Tag Futebol

The Bangladesh captain has said he wants his side to remain as relaxed as he had seen them throughout the day

Mohammad Isam17-Mar-2018With just over 24 hours to go before their fifth multi-nation tournament final in limited-overs matches, Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan said he wants his side to remain as relaxed as he had seen them throughout the day. It encouraged him to hope that the rest of the players would keep out the mental blocks and treat the final like just another game.It is easier said than done, especially against India who have beaten Bangladesh in all seven previous T20s, including the 2016 Asia Cup final. In the two league stage matches in the Nidahas Trophy, Bangladesh were outplayed and looked short of ideas on occasions. But Shakib is bound to put a brave front. He insisted that if the Bangladesh players treat it as a mere contest between bat and ball, they could remain focused on the job in hand.”We haven’t discussed the final so we are not thinking about it as pressure yet,” Shakib said. “This, I think, is a big realisation of how we are handling this game so far. If you think about pressure, it is pressure. If you don’t think about pressure, it is not pressure. I am sure everyone is relaxed, and if we can be like this till tomorrow’s match, it will be good for us.”We are not thinking too far ahead. We have to be relaxed and open-minded. It is important to be mentally free to do well in T20s. I hope no one takes any pressure, and stays focused on the process. Everyone has a different mentality. I would hope that none of our players have that mental block. It would help us to play well. If we think it is a big final against India, then it is pressure. Rather, let’s think about a bat versus ball contest.”Given how the R Premadasa Stadium’s pitches have remained mostly similar throughout the length of a game, Shakib wasn’t too worried on whether he wouldd want to bat or bowl first, but much of Bangladesh’s focus would be on their start. During this tournament, their opening batsmen have provided them with better starts than their opening bowlers. Against Sri Lanka on Friday, they bowled well in the first eight overs and then gave away a big partnership.”We have a fair idea of what the Indian batsmen like to do,” Shakib said. “They are quite experienced, so we will try not to make it comfortable for them. We have to start well in the game, and then hold on to the momentum.”

The Melbourne Renegades kept their chances alive in the BBL with a six-run win that knocked the Adelaide Strikers out

The Report by Geoff Lemon16-Jan-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMarcus Harris reached his fifty off 29 balls•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Strikers struck off, Renegades surviveThe Melbourne Renegades stayed alive in the sixth edition of the Big Bash League, finally closing out a contest after a couple of thrilling losses, and knocking out the struggling Adelaide Strikers with a six-run win.Asked to bat at the Adelaide Oval, the Renegades set a decent total of 171 for the loss of nine wickets, built around Marcus Harris’ dominant innings of 85. No other batsman really got going, Callum Ferguson the next best with 26, though all of the top five got starts.Ben Laughlin bowled an exceptional spell of 2 for 15 from his four overs, while Michael Neser returned 2 for 14 from three, but the Renegades made up for it by punishing Kieron Pollard, Liam O’Connor, Ish Sodhi and Wes Agar.The final result looked closer on paper than it was in the flesh, the chase effectively extinguished when captain Brad Hodge was out 37 runs short of victory with 20 balls to spare, after little substantial support from the top order. Jono Dean clubbed the Strikers to within some hope of a comeback win, but Thisara Perera finished off with the ball after so famously failing to do so in last week’s record chase against the Hobart Hurricanes.We’ll always have HarrisThe Renegades opener was the difference, and proved his value as a recruit from Western Australia, belting his 85 from 53 deliveries. Six of his shots went to the fence and four cleared it, his moderate start dropping into gear with three consecutive fours off Agar in the third over.He flew past a half-century thanks to a couple of sixes off Pollard in the eighth. Cameron White and Tom Cooper fell around him, but Harris pushed on to within reach of a maiden T20 century in his 20th game.When he fell with the score on 149 and four overs to go, a possible Renegades score of over 200 went begging, as the last six batsmen kept to single figures. In the end, though, Harris alone had been enough.Strikers waste another good chancePeter Nevill is accompanied off the field after being struck in the face by Brad Hodge’s bat•Getty Images

Tim Ludeman and Ben Dunk got the start that should have enabled the Strikers to chase comfortably, with 53 runs from the first six overs. But not for the first time this season, the rest of the innings lost its way. Ludeman holed out, Dunk missed a straight ball from part-time offspinner and part-time Dutchman Cooper, and the slide began.”I’ll just look to be super positive against Perera. Pollard is great against spin, so hopefully that takes some pressure off him.” That was Hodge’s offering to the commentary team during the chase. “We know Perera will be bowling a lot of slower balls, so hopefully we get onto a few.”It was Pollard rather than Hodge who got onto one, a ball that dropped short and sat up. Pollard hammered it out to deep square leg, flying for a flat six. Or that’s what everyone thought had happened, except that a screamer from Callum Ferguson at the boundary intercepted it.Once again it was poor Hodge trying to herd a bunch of kittens across the finish line. That paved the way, though, for a fluke accident that took the shine off the win for the Renegades. As Hodge looked to lift the rate, his bat flew out of his hands after a particularly violent slog sweep, and flew behind the pitch where Peter Nevill stood a few paces back.With the wicketkeeper’s eye on the ball at deep backward square, he didn’t see the bat that then hit him in the side of his face, forcing him to come off with a massive swelling on the right side of his jaw. Perera knocked over Hodge later the same over, while opposing captain Aaron Finch deputised with the gloves.Be the crowd favouriteThe competition for bringing the crowd into the game was split between Harris and Neser. Aside from Neser’s bowling providing a couple of deep catches, he put on a show himself by the fence.First he hung on to one at deep midwicket to dismiss White. Then he dropped Ferguson at long-on, held Perera at long-off, and snared James Pattinson at deep midwicket towards the end of the innings.Harris brought onlookers into the game literally via the last of his sixes from a gorgeous straight hit off New Zealand legspinner Sodhi. A security guard on a camp chair at the boundary wasn’t watching play, and only just responded to the crowd’s calls to yank his head out of the way. Harris tried to send him the next ball as well, but the pull shot hung just inside the rope for Dean to claim.The late season wash-upVery simple. This was a knockout match, even as the second-last of the season for both teams. The Strikers and Renegades went into the game at the bottom of the ladder on four points each, needing to win their last two to match the eight points of the teams currently occupying the finals positions.The Renegades had certainly had the better season on the field, losing twice from the last ball of matches, while the Strikers had struggled. In the end, things went to form, and Red Melbourne stayed in contention.

Usman Khawaja celebrated his Australia recall and Joe Burns his retention by combining for an unbeaten stand to shut out West Indies on day one of the Boxing Day Test

The Report by Daniel Brettig at the MCG26-Dec-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details5:06

Nicholas: Batting was straightforward against inconsistent bowling

Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja adjusted from Twenty20 to Test match gears with all the smoothness of a well calibrated sports car, as Australia’s top order put their stamp on Boxing Day despite a well grassed pitch and a slightly improved West Indies.Both Burns and Khawaja had turned out for their BBL clubs in the gap between Tests, but it was the unsigned and rested David Warner who let adrenaline get the better of him in an early flurry that ended with his wicket after Jason Holder sent the Australians in to bat.The vast majority of a day delayed by an hour due to considerable morning rain was then taken up by a union that reaped 258 runs and centuries to Burns then Khawaja, who joyfully passed their milestones in the space of three deliveries after tea. Burns was ultimately out stumped at the hands of Kraigg Brathwaite, and Khawaja glanced Jerome Taylor into Denesh Ramdin’s gloves before the close.Their exits should not detract from the ruthlessness shown by Burns and Khawaja, two members of the Boxing Day selection triangle that ultimately cost Shaun Marsh his place. Burns showed excellent judgment around off stump while finding the boundary 17 times. Khawaja carried on with the rich vein of form and confidence that began at the Gabba against New Zealand: few batsmen in the world are capable of making the game look quite as simple as he does at his best.Australia’s batsmen were aided by another disappointingly muted display from the West Indies bowlers, who conceded runs at a lesser rate than they had done in Hobart but were nonetheless unable to create sustained pressure on the batsmen. The debutant Carlos Brathwaite was at one point reduced to bowling well outside off stump to a 7-2 field, a gambit the umpire Marais Erasmus opposed by calling a pair of disapproving wides.The tourists’ fielding was also indifferent – one Khawaja flick through the leg side was chased so languidly by Jerome Taylor that the batsmen might easily have run five. Later Marlon Samuels, who had juggled Warner’s skier, turfed a ball Khawaja struck more or less straight to him at cover. Melbourne’s smallest Boxing Day crowd since 1999 expressed appropriate disbelief.Holder had expressed hope that his pacemen would be able to exploit the moisture evident in the pitch after rain delayed the start by an hour. But they were stunned by Warner’s early salvo, striking five boundaries in the second and third overs of the day as 27 were heaped in the first three.Having stated his desire to make a century on Boxing Day – the MCG is the only Australian Test ground where he is yet to pass three figures – Warner was flushed with adrenaline, and overreached to his 12th ball when he tried to pull Taylor over midwicket and skied to Samuels at cover.This episode had been manic, and Khawaja’s arrival signalled something more orthodox as he tried to find his rhythm after playing only one BBL match for the Sydney Thunder on his way back to fitness following a hamstring strain. Not quite as initially fluent as he had been when making hundreds in Brisbane and Perth, Khawaja slowly found his range, while Burns looked safe at the other end having been retained in a decision that showed the selectors’ faith in him.The scoring rate built up once more as lunch neared, with Carlos Brathwaite, included for the injured Shannon Gabriel, going for 11 runs in his first two overs. Kemar Roach extracted one edge from Burns as the interval near, but it fell short of the slips cordon. Few such moments could be found in the afternoon, as Khawaja and Burns accumulated steadily while the MCG crowd swelled nearer to the gathering of around 50,000 hoped for by the MCC. Even so, 53,389 was the smallest Boxing Day attendance in at least a decade.They were witness to some attractive batting but also an assortment of bowling and fielding that veered from mediocre to awful. Holder’s control of proceedings was loose at times, his fields invariably defensive due to inconsistent bowling, and his choices of bowlers also odd – having exploited some moisture on the first morning in Hobart to gain useful spin, Jomel Warrican was unused this time until the day’s 42nd over, by which time there was precious little purchase for his slow left-arm.The evening session’s highlight was undoubtedly Burns and Khawaja passing three figures in the same Warrican over. It was otherwise something of a slog as the batsmen accumulated soundly while Holder tried with some success to limit the flow of boundaries. Khawaja was to reach or clear the rope seven times in his 144, a testament to his strike rotation but also the freely available diet of singles.There was a hint of tiredness in the dismissals of both Burns, advancing at Brathwaite but misjudging a ball fired flatter and wider, and a leg-glancing Khawaja. Their graft had left the match and series firmly in Australia’s lap, with the captain Steven Smith and the Hobart double centurion Adam Voges there at the close.

As MS Dhoni received the ICC ODI Championship Shield and a cheque of US$175,000 at the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff, a few of his team-mates gave their captain a standing ovation

Nagraj Gollapudi in Cardiff03-Jun-2013As MS Dhoni received the ICC ODI Championship Shield and a cheque of US$175,000 at the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff, a few of his team-mates – including Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja – standing on the balcony outside the dressing room gave their captain a standing ovation. Receiving the award from David Morgan, the former ICC president and current Glamorgan president, Dhoni made a witty remark: “They are clapping for their share.”And when the time came to sign off, Dhoni checked with the ICC official as to whether he could keep the shield or should hand it over to the BCCI. ” (Is this mine or should it go to BCCI)?” Dhoni asked with a smile.Dhoni’s casual banter seemed strange, given the atmosphere that is currently enveloping Indian cricket in the wake of the tumultuous events of the past three weeks. Dhoni had remained silent on the alleged corruption before he flew out from India and immediately after he landed in England. Today was no different, as the Indian players maintained a safe distance while passing the small group of media at the ground.Irfan Pathan, after finishing an interview with the tournament broadcaster, innocently walked towards the small media contingent gathered nearby. But to his and everyone’s surprise, the Indian media manager told him that he would not be speaking to the media. It was a farcical moment, which caught both the player as well as the media off guard.According to the tournament rules, though it is not mandatory for teams to field a player for media interaction, teams like Australia and West Indies have allowed a player on non-match and non-preview days to speak to the media. On Monday, Australian batsman Adam Voges spoke, the previous day his team-mate Mitchell Starc had had a chat.In contrast, the Indian board has instructed the team management to keep a tight check on their players’ activities. Being around the players, you can sense their reluctance to talk freely. On Saturday, after India had got the better of Sri Lanka in Birmingham in their first warm-up match, Dinesh Kartik was asked to give his opinion on the DRS. Kartik checked with the media manager if it was okay for him to respond, before he said something.This cautious approach by the Indian management is not new, considering they have kept media interactions in the last couple of years to the bare minimum. However, given the low point that Indian cricket is passing through, the very least the fans can expect is some open and honest chatter from the players. Even funny remarks like the one Dhoni made could allow them to retain the faith.

Middlesex have signed Lasith Malinga, the Sri Lanka fast bowler, as their second overseas player for this season’s Friends Life t20

ESPNcricinfo staff10-May-2012Middlesex have signed Lasith Malinga, the Sri Lanka fast bowler, as their second overseas player for this season’s Friends Life t20. The move, which was first reported by ESPNcricinfo, means one of the world’s premier Twenty20 bowlers will be performing in England’s domestic competition.Malinga, 28, currently has the second-highest wickets tally in the 2012 IPL, with 20 from nine appearances for Mumbai Indians. He is due to join up with Middlesex after playing for Sri Lanka in their one-day international and T20I series against Pakistan in June, meaning he will miss the opening three games of the FLt20.In 106 T20 matches, Malinga has taken 151 wickets at an average of 16.40, with an economy of 6.53 runs per over. He has previously played in England for Kent.Angus Fraser, Middlesex’s director of cricket, said: “We are all naturally thrilled about the prospect of a player of Lasith’s talent coming to the club. In T20 cricket every county is looking for a bowler that provides their attack with variety, the ability to bowl during Powerplays and at the death, basically something different from the norm and in Lasith we will have the best in the world.”In 2011 we had a disappointing T20 campaign and we are looking for the players to react positively and improve on last season’s performances this summer. The addition of Lasith can only help us achieve this goal.”Edited by Alan Gardner

Stuart Clark, the fast bowler who took 94 Test wickets for Australia, has stepped back from his playing commitments to focus on his new administrative role.

Daniel Brettig18-May-2011Stuart Clark never retired from Australian duty, and he has not retired from first-class cricket either. Instead he is prioritising a new administrative job at the head of the Sydney Sixers Twenty20 team, only to be called on by New South Wales in times of crisis.The decision to step back from the Blues arrived exactly a week after Clark had been appointed general manager of the Sixers, the sort of role he had envisaged for himself in the future, but not as soon as now. Having weighed up the various scenarios, Clark chose to help establish one of the eight new Big Bash franchises, while keeping his sharp eye on the progress of the Australian game.He will be observed from above as a prospective addition to Cricket Australia’s board or management, having occupied a position on the executive of the Australian Cricketers Association.Before the home summer, Clark is available to take part in the Blues’ last T20 Champions League campaign, at least partly because Brett Lee and Doug Bollinger may yet be tied to their Indian Premier League teams at the tournament. Club cricket will also remain part of Clark’s life, as he seeks to maintain a traditionally tough school against the notion that grass-roots standards have slackened off in recent years.”I couldn’t keep playing cricket fulltime and doing the job, it would just not be fair to the job or to the cricket,” Clark told . “I thought I’d always have an involvement in the game. Obviously I’d done quite a bit of study and all the rest of it, which has given me an idea about doing something in sport.”I never thought I’d end up doing it straight away I thought I’d probably get out of cricket, but this is just such a good opportunity that I thought I’d be silly not to take it. I’m really focused on this one and trying to get as much out of this job and seeing where it takes me. I’m not quite sure whether it (the future) is in cricket or out of cricket, wherever it may be I don’t know.”Clark’s career for NSW was speckled with tight spells and trophies, with his rich four years in the Australian team hanging neatly as the centrepiece of a career that had looked decidedly nondescript until his 30th year. Chosen for his first Test in South Africa in 2006, Clark took nine wickets and the match award on debut. In all he played 24 Tests and took his 94 wickets at the parsimonious average of 23.86, but after the 2009 Ashes the selectors decided to go with a younger batch of bowlers. He has claimed 393 first-class victims at 27.52, and captained New South Wales for much of last summer in the absence of Simon Katich.”At the age of 29 or 30 I thought I’d never play for Australia,” said Clark. “I had four years of playing cricket for Australia, I played Test cricket and achieved prettymuch everything I could. So I’ve got no grudges against anyone.”Clark’s firm relationships with many in Australian cricket has afforded him a handy start to the task of recruiting players for the Sixers. Less familiar are the commercial concerns of a team that may yet be 49 per cent the property of a private investor, opening up plenty of posers for team management.”It’s really demanding, I was in Melbourne yesterday with CA, I’ve got plenty of stuff to organise,” said Clark. “The easier stuff to organise at the moment is the playing stuff because I know the guys, I can speak to the guys, I know their managers. It’s the commercial part of it that’s taking a lot of time because from my understanding this is going to be a big event that takes a lot of planning.”As for the lack of melodramatic farewells, Clark assumed the posture of a dedicated numbers man.”It’s just not me mate, to be fair, I’m just not that sort of person,” he said. “I don’t want the big speech with the big farewell or anything like that. It’s not my style, not what my personality is. Cricket’s been good to me and I don’t need to do one of those speeches.”

Sri Lanka’s sports minister, Chandrasiri Bandara Ratnayake, has called Sri Lanka Cricket the third most corrupt institution in the country

Cricinfo staff31-May-2010Sri Lanka’s sports minister, Chandrasiri Bandara Ratnayake, has called Sri Lanka Cricket the third most corrupt institution in the country, and has promised to revamp the way the game is administered, even if it means replacing the incumbent members.Addressing a press conference in Colombo in the presence of Aravinda de Silva, the newly appointed chairman of selectors, Ratnayake said he would replace the current interim committee headed by former Test player Somachandra de Silva, next week. Ratnayake had a problem with the way finances were handled by the committee, adding that there was a lot of wastage of resources.”The first and second are education and police. Sri Lanka Cricket is the third-most corrupt institution in the country,” Ratnayake said.Ratnayake swung in to action last week when he replaced the previous selection panel, headed by Ashantha de Mel, with the one now with Aravinda at the helm. Ranjith Fernando, Amal Silva and Shabbir Asgerally are the other members of the new panel. The outgoing panel was accused of favoritism, and Ratnayake said the new panel will not entertain any political influence.Ratnayake said the most important target for the new panel is the World Cup in the subcontinent next year. “Aravinda has nine months to prepare and groom a squad that is capable of winning the World Cup,” Ratnayake said. “We have not won the Cup since 1996, my aim is to win another title for our country.”

English statistician developed the DL method with Tony Lewis and it was first used in international cricket in 1997

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jun-2024Frank Duckworth, one of the inventors of the Duckworth-Lewis (later Duckworth-Lewis-Stern) method to determine results in rain-affected cricket matches, died on Friday, June 21 at the age of 84.The original method, devised by English statisticians Duckworth and Tony Lewis, was first used in international cricket in 1997 and was formally adopted by the ICC as the standard for setting revised targets in truncated games in 2001. In 2014, it was renamed the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method after the retirement of Duckworth and Lewis and the modifications made to the system by Australian statistician Steven Stern.Duckworth and Lewis were both awarded MBEs in June 2010.The DL method replaced the rain rule that was used previously to calculate targets in interrupted matches, most infamously during the 1992 ODI World Cup semi-final between England and South Africa in Sydney.Duckworth was a consultant statistician with the ICC until 2014.”Frank was a top statistician who was respected by peers as well as the wider cricket fraternity. The DLS method that he co-created has stood the test of time and we have continued to use it in international cricket more than two decades after its inception,” Wasim Khan, the ICC general manager – cricket operations, said in a press statement. “Frank’s contribution to the game has been immense and the world of cricket is poorer with his death. We send our condolences to his family and friends.”

India captain says the team management has given the IPL franchises some instructions about workloads

Deivarayan Muthu23-Mar-20235:46

Rohit: We have done our best in managing player workloads

India’s team management has given the IPL franchises some broad guidelines about workload management for players, according to Rohit Sharma, but he expressed doubts about whether they would be followed by the teams.IPL 2023 kicks off March 31, less than ten days after the ODI series against Australia, which India lost 1-2 in Chennai on Wednesday. India’s World Test Championship final against Australia begins on June 7 in London, a little more than a week after the IPL final on May 28.”I mean, it’s all up to the franchises now,” Rohit said after the third ODI against Australia in Chennai. “The franchises own them [the players] now, so we’ve given some indications or some kind of borderline kind of thing to the teams. But at the end of the day it’s up to the franchise and, most importantly it’s the players you know, they have to take care of their own body.Related

• Will IPL franchise owners swallow international cricket whole?

• Mumbai Indians' bowling 'almost going to be a surprise package', says coach Mark Boucher

• Dravid: India have 'narrowed it down to 17-18 players' for World Cup

• Zampa and Co stifle India to take series 2-1

• Injured Shreyas doubtful for at least first half of IPL

“They [players] are all adults. So they have to look after their body and just if they feel that it’s getting a little too much, they can always talk about it and have a break in one or two games. I doubt [if] that will happen but.”Shreyas Iyer, Kolkata Knight Riders’ designated captain, is a doubtful starter for at least the first half of the IPL because of a recurrence of a back injury.Iyer, 28, first experienced discomfort in his lower back last December, immediately after the Bangladesh tour. He then missed the ODI series against New Zealand at home and the first Test against Australia.He returned to play the second and third Tests of the Australia series. However, the back pain resurfaced during the final Test in Ahmedabad, where Iyer did not bat in India’s only innings in the match after having fielded for the first two days.With fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna also facing long recoveries from injury, Rohit was concerned by India’s mounting injury list.”Look, yeah, it is concerning because … we are missing the players who are actually playing XI players, you know … they regularly play in the playing XI,” Rohit said. “But honestly, everyone’s trying their best to get everyone on the path, we’ve been focusing a lot on management of the players, which is why you keep seeing we have to rest certain players at certain point in time.”Obviously when you play so much cricket injuries are bound to happen. So not looking too much into it… what’s available to you, what’s in your hand, you can control that, and we are just trying to control all of that.”Players are frustrated as well. They want to play they don’t want to miss out. So yeah, I mean it is a little sad, but at the end of the day, you cannot really do too much. I can see, and I can vouch for it, that the people working behind the scenes are working really hard with all these players and freakish injury can happen at any point in time, like Shreyas [Iyer] was the best example. He was sitting the whole day and he just went to take a knock. And you know the injury happened to him. And there’s nothing you could do about it, and I mean, the only thing we can keep in mind is managing players and giving them enough breaks. And I think from our side we’re doing that.”

Non-white female chair steps down with immediate effect as ECB postpone plan to tackle racism

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Nov-2021The ECB has been forced to postpone the publication of its plan to improve diversity in English cricket, amid the abrupt departure on Thursday of one of the only two non-white chairs of a first-class county.Mehmooda Duke, who was also the only female in such a high-profile county role, and one of only three female board members from black or minority ethnic backgrounds, had been due to step down at the end of March to take up a new role as High Sheriff for Leicestershire.However, she has now chosen to depart with immediate effect, stating that “cricket had been torn apart by recent events”, and calling for “fresh leadership at national level” – a choice of words that places further pressure on the ECB chief executive Tom Harrison, following his unconvincing display at last week’s parliamentary hearing into the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal.Leicestershire’s vice-chairman, Jonathan Duckworth, is set to become interim chairman until a long-term replacement is identified.”Cricket has been torn apart by recent events and I am deeply saddened by the hurt felt by individuals within our game,” Duke said in her statement. “With fresh leadership at national level and with a determination to learn from the recent past and move forward, I hope that racism and discrimination will be expunged from the dressing rooms, the fields, and the game as a whole, allowing us to celebrate the diversity which makes cricket and sport in this country so great.”I wish all of my colleagues on the board and across the network, the players, staff and the community teams, all the very best for the future,” she added. “I thank the Members, supporters, and sponsors for their unwavering loyalty to the club and especially during some difficult times.”The news emerged as the ECB were forced to concede that their response to cricket’s racism allegations, drafted at an all-stakeholders meeting at the Kia Oval last Friday, was “not quite there”, having originally been expected to be finalised by Wednesday.Once the final wording of the plan has been agreed, it is expected to include a commitment to a 30 percent boardroom representation for women and “representative ethnicities” at all first-class and national county clubs, as well as ongoing diversity training for all players, staff, umpires and coaches.Meanwhile, Azeem Rafiq has met with a Holocaust survivor at the Jewish Museum in London, in the wake of his apology for anti-Semitic messages that he sent as a 19-year-old in 2011.Rafiq, who is facing an ECB investigation for his comments – which included the suggestion that the Derbyshire player, Atif Sheikh, had been unwilling to spend money on a meal out because “he is a jew” – met with Ruth Barnett, who escaped Nazi Germany in 1939, as well as Steve Silverman from the Campaign Against Antisemitism.In his apology, Rafiq had said: “I am incredibly angry at myself and I apologise to the Jewish community and everyone who is rightly offended by this,” and has committed himself to education on the issue of anti-Semitism.