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Chadd Sayers, the medium pacer who was picked for Australia’s tour of New Zealand next month, believes he was chosen because of the seamer-friendly conditions in the country

Brydon Coverdale20-Jan-2016Australia’s selectors have made no secret of their desire to pick fast bowlers for the national team. Fast, not medium-fast. That is one of the reasons Jackson Bird’s Test career stalled after three appearances, despite the fact that he was Man of the Match in one of those. It is also one of the factors that has gone against Chadd Sayers in his bid for national selection. Until now.Sayers is a classic swing bowler whose weapons are all based on moving the ball sideways, not on how quickly it reaches the batsman. His style has been good enough to bring him 145 first-class wickets at 24.82, but at the age of 28, it was starting to look like he would never get a chance at the higher level. But Sayers and Bird are both in Australia’s Test squad for the tour of New Zealand.It is all about the conditions, the selectors argue. In New Zealand speed is less important than movement. There is no point being fast if you’re doing nothing with the ball, and serving up half-volleys at 150kph does not help the team. Whether either Sayers or Bird get the chance to wear the baggy green on the two-Test tour remains to be seen, but they are encouraged by their selections.”I’m never going to bowl 140, so if that was their criteria, I wasn’t going to fit that,” Sayers told reporters in Adelaide on Wednesday. “But they’ve picked for conditions, with Jackson Bird getting picked as well, same sort of bowler as me. They’ve picked for the New Zealand conditions … I think a good ball to any batsman is a good ball.”I watched the last series [of Tests in New Zealand] on TV and it looked like it swung around and nipped around a bit, which will suit my bowling for sure.”The selectors were forced to look beyond the usual suspects due to injuries – Mitchell Starc is recovering from ankle surgery, Pat Cummins has yet another stress fracture of the back, and Nathan Coulter-Nile – a previous Test squad member though yet to win a baggy green – has a shoulder problem. Sayers knows about unfortunate injury timing, having been unavailable for consideration for the 2015 Ashes due to an ankle injury.”All the hard work in the gym … has paid off in the pre-season,” Sayers said. “To come back from that was one big step and then to perform in the four Shield games I’ve played this year was another big step. Really excited and can’t wait to get over there.”This summer Sayers has collected 16 Sheffield Shield wickets at 25.81, still a solid tally at the halfway point of the season, though down on his remarkable 2012-13, a season in which he topped the Shield wicket list with 48 at 18.52. Another strong season followed in 2013-14, when he picked up 36 wickets and was South Australia’s leading pace bowler.”When you’re in form and don’t get picked, then you think maybe the time has passed,” Sayers said. “But obviously if you keep taking wickets and knocking the door down then a chance could come eventually – and luckily enough for me it has come.”

James Vince struck an unbeaten 99 to move Hampshire ahead of Kent at the top of South Group on a foggy night at Canterbury

ECB/PA13-Jun-2015
ScorecardJames Vince finished a ball short of his hundred was Hampshire went top•Getty Images

Hampshire’s James Vince hit an unbeaten 99 and made light of a double-digit asking rate to fire Hampshire to the top of South Group with a six-wicket win over previous leaders Kent Spitfires.In pursuit of 184 at a required rate of 10.22 in a game reduced to 18 overs per side by an early evening thunderstorm, Vince, the tall England Lions right-hander, clattered a season’s competition best 99 not out from 57 balls to see Hampshire home at a misty Canterbury with one delivery to spare.The visitors had made a poor start to their reply when Michael Carberry fenced at the fourth ball of the reply from Matt Coles to edge to Spitfires’ keeper Ryan Davies, making his T20 debut behind the stumps.Davies was in the action again in Coles’ next over, tumbling to his right to take a bottom-edged catch that dismissed Jimmy Adams for 16 as Hampshire reached 46 for 2 after their Powerplay.

Insights

These two sides served up a cracker once more and it was the same men – Sam Northeast, Alex Blake and James Vince – dominating with the bat. The two teams went about their batting very differently, however. In the first 16, Kent didn’t take more than 11 from a Hampshire over before Blake and Adam Ball pilfered 21 from each of the final two. Hampshire were far steadier. They notched boundaries in all but three and, prior to the last, took 12 or more from six (only three cost less than eight, too) to stay ahead of the rate and not require a blockbuster finish from Vince. – Will Macpherson

As fog descended on the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, Hampshire had 75 on the scoreboard when Owais Shah walked across his stumps aiming for the short, mid-wicket boundary only to miss out and go lbw to Darren Stevens.But with first-choice bowlers David Griffiths and Calum Haggett out injured, Kent’s threadbare attack struggled in the middle overs as Hampshire’s Sean Ervine and Vince raised their side’s hundred after 10.2 overs to maintain the asking rate.Vince reached a 36-ball 50 and celebrated by clubbing his third six of the night over mid-wicket off deposed England spinner James Tredwell, but Ervine’s stay ended for 36 when he clipped Adam Ball to long off to conclude a stand that added 58 in 5.1 overs.Vince ploughed on however, plundering a fourth six off Ball that endangered the staff in a mobile burger bar positioned near the Old Dover Road as Hampshire edged home for a fourth win in six starts.Batting first after winning their fourth successive T20 toss, Kent’s Joe Denly opened his boundary account with an on-drive to the ropes against Fidel Edwards, who responded next ball with a yorker that pegged back Denly’s leg stump and sent the right-hander packing for six.Sam Northeast, the competition’s leading run-scorer going into the game, found his range with consecutive fours off left-arm spinner Danny Briggs to take Kent to 47 for 1 after their shortened, five-over Powerplay but, without addition to the score, Daniel Bell-Drummond missed a leg-side clip to be bowled by Yasir Arafat’s first ball of the night.Fabian Cowdrey moved to 13 with a rasping cover drive for four against Danny Briggs but, he missed an attempted cut to the left-arm spinner’s next ball to be bowled and leave Spitfires on 77 for 3 at the mid-point of their innings.Northeast launched a six over extra cover on his way to a 29-ball half-century – his fourth time past 50 in seven south group starts this season – but, four balls later, he holed out to long on to give Edwards a second scalp.Alex Blake and Stevens upped the tempo with a brace of sixes, the second of which took an out-of-sorts Stevens to 23 – his highest score in this season’s Blast event – but two runs later Stevens skied to long-off.Blake, who hit an unbeaten 71 off 30 balls in last month’s reverse fixture at the Ageas Bowl, took 21 off Arafat’s final over and a further two boundaries against Edwards took him to an unbeaten 49 from 25 balls and his side to 183 for 5.

Richard Levi crashed 70 from 43 balls as Northamptonshire edged closer to a Friends Life t20 quarter-final spot after beating Worcestershire by five runs at New Road.

21-Jul-2013
ScorecardRichard Levi blasted six sixes in his 70•Getty Images

Richard Levi crashed 70 from 43 balls as Northamptonshire edged closer to a Friends Life t20 quarter-final spot after beating Worcestershire by five runs at New Road.Levi, the big-hitting South African opener, smashed six sixes and five fours while monopolising partnerships of 46 with Kyle Coetzer and 56 with Cameron White. A lower order slump then pegged Northamptonshire back to 137 for 6 but that proved enough for the group leaders to complete a quick turnaround from Saturday’s defeat by Warwickshire.Although Worcestershire dragged themselves into contention with Andre Russell’s 44 from 31 deliveries, they had too much to do after David Willey’s match-clinching return of 3 for 13 in four overs. Willey crucially had Russell well caught on the long-off boundary by Alex Wakely and despite Daryl Mitchell’s unbeaten 38, the home side could not get close to the 21 required from the last over.Joe Leach managed a four and six off Lee Daggett and in making 14 from the six balls faced the young batsman at No. 8 – fresh from a maiden championship century against Gloucestershire – made a case out for a higher position in the next match.Ultimately the result was all about Levi’s ability to dominate, as he did last Tuesday in blasting an unbeaten 110 from 62 balls against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham. Worcestershire were blown away when he launched another onslaught with three consecutive sixes off Leach when taking 22 off the fifth over.Three other bowlers were targeted for further sixes and Worcestershire only found a way to stem the carnage when turning to Gareth Andrew for the 15th over. The eighth bowler to be used, Andrew made the breakthrough when Levi powered his first delivery to deep square leg where Russell was almost knocked off his feet in hanging on to the chance.There was little else to come from Northants as wickets fell to the spinners, Shaaiq Choudhry with 2 for 21 and Moeen Ali, 1 for 17. The last five overs produced only 30 in a disappointingly flat finish to the innings, but it did not prove costly in the end.

After six years as a fringe international player, Adam Voges hopes he can finally earn an extended run in the ODI side after being named in Australia’s Champions Trophy squad

Brydon Coverdale02-May-2013Last November, Adam Voges didn’t know where his next run would come from. His first 12 innings in the domestic season failed to bring a single half-century and not only did an international recall appear far-fetched, even his grasp on a spot in the Western Australia team was becoming tenuous. For a 33-year-old, that’s a scary position to be in. But fast-forward five months and Voges has not only held his state job, he is part of the Australia squad that will defend the Champions Trophy in England.”If you’d asked me if I’d be in a Champions Trophy squad back then I probably would have laughed at you,” Voges told ESPNcricinfo. “But it’s amazing how quickly things can turn around. Having a good Big Bash was a real catalyst for that and I’ve been able to kick on since then.”Another factor in his change of fortunes was the arrival of Justin Langer as the new Western Australia coach, which coincided with Voges being appointed state captain after the resignation of Marcus North. Voges became the sixth-leading run scorer in the BBL and earned a recall to the one-day international side for the series against West Indies in February, and an unbeaten 112 in the last ODI in Melbourne completed a remarkable turnaround.”I started last season really poorly. Myself personally and Western Australia as a team, we really had a horror start to last season,” he said. “I was always playing catch-up in terms of the number of runs that I scored. I’d finished the county season for Nottinghamshire not very well, and then to not start the season with WA well, my confidence was down a fair bit.”I was going through one of those patches where I wasn’t really sure where my next run was coming from. If I didn’t score some runs [being dropped by WA] was a real possibility. But then a lot of things changed with Marcus resigning, [coach] Lachie Stevens resigning and Justin Langer coming in. It gave me a breath of fresh air and I think it gave a lot of people the same thing. It certainly helped turn my season around.”Not that everything went swimmingly for Voges, whose Sheffield Shield run tally for the summer was 388 at 25.86, hardly the kind of season he wanted in a year when Ashes spots were up for grabs. His limited-overs form was good but even so, that February recall, two years after he had last played for Australia, loomed as the last chance for a man who had been on the fringes of Australian international cricket for six years without ever holding down a permanent place.Voges earned central contracts with Cricket Australia in 2007, 2008 and 2010, without ever being more than a backup. He has played 17 ODIs of a possible 164 since his debut, and has never held his position for more than three in a row. He is one of only four men in this Champions Trophy squad that was part of the group that won the tournament in 2009, but again he was no more than a reserve and did not play a game.”I’ve been away on tours and probably got opportunities at the back end of series, perhaps when the result has already occurred, so I’d love to be part of it and get a decent, long run in the team,” Voges said. “Obviously my performances will determine that and the next time I do get that opportunity I certainly have to make the most of it. But I can get those runs.”In the past, while I don’t think I’ve ever let myself down whenever I’ve got the opportunity, I maybe haven’t quite nailed it as well as I would have liked. That’s probably the reason I haven’t been able to play more than two or three games in a row. I realise that at this stage of my career that I’ve really got to make the most of every opportunity because there’s plenty of young guys knocking down the door.”The way Voges finished the international summer – he made 28 and 112 not out in his two ODIs and then 51 in the T20 against West Indies in Brisbane – gives him a good chance of being part of Australia’s line-up for their first Champions Trophy match. After the tournament, he will stay on in England to play T20 cricket with Middlesex and perhaps some first-class cricket as well, given the county’s other Australian signing, Chris Rogers, now has Ashes duties.And if Australia find themselves in need of another experienced batsman to cover for injuries mid-Ashes, Voges wants to make sure he is nearby and scoring heavily. His Shield performances last summer might have been disappointing, but his overall first-class record is solid: 7821 runs at 40.10.”With Chris Rogers being picked in the Ashes squad there could be an opportunity for me to stay on and play a bit of Championship and one-day cricket with Middlesex [after the T20s],” Voges said. “It would be terrific to be over there while the Ashes is on.”You just never know. You never wish injury or anything like that on anybody. But if opportunity arises I’ll certainly be there and hopefully scoring runs. It’s probably a long shot, but I’ll be there and ready to go if need be.”

England and Sussex allrounder Luke Wright will play for the Melbourne Stars in this year’s Big Bash League

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-2011England and Sussex allrounder Luke Wright will play for the Melbourne Stars in this year’s Big Bash League.Wright is the first overseas player to be added to the Stars squad and joins David Hussey, Cameron White and Adam Voges in the Melbourne ranks, while Victorian bowling trio James Pattinson, John Hastings and Clint McKay have also been signed.Wright, 26, part of England’s successful World Twenty20 team in the Caribbean last year and was also a member of their squad for the World Cup in the subcontinent. He also has plenty of Twenty20 experience with Sussex, having scored 1,139 runs – including one century – and taken 41 wickets for them.”Wright is an impressive young man who can open the batting or bowling,” said Melbourne coach Greg Shipperd. “He provides options for the team as he can play any role through the middle to finishing overs. We are extremely pleased to have him as one of our foundation players.”

Anil Kumble has said that a spruced-up Chinnaswamy Stadium is ready to host the World Cup after undergoing several facelifts

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Feb-2011Anil Kumble has said that a spruced-up Chinnaswamy Stadium is ready to host the World Cup after undergoing several facelifts, including a new-look dressing room which is being modified with inputs from Rahul Dravid. A revamp, including enhanced capacity, is also on the cards for the stadium after the IPL.”In all terms of preparation we are match-ready. In a couple of days, the Indian team will be arriving here, and in every functional aspect, we will be ready by February 9,” Kumble, the Karnataka State Cricket Association president, said. “The practice match (against Australia) is on February 13, and we are treating it as a World Cup game, from the administrative point of view.”Speaking about the players’ facilities, Kumble said that every detail a player requires had been looked into. “We have changed the look of the dressing room, although the layout is the same. Be it seating or keeping bags or the showers and toilets, we have worked on every little detail. It needs a lift on where the photographs need to be put up, and I have entrusted that job on Rahul. He will take care of that and by the teams arrive everything will be ready.”There has not been much time since the new administration led by Kumble took charge in November, but he said that they had tried to do their best. “Whether it was the players’ room, commentary box or the media centre, given the space restrictions because of various design constraints of the stadium, I think we have done whatever we could. And I’m glad that every committee member and people working in the KSCA have responded to the challenge.”There is a lot on Kumble’s plate, especially after the ICC decided to shift the India-England tie from an unready Eden Gardens to Bangalore. Logistics and the ICC’s hospitality requirements are being thrashed out, and Kumble admitted it would take some effort. “The ICC needed extra media space, hospitality and overflow area. Whatever is possible, we have been able to address that. It won’t be an ideal scenario.”Tickets are another major issue, and Kumble said that it was being resolved with the ICC. “At the moment the numbers are not clear, but it can come up to anywhere around 7,000 to 10,000 tickets they want. And all those are prime ones, so we will have to manage those logistics. The tickets are pre-sold, so we will only have to sell one-third of what we can to the public. It will be clear in a day. We are also looking at combos and discounts to push the tickets for non-India matches.”At the same time, Kumble hoped that the crowds would turn up for the India-Australia warm-up match. “Both are good teams and in best of form. It’s on Sunday and a day-night game.”Saying that a master plan for the stadium was being prepared, Kumble said that an increased capacity of 65,000 to 70,000 was planned, as also was reserved seating. “The ground requires a revamp, it probably is tired. We need at least three or four months of non-cricket, and we will take it up after the IPL.”We want to ensure that every spectator having a valid seat will have a permanent seat, not first-come first-serve basis. We want to create something where even if you come two overs late, the spectator will have his seat reserved.”We will certainly ensure that catering will be top class. In the India-New Zealand game, people were happy with the catering and also the price. We will provide the same facilities this time.Kumble felt that he had lived up to expectations till now. “We have put together some kind of a quarterly plan. One thing was painting the stadium, dressing room and others. Hopefully on the 13th, we will get a stamp of approval.”

Zimbabwe Cricket has offered to forfeit the Intercontinental Cup match against Scotland after the Scottish board reversed its decision to send a team to Zimbabwe

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Sep-2010Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) has offered to forfeit Zimbabwe XI’s ICC Intercontinental Cup match against Scotland, and consequently the chance for a place in the final, after Cricket Scotland reversed its decision to send a team to Zimbabwe in October following advice from the Scottish government against visiting the country. The proposal, if approved by the ICC, will result in Scotland gaining full points from the match and qualifying for the final.Zimbabwe XI are currently second in the league, with 72 points, while Scotland are third with 69. They are the only two teams with a chance of sealing a spot in the final against Afghanistan, who are first with 77 points, in Dubai.The match was initially scheduled to be held at a neutral African venue before the Scottish board agreed to a proposal to play in Zimbabwe, but a change in the British government’s policy led to the decision not to tour. ZC refused to shift their home match to a neutral venue, pointing out that they had not pushed for the match to be held in Zimbabwe, and the venue was decided by the ICC.”While Scotland’s decision not to tour has been attributed to political considerations, we as Zimbabwe Cricket are not qualified to comment on matters political of any country, nor would we want to base the future of the game of cricket on political directives,” Ozias Bvute, ZC’s managing director, said in a statement. “As such Zimbabwe has no dispute with either Cricket Scotland or the ICC. Instead, we seek only a solution that will ultimately allow for fair participation by all.”The Associate Member countries use this and other competitions to benchmark and track their progress, which is important to them,” he said. “To this end we feel that the Intercontinental Cup is a significant competition in Scotland’s development and therefore important that it gets the full benefits associated with playing in it.”ZC said that it had informed the ICC’s Events Technical Committee of its position and a decision would be taken on September 27.

“My role at the moment is to put the icing on the cake and help our guys in the top four”

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Oct-2020The disparity between Glenn Maxwell’s record for Australia in T20Is with his performances in the Indian Premier League is stark, but the right-hand batsman put it down to having a “clearer role” with Australia as against the frequent changes in his batting position and roles that the changing landscape of various franchises in the IPL demanded. Maxwell averages 33.52 at a strike rate of 158.36 in 64 matches for Australia. In the IPL, while his strike rate has remained up there at 156.78, his average after 76 matches is 22.38.”I probably would not (compare IPL and Australia career). The way I have played international cricket, it has been more of a clearer role. I know exactly how the guys will bat around me,” he said in a chat with PTI. “My role in IPL changes probably for most games. In IPL, a lot of teams change their sides a lot. In the Australian set-up we have the same eleven for most of the games, we all know our roles really well.”Maxwell came to IPL 2020 on the back of some good form, having hit 77 and 108 in two matches of the three-ODI series in England, where Australia won 2-1. But he has totalled just 58 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of 95.08 for Kings XI Punjab so far.ALSO READ: Maxwell ‘shattered’, Stoinis shines, and Warner vs Archer“When you are only together for two months in the year with IPL, there is going to be chopping and changing,” Maxwell said. “You are always looking for that right team balance. The team you pick at the start of the tournament might not have the balance you think as you progress.”We feel we are getting closer to that (team balance). I have had different experiences where I have not quite performed to the level people expect but there has been no lack of trying, (or) putting the effort in training.”Maxwell, who has also turned out for Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians in the past, had his best season in the IPL in 2014, hitting 552 runs (strike rate of 187.75) in a man of the tournament performance that took the Kings XI to the final for the first, and so far only, time in their history.”Despite the fact I did well in 2014, I actually thought my performance in 2017 was my best season,” Maxwell said of the time he made 310 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of 173.18 for the Kings XI, also taking seven wickets at an economy rate of 6.57. “Being captain, Man of the Match multiple times and I bowled a lot more. I thought that was my best season in the IPL. I was able to combine some match-winning knocks with some mature knocks.”The following season, he played for Delhi but didn’t have great success. He did not take part in IPL 2019. Maxwell has only faced 61 balls, though he has been dismissed four times in those.”This year has been a different role and I am trying to get used to it,” Maxwell said. “I would like to think that I have tried to do my role as well as I can. We have got Nicky (Pooran) batting unbelievably well at four. With his power-hitting, my job has been to get him on strike and be there to help finish off games.”I have been not out four times [thrice] in seven games which has probably never happened to me in the history of my career. So, it has been a strange transition for me batting at five and one that I feel, I have started to become more accustomed to.”With the way the team is set up, there is no position there (higher in the order) for me. As I said, my role at the moment is to put the icing on the cake and help our guys in the top four. There have been limited opportunities for me to bat. It has been a learning experience for sure… it is nice to be able to challenge myself with something different. I certainly have not been too hard on myself for my result in this tournament.”The Kings XI started the tournament with a Super Over loss to the Delhi Capitals and then beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore, but have since lost five games in a row.”The wickets have probably surprised me a little bit in terms of the way they have played. I have had a lot of success here in international cricket and even last IPL,” Maxwell said. “The wickets have been a little bit slower. The spin has not been as consistent. It has been probably easier for guys to bat at the top of the order than someone to come out and hit from ball one. It has not been easy and we have seen that consistently through the tournament.”It has been a tough campaign for us as a team. I would say we were ahead in a lot of those close games but unfortunately came short. It is the hardest to score the winning runs in T20 cricket.”

In a chat with Pommie Mbangwa, he also weighed in on Kohli vs Smith and Kohli vs Tendulkar

ESPNcricinfo staff11-May-2020AB de Villiers has opened up on his friendship with Virat Kohli, who he says is “much deeper than just a cricket player”. Speaking to Pommie Mbangwa, the former Zimbabwe fast bowler who’s now a commentator, de Villiers said his conversations with Kohli – a long-time team-mate at Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL – reach far beyond cricket.”Obviously when it comes to the IPL in India, it’s been more than friendship,” de Villiers said, when asked who his best friends in cricket are. “Virat obviously – not only during the IPL, we chat throughout the year, which means it’s different than just the IPL or cricketing friendship.”From a South Africa point of view, I’ve stayed in touch with Morne Morkel, Faf [du Plessis] and Dale [Steyn]. Dale and I have come a long way together as well, I mean we’ve known each other since we were school kids and in primary school. JP [Duminy] as well. There’s no real best friend when it comes to cricket, you just hang out a bit more with one or two.”De Villiers revealed that he has deep conversations not just with Kohli but with his wife, the Bollywood star Anushka Sharma, as well.”He’s much deeper than just a cricket player […] I think most people realise after a while that there’s more to life than just cricket,” de Villiers said. “I think we all fall into that bubble initially. But Virat’s always been a thinker, he experiments [with] a lot of things, he loves trying new things out – gym wise, what he puts in his mouth. He thinks a lot about life after life – what’s to come, the different religions, we talk about everything.”We go pretty deep and his missus as well, Anushka, we have very deep conversations, which is fantastic. We talk about children and family. We’re waiting for that first little Kohli to come. It’s a good friendship and we always find a way to talk about cricket as well, but 90% of the time we talk about other stuff. It’s refreshing and in the middle of a very intense IPL tournament.”Asked who the better batsman is between Kohli and Steven Smith, de Villiers sidestepped the question smartly, and compared the two to a pair of tennis legends.”It’s a difficult one, but Virat is definitely the more natural ball-striker, there’s no doubt about that,” de Villiers said. “In tennis terms, I’d say he’s more like a [Roger] Federer whereas Smith is like a [Rafael] Nadal. Smith is mentally very strong and figures out a way of scoring runs – he doesn’t look natural, but he ends up writing records and doing amazing things at the crease. I think mentally, Smith is one of the best I have ever seen. Virat has also scored runs all over the world and won games under pressure.”And asked to compare Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar, his predecessor as India’s superstar best batsman, de Villiers gave the younger man the edge in one department – chasing targets.”Sachin is a role model for both of us – the way he stood out in his era, the things he achieved and with the grace he did all that is a great example for everyone,” de Villiers said. “And I think Virat will also say that he set the standards for us to follow.”But personally, in a chase, I’d say Virat is the best I’ve seen in my life. Sachin was amazing in all formats and all situations, but Virat comes out on top while chasing.”

Maroof criticised the ICC for splitting points for a bilateral series that India failed to obtain government permission for

Danyal Rasool29-Apr-2020Pakistan women’s captain Bismah Maroof was critical of the ICC’s decision to split points between India and Pakistan for a bilateral series that India failed to obtain governemt permission to play.Maroof called the decision “deeply disappointing”, remarking it was “good luck” for India to have effectively been awarded points for nothing. The ICC decision means Pakistan miss out on automatic qualification for the 2021 Women’s World Cup, while India go through directly. Had the ICC decided to award full points to Pakistan, as they did in a similar scenario in 2016, it would have been Pakistan who went through, while India would have had to try to go through the qualifying route.”The decision was very disappointing, because we had been waiting [for] a long time to play against India and the board was working towards it,” Maroof said in a video press conference. “But we weren’t getting any response from India. It’s good luck for India, who got points without agreeing to play any matches. I suppose if we look at it in a positive light, we’ll get a few extra competitive matches having to play the qualifying rounds.”There’s always hype when we’re due to play India and the fans want to see those matches because they’re usually very exciting. Pakistan showed a willingness to play against India, and Pakistan have kept sport away from politics. So it was very disappointing for us not to get these matches, and we were number four, in a position to qualify directly, before the matches were due to go ahead. If we had lost those matches and then had to qualify, that would have been easy to accept. But as things stand, those matches will have been missed by all cricket fans, not just Pakistan fans.”The ICC decision, which came a fortnight ago, has caused significant malcontent at the PCB. The chairman Ehsan Mani went public in expressing his own disappointment with the ICC, while the PCB was swift to get in touch with cricket’s governing body to explore what further steps it could take.The dissatisfaction, however, has not spilled over into any public censure of the ICC; Mani’s statement aside, there has been virtually total silence from within the PCB by way of any further official communication. ESPNcricinfo understands the reason for this is the PCB’s legal team considering bringing litigation to the ICC’s dispute resolution committee. Maroof confirmed that should the legal team believe there were grounds to proceed in this manner, she would get behind it.”The PCB’s legal team is reviewing the decision as things stand. If they think there are grounds for a legal case, we should definitely proceed with one. It was very disappointing, and politics and sport should be kept separate,” she said.The PCB had attempted to engage with their Indian counterparts about the series on the sidelines of the last couple of ICC meetings, a series they viewed as a bilateral issue rather than one that needed ICC engagement. It appears they did not receive a meaningful response from the BCCI, either in writing or verbally.In 2016, the ICC decided to give Pakistan full points when India failed to show up for a series, but there is one difference that looks to have secured a more desirable outcome for the BCCI. On that occasion, the BCCI offered no written explanation for the failure to proceed with the series, and the technical investigation committee found the BCCI had not been able to establish “acceptable reasons” for non-participation in the series.This time around, the BCCI engaged with the ICC early on, making its stand clear about why it could not play Pakistan in the ODI series scheduled in 2019. ESPNcricinfo understands the BCCI made extensive submissions as early as 2018, demonstrating that it could not get the relevant permission from the Indian government to play Pakistan. That helped the ICC’s technical committee to invoke the force majeure clause on this occasion.”With respect to the India v Pakistan series, the TC (technical committee) concluded that the series could not be played because of a Force Majeure event after the BCCI demonstrated that it was unable to obtain the necessary government clearances to allow India to participate in the bilateral series against Pakistan, which forms a part of the ICC Women’s Championship,” the ICC said in a media release on April 15.Meanwhile, Maroof paid a glowing tribute to her former teammate and former Pakistan captain Sana Mir, who announced her retirement earlier this week, saying women’s cricket’s reputation and profile in Pakistan owed plenty to Mir.”Sana Mir is a legend of the game and an ambassador of Pakistan cricket. She was one of the great minds we all played under. We all grew under her, and the credit goes to her. The name women’s cricket has here exists in a large part because of Sana’s involvement with it. She has achieved a huge amount for Pakistan cricket, and she deserves all the praise she has received over the last few days. She is a true ambassador for women’s cricket around the world and I wish her good luck in whatever she wants to do next.”