England fight back on thrilling 1st day of Ashes

July 11, 2013

England_winNottingham, Jul 11: A breathless opening day to the first Ashes test at Trent Bridge saw Australia reach 75-4 at stumps today, trailing England by 140 runs.

In an electrifying evening session, the hosts were dismissed for 215, with Peter Siddle claiming 5-50, only for England to roar back into the contest as James Anderson (2-25) and Steven Finn (2-37) ran through the tourists' top order.

Steve Smith, Australia's top-scorer with 38 not out, survived to the close with Phillip Hughes, who was unbeaten on 7.

Earlier, paceman Siddle tormented England's top order before James Pattinson took 3-69 and Mitchell Starc 2-54 to mop up the tail.

Jonathan Trott was England's top-scorer with 48, from 80 balls with nine fours, while Jonny Bairstow made 37 from 51 balls. Australia took England's last four wickets for just two runs in the space of 14 balls.

Australia's selectors sprang a surprise before the toss by giving a debut to 19-year-old Ashton Agar a left-arm finger spinner who has played only 10 first-class matches, but it was Siddle who stole the show.

England, which preferred Finn to Tim Bresnan and Graham Onions, won the toss and opted to bat on a slow track with a rapid outfield, a decision that looks to have backfired. Pattinson made a jittery start, bowling the first ball of the series so high it was called for a wide, but he atoned in the ninth over.

With the ball swinging around in the overcast conditions, Alastair Cook (13) was living dangerously until Pattinson tempted him to drive away from his body and nick the ball to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin.

Trott, however, belied his reputation for caution with an aggressive innings and stroked Agar's first ball in test cricket a full toss through the covers for four.

Siddle was innocuous and expensive in his first four overs, but his first delivery from the Radcliffe Road End brilliantly yorked Joe Root for 30 to lift Australia's spirits.

Kevin Pietersen edged Pattinson down the leg side in the 23rd over, but although Haddin's diving attempt at a catch failed, the batsman perished in the second over after lunch when he edged Siddle to Clarke at second slip for 14.

The prize wicket of Trott came when he chased a wide delivery from Siddle in the 36th over and dragged the ball onto his stumps.

A livid Trott made a move to smash the stumps with his bat and stopped himself. England made a partial recovery as Bairstow and Bell put on 54 before Bell was out for 25 when he edged Siddle to Shane Watson at third slip.

Siddle claimed his fifth wicket when Matt Prior tried to drive another wide delivery through point and was caught by Phillip Hughes.

Stuart Broad began the evening session with a counterattacking 24 from 30 balls before he holed out to Pattinson and was caught and bowled although only after umpire Aleem Dar checked Pattinson hadn't bowled a no-ball as the bowler's foot skidded over the crease as he released the ball.

With the first ball of the next over, the 58th, Bairstow's off stump was sent cartwheeling by Mitchell Starc, who had Finn caught behind off his next ball, a decision the batsman unsuccessfully referred.

Anderson survived the hat-trick ball and a referral for lbw on the final ball of the over, but the innings was wrapped up when Graeme Swann wafted Pattinson to Hughes at cover.

Australia made a bright start with Shane Watson racing to 13, but in the fourth over he edged Finn to Root at third slip and the contest was turned on its head.

Finn was bowling only because Broad was off the field receiving treatment for a shoulder injury , but his next ball removed Ed Cowan for a golden duck, caught at second slip by Swann and the hat-trick ball missed Michael Clarke's bat by millimeters.

Clarke survived only to the seventh over, when he was bowled by a superb delivery from Anderson without scoring. Chris Rogers (16) was lbw to Anderson in the 15th over after an unsuccessful referral.

The tourists were teetering but Smith carried the fight to England, hitting Swann over his head for six, leaving the test fascinatingly poised at stumps.

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Agencies
January 14,2020

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Agencies
August 6,2020

New Delhi, Aug 6: The BCCI on Thursday suspended the IPL title sponsorship deal with Chinese mobile phone company Vivo for the event's upcoming edition amid heightened tensions in Sino-India diplomatic ties.

The BCCI sent out a one-line statement, without giving details, saying that Vivo would not be associated with the IPL this year. "The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and vivo Mobile India Pvt Ltd have decided to suspend their partnership for Indian Premier League in 2020," the statement said.

Meanwhile, Vivo released its own statement saying that the two entities "have mutually decided to pause their partnership for the 2020 season".

Vivo won the IPL title sponsorship rights for five years from 2018 to 2022 for a reported sum of Rs 2,190 crore, approximately Rs 440 crore per annum.

The two parties are now working out a plan in which Vivo might come back for a fresh three-year period starting 2021 on revised terms.

However, a top BCCI official offered a different view. "Here we are talking about diplomatic tensions and you expect that after November, when IPL ends and before the next IPL starts in April 2021, there would be no anti-China sentiment? Are we serious?" a veteran BCCI official said on conditions of anonymity.

The anti-China sentiment in the country peaked after the violent face-off between the Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh. India lost 20 soldiers in the clash, while China also acknowledged unspecified casualties.

The stand-off at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) caused outrage across India with several calls for boycotts of Chinese companies and products.

The BCCI is now likely to float a tender for new IPL title sponsors as mandated by its constitution. The glitzy T20 league starts on Sept. 19 in the UAE, forced out of India due to the rising COVID-19 cases.

The new development is in stark contrast to what came out of Sunday's IPL's Governing Council meeting, where it was decided that Vivo, along with all the other sponsors, will remain on board.

This was after the BCCI had announced in June that all sponsorship deals pertaining to IPL will be reviewed in the aftermath of the clash in the Galwan Valley.

However, after Sunday's meeting, there was a huge backlash on social media about the BCCI holding on to Vivo.

Both parties then began thrashing out an amicable separation plan, at least for this season.

However, the end of this deal could spell losses for the franchises as they get a substantial share from the sponsorship pool. Half of the annual Vivo sponsorship money is distributed equally among eight franchises, which comes to Rs 27.5 crore.

"As of now, it will be very difficult for the BCCI to match the sponsorship amount at such short notice. Therefore, both BCCI and the franchises should be prepared to lose out on some money -- BCCI more but each franchise from Vivo's exit will potentially lose 15 crore," the official said.

"This year will be difficult for everyone but the show must go on," the official said.

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News Network
May 8,2020

New Delhi, May 8: India skipper Virat Kohli believes cricket in empty stadiums is a real possibility in post COVID-19 world and though it is unlikely to have a bearing on the intensity of players, he feels the magic would certainly go missing.

Cricket Boards across the globe are exploring the option of resuming the sport in empty stadiums. There is speculation that fans could be kept away from stadiums in a bid to salvage the T20 World Cup in Australia, which is currently under threat due to the global health crisis.

"It's quite a possible situation, it might happen, I honestly don't know how everyone is going to take that because we all are used to playing in front of so many passionate fans," Kohli said in Star Sports' show 'Cricket Connected'.

"I know it will be played at a very good intensity but that feeling of the crowd connecting with the players and the tension of the game where everyone goes through it in the stadium, those emotions are very difficult to recreate," he added.

Kohli said the many moments which are created because of the passion brought in by fans, would be missing.

"Things will still go on, but I doubt that one will feel that magic happening inside because of the atmosphere that was created.

"We will play sports how it is supposed to be played, but those magical moments will be difficult to come by," he said.

Cricketers such as Ben Stokes, Jason Roy, Jos Buttler and Pat Cummins have backed the idea of playing behind closed doors.

However, legendary Australian Allan Border has said it would defy belief to host a World Cup without spectators.

Another Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and some other cricketers have also expressed similar sentiments.

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