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With the WHO declaring COVID-19 as a pandemic, the fate of the tournament hangs in the balance

Nagraj Gollapudi12-Mar-2020The fate of the IPL will be up for discussion with the tournament’s Governing Council set to meet on March 14. With the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) as a pandemic, there is growing concern over whether or not the IPL should go ahead as scheduled from March 29.Even if the tournament were to go ahead, the participation of overseas players is in doubt, with the Indian government suspending all visas – except diplomatic, official, employment and certain other kinds – until April 15. Foreign players and coaches visiting India for sports events such as the IPL are granted a B-Sports visa – it is not yet clear whether these also stand suspended.On Thursday, the eve of his team’s first ODI against New Zealand in Sydney, Australia captain Aaron Finch said he hadn’t heard any updates from the IPL on the coronavirus front. Finch is set to play for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2020.”The franchises have been great in updating players pretty much daily on how that looks and will effect anything going forward,” Finch said. “We are just concentrating on tomorrow, I know it’s difficult when it’s a pandemic now. It’s going to be tough, no doubt they’ll be some restrictions in place for teams, fans and grounds.”New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, who plays for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, said it was important “to be cautious” about travel in the current situation.”[There’s been] a number of emails from medical staff at home and the upkeep of good hygiene and things,” he said. “It’s a concern all around the world at the moment, other countries are affected a lot more at the moment, [but] no one’s exempt, it seems. To be travelling the globe so suddenly you need to be very cautious.”Sporting events across the world have been affected by the spread of the coronavirus. On Wednesday, the NBA suspended its 2019-20 season after a Utah Jazz player tested positive. Serie A also stands suspended until April 3, following a directive from the Italian government; until then, its last few sets of matches had been played behind closed doors.”It would be weird to play in an empty stadium, no doubt,” Finch said, when asked about the prospect of playing behind closed doors. “You get so accustomed to the atmosphere of the fans who ride the momentum, especially at home with the Australian fans who support us so well. If it comes to that we’ll wait and see, I saw the NBA being suspended for the near future. It’s interesting to see, not ideal obviously. A lot of people effected which is unfortunate.”COVID-19 is a respiratory illness which is primarily spread through contact. On Wednesday, the BCCI made its first official statement on the pandemic, which has caused over 4,300 deaths, with more than 120,000 people affected across 118 countries so far. In a media statement the BCCI said the three-match ODI series between India and South Africa, which starts on Thursday in Dharamsala, would not be impacted, and issued a wide set of dos and don’ts to all the stakeholders including teams, players, state associations, airlines and team hotels.ALSO READ – Coronavirus newsfile: BCCI releases list of precautions for India to followThe BCCI said it was following the guidelines set in place by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on following personal hygiene and isolating in case of any symptoms of coronavirus, which have been widely circulated across all platforms.So far, the BCCI is yet to discuss the option of postponing the tournament or playing it behind closed doors, and has been waiting for the Indian government to provide directions.Incidentally, the Indian government has already issued an advisory asking people to “avoid” mass gatherings, which events such as the IPL fall under. “Experts across the World have advised to reduce mass gatherings to avoid the spread of COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus disease,” the advisory, which is on the health ministry’s website, says. “In view of above, it is advised that mass gatherings may be avoided or possibly be postponed till the disease spread is contained.”In case any such mass gatherings are organized, States may take necessary action guide the Organisers on precautions to be taken as per the risk communication material already sent so as to avoid any Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) cases and Influenz Illness (ILs) including Covid-19.”

The absence of a reserve day at Sydney was an accident waiting to happen

Andrew McGlashan at Sydney05-Mar-2020You can’t control the weather. But you can plan for it.Like the boundary countback that handed England the World Cup (sorry to any New Zealanders reading this who don’t want reminding), ICC playing conditions have again become the major talking point.However, unlike the boundary countback, which was a decider for a set of circumstances that, if we are fair, few could ever have seen coming, then the prospect of rain ruining cricket matches is nothing new.And on this occasion rain decided one of the biggest matches of the tournament. It came within a whisker of deciding two, before the clouds parted sufficiently for Australia and South Africa to play to a truncated finish. The home side won and the tournament can now be blessed with a final that pits the current powerhouse of women’s cricket with the side that may well be its future powerhouse.That will mean nothing to England tonight, thoughThe tournament’s playing conditions meant that India were bound to take the final berth in the event of a washout, and justifiably so, given that they had topped their group with four wins from four. And given that form, there could have been no guarantee of England living up to their higher pre-tournament seeding and winning their semi-final. But it was galling for them not even to be given the chance to compete.While the tournament is much more than about one team, there will be some relieved people that Australia – similarly at risk – managed to dodge the weather. They have been central to so much of the hype around this competition and the ambition to get a world-record crowd at the MCG. There are already 60,000 tickets sold, but had South Africa been handed the bye after topping their group, how many of those punters would have turned up for Katy Perry alone, or at all? Tonight’s result may provide the final boost.There were plenty of nervous jitters when Australia were 10 for 3 against Sri Lanka with their campaign on a knife edge but they managed to haul that around. However, if they had stumbled out at the group stage or been beaten on the field by South Africa, at least they would have exited for cricket reasons.ALSO READ: ‘These are the rules, we can’t help it’ – HarmanpreetOf course, a reserve day is no guarantee of getting a game in. But if there are two days of continuous rain, then at least you can sigh and accept that it wasn’t meant to be, regardless of the contingencies put in place. At least it would have given the match a chance.And, while you can’t make different arrangements on a city-by-city basis, Sydney certainly has history when it comes to rain-affected matches, particularly at the back end of the season. It was astonishing that February’s BBL final, reduced to 12 overs a side, managed to get played to a finish, while the T20I between Australia and Pakistan in November was another to succumb to the weather (when, in another example of cricket’s inflexible rule book, the interval wasn’t shortened even though the overs were). If you are going to use the SCG to host vital games in late summer, it’s probably worth a better back-up plan.It is fair that the playing conditions couldn’t be changed once the event had started – the lack of a reserve day has come into focus only because it rained – but it is a contingency that could have been in place. It should be for the future, but ideally it wouldn’t take the situation re-occurring to prompt a rethink.Boards sign off on playing conditions well in advance of the tournaments taking place, but are they being considered enough from an actual cricket point of view? Perhaps players should be consulted more in the process.Some of the reasoning as to why the semi-finals didn’t have a reserve day do not really stand up to scrutiny. There is the talk of teams requiring separate travel and training days between matches, but earlier in the competition Bangladesh played twice in three days in Canberra and Melbourne. Heather Knight, unsurprisingly, said she wouldn’t have had an issue with play-travel-play if the overall aim is to keep this tournament as short and sharp as possible. This applies to the men’s tournament in October, too, where the existing conditions are again in place with only the final having a reserve day.Also, at the men’s World Cup last year, the semi-finals both had reserve days. It was needed for the India-New Zealand match at Old Trafford and, had it been required for England and Australia at Edgbaston, then there would have been just one day left before the final at Lord’s. If that was okay then, why not now?There are other elements that need to be looked at again. The double-header semi-final day was done with the best of intentions, but is it wise to squeeze so much important cricket into one day at the same venue? It also creates complications about how a reserve day would be used, but that should not be insurmountable. Coupled with the fact that the minimum overs had increased from 5 to 10 per side – again, with solid reasoning but perhaps without full thought of what could happen – it meant that there would have needed to be a minimum of 40 overs of play to get two results.This tournament has had so many brilliant things about it. The final on Sunday will be a great event, maybe the greatest day ever for women’s cricket, with the best two teams in the format locking horns in what is also a dream outcome for the marketing and commercial people. However, this was far from a perfect day for cricket.

The Eminent Persons Group report, however, noted still-prevalent inequalities, especially at school level

Firdose Moonda11-Jun-2020Cricket South Africa has exceeded its annual transformation target for the 2018-19 season though both the men’s and women’s national teams fell slightly short of their self-assigned percentages for generic black representation. This data was published in the latest Eminent Persons Group (EPG) report, which assesses the level of transformation across South Africa’s sporting codes. CSA has improved on its performance each year since 2016, when it was officially sanctioned by the sports ministry for failing to meet targets.The process of transformation, aimed at addressing the legacy of Apartheid and colonialism in South Africa, is applied across a broad range of sectors in the country and measures the number of people of colour (called generic black) and the number of black Africans represented. CSA has set a target that the national teams must, on average over the course of a season, field six generic black players of which at least two must be black African. At domestic level, the target is applied per match and teams are required to field six generic black players of which at least three must be black African.Out of 374 playing opportunities in the South Africa men’s team in the year 2018, 87 went to black African players and 106 to players of colour. Of the 352 playing opportunities in the women’s team, 85 went to black Africans and 78 to players of colour. The single biggest represented race group was white, with 181 and 189 playing opportunities for the men’s and women’s team respectively. While both the men’s and women’s teams exceeded their target for black Africans, they fell short for generic black players by 2%. There will no sanction imposed for that, especially in light of the other areas that CSA performed well in.The report takes into account other cricket played under CSA’s auspices and its operations, which includes the Under-19 teams, schools and club cricket, coaches, referees and umpires, and the high-performance structures and the demographics of the national teams’ support staff and CSA’s office administrators. CSA scored highly in all categories and also received praise for providing the EPG with consistent and reliable data. It is important to note that these numbers will have changed in the 2019-20 season, during which time CSA underwent major changes.Despite CSA’s strong progress, the EPG noted that cricket still faces challenges as it attempts to right historical wrongs, chiefly at school level where access to sport remains the domain of a privileged few. “The education system continues to reproduce inequalities through large differences in access to quality education that is linked to location and household income,” the report states. “This impacts school sport in that participation opportunities are greatly reduced, thereby encouraging sports administrators to perpetuate and increase the existing gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ by focusing on the more ‘privileged’ segments of the structure.”CSA has therefore been encouraged to extend the existing transformation barometers, subject to review, to 2030.

But offers her full support to her successor Sophie Devine

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jul-2020Amy Satterthwaite has expressed disappointment at losing the New Zealand captaincy to Sophie Devine on her return from maternity leave. Satterthwaite took a break from cricket last August as she prepared to have her first child with her wife and team-mate Lea Tahuhu. In her absence, Devine led New Zealand at the T20 World Cup in Australia on a temporary basis, before being named permanent captain last week..”It was obviously disappointing not to retain the captaincy,” Satterthwaite said. “I really enjoyed the opportunity to do it last year, It’s always a real honour to lead your country.”However, Satterthwaite, who is now vice-captain having led New Zealand in 19 internationals, said that she had turned her attention towards returning to international cricket, and as a senior player, offered her full support to her successor Devine.”But I’ve got a different focus now in terms of getting back to being able to play cricket at the international level,” Satterthwaite said. “I’m really excited about the challenge that lies ahead. Looking forward as well to supporting Sophie (Devine), and I’ve always, I guess, been in and around the leadership group over the last few years, even when Suzie (Bates) was involved. So I think it doesn’t change in terms of offering that leadership, in that sense.”With Satterthwaite, Devine, and former captain Bates, New Zealand feel they are in good hands.”Yeah, absolutely, the three wise women, as we probably call ourselves,” Sattherthwaite said. “We’ve been around for a wee while now, and got a lot of experience. That’s sort of the beauty of the group we’ve got. People that we can lean on. I guess between the three of us, we’ve probably got different strengths that we can offer towards the group from a leadership point of view, that’s always a real asset, I think.”Satterthwaite added that she was “loving the challenge” of motherhood despite “those sleepless nights”, and was slowly beginning to strike a balance between her new responsibilities and training.”Loving it [motherhood]. It’s a big challenge, isn’t it?” Satterthwaite said. “But it’s been a lot of fun. Makes it worthwhile, those sleepless nights. That’s what brings a different challenge in trying to train as well. Starting to slowly learn the balance in trying to make that work.”Satterthwaite returned to training as both the women’s and men’s squads assembled for a four-day camp at New Zealand Cricket’s High Performance Centre in Lincoln for the first time since cricket came to a standstill in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic in March. While admitting that the conditions at this time of the year posed a unique challenge, Satterthwaite said that she was slowly getting back into the groove.”It’s nice to be back. Good to be back around the girls. The banter’s always good fun,” she said. “To get back to hitting balls, and feeling like I hadn’t left to a certain extent, but it’s always different to be back on grass too, it’s a different challenge.”Yeah, it’s been going pretty well. I think I sort of took my time to ease back into it, and not rush it too much, and I guess let the body adjust back. Adjustments been going pretty well so far, thankfully. I was a bit nervous, to be honest, to be hitting balls for the first time, but somewhere deep within there was that sort of muscle memory of being able to do it, and thankfully it’s been going alright, and dusting off the cobwebs.”Satterthwaite conceded that New Zealand had a few back-breaking months ahead of the 50-over world cup at home early next year, but saw it as a massive opportunity for this group of players.”Doesn’t get much bigger than having a world cup at home, does it? We’re really looking forward to that, and we’ve got a lot of hard work to do between now and then, and hopefully going ahead. But we’re really excited about what that opportunity offers us as a group.”

The players’ body has warned of administrative ‘dysfunctionality that threatens the existence of the game in our country’

Firdose Moonda19-Aug-2020The South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) has issued a stern warning about the state of the game in the country and warned that its existence is under threat following the departure of the CEO and the president of Cricket South Africa (CSA). SACA has called on Chris Nenzani, who resigned as president over the weekend, to offer an explanation for stepping away three weeks before his tenure ended and for CSA to show leadership in matters relating to the suspended CEO Thabang Moroe and the season ahead.”SACA has engaged directly with players over the past few weeks, and there is a growing realisation amongst players that their careers as professional cricketers are being threatened by the very organization that should be nurturing them,” a SACA statement read.It further asked that CSA work appropriately to resolve the issues of discrimination that have come to light following Lungi Ngidi’s stance on the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, and the resumption of the domestic and international season and Moroe’s disciplinary situation. Most pressingly for SACA, South Africa’s players, both men and women, have no indication of when they will return to play following the Covid-19 hiatus, both as a result of international borders being closed and because no domestic fixtures have been finalised.ALSO READ – Graeme Smith ‘shocked’ after threats on supporting Black Lives Matter movement“CSA must show leadership in dealing with the various crises facing the game; the transformation and discrimination crisis that has come to the fore over the past two months; the resumption of domestic and international cricket under COVID-19; the finalization of the disciplinary matter of the suspended CEO; the forensic investigation; and the forecast deficit which has the potential to financially cripple the game,” the statement read.Franchise teams have returned to training and there is talk of the season starting in November but there is no clarity on whether the franchise T20 tournament, the Mzansi Super League (MSL), will take place or who will lead CSA through the next few months.An Acting CEO, Kugandrie Govender, was named this morning and will hold the post until the Moroe case is finalised. Only then can CSA begin the search for a new CEO. CSA is also operating under an acting president, Beresford Williams, with a new president set to be elected at the AGM on September 5. Nenzani has undertaken to engage with the media after that but SACA CEO Andrew Breetzke would like answers from him immediately.”Mr Nenzani owes all stakeholders an immediate explanation as to why he has stood down a mere three weeks before the CSA AGM, after he had refused to do so over the previous eight-month period despite calls to do so from key stakeholders within the game,” Breetzke said. “Together with the sudden resignation of Dr Jacques Faul as acting-CEO, one can only deduce that the Board of Directors has yet again reached a level of dysfunctionality that threatens the existence of the game in our country.”SACA has consistently led calls for Nenzani and Williams to step down, following last year’s administrative meltdown and again pointed to the board as being responsible for the troubles in the game. SACA continue to point at CSA’s inability to resolve its myriad problems as being due to lack of corporate governance and warned the game may face “total collapse” if issues are not dealt with.”CSA is embroiled in destructive politics at Board and Management level. It is evident that cricket is unable to self-correct,” Omphile Ramela, SACA’s president said. ” Many of the administrative challenges confronting the game are as a result of administrators failing to adhere to principles of corporate governance. Before we see the total collapse of the game of cricket there needs to be a leadership intervention at Board and Management level that is able to stabilise and transform both the game and the business of cricket.”

After confirmation of the early rounds of the Sheffield Shield, a reminder of each states’ list

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Sep-2020With confirmation of the fixture list for the first four rounds of the Sheffield Shield, here is a reminder of the men’s state squads for the 2020-21 season*= CA state contract

R= Rookie contract

IPL= currently in the UAENew South WalesDaniel Hughes plays through the off side•Getty Images

Sean Abbott, Harry Conway, Trent Copeland, Pat Cummins* (IPL), Oliver Davies (R), Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Mickey Edwards, Matthew Gilkes, Ryan Hackney, Ryan Hadley (R), Liam Hatcher, Josh Hazlewood* (IPL), Lachlan Hearne (R), Moises Henriques, Baxter Holt (R), Daniel Hughes, Nick Larkin, Nathan Lyon*, Nathan McAndrew, Arjun Nair (R), Peter Nevill, Kurtis Patterson, Daniel Sams (IPL), Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha (R), Steven Smith* (IPL), Daniel Solway, Mitchell Starc*, Chris Tremain, David Warner* (IPL), Adam Zampa* (IPL)QueenslandJoe Burns plays square of the wicket•Getty Images

Xavier Bartlett, Max Bryant, Joe Burns*, Jack Clayton (R), Brendan Doggett, Blake Edwards, Benji Floros (R), Sam Heazlett, Corey Hunter (R), Usman Khawaja, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne*, Nathan McSweeney, Michael Neser, Lachlan Pfeffer, Jimmy Peirson, Matt Renshaw, Billy Stanlake (IPL), Mark Steketee, Bryce Street, Connor Sully (R), Mitch Swepson, Jack Wildermuth, Matthew Willans (R), Jack WoodSouth AustraliaWes Agar celebrates•Getty Images

Wes Agar, Will Bosisto, Alex Carey* (IPL), Tom Cooper, Brad Davis, Jacob Dickman (R), Daniel Drew, Callum Ferguson, David Grant, Travis Head*, Henry Hunt, Corey Kelly (R), Thomas Kelly (R), Jake Lehmann, Conor McInerney, Joe Mennie, Harry Nielsen, Tim Oakley (R), Lloyd Pope, Kane Richardson*, Luke Robins, Chadd Sayers, Liam Scott (R), Cameron Valente, Jake Weatherald, Nick Winter, Daniel WorrallTasmaniaTim Paine works through the leg side•AFP

Tom Andrews, Gabe Bell, Jackson Bird, Alex Doolan, Jake Doran, Nathan Ellis, Caleb Jewell, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Lawrence Neil-Smith, Tim Paine*, Alex Pyecroft, Sam Rainbird, Tom Rogers, Peter Siddle, Jordan Silk, Matthew Wade*, Charlie Wakim, Beau Webster, Mac Wright.VictoriaMarcus Harris drives through cover•Getty Images

Scott Boland, Xavier Crone, Brody Crouch (R), Travis Dean, Sam Elliott (R), Zak Evans, Aaron Finch* (IPL), Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sebastian Gotch, Peter Handscomb, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Mackenzie Harvey, Jon Holland, Tom Jackson (R), Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell* (IPL), Cameron McClure (R), Jonathan Merlo, Todd Murphy (R), Tom O’Connell, Wil Parker, James Pattinson* (IPL), Mitch Perry, Will Pucovski, Patrick Rowe (R), Matthew Short, Will SutherlandWestern AustraliaCameron Green driving down the ground•Getty Images

Ashton Agar*, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Jake Carder, Hilton Cartwright, Sam Fanning (R), Cameron Gannon, Cameron Green, Liam Guthrie, Aaron Hardie, Bradley Hope (R), Josh Inglis, Matthew Kelly, Mitchell Marsh* (IPL), Shaun Marsh, David Moody, Lance Morris, Liam O’Connor, Joel Paris, Josh Philippe (IPL), Jhye Richardson*, Corey Rocchiccioli (R), D’Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis (IPL), Ashton Turner, Sam Whiteman

Current champions New South Wales will begin their campaign on October 22

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Sep-2020The first four rounds of the 2020-21 Sheffield Shield season will be played in an Adelaide hub starting on October 10 and stretching through until November 17.Playing a full Sheffield Shield season was one of the key commitments made at an Australian Cricket Council meeting last month – comprising of the chairs of Cricket Australia, state and territory associations and the Australian Cricketers Association – with CA also aiming to play the Marsh One-Day Cup, WNCL and Under-19 male and female championships in early 2021.The Shield will begin with South Australia facing Western Australia at Karen Rolton Oval and Queensland playing Tasmania at the Park 25 ground. Due to the 14-day quarantine period imposed on people arriving into South Australia from Victoria, their first-round match against New South Wales will take place from November 17-20.With the opening up of the New South Wales-South Australia border on Thursday travel between those states will not require quarantine, should that remain the case into next month, and could also mean New South Wales’ players are able to play extra grade cricket before their Shield season starts on October 22 with the reverse fixture against Victoria.Victoria’s players are currently undergoing a period of quarantine ahead of taking a charter flight to Adelaide on October 5 where they will stay at the new Oval Hotel at Adelaide Oval and be able to train during two weeks of further quarantine.”It has been a unique pre-season but we have been fortunate to be able to maintain our training schedule and conditioning during the Covid-19 lockdown. We’ve been working closely with Cricket Australia throughout this process to deliver a schedule outcome that is fair to Victoria given the quarantine periods involved for us,” Cricket Victoria’s general manager of Cricket Shaun Graf said.”We’ll take an extended squad of players with us to Adelaide to give us scope to make changes over these first few matches where or as we need to. Despite the challenges, I know all the players are keen to get out on the park and play some real cricket.””The Marsh Sheffield Shield is an incredibly strong competition and for generations has been a crucial factor in the success of the Australian men’s team,” CA chief executive Nick Hockley said. “It is the envy of cricketing countries throughout the world. We would like to thank the South Australian government for their willingness to work together to deliver these fixtures.”Many people have worked incredibly hard to arrive at this outcome, whilst recognising that player and staff safety and wellbeing remains the priority and having government restrictions in place to keep the community safe from Covid-19.”CA will also be staging full WBBL and BBL competitions this summer, so there will be no shortage of action and opportunity for our women’s and men’s players.”I would like to thank all our stakeholders across the game for their support, most notably the State and Territory Associations and the Australian Cricketers’ Association.”Alistair Nicholson, the ACA chief executive, said: “Our players place an enormous value on our domestic competitions, and this has been reflected in their commitment and flexibility to get the game going.”Confirmation of the reworked WBBL season, which will be played entirely in Sydney starting October 25, is expected shortly while the BBL may involve a rolling hubs around the country depending on Covid-19 restrictions.2020-21 Sheffield Shield fixturesRound 1October 10-13: South Australia v Western Australia, Karen Rolton Oval

October 10-13: Queensland v Tasmania, Park 25

November 17-20: New South Wales v Victoria, venue TBC
Round 2October 19-22: South Australia v Tasmania, Karen Rolton Oval

October 19-22: Western Australia v Queensland, Park 25

October 22-25: Victoria v New South Wales, Adelaide Oval No. 2Round 3October 30-November 2: New South Wales v Western Australia, Karen Rolton Oval

October 30-November 2: Victoria v Tasmania, Park 25

October 30-November 2: South Australia v Queensland, ACH Group Stadium, GlenelgRound 4November 8-11: Queensland v Victoria, Karen Rolton Oval

November 8-11: Western Australia v Tasmania, Park 25

November 8-11: South Australia v NSW, ACH Group Stadium, Glenelg

The board’s AGM was a reminder of the precarious position for the game in the current climate

Daniel Brettig29-Oct-2020If the message about multi-year cycles, expected revenue dips and the need to smooth out cricket’s funding in Australia to cater for year-on-year fluctuations was more or less the same, the difference of medium provided a stark reminder of the new world into which cricket boards must now operate.Cricket Australia’s AGM was held virtually for the first time, with its chair Earl Eddings and a selection of staff webcasting from Jolimont headquarters, while the interim chief executive Nick Hockley and New South Wales directors logged in from Sydney. Elsewhere the chairs of the state associations – CA’s technical owners – passed a constitutional resolution to add a 10th board director in Vanessa Guthrie and also elected the former NSW premier Mike Baird in place of the retiring Jacquie Hey.The headline figure of a A$45 million loss for CA on the 2019-20 season, with its lower box office touring teams from Pakistan and New Zealand, was not in itself a surprise. In fact, CA had recorded a bigger loss in recent pre-Covid times, when it saw funds dip by A$51 million for the 2016-17 summer attended by South Africa and Pakistan. The morning’s key graphic, showing how Australian cricket relies so heavily upon inbound tours from India and England to turn profits above the money already committed to costs and distributions to states, reinforced the notion.Unquestionably this was a world away from some of the projections made by the former chief executive Kevin Roberts back in April, when he suggested the possibility of CA going broke by August. Those kinds of contentions, made at a time that CA was standing down staff, applying for a credit facility and seeking deep cuts from the states and the players, have fortunately receded into the distance. That “crisis”, with the benefit of time, looks very much as though it was an inflated if not confected one designed to allow for cost cuts.What was clear, however, was the fact that amid the global economic shocks provided by a pandemic, on the tail of what was already an increasingly uncertain global media rights market, past assumptions about how much a summer may be worth have already been tested and will be like never before this time around. India’s most recent visit in 2018-19 turned only an A$18 million surplus, as against a bounty of nearly A$100 million in 2014-15, albeit with a World Cup also in tow.The summer schedule finally confirmed with considerable fanfare on Wednesday will provide a more or less identical amount of content for broadcasters at home and overseas as was the case two summers ago: four Tests between Australia and India and six white-ball games. The measure of CA’s response to Covid-19 and also the sustainability of the four-year funding model will be whether it can turn a bigger profit this time.”Media rights globally are under a lot of pressure, hence why we’re always refining our business models,” Eddings said afterwards. “I think the new norm if you like will be very different for all sports and organisations going forward, so as a board we’ll make sure we keep reflecting on what we think is the best business model. Luckily we’ve got great products in Australia, men’s and women’s domestic and international cricket, we’ve also got strong international partners who like showing Australian cricket around the world.”Free-to-air commitmentOf course, Eddings said these words at the precise moment CA stands in an unprecedented dispute with its free-to-air broadcaster Seven, which has challenged the governing body to offer a major discount to the remainder of its A$450 million broadcast rights deal alongside the A$750 million contract signed with Foxtel. That overall A$1.18 billion deal, signed in April 2018, has been a source of many pressure points since, and tellingly made Foxtel CA’s primary broadcast partner, with rights to Tests and most of the W/BBL, plus women’s internationals, shared with Seven.Eddings, though, insisted that free-to-air broadcast would continue to “underpin” CA’s broadcasting strategy. “We’re working behind the scenes with our partners around that, we don’t want to play it out in the media, but we’re confident of our position and we’ll deliver a full summer of cricket as we’ve always said we will,” he said of Seven’s dispute.”I think we’re seeing the emergence of new technologies all the time. We’re also bound by anti-siphoning laws to play international content on free-to-air TV, so that’s a great reach for us, it gets our games and our players out to fans all around Australia, so free to air TV is very important. We understand that free-to-air TV is going through a lot of challenges at the moment, so streaming and digital are increasing, but free-to-air TV will always underpin the value of our TV rights.”Keeping the show on the roadCA’s capacity to keep the global caravan of international cricket from teetering off a Covid cliff is of course at the mercy of health conditions elsewhere, as stressed by doubts around a tour of South Africa next year and the inaugural World Test Championship final scheduled for England soon after it.What’s left in the World Test Championship?•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“I think it’s great that England are going there [South Africa] and obviously we want to tour as well. As you can understand, in Covid times things change very rapidly, so we’ll be watching with interest,” Eddings said. “In the end it comes down to the safety of our people and that’s the most important priority for all of us. Where it’s safe to do so, we will play.”I’d certainly like to see [the World Test Championship final] go ahead because I think we might make it. The UK is going through another peak at the moment, so our intention is to go over there and play, but that’s going to be subject to what the state of the nation is at the time and travel requirements.”We’re all in favour of playing as much cricket as we can. We need to give Test cricket relevance and something for everyone to play for. Covid’s obviously had a big impact on that around countries being able to play each other. It’s going to be a bit glitchy until we get it right, but certainly for the growth of Test cricket we need to have something to aim for, particularly with some of those Test matches that don’t mean anything with some countries. This gives everyone relevance and context.”Either side of the resignation of Roberts in June, CA had dispensed with 40 staff and made somewhere in the region of A$40 million in cost savings, as against a revenue hole that CA still puts at around A$120 million. At the same time, after a long and often fractious process, the state associations accepted a 12.5% reduction in their annual distributions (after originally rejecting a 45% cut), albeit with built-in upside should revenue be better than expected.Similar arrangements have been made with the Australian Cricketers Association, and it appears, relationally at least, that CA is on the improve. Whether the states, personified by association chairs looking on impassively through their webcams as the game’s finances were presented, are wholly content with the game’s current leadership and structure remains to be seen.

ODI series had been postponed on three separate occasions following virus scare

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Dec-2020England’s tour of South Africa has been called off following the outbreak of Covid-19 among both teams’ camps and staff at their hotel. The three ODIs have officially been postponed, with a possibility they could be played at a later date.The decision came after the opening ODI of the series was pushed back three times in four days, having originally been scheduled to take place at Newlands on Friday, before failed attempts to stage games at Paarl on Sunday, and at Newlands again on Monday.With England due to fly home on a chartered flight on Thursday, and with the squad still awaiting the ratification of two unconfirmed positive tests within the camp, CSA had hoped to be able to host back-to-back ODIs on Tuesday and Wednesday. However, news that the tour would be abandoned out of consideration for the “mental and physical health and welfare of players from both teams” came on Monday afternoon.ALSO READ: England blame ‘unacceptable’ Newlands nets after claims of protocol breachThe announcement was made via a joint statement from CSA and the ECB, although ESPNcricinfo understands that the decision to pull out came at the behest of the English board.Earlier on Monday, an England team spokesman hit back at suggestions that the players had breached Covid protocols during an unsanctioned practice session at Newlands on the eve of the scheduled first ODI, claiming that they had been given permission to set up a secure cordon around the nets, in spite of their proximity to a construction site, due to the “unacceptable” standards of the pitches they had been provided on the Newlands square.The chief executives of both boards cited player welfare as a primary concern in the decision to curtail the tour, with players understood to be uneasy about recent developments and the fact that the bio-secure bubble had been breached.The three-match ODI series forms part of the qualification process for the 2023 World Cup via the ICC’s new Super League, and the boards signalled their intention to stage the series at a later date. With England due to tour Bangladesh, Pakistan, Australia and West Indies next winter, on top of the T20 World Cup in India, it will be a challenge to find a suitable window.”The decision was taken jointly by the two boards to ensure the mental and physical health and welfare of players from both teams,” the statement said. “CSA and the ECB will now work together to determine when the three-match series, which forms part of the ICC Cricket Men’s Super League, can take place in the future.”Kugandrie Govender, CSA’s acting CEO, said: “The concern over the mental health impact of recent events on all involved is not one that we as CSA or the ECB take lightly and the decision to postpone the tour is the most responsible and reasonable course of action for us.”I would like to thank the ECB for the continued positive relations and we look forward to hosting the England team in the near future.”Paarl lies empty ahead of the postponed first ODI•Getty Images

Tom Harrison, the ECB’s chief executive, said: “We have always maintained that the welfare of our players and management is paramount. We were concerned about the potential impact that recent developments might have on the wellbeing of the touring party, and so after consultation with Cricket South Africa we have jointly made the decision to postpone the remaining matches in this series, in [the] best interest of the players’ welfare.”I would like to thank Cricket South Africa for their support and understanding on this matter and look forward to working with them to identify a time when we can return to play these fixtures in the future.”The postponement of the series will cast further doubt on the viability of South Africa’s scheduled home series against Sri Lanka, Australia and Pakistan this season, not least with the number of infections rising by 43% in the Western Cape last week.It is understood that CSA will lose in the region of US$2 million in broadcast revenue from the postponement of the three ODIs, and any further cancellations would have significant financial ramifications.

All the big moments from the second day of the Boxing Day Test, dissected

Andrew McGlashan27-Dec-2020*Most recent entry will appear at the top, please refresh your page for the latest updates. All times are local.

6.15pm: Stumps – India 277 for 5

A century of the highest calibre by Ajinkya Rahane put India in control of the second Test after it appeared Australia would bowl themselves back into contention. Instead, with the help of a string of middle-order allies, chiefly the recalled Ravindra Jadeja, Rahane lifted his team to an advantage of 82.Australia started the day very well – Pat Cummins producing a magnificent eight-over spell that removed both overnight batsmen, Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara, and included barely a delivery off line – but tailed off during the final session which including shipping 45 runs in the 11.3 overs of the second new ball. Rain brought a slightly early finish, what ended up being the final delivery of the day bringing Rahane his third life when he fended a short ball to point against Mitchell Starc but the chance burst out of Travis Head’s hands as he hit the turf.They had two other opportunities to remove Rahane – one a miss and the other a drop. On 57, he edged Starc between Tim Paine and the lone slip Steven Smith moments after the off-side field had been strengthened at the expense of the cordon. Then, on 73, in the first over with the second new ball a chance went to hand, Rahane jabbing at a full, wide delivery, but Smith was late to react above his head at second slip. By the end of the day, Australia were ragged and in need of regrouping.

5.40pm: A great century

What a performance from Ajinkya Rahane – he has brought up a magnificent century as India continue to build their lead. This will rank right up there with any of his batting performances.

5.00pm: New ball

The 80-over mark has been reached and, unsurprisingly, the new ball has been taken (and a momentary delay where the fourth umpire, Gerard Abood, realised he didn’t have it with him much to Paul Reiffel’s amusement). The lights are on, it’s gloomy afternoon, not sure we’ll get all the overs in but it should be a good time to bowl. The lead is now at a stage where Australia need to wrap things up fairly quickly. This has been an excellent partnership between Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja.And Rahane has been dropped in the first over, on 74, when he jabbed a full delivery which flew quickly above Steve Smith’s head at second slip…Here’s Sid Monga:

At his pre-match press conference, Ajinkya Rahane was asked a question, which I felt he would find disrespectful. He was asked if he will stay in touch with Virat Kohli for advice through the series. Rahane must be used to people questioning his place in the side, so perhaps this was no surprise. Very politely he said he would not like to disturb Kohli, wary as he might have been if he had said it was his team now and he didn’t need advice and that it wasn’t as if he would take the side in some diametrically opposite direction. He also said his aggression is seen in his batting not body language.

As much had been visible in his role in his batting away from home. It was possible to bowl to others with set plans, but Rahane liked to dominate. You had to get him early. Somewhere along the way, after he was dropped in South Africa, he perhaps lost that natural tempo. In this series he has worked hard on his defence and has looked to get himself in before he looks to dominate.

Rahane averages more away than home, more against pace than spin, and this innings will go a long way in reinstating him as one of India’s first picks in away Tests.

4.40pm: Stringing them together

Ajinkya Rahane raises the bat after reaching his fifty•Getty Images

From 64 for 3 when Cheteshwar Pujara fell, this has been a superb effort from India’s middle order:Rahane + Vihari = 52 runs
Rahane + Pant = 57 runs
Rahane + Jadeja = 50 runs*

4.15pm: Big miss for Australia?

India have taken the lead since tea – with the rain having cleared – with Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja making steady progress ahead of the arrival of the second new ball. Australia had a chance to remove Rahane on 57 when a thick edge flew between Tim Paine and Steven Smith who was the lone slip, Paine having strengthened the off-side field moments before.

3.10pm: Tea – India 189 for 5

That was India’s session. Some proactive batting by Rishabh Pant and a terrific captain’s innings from Ajinkya Rahane has put them within sight of a precious lead – two sets off four byes when Mitchell Starc was bowling were helpful. Australia will need a big push early in the final session before the new ball becomes due. There is some rain floating around the area which arrived shortly before the break so hopefully that stays away.

3.00pm: Who’s ahead?

Mitchell Starc has broken a very threatening stand to give Australia a lift shortly before tea. Rishabh Pant went for a cut and got a thin edge to Tim Paine, giving Starc his 250th Test. Now it’s over to Ravindra Jadeja to try and repeat the partnership with Ajinkya Rahane. India are less than 20 behind if they could get somewhere around 75 ahead that would be priceless.

2.25pm: Change in momentum

Ajinkya Rahane receives some treatment to his groin•Getty Images

Rishabh Pant is putting the pressure back on the Australia bowler, scoring at a run-a-ball in the early stages of his innings as the deficit is whittled down at a rate not seen previously in the match. So far, Pant has shown excellent shot selection and hasn’t done anything reckless despite plenty of encouragement from the Australians. The first two overs of Pat Cummins’ comeback spell went for 20 – his eight overs earlier in the day cost just 12. Meanwhile, Ajinkya Rahane is playing his part with a very measured innings but seems to be having some problems with his back.Australia might be getting to the stage where they have half an eye on the second ball, but that’s still 25 overs away and if they are still batting India will be in the lead by then.

1.45pm: Lyon in the game

The signs are that Nathan Lyon could have a big say in this game. There has been significant turn for him since lunch, one delivery ragging sharply down the leg side from outside off and then another almost getting through Ajinkya Rahane as he tried to cut. He has provided the breakthrough that Australia needed, removing Hanuma Vihari from a gloved sweep that looped to slip. It was the ball after Vihari had played a delightful back-cut to bring up a hard-working fifty-run stand. Rahane has also needed some treatment on what looked like it could be a back problem. It’s a big test now for the middle-order allrounders.

1.00pm: Pitch praise

Australia’s coach Justin Langer was full of praise for the MCG pitch in his lunchtime conversation with Ricky Ponting on Seven:”From my point of view it was a brilliant cricket wicket. Like the first Test with Damian Hough, amazing job. The most important thing for Test cricket is the wickets we play on and a contest between bat and ball. In Adelaide it was definitely that and yesterday I thought the same. We didn’t play with the bat as well as we could’ve. I thought Matt Page and his staff have done an incredibly job to have the game moving forward. The best players will make runs and the bowlers will be rewarded if they bowl as well as India did yesterday and we are at the moment. Really good Test wicket this one.”He also gave an update on David Warner:”As we’ve said for the last few weeks, there’s no one more professional and he’s doing everything possible. We saw him bat the day before the game. He’s batting again this afternoon here at the MCG. So in terms of his batting, he’s flying. It’s just he’s still having some trouble with his groin, and we know how dynamic he is – his running between the wickets, the way he’s moving all the time. So he’s getting closer and we’re hopeful that he will come good. He’s certainly hopeful he’s going to come good, but time will tell. We still have a few more days till the next Test match. Fingers crossed he’s ready to go for that third Test match.”

12.30pm: Lunch – India 90 for 3

That was tough Test cricket: 54 runs in 26 overs. Hanuma Vihari and Ajinkya Rahane have done very well to get India through to the break without further loss. The bowling has been very demanding, led by Pat Cummins, but the pair have repelled everything so far. Mitchell Starc, who waited behind Cameron Green in the bowling queue today, caused problems by moving the ball both ways but the frustrations of not adding to his early wicket were just starting to show. However, Australia will know that there is uncertainty in what follows in the India batting order with a couple of allrounders before the bowlers. This game is too close to call at the momentHere’s a nugget from Shiva Jayaraman of the stats team:

It’s been a hard toil for the India batsmen in this series and runs have been hard to come by even when they have managed to hang around at the crease. It’s evidenced in how Ajinkya Rahane has gone about scoring in this series. Rahane scored 1 and 3 in the first 25 balls he faced in the first innings at Adelaide and here, respectively. This is among his lowest five scores when he’s faced 25 balls in a Test innings (81 innings). Rahane’s average scoring rate in off the first 25 balls he faces in a Test innings is 59.4.

11.35am: Cummins, again

Tim Paine took a brilliant catch to remove Cheteshwar Pujara•Getty Images

Australia are surging back through a fantastic spell from Pat Cummins. After beating the edge again and again he then drew one from Shubman Gill, driving away from his body, which was a regulation take for Tim Paine. The next catch, however, was anything but regulation as a Cummins beauty drew a nick from Cheteshwar Pujara, it wouldn’t have carried to first slip (like a few today), and Paine dived full-length to his right to hold it inches off the turf. Now we’ll get a proper look at this reshaped India batting order. The game is wide open.Here’s Sid Monga:

That Pujara wicket was the 33rd time India were not in control this innings. During the 36 all out, they were bowled out in 32 such not-in-control responses. Shows you how unlucky they were in edging everything and those edges carrying. This one wicket for 11 false responses is about the going rate in Test cricket, where you need to do it for a little over 10 times to get a wicket

11.15am: Australia miss early chance

Tim Paine dropped an inside edge•Getty Images

It has been a nip-and-tuck start to the day and Australia should have had a wicket. Tim Paine couldn’t hold onto an inside edge in the second over the day off Shubman Gill. Australia had also used a review on the opening delivery when Pat Cummins nearly took Cheteshwar Pujara’s edge, but the small sound was bat clipping the pad. Cummins and Josh Hazlewood are making life hard work on an overcast, warm day with the floodlights already on.

10.30am: Have your say

10.00am: Can India take control?

The opening day of the Boxing Day Test could not have gone much better for India, but now they need to make it count. It was a good effort to lose just one wicket yesterday evening – now, if they can bat the day, they’ll be in a very strong position. However, Australia’s attack will have other ideas. It felt as though they pushed a little hard last night, but that can often be the case in a short session.Here’s Dan Brettig on another uncertain batting display from the home side.