorset. In January 2015, Amir was allowed to return to cricket ahead of schedule by the ICC. His five-year suspension period formally ended on September 1, 2015.

James Pattinson is licking his lips at the prospect of returning to Australia’s Test team on a pitch that should offer him – and his sore shins – some assistance

Brydon Coverdale in Christchurch18-Feb-2016James Pattinson is licking his lips at the prospect of returning to Australia’s Test team on a pitch that should offer him – and his sore shins – some assistance. Pattinson appears almost certain to replace the injured Peter Siddle for the second Test against New Zealand in Christchurch after he bowled in the nets on Thursday and came through the session seemingly unscathed.He had been ruled out of the first Test in Wellington as the selectors were not convinced his body would stand up to the rigours of a Test match after he had spent much of the previous month sidelined by shin soreness. Pattinson had returned for Victoria two weeks ago but bowled only 21.3 overs in a Sheffield Shield game before Cricket Australia withdrew him and flew him to New Zealand.But instead of playing him in the Test, Australia chose to keep Pattinson training in the Basin Reserve nets to prove that he could get through a full match with the view to having him available at Hagley Oval. As it happened, his workload in the nets was even higher than that of Jackson Bird, Mitchell Marsh and Siddle in the Test win.”I got through a fair bit, I think I bowled close to 35 overs last week in the nets, which is a substantial amount in the nets,” Pattinson said in Christchurch on Thursday. “So I’m full of confidence now, knowing I can get through this game and it was pleasing – because in the nets I probably bowled the best I have over the last six months. I’m starting to feel really good with my action and physically I felt really good too.”I’ve had sore shins for a while. With the grounds in Australia the wickets have been really hard. I’ve had sore shins for most of the year and it probably just got a little bit worse. So I think with shins it’s just about managing them. If you do keep playing with them, they can turn into fractures, which is something I didn’t want to happen. So it’s about managing them and now I’m feeling really good.”Pattinson looked fired up while bowling in the Basin Reserve nets before the Wellington Test, bouncing several of the Australian batsmen, but nothing could convince the selectors to take a punt on him and they opted instead for Siddle and Bird. Pattinson said he understood why the decision had been made, and the plan had always been for him to aim for full fitness by the second Test.”I was a little bit sore,” he said. “I probably thought I could have tried to get through but again being the first Test of the series – we sort of sat down before, when I first started back planning. I probably was trying to aim for the second Test and then if we got the first Test it’d be a bonus. So being the first Test in a big series, we just took the cautious approach.”It wasn’t ideal when Sidds went down and it wouldn’t have been good if I played and went down in the first Test as well, having two down. So it’s probably worked out really well for us … I’m ready to go. I had a good workout in the nets last week. Ready to go, feeling really good and excited if I get the call-up.”Pattinson was productive in the home Test summer after coming in for the series against West Indies and collecting 13 wickets at 22.46, not that there was significant assistance for Australia’s bowlers on the flat home pitches this season. They found some sideways movement on the green Basin Reserve pitch on the first morning and Pattinson has no problem with New Zealand coach Mike Hesson asking for an even greener surface at Hagley Oval.”As fast bowlers we’ve had to work hard for our wickets over the last six months in Australia, the wickets have been quite flat,” Pattinson said. “We come over here and we’ve got some green wickets. We’re licking our lips, which is great. I know all the bowlers are pretty pumped and I think the green wicket should play into our hands pretty well, hopefully.”

Offspinner Mark Craig has been called into New Zealand’s squad for the opening Test against Australia in Wellington, which begins on Friday

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Feb-2016Offspinner Mark Craig has been called into New Zealand’s squad for the opening Test against Australia in Wellington, which begins on Friday. New Zealand Cricket selectors named Craig as a replacement for Mitchell Santner, was ruled out with a foot injury.Santner experienced soreness in his right foot following the second ODI against Australia. A subsequent scan revealed a bone bruise and the decision was made to have Santner sit out. A decision about Santner’s availability for the second Test will be made later.”It’s unfortunate for Mitch as he has been a key player for us so far this summer,” New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said. “The positive news is that we picked it up early and hopefully Mitch can make a quick recovery.”Craig was part of the New Zealand squad for the two-Test series against Sri Lanka in December but was not selected to play. His last Test match came against Australia in the inaugural day-night Test, in Adelaide, where he finished with match figures of 2 for 75 in a three-wicket defeat.Squad for the Wellington Test: Brendon McCullum (capt), Corey Anderson, Doug Bracewell, Trent Boult, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Mark Craig, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling (wk)*, Kane Williamson*

Central Zone lifted the Bangladesh Cricket League title – their second after their triumph in the inaugural edition in 2012-13 – following their drawn game against North Zone in Mirpur

Mohammad Isam17-Mar-2016Central Zone sealed their second Bangladesh Cricket League title, following a drawn game against North Zone in Mirpur.Central Zone had won the inaugural BCL tournament in the 2012-13 season, before South Zone won it in the following two seasons – 2013-14 and 2014-15.Central Zone, who were on top of the points table at the start of this game, became champions despite ending the match with nine points as opposed to North Zone, who collected 11.North Zone were bowled out for 378 batting first, with Farhad Hossain making 131. Mohammad Sharif took 6 for 105.

List of BCL champions

• 2012-13: Central Zone

• 2013-14: South Zone

• 2015: South Zone

• 2015-16: Central Zone

In reply, Central Zone were bowled out for 306, with Raqibul Hasan (63) and Shuvagata Hom (51) scoring fifties. Left-arm pacer Shafaq Al Zabir, right-arm medium pacer Ariful Haque, and offspinner Mahmudul Hasan took three wickets each.North Zone declared their second innings on 293 for 8. Nazmul Hossain Shanto made 55, while Jahurul Islam was unbeaten on 83. Tanveer Haider took 4 for 66.Marshall Ayub finished off the first-class season with an unbeaten 101 as Central Zone made 257 for 2 on the final day. Ayub finished as tournament’s highest run-getter with 562 runs at 56.20.East Zone, who were second on the points table, ended up drawing their game against South Zone.Alok Kapali’s third hundred of the tournament lifted East Zone to 442 after they elected to bat. Liton Das, Mominul Haque, the captain, and the No. 10 Iftekhar Sajjad struck fifties. Moynul Islam took 4 for 83.South Zone replied with 601, with Mosaddek Hossain’s 152, and a power-packed 146 from Sohag Gazi, leading the charge. Opener Shahriar Nafees missed out on a century by 10 runs, while Farhad Reza made 72. Kapali took 3 for 63.In the remaining 41.3 overs, Liton struck an unbeaten 103, while Irfan Sukkur made 75 not out as East Zone ended the game on 189 for no loss.

When hands were shaken at 5.52pm, both teams, you sense, left sunny Southampton satisfied

Will Macpherson at the Ageas Bowl13-Apr-2016
ScorecardIan Bell extended his innings to 174•Getty Images

When hands were shaken at 5.52pm, both teams, you sense, left sunny Southampton satisfied; Warwickshire, shorn of the services of the injured – although not seriously – Chris Woakes, have shown off their Championship credentials, even if three days was not long enough to force a result.Hampshire, also without the services of an England bowler, Reece Topley – who will miss six to eight weeks with a broken hand – will be delighted to have battled through and survived a considerable test from Warwickshire’s bowling attack. Belief will have grown that they can survive once again.Warwickshire, who ended with 12 points to Hampshire’s nine, always looked they could force a result, and often looked like they would. But Hampshire dug in and, eventually, after Hampshire’s top four fell in an hour before tea, and Sean Ervine gave his wicket away shortly afterwards, Liam Dawson and Adam Wheater proved stoic enough foes.”We can’t do anything about losing nearly four sessions to bad weather,” said Warwickshire director of cricket Dougie Brown. “What we did was give ourselves a really good opportunity, so we can’t ask for any more than that as a side. There was nothing you could actually fault.”In conditions far more benign than on the opening day, and on a pitch still playing true, each of Warwickshire’s four standing bowlers provided utterly distinct threats. The absent crosswind significantly reduced Keith Barker’s inswing, but he still found enough to consistently trouble the batsmen.Rikki Clarke nagged, nagged and nagged again, while Boyd Rankin was awkward as ever, especially when bowling in tandem with Jeetan Patel, who provided a masterclass in probing finger spin, and could twice have had James Vince leg before to go with the wicket of Will Smith. Dawson, who is highly rated by England and scrapped hard with the bat having bowled solidly if unspectacularly throughout this match, will be a better bowler for his front-row seat to Patel, who was simply relentless in his accuracy.The absent fifth member of the gang, Woakes, was kept off the field as a precaution, having, according to Brown, “dived and landed awkwardly on his left knee.” Woakes will have a scan on Thursday to determine his fitness for Sunday’s trip to Lord’s to face Middlesex and beyond, but Brown did not appear particularly perturbed.Earlier, Ian Bell, in adding 44 to his overnight 130, proved that he still possesses all five gears and a considerable degree of inventiveness, too. In reaching his century on Tuesday, Bell scored eight boundaries. On Wednesday morning, however, the ball veritably whistled to the fence the same numbers of times, and in far more varied directions.There were a trio of vintage cover drives and his favourite upper-cut off the seamers, and the full repertoire against Dawson’s consistent left-arm orthodox: a sweep that split too men in the deep, a deft reverse-sweep that beat the sprinting deep-point, a slog-sweep and, finally, the best of the lot, a perfect drive that had mid-on sprawling to his left. Eventually, he rather lost James Tomlinson in the flight, and his swirling slog – pushing for a fifth bonus point – was caught well by James Vince at mid-on.Warwickshire’s innings petered out when Bell departed, with Patel and Rankin falling to slogs as they missed a final batting point and set off on their eventually futile pursuit of a win.Hampshire’s batting is shallow – and Jimmy Adams will not be fit for Sunday’s visit to Headingley – but had the depth to earn them five points here. Tom Alsop dealt dutifully with Patel, and was desperately unlucky to be caught brilliantly at short leg by Sam Hain off Rankin. Vince, with an opportunity to stake a claim for one of England’s middle order spots – as Bell had so emphatically earlier in the match – looked rusty, outfoxed by Patel and falling to the first ball of a new Clarke spell. Ervine took the game to Warwickshire in ugly style, and one wafty swipe outside off too many saw him become Barker’s seventh wicket of the match.Still 55 adrift and with plenty at stake, Wheater joined Dawson and Hampshire’s hatches were battened down. There was rough outside off stump, a hoard of men round the bat, and Dawson’s untroubled half-century, the completion of which saw the end of the game, was a considerable effort. He has proved all week that he has an enviable appetite for a scrap, and Hampshire will need it all season.

Bengal offspinner Saurasish Lahiri announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Thursday, ending a career that lasted nearly 16 seasons

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jun-2016Bengal offspinner Saurasish Lahiri announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Thursday, ending a career that lasted nearly 16 seasons.Lahiri, who made his debut in January 2000, ended his career with 256 wickets in 100 first-class matches, and 93 wickets in List A and Twenty20 cricket. The 34-year-old did not feature in a single game for Bengal during the 2015-16 season and had seemingly slipped down in the pecking order in the side after left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha was signed as a professional ahead of the season.While Lahiri admitted his exclusion was disappointing, he was also nostalgic as he reflected on his career in the company of former team-mates Sourav Ganguly, Manoj Tiwary and Laxmi Ratan Shukla at a press conference at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.”Cricket has been my only passion since my childhood. I am happy that I have played for Bengal all these years,” Lahiri said. “Yes, initially it was disappointing being dropped, but I have no regrets. I am really overwhelmed by the way they [Cricket Association of Bengal] have stood by me. I could not have asked for more.”Lahiri first shot into prominence in 2001-02, when he took 42 wickets in the season and helped Bengal qualify for the Ranji Trophy semi-final. He bettered that in 2005-06, when he picked up 49 wickets and led Bengal’s march to the Ranji Trophy final, which they lost to Uttar Pradesh.Bengal qualified for the Ranji Trophy final again in 2006-07, a season which gave Lahiri his most-cherished moment. He dismissed Sachin Tendulkar for 105 and 43 in both innings of the final at Wankhede Stadium. Bengal, however, lost the match by 132 runs. “That was the greatest moment,” he said. “Both the dismissals happened when I was in the zone and I could not have asked for more.”Lahiri struggled with injuries at various stages of his career but remained Bengal’s go-to bowler, particularly on turning tracks.”Saurasish has been a wonderful cricketer for Bengal for more than a decade and a half,” Ganguly, the CAB president, said. “His contribution to Bengal cricket has been immense and I wish him the very best for the life ahead.”In 2013-14, Lahiri’s match haul of 10 for 95 against Tamil Nadu, which included a career-best 7 for 62 in the second innings, spun Bengal to a thrilling four-run victory, and steered them into the quarter-finals. In his last first-class game, in the 2014-15 Ranji Trophy, Lahiri and Wriddhiman Saha played out 53.5 overs and added 90 runs for the eighth wicket to help Bengal avoid defeat against Madhya Pradesh and a possible relegation to Group C.Lahiri’s last List A game was the 2014-15 Deodhar Trophy final, where he was part of an East Zone side that beat West Zone to record their first limited-overs title since 2003-04.

Shrikant Kalyani, the former Maharashtra and Bengal batsman, has been named coach of the Maharashtra senior team for the 2016-17 Indian domestic season

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jun-2016Shrikant Kalyani, the former Maharashtra and Bengal batsman, has been named coach of the Maharashtra senior team for the 2016-17 Indian domestic season. Kalyani succeeds Australian David Andrews, who coached the side in the last two seasons.”It’s a great feeling to be appointed as Maharashtra coach. I came to know that it is [a decision] taken by the managing committee [of the Maharashtra Cricket Association],” Kalyani told ESPNcricinfo. “After playing more than 18 years of first-class cricket, I’d really like to share my experience with the boys and nurture their talent.”Maharashtra had an underwhelming season in 2015-16, finishing third from last in Group A. Kalyani said he kept track of Maharashtra’s recent performances, and that he would address the team’s issues. “My main purpose will be to enhance the talent of the boys overall,” he said. “I have to work on their fitness, technique, their strengths, all these things are there.”Maharashtra have had a number of coaches in recent times like Shaun Williams, Dermot Reeve, Surendra Bhave and Andrews, but Kalyani said he wasn’t worried about getting – or not getting – a long stint. “I suppose it [the contract] is for one year,” he said. “I am not concerned with the long-run coaching contract. I am concerned with enhancing the performance of the boys.”Ajay Shirke, the president of the Maharashtra Cricket Association, announced the state’s selection committee for the Ranji Trophy will include Kalyani. Also on the selection committee are the assistant coach Akshay Tandale, Riyaz Bagwan (chairman), Kaisar Fakih and Rahul Dhole Patil.

The BCCI has decided to do scrap its domestic Twenty20 tournament, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, from the 2016-17 season and replace it with a new inter-zonal league

Nagraj Gollapudi24-Jun-2016The BCCI has decided to do scrap its domestic Twenty20 tournament, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, from the 2016-17 season and replace it with a new inter-zonal league. The new tournament will occupy the same slot in the domestic calendar as the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, which was played in January this year.

Ranji Trophy 2016-17 at neutral venues

The BCCI working committee has ratified the decision proposed by the board’s technical committee to play the Ranji Trophy at neutral venues. The idea was originally mooted by the technical committee, led by Sourav Ganguly, which had recommended the need for a radical idea to make the premier first-class tournament more competitive and discourage the growing trend of states offering underprepared pitches for home matches.
The idea received a favourable response from captains and coaches of domestic teams during a meeting on Thursday. A majority of them felt such a decision was inevitable considering the quality of pitches during a few games in the previous seasons, and the failure of match officials to impose a penalty for this.

“We have proposed that the T20 matches will be played on a zonal-league basis,” BCCI president Anurag Thakur said at the end of the board’s working committee meeting in Dharamsala on Friday. “The states can play these matches at any time of the year among themselves. Then a league will be started where the stakeholders would be the state units in the zone.”The new tournament will be divided into two stages – an inter-state one, followed by the main inter-zonal one. In the first stage, states within a zone will play T20 matches among themselves. Once that level is complete, every zone will have a board comprising one representative from each of the respective state associations. Members of the zonal board will appoint a CEO and selectors to pick a team for the main stage. For example, once state teams within the West Zone have finished their respective matches, their representatives can appoint a selection committee that will pick a team to compete with the other four zones. There could be an additional sixth team representing the affiliate states under the BCCI banner, but that has not yet been confirmed.The schedule for the main inter-zonal stage of the tournament is likely to be drawn up by the BCCI, but Thakur said the inter-state matches can be held anytime prior to the tournament. Incidentally, the new structure was not discussed at the captains and coaches meeting on Thursday.The format for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy comprised teams spread across four groups with the top two from each qualifying for the knockouts. When asked why the board decided to revamp the format, Thakur said the new tournament would provide an opportunity to youngsters and domestic players who were unable to participate in the IPL. He also said that the franchise-based leagues run by states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu would remain unaffected by this new tournament.”They can participate in that competitive tournament now,” Thakur said. “Rather than Syed Mushtaq Ali, the way it has been played, this new format will give more number of matches to the players and more glory and more money to the upcoming cricketers.”A BCCI official said that the idea to start the new zonal-league tournament came from Thakur, who presented a proposal to monetize the new tournament before the working committee.”He wants to find a sponsor for the tournament and market that,” the official said. “But that is not easy considering fans are interested in watching international stars and not domestic players,”The official also revealed that Thakur wants to resuscitate university cricket in a similar fashion by selling rights for the T20 University Cricket Championship. In 2013 the BCCI, along with the Indian government, had conducted the University Cricket Championship, an extension of the annual all-India inter-zone university Rohinton Baria Tournament, by selling the rights to NDTV and co-sponsor Toyota. However that venture was scrapped after one year.”The previous deal ended because there was no attraction for the sponsor. They were expecting that the BCCI would allow an international player in each team to create hype but that was not possible,” the official said.