The Committee of Administrators has ruled that the BCCI can press criminal charges against players found to be indulging in age fraud

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jul-2018

The Committee of Administrators (CoA) has ruled that players submitting false and tampered-with birth certificates as part of the age-verification processes for BCCI tournaments will now be banned for two years and could also face criminal action from the BCCI.At a meeting in Delhi in May, the CoA deliberated on the existing penalties for such an offence and decided that with a due mechanism to identify such fraud, the ban period should be doubled from the existing one-year period. Age-fudging is a prominent feature in India’s domestic system, particularly in age-group cricket, where parents and even coaches encourage the practice despite the risks of being found out. The loss of two years of top-level cricket, along with the danger of legal charges, the CoA hopes, will serve as a deterrent to any such attempts by players.Under the Indian legal system, it is a criminal offence to provide false birth certificates. The BCCI has now decided to adopt the same penalty wherever applicable. “Players who are found [after a proper enquiry] to have submitted false/tampered birth certificates will be banned from all BCCI tournaments for two seasons,” the CoA said as per the minutes of the May 18 meeting. “BCCI may also initiate criminal action against the concerned player and/or any other person responsible for submitting false/tampered birth certificates.”The decision comes almost three years after the current coach of the India Under-19s and A teams, Rahul Dravid, had called for a regulation at the state and academy levels to stop the “scourge of overage players” in his MAK Pataudi lecture, adding that age-fudging was just as bad as fixing.”The truth is that the player who has faked his age might make it at the junior level not necessarily because he is better or more talented, but because he is stronger and bigger. We all know how much of a difference a couple of years can make at that age. That incident will have another ripple effect: an honest player, deprived of his place by an overage player, is disillusioned. We run the risk of losing him forever,” Dravid had said during the lecture.At the time, bone-density tests were the only measure of determining a player’s age. A centralised database of birth certificates, Dravid had said, would be the way to tackle the issue.

Vice-captain sees the absence of key names as an opportunity for new faces to stake their claim

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jun-20181:37

‘Need to play as much as we can’ – Finch

Aaron Finch says that the inexperience in Australia’s one-day squad could prove to be a blessing in disguise as they finalise their preparations for next week’s first ODI against England at The Oval, and beyond that, next year’s World Cup.Finch made a solid 78 on Thursday night to set up Australia’s hard-earned 57-run win against Sussex at Hove, which was also their first outing in national colours since the end of their seismic Test tour of South Africa in April.The Australia squad was forced to lie low for a few months after returning home from South Africa, as the ball-tampering scandal erupted around them, but Finch said that he could feel an eagerness to get stuck in in the new-look squad, adding that “there’s only so many laps of ovals you can run before you start to go crazy”.

Australia ready to ‘cop some banter’

Australia’s match against Sussex on Thursday was their first encounter with English crowds since the ball-tampering scandal broke, and Finch admitted that their jibes were something that the team would have to take in its stride as the tour progressed.
“I think anytime you are touring you’re going to cop some great banter,” he said. “The chants and the songs and the stick that they give us in all in good fun, but you’re going to keep copping it if you don’t interact with them, if you don’t get on board with them and have some fun. It’s a part of playing over here, you expect that, and it’s all in good jest most of the time.”

“There’s a lot of excitement around, any time you bring young guys into the squad for their first or second tour, it brings a lot of energy around the group,” Finch said. “A lot of the guys have had time off over the last couple of months, the guys who weren’t in the IPL, so it’s a great chance to get stuck into cricket.”Australia will begin next week’s contest as rank outsiders against England’s No.1-ranked ODI team, but Finch sees the absence of so many first-choice candidates for next year’s World Cup squad as an opportunity for some new faces to stake a claim. In so doing, they may also lift Australia’s standards in a format in which they have lost each of their last three bilateral series, against New Zealand, India and England, as well as suffering an early elimination in the Champions Trophy.”There’s a few guys here that it’s the first time I’ve toured with,” he added, “and I’ve been around a little while now. But our one-day cricket hadn’t been that great over the last 18 months to two years, so who knows, if we give these young guys a few opportunities, they can do some wonderful things. There are some guys in this squad who are going to be great players.”Finch is Australia’s vice-captain on this tour, and will also captain the T20 team in the absence of David Warner, but he didn’t envisage a sea-change to the role that he has played for Ausralia since cementing his spot in the limited-overs team five years ago.Aaron Finch plays into the leg side•Getty Images

“Being vice-captain you lead by example on and off the field, but I think that, being an opening batter, you have the opportunity to set the tone for the team, so that’s not much of a change,” he said. “But with a young group, there’s not a lot of experience, so it’s about helping them as much as I can, along with Tim [Paine], Glenn Maxwell and other guys who’ve been around for a time.”The tour is also Justin Langer’s first as Australia coach, and Finch admitted that, while Langer’s first press conference had been full of smiles and jokes as he set about reframing the debate over sledging, Finch admitted that the new boss had a steely side that few players would want to encounter.”When we got to Brisbane for our training camp. it was the first time that JL had had a chance to address us all together,” said Finch. “He just laid down what he expected of the Australian cricket team, and how he sees the team going forward. There wasn’t anything that you wouldn’t expect a new coach to do.”But you don’t want to be in his glare!” Finch added. “I’ve been there before, not on this tour, but in the past. There were some easy comments you could make to him when he was coach of Western Australia. It was easy to wind him up.”Finch played most of his Australia career to date under the gaze of Darren Lehmann, who resigned from his post on the eve of the Johannesburg Test in March. “They are both great coaches in their own right. We’ve had a lot of success with [Darren] as an Australian coach, and JL I’ve no doubt will have a lot of success. With Perth, he’s done some wonderful things. And at the end of the day, whoever is coach of the side has the opportunity to mould the culture the way they want it.”

A career best 73 for Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman set Pakistan up for a convincing win over Australia in Harare

The Report by Daniel Brettig05-Jul-2018
Pakistan gained a mental advantage over Australia by dominating Aaron Finch’s team in a match that served as a dress rehearsal for Sunday’s Twenty20 triangular tournament final at the Harare Sports Club.Having beaten Pakistan comfortably in their first meeting, the Australians put in an unfocused performance, dropping far too short with the new ball after Finch sent Sarfraz Ahmed’s side in to bat to allow Fakhar Zaman to fire off a succession of pull shots on his way to the highest score of the match. They then lost a series of early wickets to the late moving ball in the hands of Faheem Ashraf and the 18-year-old left-armer Shaheen Afridi.Having slid as low as 75 for 5, Australia never looked likely to get close to their target, though the wicketkeeper and vice-captain Alex Carey played another intelligent innings down the order. Pakistan’s victory also served the purpose of preventing Australia from taking their place at the top of the ICC’s T20 international rankings.Both sides had already qualified for Sunday’s tournament final, making this game chiefly a chance to gain information and psychological high ground. Australia kept the same side that delivered comfortable wins over Pakistan and Zimbabwe to be the first team to reach the decider. Pakistan included the youthful Afridi for his second T20I in place of Hasan Ali, while Usman Khan came in for Mohammad Nawaz.4:18

‘Steven Smith is the toughest batsman to bowl to’

On a cold morning in Harare, Billy Stanlake failed to induce the sort of early collapse he had been responsible for in Monday’s match. While Jhye Richardson enjoyed the good fortune of having Haris Sohail clip his first delivery straight to square leg to depart for a golden duck, the Pakistan top order were able to feast on a generous helping of short stuff.Fakhar was the major beneficiary, flashing nine boundaries and a trio of sixes on the way to the highest score of his T20I career thus far – he is Pakistan’s leading run-maker in this tournament by a distance, and will require far more careful planning by Australia’s pacemen and coaches ahead of the decider.They reached 80 inside nine overs before Hussain Talat was cramped for room by Glenn Maxwell’s off-breaks and bowled, and from there a series of nifty partnerships ensured that Finch’s side was unable to restrict the run rate. A particularly heavy toll was taken from the bowling of Ashton Agar, while 18 runs from the final over rather disfigured Aaron Tye’s previously excellent figures.Needing a rapid start given the task they were facing, Finch and D’Arcy Short were instead confounded by Pakistan’s fast men pitching the ball much further up to the bat and finding movement both in the air and off the seam. Finch was cornered by an Afridi delivery bending back at him and was caught behind off the inside edge, then Travis Head’s minimal footwork was exposed when Faheem Ashraf seamed one back to pluck out middle stump.Maxwell managed a pair of boundaries before he played around a late inswinger from Afridi that pinned him in front of middle stump, and the innings of Nic Maddinson – who made the squad despite being cut from the New South Wales contract list – lasted only eight balls before he misread a well-pitched wrong’un from Shadab Khan and was comfortably stumped.Short had persevered without timing the ball with anything like the power of which he is capable, but was well and truly beaten by the yorker Afridi served up on his return to the bowling crease. From there it was largely a matter of damage limitation for the Australians, as Carey knocked the ball around with the sort of resourcefulness that is quickly becoming his trademark without ever looking likely to threaten a distant target.Pakistan will now go into the final with plenty of confidence, while the Australians must face Zimbabwe before reconsidering their approach to Fakhar, Afridi and the rest of Sarfraz’s team.

ScorecardNorthants are well placed to win their second consecutive championship game and move off the bottom of the table after outplaying Glamorgan on the third day at Sophia Gardens.After the visitors had declared on 403 for 9, the home team were set the mammoth total of 434 to win. They closed on 121 for 4, and with Usman Khawaja already out, their chances of avoiding defeat are slim on a pitch where the odd ball is misbehaving for the seamers, and there was sufficient turn for Seekuge Prasanna to take two late wickets.When play resumed on another glorious morning, Ben Duckett and Luke Procter extended their opening partnership to 208, and surpass the previous record for that wicket against Glamorgan, established by Brian Reynolds and Mickey Norman at Northampton in 1962.Procter, who made an assured 70, was the first to go, when his inside edge off van Der Gugten was well caught by Cooke, and three overs later Duckett’s season best of 133 from154 balls which included 22 fours, ended when he mishit a short ball from Rory Smith to midwicket.The third wicket then fell for the addition then fell for only seven runs, when Alex Wakely sliced a drive to second slip, and the Glamorgan bowlers’ efforts were rewarded further when Richard Levi and Adam Rossington perished in quick succession.Any hopes Glamorgan might have had of a further collapse were dashed by Ricardo Vasconelos and Steven Crook who extended Northants’ lead to over 300, and shared a partnership of147 for the sixth wicket.Vascolenos, a 19yr old South African left hander, who qualifies by owning a Portuguese passport, again made an impression in his first year with the club, after scoring 56 in the first innings. Most of his runs came through the offside, but when Hogan dropped short he pulled him over square leg for six.After scoring 76, Crook was bowled, heaving at Smith, who then had Vasconelos caught at slip for 79. The tail surrendered in their quest for quick runs, before Wakely declared two overs before tea. Glamorgan had 33 overs to face in the evening session, and after a promising start, were soon 54 for2 .Nick Selman gave cover point a simple catch from Procter’s second ball, then Jack Murphy, shortly after being struck on the helmet, guided one from Buck to third slip.Usman Kahwaja after his century in the first innings, began by striking four boundaries, and followed by taking two more fours from Buck’s third over. Owen Morgan was more circumspect, but played every ball on merit, and the third wicket pair soon shared a fifty- run stand.After scoring 38, Kahawaja was caught by Vasconelos at short leg, when the Australian struck the ball firmly off Prasanna, only to see the fielder the fielder juggle with it three times before eventually holding on. Prasanna then took his second wicket when Morgan’s push was deflected by first slip to second with Glamorgan almost dead and buried.

Everton are believed to be battling a number of Premier League clubs for the signing of a huge talent, according to a new transfer update.

Will Everton avoid relegation from the Premier League?

The Merseysiders have arguably been one of the most underperforming teams in the country in recent years, considering what a huge club they remain, having never been relegated from the Premier League since its inception in 1992.

Having survived by the skin of their teeth last season, with Sean Dyche coming in and keeping the Blues up after Frank Lampard was sacked as manager, the hope was that they would kick on significantly in 2023/24.

Instead, it's fair to say that Everton have been hugely underwhelming to date this season, only collecting one point from their opening five league matches prior to the trip to Brentford, and not playing with anywhere near enough invention or positivity. It means that Dyche is under pressure to keep his job at the moment, and as things stand, the Blues are possibly one of the favourites to be relegated to the Championship next year.

Things can change very quickly, of course, and once the January transfer window arrives, there will be the chance to bring in new faces, injecting the squad with quality and depth in the process.

Which young talent to Everton want to sign?

According to IG Esporte [via The Boot Room], Everton are in the mix to sign highly rated Corinthians youngster Gabriel Moscardo in the coming transfer window.

The Blues are believed to have "investigated" the idea of snapping up the 17-year-old midfielder, who is already becoming an important player for his current side, despite still being a teenager.

That being said, it is stated that Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest and Chelsea are also in the race to bring him to England, so it will be a fierce battle to sign him. Corinthians are thought to be demanding €30m (£26m) for his services, such is the extent to which they rate him as a player, with £20m of that a fixed amount.

Moscardo could be a great addition to Everton's squad, albeit as nothing more than a squad option to begin with, given how young he is. The Blues' squad arguably looks a little one-dimensional at the moment, with the likes of Idrissa Gueye, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Amadou Onana all arguably too similar in terms of bringing energy and industry, but not always enough creativity.

The Brazilian has been lauded as "the future of Brazil's midfield", and the fact that he has already been capped at under-23 level for his country shows how mature he is as a player.

Whether Everton are able to fight off the interest from other clubs remains to be seen – the likes of Newcastle and Chelsea would likely be able to guarantee him high wages and a greater chance of trophy success as the years pass – but he is someone who could become a mainstay of the team over time and represent an upgrade on their current options in that area of the pitch.

Chelsea boss Emma Hayes showered praise on goalkeeper Hannah Hampton after her heroics secured a 1-0 win over Manchester City on Thursday.

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• Chelsea overcome City in Conti Cup semis
• Hampton the star in goal
• Hayes makes "get paid" comment in praise

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Lauren James scored the only goal of the game as Chelsea defeated WSL rivals City to reach the Continental Cup final for the fifth year running. While James was the star up top, the Blues had Hampton to thank between the sticks, with the Lionesses goalkeeper making several fine saves throughout the 90 minutes to keep the scores at 1-0. And Hayes recognised her "superb" efforts after the full-time whistle, joking that "that's what you get paid for".

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  WHAT HAYES SAID

  Speaking to reporters after the match, the Chelsea boss said: "Hampton was superb, that's what you get paid for. Whole team deserves credit for digging in. We weren't at our best, weren't at our freshest, but it was gutsy from us."

  Pressed on Hampton's display, Hayes added: "It was absolutely superb from Hannah from start to finish. It brings confidence to the back-line. Her ability to play out from the back plus making saves like she did, she is growing in a Chelsea shirt and her alongside Sjoeke Nusken were players of the match for us."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Chelsea will face Arsenal in the Conti Cup final later this month in what will be a repeat of last year's finale. It is, incredibly, Hayes' fifth in a row as Blues boss, as she is still in line to win a near-unprecedented quadruple in her last season before taking over the reigns at the USWNT.

  Those hopes were dealt a hammer blow in that matchup on Thursday, though, with Mayra Ramirez forced off after just 34 minutes following a problem in her upper leg. The Blues already have Sam Kerr and Mia Fishel out to ACL injuries and can't afford their record signing to suffer the same fate as they enter the business end of the season.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR CHELSEA?

  That quadruple charge resumes on Sunday, when Hayes takes her side to Everton in the quarter-finals of the FA Women's Cup. The Blues are then in WSL action against London rivals Arsenal on March 15, where any slip-up could be pounced on by City, who remain level on points with Chelsea after 15 matches.

Everton may be eyeing up new signings ahead of the January transfer window, and they are keen on bringing in a former Premier League player, according to a fresh transfer update.

Will Everton make new signings in January?

The Blues knew how important the summer transfer window was for them, as they looked to kick on from another disappointing season in 2022/23. They narrowly escaped relegation to the Championship, and while their final-day win over Bournemouth was celebrated hugely, there was a feeling of relief more than anything.

Overall, Everton did some positive business during the summer, bolstering their squad and addressing the attacking area of the pitch, having been profligate in front of goal for too long. Beto is arguably the most exciting signing, arriving in a big-money deal from Udinese, but Youssef Chermiti is a young talent who could be a shrewd acquisition. Meanwhile, both Jack Harrison and Arnaut Danjuma will hope to make an impact on loan from Leeds United and Villarreal respectively.

That being said, there is the opportunity for the Toffees to make further signings once the January window opens, allowing Sean Dyche to have even more options at his disposal between then and the end of the season. The current evidence suggests that they will need all the help possible, and a new update claims that an ex-Premier League player is being eyed up.

Which former Premier League player do Everton want?

According to a report from Spain [via Caught Offside], Everton are interested in former Manchester United winger Adnan Januzaj, who is currently plying his trade at Sevilla. The 28-year-old joined the La Liga side from Real Sociedad last year, but could exit fairly swiftly.

With playing time hard to come by at his current club, Dyche's side could offer him a way out in the near future as he looks to click his career back into gear, having been such a highly-rated young player during his United days. Granted, Januzaj's struggles in recent years mean that Everton fans may not be overly enamoured with this update, but he is clearly a footballer oozing natural ability, having once been described as representing United's "future" by none other than Sir Alex Ferguson.

Still only 28 years of age, the Belgian should be in and around the peak years of his career, and while it seems clear that he will never reach his previous potential at this point, he could be worth taking a punt on for Everton. This is still a 15-cap Belgium international and someone who has made a combined 209 appearances in the Premier League and La Liga, registering 42 goal contributions (20 goals and 22 assists) in those competitions – demonstrating genuine pedigree at the top level.

A loan move to Everton in January could make the most sense, making it less of a risk if he doesn't impress at Goodison Park, and Sevilla may happily sanction such a deal if they don't see him as an important player moving forward. If he shone for the Blues, a possible permanent switch could then be discussed at the end of the season.

The inaugural elections of the new board, initially slated for May 18, has gone through a series of delays

Peter Della Penna13-Jul-2018The inaugural USA Cricket elections, which were originally announced to be held on May 18, will now begin on July 20 according to an announcement from the board. The elections have gone through a series of delays, including being postponed indefinitely after a series of challenges were made during a peer-review process regarding the legitimacy of voting members.Full list of candidates

League director: Mark Demos, Shuja Khan, Sushil Nadkarni, Atul Rai
Club director: John Aaron, Ajith Bhaskar, Jag Poosarla, Maq Qureshi, Aziz Savul
Individual director (3 positions): Avinash Gaje, Ramesh Immadi, Ajay Jhamb, Jatin Patel, Venu Pisike, Shantha Suraweera, Suraj Viswanathan, Brian Walters
Female player: Nadia Gruny, Erica Rendler
Male player: Usman Shuja

Five of the original 25 candidates have also dropped out of the elections for the seven constituent board-member positions. Lesly Lowe, president of the Commonwealth Cricket League in New York – the largest league in the country with 81 clubs – has withdrawn from the race for the league director position. Biju Nair and Masaood Yunus have officially withdrawn their names as candidates for club director. Both roles are to be voted on by eligible leagues and clubs respectively.The other two candidates to drop out came from the individual director pool. Kiran Manchikanti and Ramu Parupalli are no longer in the running. The remaining eight candidates will be voted on by the approximately 5000 eligible USA Cricket members who registered by the April 24 voting-registration deadline. Three individual directors will be voted in through the electronic voting process, which will remain open until July 29.The other two candidates to be voted in will be the male and female elite athlete representatives on the board. There are no changes to the originally announced candidates in each category: Usman Shuja, who is running uncontested in the male elite athlete category, and a two-player race for the female representative between Nadia Gruny and Erica Rendler.After the seven constituent members have been elected, USA Cricket has announced that the final three independent director positions on the board will be appointed by the nomination and governance committee by mid-September. It is then expected that the full 10-person board will be presented to the ICC at the next board meeting in October.The delayed elections timeline also means that the current ICC Americas caretaker administration, known as Project USA, will remain in charge of the administrative process of organising and selecting USA squad for the World T20 Regional Qualifier to be hosted by USA from September 16-24, as well as a squad for ICC WCL Division Three, which is expected to be held in October or November of 2018.

Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain may be set to enter a summer battle for the signing of midfielder Alan Varela from Porto, according to reports.

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Liverpool, PSG & Dortmund in for VarelaArgentine midfielder dubbed 'next Mascherano'Porto demanding €70m for 22-year-old starWHAT HAPPENED?

The Premier League and Ligue 1 giants have been monitoring the Argentine defensive midfielder since his arrival at Porto and, along with Borussia Dortmund, could make an attempt to sign him in the summer transfer window, reports.

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The 22-year-old joined the Portuguese side from Boca Juniors last summer and has already impressed enough to catch the eye of top European teams. He has been dubbed the 'next Javier Mascherano' due to his nationality and combative playing style.

DID YOU KNOW?

Varela signed a five-year contract with Porto when he made the move to Europe last August after making 111 senior appearances for Boca. The Liga Portugal club are said to have slapped a €70 million (£60m/$76m) price tag on the Argentina Under-20 international.

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GettyWHAT NEXT?

Liverpool and PSG will likely continue to monitor Varela over the coming months before deciding whether or not to make an attempt to snap him up. However, Porto may hope to hold onto their rising star for at least another year.

Arsenal fell to a shock defeat on the road on Tuesday night, as they could not follow up their emphatic Champions League curtain-raiser with another fine performance.

Instead, in front of a hostile French atmosphere, Mikel Arteta saw his men whimper to a disappointing 2-1 loss against RC Lens.

What went wrong for Arsenal vs RC Lens?

In a game that came down to the respective cutting edge each side boasted in front of goal, despite the Gunners taking the lead, a string of squandered chances afforded their hosts the opportunity to turn the game around.

As such, goals either side of half time saw them sneak in front, and despite boasting 67% of the ball and raining down 11 shots on goal, the north London side could not find a response.

The clash was also marred by the injury to Bukayo Saka, who had been a doubt for the past few fixtures but remained ever-present. Last night proved a step too far, and despite assisting the opener, the England international was withdrawn after 34 minutes.

Thus instigated Arteta's big issue, as his replacement, Fabio Vieira, narrowed their formation aggressively. Both he and Leandro Trossard were desperate to come to feet for possession rather than spin in behind and stretch the stubborn hosts, and as such once he was brought on, their attack was largely blunted.

However, this was hardly aided by the disasterclass suffered by the usually-magical Belgian wizard.

How did Leandro Trossard play vs RC Lens?

Starting on the left flank, it was a decidedly anonymous display from the former Brighton and Hove Albion man, who many expected and hoped would start, to replicate his Champions League form from their PSV Eindhoven clash.

Having scored and assisted in that emphatic 4-0 win, the 28-year-old could not have posted a more differing display last night, with his lack of influence emphasised due to the fact that even goalkeeper David Raya enjoyed more touches of the ball (32 v 52).

However, that was not all that underpinned a torrid night for Trossard, who remained profligate with what little possession he did enjoy.

Although it was far from a vintage performance from Arsenal, the £27m trickster could have put the game to bed with a golden opportunity, which he squandered. The winger received the ball from Kai Havertz inside the penalty area before chopping back onto his right foot and sticking a tame effort at Brice Samba. Then, to make matters worse, the £90k-per-week dud would go on to lose 75% of the eight duels he competed in, outlining a lack of physicality to match such a disastrous night.

Emphasising this disappointment further, the words of journalist Dan Kilpatrick stand as supporting evidence, who wrote the following before handing him a dismal 4/10 rating following the match: "Might have done better from close range but his shot was tame and easily saved. Faded and replaced."

Writer Phil Costa would then seek to outline that aforementioned narrowness issue, suggesting that should such a trend continue it could pose a worry for him and Arteta: "Our offensive distances were too big and I worry now with Trossard and Vieira wide – both who want the ball into feet – about being able to stretch the game."

Whilst hardly likely to curtail their entire Champions League campaign, the Spanish tactician will quickly want to figure out where the issues stemmed from and put them right. After all, he can afford hiccups at this stage, but if he is serious about challenging for elite honours, such a tactical and technical shocker cannot be afforded later on in the competition.