Sports Bulletin

Bipin Dani The International Cricket Council (ICC) has added four women cricketers in their match officials’ panels. All four women have been added to the ICC's Development panel.  Out of these four women cricketers, Nimali Perera and Dedunu de Silva will act as umpires, and Michelle Perera and Vanessa De Silva are the match-referees. Incidentally, Dedunu de Silva and Vaneesa de Silva have played for the national team and other two- Nimali Perera and Michelle have played for the "A" team. Janani Narayanan, Vrinda Rathi, G. S. Lakshmi (India), Shivani Mishra (India-born, now based in Qatar) are few of the other Asian women in the ICC panel of umpires and match referee. They have been getting a chance to officiate in the men's matches. More to learn Officiating in the men's match will give more confidence, says Nimali Perera. "Doing men's matches gives me more confidence. The game is so hard, we have to concentrate more in men's matches than in women's", she said. "It is rather more difficult to officiate in a men's match but it gives us a lot of experience and a lot more to learn", she added. Umpiring is rather harder than playing in a match. One wrong decision can change the entire match", she added.

Sports Bulletin Report Dubai (UAE):-Pakistan opener Abdullah Shafique and Sri Lanka spinner Prabath Jayasuriya continue to soar in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings after splendid performances in the first Test of their ICC World Test Championship series in Galle. Abdullah, who was declared Player of the Match for his second innings knock of 160 and has amassed 720 runs in his first six Tests, advanced 23 slots to reach 16th position with a Pakistan record of 671 rating points. The previous best by a Pakistan batter after six Tests was Saeed Ahmed’s 614 rating points and only two batters have ever had more points after six Tests – Sunil Gavaskar (692) and Donald Bradman (687). Left-arm spinner Jayasuriya, whose 21 wickets rank him joint-third in terms of most wickets after two Tests, has moved up 11 places to 44th position with 481 rating points, the fourth highest by any bowler after two Tests. Narendra Hirwani (519), Alec Bedser (500) and Bob Massie (494) had higher rating points after two Tests. Pakistan captain Babar Azam’s scores of 119 and 55 see him overtake Australia’s Steve Smith to reach a career high third ranking with a career best rating of 874 points. Babar is currently top ranked in both ODIs and T20Is and remains the only batter in the top 10 of all three lists. Fast bowler Shaheen Afridi is another Pakistan player to gain in the latest weekly update, moving up one place to a career best-equaling third position after grabbing four wickets in the first innings. Hasan Ali and Yasir Shah have gained a slot each to reach 13th and 32nd positions, respectively. Sri Lanka’s Dinesh Chandimal has gained 11 slots to reach 18th position after scores of 76 and 94 not out while Kusal Mendis (up two places to 47th) and Oshada Fernando (up 11 places to 58th) too have made headway in the Test rankings. In the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s ODI Player Rankings, South Africa’s Quinton de Kock has progressed two places to fourth after his 92 not out in the third match against England that was washed out by rain, ending the series at 1-1. England fast bowler David Willey has moved up to 23rd position among bowlers. Performances in the first two matches of the West Indies versus India series were also considered in the latest weekly update. India captain Shikhar Dhawan, who scored a match-winning 97 in the first ODI, has moved up one place to joint-13th while Shreyas Iyer is up 20 places to joint-54th among batters. Fast bowler Mohammad Siraj is in the top 100. For the West Indies, opener Shai Hope is up three places to 12th after his valiant 115 in the second match while fast bowler Alzarri Joseph has gained two places to reach 16th position after grabbing two wickets each in both matches. In the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings, New Zealand players Glenn Phillips (up three places to joint-27th among batters) and fast bowler Lockie Ferguson (up five places to 35th among bowlers) have made notable progress, as have Ireland bowlers Mark Adair and Joshua Little, who are in 43rd and 44th positions, respectively.

Sports Bulletin Report Dubai (UAE):-India have been fined 20 per cent of their match fee for maintaining a slow over-rate against the West Indies in the first ODI in Port of Spain on Friday. Richie Richardson of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees imposed the sanction after India were ruled to be one over short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration. In accordance with Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to minimum over-rate offences, players are fined 20 per cent of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time. India captain Shikhar Dhawan plead guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing. On-field umpires Joel Wilson and Leslie Reifer, third umpire Gregory Brathwaite and fourth umpire Nigel Duguid leveled the charge.

Sports Bulletin Report Dubai (UAE):-Imran Khwaja, Pankaj Khimji and Neil Speight have been elected as ICC Associate Member Directors following an election process at the ICC Annual Conference in Birmingham, UK. In line with the Associate Members’ Meeting Terms of Reference, the voting was conducted at the Formal Associate Members meeting by way of a weighted secret ballot in which all voters (each Voting Associate Member and each Regional Representative) have three votes. Imran Khwaja and Neil Speight have both been re-elected as Associate Member representatives on the Board, with Pankaj Khimji replacing Mahinda Vallipuram. Khimji is the Chairman of the Oman Cricket Board and is a Vice President of the Asian Cricket Council. ICC Chair Greg Barclay commented on the election: “I would like to welcome the elected Associate Member Directors onto the Board for the next term. I look forward to working with Imran, Pankaj and Neil to continue to push the sport forward by delivering the strategy and growing the game so that more people can enjoy cricket across the world.”

Sports Bulletin Report Dubai (UAE):-South Africa batter Rassie van der Dussen has attained a career-best third position in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s ODI Player Rankings after his superb century in the first ODI against England at Chester-le-Street on Tuesday. The 33-year-old has gained three slots after smashing 134 off 117 balls against England, for which he was named Player of the Match. Van der Dussen has also been in the top five in T20Is, ranked fourth in June last year. Aiden Markram, who also played an important part in the 62-run win for South Africa, has moved up 15 slots to 61st after his knock of 77 while opener Janneman Malan is up one place to joint-35th with a score of 57. David Miller’s 24 runs see him move up three places to 24th. Fast bowler Anrich Nortje has reached 61st position, his haul of four for 53 lifting him 18 slots. For England, Jason Roy has moved up one slot to 16th position among batters after scoring 43 against South Africa and 41 in the last match of the series against India. His team-mate David Willey has moved up two slots to 35th among bowlers. India’s architects of an impressive five-wicket win in Manchester that helped clinch the series against England, have surged up the rankings too. Rishabh Pant’s unbeaten 125 off 113 balls has lifted him 25 places to 52nd while Hardik Pandya has progressed from 50th to 42nd after his 55-ball 71. Pandya is also up 25 places to 70th among bowlers for his haul of four 24 while leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has advanced four places to reach 16th position after grabbing three for 60. Others to move up the ODI rankings for batters this week include Bangladesh’s Tamim Iqbal (up two places to 17th) and Liton Das (up two places to 30th), West Indies’ Nicholas Pooran (up four places to joint-35th), Scotland’s Calum MacLeod (up three places to 48th) and Namibia’s Gerhard Erasmus (up 21 places to 86th). The list of bowlers sees Jasprit Bumrah cede top place to New Zealand’s Trent Boult after missing the last match, while Matt Henry has moved up one place to seventh. West Indies fast bowler Alazarri Joseph (up three places to 18th), New Zealand spinner Mitchell Santner (up two places to 23rd), Nepal leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane (up six places to 33rd) and Scotland seamer Safyaan Sharif (up four places to 56th) are others to progress. In the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings, New Zealand batter Glenn Phillips has advanced five places to reach 30th position after his Player of the Match effort of 69 not out in the first match of their series against Ireland while fast bowler Lockie Ferguson has progressed 25 slots to 40th with a haul of four for 14.

Sports Bulletin Report ISLAMABAD:-Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has regained the top spot in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s ODI Player Rankings after a career-best haul of six for 19 that helped India romp to a 10-wicket victory in the first ODI against England at The Oval on Tuesday. Bumrah had lost the top spot to New Zealand’s Trent Boult in February 2020 after being No. 1 for most of the preceding two years. He has been at the top for a total of 730 days, more than any other Indian and the ninth-most in history. Bumrah, who has been No. 1 in T20Is in the past and is currently at a career-best third position in Tests, is only the second Indian fast bowler after Kapil Dev to be No. 1 in the ODI rankings. Maninder Singh, Anil Kumble and Ravindra Jadeja are the other India bowlers to have attained top ranking. Bumrah’s new-ball partner Mohammad Shami too has gained after grabbing three for 31 and playing his role in skittling England out for 110 in 25.2 overs. Shami has progressed three slots to reach joint-23rd position along with team-mate Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The Indian opening batting pair too have some improvement to show after taking the team through to their target in just 18.4 overs. Captain Rohit Sharma has bridged the gap with third-placed Virat Kohli to just one rating point after his brisk 76 not out while left-hander Shikhar Dhawan has inched up one slot to 12th position after his unbeaten 31. In the latest weekly rankings update that also considers performances in the first two Ireland versus New Zealand matches that are part of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League, and the first West Indies versus Bangladesh match, England captain Jos Buttler has moved up one slot to 24th after top-scoring for England with 30. Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal (up one place to 19th), New Zealand’s Tom Latham (up one place to 21st) and Ireland’s Harry Tector (up 10 places to 34th) are the others to move up the ODI rankings for batters while Bangladesh spinner Mehidy Hasan (up two places to sixth) and New Zealand fast bowler Lockie Ferguson (re-entered at 18th) are the other notable gainers among bowlers. In the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings, India batter Suryakumar Yadav has gained 44 slots to reach a career-best fifth position after his valiant 117 in the final match of a three-T20I series against England. Nicholas Pooran of the West Indies is up five places to eighth after a match-winning 74 not out in the final match of their series against Bangladesh. India seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has surged seven places to a career-best seventh position after a haul of three for 15 in the second T20I in Birmingham while Mehidy Hasan (up two places to 15th), England’s Chris Jordan (up six places to 18th) and India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (up two places to 19th) are others in the top 20. Harshal Patel (up 10 places to 23rd) and Bumrah (up six places to 27th) have also progressed. In the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings, Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne is up one place to seventh after his knock of 86 in the Galle Test against Australia. Angelo Mathews is up from 17th to 14th, Dinesh Chandimal has gone from 48th to 29th and Kusal Mendis from 56th to 49th. Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc is back in the top 10 after grabbing four wickets in the match while Sri Lanka’s debutant left-arm spinner Prabhath Jayasuriya has entered the bowlers’ rankings at an impressive 55th position after a Player of the Match haul of 12 wickets.

Sports Bulletin Report Dubai (UAE):-Captains Chamari Athapaththu of Sri Lanka and Harmanpreet Kaur of India have risen up in the MRF Tyres ICC Women’s ODI Player Rankings after the final match of their ICC Women’s Championship (IWC) series played in Pallekele. Athapaththu’s knock of 44 has helped her advance two slots to a career best-equaling eighth position, which she had first attained after an epic 178 off 143 balls against Australia in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in Bristol five years ago. Kaur has moved up one slot to 13th position, her Player of the Match effort of 75 helping her gain 12 rating points. Kaur, who finished with 119 runs and three wickets in India’s 3-0 win and was named Player of the Series, has also moved up eight slots to 71st among bowlers and four spots to 20th among all-rounders. Other India batters to move up in the rankings include opener Shafali Verma (up three places to 33rd), Yastika Bhatia (up one place to 45th) and Pooja Vastrakar (up eight places to 53rd). In the rankings for bowlers, Rajeshwari Gayakwad is up three places to joint-ninth after grabbing three for 36 while Meghna Singh (up four places to 43rd) and Vastrakar (up two places to joint-48th) have also advanced. Sri Lanka’s Harshitha Samarawickrama has moved up one place to 43rd among batters and Nilakshi de Silva has surged 10 places to 47th. Spinner Inoka Ranaweers continues her ascent in the bowling list, up five places to 16th with a haul of two for 22. In the latest weekly rankings update that also takes into account performances in the first match of South Africa’s ODI series in England, South Africa all-rounder Chloe Tryon has moved up 12 places to 22nd after scoring 88 runs in the match and Nadine de Klerk is up two places to 60th among bowlers. England’s Emma Lamb, who was named Player of the Match for her innings of 102, has progressed 76 places to 101st after just her third ODI while fast bowler Katherine Brunt is up three places to joint-ninth after taking three for 18. Spinner Charlie Dean has moved up to 31st position.

Sports Bulletin Report Dubai (UAE):-The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the winners of the ICC Player of the Month awards for June 2022 as England’s all-conquering Jonny Bairstow and South Africa’s batting force Marizanne Kapp. Bairstow is crowned following a month of memorable performances in his side’s 3-0 ICC World Test Championship (WTC) series victory against reigning champions New Zealand. Despite a quiet start at Lord’s, Bairstow produced an exhibition of explosive hitting to steal victory against the odds in the second Test, smashing the second fastest century ever registered by an English batter in the longest format. His exploits extended to the final match of the series, sealing the whitewash in equally explosive fashion with scores of 162 and 71 not out, which has since launched him up the MRF Tyres ICC Test Batter Rankings. Bairstow celebrates this award for the first time, and is voted the Men’s Player of the Month ahead of teammate Joe Root and Daryl Mitchell of New Zealand. This remarkable series of scores has even continued into July, where back-to-back centuries in his side’s Test victory against India saw them home in a record-breaking run chase. Bairstow’s continued dominance already lines him up as a potential contender for the ICC Men’s Player of the Month award for July. Farveez Maharoof, the former Sri Lanka international and ICC Player of the Month voting panel member, said:“Jonny played the pivotal role of the aggressor, and was instrumental in winning the series for England with his counterattacking knock which changed the complex of the series against the World Test Champions. These kinds of players are special in Test cricket, and in my opinion he fully deserves this recognition.” South Africa’s Kapp was selected the ICC Women’s Player of the Month, thanks to her solid and fierce resistance in the face of a hostile England bowling attack in the Test match at Taunton which secured her side a valuable draw. In what was her first Test match since 2014, Kapp came in with her side’s backs against the wall at 45 for four and produced a batting masterclass. She demonstrated her full repertoire of classy stroke-play on the way to scoring a national record of 150. Her resistance salvaged a respectable 284 for her team in the first innings, and while England set an imposing score in response, Kapp once again starred for her team with a score of 43 not out before rain curtailed play on the final day. In securing this month’s award, Kapp overcomes fellow nominees in compatriot Shabnim Ismail and England’s Nat Sciver, and is South Africa’s first ICC Women’s Player of the Month winner since Lizelle Lee was crowned in March 2021. On winning the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award for June, Kapp commented: ““It really means a lot for me to win the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award, especially being up against two absolutely brilliant players in Shabnim Ismail and Nat Sciver. “What made my first Test century so special was that, number one, our first Test match (in 2014) was an absolute nightmare. Then having to play another one after eight years where I had minimum preparation for the Test match because I was unwell and then finding my team in the position we were in at 45 for four, it is something that will stay with me throughout my career. “It’s definitely a highlight for me, especially with the wickets that fell at the other end and then having to bat with the tail as well, those partnerships are what also made it so special." Reflecting on the award, former England international and member of the voting panel Lydia Greenway commented: “Playing in just her second Test match, Kapp showed resilience and high levels of skill to keep South Africa in the fight. In a weakened South Africa team due to injury, Kapp showed why she is one of the best all-rounders in the world by taking responsibility with bat and ball.”

Sports Bulletin Report Dubai (UAE):=USA vice-captain Aaron Jones does not think the pressure of guiding his country to a first ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is enough, so he is heaping more on himself. The 27-year-old is the second leading run-scorer for the USA in both T20Is and ODIs and as a top-order batter is expecting to make big contributions to their totals. With today marking 100 days to go to the event in Australia, Jones and his side will come up against three new opponents in the T20I arena at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier B 2022 beginning their campaign against Jersey, before facing Singapore and hosts Zimbabwe. “I would say that I like to put a bit of pressure on myself as well. I think that brings out the best in me, so me being the vice-captain, I want to be the leading batsman in the team,” the right-hander said. “I always tend to tell myself that I need to do the job for the team. I just like to keep it as simple as possible. “I have my plans before I go into the game, obviously we know which bowlers we're going to face before we go into the game and stuff like that. I just keep it as simple as possible in the playing situation. “I'm feeling pretty good. The last couple of games I played, I scored some runs and we played Minor League back home, I got two good starts in the two games I played, so I’m definitely feeling in good form right now.” Despite self-inflicted pressure to lead from the front, Jones did not place himself on a pedestal as he made his way through the junior ranks in Barbados. The New York native moved to the Caribbean island aged four, taking up the country’s number one sport and balancing it alongside a love for football, or, as the Americans call it, soccer. He added: “For me personally, I never saw myself as superior to anybody or I never even thought I was really good at cricket. “But others, like my family members and my friends and coaches were always like telling me ‘oh you're so good, keep going.’ “Definitely when I scored runs, I felt good about myself as well. It was a bit of a choice for me in terms of playing soccer and cricket for the country around 12/13 years old. “And I thought I was better at cricket and I stuck to cricket, the rest is history basically.” With Jones’ roots both in the US and the Caribbean, he knows that, if his side were to reach a maiden T20 World Cup and expose themselves to more eyes on their game, some of those eyes would belong to friends. “It would definitely be a dream come true, I mean, the World Cup is the highest stage,” he said. “I don't think you can get any bigger than a World Cup as a professional cricketer. “So I definitely want to play in the next World Cup for sure, as long as we get through these qualifiers, it's going to be a dream come true. “I also have some friends playing in the World Cup as well. Obviously, I’ve grown up in the Caribbean so if we played against the West Indies, then I would be playing against some of my friends so that would be a good experience as well. “I played with some of them at school. The guys that are from Barbados, I played with them at youth levels and stuff like that. “And some of them I played against them in first-class cricket back home in the Caribbean and List A cricket and stuff like that too. "If we could get to World Cup so you get to the highest level of cricket, to compete with the West Indies, Australia, India, all the teams that are playing full member cricket for sure, it would open a lot of doors. “Not only for us but definitely the youngsters coming up in the USA. We know for sure that the USA is a big, big market in terms of fans that watch and support cricket. “So we really, truly, want to get to the next level for them and for the youngsters coming up behind us as well.”

Aamir Ali Janjua Dubai (UAE):-The countdown to ‘The Big Time’ has officially begun with Melbourne’s iconic Yarra River the backdrop for a city centre cricketing arena created to celebrate 100-days-to-go until Australia hosts the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup for the first time. Melbourne Cricket Ground’s hallowed turf took centre stage with the pitch relocated into the centre of Melbourne to mark 100 days to go until the world's best cricketers from 16 teams compete for the ultimate prize in T20 cricket. Australian International stars Aaron Finch, Georgia Wareham and Tayla Vlaeminck along with cricket legends Shane Watson, Waqar Younis and Morne Morkel teamed up with other Australian personalities to launch the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Trophy Tour, driven by Nissan. The Trophy Tour is set to visit 35 locations in 13 countries across four continents, more than ever before. The Men’s T20 World Cup trophy will make stops in Fiji, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, Japan, Namibia, Nepal, Singapore and Vanuatu for the first time, taking the sport to more fans in different countries to get a glimpse of T20 cricket’s ultimate prize. The Trophy Tour that is designed for anyone, anywhere at any time will enable fans to get involved from home with a 3D augmented reality filter, housed on the official T20 World Cup Facebook and Instagram channels. Fans are encouraged to get creative and show the world where you play cricket using the trophy filter. The best of the fan-generated images will be celebrated weekly and a lucky few will be rewarded with ICC Men’s T20 World Cup themed prizes. Beginning in Melbourne and circling the globe, the Trophy Tour will make its final stop in Geelong on 16 October for the opening match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 between 2014 Champions Sri Lanka and Namibia. Fans can follow the trophy’s journey around the world on the T20 World Cup’s social media channels or via the dedicated Trophy Tour section on the T20 World Cup website. Over 800,000 fans are anticipated to attend the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 with additional tickets to all matches released today, with the exception of the India and Pakistan match on October 23.  General allocation of tickets for this fixture were sold out within five minutes of going on public sale in February. Should more tickets become available for the fixture they will be released at a later date. ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice said: “With just 100 days to go until the start of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup there is a real sense of excitement ahead of the 16 teams coming together in Australia to compete for the ultimate prize in T20 cricket. “Celebrating the start of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Trophy Tour, driven by Nissan, is another important milestone in taking the Trophy to ten countries for the first time ever, once again showing our commitment to using the T20 format as vehicle to grow the game and to engage new fans across the world.” Australian men’s captain Aaron Finch said: “It’s an exciting time for cricket with so many world class teams coming out to play all around the country. Now that there’s just 100 days to go, you can feel the excitement building among the team about the prospect of playing in a home World Cup in front of our fans. “In a World Cup every game is a tough game, and anyone can beat anyone on their day so the white ball cricket we’ve got coming up over the next couple of months is going to be crucial to make sure we are ready come the first ball of the World Cup in October.” ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Trophy Tour, driven by Nissan, ambassador Shane Watson said: “As a player, there’s few things that can top playing in a home World Cup and I can’t wait to see the world’s best T20 players on the fast bouncy pitches in Australia. It’s going to be an incredible spectacle. “Leading up to the event, I’m also looking forward to taking the T20 World Cup trophy around our beautiful country to give fans the opportunity to be part of this massive cricket celebration.” Nissan Australia Managing Director, Adam Paterson said: “With 100 days until the first ball of the World Cup, Nissan is gearing up for a spectacular event across the country. We are proud to continue to play an important role in driving excitement and innovation, supporting the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Trophy Tour, driven by Nissan, with Nissan Ambassadors, Mel Jones and Mitchell Johnson behind the wheel.