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Stephen Parry claimed his first five-wicket haul in the Championship and Haseeb Hameed guided Lancashire’s chase to inflict defeat on the champions

Paul Edwards at Southport12-Jun-2017
ScorecardLancashire and Middlesex’s cricketers reported back for pre-season training last November. A few weeks later, officials at Southport and Birkdale CC heard they would be hosting this game against the champions, which ended in mid-afternoon on the final day when Steven Croft’s straight six off Ravi Patel completed an eight-wicket victory over the champions. It was Middlesex’s first defeat since they lost to Worcestershire in September 2015.So for four June days these three groups of people, all of them professional in their particular ways, have been joined in closely-related endeavours: one of them in preparing to stage a cricket match, the other two in competing against each other to win it. And thus we have a link between Bev Baybutt’s careful editing of the programme for this match and Stephen Parry’s maiden five-wicket haul in Championship cricket and, indeed, his first such return in the first-class game for a decade.It was Parry’s two wickets late on the fourth morning which ensured that Lancashire would need only 108 to win. Until those final breakthroughs, there seemed a chance that Tim Murtagh and Toby Roland-Jones’ shrewd hitting would set Lancashire a target in excess of 150. But Murtagh ventured cautiously down the pitch only to be stumped by Alex Davies for 27 and Roland-Jones swung across a straight one and was leg before for 31.Davies walked rather proudly off the field knowing that only Warren Hegg among Lancashire wicketkeepers had completed more dismissals in a match than the ten he had managed at Southport; on the stroke of lunch, he cut a rather more disappointed figure after he had been caught by John Simpson off Roland-Jones for 13 but one doubts he lunched on water-biscuits and self-pity. Liam Livingstone was the only other Lancashire batsman to lose his wicket and he had the consolation of knowing that he had been selected for England’s T20 squad. Haseeb Hameed helped himself to 104 minutes’ batting practice and made a pleasingly serene 38 not out, the sort of innings that suggests big runs are not far away. Within an hour of the game ending, Paul Parker and his battalion of workers were stacking the chairs they had so carefully set out less than a week ago. Lindsey Bridge’s tremendous alliums were still blooming but there were only a few spectators left on the ground to admire such floral delights.Haseeb Hameed saw Lancashire home in a small chase•Getty Images

No one could doubt the justice of the result of this game. If Middlesex had replaced their suspicious glances at the pitch with a little more tenacity, they might have scored more than the 180 they managed in the first innings; if they had bowled with better lines and lengths Lancashire may not have replied with 309. Resuming on 156 for 6 on the final morning, the visitors lost their overnight batsmen, Dawid Malan and James Harris, to effort balls from Ryan McLaren which bounced more than the batsmen expected. Both were caught at the wicket, Malan when attempting to play no shot at all. Those reverses left the responsibility for building a defendable total in the hands of Roland-Jones and Murtagh; they did what they could in typically aggressive fashion and Glen Chapple admitted that his players were getting “a little twitchy”. Parry settled their nerves and left Chapple praising the way his whole team had responded to their ten-wicket towsing at Headingley.This result will be a fillip to Lancashire’s players as they prepare to meet Hampshire at Emirates Old Trafford; Middlesex’s next match is at home to Yorkshire, which should bring back some happy memories for them. Before long Southport and Birkdale will return to being a club ground once again, although the members will retain warm memories of the 2017 game, albeit that such recollections will not be so precious as those they cherish in their hearts of Durham’s visit last year.In December, pied wagtails will be scuttering along the outfield in the gathering dusk; trains laden with Christmas presents will be rattling into Birkdale station; and the lights in Dover Road will stretch away in the winter darkness. And on one morning in that month S&B’s indefatigable chairman, Tony Elwood, will be told which county will be visiting his ground in 2018.Outground cricket is threatened when it should be encouraged. For many it remains a precious feature of the English season, something which no other sport can match. The game is taken back to a few of the clubs who produce the players. It remains, as Philip Larkin wrote of the Bellingham show in 1958, “something people do, / Not noticing how time’s rolling smithy-smoke / Shadows much greater gestures; something they share / That breaks ancestrally each year into / Regenerate union. Let it always be there.”

Clint McKay took six wickets for Leicestershire to keep them in the hunt against Glamorgan in Cardiff

ECB Reporters Network17-Apr-2016
ScorecardClint McKay: in the wickets in cardiff [file picture]•Getty Images

Clint McKay took six wickets as Leicestershire dismissed Glamorgan for 348 on the first day of the Specsavers County Championship Division Two match in Cardiff.McKay’s accurate seam and swing bowling were rewarded with 6 for 73, while Glamorgan’s Graham Wagg top-scored for the hosts with 64 – helping them to three batting points.Glamorgan won the toss and batted – and 33-year-old McKay, who has retired from first-class cricket in Australia – dismissed both openers in his fifth over.James Kettleborough was adjudged leg before wicket walking across his stumps and departed for 18, before Jacques Rudolph nicked a delivery to the wicketkeeper and was on his way for six.Will Bragg and Chris Cooke rebuilt the innings with a stand of 107, before the afternoon session mirrored the morning’s play – McKay taking two early wickets before another substantial partnership checked the visitors’ progress.Cooke had made 56 when he was held in the gully by Jigar Naik off the bowling off Charlie Shreck, then Bragg was held at second slip by Angus Robson to depart for exactly 50, both falling with the scoreboard reading 132.One run later Aneurin Donald was bowled off the inside edge by McKay, before David Lloyd – who scored his maiden first-class century last week, settled the hosts.The 23-year-old looked in prime form, with his first 30 runs containing six boundaries – but his effort ended on 59 when he was dismissed by Neil Dexter’s medium pace.Wagg was then joined by Craig Meschede, who made his intentions clear, twice hoisting Naik’s off-spin over long-on for six – but the 63-run stand ended when Wagg’s leading edge was held one-handed by bowler Shreck.The ninth wicket fell when Meschede was caught on the boundary for 44 – giving McKay his sixth scalp – and the Glamorgan innings ended when Timm van der Gugten departed for 11, caught by wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien to give Shreck his third wicket.Leicestershire had an awkward four overs to face at the end of the day but Paul Horton and Angus Robson survived, the pair helping the visitors to 15 without loss.

A slow pitch, a slow outfield and rain after tea combined to undermine Durham’s plan to achieve the victory that would make them odds-on to clinch the title

Jon Culley at Derby13-Sep-2013
ScorecardScott Borthwick became just the third Durham-born player to make 1,000 runs in a Championship season for the county•Getty Images

Scott Borthwick defied a slow pitch, a slow outfield and rain after tea to become only the third Durham-born batsman to pass 1,000 runs in a season. But the conditions combined to undermine Durham’s plan to achieve the victory that would make them odds-on to clinch the titleWhen Borthwick reached 44, he had something to celebrate on a personal level, despite the frustrating situation for his side. He became the first home-grown Durham player since Paul Collingwood in 2005 to have achieved the milestone and only the third Durham-born batsman to do so in the county’s history, the other being Gary Pratt.His success rewards Durham’s decision to promote him to No. 3. Borthwick was a top-order batsman with bowling a secondary skill in the early part of his career and he opened for England Under-19s before switching his focus towards developing his legspin, only to find he was being required less frequently in that role.”At junior levels I was always a batter who bowled a bit,” Borthwick said. “As a legspinner you don’t get many opportunities, especially at The Riverside where you can’t get the ball out of the seamers’ hands.”That was the idea of going up the order, to give me a chance to contribute more and help the team by scoring runs. It has given an extra dimension to my game.”His 89 drove Durham along but at a very sluggish rate. The cricket was uninspiring to watch, the scoring remaining steadfastly below three runs per over, but Durham appeared content to grind their way towards a position from which they would at least avoid defeat, stepping up the pressure on Yorkshire to do better.With so few opportunities left now for Yorkshire to claw back their lead, Durham are not exactly dismayed at the prospect of a draw. If the match at Hove has the same conclusion, Durham might even extend their lead.That would depend on their claiming not only a third but a fourth batting point, which would be a tall order. But parity with Yorkshire this week and maintaining their 14 and a half-point advantage with two matches to go would suit them nicely, although having themselves bowled out Sussex twice for little more than a hundred each time last week, their confidence in Ed Joyce’s team resisting Yorkshire cannot be particularly high.

Footitt turns down new deal

Derbyshire fast bowler Mark Footitt has rejected the offer of a new contract at the Racecourse and wants to talk to Surrey about a move to The Oval.
Footitt, the 27-year-old left-armer who is also believed to be on the radar of his first county, Nottinghamshire, has enjoyed his best season, both in terms of fitness and wickets, after undergoing a back operation last winter.
His tally in first-class matches this year is 40 wickets and he has 55 in all competitions.
Karl Krikken, Derbyshire’s head coach, confirmed that Footitt had turned down their offer of a new deal but remains hopeful that he will stay.
“We want to keep Mark,” Krikken said. “He has bowled really well this year. This is his first real period of sustained fitness and as a left-arm seamer who bowls at a decent pace he is very useful. But we know there is interest from elsewhere. He has told us he wants to speak to people.”

Durham had hoped to give themselves a chance of winning, which they would have seen as possible, certainly, had they been able to push on towards a lead upwards of 180, perhaps, and unleashed Graham Onions and company to prey on Derbyshire’s last-day nerves in their battle at the other end of the table.At 227 for 2, such a scenario looked within their scope with Scott Borthwick and Will Smith making cautious but steady progress against Derbyshire’s disciplined bowling. Mark Footitt’s pace, combined with the consistency of Tony Palladino and Tim Groenewald, made them work hard for every run.Yet at just the moment, after putting on 159 together, that Borthwick was beginning to eye up his fourth century of this year’s Championship and Smith his third, both departed in the space of eight overs.Borthwick, facing Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s leg spin, swiped at a full toss and was caught at mid-on for 89, bringing to an end an innings spanning four hours. Smith, who had batted longer still for his 81, shaped to cut but changed his mind when he realised the ball Footitt had for him was not suited to the shot. He failed to get his bat out of the way and edged to second slip, where Tom Knight, fielding as substitute for the injured Richard Johnson, took a fine catch, diving to his right.”The plan was to have batted big and got a lead maybe of a couple of hundred,” Borthwick said. “But the ball was not coming on as well as we hoped it would and it was hard to score. Then I hit a full toss straight to mid-on and Will got a good one from Footitt.”A draw would not be a bad result, though, and if we can get to 300, maybe 350, the extra points would be nice.”

The final day of this unforgettable match between Somerset and Surrey was all really rather apologetic, ending in a draw

David Lloyd at Taunton31-Aug-2012Surrey 317 (Pietersen 163) and 360 for 5 dec (Harinath 105*, Burns 60, Pietersen 58) drew with Somerset 294 (Trego 92, Hildreth 85, Kartik 4-70, Meaker 4-74)
ScorecardArun Harinath went on to make his second century in successive matches•PA Photos

After the class of Kevin Pietersen’s first-innings century and the controversy caused by the ‘Mankading’ of Alex Barrow, the final day of this unforgettable match was all really rather apologetic.Gareth Batty, Surrey’s captain and the man who took ultimate responsibility for Barrow’s run-out while backing up by Murali Kartik, made his peace with Somerset opposite number, Marcus Trescothick.Then, after teasing onlookers into thinking a challenging declaration was just around the corner, a contest which lost one full day to bad weather drifted to the tamest of draws with the sides – unsurprisingly, perhaps – unable to reach an agreement.Speculation was rife that a deal had been struck when, immediately after lunch, Somerset served up four overs of dob bowling and Surrey plundered 47 runs – despite Pietersen presenting Chris Jones with a memorable maiden first-class wicket on the first occasion that his offspin has ever been called upon in senior cricket.Far from having agreed a target, though, Trescothick was just trying to tease the opposition into setting something that could be chased in the final session and a half. Negotiations continued but the figures would not add up and normal service resumed until a halt was called an hour or so early, after Arun Harinath had completed his second century in as many matches.No one could blame Somerset for trying to talk a deal: realistically, they needed a victory to keep alive their slim hopes of winning the title. And while some home supporters might beg to differ, it would be harsh to criticise Surrey, for whom a draw – and nine points – is a decent result in their fight to avoid relegation.”We couldn’t work it out,” Trescothick said. “We offered, they offered but we couldn’t agree. We thought potentially we were going to sort something out [during the four overs of ‘declaration’ bowling] but we couldn’t get to it. These have been an interesting couple of days.”That was a bit of an understatement from Trescothick, who accepts that it will be “very tough” now for Somerset to win the title. But he confirmed that yesterday’s run-out row had been put to bed following Batty’s approach. “He apologised, we move on,” Trescothick said. “These things happen, we all make mistakes [so] let’s crack on and leave it alone.”Somerset clearly harboured hopes this morning of being able to win without the need for deal-making – and Alfonso Thomas did nothing to dispel that optimism during a fiery burst which saw him give opener Rory Burns something of a going over.Thomas hit the left-hander on the glove (with a lifter), the helmet (with a bouncer) and the toe (with a slightly off line yorker). To his credit, Burns battled though but then, having just brought up Surrey’s first century opening stand of the Championship season in partnership with Zafar Ansari, he popped a bat-pad catch to short leg off left-arm spinner George DockrellAnsari edged a drive against Sajid Mahmood but two wickets down at lunch, with the visitors already 176 ahead, was not enough for Somerset – and the negotiations began.Pietersen helped himself to 30 runs from 11 balls, delivered by James Hildreth and Jones, but then – to everyone’s disbelief and general amusement – he punched Jones low to short extra cover and wandered off, smiling ruefully.The ‘proper’ bowlers returned almost immediately – with deal-making talks having failed – and Harinath set about scoring a fine century to add to the one he made against Middlesex a fortnight ago. The left-hander survived a stumping chance, on 38, but made the most of his good fortune.”Our youngsters at the top of the order have really come to the party in the second half of the season,” Surrey team director, Chris Adams, said. “I think we’ve always known that Arun has all the potential and all the ability but he hasn’t been able to take his opportunities until now. I’m absolutely delighted for him – he’s a very popular member of the squad.”

Offspinner Harbhajan Singh has been dropped from the Indian squad for the first two ODIs against England on October 14 and 17

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Sep-2011Offspinner Harbhajan Singh has been left out of India’s squad for the first two ODIs against England on October 14 and 17. Karnataka medium-pacer S Aravind and Punjab legspinner Rahul Sharma have received their maiden international call-ups.Fast bowler, Varun Aaron who was part of the ODI squad in England but did not play, retained his place in the 15-man team. Batsmen Ajinkya Rahane and Manoj Tiwary are the other replacements sent to England who kept their spots.Fast bowler Umesh Yadav, who was not part of the India set-up since the 2010-11 Test series in South Africa, also made a comeback.The squad is missing Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Munaf Patel and Ishant Sharma due to injuries sustained on the recent tour of England. Fast bowler Ashish Nehra, who had declared himself fit after breaking his hand during the World Cup, and allrounder Yusuf Pathan, who was part of the World Cup squad, were not selected.India’s squad contained five batsmen – Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Manoj Tiwary – two wicketkeeper batsmen – MS Dhoni and Parthiv Patel – and one allrounder in Ravindra Jadeja. The bowling attack comprised five seamers – Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, S Aravind and Praveen Kumar – and two spinners in R Ashwin and Rahul Sharma.Harbhajan’s axeing came after his disappointing performance during the Test series in England, where he took only two wickets in 69.4 overs at an average of 143.50 and economy-rate of 4.11. He suffered a stomach injury during the second Test and was ruled out of the last two matches and the limited-overs series that followed. India lost the Test series 0-4 and the ODI series 0-3 in England.Aravind had a strong 2010-11 domestic season; he was the second-highest wicket-taker for Karnataka with 26 scalps and also the second-highest wicket-taker for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy with 10 wickets. He followed that up with an impressive performance for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2011 to push his claims for national recognition. Rahul Sharma also caught notice in the IPL, where he picked up 16 wickets in 14 games for the under-performing Pune Warriors, at the eye-popping economy-rate of 5.46.This selection meeting in Chennai was the first since the BCCI replaced Yashpal Sharma with Mohinder Amarnath as the North Zone representative on the panel.Squad: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Gautam Gambhir, Parthiv Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, S Aravind, Rahul Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Praveen Kumar.

Hampshire opener Jimmy Adams and team-mate James Vince both plundered unbeaten centuries as Yorkshire took a pounding on the third day of the County Championship match at Scarborough

25-Aug-2010
ScorecardHampshire opener Jimmy Adams and team-mate James Vince both plundered unbeaten centuries as Yorkshire took a pounding on the third day of the County Championship match at Scarborough.It was a maiden century for talented teenager Vince, who is developing a batting style similar to that of Michael Vaughan, while it was the latest in a line of good scores by Adams against Yorkshire. He first made his mark at Headingley in 2006 by converting his maiden century into an unbeaten 168 as Hampshire successfully chased down a 404 target and he went on to add a further five half-centuries before his latest effort.By close of play, Adams (162) and 19-year-old Vince (122) had put on an unbroken 215 for the fourth wicket to propel Hampshire to 367 for 3 and give them a first innings lead of 45.Hampshire began the day on eight without loss and Yorkshire had Richard Pyrah in their side as replacement for Tim Bresnan, who had joined up with his England team-mates at Lord’s.Ajmal Shahzad and Steve Patterson shared the attack but did little to trouble either Adams or Michael Carberry and the other pace bowlers were generally ineffective. Yorkshire turned for a while to the spin of Adil Rashid and Adams helped himself to two fours in his first over to complete a half-century which contained 11 boundaries.The century stand was reached in 31 overs but just before lunch it was Pyrah who split the pair by having Carberry caught at second slip by Anthony McGrath for 40.Adams and Chris Benham continued to make life difficult for Yorkshire in the afternoon until Shahzad produced an almost unplayable delivery which hit the top of Benham’s off-stump and Patterson then responded at the other end by forcing Neil McKenzie to chop into his stumps without scoring.Any thoughts of a batting collapse quickly disappeared, however, as Vince joined Adams in a massive stand which saw Adams go to his century shortly before tea. He had faced 194 balls and struck 17 fours.McGrath, who bowled a brief spell of off-spin before the interval, reverted to his normal medium pace and when Adams was 108 he got a bottom edge which wicketkeeper Gerard Brophy could not quite hold on to.Vince’s 50 came off 64 balls with eight fours and he registered his career-best score when he cruised past 75. Adams had a couple of run-out scares at the non-striker’s end when returning to his crease and Vince survived a leaping attempt by Pyrah at backward point but otherwise the batsmen were in charge and Hampshire went calmly into the lead.Consecutive boundaries by Vince off Pyrah hurried him to his maiden century off 128 balls with 15 fours and he celebrated by waving his bat ecstatically in response to the ovation from his team-mates and the 4,700 crowd.Runs then continued to flow as the bowlers toiled without reward, with Hampshire holding the upper hand when the game goes into its final day.

Wicketkeeper-batter leaves Warwickshire in pursuit of opportunities across formats

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Sep-2024Kent have signed wicketkeeper-batter Chris Benjamin from Warwickshire on a three-year contract.Benjamin, 25, made headlines when drafted as a replacement player during the 2021 Hundred, having only played one senior T20 for Birmingham Bears. He scored 24 off 15 balls to see Birmingham Phoenix over the line and went on to feature regularly over the tournament’s first three seasons.Benjamin also scored a century on first-class debut for Warwickshire but had limited opportunities in the longer format, making 10 appearances for the county and averaging 22.23.His arrival will strengthen Kent’s options in the wicketkeeping department, with Ollie Robinson and Jordan Cox having left over the last two seasons, and Sam Billings signing a white-ball contract. The club’s keeper in Championship cricket this summer has been Harry Finch.”We’re delighted to have attracted a player of Chris’ talent to Kent on a long-term contract,” Kent’s director of cricket, Simon Cook, said. “He is still a young player with a lot of potential to improve further, and we’re pleased to Kent to be the place for him to do so.”Although Benjamin was born in South Africa, he is a British passport holder through his father and has played in the UK since moving to study in 2018.”I’m excited to be joining Kent and having the opportunity to play regularly across multiple formats,” Benjamin said. “There is a young squad here that will only improve over time, and there’s a clear plan for Kent to return to the highs of their recent successes in the future. It’s an exciting project to be a part of.”Kent were relegated in the County Championship earlier this month, ultimately ending up bottom of Division One. They also finished last in the South Group of the Vitality Blast and seventh in Group A of the Metro Bank One-Day Cup.

The women’s team will take on Pakistan in December 2023 and England in March and April next year

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-2023New Zealand will host Australia for a Test series for the first time in eight years in the upcoming summer, right after attempting to secure a maiden Test series victory against South Africa, according to the fixtures released by New Zealand Cricket (NZC) for the 2023-24 home season.The New Zealand men’s team begin their home season with three ODIs and three T20Is against Bangladesh in the last two weeks of December. They then have a 11-day break before hosting Pakistan for five T20Is from January 12 to 21.South Africa then visit for two Tests between February 4 and 17, followed by Australia, who tour for three T20Is and two Tests between February 21 and March 12.Related

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New Zealand women also host Pakistan for three T20Is and three ODIs between December 3 and 18, and then take on England in five T20Is and three ODIs between March 19 and April 7. The England women’s A team will also tour New Zealand at the time.This will be the first international summer in 24 years to be screened live free-to-air on TVNZ.NZC said its schedule includes ten double-headers (two games back-to-back at the same venue) as it attempts “to address both the needs of different audiences and enhance the efficiency of its playing programme in an era of climate change awareness.”NZC chief executive David White said: “In terms of venues with lights, we’ve been able to schedule several back-to-back night matches and day matches to ensure good opportunities for both families and adult patrons, respectively, which we think is good for the game.”It’s a strategy that also complements our need to prioritise energy efficiency – and to just do the right thing as a sports organisation, given the challenges we’re facing from climate change these days.”

New Zealand men’s fixtures

vs Bangladesh
1st ODI: December 17, Dunedin2nd ODI: December 20, Nelson3rd ODI: December 23, Napier1st T20I: December 27, Napier2nd T20I: December 29, Tauranga3rd T20I: December 31, Taurangavs Pakistan
1st T20I: January 12, Auckland2nd T20I, January 14, Hamilton3rd T20I, January 17, Dunedin4th T20I, January 19, Christchurch5th T20I, January 21, Christchurchvs South Africa
1st Test: February 4 to 8, Tauranga2nd Test: February 13-17, Hamiltonvs Australia
1st T20I: February 21, Wellington2nd T20I: February 23, Auckland3rd T20I: February 25, Auckland1st Test: February 29-March 4, Wellington2nd Test: March 8-12, Christchurch

New Zealand women’s fixtures

vs Pakistan1st T20I: December 3, Dunedin2nd T20I: December 5, Dunedin3rd T20I: December 9, Queenstown1st ODI: December 12, Queenstown2nd ODI: December 15, Christchurch3rd ODI: December 18, Christchurchvs England1st T20I: March 19, Dunedin2nd T20I: March 22, Nelson3rd T20I: March 24, Nelson4th T20I: March 27, Wellington5th T20I: March 29, Wellington1st ODI: April 1, Wellington2nd ODI: April 4, Hamilton3rd ODI: April 7, Hamilton

Club reprimanded by Cricket Discipline Commission following comments by former chair

ESPNcricinfo staff05-May-2022Essex have been fined £50,000 and warned as to the club’s future conduct after accepting two charges relating to a historic racist comment.The club pleaded guilty to the charge that John Faragher, the former chair, used the offensive term “n***** in the woodpile” during a board meeting in February 2017, and also acknowledged that it had failed to conduct a timely investigation into the matter.Faragher, who resigned last November, continues to deny the allegation, having insisted in a social media post in February that the process had been “entirely reactive and fundamentally unfair”, and driven to a large extent by Essex’s and the ECB’s desire to avoid the mistakes made by Yorkshire in their handling of Azeem Rafiq’s allegations of institutional racism.To that end, the written findings of the CDC panel commend John Stephenson, Essex’s chief executive and interim chair, for doing “all within his power” to take internal action on the matter, but noted that “he has been thwarted by the ECCC board, which has been paralysed by division”. This includes last week’s resignation of Wasim Haq, the board member who blew the whistle on Faragher’s comments, alongside fellow board member Paul Harvey.”The use of racist and discriminatory language such as this is plainly unacceptable: it’s utterance by a club chair is all the more deplorable,” the summary continued.Related

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“It is clear that the club has failed to uphold the standards expected of it, not only in respect of the conduct of its former chair but also as regards its failure to act appropriately or at all thereafter.”It is also clear that the impact of this breach has had a negative effect both upon the game of cricket and upon the ECB.”Nevertheless, the panel – chaired by Ricky Needham, alongside Amrisha Parathalingam and Mark Milliken-Smith QC – also concluded that a points deduction would be inappropriate given that the comments had been made by a non-player away from the field, and allowed for £15,000 of the fine to be suspended for two years.The club was also credited for its “significant motivation” to tackle racism and to “re-energise” its “historically positive approach to its EDI obligations”, both within the club and the wider community.Responding to the CDC findings, Essex said in a statement: “The club has a zero-tolerance policy towards racism and any form of discrimination. We continue to work with the ECB to eradicate discrimination from the game, which includes implementing their 12-point action plan and the club’s further commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion policies and processes.”

Pakistan are hopeful he will be available for the home series against South Africa

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jan-2021Pakistan’s regular Test captain Babar Azam has been ruled out of the second Test in Christchurch starting Sunday. Mohammad Rizwan will lead Pakistan again, like he did in the first Test. Azam had a “full-fledged” training session in Christchurch on Friday but he felt slight pain in his thumb which he had fractured earlier on the tour. The team management decided against taking any risk and ruled him out of the second Test.”We have seen improvement in Babar Azam’s injury but he is yet to fully recover,” team doctor Sohail Saleem said. “He is our captain and the most important batsman in the line-up, so we do not want to take any risk.

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“The medical team is constantly reviewing his injury and we are hopeful he will be available for the home series against South Africa.”Azam hasn’t played any game on the tour so far, having sustained a blow to his thumb while taking throwdowns at a training session in Queenstown last month, before the T20I series began. He hit the nets for a full session only on Friday. With the thumb injury not healed fully though, he couldn’t bat pain free. Last week, Imam-ul-Haq had been sent back home with a similar injury.With Azam injured, Pakistan lost the T20I series 2-1, picking up a consolation victory in the third match in Napier thanks to Rizwan’s 89, and lost the first Test of the two-match series in a nail-biting finish.The absence of the regular captain meant Pakistan experimented with their line-up, bringing in the 21-year-old Abdullah Shafique for the first two T20Is. Shafique, however, was dismissed without scoring in both games.The 24-year-old Imran Butt was called up to the Test squad, but he didn’t make the XI for the first Test. Butt was the leading run-getter in the 2019-20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, with 934 runs at an average of over 62.