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SLC’s suspension, future of ODI cricket among key talking points at ICC board meeting
Sri Lanka Cricket’s suspension, the future of ODI cricket and a revival of a high-performance programme aimed at the top Associates and some Full Members are all set to be on the agenda at the upcoming ICC board meeting in Ahmedabad.
The quarterly meetings, the last of the year, begin on Saturday with various committees before the ICC board meeting set for Tuesday, two days after the 2023 ODI World Cup final. While some of the big-ticket items have been effectively finalised, such as the revenue distribution model for the 2024-27 cycle of events and cricket’s entry into the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
Sri Lanka Cricket’s board suspension
SLC’s suspension last week is set to dominate the ICC board meeting. Possible conditions over the suspension will be debated as well as whether Sri Lanka continue to remain hosts of the men’s under-19 World Cup in January and February.
The ICC’s deputy chair Imran Khwaja is likely to be an influential voice having been engaged to look into potential political interference for a while. He investigated the matter in May during a fact-finding mission to Sri Lanka.
The future of ODI cricket
Two days after the ODI World Cup final, possible discussions around the future of the 50-overs format are on the cards. There will be at least two boards pushing for the revival of the recently-scrapped 13-team ODI Super League. With a new qualification pathway already approved for a 14-team 2027 men’s ODI World Cup, the Super League, if it does return, could only do so from 2028.
Zimbabwe – co-hosts of the 2027 ODI World Cup along with South Africa and Namibia – are advocating for an analysis to be conducted over the current World Cup to gauge its global popularity.
“This World Cup came at the same time as the rugby World Cup, so it would be a good opportunity to compare the audience and measure our global impact as a sport,” Zimbabwe Cricket chair Tavengwa Mukuhlani said.
“It felt like the Rugby World Cup was more popular, especially in countries where both sports are popular. I don’t think the problem is with the ODI format… there aren’t enough teams in the World Cup, even 14 isn’t enough. And there won’t be context without the Super League.
“We need ODI cricket, we can’t afford to not have it. It is still a money-maker for us and many countries.”
High-performance programme revival
The ICC’s high-performance programme is set for a revival, having been scrapped late last decade, after running for 15 years. The programme was aimed at top Associate nations and included player development pathways and specialised administrative structures to help professionalise those deemed close to Full Member status.
The new programme, in a point of difference, will involve Full Members Ireland, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and possibly others. It has been resurrected as the ICC look to establish development programmes through funds from its next four-year commercial cycle. Funding from the programme is hoped to encourage more fixtures between these countries, including A tours and women’s cricket matches.
An as yet unspecified amount has been mooted, taken from the ICC’s overall revenues, to be divided among these boards. But specific details, including the countries involved and total funding allocated, will be revealed at the meeting.
Funding from revenue distribution model set aside to create reserves
Some of the funds allocated to members in the new distribution model will be diverted into a retained surplus fund totalling US$100 million a year, which will be invested and distributed back to members at a later time.
The interest accrued will be distributed according to the contribution by the member in what is seen as a prudent financial measure with uncertainty over what type of media rights deal will be struck for the cycle of 2028-31. Full Members will contribute US$ 88.8 million to this fund – of which the BCCI will put US$ 38.5 million – annually and the Associates US$11.2 million.
But not everyone is satisfied with the arrangement. With plans to build a cricket stadium in Dublin, Ireland want to receive its full US$18 million a year allocation. Around US$3 million a year of their funding is earmarked for the surplus fund and so too Afghanistan and Zimbabwe.
“We need funding to do that [build infrastructure],” Cricket Ireland high-performance director Richard Holdsworth said. “To withhold what it looks like to be about US$12 million over four years maybe that’s for the members to make the right decisions as to whether they stick money into reserves or spend it all now.
“For us, we’ve got a lot of things to invest in and we need to do that now. We can’t wait four years.”
Cricket at the Olympics
After returning to the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games recently, T20 cricket was last month officially confirmed as an Olympic sport for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. The board will formalise cricket’s inclusion and there is expected to be discussion over possible qualification pathways.
Some boards hope that more than six teams per gender can be included in subsequent Olympics after Los Angeles.
New Zealand 575 for 8 dec (Devon Conway 227, Tom Latham 137, Rachin Ravindra 72*; Alex Greaves 2-83) and 306 for 2 dec (Tom Latham 101, Devon Conway 100; Kavem Hodge 2-80) beat West Indies 420 (Kavem Hodge 123*, Brandon King 63; Jacob Duffy 4-86) and 43 for 0 (Brandon King 67; Jacob Duffy 5-42, Ajaz Patel 3-23) by 323 runs
Did New Zeland take too long to declare? Had the pitch broken up enough to make batting in the fourth innings as hard as it was forecast? Was this Kane Williamson’s final Test at home?
Doubt filled the air as an absorbing series eased into its final day and then dissipated in the wake of a West Indies collapse. Eight wickets fell for 25 runs after the morning drinks break with Jacob Duffy (5 for 42) taking over Sir Richard Hadlee’s record for most wickets in a calendar year for the Black Caps – and bumping Trent Boult off the top spot for damage done over a single home series.
West Indies went from 87 for 0 to 112 for 8 to 138 all out with Shai Hope exemplifying their state of mind – out to a full toss without playing a shot on 3 off 78.
The Bay Oval is unique. It houses the only surface in New Zealand that is better to bat at the start and turns increasingly treacherous. The wear and tear was so profound that instead of a single solid block, it turned into a mess of broken plates, wobbling about under the light roller or even simple touch. It fascinated everyone, including the home team’s players. Daryl Mitchell was even moved to do that thing most people do to check and see if something is real – he pinched it and it was proven he wasn’t dreaming.
So the spinner they brought in specifically for this Test match was offered centre stage. Azaj Patel, so often peripheral to the team’s needs at home, was generating 15.8 degrees of turn. That was part of why Hope thought he was safe against a ball delivered from well wide of the crease. Ordinarily it might have pitched harmlessly and spun away harmlessly but the cross wind caught hold of it – as Ajaz had intended, because all game he was looping it up at 70kph or so – and it careened into the right-hander’s front toe.
It took an age for New Zealand to review. Only one second was left on the clock when Tom Latham was reminded that the ball hit Hope on the full, which means from the point of contact, the projection becomes a straight line. With Ajaz’s angle from around the wicket and no shot offered, there was a chance lbw was on. Ball-tracking took another age to come up but when it did it showed three reds.
New Zealand had engineered that dismissal with smart field placements as well. They crowded Hope. Slip in. Two silly points in. Two short covers in. They had already seen him defend full tosses so were encouraged to bring their field up and make the batter worry that even a firmly hit defensive shot could end up going to hand. That’s why Hope chose to leave. He thought he was being sensible. He didn’t realise he’d been cornered. No idea why because New Zealand had made it explicit. “This is hallway cricket,” they chirped as the walls closed in.
Brandon King made an enterprising half-century but from there West Indies’ scorecard gave way to eight straight single-digit scores, including Roston Chase’s 5 off 26. The captain ends the tour with 42 runs at an average of 7. He might not have been able to protect himself even if he had been in form because his wicket – caught fending at second slip – was the work of an accurate bowler generating vicious bounce off a length. Duffy was the perfect weapon for New Zealand. They’d wised up to him only in August and four months later here he is, with more than twice as many wickets as his nearest competitor in this series (23 vs 10).
And it wasn’t just that he was bunging it into the pitch and waiting for it to misbehave. Alick Athanaze’s wicket highlighted that Duffy has the smarts to lead this attack. He began by testing the West Indian’s back foot play and bringing natural variation into play. There was plenty of up and down bounce to worry the batter. But that wasn’t how he wanted him. Just where. Duffy had pinned Athanaze to his crease and having accomplished that, he snuck in the fuller delivery and nicked him off on the move.
Duffy and Ajaz bowled nearly 70% of New Zealand’s overs in the final innings. The left-arm spinner went unchanged from the moment he was introduced into the attack on the fifth day (29-18-23-3). Together they were undeniable.
New Zealand took the series 2-0 and climbed to second place on the World Test Championship table. Later in the evening, they’ll part ways with Williamson who has already said without saying that he won’t be with them in January in India. “There’s a pretty large block away from the group as well, and there’ll be more conversations had,” he announced on Sunday. On Monday, he celebrated a hard-earned Test win. On Thursday, he’ll enjoy Christmas with his family. Beyond that, his future appears unknown. He might already have played his final Test match at his home ground.
Brief scores:
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have been sentenced to further jail terms following a fraud case involving state gifts.
They were convicted of breaking Pakistan’s rules on gifts after Bibi was given a luxury jewellery set by Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman during a 2021 state visit.
The pair are already serving time in prison for earlier convictions, and the new sentences – 10 years for criminal breach of trust and seven years for criminal misconduct, and a fine – will reportedly run concurrently to their earlier terms.
Khan has described the charges as politically motivated and his lawyer told BBC News his team plan to challenge the verdict.
Speaking to the BBC after the hearing, the former prime minister’s lawyer, Salman Safdar, said Khan’s legal team had only been informed about the sentencing late on Friday night, after normal court hours.
They planned to mount a challenge to the verdict in the high court, Mr Safdar said.
This case is the latest in a series of charges laid against the cricket star-turned-politician, who has been detained since August 2023. In January he was sentenced to 14 years in prison over a separate corruption case. He has faced charges in more than 100 cases, ranging from leaking state secrets to selling state gifts. The BBC has been unable to confirm the exact number brought against him.
The jewellery case, referred to as Toshakhana 2 in Pakistan, concerns a Bulgari jewellery set given to Bushra Bibi by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a state visit in 2021, according to court documents.
Under Pakistan’s rules on state gifts, these items go to Pakistan’s Toshakana department (state treasury), but politicians are able to purchase the items back.
Khan is alleged to have asked a private firm to undervalue the jewellery set, before purchasing it back at a significantly reduced price.
In addition to their jail terms, the pair were handed a fine of over 16 million Pakistani rupees (£42,600).
Khan was also convicted in an earlier, different Toshakhana case – but he challenged that conviction, meaning his sentence is suspended until the outcome of his appeal.
He also has other cases outstanding against him.
These include terrorism charges relating to violent protests that took place on 9 May 2023, when he was previously arrested.
Khan was Pakistan’s prime minister until April 2022 when he was ousted in a vote of no confidence.
Although he has not been seen in public, his social media accounts have continued to operate with messages attributed to him on X often appearing after jail visits.
These have been highly critical of Pakistan’s current government and its politically powerful army Chief Field Marshall Asim Munir, including posts calling him a tyrannical dictator.
In November, he was denied any visitors for nearly a month.
After campaigning by his family and party, his sister was allowed to visit in early December; a few hours after she saw him, his account posted a comment credited to Khan calling the Field Marshall Asim Munir a “mentally unstable person”.
Khan, 73, has not been allowed any family visits since.
The judgement states the judge was lenient in sentencing because of Khan’s “old age”.
[BBC]
The US has seized an oil tanker that had recently departed from Venezuela, according to the US Department of Homeland Security.
It is the second time this month that an oil-carrying ship has been seized off the country’s coast.
The move comes after President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he was ordering a “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.
Venezuela has described the latest US move as “theft and kidnapping”. It has previously accused the Trump administration of trying to steal its resources.
“These acts will not go unpunished,” a statement from the Venezuelan government said, adding that it intended to file a complaint with the UN Security Council and “other multilateral agencies and the governments of the world”.
The operation was led by the US Coast Guard, similar to the operation earlier this month. The ship was boarded by a specialised tactical team, and was in international waters when it was taken.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose department oversees the Coast Guard, shared a seven-minute video of the operation on X.
It shows US helicopters landing on the deck of a ship with the name Centuries written on the side.
It is a Panamanian-flagged ship, but in the past five years it has also sailed under the flags of Greece and Liberia, according to records seen by BBC Verify.
It is not on the US Treasury’s list of sanctioned vessels, but in the hours after the announcement, the White House clarified that its cargo was sanctioned.
“The tanker contained sanctioned PDVSA oil,” said a post from Anna Kelly, White House deputy press secretary, referring to Venezuela’s state-run oil company .
The post said the tanker was “operating as part of the Venezuelan shadow fleet to traffic stolen oil and fund the narcoterrorist Maduro regime.”
In recent weeks, the US has been building up its military presence in the Caribbean Sea and has carried out deadly strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug-smuggling boats, killing around 100 people.
It has provided no public evidence that these vessels were carrying drugs, and the military has come under increasing scrutiny from Congress over the strikes.
The Trump administration has accused Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro of leading a designated-terrorist organisation called Cartel de los Soles, which he denies.
Trump has accused Maduro’s government of using “stolen” oil to “finance themselves, Drug Terrorism, Human Trafficking, Murder, and Kidnapping”.
Following the seizure of the second ship, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X that the US would continue to “unflinchingly conduct maritime interdiction operations… to dismantle illicit criminal networks.”
“Violence, drugs, and chaos will not control the Western Hemisphere.”
Venezuela – which is home to the world’s largest proven oil reserves – is highly dependent on revenues from its oil exports to finance its government spending.
Trump’s announcement of a blockade came less than a week after the US seized an oil tanker believed to be part of the “ghost fleet” off the coast of Venezuela, which allegedly used various strategies to conceal its work.
Venezuela’s government decried the move, with Maduro saying the US ” kidnapped crew” and “stole” the ship.
[BBC]
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