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An opening stand of 134 runs between Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Paul Stirling helped Sylhet Royals crush Khulna Royal Bengals by 61 runs in Mirpur

The Report by Mohammad Isam12-Feb-2013
ScorecardFile photo: Shivnarine Chanderpaul struck his third half-century of the tournament•Bangladesh Cricket Board

Sylhet Royals bounced back from a lacklustre performance against Chittagong Kings in their last match, as they crushed Khulna Royal Bengals by 61 runs. Their openers, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Paul Stirling helped lay the foundation for the big victory with a 134-run stand.They scored 66 each, striking 19 fours and three sixes between them, to lead Sylhet to 196 for 3 in their 20 overs. Chanderpaul used the crease expertly during his innings, and even employed the switch-hit a number of times with mixed results. He had more success with the sweeps, which he played between square leg and the wicketkeeper. Stirling drove belligerently for most of his innings, thriving on the strike he was fed by Chanderpaul.After the openers fell and the Royals needed a final flourish, Nazmul Hossain Milon played his best innings of the tournament. He hit five sixes in an unbeaten 14-ball 36 that took the Royals’ total close to the 200-mark. He struck five sixes, and was much more aggressive than Elton Chigumbura, with whom he shared an unbroken 52-run stand.Royal Bengals couldn’t make amends with the bat. Mithun Ali and Riki Wessels added 84 runs for the fifth wicket, after their top order was dismissed cheaply, to reduce the margin of defeat. Mithun scored 60 off 47 balls, his first major contribution in this year’s competition.This was Sylhet’s eighth win in the tournament, but they remained in second position behind Dhaka Gladiators, while Khulna end their campaign with nine losses out of 12 games.

Tim Southee hopes New Zealand will build on their hammering of Zimbabwe and get to celebrate many more Test wins

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jan-2012In Hobart last December, after winning a Test in Australia for the first time in 26 years, New Zealand celebrated their achievement in a new way. The players strolled out to the pitch in their whites, sang a team song, and settled down to enjoy a few drinks to mark the moment. They did it again in Napier after hammering Zimbabwe. Tim Southee said the acting-captain Brendon McCullum was the brains behind the celebration and that New Zealand wanted to make it an often-repeated ritual.”It’s a pledge which has been around a long time,” Southee said. “Brendon McCullum has been driving it. It’s something we will make a tradition as Test wins keep coming.”Of their four Tests this summer, New Zealand have won three, and Southee hoped victory would become a habit for this team. “It’s a great thing to win Test matches. It’s an amazing feeling and we are slowly making a bit of a habit of it. Hopefully we can have this group of guys together for a long time and keep that winning feeling.”In each of those victories, New Zealand displayed a different aspect of their recent development: strong temperament in tight game in Bulawayo, the ability to beat some of the best in Hobart and ruthlessness in Napier. The innings-and-301-run victory at McLean Park could have been more emphatic if most of the second day had not been washed out.”If the rain hadn’t come it could have been all over in two days or two and a half days,” Southee said. “It was a dream day. Days like that are what you play Test cricket for. It was a great to have a win, and to win so convincingly and build on that game from Hobart.”Like they did at Bellerive Oval, New Zealand played four fast bowlers in Napier, on a pitch that assisted the quicks. Seventeen wickets fell to pace, eight of them to Chris Martin, as Zimbabwe were dismissed twice in a day. “We went with the four-seamer attack again. In the first innings everyone chipped in,” Southee said. “But, in the second innings, it was just an outstanding individual performance by Chris. The way he bowled showed there’s still a bit of kick in the old boy yet.”With Martin guiding the young bowlers such as Southee, Trent Boult and Doug Bracewell, Southee said New Zealand had a good balance. “The experience of the older guys and the excitement of the young guys mixed in is great. We are very excited about what the future holds.”The immediate future holds three ODIs and two Twenty20s against Zimbabwe before the series against South Africa, which Southee calls “the key of the summer,” starting with three T20s and three ODIs. The glut of limited-overs cricket means New Zealand will have to make a speedy adjustment to the format, and Southee was confident they would. “It wasn’t that long ago that we had a white ball in our hands and it shouldn’t take too long to adapt back to that,” he said. “It will just be a narrowing down of skills and practicing death and slower balls, change of pace and things like that.”New Zealand’s first ODI against Zimbabwe is in Dunedin on February 3.

Newly-appointed team manager and former captain, Richie Richardson, says Darren Sammy’s team can “spring a few surprises”

Sharda Ugra10-Feb-2011The weather gods have rained on the West Indies’ parade all throughout their lead-up to the 2011 World Cup. Their five match-ODI series in Sri Lanka was first postponed due to bad weather, then shrunk down to three matches, one of which was, again, rained out. Then ten days before the World Cup began, the latest ICC rankings announced that the two-time World Cup-winning West Indies now find themselves at No.9, behind Bangladesh in the ODI rankings, their lowest position so far.Yet newly-appointed team manager and former captain, Richie Richardson, says Darren Sammy’s team can “spring a few surprises” in a World Cup where, “every team has a chance.”Richardson told ESPNcricinfo from Colombo, “We are not affected or thinking about our ranking… because we have gone down one spot in the ranking won’t have a negative effect on us. We are just trying to get our minds right, get our players in as good a condition as possible. In a one-day tournament, it’s how well a team plays on the day, and how consistent you are. If we can raise our game and if we can really come together and play as a unit, I believe we can spring a few surprises.”At the World Cup, the West Indies have been clubbed with India, South Africa, England, Bangladesh, Ireland and Netherlands in Group B, and are expected to struggle to make it to the knock-out stage. The team has had a very poor ODI record over the last two years, its last ODI victory over a Test team was in June 2009 versus India.Richardson, whose last international appearance was in the semi-final of the 1996 World Cup, said that every World Cup tournament acts as a clean slate. “At a World Cup, it doesn’t matter how you are doing, how good you are, what number in the ranking. Every team at the World Cup looks forward to go out there and win it. Sometimes you have some upsets. The little teams want to cut down the big teams…”If the West Indies are being thought of as a ‘little team’ in this World Cup, it is because they have only beaten Zimbabwe, Canada and Ireland over the last 12 months. A player-strike over the contracts issue in 2009 and the 2010 decision by Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard to turn down West Indian Board contracts have only added to the grim news around the team. Richardson said that as manager of the World Cup team, “What happened in the past in terms of the contracts is none of my business… I just want to make sure the players are in the right frame of mind and are ready to go and play World Cup.”When asked whether the World Cup would be the critical moment in which Pollard, the attacking right-hander who had made a name for himself in Twenty20, could prove his credentials in top-flight cricket, Richardson responded first with a simple emotive message about what the event means for the squad as a whole – an opportunity to win back some territory in the international game.”I say that to the players, we’ve got to go there and prove to the world that we can play cricket. Let’s surprise a lot of people, because people at the moment are not thinking very highly of us. But we have got to just focus on what we have to do, believe in what we can do and create a few upsets. That’s what we want to do – go and impress. Every single player…”He then turned his attention to Pollard, saying, “Pollard is a hard-hitting batsman in Twenty20 and at the end of the day if you are a batsman, you are a batsman and you should be able to adjust in various situations. He (Pollard) should not be thinking that he’s just a Twenty20 player. When he gets the opportunity he should be looking to go there and bat and do well.”And I’m hoping that what he’s thinking. Quite often the press has opinions; the fans have an opinion… At the end of the day you have to focus on what you have to do and work there and work hard.”Other than Pollard, the West Indies have several quality batsmen in their ranks, both experienced and upcoming, but have a fragile and understocked bowling unit. Richardson said, “Well, you know cricket is not played on paper. We don’t think that we are weak in that area, we don’t think, oh we don’t have bowlers in the top five or whatever. We know what we are capable of doing. If players bowl in the areas they have to bowl, bowl with control and the confidence and the fielders support the bowlers, anything is possible.”My approach has always been a very a positive one and this is what you have to instil it the players. You can’t listen to what people are saying, we have just got to work with what we have and back ourselves and do what we have to do to do well in this tournament.”He said the team would not be affected by the fact that the scheduled five-match ODI series versus Sri Lanka had been reduced to three, in which eventually only two full ODIs were possible. “All the players were actively playing cricket prior to arrival here in Sri Lanka. We have still being practicing every day. The rain has not affected our practice session. We have a couple more matches; we think we’re in good shape. We have a few more days to get ourselves right, so we’ll continue to work hard. We believe that at the start of our World Cup, the first match on the [February] 24 [against South Africa in Delhi], we’ll be ready.”Given that he played in a very different era for West Indian cricket, Richardson said taking over as manager at a time when the region’s cricket was at its lowest was “not easy”, but he said, “there are certain things in life you have to accept. You have good periods, you have bad periods. If you are on top, you are not going to be on top forever… I’m not one to have a go at the players, have a go at certain situations. What we need is accept that things are not as nice or as great as it once was, but it is for us to work hard to bring it back… We know the fans expect great things of us and we want them to support us because we will give our 100 percent.”For all the bad tidings around the West Indies, they do have what other teams in the competition would crave for: fifteen fit men to choose from. The worry around the sight of a limping Bravo after pulling off a stunner of a catch for Victoria in the Australian Big Bash versus Western Australia is now a thing of the past. Bravo, a team spokesman said, has recovered well.

A round-up of the second day’s action of the third round of the WICB Four-Day Competition 2009-10

Cricinfo staff24-Jan-2010Centuries from Wavell Hinds and Carlton Baugh put Jamaica in total control against Guyana in St Philip. The day began with the teams on even terms, but the overnight pair swung the game completely Jamaica’s way with a 232-run stand for the sixth wicket. Hinds, who had scored a half-century on the first day, helped himself to 151 and was supported by Baugh who finished with 124. For Guyana, Brandon Bess and offspinner Veerasammy Permaul bagged nine wickets between them, the latter recording his first five-for, but Jamaica ended up posting a formidable 429. Their bowlers were not far behind, as left-arm spinner Nikita Miller grabbed three for 25 to limit Guyana to 112 for 5 at stumps, still 317 behind.Windward Islands consolidated their dominant position gained on first day against Combined Campuses and Colleges in Bridgetown. Opener Devon Smith smashed 122 and though the next best score in the team was 36, Windwards were able to gain a satisfactory lead of 128 after having bowled out their opponents on the opening day. There was some support in the lower order, as Donwell Hector and Shane Shillingford chipped in with important contributions to stretch the lead past 100. Fast bowler Jason Bennett bagged a five-for to keep his team in the game. However, when CCC came out to bat facing a testing lead, their batsmen struggled as the openers fell quickly to leave the team at 38 for 2 at stumps, still 90 away from the deficit.Captain Ryan Hinds helped Barbados gain the advantage over Trinidad and Tobago at the Kensington Oval. T&T declared on their overnight score as Ravi Rampaul wasn unable to bat due to an illness. The Barbados reply was a collective effort but each batsman reaching double-figures, of which went past 50. Opener Jason Haynes contributed 51, Kevin Stoute made 46 but it was Hinds who held firm through the day, remaining unbeaten on 111 to take his team to 327 for 6 and secure a 56-run lead. Spinners Amit Jaggernauth and Imran Khan bagged three wickets each.

Fire fight back late with the ball but pay price for timid powerplay and costly early no-ball

ECB Media24-Aug-2025
Joe Root delivered a batting masterclass at Sophia Gardens, hitting his second successive half-century as Trent Rockets snuck past Welsh Fire with a ball to spare to confirm their qualification for the knockout phase.In a frenetic match, David Payne thought he had dismissed Root for a duck, only for the umpire to signal a no-ball after replays showed the bowler had over-stepped. The England run-machine promptly hit the subsequent free-hit for six over long-on and eventually finished unbeaten on 64 from 41 to secure a three-wicket win, keeping his composure in a chaotic finale.Set 151 for victory, the Rockets appeared to be cruising after a 66-run opening stand between Root and Tom Banton (32 from 20) but when Rehan Ahmed fell to Saif Zaib and Max Holden holed out to deep cover off Chris Green, the nerves began to show.Tom Moores went for a big shot and was caught at mid-on to give Green his second and then three wickets fell in the space of seven deliveries as the Fire set alarm bells ringing.The Rockets were left needing 14 from the final set, bowled by Green, but Root, entirely unruffled, belted the spinner’s first delivery for six and then found a boundary through mid-wicket from the second. A single brought Sam Hain on strike, and he crunched the ball through the covers to seize a thrilling victory.The Fire have had a tough season, winning just two of their seven matches, but they had given themselves a fighting chance after Steve Eskinazi’s first half-century of the campaign headlined a competitive total of 150-6.Runs were hard to come by early on as the Rockets seamers bowled tightly, conceding just 47 from the first 45 deliveries. Steve Smith gloved behind for 8 off Sam Cook (2 for 17), who then dismissed Jonny Bairstow, caught at backward-square by Lockie Ferguson for an uncharacteristically scratchy 13-ball 8.Eskinazi (53 from 42) and skipper Tom Abell (48 from 29) picked up the pace in the second half of the innings before falling to consecutive deliveries in the penultimate set – the former run out after a mix up and the latter caught behind off David Willey – and a breezy four-ball 11 from Green took the hosts to 150, but it wasn’t enough to lift them from the bottom of the table.The Rockets, meanwhile, have secured a top-three finish with a game to spare as they aim to repeat their title triumph of 2022. Victory in their home fixture against Birmingham Phoenix on Wednesday could yet see them top the table and progress straight to the Lord’s final if other results go their way.”Way too tense for my liking,” said Joe Root, the Meerkat Match Hero. “They pulled it back, this format is difficult to gauge. The majority of the game, the wicket played fine.”Green’s over, I thought I’ve got to hit a six here. We needed a boundary in the first two balls, I had a good idea of what he was trying to do to protect that long side, and I put a couple away. “

Left-arm seamers will split 14 games between them during Blast group stages

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Mar-2024Nottinghamshire have signed left-arm seamers Ben Lister of New Zealand and Fazalhaq Farooqi of Afghanistan for the T20 Blast group stages this season in the hope that they can replicate Shaheen Shah Afridi’s success for them last summer.Lister has won 13 limited-overs caps for his country but is considered unlikely to feature in their World Cup plans, and will join Notts for the first eight games of the Blast’s group stages this season before he being replaced by Farooqi. And subject to a No-Objection Certificate from the Afghanistan Cricket Board, Farooqi will feature in county cricket for the first time in his career, following the T20 World Cup, where he will spearhead Afghanistan’s seam attack.Shaheen took 22 wickets in his 14 matches for Notts last season, including four in a single over in a defeat to Birmingham Bears. But he will be unavailable for the Blast this summer due to a clash with the T20 World Cup, where he will captain Pakistan, thus leading Notts to turn to two alternatives.Related

• Alex Hales to miss Notts Blast fixtures after signing LPL deal

• Aaron Hardie withdrawn from Surrey stint to manage workload

“Given the success Shaheen had with us last year, bringing in left-arm seam options again made sense,” Peter Moores, Notts’ head coach, said in a press release. “It creates a different set of challenges for batters. In Ben and Fazalhaq, we have proven wicket-takers who can make an impact on the game in crucial moments, which is what we are after.”Ben is an exciting talent who is establishing himself on the world stage after consistent performances domestically. He’s made a difference in the teams he has played for, and has the potential to do the same with us. Meanwhile, Fazalhaq is a world-class player with experience on the franchise circuit and in international cricket, with a proven ability to bowl at the death. His knowhow under pressure will be important in our group stage run-in.”Notts had finished fourth in the North Group last year and were beaten by eventual champions Somerset in the quarter-finals. They will have a new-look Blast team this year following the departures of Samit Patel (Derbyshire) and Jake Ball (Somerset), with Steven Mullaney expected to feature predominantly for Notts Second XI after taking on a player-coach role.Alex Hales will also be unavailable for the second half of the group stages after signing a lucrative offer to play for Galle Marvels in the Lanka Premier League, while Jack Haynes, Dillon Pennington and Josh Tongue have all joined from Worcestershire. New Zealand’s Will Young will feature in the T20 set-up, and Joe Clarke will take over as T20 captain.

Former India head coach advocates split captaincy to take the load off Rohit Sharma

Shashank Kishore17-Nov-20222:10

Zaheer: Umran Malik adds variety to India’s pace attack

Ravi Shastri believes there’s “no harm” in India exploring the possibility of having a new T20I captain to ease some load off Rohit Sharma, who currently leads them in all three formats.India have Hardik Pandya leading the T20I squad in New Zealand after the selectors rested the senior players following the World Cup in Australia. It’s a job Pandya first did in Ireland earlier in the year, following a successful IPL stint where he led first-timers Gujarat Titans to the title.Related

• Harbhajan wants 'better suited' Nehra to coach India's T20I side

• Hardik Pandya, Shikhar Dhawan to lead India in New Zealand

• Dravid given break for New Zealand tour, Laxman to coach India

• 'Be aggressive but also focus on conditions and situations' – Laxman's mantra for T20Is

“For T20 cricket, there is no harm in having a new captain,” Shastri told select media during an interaction facilitated by Prime Video ahead of the first T20I in Wellington on Friday. “Because the volume of cricket is such, that for one player to play all three formats of the game is never going to be easy. If Rohit is already leading in Tests and ODIs, there is no harm in identifying a new T20I captain and if his name is Hardik Pandya, so be it.”Shastri also backed VVS Laxman’s beliefs that India shouldn’t be averse to picking specialists for the shortest format, even if it means keeping out “certain senior players”.”I think that is the way forward,” Shastri said. “I think VVS is right. They will identify specialists. Going forward, that should be the mantra. Identify and make that Indian side into a terrific fielding side and identify roles for these youngsters who can be fearless and play that kind of cricket without any kind of baggage.”Shastri wasn’t willing to be drawn into comparing the differences he saw in the Indian team when his coaching term ended in November 2021 to the current outfit but was firm in his belief that India should try and emulate England’s white-ball formula that has brought them considerable success since their reboot under Eoin Morgan following a group-stage exit at the 2015 World Cup.

Watch India tour of New Zealand LIVE on Prime Video from Nov 18 to 30

“I wouldn’t like to point out anything, but there’s an opportunity with this team in the future to identify roles for players, identify match-winners, and go pretty much on the template of England,” he said. “They are one team that really caught the bull by the horns after the 2015 World Cup. They sat down and said they are going to identify the best players for that format of the game – whether it’s T20 or 50-over cricket.”Which meant if there were certain senior players who had to sit out, then so be it. They got in youngsters who were fearless, who could adapt to that pattern of the game without having to change their games too much. So it’s a template that can be followed easily; India have got a wealth of resources. And I think it can start from this tour. Because when you look at this team, it’s a fresh, young side. You can identify, you can groom, and you can take this team ahead in two years’ time.”Shastri was also unabashed in his support for tearaway quick Umran Malik who he believes will give the bowling attack much-needed variety in New Zealand, having been included in both the T20I and ODI squads.Malik was called into India’s net bowling contingent at the 2021 T20 World Cup during Shastri’s tenure, and subsequently made his T20I debut under Pandya in Ireland earlier this year.Malik has polarised opinion in Indian cricket. While some believe his raw pace can be an asset, others have pointed to the lack of consistency and the need to nurture his talent by giving him opportunities with India A before transitioning him into the senior team.”He is one of the fastest bowlers in India and you saw what happened in the World Cup where genuine pace rattled opposition, whether it was Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah or Anrich Nortje,” Shastri said. “So, there is no substitute for genuine pace, even if you are defending small totals. So this is an opportunity for Umran. Hopefully, he will learn from this exposure.”

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.

Conversations are ongoing about how to help staff who face an uncertain future

Daniel Brettig22-Apr-2020Stood down staff at Cricket Australia may find themselves working at Woolworths after the chief executive Kevin Roberts approached the supermarket giant and cricket sponsor about temporary work opportunities amid the coronavirus pandemic.Roberts, who has maintained there is a united front in cricket about cash-saving decisions including mass staff stand downs on 80% pay cuts until at least July, dug in further on his chosen approach on Wednesday morning, also revealing that a home international season played without crowds could cost CA up to A$50 million in revenue. CA is not currently eligible for the federal government’s JobKeeper support programme having lost no major revenue streams from cancelled matches.CA’s state association owners compelled CA to back down on their original proposal to shave 45% from annual grants and the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) – no stranger to conflict with the governing body in Roberts’ time – are understood to be planning how to build elements of their fixed revenue percentage model into any revenue fluctuations next summer. Roberts, though, has continued to defend his chosen tack, even asserting on Wednesday that he has “vast majority” support for CA management’s remedies.ALSO READ: Cricket Australia mulls five India Tests behind closed doors“I wrote to Brad Banducci the CEO of Woolworths given that Woolworths is among organisations that need more staff at the moment,” Roberts told SEN Radio. “Our people and culture team are also working with other organisations who are in the habit of placing people in organisations and industries that have a temporary need for more people.”So we’re doing those things proactively and people are at the centre of everything we do, and as much as we hate making those sorts of decisions we had to make last week, the other side of that coin is certainly that we’re supporting our people and looking for even temporary opportunities for them to be involved and earning income elsewhere when their income is reduced from cricket.”Stand downs until July are likely to be followed by redundancies and other cuts even if a full international season is played, due to setbacks such as the potential loss of revenue from matches needing to be played in empty stadiums. “Our revenue from ticket sales you could put a ring around A$40-50 million depending on the season,” Roberts said. “So that is significant obviously, and something that goes into our planning.”Asked about how he reached the decision to stand down all but a handful of staff on only 20% of their usual salaries while executives remain on 80% of their usual base rates of pay, Roberts said that it had simply been a matter of judging how much work was able to be done while placing the business on hold and paying employees accordingly. Roberts faced direct questioning from his staff on this very issue on Tuesday, which he has said will save A$3 million from the bottom line of an organisation with annual revenue of about A$200 million from broadcast rights alone.In its most recent annual report, CA listed executive pay – covering that of Roberts, his executive team and the chairman Earl Eddings – as totalling A$6.6 million, up from A$5.6 million for 2017-18. That salary bill has been shaved by some 20% amid the current suite of measures, while all but a few lesser paid staff have lost 80% of their wages.”It’s what activities are being paused and what’s the skeleton staff we require for the activities that continue and that leads you to a temporary solution, which is the national coaches being part-time through this period,” Roberts said. “It’s something we need to continue managing sensitively no doubt, and we are doing that, which is why we’re communicating with our people every second day, and our people can ask me any question on a live stream every second day.In response to questions about reservations raised by state associations, the ACA and staff about the way CA has approached its cost-saving and planning measures around coronavirus, Roberts declared that “unity doesn’t attract eyeballs in the media”, and suggested that he “absolutely” had enough support to drive his chosen changes through.”We know that you won’t have 100% of people and 100% of stakeholders happy at any particular time. But the reality is that the vast majority of our people, our members, our stakeholders are very comfortable with how we’re working through this. I think it’s just the reality of the situation versus what is sometimes reported, given that stories of harmony don’t necessarily sell. We’re working through things in an open and really orderly way with all of those organisations. It’s all about focusing on, in cricket parlance, the next ball.”

Tragedy for former England captain as Ruth passes away from rare form of lung cancer

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Dec-2018The wife of Andrew Strauss, England’s former captain and managing director, has died aged 46 following a battle with lung cancer.”It is with great sadness and immense grief that we have to announce that Ruth passed away today as a result of her rare lung cancer,” read a statement from Strauss, issued by the ECB on behalf of his family. “Sam, Luca and I will miss her terribly.”Anyone who has met Ruth will know how loving, caring and passionately protective she was of her family and it gives us huge comfort that she was in Australia, the land of her birth, surrounded by those who love her, in her final moments.”Strauss met his wife Ruth (nee McDonald) in 1998-99 while playing grade cricket in Sydney, and the pair married in 2003, shortly before he broke into the England reckoning for the first time.Writing in his autobiography, Driving Ambition, Strauss recalled how their relationship began on a night out in the Beefsteak and Bourbon in Sydney, and how Ruth – a professional theatre actress – provided him with the sort of grounding that he lacked at that early stage of his career.”She was a little older than me, much more worldly and most of all great company,” Strauss wrote.”Being an actress, she had plenty of days when she wasn’t doing much. We explored Sydney, sunbathed constantly on beaches up and down the eastern suburbs, ate loads of ice cream and watched movies and talked in the evenings.”In 2009, after England’s victory in the Ashes in his first year as Test captain, Strauss credited Ruth’s steadying influence as the pressure of the series intensified, particularly after Australia squared the rubber with one match to go after an innings win at Headingley.Though Ruth continued her acting career for a time in London, she willingly stepped back to look after the family as Strauss’s England career blossomed and the demands on his time increased.However, the roles were reversed this year as Strauss, who flew home early from last winter’s Ashes when his wife’s illness intensified, took indefinite leave from his role as England team director in May. His former England team-mate Ashley Giles took up the post on a permanent basis earlier this month.”[Ruth] has brought up my two boys mainly single-handedly, and has always been there to support me,” Strauss added in his autobiography. “She is truly a remarkable woman.””We would like to send our heartfelt thanks to those that have helped with her treatment over the last 12 months, in particular the wonderful team at University College Hospital in London,” Strauss added in his statement.”Ruth desperately wanted to help those affected by this terrible disease and we will be launching a foundation in due course to raise much needed funds to aid research and also to offer support to patients and their families.”Tributes poured in from the cricket world after the news was announced, with many recalling Ruth’s warm and generous personality.”Life just isn’t fair,” Michael Vaughan wrote on Twitter, while Hayley Trescothick – wife of Strauss’s former opening partner Marcus – wrote: “Absolutely heartbroken to hear the passing of Ruth Strauss. She was such a kind, thoughtful and wonderful lady. My heart goes out to Andrew, Sam and Luca.”Kevin Pietersen, who fell out with Strauss towards the end of his England career, put aside their past differences with his own tribute on Twitter.”I’m absolutely gutted for the Strauss family,” he wrote. “Ruth was kind, generous & only thought about others. Jess & I been thinking about them all eve and all morning. So sorry, Straussy! It puts life into perspective in a BIG way!”