USA's Major League Cricket Secures £100m Funding
Liam Plunkett hopeful of Major League Cricket attracting star players
Liam Plunkett to feature in USA's Major League Cricket
Plunkett, Ngidi ruled out of The Hundred, Jimmy Nessham’s contract extended
With Lungi Ngidi pulling out of The Hundred for personal reasons, Jimmy Neesham, who was to be replaced by the South African sees the extension of his contract at Welsh Fire. The Kiwi, who was supposed to return back to Essex for their Royal London Cup campaign, will now stay at Fire for the entirety of The Hundred. Neesham was the hero for the team in red in their second game when the Blackcaps international took 3 wickets in his five deliveries against Southern Brave to turn the game upside down. Liam Plunkett, who was injured after the opening Fire match against Northern Superchargers has been ruled out for the entire season due to injury and would be replaced by Kent pacer Matt Milnes. The Fire are also without their skipper Jony Bairstow, who is on national duties with England. To replace, him, Fire have called upon Northamptonshire's left-arm spinner Graeme White. All these efforts have been put up to rebalance the squad after the team lost its first-ever game in the competition when they were beaten at home by Manchester Originals. With two wins from three games, the Fire currently sits in third place on the table behind Trent Rockets and Manchester Originals.
They didn’t even call: Disappointed Plunkett shreds into ECB for ill-treatment post World Cup win
Liam Plunkett was one of the heroes of the 2019 ODI World Cup final for England with his 3-42 spell in which he dismissed New Zealand skipper and player of the tournament Kane Williamson. He also scored 10 off 10 in the chase. However, the bowling all-rounder felt that the treatment meted to him by the England and Wales Cricket Board was disappointing. Speaking in an episode of Headstrong: An Innings With, Plunkett, 36, shredded into ECB and its management for not even conveying to him about where they were going with his future. “I can see where they were going it’s just the way it was done,” Plunkett explained about England’s policy of going with youngsters. “I found out on Twitter that I wasn’t going to South Africa [New Zealand], surely they can give me a call. It was just the way it was done; I thought it was shit, to be honest with you,” he added. Plunkett, who represented England in 89 ODIs, picking 135 wickets and scoring 646 runs with a 50 to go alongside was more disappointed, not because he was not selected, but because ECB didn’t deem it fit to call and tell him. “If someone actually called me to say, ‘Listen, being realistic, we’re going to go with the youngsters, thanks for everything you’ve done,” the dejected Yorkshire born said. After not being given Central Contract by ECB, Plunkteet had tweeted, “Disappointed is an understatement”. He further showcased his disappointment on Twitter after not being picked for the New Zealand tour as well. Plunkett who represented counties like Surrey, Durham and Yorkshire player confirmed that former ECB Chief selector Ed Smith did call him one year later after he was first dropped. “I got a call when the England squad played in the bubble, I think it was a 40-man squad [55]. I got a phone call a year later off Ed Smith saying, ‘Mate, you’re not in the squad.’ And I was like, ‘It’s pretty late now, you could have called me a year ago.’ It had sort of sailed by, there was no need to call then,” he said. Plunkett, who was planning to go to the USA and play cricket over there, but whose plan was halted by the Covid, further said that ‘it was just the way it was dealt with’ that made him frustrated with ECB’s approach. “I could see where they were going,” he said.
Ravi Bopara pulls out of Lanka Premier League
In what comes as another setback to the inaugural edition of the Lankan Premier League, English all-rounder Ravi Bopara has made himself unavailable for the tournament joining a big group of players. There have been several issues surrounding the tournament despite the fact that the Sri Lanka Cricket Board was optimistic of pulling this off. However, with the growing list of players making themselves unavailable it will be interesting to see the fate of the tournament. Bopara was part of the Jaffna Stallions squad. Earlier in the day the official Twitter handle of LPL revealed that Bopara has pulled out of the tournament. "Official announcement English Cricketer @ravibopara (Jaffna Stallions) has pulled out from Lanka Premier League 2020," the official Twitter handle of LPL read. Bopara is not the first player to pull out of the tournament. Big players like Lasith Malinga and Chris Gayle has also opted out of the tournament. Meanwhile, Liam Plunkett also pulled out of the tournament yesterday. While Malinga cited lack of match practice and preparation time behind his decision, it is learnt that Gayle withdrew his name from the tournament as commercial understanding with the organizers couldn’t be made. In all 23 matches will be played in the tournament between five franchise teams, Colombo, Kandy, Dambulla, Galle and Jaffna. The opener will be played on November 26 between Colombo and Kandy. Doubleheaders will be played every day till the semis and the finals. While the semis will be played on 13th and 14th December, the final will be played on 16th December.
Chris Gayle to miss the Lankan Premier League
In what is turning out to be disastrous for the Lankan Premier League, charismatic Caribbean opener Chris Gayle has pulled out of the tournament. He was slated to play for the Kandy Tuskers which is owned by the family of Bollywood superstar Salman Khan. The franchise has confirmed about this development and as per reports in the InsideSport, it is learnt that Gayle withdrew his name from the tournament as commercial understanding with the organizers couldn’t be made. Taking to their Twitter handle, the Kandy Tuskers wrote, “We are sad to announce that Chris Gayle will not be playing for us in this year’s @LPLT20.” Gayle was expected to be part of the squad alongside some stalwarts of the game including the likes of Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, Kusal Mendis and Liam Plunkett. Meanwhile, the tournament has been running into several off-field issues from the last few days. With just a week left for the tournament to commence, the withdrawal of Gayle will be massive considering the fan base of the “Universe Boss”. Meanwhile, former Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed also pulled out of the tournament yesterday. He was slated to ply his trade for the Galle Gladiators but now will be unavailable due to international commitments. Unlike the four other teams in the tournament who are already in Hambantota in a bio-secure bubble, Galle Gladiators is yet to reach the island nation. Not only Sarfaraz but his national teammate Wahab Riaz is also expected to pull out of the tournament alongside England all-rounder Liam Plunkett. Meanwhile, doubts have also been raised surrounding the participation of Lasith Malinga. It is learnt that the Lankan T20I skipper is in a dilemma whether to take part in the tournament or not. Reports in the ESPN Cricinfo also states that the franchise owners are not happy with the developments and feels that the organization of the tournament has been “chaotic” with less than 10 days to go into the tournament. Despite all these latest developments and issues being raised on the Player payments and contracts, Sri Lanka Cricket is still confident off pulling off this tournament. “Player contracts have been delivered, and they will have to come back to us with their lawyers and all that,” LPL director Ravin Wickramaratne was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. “There have been issues with transferring money. We’ll talk to franchisees when they arrive. Before the tournament starts they will have to pay 40% to the players.”