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An accomplished century by Sean Ervine has given Hampshire a scent of their first victory of the season. The Zimbabwean allrounder struck a near-flawless 102 to first steer his side out of trouble and then turn the pressure on to the home team.

Press Association21-Apr-2015
ScorecardMichael Carberry set up Hampshire’s second innings•Getty Images

An accomplished century by Sean Ervine has given Hampshire a scent of their first victory of the season, against Warwickshire at Edgbaston. The Zimbabwean allrounder struck a near-flawless 102, his 17th first-class century, to first steer his side out of trouble and then turn the pressure on to the home team.Hampshire were all out for 339 in their second innings, leaving Warwickshire a target of 379, which would be the biggest score of the match, in a day and 11 overs. The Bears negotiated those 11 overs without loss and will begin the last day with all results remain possible on a pitch which is flattening out, but on which wickets have fallen in flurries.The third day followed the pattern of an enthralling tussle which has ebbed and flowed throughout. In the morning, the home side were well on top after Hampshire slumped to 108 for 5, only 147 ahead. Rikki Clarke removed Liam Dawson and James Vince with successive balls and Jeetan Patel had Will Smith stumped and Adam Wheater brilliantly caught at slip by Clarke when the ball looped up off an inside-edged reverse-sweep.Hampshire were in trouble but Michael Carberry stayed firm and found an equally resilient partner in Ervine. Batting positively against Patel, they each hit the New Zealander for six and added 86 in 29 overs before Carberry, having completed his tenth score of 50-plus against Warwickshire in first-class cricket, played on to Clarke for 81.Ervine continued to play with power and purpose and found further productive partners in Gareth Berg and Danny Briggs with whom he added 60 and 61. Berg struck a forceful 36 before slicing Keith Barker’s first ball after tea to William Porterfield at gully. Briggs added a breezy 33 to his first-innings 48 before skying Chris Wright to mid-off.Ervine perished next ball to a fine tumbling catch by Tim Ambrose, but even then Hampshire’s last pair Andre Adams and James Tomlinson added 24 – a frustrating little stand for Warwickshire which might just have lifted the target out of their reach.Warwickshire’s openers weathered a testing burst from Tomlinson to survive intact and trim the target by 47, Ian Westwood moving sweetly to 37 from 39 balls, and send a fine match into its final day wide open.Rikki Clarke was pleased with his early-season rhythm with the ball as his 3 for 63 pegged Hampshire back at Edgbaston. But the Warwickshire allrounder knows his team will have to bat well tomorrow to win the game.”It’s evenly poised,” he said. “We will have to bat well. It will be a tough chase, but Division One cricket is tough. It is good that we came through unscathed tonight and now we have just got to bat well tomorrow and get the job done.”Batting has been tricky at times but less so at others on a slowish pitch. The new ball has a bit of carry but after about 25 overs it becomes quite a difficult wicket to get people out on. There are a few little cracks there that may produce a bit of a problem but we just have to bat well on it.”Clarke was the pick of the Warwickshire attack, dismissing Hampshire’s top three – Liam Dawson and James Vince with successive balls and then Michael Carberry. “I felt in both innings that I bowled well and on a different day could bowl a lot worse and get more wickets,” he said. “I am happy with how it is coming out at the minute and hopefully that rhythm and consistency will stick with me throughout the season.”

An unbeaten century from Tillakaratne Dilshan and 91 from Kumar Sangakkara carried Sri Lanka to a series win over South Africa with one match to play

The Report by Firdose Moonda28-Jul-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTillakaratne Dilshan smashed 16 boundaries in his unbeaten century•Associated Press

An unbeaten century from Tillakaratne Dilshan and 91 from Kumar Sangakkara carried Sri Lanka to a series win over South Africa with one match to play. The pair ensured the hosts achieved the highest successful run chase at Pallekele with six overs to spare to underline some of South Africa’s most pressing issues as they attempt to rebuild their one-day side.At first glance, it would seem the bowlers are to blame but South Africa’s middle-order are the real culprits in their defeat. Hashim Amla and JP Duminy shared a second-wicket stand of 101 to set a strong base for the team but the batsmen who followed squandered the advantage.From 118 for 1, South Africa were 238 all out, losing nine wickets for 120 runs. By contrast, Dilshan and Sangakkara shared a partnership of 184 – Sri Lanka’s highest against South Africa – to maintain their strong record at home against South Africa.South Africa have only won two ODIs in Sri Lanka and their inability to adapt to conditions was exposed again. The absence of quality spinners and senior players to take responsibility in the batting line-up cost them dearly and they will now return to Colombo with only pride to play for.South Africa began to make some amends for their failings with the bat and Hashim Amla’s return was central to that. Amla, who missed the first and third match with injury and could not bat in the second, recovered in time to form one half of South Africa’s fourth opening pair in as many matches.While Quinton de Kock’s inexperience was exposed against Lasith Malinga, when he was yorked for 8, Amla had the Sri Lankan attack erring. The seamers continually offered him too much width and he pulled and cut at will.Amla and JP Duminy, who has looked good without producing results in the series so far, settled in and took the batting powerplay after 15 overs. That proved a tactical mistake. Sri Lanka’s slew of spinners limited run-scoring opportunities and only 22 were scored in the five-over period.The pair succeeded in planting a platform but Amla did not stick around to help the launch from it. He was lbw to Dilshan, who went around the wicket to trap him on the back foot, and even a review could not save him.AB de Villiers’ lean run continued as he was caught behind trying to paddle-sweep. Faf du Plessis also did not contribute, offering a chance to Angelo Mathews in his follow-through and eventually being stumped.Ajantha Mendis foxed the less-experienced players, who have not learnt to pick him. David Miller was bowled by the legbreak and Farhaan Behardien clipped him straight to short leg.The fall of wickets forced Duminy to continue a quiet vigil and his strike rate remained in the 60s, until the last four overs, when he finally decided to launch against Malinga. Duminy managed to improvise, turning would-be yorkers into low full-tosses, but Malinga’s change of pace accounted for the tail.Still, South Africa would have thought they had enough with 198 the previous-best successful chase in Pallekele. Their bowlers started well against a changed Sri Lankan top order – with Mahela Jayawardene replacing Upula Tharanga – as Morne Morkel and Lonwabo Tsotsobe extracted extra bounce and got movement, but ill-discipline infected them again. South Africa sent down 17 wides, taking their series total to 58, and indicating an obvious problem with line.Jayawardene was frustrated by the early squeeze and when he tried to steer Tsotsobe to third man, he was caught by a diving Amla at gully. That was the last success South Africa saw until it was too late. Dilshan showed a willingness to ride out the pressure and looked for singles with Sangakkara instead of going for big shots to thwart the bowlers.But South Africa still had their chances. Sangakkara was on three when he edged Kleinveldt but Amla could not pull off the half chance, and on 33, when Duminy appealed for an lbw against him. South Africa had a review in hand but de Villiers chose not to use it. Afterwards, he said neither Duminy nor de Kock, who was keeping, were convinced, Replays, though, showed Sangakkara was out.His flirtation with fortune over, Sangakkara matches Dilshan blow for blow thereafter. Dilshan was strong square of the wicket and on the pull and brought out his trademark scoop off Tsotsobe. His century came off 119 balls with a swivel down to fine leg.Sangakkara peppered the on-side, with 52 of his runs coming in that area. After Dilshan crossed the century mark, Sangakkara was racing against the remaining runs to get there. He smacked Morkel for two fours to get into the nineties, but fell on his sword when he top-edged to mid-off.Dilshan finished things off to leave South Africa with plenty to think about. Foremost in their minds will be their poor effort in the field, and their decision-making under pressure, both of which need work before Wednesday.

A round-up of the second round of the inaugural Bangladesh Cricket League

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jan-2013
ScorecardSohag Gazi’s maiden first-class ten-wicket haul ended up being the difference in South Zone’s tight win against East Zone in Mirpur. Needing 137 runs to win on the final day with eight wickets in hand, East Zone were in a comfortable position. But their day started disastrously as from 154 for 2, they slipped to 171 for 8 in a matter of six overs, with Gazi picking up four of the six wickets to complete his second five-for of the match. There was a brief resistance before East Zone collapsed to hand over the win to the South.East Zone, after putting South into bat, had struck regularly to reduce them to 196 for 9 with only Anamul Haque getting past 50. But a last-wicket stand 52 runs helped South pull ahead. In response, East made a solid start with Nafees Iqbal and Mominul Haque scoring half-centuries, but a lower-order collapse triggered by Gazi and Abdur Razzak meant that East ended 12 runs behind South.South responded with a century stand for the second wicket between Soumya Sarkar and Anamul and although Nabil Samad picked up six wickets, South again managed 248 in the second innings, setting up a tough fourth-innings chase.
ScorecardA rapid century by Nasir Hossain lit up the last day of the match between North Zone and Central Zone before it ended in a draw. North had already wiped off the 75-run deficit and with a result unlikely, Nasir played attacking cricket to bring up his century of 89 balls with six fours and three sixes. Farhad Reza and Maisuqur Rahman also scored half-centuries in an innings where all eleven of Central’s players were used for bowling.Nasir’s ton overcame his failure in the first innings in which only North’s top-order had contributed to help the team to 361 with Mushfiqur Rahim unbeaten on 76. In response, Central had stumbled to 88 for 4 at one stage, but a 228-run stand between Mohammad Ashraful, who scored 133, and Mehrab Hossain jnr, who scored 131, set the platform for the team to take a first innings lead and take three points from the match.

Adam Hollioake is unsure whether he will continue his cage-fighting career after his professional debut ended in a draw on Saturday

Peter English05-May-2012Adam Hollioake, the former England one-day captain, is unsure whether he will continue his cage-fighting career after his professional debut ended in a draw on Saturday.Hollioake, who played four Tests and 35 ODIs, was buzzing after his three-round mixed martial arts bout in Australia, claiming the high was greater than any moment in his 17-year cricket journey.However, he was left wishing he was fitter after running out of stamina towards the end of the nine-minute contest with Queensland’s Joel Miller.”In hindsight I would have taken a bit longer to prepare for this,” he said. “I made a silly mistake in the first round and that cost me. I won the second round and the third round was a non-event really.”The next combat steps depend on Hollioake’s wife Sherryn, who had a cage-side seat and wasn’t comfortable with the spectacle.”I’ll do what she says,” he said when asked if he’ll fight again.

India slipped to another defeat in the Women’s Quadrangular series, this time to New Zealand by 25 runs at the Clifton College Close Ground

25-Jun-2011
Scorecard
Liz Perry top scored for New Zealand with an unbeaten 48•ICC

India slipped to another defeat in the Women’s Quadrangular series, this time to New Zealand by 25 runs at the Clifton College Close Ground in Bristol.After choosing to field, Jhulan Goswami (2 for 18) struck early blows for India as New Zealand slipped to 5 for 3 before stumbling further to 28 for 4. Player of the Match, Liz Perry, turned the innings around with her knock of 48 off 41 balls with four boundaries. Katey Martin (29) and Nicola Browne (22) played crucial knocks as New Zealand closed on a competitive 125 for 5.India’s chase never took off as wickets fell at regular intervals. Browne ended with figures of 2 for 17 as India ended on 100 for 7 off 20 overs. Only Mithali Raj (24) and Amita Sharma (26) played handy knocks.With this defeat, India’s chances of making the final have all but evaporated. They will play England on Sunday, while New Zealand take on Australia in the final league match before the play-offs on Monday.”It was a chaseable total, no doubt about that,” said a disappointed Goswami. “We lost early wickets in the first six overs and got bogged down. We could not capitalise on the field restrictions and the asking-rate kept mounting. I will offer no excuses, but we could have batted better. The wicket was good and there was only a slight movement in the morning, but in the second half it was very good.”We have the one-day internationals coming up next and we need to be in good shape for that. England is the best Twenty20 team in the world, so it will not be easy for us. We will need to sort it out before that match.”We need a little bit more from each and everyone of us. We cannot make the final barring extraordinary circumstances. But we can still build on the fact that bowling did well to restrict New Zealand. We need to create more pressure.”Perry was thrilled with her effort with the bat. “I had to do a repair job when I walked in,” she said. “It was good that I could put my hand up and play some positive cricket. It was quite a true pitch and the Indians bowled good lines to us. We just did not play that great early on. If anything, the pitch got better to bat on later.”Perry was also upbeat about her team’s chances of beating Australia and making it to the finals of the competition. “Australia are a hard side to beat. If we put up a good performance there is no reason why we cannot make the final on Monday. We have to carry on with the momentum.”

Having rekindled Ashes memories with their draw at Centurion, followed by Stuart Broad’s and Graeme Swann’s second-innings demolition of South Africa at Durban, England are now hoping to avoid a repeat of what happened against Australia

Andrew McGlashan in Cape Town02-Jan-2010Having rekindled Ashes memories with their draw at Centurion, followed by Stuart Broad’s and Graeme Swann’s second-innings demolition of South Africa in Durban, England are now hoping to avoid a repeat of what happened against Australia. Leading the series 1-0, with a chance to take an unassailable lead at Headingley, they imploded in little more than seven sessions.At Newlands a similar chance awaits and this time they want to make it count. As the Ashes showed, England are not at their most comfortable when ahead in a contest. Being favourites, as they now are in many people’s eyes for this series, doesn’t sit naturally with a team that prefer to be classed as underdogs. They need show that they can respond to the pressure of expectation and Andrew Strauss wants his team to prove they can stay ahead.”You want to be ruthless and just as desperate to win when you’re up,” said Strauss. “Sometimes there’s a thing in the back of your mind that you can pat yourselves on the back a little bit and think ‘we’ve got some breathing space’.”But as soon as you think like that, you’re going to get beaten pretty quickly. It’s important to learn how to win when you’re up and be just as clinical and not give the opposition a sniff. We hope we can do that this week”History doesn’t bode well for them, though, and not only because of the Headingley experience last year. Their three most recent visits to Cape Town have resulted in defeats by 10 wickets, an innings and 37 runs and 196 runs. There will also be the expectation from thousands of England fans – many arriving just for this Test – who will want a repeat of the performance at Kingsmead.”You don’t win a Test match on day one. But it’s very, very important that you start the Test match well – so that the opposition don’t get on top of you,” said Strauss. “It’s very much a case of keeping our feet on the ground. I’ve seen enough instances of teams losing one week and then coming back to win the next to know that nothing is guaranteed.”If we’re slightly off our game we’ll get a pretty rude surprise. In a lot of ways that is the kind of lesson we learned from Headingley in the Ashes when we started talking about ‘we could finish it this week; let’s realise our dreams’, and all that sort of stuff.”We should have been talking about just winning the first hour. That’s very much been the talk in the dressing room so far – right back to square one again, work hard to contest every over and hope, if we do that well enough, we’ll get into a position to win the game later on in the week.”It has been noticeable in the days since the victory in Durban how measured the noises from the England camp have been. Andy Flower, as is his style, was very restrained on Friday and kept reiterating that the series is only half-way through and Strauss is singing from the same hymn sheet.”There have been a lot of people telling us how great we were. It’s important we don’t read too much into that,” he said. “It’s very much a case of being desperate to win again and I like the feeling in the dressing room at the moment.”England’s trump card could again be Graeme Swann. He already has 14 wickets in the series and the Newlands pitch can assist spinners later in the game. Last year Paul Harris claimed six wickets in the second innings, and nine in the match against Australia, so South Africa are going to have to combat the spin threat.Strauss will hope he can name an unchanged side for the third match running and the chances of that increased with a positive report on Paul Collingwood’s dislocated finger. He had a lengthy net against pace bowling and also tested his injury with some slip catching, although he may have to be protected in the field.”At this stage, everything looks fine. He was batting without any real discomfort,” Strauss said. “We’re very hopeful, barring any last-minute incidents.” He’s obviously contributed a huge amount, both this series and previously and is an experienced player as well so it would have been a shame if he missed out.”

India aim to get back to winning ways, Scotland look to notch up their first T20 World Cup win in just their second outing

Sruthi Ravindranath05-Oct-20241:25

Are India in danger of a group-stage exit at the T20 World Cup?

India vs Pakistan

Dubai, 2pm local timeIndia squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-capt), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, D Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil, S SajanaPakistan squad: Fatima Sana (capt), Aliya Riaz, Diana Baig, Gull Feroza, Iram Javed, Muneeba Ali (wk), Nashra Sandhu, Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Syeda Aroob Shah, Tasmia Rubab, Tuba HassanTournament form guide: On the back of a stunning bowling effort, Pakistan opened the tournament with a 31-run win against Sri Lanka in Sharjah. India, meanwhile, suffered a 58-run loss to New Zealand amid high drama in Dubai.Related

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• Rodrigues challenges India to bounce back from shock New Zealand loss

News brief: In the match against Sri Lanka, medium pacer Diana Baig only bowled one ball before she pulled up with what looked like a calf injury. It is understood that Baig did not train on the eve of the match and that she would be assessed on Sunday ahead of the game. India-Pakistan contests have rather been one-sided in favour of India. India have won five out of the seven matches they’ve played against Pakistan in T20 World Cups, with Pakistan last winning in the 2016 tournament. India have also dominated against them in T20s overall, having won 12 out of 15 games. Regardless, the encounter is expected to draw huge crowds, with over 10,000 tickets reportedly being sold for the game on Sunday.Players to watch: Left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal is having her best year in T20Is. Among all players at the T20 World Cup, she has taken the most wickets in 2024, with 24 wickets in 15 games. She was impressive in the opener against Sri Lanka as well, taking three middle-order wickets, including that of the top-scorer Nilakshika Silva. She finished with figures of 3 for 17.West Indies will look to bounce back after the big loss to South Africa•ICC/Getty Images

Scotland vs West Indies

Dubai, 6pm local timeScotland squad: Kathryn Bryce (capt), Chloe Abel, Abbi Aitken-Drummond, Olivia Bell, Sarah Bryce (wk), Darcey Carter, Priyanaz Chatterji, Katherine Fraser, Saskia Horley, Lorna Jack, Ailsa Lister, Abtaha Maqsood, Megan McColl, Hannah Rainey, Rachel SlaterWest Indies squad: Hayley Matthews (capt), Aaliyah Alleyne, Shamilia Connell, Deandra Dottin, Shemaine Campbelle (vice-capt, wk), Ashmini Munisar, Afy Fletcher, Stafanie Taylor, Chinelle Henry, Chedean Nation, Qiana Joseph, Zaida James, Karishma Ramharack, Mandy Mangru, Nerissa CraftonTournament guide: In their maiden World Cup appearance, Scotland lost to Bangladesh by 16 runs. West Indies, too, are coming into the match on the back of a big loss, having gone down to South Africa by 10 wickets in Dubai.News brief: West Indies are waiting on injury updates for a couple of key players. Bowler Zaida James suffered a blow to the jaw while fielding off her own bowling, but captain Hayley Matthews said after the game that “she hopefully will be able to be back up for the next match”. Senior allrounder Stafanie Taylor also looked in some discomfort during her knock of 44 not out. It was revealed that she had been troubled by soreness in her knee and that she would undergo an assessment before training on Saturday.Player to watch: Scotland will surely want to use the offspin of Saskia Horley more. Bowling two overs in the match against Bangladesh, she picked up three wickets for just 13 runs having only been brought into the attack in the 18th over. She had quite an impressive run with the bat in the Netherlands ODI tri-series in August and in the match against PNG, she took 4 for 24, bowling her full quota.

Ben Duckett says England “could have easily had five or six [wickets] tonight”

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Feb-2023Ben Stokes made the second-earliest first-innings declaration in Test history on the first day in Mount Maunganui, a decision vindicated when England reduced New Zealand to 37 for 3 under floodlights.England were 325 for 9 after only 58.2 overs when Stokes called time on their innings, a move that his team-mates explained owed to the challenge of facing a new pink ball under lights in a day-night Test.The move was not without precedent: South Africa have twice declared nine-down on the first day of a day-night Test to enable them to bowl under floodlights, against Australia in 2016 and against Zimbabwe in 2017.Related

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“I haven’t played many pink-ball games, but by the looks of it, it’s the hardest time to bat when it’s under lights, and obviously we had the new ball as well,” Harry Brook told talkSPORT. “I think it was a great declaration. To get three wickets there is vital and hopefully we can force a few more early tomorrow.”Speaking at the end-of-day press conference, Brook added: “The best time to bowl is under these lights. You can extract the most amount of swing and seam so why not try and expose their top order to that? It’s the hardest time to bat and we’ve got three of the best bowlers to ever play the game. And thankfully we got three wickets.”It just happened like that, to be honest. There was no plan at dinner to declare. Me and Foakesy [Ben Foakes] were still batting together and if I hadn’t got out, the plan would’ve been the same. But because I got out the plan changed, and Stokesy said if there’re two bowlers in at the same time, give them a couple of overs and we’ll try and utilise the lights.”Ben Duckett, England’s other half-centurion, told talkSPORT: “We knew the conditions under lights tonight were going to suit us with the ball and that was the reason for the declaration.”We could have easily had five or six [wickets] tonight. Stick two on that in the morning and suddenly they’re a long way behind the game and we’re in a very good position.”

Wagner – New Zealand ‘expected’ declaration

Neil Wagner, who took 4 for 82 and then saw out the day as nightwatch, said that New Zealand had “sort of expected” England to declare.”After that dinner break we thought they might come out a little harder, get to the point where they were really trying to up the ante, score as quick as they can and just get us in there,” he said.”We tried to stem the run rate a little bit and eliminate them getting too far ahead of us. We kept trying to take wickets, which brought it back for us at the back end.”

“I feel so assured of myself right now knowing someone like Belinda Clark has my back”

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jan-2023Shikha Pandey, the India allrounder, has credited former Australia captain Belinda Clark for making her feel “worthy” and “special” during her time away from the national team.In September 2022, Clark facilitated a three-week stint for Pandey in Brisbane, where she played club cricket. That stint nearly paved way for a maiden Women’s Big Bash deal with Brisbane Heat, but Pandey had to turn it down due to her commitments with Goa, her state team.Four months since a memorable stint in Australia, Pandey’s immediate future looks a lot brighter now. She is set to make a comeback after 15 months, having been included in India’s squad for the upcoming T20I tri-series in South Africa and the T20 World Cup next month.Related

• India pick Shikha Pandey for 2023 Women's T20 World Cup

• Belinda Clark statue adds to cricket greats at the SCG

“The one thing that I like about Belinda is that there was less sympathy and more empathy,” Pandey told Scroll.in. “She listened to my story and then worked with me to set different goals – not just cricket related, but outside the game as well.”We worked on my leadership traits, we discussed different podcasts, we worked on how I could make a difference by being in the state side and she made me feel worthy; special, even.”Pandey highlighted a significant shift in mindset as one of her major takeaways from being mentored by Clark. It helped develop a “squad mentality” by promoting a “more inclusive culture” within the teams she turned up for while being away from the national team.”The sessions that I had with her helped me immensely to bring in changes in my team environment. We brought in the squad mentality, started believing more in positive reinforcement, we understood the importance of creating a psychologically safe environment in which players feel valued, and we also started to celebrate our differences and tried to create a more inclusive culture.”Belinda Clark’s statue at the SCG is the first of a female cricketer anywhere in the world•Cricket Australia via Getty Images

“I remember in one of the early sessions, Belinda said something on the lines of how the situations we are facing don’t define us, but what we choose to do in reply to those situations and the decisions that we take to come out of those situations, define us. She kind of made me realise that I had so much more to offer to the game and giving up was not an option.”Pandey believes those conversations helped her embrace her vulnerabilities and accept her struggles.”She told me that it was okay to be different,” Pandey explained. “As long as I was being me, it was fine. As a professional athlete sometimes you are so scared of struggles and low phases you try not to do anything that could risk your ‘safety’ in a sense.”But she explained that you should be willing to experiment, and you need to understand that you will be vulnerable and that’s okay. It’s okay to fail in the pursuit of excellence, that’s how we grow. We need to learn to own our mistakes. Those conversations opened up a lot of things for me.”I feel so assured of myself right now knowing someone like Belinda Clark has my back. I have kept in touch with her throughout and after I got selected I sent her a message and spoke to her the next day. I just wanted to say ‘thank you’ because she was with me at a very low phase and gave me huge confidence to help build myself back up.”Sometimes when things like non-selection happen you start doubting yourself and your abilities so much that you become your own enemy. Knowing that she is in my corner, that she feels I am really good, helped me more than I can say.”

Atherton terms on-field soft signal for outfield catches “nonsense” as TV umpire remains unconvinced about the catch but has to stick with “out” signal

Nagraj Gollapudi, Matt Roller and Varun Shetty18-Mar-20216:14

Does cricket need to rethink the soft-signal rule?

The decision to cut short an enterprising maiden international innings from India batsman Suryakumar Yadav has thrown open the debate about the validity of the on-field umpire’s soft signal for outfield catches, with India captain Virat Kohli suggesting after the match that there’s no realistic way for an on-field umpire to judge low catches from a distance.Off the second ball of the 14th over of the fourth India-England T20I in Ahmedabad, Yadav, on 57, pulled England left-arm seamer Sam Curran into the deep where Dawid Malan initially appeared to have taken a low catch at deep-square leg. England’s fielders celebrated as umpire KN Ananthapadmanabhan gave a soft signal of “out”.That decision sparked instant debate as third umpire Virender Sharma remained unconvinced about whether it was a clean catch, despite reviewing Malan’s pouch multiple times for nearly four minutes. Sharma repeatedly described the evidence as “inconclusive”, and subsequently, as per the rules, was forced to stick to Anathapadmanabhan’s soft-signal ruling.Kohli: Why not an ‘I don’t know’ call for the umpires?
Speaking to broadcaster Star Sports at the post-match presentation, Kohli said that the soft signal during Yadav’s innings cost India some runs during their innings, even if they were happy getting to a total of 180-plus. Kohli called that passage “strange” and said the rules around that part of the game need to be more clear than the “grey areas” that they currently are.According to the ICC’s playing conditions, the soft signal is a “visual communication by the bowler’s end umpire to the third umpire (accompanied by additional information via two-way radio where necessary) of his/her initial on-field decision prior to initiating an Umpire Review”. “Look, there was that instance that happened during the Test series where I was next to Jinks [Ajinkya Rahane] when he clearly caught the ball, but then I wasn’t sure and I asked Jinks, he wasn’t sure,” Kohli said. “And then we went up straightaway. If it’s a half-and-half effort and the fielder’s in doubt, I don’t think the umpire from square leg would see that clearly and, you know, make a conclusive call. So the soft signal becomes that much more important and it’s a tricky one. I don’t know why there cannot be a sort of “I don’t know” call for the umpire as well. Why does it have to be a conclusive one? Because then that [dictates] the whole decision completely. Similar to the argument we have about umpire’s call as well.””I think these are some things that can really, really change the whole course of the game, especially in a big game. We are on the other side [of the result], but there could be another team bearing the brunt of this. So you want these things ironed out as much as possible, keep this game simple, keep it linear, have one set of rules which are not grey areas which we don’t understand sometimes, and sometimes we do. So it’s not ideal, especially in a high-pressure game which has a lot of things riding on it, a lot at stake. It’s important to have a lot of clarity on the field.”Atherton: Soft signal for boundary catches is nonsense
Former England captain Michael Atherton, who is one of the commentators for Sky, the UK broadcaster for the T20I series, was critical of the soft signal for outfield catches, calling it “nonsense”.”The third umpire had a long look at that and the key thing here – and it is a thing I have a slight problem with – is the on-field umpire’s call is out and therefore the third umpire made exactly the right call: he said it is inconclusive, I’ve got to go with the on-field umpire’s call which was out,” Atherton said immediately after Yadav was ruled out. “But how you have a soft signal from the umpire standing in the middle for a boundary catch is beyond me. I don’t how the on-field umpire can see that when the fielder makes a catch on the boundary.” India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik, doing commentary for Sky, echoed Atherton’s thoughts. “I’m absolutely with Athers on that,” Karthik said. “I don’t understand this: the [on-field] umpire is not sure whether it’s taken or not [cleanly] hence he goes to the third umpire. And then why give a decision [soft signal] at all? Allow the third umpire to take the call. Another grey area of cricket along with the DRS umpire’s call – these are things always up for debate.”Related

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According to Atherton the soft signal should be valid only for rulings on catches in the 30-yard circle, where the on-field umpires have a better view of events. “I can absolutely understand why an on-field umpire gets a good view of the catch inside the inner circle, but when it is out on the boundary, 50 metres away, there’s no way that the standing umpire can see whether Dawid Malan has caught that. So the soft signal for boundary catches is nonsense. You [should] just send it upstairs and let the third umpire make his call. There’s no way that the standing umpire can see that: he has not got X-ray eyes from 50 yards away.”The frequency of the controversial rulings on outfield catches due to soft signals has resulted in the topic being debated at the most recent meeting of the MCC’s World Cricket Committee, on which sit some eminent former international captains including Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, and umpire Kumar Dharmasena who stood in the 2019 World Cup final.”The committee felt that the soft-signal system worked well for catches within the 30-yard fielding circle, but that catches near the boundary often left the umpires unsighted,” the MCC said at the time in a media release. “It was proposed that, for such catches, the on-field umpires could give an ‘unsighted’ instruction to the TV umpire, rather than the more explicit soft signal of ‘out’ or ‘not out’.”