Appointed until the 2019 World Cup, he will join the team during the second Test against West Indies in Jamaica on Friday

Mohammad Isam11-Jul-2018The BCB has appointed Ryan Cook as the senior team’s fielding consultant until the 2019 World Cup. He will join the team during the second Test against West Indies in Jamaica on Friday.Cook will effectively take over from Sohel Islam, who is with the team as a stop-gap fielding coach following Richard Halsall’s exit earlier this year. Halsall was Bangladesh’s assistant coach but was mainly a fielding coach.Stephen Cook’s brother and Jimmy Cook’s son, Ryan, is currently the head coach at Gary Kirsten’s cricket academy in Cape Town and has had stints with the Hobart Hurricanes, South Africa A and South Africa Under-19 as assistant coach.He is now the second new appointee in Bangladesh’s coaching staff. Last month, Steve Rhodes was appointed head coach for two years.

While Steyn and Philander aren’t out of contention for a World-Cup spot, the immediate focus will be on giving more experience to a younger set

Firdose Moonda10-Aug-2018They have only little more than a quarter of the number of caps of South Africa’s most lauded new-ball pair, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, but Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi have made captain Faf du Plessis “really excited” ahead of the 2019 World Cup. While Steyn, who has 116 caps, remains in contention for the tournament, Morkel, who played 117 matches, has retired. But du Plessis has seen enough of Rabada and Ngidi in the 59 matches they’ve played between them to believe the future is in good hands.”I’m really excited about our new-ball combination of Kagiso and Lungi. They’re strike bowlers, they get early wickets,” du Plessis said, on his return from Sri Lanka on Friday.While Rabada’s pedigree has been on display since his 6 for 16 on ODI debut more than three years ago, Ngidi has properly announced himself in the current series. With four of the five matches played, Ngidi’s leads the wicket-takers’ charts, with 10 scalps at 20.10, and his combination of pace and control should make him a shoe-in for next year’s show-piece.But du Plessis was careful not to rule Steyn, who has been vocal in the media about his desire to play at the World Cup, out of contention despite his focus on red-ball cricket at international level since his spate of injuries. Du Plessis even included another experienced name, Vernon Philander, in the mix, although Philander has not played an ODI in three years. “Of course, Dale and Vern are in the frame,” du Plessis said. “Anyone can still put their name on that list, there’s still plenty of time.”Earlier this year, coach Ottis Gibson also indicated Steyn and Philander could be considered for the tournament. But Gibson said, if they were to play, it would only be in the last 10 ODIs before the tournament (which are against Pakistan and Sri Lanka at home) so South Africa could experiment beforehand. Du Plessis reiterated that sentiment now. “The senior guys don’t need any more experience, it’s about trying to help the younger guys gain as much experience a possible,” he said.To that end, South Africa’s pace attack in Sri Lanka on this tour have a combined total of 94 caps – without Rabada’s 51, the remaining four bowlers have only 43 matches between them. Of those, Andile Phehlukwayo has had the most match time, with 29 caps, and his experience shows. After a poor first game, Phehlukwayo has performed well with a wily display of cutters.The other half of the squad – the batsmen – still rely on their old-timers, with du Plessis, Hashim Amla, David Miller and JP Duminy forming the spine of the line-up. Duminy leads the run-charts and appears re-energised following his retirement from Test cricket last year and he could have a big job to do at the World Cup. “The biggest shift I’ve seen is in the real discussions we’ve had on where his head needs to be and he’s in a really good space,” du Plessis said. “The decisions he’s making, especially when batting, are positive. It fits in with the fearless brand of cricket we want to play. He’s been exceptional in this series.”Amla has re-found form after a lean run in Tests and has started to “free up and play the type of Hash innings we’re used to”, and Quinton de Kock has been promoted to a senior, along with the additional role of stand-in captain. While du Plessis could not confirm whether de Kock’s elevation is part of the succession plan, he said it was intended to help de Kock develop. “We certainly felt that when Graeme (Smith) left the team, there were limited opportunities for the young players to learn, to get one or two occasions to captain a bit and few young guys with leadership capabilities. For a guy like Quinton, I feel he’ll grow a lot just by getting a bit of extra responsibility. As a player, it’s easy just to focus on your own game and when you’re captain, you don’t have that luxury. This will teach him a different side of game. It’s a nice opportunity to learn a few new tricks about himself.”But, ultimately, Aiden Markram’s name continues to crop up as someone to whom leadership “comes more naturally” and now du Plessis hopes he can find the confidence to come out of his first patch of poor international form. “For a young guy going through a tough time I can see he’s got a very mature head on his shoulders. He’s understanding that it’s part of cricket, going through the up and downs, that good times can be followed by bad ones. The conversations have been that you don’t become a bad player overnight. He’s really excited about having to try and figure out what he needs to do to become an even better player.”Markram will continue to get opportunities high up in the batting order but knows that others, like Reeza Hendricks who scored a century on debut, are also around. That could make World Cup selection a problem of plenty, something du Plessis will be more than happy to have. “We’ve got some nice young batters coming through as well, putting some pressure on the others. Obviously with AB (de Villiers) leaving, we’re playing with ideas on what might be the best line-up but there’s still enough time to answer a few unanswered questions.”

Gary Ballance and Tom Kohler-Cadmore settled Yorkshire’s second innings after Lancashire had made inroads

Paul Edwards11-Sep-20181:55

Hampshire put Surrey on the brink of glory

ScorecardOptimism should carry a health warning in this Roses match. The importance of the game has eclipsed the fond regrets of September and lured supporters of each side into an evanescent belief that their county might, indeed, prevail.The perils of such confidence were made plain as Lancashire lost seven wickets for 93 runs in the first 40 overs of this day’s play before eventually gaining a first-innings advantage of 43. Then as if to mock their own supporters’ pleasure at what was a notable revival, Yorkshire surrendered three prime batsmen before the deficit had been cleared. But the final session brought some balm to the anxieties of home supporters as Gary Ballance and Tom Kohler-Cadmore put on an unbroken 100 runs with the calmest and most assured batting of the match.Yet a statistical skeleton cannot reflect the full fluctuations of this second day nor can it properly convey what is at stake in the game. Should Lancashire lose, they will need to win their last game at Hampshire and hope other results have not sealed their fate by then. Should Yorkshire lose, they will need to win one of their last two games, at home to Hampshire or away to Worcestershire; quite probably they will need to win both. “I’m surprised to see you here, again,” said a member in Headingley’s Long Room before play began. “Well, you’ve turned up, as well,” came the fair replyThe stoicism was unremarkable; the Long Room was crowded. And at least those who turned up on this bright morning had some reward for their loyalty, albeit one with a bitter edge. For five of the six wickets that fell in the first 30 overs of the day were taken by Jack Brooks, whose obvious value to Yorkshire’s attack made it all the more painful that he will be leaving the county in a few weeks’ time. Brooks, who was 34 in June, will be joining Somerset after accepting a three-year contract, twelve months more than was on offer at Headingley.Yorkshire’s morning had begun perfectly when Karl Brown was caught down the leg side by Jonny Tattersall off Ben Coad’s first ball of the day, but hopes that Lancashire’s lead would be kept below three figures were wreathed in caution before Brooks came on at the Kirkstall Lane End. His first wicket, though, was a filthy affair. Receiving a ball well wide off the off stump Steven Croft aimed an ugly slash and was well taken at second slip by Adam Lyth who clutched the ball to his stomach.As though encouraged by a piece of cricket from which only Lyth emerged with much credit, Brooks settled into his work. Liam Livingstone lost his off stump when playing crookedly at one which came back off the seam and that was the prelude to the trio of lbws which removed Dane Vilas, Alex Davies and Josh Bohannon. Each delivery tracked back and struck the pad in line with middle stump; each batsman failed to cover the movement and was sent on his way by David Millns.The morning, then, belonged to Yorkshire but also, to a degree, to Davies, a cricketer who seems inspired by adversity. Lancashire’s opener only scored 29 runs off 58 balls in the session but every shot, whether attacking or defensive, was a declaration of defiance. Just before lunch he was joined by Bohannon, a player who is cut from similar cloth but Brooks took care of them both in the space of five overs after the resumption and Lancashire were then 175 for 6.Suddenly visiting supporters, who are attending this game in good numbers, realised that they may not have the comfort of any first-innings lead at all, but those worries were allayed largely by Keshav Maharaj, who launched sixes into the Kirkstall Lane and White Rose stands before whacking a third over the boundary in front of the Long Room. Maharaj’s 38 off 26 balls gave Lancashire a far smaller advantage than they might have envisaged at the start of the day, but it seemed substantial enough when Jeet Raval, Adam Lyth and Harry Brook were removed by Tom Bailey and Graham Onions inside the first 13 overs of Yorkshire’s innings.Now there was more anxiety in the Long Room; now there were yet more fears of another collapse at just the wrong time in the season. The gradient of the game had shifted again and now it seemed Lancashire might be chasing a paltry total. But Kohler-Cadmore, who is in special form, joined Ballance and the pair defended capably against Onions and Bailey before taking a succession of boundaries off Lancashire’s support bowlers.Ballance reached his fifty off 107 balls just before the close and they day ended with Yorkshire in the ascendant. But no one is taking bets it will last. Some prayers will be answered and others seemingly ignored before this match is done with us.

The allrounder injured his ankle during South Africa’s practice session on Tuesday

Liam Brickhill03-Oct-2018South Africa allrounder Wiaan Mulder has been ruled out of the remainder of the ODI series against Zimbabwe after injuring his ankle during practice on Tuesday. The injury appears to be in his left Achilles tendon, and Mulder has been withdrawn from South Africa’s squad for further assessment.”Wiaan felt some pain and discomfort in his left ankle at practice and has been withdrawn from the remainder of the ODI series,” South Africa team manager Mohammed Moosajee explained. “He will be assessed by an ankle and foot specialist in Johannesburg, who will be able to further assess the injury and give us a way forward in terms of the treatment and rehab strategy. The selectors will not name a replacement for the last ODI.”Mulder, 20, has only played seven ODIs for South Africa but had been expected to be a regular in their starting line-up this summer. He played in all five ODIs against Sri Lanka in August, and coach Ottis Gibson has voiced his support for giving his young allrounders extended runs in the side.

Yasir Shah has returned to the top ten after his 14-wicket haul, while Jonny Bairstow and Mominul Haque made gains in the batting rankings

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Nov-2018Kagiso Rabada has returned to the No. 1 spot in the ICC bowling rankings, moving above James Anderson after the England bowler sat out the third Test in Colombo. Anderson, who had claimed the top ranking in August after taking 9 for 43 against India at Lord’s, lost 10% of his points, falling behind Rababa, who is next in Test action against Pakistan in December.Yasir Shah has returned to the top ten, following his career-best 14-wicket haul in Pakistan’s victory over New Zealand in Dubai. Yasir is now ranked 10th, with Neil Wagner dropping to 13th in the world.There were also moves in the batting rankings, following match-defining hundreds from Jonny Bairstow, in Colombo, and Mominul Haque, in Chattogram. Bairstow moved up six places to 16th, while Mominul leapt 11 places to be ranked 24th in the world. Azhar Ali, who made 81 in Dubai, moved up three spots to 12th, while Kusal Mendis is now ranked No. 20 after making 86 in Colombo.Ben Stokes, who scored 99 runs and took 4 for 55 at the SCC as England completed a 3-0 series win, has moved up one place in the allrounder rankings to No. 5.

Forget being the world No. 1, being Pakistan’s best will do for the 32-year old legspinner

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Nov-2018Yasir Shah has only just recuperated from a hipbone injury, and is feeling his way back in since returning to full fitness after the series against Australia.Here in Dubai, with Pakistan needing to lift their game by several notches to level the series, he quickly understood the need to play a key role in giving his side a big lead. At the end of the third day, he had just completed his third ten-wicket haul in Tests.Astonishingly, he barely needed two sessions to get there. On either side of lunch on Monday, his spells of dazzling unplayability scythed through New Zealand in little over an hour; 83 balls separating the fall of Jeet Raval’s wicket, the first of the innings, to Trent Boult, the last. Yasir finished with 8 for 41, not to mention a run-out he played a major, if fortuitous, role in.”When I came [here] in the morning, I was thinking that I had to take 10 wickets in the match,” Yasir said. “I didn’t know that I would end up taking 10 wickets in a day. Now, I will try to help the team get those eight [second-innings] wickets as quickly as we can.”The other two came in the second innings with New Zealand following on. Raval was deceived in flight to be stumped, while Kane Williamson, the one batsman who had stood up to Pakistan in the first innings, received a pearler, a vicious side-spinner extracting a thin outside edge.”Of course I had a plan for each batsman, because every batsman has got their own weakness and strengths,” he said. “Against Australia, I was getting my rhythm back slowly because I was just coming back from injury. You need time to get your rhythm after an injury. Today, I bowled really well. I had worked hard in training. I think that’s one of the reasons. I bowled well in the last Test as well.”He conceded being the lead spinner in spin-friendly conditions added to the pressure on him. “Sometimes you do feel the pressure here. because spinners get more wickets. So everyone expects you to take wickets. So you need to work even harder.”He would not be drawn into discussions about whether he was among the best spin bowlers in the world currently. He insisted he was merely concentrating on improving his game to help his side win matches. Even so, the statistics make for some very flattering reading.Since Yasir made his debut, only two spinners, R Ashwin and Nathan Lyon, have taken more wickets than his 191. But they have both played significantly more matches than his 32, with Ashwin laying claim to 229 wickets from 43 matches, and Lyon 206 from 47. It is exalted company to keep, but Yasir isn’t allowing himself to get carried away.”It happens in cricket [having very successful days]. It’s part of the game. Sometimes you don’t get wickets even when you bowl well. Sometimes obviously you don’t bowl too well, but you get to learn from that.”Pakistan still need eight wickets before they can level the series against New Zealand, and if history is anything to go by, they will lean heavily on Yasir to help take them. There is no time for the world’s leading legspinner to put his feet up just yet.

With injuries and a fast, green pitch on offer, India could be going with no spin for the third time in their history, and second time under Kohli

Sidharth Monga in Perth13-Dec-2018India could, for only the third time in their history, go into a Test match without a specialist spinner. If they do so, in Perth, it could be the second time this year, both under Virat Kohli. The change is partly down to injury to R Ashwin, who was the joint-highest wicket-taker for India in their Adelaide win. However, there is a good chance India might not replace the spinner with a spinner because captain Virat Kohli has assessed the pitch to be hard and bouncy, with a lot of grass to boot.Bhuvneshwar Kumar becomes a frontrunner not just because of the green grass but also because he can bat a bit. Ashwin scored a crucial 25 in Adelaide in partnership with Cheteshwar Pujara to shore India up in the first innings. The choice is between Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar.India are having to tinker with their winning combination from Adelaide with Rohit Sharma and Ashwin ruled out with back and abdominal injuries respectively. Prithvi Shaw is yet to recover from the ankle injury he picked up during the warm-up game in Sydney.Jadeja, Umesh and Bhuvneshwar were drafted into the XIII named for the second Test.Hanuma Vihari is the likely like-for-like replacement for the sixth batsman, Rohit. The incumbent openers, KL Rahul and M Vijay, should retain their spots.The green pitch, “the bounciest possible” according to the curator, has everyone talking, and there has to be a temptation to play a fourth quick. However, there might also be grounds for playing a bowler who can bat. Bhuvneshwar becomes the favourite in that case.India had played four fast bowlers plus Hardik Pandya on the brutish Johannesburg surface earlier this year, winning the Test after having lost the series. Kohli was reminded of that Test when he looked at the pitch at the new Perth Stadium, but said he had never played on anything like the Wanderers track. That experience, he said, also gave them belief – “we are excited more than nervous looking at such pitches” – they can double the lead in Perth. Holders of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, they could book its return flight if they do so.Squad: Virat Kohli (capt), M Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav

At the end of a Test season in which he has significantly underwhelmed, Starc will be striving to place vivid memories in the mind of the coach in order to seal an Ashes spot

Daniel Brettig30-Jan-2019Among the 11 Australian cricketers hoping to make an advance booking on their spot in the Ashes touring party with a striking performance against Sri Lanka at Manuka Oval this week, no-one will be striving more fervently to place vivid memories in the mind of the coach Justin Langer than Mitchell Starc.At the end of a Test season in which he has significantly underwhelmed, whether in unsympathetic UAE conditions or more helpful climes at home, Starc was subject to the closest of scrutiny from Langer and the selector-on-duty Greg Chappell at Australia’s major training session before the inaugural Canberra Test.Each stood sternly behind the net where the left-armer and the possible allrounder debutant Marcus Stoinis bowled in tandem, trying to impress ahead of a match that will be as fascinating for individual storylines as for whether Australia can advance to a 2-0 series win against modest opposition.The prospect of a flat Manuka surface, with the curator Brad Van Dam suggesting the home side’s top six will never get a better opportunity this summer to make a century, may not augur too well for Starc’s chances of a memorable match. But the Oval’s traditional capacity to produce an abrasive surface conducive to reverse swing will certainly aid his cause after five home Tests in which the old ball has more or less stayed gun-barrel straight.While Starc’s voice has been conspicuous by his absence from numerous media calls this season, who better to talk him up two days out from the Test than Nathan Lyon, the finger spinner who has benefited from the footmarks generated by the spearhead’s hefty follow-through for much of the past eight years since both played their first Tests in 2011.”I don’t understand all the criticism, to be honest,” Lyon said. “Mitch is one of my best mates and I back him to the hilt and back and as I have said in press conferences before, if you want to take my gear and go face him in the nets, go for it. He is bowling fast, he is moving it, he had the ball reversing in the nets. Mitch is a good fella and an X-Factor. He has 200 Test wickets so if anyone can get 200 Test wickets you must know what you are doing and you must be confident.”So, I back Mitchell to come out and have a massive role for us in every game he comes out to play for Australia. I am looking forward to watching him this week and hopefully bowling really well with him in partnerships because that’s the biggest key: if we can bowl well in partnerships it doesn’t matter who it is, hopefully we will take 20 wickets and each and every player will enjoy each and everyone’s success as well. So, yeah, Mitch has got all of my support and everyone’s support in that change room so it is pretty unfair criticism in my eyes.”Criticism or not, the questions of what Australia will require in England later this year – and what they lacked until far too late in the 2015 Ashes series – cannot be overlooked. Though Starc led Australia’s wicket-takers in the series with 18, many of these were taken at times after a match was decided, and his economy rate of 3.85 did not help the then captain Michael Clarke to exert any scoring pressure on the home side’s batsmen.It was not until the final Test of the series at the Oval, after the Ashes had returned to English hands via the Australian batsmen’s slaughterhouse of Trent Bridge, where the belated inclusion of Peter Siddle added economy and balance to the attack. Starc went wicketless in that match, while Siddle scooped overall figures of 6 for 67 to leave many asking why he had not been trusted to control the Dukes ball earlier on.Four years later and Siddle remains a part of Australia’s squad, arriving to train at Manuka straight from Canberra airport the morning after he played a Big Bash League match for Adelaide Strikers in Sydney. It appears likely that Siddle will continue to be in reserve this week, but it is equally clear that he is being kept in mind for the Ashes, leaving Starc and Jhye Richardson among the incumbents needing to leave an impression on Langer in particular. Lyon, of course, was not getting ahead of himself, but it will be difficult for minds not to wander towards the urn and the place of Starc in Australia’s planning to keep it.”Coming down to Canberra, playing the first-ever Test match here and coming off a great win, I think it’s important that we keep the momentum rolling so we can keep looking forward,” Lyon said. “There’s a lot of water to cross under the bridge before we even start thinking about the Ashes. There’s white-ball cricket around the corner but also Shield cricket. It’s not our last game before the Ashes, we’re going to have great prep leading up to the Ashes but I’m not even considering that at the moment.””Our preparation for every Test this summer has been outstanding, India outplayed us, but we knew coming up to Brisbane if we had our solid preparation, ticked all the boxes we can control then hopefully we will get the result, and we were fortunate enough that we had Pat Cummins in our side and he played an exceptional role up there. We’re very satisfied with the preparation we’re getting. The training session I’ve just come from is one of the best I’ve had all year.”

South Africa no longer have the pressure of winning the series upon them, and are free to experiment ahead of the World Cup

The Preview by Andrew Fidel Fernando12-Mar-2019

Big Picture

When Sri Lanka last won an ODI, farming had not been invented, and woolly mammoths were roaming the planet. Don’t look it up on Statsguru, but that is what it feels like. Every recent series plays out the same way. The captain – generally there is a new one every couple of series – arrives confident that Sri Lanka’s long-standing one-day problems have been sorted. They are sure that the last clot of losses has been learned from, and that the injection of new personnel will bring fresh energy.Then they get out on to the field and players who had been in form are no longer in form, players who had been out of form are doubling down on their bad form, and players who are constantly threatening to get into decent form keep threatening without actually quite getting there. They have lost each of the six ODIs they have played this year. Of their last 10 completed matches, they have won only one.This terrible run of ODI results over the past three years has cost various Sri Lanka captains their jobs. Upul Tharanga, Thisara Perera, Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews have all been jettisoned as captain in the last two years. With no wins from seven attempts under his leadership, it is not a stretch to say that Lasith Malinga’s job is also now on the line. If Sri Lanka don’t snap the losing streak, there’s a chance they go to the World Cup with a new captain.South Africa, meanwhile, no longer have the pressure of winning the series upon them, and are free to experiment with their XI. There are World Cup spots still up for grabs, and the middle order batting – while pretty good in Durban – still has a little room for improvement. Questions that require answers include: Is Dale Steyn up to another World Cup? Can they dream of life beyond Hashim Amla (who will miss this match due to personal reasons)? Is Anrich Nortje worth investing in?With two ODIs to go before the selectors have to name the World Cup squad, there is more riding on these dead rubbers than usual.

Form guide

South Africa WWWWL (completed matches, most recent first)
Sri LankaLLLLL

In the spotlight

Aiden Markram has been decidedly modest in ODIs so far, having made only one fifty from 16 innings. But in domestic List A cricket this season, the man has been in such scorching form, that it would be almost unthinkable for the selectors to leave him out of the XI on Wednesday. In his last three matches for the Titans, Markram has hit 169, 139 and 85 – the second of those scores coming in a world-record sixth-wicket List A stand with Farhaan Behardien. If Markram can carry that form through into international one-day cricket, South Africa will feel they have options in their top order.Though often ineffective in ODIs last year, Kusal Mendis finally seems to be regaining his footing in the format, hitting 60 in the first one-dayer, then 41 in the third. With Sri Lanka’s batting order now substantially weakened (Kusal Perera has joined Angelo Mathews on the hamstring injury list), there is a little extra responsibility on Kusal Mendis – something he generally relishes.Dale Steyn bowls•Getty Images

Team news

South Africa will be tempted to rest Kagiso Rabada and Imran Tahir for the dead rubber, while bringing Steyn into the fold for the first time in the series. JP Duminy may enter the XI as well.South Africa (possible): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Aiden Markram, 3 Faf du Plessis (capt.), 4 Rassie van der Dussen, 5 JP Duminy, 6 David Miller, 7 Andile Phehlukwayo, 8 Dale Steyn, 9 Anrich Nortje, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Tabraiz ShamsiWith Kusal Perera now out of the frame, Angelo Perera may have a chance to play his first ODI in almost three years.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 2 Avishka Fernando, 3 Angelo Perera, 4 Oshada Fernando, 5 Kusal Mendis, 6 Kamindu Mendis, 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Isuru Udana, 9 Akila Dananjaya, 10 Lasith Malinga (capt.), 11 Kasun Rajitha

Pitch and conditions

The weather in Port Elizabeth is forecast to be cloudy at times, but no rain is expected. The pitch generally has something in it for the spinners.

Stats and trivia

• South Africa have now won their last five bilateral ODI series, defeating Zimbabwe, Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka twice.
  
• Sri Lanka, meanwhile, last won a bilateral ODI series in mid-2016, against Ireland. There have been two wins in tri-nations tournaments since, however. Both of those tournaments have featured low-ranked teams.
  
• In three previous ODIs against Sri Lanka, Markram averages 7.66, with a high score of 20. Those games had been in Sri Lanka, however.

Former coach claims damages of more than US$300,000 following sacking in September 2016

Colin Benjamin18-Mar-2019Cricket West Indies has been forced to admit liability in a case brought against them by Phil Simmons for unfair dismissal as West Indies coach.Simmons, the current Afghanistan coach, has claimed damages of more than US$300,000 with a final sum to be agreed at a court date in Antigua on March 26. With legal costs included, the episode could cost CWI US$400,000 or more.Simmons was sacked in September 2016 having complained publically about “interference from outside” in the selection of sides. The timing of the news could cause considerable embarrassment and, perhaps, damage to the current CWI president, Dave Cameron. It comes as Cameron stands for re-election for the position and supports the claims of his rival, Ricky Skerritt, that he has squandered large sums of money during his tenure.”If Cameron wants to talk about turmoil, perhaps he can explain why former head coaches, Ottis Gibson, Phil Simmons, and the several others who Cameron hastily and summarily dismissed, from both the men’s and women’s teams, have collectively cost CWI well over US $1million?” Skerritt, who is a CWI board member, asked only last month.He also alleges that Cameron led the board to believe there would be no costs incurred in Simmons’ dismissal as it was made “for cause”. The election takes place on March 24.ESPNcricinfo also understands that Cameron recently asked the board to increase his monthly expenses from US$2,000 to US$10,000 a month. The board eventually agreed a rise to US$6,000 but discontent at the cost of his presidential office, travel and staff – now understood to cost somewhere approaching US$500,000 a year – is rising. His entertainment costs alone are understood to be over US$100,000.CWI turns over somewhere around US$40-45million per annum and has, at times over the last year or two, been obliged to delay payments to staff due to cash-flow issues. Gibson, another West Indies coach discarded before the end of his contract, previously settled his case against CWI for a sum understood to be over US$300,000.Simmons is being represented by Antiguan based Queen’s Counsel E. Ann Henry and Barbadian lawyers Leslie F. Haynes Q.C and former cricket commentator Donna Symmonds in the case at the Industrial Court in Antigua.Sir Viv Richards, who remains hugely influential in the Caribbean and beyond, joined the election debate on Saturday when he released a video on his Instagram account endorsing Skerritt for president and suggesting he would “bring respectability back to that position”.Sir Viv joins St Vincent and Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, in endorsing Skerritt. Gonsalves is also chairman of the CARICOM sub-committee on cricket.Cameron has been approached by ESPNcricinfo for comment.