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All the stories and reaction following the death of one of the game’s greatest

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Mar-2022March 30
As it happened – Shane Warne’s state memorial service
News – Shane Warne Stand unveiled as MCG crowd bids their hero an emotional farewell
March 29
Interviews – Tendulkar, Lara, Dravid, Jayawardene, Younis, Kirsten and Bell on the magic of facing Shane Warne
Video – Tendulkar: Warne could spin the ball from day one on Australian surfaces
Video – Lara: ‘Warne never gave up, he always produced that miracle delivery’
Video – Dravid on Warne: ‘What amazed me was the amount of time he spent discussing cricket’
Video – Shastri: ‘Warne’s knowledge of cricket was unreal’March 21
Video – Ponting: ‘Warnie would’ve said don’t sit back and do what you love’March 20
News – Shane Warne’s funeral takes place in MelbourneMarch 12
Shannon Gill – Warne’s magic was made for televisionMarch 10
Osman Samiuddin – What Shane Warne’s greatest deliveries tell usMarch 9
Photo feature – Goodbye, Hollywood: pictures of Warne’s life off the fieldMarch 7
Mark Nicholas – Warne gave us so much and he had so much more to give
News – ‘Dad, this doesn’t feel real’ – Shane Warne’s family speak of their pain and loss
March 6
Brydon Coverdale – In praise of Shane Warne, cricketing genius
News – Warne had chest pains before leaving Australia – Thai police
Ian Chappell – ‘People put down their beer every time Warne came on to bowl’
Reactions – Matthew Hayden – ‘Shane Warne mesmerised the best of the best’
Reactions – Brett Lee: ‘Every young kid that watched Test cricket wanted to be Warne’March 5
News – Great Southern Stand at MCG to be named after Shane Warne
Andrew Miller – Shane Warne: the showman who could do hard graft
Alex Malcolm – Everyone wanted to be ‘The King’
Mark Nicholas – ‘Warne never gave us someone he was not
Ian Chappell – Warnie was a generous, honest champion
Feature – Shane Warne’s greatest hits: bossing World Cups, to blindsiding England
Reaction – Border: Warne is the Bradman of legspin
Reaction – Kumble: ‘Next generation will miss experience he had to offer’
Reaction – Jadeja: ‘Thankful to Warne for providing me the IPL platform in 2008’
March 4
News – Shane Warne dies aged 52
As it happened – Tributes and reaction
Reactions – Warne’s death leaves cricket fraternity ‘shocked and gutted’
Timeline – The highs and lows of Shane Warne’s cricketing career
Stats from the archive – A magician and a match-winner
In photos – Remembering Shane Warne
Reaction – Cummins: ‘Rest in peace, King’
Reaction – Root: Warne ‘loved the game of cricket and was a joy to be around’

Jharkhand cricketer Santosh Lal, known as the man who taught MS Dhoni how to play the helicopter shot, has died aged 29 of pancreatitis

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-2013Jharkhand cricketer Santosh Lal, known as the man who taught MS Dhoni how to play the helicopter shot, has died aged 29 of pancreatitis. He was a middle-order batsman and a medium-pacer who played eight first-class matches.Lal was a childhood friend of MS Dhoni and played alongside the Indian captain for Bihar and Jharkhand in a seven-year career that ended in 2010. He had been moved to Delhi for treatment earlier this week, after first being admitted to a Ranchi hospital last week due to stomach pain. Lal is survived by his parents, wife and a three-year-old daughter.

The Australia captain does not expect many players to withdraw but will support anyone who does

AAP13-Jan-2022Pat Cummins believes the vast majority of Australia’s Test squad will travel to Pakistan but the skipper fully understands if any team-mates opt out of the tour.Cricket Australia is yet to press players for a final decision regarding the multi-format series in Pakistan, which is slated to begin on March 3 with a Test in Karachi.But selectors have started to thrash out plans for a busy couple of months, when Australia’s white-ball series against New Zealand and Sri Lanka will be quickly followed by the Pakistan tour then the IPL.Players and staff have been given a preliminary briefing about security measures in Pakistan before Australia’s first tour of the nation since 1998.Related

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“Still a bit to work through…but at this stage it’s all looking really positive,” Cummins said. “The amount of work the PCB has put into it is fantastic.”It’s shaping up as, I think just about everyone – if not all – will go. If some players need to make a choice, it’s absolutely fine that they won’t be there. Still got a bit of water to go under the bridge, a bit more info to gather and get around to everyone.”In February, Australia’s best players will likely be split into a white-ball squad at home and a Test touring party in Pakistan. Cummins is concerned about bubble fatigue, knowing freedoms for players will likely continue to be restricted because of Covid-19.”We’re two years in, so we’ve learned a lot,” he said. “But it also means probably some players are further along their tether. It’s unprecedented times, we just have to make sure we look after each other. Conversations are happening. The selectors have been great along with the coaching staff.”This summer marks the first time Cummins has donned the baggy green since losing to India a year ago, while it is the first five-Test series during the Covid-19 era.Cummins said he doubted whether the rivals would get through five Tests, especially after Travis Head contracted coronavirus.”And just about everyone I know in Sydney has Covid,” Cummins said. “We’ve been tested just about every day for the last 20 days. It’s just been fantastic that we’ve got through the series.”

Pakistan captain Misbah-Ul-Haq took a harsh view of Denesh Ramdin’s actions during the last ball of the ninth over at The Oval, labelling the wicketkeeper’s ruse “not in the spirit of the game”.

Andrew Fidel Fernando at The Oval07-Jun-2013Pakistan captain Misbah-Ul-Haq took a harsh view of Denesh Ramdin’s actions during the last ball of the ninth over at The Oval, labelling the wicketkeeper’s ruse “not in the spirit of the game”.Misbah bottom-edged a Kemar Roach delivery to Ramdin, who initially seemed to have snaffled the chance, but lost control of the ball falling forward, and it slipped out of his gloves onto the turf. But instead of making his mistake obvious to the umpire or his team-mates, Ramdin simply picked up the ball and threw it in the direction of the square leg umpire, before joining his team-mates in the celebratory huddle.Misbah turned to the dressing room, but square leg umpire Nigel Llong alerted the third umpire, and the replay revealed the chance had been dropped. The batsman, who had not scored at the time, went on to make 96 not out.”What can I say about that?” Misbah said when asked about the catch after the match. “I think he should have told them what happened, but I don’t know what he was thinking at that time. I would not be very happy if my wicketkeeper did that.”If we don’t know anything, then it’s fine, but if you know clearly that it’s not a catch, you should not claim that because it’s not in the spirit of the game.”West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo vouched for and defended his wicketkeeper, whom he says, does not feel he acted dishonestly. According to MCC’s Law 32, a batsman can only be caught if the fielder obtains complete control over the ball and his movement.”Denesh honestly thought he had control of the ball,” Bravo said. “By rights the umpire had another look and the replay showed he did not. So we don’t play the game like that. History shows we’ve never had anything negative against us unlike other teams.”Unfortunately, he did not catch it. He’s a very honest player, and as I said, history shows if you check the records that we don’t have any stigma or negatives around us as a team. We have been true in our cricket careers and history has shown that we play the game in true spirit of the way it should be played. I don’t think we did something like this deliberately.”Roach said he had also thought it was a clean catch, but was philosophical about the lost chance, which would have given him his fourth wicket of the morning, and left the opposition 17 for 4.”I thought he caught it. I really thought he caught it,” Roach said. “But the square umpire thought differently. That’s an issue for them to deal with, and we’ll see what plays out from here. You make mistakes. No one goes to drop a catch, but it happens, so you just have to accept it and move on and be professional about it.”

Ashley Giles’ first game in charge of England’s ODI side ended in a convincing defeat against India A in Delhi in the first of two warm-up matches ahead of the one-day series

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jan-2013
ScorecardAshley Giles’ first competitive match in charge of England’s one-day side ended in defeat•Getty Images

Ashley Giles’ first game in charge of England’s ODI side ended in a convincing defeat against India A in Delhi in the first of two warm-up matches ahead of the one-day series.Giles named Ian Bell, with whom he has had a close association at Warwickshire, to open the England innings with Alastair Cook standing down from the opening match with a heavy cold. The opportunity to open the innings introduced what could be perceived as a straight shoot-out for the role with Kevin Pietersen.Bell responded with 91 from 89 balls to strengthen the possibility that he will be Cook’s opening partner in the first ODI in Nagpur on Friday, with Pietersen batting at No. 3 in the absence of Jonathan Trott. Hgave chances on 21 and 35 and had they been taken England’s plight would have been considerably worse.Bell’s response was designed to hearten England’s new one-day coach during an otherwise dismal batting display on a cold, foggy day in which England collapsed to 72 for 6 in search of a target of 229 in 39 overs and eventually lost by 53 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method.In a match reduced to 39 overs because of bad light, England were up against it from the moment that the Tamil Nadu opening pair, Abhinav Mukund and M Vijay assembled a century opening stand.Mukund, known to England after playing for India in their Test defeats at Lord’s and Trent Bridge in 2011, famously once put on 462 with Vijay for Tamil Nadu in a Ranji Trophy match, only two runs away from the world record, but on this occasion 118 in 24 overs was enough to deflate England.James Tredwell, who can anticipate a leading role in the five-match ODI series in the absence of his fellow offspinner, Graeme Swann, then had Mukund stumped for 57. Samit Patel bowled Vijay for 76 from 75 balls but an unbeaten half-century from Maharashtra’s Kedar Jadhav, maintained the impetus.England’s prize scalp of Pietersen fell to Sreesanth, who was making a much-publicised reappearance after two toe operations which threatened to end his career and which confined him to a wheelchair for several months.As Bell battled on, England then lost five wickets in nine overs. Jalaj Saxena’s offbreaks soon accounted for Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler and Buttler’s Somerset team-mate, Craig Kieswetter, found no immediate release from a shaky year in an England shirt when he fell for a fifth-ball duck, medium-pacer Mohit Sharma having him caught at the wicket.Kieswetter’s ODI place is assured in the absence of his fellow wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow for personal reasons, but if England become fearful about the reliability of their batting order, Buttler could face competition for the final batting place from Joe Root.England switch from the Model Sports Complex to the Feroz Shah Kotla to face Delhi in the second warm-up game on Tuesday.

Nepalese legspinner awaiting clearance to play for Oval Invincibles

Matt Roller19-Jul-2021
Sandeep Lamichhane is a doubt for the opening games of the Hundred due to visa issues.Lamichhane, the Nepalese legspinner, is due to play for Oval Invincibles in the competition on a £60,000 deal but his availability is now uncertain. He had also been due to play for Worcestershire in the Vitality Blast earlier in the summer but was forced to pull out of his deal shortly before the tournament after delays in his visa’s approval.Lamichhane’s agent confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that he has arrived in the UK and that Monday was the ninth day of a mandatory 10-day quarantine period he spent in a government-approved hotel, but that despite being allowed into the country on a Tier 5 visa, he is not permitted to play in the Hundred as things stand.”At the moment, we’re unsure,” Sam Billings, the Invincibles’ men’s captain, said. “I obviously heard that today and fingers crossed he can get here. It’s been a difficult time for a lot of players with the various restrictions and things around the world. Hopefully that can get resolved [because] he’s a special talent. If not, back to the drawing board.”At this stage, the Invincibles are expected to field only two of their permitted three overseas players in their opening game against Manchester Originals on Thursday night, with Colin Ingram and Sunil Narine both in London and available for selection.ESPNcricinfo understands that Tabraiz Shamsi, the South African left-arm wristspinner who is No. 1 in the ICC’s T20I bowling rankings, has been lined up as a potential replacement in the event that Lamichhane is ruled out of the tournament altogether.

Opener was high on Arthur’s wish list in new role as club’s head of cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Dec-2021Shan Masood will join Derbyshire as an overseas player after being recruited by former Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur for the 2022 county season.Left-handed opener Masood played under Arthur during the latter’s three-year tenure as Pakistan head coach from 2016-19 and was a key target for Arthur upon being appointed as Derbyshire head of cricket last month following a stint as Sri Lanka head coach which started in early 2020.”Playing county cricket in England is something I’ve always wanted to do, so when Mickey approached me to join Derbyshire, I jumped at the chance,” the 32-year-old Masood said. “He’s perhaps been the greatest influence in my career and I’m looking forward to working with him again at Derbyshire.Related

• Keith Barker signs two-year contract extension with Hampshire

• Will Young joins Northamptonshire for 2022 season

• Pakistan have a white-ball selection problem

• County ins and outs 2021-22

• Mickey Arthur to move to Derbyshire after end of Sri Lanka stint

“It’s an exciting time for the club and hopefully I can contribute at the top of the order and use my experience to help the younger players in their development.”Masood has made 25 Test appearances for Pakistan, scoring four centuries – including 156 against England at Emirates Old Trafford in 2020 – and has six Test fifties to his name. Despite an impressive record in List A matches in Pakistan, Masood has played only five ODIs.In T20s, he captained the Multan Sultans side which topped the PSL table before being knocked out during the play-off stages in 2020 and was part of the team which won the 2021 PSL title last June.Masood first played in England early in his career, scoring a Stamford School-record 1,237 runs at an average of 103 in 2009, and he played three first-class matches for Durham University.He will be available for all formats throughout Derbyshire’s 2022 campaign, starting with their first LV= County Championship fixture in April.Ryan Duckett, Derbyshire’s chief executive, said: “Shan is an immensely talented batter and was a key target for head of cricket, Mickey Arthur, in his plans to develop the Derbyshire squad.”He knows Mickey’s standards and what is expected both in training and out in the middle and I’m looking forward to seeing what his experience brings to Derbyshire.”

The former BCCI women’s cricket head details the areas that need urgent attention

Shamya Dasgupta29-Jun-2021Women’s cricket in India has been making headlines since India made the finals of the 2017 50-over World Cup and the 2020 T20 World Cup. By the end of 2021, India would have played two Tests after a gap of almost seven years: One just ended, in England, and there’s another lined up, a pink-ball Test – the second for women – in Australia in September. The BCCI has also been tapping talent with the T20 Challenge that is played alongside the IPL playoffs’ week every year.All of that would make it appear that women’s cricket in India is heading in the right direction. However, Saba Karim, who was until December the BCCI’s general manager for cricket operations, feels that the board needs to make the administration of the women’s game more professional and have a plan that is separate from that for men’s cricket. Only then, he says, can women’s cricket grow faster.Related

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“It is a good start, but there needs to be a solid plan, a plan different to that for the boys and men, for things to move forward and for us to build on it,” Karim said in a chat with ESPNcricinfo. “I feel the way to go forward is to make it much more professional, and growth of women’s cricket has to be different from boys’ cricket, and the planning has to be different. One has to have a different plan, a constructive plan, with lots of outreach programmes.”While Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jhulan Goswami Smriti Mandhana and a couple of others are household names in India, Karim said the pathway for young women to move from the lowest rungs to the top are yet to be properly put in place. “In India, we don’t have many girls who come and play, even now. One has to ensure that their passage from entering the system to the time they exit is without obstacles,” he said. “For instance, for a boy to walk two kilometres to play cricket, or to go to school, is easy. But it’s not for a girl. So how do we remove that? How do we make it more accessible?”Also, the BCCI has Under-19 and Under-23 cricket, but 40-50% of the girls end up playing [both] Under-19 and Under-23 for certain teams, because there aren’t too many girls playing. We had to have separate calendars so there was no clash. That isn’t the case with the boys, because there are so many players and there is so much talent. So the plan for women has to be different.”When India played the Bristol Test earlier this month, it wasn’t just the team’s first Test match in seven years. It was also the first long-format game the players had been involved in in years, with the BCCI discontinuing its women’s domestic first-class competition after the 2017-18 season.During Karim’s three-year term in the BCCI, domestic and women’s cricket were among his primary responsibilities, his mandate being to draw up roadmaps and structures for holistic development. There was the occasional chat at the BCCI – run by the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) for the best part of his time there – about women’s cricket, Karim said, but nothing that suggested a revival of the first-class and Test formats so soon.”Only England and Australia had Test matches, and no country was very keen to play, there were lots of constraints: lots of women cricketers are not professionals, getting out for so many days was a problem; not just in India, but elsewhere too,” Karim said. “I think that’s why the BCCI took the decision not to have Test matches, and therefore no first-class tournament.”There were discussions, there were talks, between some of the other nations too. More so after England and Australia introduced the points-system-based multi-format Ashes. This gained momentum in India too; the BCCI wanted to be in that position. I am glad it has happened. But to sustain it, we need multi-day cricket for women in the domestic circuit also. It might start from the Under-23 level, and take it up to the seniors.””The women’s IPL will have the same quality as the men’s IPL if there is a strong foundation”•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

It is, however, easier said than done, and Karim accepted that. “The only way forward is to have a full-fledged three-day competition. But the issue is not conducting the matches; the BCCI hosts an incredible number of matches anyway. The issue is the calendar – it’s packed, and we have limited time to conduct so many tournaments,” he says. “You can’t start before September, even mid-September, to accommodate the increase in the number of matches. It was possible because so many new venues came up, but it was a logistical nightmare for sure.”For a women’s multi-day event, we need to look at some more venues. Plus, don’t forget, this means an increase in the number of match officials, scorers, groundspersons, video analysts, the entire contingent. It’s not only about grounds. All that needs to be considered.”Karim, often in consultation with National Cricket Academy director Rahul Dravid, had chalked out a comprehensive plan to try and take Indian women’s cricket to the next level, and much of it involved a greater focus at the lower levels, and a lot of collaboration with the state associations.”Outreach programmes with Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns, schools, those were in the pipelines. The Women’s IPL [in discussions for a while now but yet to become a reality] is at the highest level, and that we can have. But for it to be successful, we need a stronger domestic circuit, a better structure,” Karim says. “The women’s IPL will have the same quality as the men’s IPL if there is a strong foundation. The way men’s cricket is played in India, we don’t need to do too much, because there is so much talent, so many players in the system. That has to happen for the women.”The onus, Karim said, was not just on the BCCI, but primarily with the states. “Initially, the responsibility of the state associations and the BCCI is to come up with a proper plan. A proper roadmap needs to be in place. That will come from the BCCI. But the BCCI can’t do everything. The states need to play their part to make it happen.”

Anil Kumble has joined Mumbai Indians as their chief mentor, stepping down from a similar role at Royal Challengers Bangalore

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jan-2013Anil Kumble has joined Mumbai Indians as their chief mentor, stepping down from a similar role at Royal Challengers Bangalore. Kumble has been associated with Royal Challengers since the start of the IPL and explained that the move was related to his talent management firm Tenvic Sports.He takes over from former South Africa captain Shaun Pollock and joins Mumbai Indians two weeks before the IPL auction, which is scheduled for February 3. Pollock started at Mumbai Indians as a player in 2008, before taking over as mentor.”I have made this decision to take up a new assignment based on an opportunity that my company, Tenvic has been offered,” Kumble said. “In my discussion with Reliance Group Management (the owners of Mumbai Indians), I find that they have a great and compelling vision for sports in this country, which aligns with my venture Tenvic Sports’ aspirations in making ‘sports’ as the main catalyst of youth development.”Kumble has captained Royal Challengers to the final in 2009, and taken them to the semi-finals in the next year. “I have had an enjoyable association with RCB, as player, captain and mentor. During this period we have achieved most of our objectives and RCB has emerged as one of the leading franchises in the IPL.”Kumble, India’s highest wicket-taker in Tests and ODIs, is also president of the Karnataka State Cricket Association, which has been closely related with Royal Challengers in setting up cricket academies across Karnataka.In 2011, controversy arose over Kumble’s co-ownership of Tenvic that had on its books several young players who had been part of India squads but Kumble consistently denied any conflict of interest between his administrative and mentoring roles.

Michael Klinger’s century ensured Gloucestershire had no trouble in chasing 188 to beat Leicestershire by nine wickets at Grace Road, their first win of the season

03-May-2013Gloucestershire 280 (Taylor 61, Freckingham 4-69) and 191 for 1 (Klinger 103*, Dent 71) beat Leicestershire 250 (Thakor 75, Howell 5-57) and 217 (W Gidman 4-39) by nine wickets
ScorecardMichael Klinger, seen here for Worcestershire last season, steered Gloucestershire home•Getty Images

Australian Michael Klinger hit his first County Championship century to lead Gloucestershire to a nine-wicket victory on the final day at Grace Road.After surviving a tricky first half-hour, openers Klinger and Chris Dent shared a stand of 129 to ensure there would be no major problems chasing a target of 188.Dent was out for 71 to the last ball before lunch but Klinger hit the winning runs and reached his century at the same time with his 16th boundary. He was unbeaten on 103 from 172 balls.It was Gloucestershire’s first win of the season and earned them 21 points, while Leicestershire collected five as they slipped to their first defeat of the season following drawn games against Hampshire and Kent.With Gloucestershire starting the day on 16 for 0, Leicestershire needed to take early wickets if they were to have any chance of snatching an unlikely victory. Pacemen Ollie Freckingham and Robbie Williams bowled well without any luck early on a slow pitch starting to show signs of uneven bounce.Both batsmen played and missed on several occasions and three times the ball flashed through the slip cordon down to the vacant third-man boundary. But as the shine went off the ball, the sting went out of the bowling, and both Klinger and Dent began to play with far more confidence and assurance.Dent was the first to reach his 50 off 68 balls with eight fours and Gloucestershire captain, Klinger, brought up the 100 partnership with a well-timed square drive to the boundary off Freckingham.A neat late cut off Michael Thornely saw Klinger reach his 50 off 100 balls, and Leicestershire’s frustrating morning was summed up when Josh Cobb put down an easy slip catch offered by Dent off Jigar Naik’s off spin.Naik gained some revenge by having Dent lbw with the last ball before lunch. But Klinger remained in good touch, straight driving Claude Henderson for a six before square cutting another boundary off Shiv Thakor to reach his landmark century and clinch victory.