Markable

Eoin Morgan will lead the Twenty20 side in the absence of Stuart Broad

Ravi Shastri, the former India allrounder and IPL governing council member, has warned that a repeat of altercations such as the one involving Kieron Pollard and Mitchell Starc could result in much stiffer penalties for the players, including "double" their match fee or even a ban. 

"They should be given a fine and then a stern warning stating that (if) once more then it could be double the penalty and even a match ban," Shastri told ESPNcricinfo. When asked whether increasing monetary sanctions alone could prevent a breach of the IPL's rules, Shastri remained confident. "It could. It is in the hands of the match referee. But I would tell the player that next time if you even come close (to a breach) you will face serious consequences."

Shastri provided the example of the "stiff" $50,000 fine imposed on then Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne during the 2011 IPL for breaching the playing contract. Warne had allegedly verbally abused the then Rajasthan Cricket Association secretary Sanjay Dixit, and a disciplinary panel comprising former IPL chairman Chirayu Amin and Shastri imposed the penalty. "The penalties can be pretty stiff. We penalised Warne an amount which amounted to his match fee for a match. He was on a $700,000 contract with Rajasthan Royals. Tell me one player who has been fined $50,000 anywhere."

Shastri, who also sits on the IPL's code of behaviour committee and the technical committee, said that no advisory has been issued to match referees in light of the Pollard-Starc incident since the officials were aware of the rules. "That is the match referee's jurisdiction. Only after they take a decision do we have a right to comment."

The IPL's handling of the incident has once again reopened the debate about whether slow over-rates are more important to the league than bad behaviour and attract more fines because of the impact on TV programming. Shastri rubbished the notion and said that the IPL had set a better example than anybody else, including the ICC, when it came to penalizing tardy over-rates. "Slow over-rates slow the pace of the game and captains are appropriately fined. No other cricket body in the world takes so strong (an action) as the IPL. Even the ICC can take a leaf out of the IPL."

Shastri had earlier expressed his annoyance at Pollard and Starc's behavior in his Times of India column. "This one went beyond bad behavior," Shastri wrote. "You can joust, tease, stare, have a spat, give a send-off and all that can still be tolerated, but you can't almost come to blows. It bordered on violence, luckily without anything untoward happening. Both aimed to hurt each other with bat and ball. The faults by both are many - disrespect to umpires, abuse of equipment, utter disregard for the name of their employers, contempt for sponsors and injuring the spirit of the game itself.

"Starc likes to provoke. We all watched him give a mouthful to Virender Sehwag after his short ball had rammed the opener on the helmet and gone to the fence. Even that is tolerable in small doses. Pollard was nothing if not physical. Both need to be spoken to with a stern warning and not just a fine."

The altercation began with an exchange of words after Starc bowled a bouncer to Pollard in the 17th over of Mumbai Indians' innings against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Pollard pulled away as Starc ran in for the next delivery, but the bowler continued and bowled the ball at Pollard's body. In response, Pollard threatened to throw his bat at Starc, but it fell close to the batsman. Andy Pycroft, the match referee, fined Pollard 75% and Starc 50% of their match fees.

The bad behaviour in the match, Shastri wrote, wasn't just confined to Pollard and Starc.

"In the same game, [Yuzvendra] Chahal was also involved in a pronounced send-off to the batsman he dismissed," Shastri wrote. "It was Chahal's good luck that Yuvraj Singh was at hand to humour the offended on-field umpires. Mostly it's the bowlers who are stepping out of line.

"All the stakeholders must clamp down on such behaviour. It doesn't improve you as a cricketer much less as a human being. It's been a splendid IPL so far and it deserves better from its performers."

Thursday, May 8, 2014
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT) 

Last season, consistency was one of the characteristics that defined Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad - their scrappy, minimal-fuss brand of cricket making them popular with fans. This season, however, while Royals have hit on a winning patch and surged to the top half of the table, Sunrisers, despite big additions to their batting, are faltering lower down.

In Sunrisers last game, AB de Villiers played the kind of innings few teams could have done anything about, but their two victories have shown how critical it is for their top order to fire. Perhaps the best example was their victory against Delhi Daredevils in the UAE, where Aaron Finch and Shikhar Dhawan added 56, the best opening stand for the side so far - which set the base for a score of 184. Compare that to their losses in which their highest total has been 155.

Like their batting, the Sunrisers bowling also relies heavily on two individuals - Amit Mishra and Dale Steyn. While Steyn will have recovered from the mauling by de Villiers, Sunrisers could bring back Mishra on a track that can be expected to be a little slower.

Royals settled into their new home ground with a win and they would like to keep that form going. They don't have a stellar away record in the IPL and with their next fixtures against Royal Challengers and Chennai Super Kings, a win here could give them a buffer.

Rajasthan Royals: WWWWL Sunrisers Hyderabad: LWLWL

Rajasthan Royals: 3rd, with 10 points from seven games
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 7th, with 4 points from six games

The teams opened their IPL 2014 campaigns against each other, with Royals huffing their way to a four-wicket win in the last over in Dubai. Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner got starts but Sunrisers were restricted to 133. The Royals reply, meanwhile, revolved solely around a fifty from Ajinkya Rahane and an unbeaten 48 from Stuart Binny, who rescued the chase from a position of 31 for 3.

Karun Nair played a valuable hand in Karnataka's Ranji Trophy title win this season and he seems to have found his feet for Royals too. He takes his time at the start, but once settled he has been unafraid to switch gears, even going after the faster bowlers in the opposition.

Batting at positions between No. 5 and 7, Darren Sammy has come in quite often with Sunrisers stuck in a rut. As the most important batsman in the lower order, his form has denied Sunrisers a final push, putting even more pressure on the top order.

"I just try to pick the best batsman in the team, preferably the one that generally bats at the death and is used to facing yorkers, slower ones and slower bouncers. I try and pair up with him when I can."
James Faulkner gives an insight into his death-bowling preparations.

England, Ireland, Scotland and Sri Lanka begin preparations for World Cup 2015

Download the Reliance ICC Rankings App via www.icc-cricket.com/mobile to predict the outcome of the series

One month after the conclusion of the ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014, action in international cricket resumes this week and One-Day International (ODI) cricket will be in focus.

Dublin will host two ODIs between 1996 world champion Sri Lanka and the giant-killer of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, Ireland, on 6 and 8 May.

Then on 9 May in Aberdeen, three-time ICC Cricket World Cup finalist England will square-off against Scotland, which qualified for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 by winning the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2014 earlier this year in New Zealand.

With just nine months to go before the start of the event, which runs between 14 February and 29 March, these three ODIs mean that the first phase of build-up for all sides has well and truly begun.

While England and Sri Lanka have more to lose, Ireland and Scotland have plenty to gain from their respective series.

Ireland currently sits in 11th place on the Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings with 34 ratings points, and trails third-ranked Sri Lanka by 78 ratings points. Because the rankings are weighted to reflect this difference, Ireland will gain points if it wins even one match in the series.

Scotland, currently unranked, has an opportunity to inch closer to getting on to the main rankings table. However, to make that happen, it will have to beat England.

To get on to the main rankings table, Scotland needs to either win two ODIs against Full Members, or achieve one win in an ODI against a Full Member and also win more than 60 per cent of ODIs against other Associates.



Meanwhile, fans in Dublin and Aberdeen will get to see some of the biggest names in action during the ODIs to be played there.

Among the stars in the top 20 of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen likely to be seen in action are Eoin Morgan (15th) and Alastair Cook (20th).

Among the bowlers inside the top 20 of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Bowlers likely to be seen in action are James Anderson (eighth) and Angelo Mathews (16th).

Sri Lanka captain Mathews also starts the series against Ireland as the number-two ranked all-rounder on the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI All-rounders.

Forthcoming fixtures:

Ireland v Sri Lanka

6 May: First ODI, Dublin

8 May: Second ODI, Dublin

Scotland v England

9 May: One-off ODI, Aberdeen

Fayyaz Ahmed and Mohammad Naveed hold nerve with unbeaten 36-run stand as UAE wins its first match of ACC Premier League by two wickets

Craig Wright will take charge of the coaching responsibilities until Grant Bradburn takes the reins in July

 

The Scotland selectors today named its 13–man squad to face England in the ODI match between Scotland and England on 9 May at Mannofield, Aberdeen.

Kyle Coezter will lead his team out in front of a sell-out crowd in Aberdeen to play England for the first time since 2010 in Scotland’s marquee match of the year.

Aberdeen born Josh Davey, who is now with Somerset, has earned a place in the squad. He last featured in an ODI for Scotland against Pakistan in May 2013. Since making his debut, the all-rounder has played in 11 ODI matches scoring 254 runs at an average of 25.40 and taken 15 wickets at 21.33. He is a like-for-like replacement for the injured Richie Berrington (hamstring).

Some impressive performances by seam bowler Alasdair Evans has earned him a spot alongside Aberdonian’s Michael Leask and Matthew Cross who along with Davey and Coetzer mean that the host city has produced nearly a third of the national squad.

Craig Wright will take charge of the coaching responsibilities until Grant Bradburn takes the reins in July, after which Wright will continue as his assistant.

Wright commented, “The match against England is a wonderful opportunity for us to continue the progress which the team made in New Zealand earlier this year.  The challenge for us regardless of the opposition is to continue to display the strong, positive mentality which was the cornerstone of our recent success.

With the World Cup to look forward to in under a year, this game will be a great chance for us to test ourselves at the type of level we want to be successful at moving forward.  I hope the occasion is a memorable one for Scottish cricket”.

Scotland Squad in full:

Kyle Coetzer (Captain), Freddie Coleman, Matthew Cross, Josh Davey, Alasdair Evans, Majid Haq, Michael Leask, Matt Machan, Calum MacLeod, Preston Mommsen, Safyaan Sharif, Rob Taylor, Iain Wardlaw.

he Chennai Super Kings playbook has one abiding formula: a top-order contribution, a blitz from the finishers and a strangle by the spinners. Brendon McCullum took care of objective one with his third half-century in six matches, MS Dhoni swung his bat around to lift the total to 148 in a rain-reduced match and Ravindra Jadeja swindled 4 for 12 to down Kolkata Knight Riders with ease.

Robin Uthappa, who opened for Knight Riders, posed the greatest threat with his execution matching his intent. He crunched four fours and a six on either side of losing his partner Gautam Gambhir in the third over. He was conscious to use his feet, unafraid of going aerial and the reverse sweep was a trusted weapon as well. But his stroke-play coincided with a dreadful collapse at the other end. The introduction of spin left Knight Riders 39 for 4 at the end of the Powerplay, too deep a hole to escape from no matter how long Yusuf Pathan managed to biff the ball down the ground.

The Jadeja-R Ashwin combination plucked three wickets in five balls and Knight Riders' middle order was broken inside the first six overs. Uthappa waged his battle until he became Jadeja's fourth victim to hand the left-arm spinner the best figures of the season.

The start of the Indian leg of the IPL was delayed by an hour and 40 minutes after an unseasonal shower in Ranchi limited the game to 17 overs a side. Knight Riders utilised spin for the entirety of the Powerplay and were encouraged by some help from the pitch. But a persistence in pushing the balls through allowed McCullum to settle and shepherd Super Kings past the loss of Dwayne Smith in the third over.

Piyush Chawla was particularly adamant in refusing to flight the ball. Suresh Raina and McCullum had no qualms with that as they joined hands for a brisk 70-run stand for the second wicket. The introduction of pace did little to stem the flow of runs as Vinay Kumar fed McCullum with a steady diet of short balls that ended up being thudded into the midwicket boundary. The five overs between the eighth and 12th yielded 51 runs for one wicket.

Sunil Narine was his usual miserly self and Super Kings seemed to be running out of gas in the final overs, especially when McCullum was caught in the deep for 56. But some initiative and wayward bowling from Andre Russell, who was brought in for Morne Morkel, allowed the home side to finish on a high.

Those extra runs ensured Yusuf's late pummeling in the Knight Riders' chase was inconsequential. He blazed three sixes in the penultimate over and each of them gave the fielder no chance. Knight Riders would hope the next time he wields the long handle, the equation will not read 59 off 12.

As the IPL action shifts to India after a rendezvous in the UAE, formidable Chennai Super Kings will seek to continue their winning momentum when they lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders, who will be hoping for a reversal in fortunes, here today.



Since being out-slugged by table-toppers Kings XI Punjab in their high-scoring opening game, two-time champions CSK brought their A game into play, which saw them winning the next four matches with ease.

In contrast, the Knight Riders, who kicked off the seventh season of the cash-rich league with a bang, lost their way somewhat in the UAE, where the first-leg matches were held.

With three defeats and two wins, the former winners will hope that their fortunes change for the better in their ‘home’ match.

As far as the two captains are concerned, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is always confidence personified and has been marshalling the CSK outfit from the inaugural edition, and with a lot of success too.

His counterpart, Gautam Gambhir, after a miserable run of form that saw him being dismissed for two consecutive ducks, will be pleased with the 40-odd runs he made in his side’s last game, though in a losing cause.

The left-handed Gambhir would like to have a similar outing and it would do his team a world of good if he can improve on the strike rate.

Considering the thin batting line-up, Gambhir’s presence is of paramount importance to KKR, and he would, as usual, expect veteran all-rounder Jacques Kallis to bring into play all his experience.

Youngsters Manvinder Bisla, Manish Pandey and Suryakumar Yadav will have to put up a much better display if they are to tame the Super Kings.

Sunil Narine will again be the key man with the ball but the Knight Riders have been relying too much on the mystery spinner for breakthrough.