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Johnson has picked up his pace, and his bounce and late movement have got batsmen wary too

Aakash Chopra28-Oct-2013The bowler runs in hard, sends down a bouncer and makes the batsman hop and duck. With his feet in the air from the hop, and his head tucked into his chest from the attempt at ducking, he manages to stay away from the line of the ball. The wicketkeeper, standing close to the 30-yard circle, makes a futile attempt to get an outstretched hand to the ball, which thuds into the sightscreen after bouncing once inside the rope.The bowler is Mitchell Johnson and the batsman Sanju Samson during a Champions League match in Jaipur.The sight of a fast bowler making a batsman hop gets you to sit up and watch intently. And if the bowler makes some of the best batsmen in the world duck and sway on docile Indian pitches, you hold your breath in anticipation whenever that bowler runs in to bowl.It’s evident that Johnson has picked up his pace over the last year. And while the pace is visibly upsetting batsmen, the late inward movement into right-handers, and the bounce, are also playing havoc.In the ODI series against India, Johnson has troubled the Indian batsmen with that extra bounce and pace, on pitches where totals of 300-plus have been par for the course. It’s not that the Indians haven’t faced this kind of pace or bounce; on the contrary, they have played it with authority and even dominated it in the past. But Johnson is a slightly different proposition.He isn’t the typical left-arm fast bowler who bowls with a high-arm action and relies mostly on exploiting the natural angle lefties create while bowling to right-handers. His bowling arm is some distance away from his left ear, and that makes it difficult for batsmen to gauge the bounce he will generate after pitching.For bowlers with high-arm actions, the bounce off the surface is directly related to their point of release, which makes for a certain predictability. But with bowlers who have a slinging action, it’s relatively difficult to assess how much bounce they’ll get after pitching. Such bowlers skid the ball off the surface, unlike the ones with high-arm actions. When you bowl with a high-arm action the bounce you get is like that you get when a tennis ball bounces on a dry surface, and with a slingy action it’s a bit like the bounce of a plastic ball on a wet surface.Have you ever tried making a stone skip on water? The lower the arm while throwing, the more times the stone bounces off the surface of the water. Another key difference with regard to bounce is the trajectory of the ball after pitching – for bowlers with a high-arm action, the ball gains considerable height right after pitching, but for someone with a round-arm action, the path is more gradual, similar to an airplane taking off: it’s not easy to gauge when the ball has reached the peak of its bounce. (This is why even wicketkeepers don’t know how far back they should stand.)

A round-arm action puts severe pressure on the lower back and hips, which could lead to serious injuries. Mitchell Johnson’s impact comes with a disclaimer: try to imitate it at your own peril

Then there’s the small matter of whether the ball lands on the seam or on the shine. If it lands on the seam, it bounces considerably more than it would if it lands on the leather. When a bowler delivers with a round-arm action, even he can’t be 100% sure of making the ball land on the seam, so what chance does the poor batsman have?Johnson’s natural bowling action is designed to make the ball curve in to the right-hand batsman, and when he’s on top of his game (he has been there and thereabouts in this series), the ball comes in sharply. While the ball that moves laterally creates its own challenges – the batsman must not commit, must play close to the body and in the second line – in Johnson’s case the ones that don’t move create similar problems as well.Given his round-arm action, which makes the ball curve in mostly, batsmen tend to play inside the line most times, so the ones that hold their line and go across cause trouble. When the ball doesn’t come out right from Johnson’s hand, it doesn’t swing, and carries on across and away from the right-hander. Also, even when it comes out right, if Johnson has started a little too far outside off, the ball doesn’t swing, and carries on across the right-hander. There’s a thin line outside the right-hander’s off stump that the bowler must stay within to make the ball curve in effectively. Johnson inadvertently crosses that line from time to time, keeping the batsman guessing.Won’t rookies be tempted to start out bowling with a round-arm, slingy action, given the obvious benefits of doing so? My advice in this regard is that it’s important to know the flip side of such an action before taking the plunge. We only hear about the ones who have fought the odds and reached the top. It’s important to know the rules to break them. Many bowlers with similar actions have ended up with severe back problems. A round-arm action puts severe pressure on the lower back and hips, which could lead to serious injuries. Also, it’s not easy to be accurate regularly with such an action. Mitchell Johnson’s impact comes with a disclaimer: try to imitate it at your own peril.

Despite improvements in the game’s administration, cricket has not addressed the problem of not showing enough respect to spectators

George Dobell at Edgbaston10-Jun-2012And they wonder why it is such a struggle to fill grounds for Tests. Despite a multi-million pound investment in floodlights, spectators were forced to endure an hour-long hiatus on the fourth-day at Edgbaston as the umpires took the players from the pitch due to bad light.If the decision to come off was perplexing – England’s batsman had scored 45 runs in the previous 43 deliveries and were proceeding with an ease that underlined the suspicion that there was no problem with the light – the decision to remain off was bewildering. With Edgbaston’s floodlights on and the natural light appearing quite adequate, spectators began to heckle and jeer the umpires.Warwickshire had done pretty well to sell in excess of 53,000 tickets for this Test. After all, the series had been decided and the weather had ruined any realistic prospect of a result in the match.Yet the fourth day crowd of around 5,000 – that is 20,000 under capacity – was bitterly disappointing. The ticket price of £43 was surely one factor – in a city built on manufacturing the recession has bitten hard – but, in the longer term, the years of contempt with which spectators have been treated has also had an effect. Years of seeing play lost because the grass on the edge of the square was damp, the light was questionable or simply because the over-rate has been too slow has created a culture where spectators are reluctant to part with large sums of money in case they are not given full value. Put simply, cricket is not treating the customer with the respect it should.The situation has improved markedly in recent years, but days like this – where play is suspended in decent light and floodlights on – set the game back years.Those who were present on Sunday still enjoyed a wonderfully improbable and entertaining day of cricket. But cricket’s propensity to self harm left a sour taste in the mouth which was an unhelpful as it was unnecessary. Cricket is simply not popular enough that it can afford to treat its customers with so little respect. If a player tweeting his views on a commentator is enough to warrant a fine, what action should be taken against umpires who misjudge the situation quite so spectacularly? To compound the error, the day finished in light so much worse than the period when the players had been in the pavilion that if was laughable.The ICC Match Referee, Roshan Mahanama, was asked for his comments but declined to provide them.

Daryl Harper talks about Tendulkar lbw decision from 1999, the worst thing a bowler’s said to him, and whether the ICC’s Umpire of the Year award is rigged

Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi21-Oct-2009Have you ever been hit by a batsman’s shot?
The worst hit I took was in the West Indies from a Sanath Jayasuriya square cut. The umpires were standing on the off side to accommodate the television cameras as they had only popping-crease run-out cameras on one side. I had no chance to get out of the way of the fierce shot and it hit me fair and square in the middle of the chest. After the batsmen ran for the single they walked up to me and all Sanath could say was, “You cost me four runs”. I said, “You got a single out of it.” I wore that wound for the next month.We hear you are taking a Hindi course?
Yes, I have the material here. ” [don’t ask me again].” I picked that up from a television advertisement in India.What is the longest flight you have taken?
Recently it took 50 hours from Australia to Sri Lanka, but that was several flights actually, because I detoured to Boston to watch my favourite baseball team, the Red Sox. Luckily they won all their games. And I used my frequent-flyer points for half of the journey.What has been your most embarrassing moment during a cricket match?
Probably at the WACA during the 1996-97 tri-series. I was talking too much to Pakistan captain Wasim Akram. Ijaz Ahmed had just been run out. The ball was returned to me. The bowler, Patterson Thompson, went back to his bowling mark. I gave Moin Khan his guard and went to my normal position, stood there and waited for the bowler to come charging up. I was focussed, prepared to look at his feet, and all of a sudden he called, “No ball, maan.” I thought, what’s he talking about, I’m the one that judges if it is a no-ball. As I went to signal dead ball, all of a sudden I felt a rather large, spherical object in my pocket. I hadn’t given the bowler the ball back. Thankfully the commentators never realised it.Have you ever complimented a batsman or bowler on a shot or ball?
The closest I came was on the last ball of the Chennai Test in December 2008, when Sachin [Tendulkar] turned the ball down to fine leg to get his 41st Test century, which helped India beat England, a fortnight after the Mumbai terror attacks. That was one shot I will always remember.What’s the worst thing a bowler has ever said to you?
One Australian legspin bowler [Stuart MacGill] did suggest that I should be using my brain more often. I had just knocked back a couple of lbw appeals against two West Indies batsmen who weren’t offering a shot.Name one thing you do that Dickie Bird couldn’t?
I’ve done more Tests and ODIs than Dickie.Is there an umpiring record you would like to achieve?
I must admit, doing 100 Tests is something I’m interested in. Only two people have done that so far [Steve Bucknor and Rudi Koertzen], and I don’t mind being the third.Do you think the ICC’s Umpire of the Year award is rigged, considering Simon Taufel has won it five times?
Apparently I’m in the top 12. I’ll almost be disappointed if I win it because I’m not a person who always gives the predictable answers. I don’t mind asking difficult questions of people who are casting the votes. Some umpires are less critical than I am. But Taufel is an outstanding umpire, full stop.Does Taufel still enjoy looking at his hair in the mirror, as you mentioned once?
He has a little hair at the crown, and I’ve suggested to him that he do a Harsha Bhogle treatment and have a transplant. At this stage he is only thinking about it.Why don’t you get one?
Because I’m not so vain that I’m concerned about it – if you look at the crown, it is all growing there. I’ve always told my daughter and son that I have a big forehead.

“I’ll almost be disappointed if I win the Umpire of the Year award, because I’m not a person who always gives the predictable answers”

Name one decision you would like to forget.
One that I would like the world to forget is the Sachin [Tendulkar] one, when he ducked a [Glenn] McGrath bouncer, in Adelaide in 1999. I’ve got the video clip on my laptop still, and you can see it is still out! What I didn’t like was, when I left the ground, a lot of friends were expressing their disappointment. “Hey Daryl, we came to see Sachin bat, not to see you umpire.” So I said, “Sorry, I was just doing my job.” Sunil Gavaskar was the commentator and he agreed, saying it would’ve been out lbw if the stumps were six inches taller. Sachin was the captain and he didn’t mention it in his report – always fair play with Sachin, and he is still a wonderful sportsperson.Have you ever apologised to a player?
No, I’ve never apologised. I’ve made mistakes but there was nothing deliberate about any errors that I ever made. Replays find you out in these times, unlike in the old days, where umpires got away with anything.Why do you take so much time to bring that finger up?
It’s not as slow as some – not as slow as Rudi Koertzen. I did field in the slips when I played cricket and I was quite a good catcher, so I can react reasonably quickly.What’s the best compliment you have got from a player?
I do feature in the opening chapter in Adam Gilchrist’s autobiography, where he recorded a comment I made to him about the manner in which he played the game. I was standing in his final Test, and I said, “When you see your parents next, tell them they got it right, they shouldn’t have done anything different.” In other words, that he turned out to be an outstanding person. He used that in his book.On another occasion, in an ODI at home, I called a wide down leg side and Gilly protested the decision momentarily, as he thought the ball had deflected off the pads. Then he looked up at the replay and as he passed me at the end of the over, he said, “Sorry about that. I guess that’s why you are a world-class umpire and I’m a player.” Do you like guys like him, who walked?
I love the guys who walk. But I don’t blame anyone who doesn’t walk.One question the media should not be allowed to ask you?
“Do you think you should retire?” What’s your most treasured cricketing possession?
I have about a dozen autographs from Sir Don Bradman.

In a move that could potentially pave way for the others to follow suit, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has agreed to incentivise its senior men’s team with a 100% pay raise from the 2024-25 season.A recommendation for the state association to match players’ BCCI earnings from the domestic circuit has been approved at the MCA’s apex council meeting. This effectively doubles a player’s earnings through the season.The BCCI currently pays players at the senior men’s level across three slabs. Players with over 40 first-class caps earn INR 60,000 a day, while those who have played 21-40 games take home INR 50,000 a day, and those who have featured in fewer than 20 games earn INR 40,000 a day.Related

• Hanuma Vihari commits to Andhra after 'full assurance' from minister

• BCCI mulls two-phase Ranji Trophy to minimise weather disruptions

• Gavaskar to BCCI: 'Double or triple' Ranji fees to 'look after the feeder system'

• Indian players stand to earn INR 45-60 lakhs per Test

Opening batter Bhupen Lalwani, for example, who featured in all 10 games Mumbai played in Ranji Trophy 2023-24, would have earned INR 17.2 lakhs as match fees. Had this rule come into effect from this season, he would have stood to earn INR 34.4 lakh.Lalwani has played just 14 first-class matches, which means his base earnings from the Ranji Trophy stand at INR 40,000 a day at the moment. The overall earnings for someone who has featured in over 40 first-class games could be significantly higher.Earlier in the month, the MCA announced prize money of INR 5 crores for its players. This was over and above the prize money offered by the BCCI to Mumbai for winning the Ranji Trophy. The move to match earnings is especially bound to benefit those who don’t have an IPL contract.”We felt that the player should earn more, especially those who play Ranji Trophy cricket,” MCA president Amol Kale said. “For us red-ball cricket matters the most as the Ranji Trophy holds a special place for everyone in Mumbai.”There has been a growing chorus among former players to prioritise domestic cricket, particularly in the wake of the BCCI’s decision to introduce a Test Incentive scheme to its centrally contracted men’s players for prioritising red-ball cricket. Under this scheme, a player’s match fees will go up by 300% if he features in more than 75% of Tests in a particular season.Sunil Gavaskar, the former India captain, voiced his support for extending a similar scheme to first-class cricketers. He had asked the board to consider doubling or tripling existing match fees to “encourage players and look after the feeder system.””If the Ranji Trophy fee can be doubled or tripled, certainly there will be a lot more people playing the Ranji Trophy, [and a] lot less pullouts,” Gavaskar had said. “They will all be wanting to play with the slab system – [if] every ten first-class matches you get that much more – so I would request the BCCI to look at that aspect as well.”This isn’t the first time the MCA has contemplated such a move. In 2022-23, the MCA had proposed annual contracts, and had even set up a three-member committee to propose a structure. That move, proposed by former president Vijay Patil, wasn’t passed by the Apex Council. The MCA soon conducted elections and Patil was replaced by Kale, the current president.

Gianluigi Donnarumma has opened up on former manager Luis Enrique after being forced out of Paris Saint-Germain before joining Manchester City.

• Donnarumma moved to City on deadline day
• Enrique spoke publicly against the Italian
• City shot-stopper spoke while away on international duty

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Speaking to the media at a press conference while away with the Italy national team, Donnarumma covered a variety of subjects, as reported by . A major talking point was when the 26-year-old was asked about his relationship with PSG manager Luis Enrique, who caused controversy when replacing his Champions League-winning goalkeeper with Lucas Chevalier over the summer, forcing Donnarumma out of the door and to the Premier League.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Luis Enrique stuck by his decision to leave Donnarumma out of the squad for the UEFA Super Cup against Tottenham Hotspur last month, saying he was "100% responsible" for the decision and he needed a "different type of goalkeeper". Despite playing a leading role as PSG became European champions for the first time in their history just months prior, Donnarumma was faced with the exit door and ultimately completed a deadline day move to Manchester City for £26 million ($35m).

• WHAT DONNARUMMA SAID

  Donnarumma said: "I have always had a great relationship with the coach. He was direct with me, from the first days of retreat. Disappointed I don't know, everyone makes their own choices. The coach has the power to decide, but having the support of everyone – especially my teammates – made me understand what I had given to PSG and I think this is the most important thing. Because beyond football what remains is this, knowing the affection of the whole environment, of my teammates, made me proud of what I left behind."

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  WHAT NEXT FOR DONNARUMMA?

  Donnarumma will no doubt be a key talking point over the international break as his Italy side face Estonia and Israel in World Cup qualification. We will, soon enough, get to see Donnarumma make his Premier League debut for City – potentially against Manchester United, with whom he has also been linked this summer – and it will be intriguing viewing to see how he adapts to his new surroundings, following what was no doubt a turbulent summer on a personal level.

MatériaMais Notícias

O Avanti, programa de sócio-torcedor do Palmeiras, alcançou na última quinta-feira (26) a expressiva marca de 106 mil associados, o que representa crescimento de mais de 150% durante o período de um ano. Em janeiro de 2022, o Verdão contava com aproximadamente 41 mil sócios-torcedores.

> Veja classificação e simulador do Paulistão-2023 clicando aqui

Esse aumento tem como um dos principais impulsos o grande momento vivido pelo clube, com 15 conquistas na última temporada, incluindo futebol masculino, futebol feminino e base. Ou seja, houve o interesse de acompanhar mais de perto a boa fase.

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Outro elemento que ajudou no crescimento nos últimos dias foi o Palmeiras Pay, pois otorcedor que ativa o cartão de crédito da plataforma ganha degustação por seis meses do Plano Verde do Avanti. E quem ativa o cartão de débito tem gratuidade por um mês do mesmo plano.

>Palmeiras ou Flamengo? Confira votação jogador por jogador feita pela redação do LANCE!

O clube trabalha para que, durante esse período de experimentação, os novos sócios-torcedores sejam impactados pelos diversos benefícios do Avanti, como descontos na rede de parceiros do programa, e ativações especiais, como visitas aos bastidores dos jogos do Alviverde.

> Veja as principais transferências no Mercado da Bola do LANCE!

Segundo o Palmeiras, o Avanti não atingia um patamar tão elevado de sócios-torcedores desde o mês de abril de 2015, quando registrou 96,7 mil adeptos adimplentes.

بدأت منذ قليل أحداث مباراة مانشستر يونايتد وآرسنال على ملعب أولد ترافورد في الجولة الأولى من منافسات الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز.

وبدأ روبن أموريم مدرب مانشستر يونايتد اللقاء بتشكيل مكون من: ألتاي بايندير، دي ليخت ، ليني يورو ، لوك شاو ، دالوت ، كاسميرو ، ماسون ماونت ، برونو فرنانديز ، دورجو ، كونيا ، بريان مبيومو.

اقرأ أيضاً.. آرسنال يرد على عرض ريال مدريد لإجراء صفقة تبادلية تشمل رودريجو

وبدأ ميكيل أرتيتا مدرب آرسنال اللقاء بتشكيل مكون من: ديفيد رايا ، بن وايت ، ساليبا ، جابرييل ،كالافيوري ، أوديجارد ، ديكلان رايس ، مارتن زوبيميندي ، بوكايو ساكا ، جيوكيريس ، مارتينيلي.

ونجح آرسنال أن يفتتح التسجيل في المباراة عن طريق ريكاردو كالافيوري في الدقيقة 13 بعد عرضية من ركلة ركنية نفذها ديكلان رايس لداخل منطقة الجزاء أخطأها الحارس بايندير لتصل لكالافيوري الذي استقبل الكرة برأسية داخل الشباك.

وحتى الآن يسيطر مانشستر يونايتد ويستحوذ بشكل أكبر على الكرة ولكن بدون خطورة، بينما نجح آرسنال أن يخطف الهدف الأول مبكراً ويضع لاعبو الفريق المضيف تحت الضغط.

جدير بالذكر أن آخر لقاء جمع بين آرسنال ومانشستر يونايتد قد انتهى بالتعادل الإيجابي بين الفريقين بهدف لمثله على ملعب أولد ترافورد حيث سجل برونو لمان يونايتد وسجل رايس لآرسنال.

“There’s many things you can look back on and as a side, you’re just looking to improve and learn from this”

Mohammad Isam02-Dec-2023

Lack of batting partnerships and accurate bowling for long periods brought New Zealand’s downfall in Sylhet, according to their captain Tim Southee, after the visitors went down by 150 runs for their first Test defeat in Bangladesh. The two sides went toe-to-toe at the end of their respective first innings, but the home side pulled ahead with a strong performance in the third innings, before bowling out New Zealand for 181 on the fifth morning.Southee said that Bangladesh were accurate for longer periods and praised his opposite number Najmul Hossain Shanto for striking an opportune century.Related

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“You look at the way that the Bangladesh bowlers were able to apply pressure for a long period of time. I think we did it in periods, but we probably didn’t do it for long enough,” Southee said.”You are always looking at partnerships as a batting unit. I think Shanto played a great innings. It was obviously a very timely one as well, given the situation of the game. There’s many things you can look back on and as a side, you’re just looking to improve and hopefully, learn from this and move forward in a few days.”I think the Bangladesh bowlers bowled well, and very accurate, and in the way they bowl and the style they bowl, we know that in this part of the world, it tends to get harder to bat as the Test moves on. It tends to take a little bit more turn and a little bit more variable bounce. You just need a couple of partnerships.”Southee insisted that New Zealand chose the best playing XI in Sylhet as the likes of Kyle Jamieson, Ajaz Patel and Ish Sodhi have been performing well recently, especially in the subcontinent.”You look at the conditions and you look at the squad you’ve got, and you pick your best XI. You look at the bowling group and KJ (Kyle Jamieson) has been a phenomenal performer for us.”Ish Sodhi was the Player of the Series in the last series that he played, and AJ (Ajaz Patel) has been a great bowler for us in this part of the world. I think you look at it at the start of the Test, and you pick your strongest side, which you think is going to win you the game.”New Zealand also batted at a slower pace than Bangladesh, which many felt bogged them down in pressure situations. Southee defended his batters’ style of play compared to Bangladesh’s attacking mantra.”I think it comes back to the nature of the play. I think Kane Williamson likes to absorb pressure in different ways to someone like Darryl Mitchell.”I think it’s about trusting your own style and the only way you go about it. If you look at Shanto’s method, it is different to someone like Mominul’s. So it’s about how you go about it and trusting your way,” he said.Southee, however, said that tiredness wasn’t a factor in New Zealand’s performance in Sylhet.”There’s been a number of fresh guys coming in. Three or four of them have been playing domestic cricket. We had a little bit of a break after the World Cup. I think as players, you know that it’s a busy schedule. You know what’s in front of you.”You’re trying to freshen up as well as you can. The guys were in good spirits before this. It’s been a long time on the road for some but that’s part and parcel of being an international cricketer.”

Fortune Barishal have acquired Mushfiqur Rahim as the most high-profile pick in the BPL draft held in Dhaka on Sunday. Led by Tamim Iqbal, the side that lost in the eliminator last season, also picked Yannic Cariah, Soumya Sarkar and Mohammad Saifuddin during the draft.But it was defending champions Comilla Victorians who made some big-name signings. They were conservative in the draft because they already had Rashid Khan, Sunil Narine and Iftikhar Ahmed among their 11 overseas signings before the draft took place. During the draft, they picked the West Indian duo Rahkeem Cornwall and Matthew Forde, apart from bringing back their championship winning captain Imrul Kayes.Sylhet Strikers, who were runners-up last season, retained the talismanic Mashrafe Mortaza, while Najmul Hossain Shanto was their direct signing from among the local players. Mohammad Mithun and Rezaur Rahman Raja were their draft picks.Khulna Tigers went for the Sri Lankan duo of Dasun Shanaka and Kasun Rajitha among their overseas picks, having already named Nasum Ahmed and Nahidul Islam as their retentions.Big-spenders Rangpur Riders have Shakib Al Hasan as their main man, and they got Rony Talukdar and Shamim Hossain among their local picks in the draft. They also picked Michael Rippon, who moved from Netherlands to New Zealand recently, and USA allrounder Yasir Mohammad among their overseas names.BPL 2024 is scheduled to begin in mid-January, once again clashing with the BBL, ILT20 and SA20 which will run around the same time. Here are the draft picks, direct signings and retentions for each team:

Comilla Victorians

Retained & direct signings: Litton Das, Mustafizur Rahman, Tanvir Islam, Towhid Hridoy, Mohammad Rizwan, Sunil Narine, Moeen Ali, Andre Russell, Iftikhar Ahmed, Zaman Khan, Khushdil Shah, Johnson Charles, Noor Ahmed, Naseem Shah, Rashid KhanDraft picks: Imrul Kayes, Mrittunjoy Chowdhury, Zaker Ali Anik, Mahidul Islam, Rishad Hossain, Mushfik Hasan, Rahkeem Cornwall, Matthew Forde

Sylhet Strikers

Retained & direct signings: Mashrafe Mortaza, Zakir Hasan, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Ryan Burl, Ben Cutting, Harry TectorDraft picks: Mohammad Mithun, Rezaur Rahman Raja, Ariful Haque, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Nazmul Islam, Shafiqul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Jawad Rowen, George Scrimshaw, Richard Ngarava, Dushan Hemantha, Sameet Patel

Khulna Tigers

Retained & direct signings: Nasum Ahmed, Nahidul Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Anamul Haque, Evin Lewis, Faheem Ashraf, Dhananjaya de Silva, Shai Hope, Dasun Shanaka, Mohammad Waseem JrDraft picks: Afif Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Parvez Hossain Emon, Habibur Rahman Sohan, Mukidul Islam Mughdho, Akbar Ali, Kasun Rajitha

Durdanto Dhaka

Retained & direct signings: Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Arafat Sunny, Mosaddek Hossain, Chaturanga de Silva, Sam Aiyub, Usman QadirDraft picks: Mohammad Naim, Saif Hasan, Irfan Sukkur, Sabbir Hossain, Alauddin Babu, SM Mehrob Hossain, Lahiru Samarakoon, Sadeera Samarawickrama

Chattogram Challengers

Retained & direct signings: Shuvagata Hom, Ziaur Rahman, Nihaduzzaman, Shohidul Islam, Mohammad Haris, Nazibullah Zadran, Mohammad Hasnain, Stephen EskinaziDraft picks: Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Al-Amin Hossain, Shykat Ali, Imran Uzzaman, Shahadat Hossain Dipu, Salahuddin Sakil, Curtis Campher, Bilal Khan

Fortune Barishal

Retained & direct signings: Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Ibrahim Zadran, Shoaib Malik, Paul Stirling, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Dunith WellalageDraft picks: Mushfiqur Rahim, Rakibul Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Soumya Sarkar, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Pritom Kumer, Yanik Cariah

Rangpur Riders

Retained & direct signings: Shakib Al Hasan, Nurul Hasan, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Hasan Mahmud, Babar Azam, Matheesha Pathirana, Brandon King, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ihsanullah, Azmatullah Omarzai, Nicholas PooranDraft picks: Rony Talukdar, Shamim Hossain, Ripon Mondal, Hasan Murad, Michael Rippon, Fazle Mahmud, Yasir Mohammad, Abu Hider Rony, Ashikuzzaman

His 4 for 6 rolls Rapids for 100 before defending champions splutter to target

ECB Reporters Network07-Jul-2023Defending champions Hampshire Hawks will face Essex in the Vitality Blast semi-final on Finals Day after Nathan Ellis razed Worcestershire Rapids with his career best.Ellis claimed 4 for 6, with Chris Wood and John Turner both picking up two scalps each in a supreme bowling performance.The Rapids had an enterprising 70-run stand between Usama Mir and Ed Pollock – but it was bookended by slumping to 29 for 6 and then losing the last four wickets for one run as they were rolled for 100.The Hawks spluttered to the target to win by five wickets and reach their 10th Finals Day and maintain their hopes of being the first team to win the Blast back-to-back.The Rapids had never played a Blast match at the Ageas Bowl, and had only faced the Hawks once in the format. On that occasion, in 2015, James Vince blitzed an unbeaten century as Hampshire totted up 196 before Worcestershire reached 58 for 2, then the floodlight-less New Road got too dark.The Rapids would have dreamed of a total eclipse of the hot evening sun and a power failure amid their first collapse, which began with a wicket in each of the first four overs.Jack Haynes lasted until the fourth ball of the innings before a leading edge was well caught and bowled by Chris Wood.The Blast’s breakthrough fast bowler John Turner added Brett D’Oliveira as his 19th victim by cartwheeling his leg stump after an attempted scoop.Mitchell Santner and Adam Hose both picked out fielders – a brilliant long on catch from Vince and spliced to square leg respectively.Two wicketless overs were a mere interlude before James Fuller’s wicket maiden accounted for Kashif Ali and Ben Cox chipped to midwicket.But Mir and Pollock salvaged things with a 70-run stand, which included 16 runs off a Liam Dawson over, with the fifty-partnership coming off 45 balls with a six over long on.The second collapse was as ugly as the first as four wickets fell in eight balls for a single run to end a sorry innings.Mir’s thick outside edge off Benny Howell was easily caught at short third before Ellis splayed the tail with three wickets in four balls – Adam Finch yorked, Dillon Pennington caught at cover and Pat Brown leg before.Aneurin Donald replaced Ben McDermott – who had a back spasm – with the gloves and at the top of the order, and crunched the first ball of the reply through the leg side but edged behind soon after.Vince was caught at cover but is now 20 runs away from equalling his 678 runs from last season – reaching that would give him the best three Blast seasons. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that he could better his annus mirabilis of 710 runs in 2015.Tom Prest hit three fours and a six in a happy-go-lucky 25 before he was well caught playing the reverse sweep, with Dawson falling in similar style.Joe Weatherley got the run chase within five before skying but the Hawks stayed on track for a third Blast title and condemned the Rapids to their sixth quarter-final defeat in eight attempts.