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Arsenal have rejected an offer for goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale from another Premier League team, according to a report.

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Premier League team made Ramsdale offerGunners rejected bid to sign goalkeeperEngland international now second choiceWHAT HAPPENED?

A team from the bottom half of the Premier League have made an approach for the England international, according to , but the Gunners have turned it down. The London team have no intention of letting Ramsdale go despite his status as second choice behind David Raya.

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Arsenal have no intention of letting Ramsdale leave in the January transfer window, according to the report, while the 25-year-old wants his next move to be one that takes his career forward. He has, however, admitted that he is "suffering and hurting" since losing his place in the first-team to Raya, suggesting he may want to leave north London soon if there is no route back to being Mikel Artea's first choice.

DID YOU KNOW?

Ramsdale was back in the Arsenal starting XI for their 1-0 win against Brentford on Saturday – his first start in a Premier League match since early-September. The shot stopper made a blunder that gave Brentford an opportunity, though they failed to score from it. He was given the nod to play against the Bees because Raya was ineligible given he is on loan at Arsenal from Thomas Frank's team.

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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR RAMSDALE?

Ramsdale may be back on the bench on Wednesday when Arteta's side face Sevilla in the Champions League, with Raya available again. The Englishman may push for a move away from the Emirates Stadium before long to ensure he gets more playing time.

David Willey’s celebration of an England call-up seemed to whisk away Leicestershire’s hopes of a first Championship win in 34 games

Press Association28-Apr-2015
ScorecardDavid Willey’s late intervention gave Leicestershire much pain•Getty ImagesAll-rounder David Willey celebrated his call-up to England’s one-day squad by smashing 88 from just 79 balls and then took a late wicket to undermine Leicestershire’s fleeting hopes of securing a first Championship win for more than two years..When the visitors lost Rob Newton for 58 shortly after lunch, bowled by a Ben Raine delivery that seamed back to knock out the batsman’s off-stump, Northants were 220 for 6 and leading by just 166 with only four wickets remaining, with Leicestershire looking to have an excellent chance of ending their drought at the 34th attempt.Leicestershire’s head coach Andrew MacDonald refused to accept the game was up. “If we’d taken a couple of opportunities the game may have been slightly different, but I still think the game is in the balance, 332 off 96 overs, if it’s a full day’s play we’re right in this.”If you look at the trend of the game the scores have risen with each innings, and I think what you’ll find is the surface is becoming better and better, so day four shouldn’t hold too many demons. If we bat deep we’ll probably be on the right side of the ledger. If we bat the day, we win. It’s a matter of applying ourselves.”Willey, initially in company with former Leicestershire batsman Josh Cobb, took the attack to the Leicestershire seamers in destructive style. Cobb, who was dropped before scoring, went on to 56 before being caught down the leg-side by wicket-keeper Niall O’Brien off Charlie Shreck, but Willey was then joined by Rory Kleinveldt in a match-changing partnership of 97 for the eighth wicket, hit off just 11.4 overs.Kleinveldt hit seven fours and two sixes in going a half-century off 32 balls before top-edging an attempted pull at Clint McKay and being caught by Tom Wells running in from the deep midwicket.Olly Stone, with a first-class career best 28, provided solid support for Willey in a partnership of 49 for the ninth wicket. Soon afterwards, Willey, having hit 15 fours and a six, skied Shreck to third man, where Ned Eckersley held the catch.Faced with the task of making what would be the fourth highest run chase in their history, Leicestershire quickly lost Dan Redfern, the left-hander steering a delivery from Willey straight into the hands of Cobb at backward point.Eckersley and Angus Robson then saw the Foxes to the close, still needing another 332 runs for their first championship win since September 2012, and Northants needing another nine wickets for their first championship win since September 2013.

A round-up of the fourth day’s play of Group C’s second-round matches from the Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Nov-2013
ScorecardFile photo: Sanju Samson scored a century and fifty•BCCIJammu & Kashmir earned an opening win in the tournament against Goa after Hardeep Singh and Samiullah Beigh’s rearguard efforts saw through a chase of 262, with three wickets to spare. Resuming on 245 for 9, Goa’s resistance ended quickly when Mohammed Mudhasir trapped No. 11 Gauresh Gawas for a duck to end their innings on 246.With a target of 262 set for victory, J&K found themselves in deep trouble when they were reduced to 26 for 3 by the efforts of opening bowlers Harshad Gadekar and Saurabh Bandekar. A 63-run stand between captain Parvez Rasool and Manzoor Dar steading the innings somewhat, but at 148 for 7, J&K were looking in danger of falling short. This brought Beigh to the crease, and along with Hardeep, the pair continued to battle as they first got past 150, then 200 and were able to see the chase to its denouement in the 87th over – the penultimate over of the mandatory allotment. Beigh struck his sixth first-class fifty in the process, while Hardeep just missed out on a third first-class century, finishing unbeaten on 95.
ScorecardKerala’s tie with Andhra ended up a stalemate after Andhra resumed their first innings overnight on 288 for 3, still behind Kerala’s 486. Seamer Chovvakkaran Shahid struck in the first over itself to remove Murumulla Sriram for 82. A 70-run stand between D Shivkumar and AG Pradeep for the sixth wicket got them closer, but the rest of the batting could not add much more as Andhra reached 431. V Manoharan, the offspinner, was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 82, while Shahid supported him admirably with 3 for 104.With a lead of 55, Kerala knew the match was heading to a foregone conclusion as their openers walked out to the middle. Wickets fell at regular intervals as Kerala reached 89 for 3 after 24 overs, with Sanju Samson standing out with an unbeaten 51 to add to his first innings score of 115.
ScorecardAssam’s bowlers combined to dismiss Hyderabad and claim first-innings points for their side on the final day of their drawn game in Guwahati. Hyderabad began the fourth morning on 218 for 4, still trailing by 283 runs. Bavanaka Sandeep went on to convert his overnight 8 into his fourth first-class century but had little support at the other end. Ashish Reddy was the only batsman of Hyderabad’s last seven to make a double-digit score. Abu Nechim, Arup Das, Syed Mohammad and Tarjinder Singh took two wickets each as the visitors were dismissed for 370.Assam were 20 for 1 in their second innings when the match ended in a draw. They took three points from the game while Hyderabad got one.

Steven Finn has been ruled out of the first Test against India in Ahmedabad due to the thigh strain that limited his warm-up participation to four overs in the first match in Mumbai

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Nov-2012Steven Finn has been ruled out of the first Test against India in Ahmedabad due to the thigh strain that limited his warm-up participation to four overs in the first match in Mumbai.England captain Alastair Cook confirmed that Finn would not be considered for the opening match of the series as it would be a significant risk. England are still likely to field one fast bowler under an injury cloud with Stuart Broad set to play after recovering from the bruised heel that meant he has bowled just 10 warm-up overs on tour.While Finn and Broad bowled with impressive pace at practice on Sunday, it was always unlikely that the England management would two risk two bowlers in the same Test. Finn barely participated in fielding practice and did not bowl a single delivery in the nets. While he is not thought to have suffered any injury setback, it seems the England management are keen not to risk his recovery; particularly in a Test that will be played in hot, arduous conditions.The problem for Finn now is that there are no further matches on the tour outside of the Tests so he will have to regain form and fitness in the nets.The most likely replacement for Finn appears to be Tim Bresnan who bowled well in the second innings of the final warm-up match against Haryana where he found useful reverse swing. Graham Onions, Stuart Meaker or a second frontline spinner in Monty Panesar are the other options and Cook is happy with the depth available.”I wouldn’t call them back-up bowlers, they’re all vying for a place to play in this XI, to be lucky enough to play for England,” Cook said. “They’ve all worked hard to get used to these conditions and as selectors we’ve got a tough decision to make.”

Aaqib Javed, the former Pakistan fast bowler, has signed a three-year contract as head coach of United Arab Emirates

Umar Farooq07-Mar-2012Aaqib Javed, the former Pakistan fast bowler, has signed a three-year contract as head coach of United Arab Emirates. He is already in the UAE but will start the job full-time from April 1. Javed had emerged as a candidate for the position in February while he was still employed as bowling coach of Pakistan during their series against England in the UAE. Dilawar Mani, the chief-executive officer of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), said the board wanted to wait till that series was over before announcing Javed as UAE coach.”The ECB is delighted with Aaqib’s acceptance of its offer,” Mani said. “He signed a standard contract of three years that can be extended by mutual agreement. An earlier announcement would have been inappropriate due to Aaqib’s key role as assistant and bowling coach of Pakistan, and would have caused a distraction from his primary responsibility”He has played with distinction for Pakistan and performed most commendably as bowling coach. His contribution to Pakistan cricket has been most invaluable.”Javed had been involved in coaching in Pakistan for a decade, having started at the Lahore Regional Academy and then moved on to stints as Pakistan Under-19 coach and head coach at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore. He had been involved with the Pakistan national team on-and-off since 2009, with stints as bowling coach as well as assistant coach.Javed landed in the UAE on Tuesday and observed UAE’s match against Scotland in the ICC World Cricket League Championship on Wednesday, in Sharjah. His first assignment will be the Intercontinental Cup tour of the Netherlands in July, followed by the ACC Elite Cup in October. UAE have been training without a coach since Kabir Khan resigned from the job to return to the job of Afghanistan coach, which he held before moving to the UAE.Apart from Kabir, former Pakistan spinner Mushtaq Mohammad, former Sri Lanka fast bowler Champaka Ramanayake and Madan Lal, the former India allrounder, have coached UAE. Madan Lal took UAE to their only World Cup appearance in 1996.Javed said his job would include planning the future of UAE cricket in conjunction with the ECB. “I shall dedicate myself to producing results and nurturing the talent in the UAE,” Javed said. “I shall work closely with the ECB management to strategise the planning process for the creation of a high-class squad.”Edited by Dustin Silgardo

Rest of India completed a comfortable innings-and-79 run victory on the fourth day at the Chinnaswamy Stadium

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran in Bangalore24-Sep-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
The margins of defeat for the Ranji champions in five of the previous six years in the Irani Cup: 404 runs, 361 runs, 187 runs, nine wickets and nine wickets. This season was just as comprehensive, as Rest of India completed a comfortable innings-and-79-run victory on the fourth day at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.Rajasthan’s batting and bowling were both not at the level of Rest of India’s, but what really hurt them as they tried to at least take the match to the fifth day was their appalling running between the wickets.There was an early alarm when Hrishkesh Kanitkar and Vineet Saxena had a communication breakdown, but both had the time to return to their creases. That wasn’t the case in the 26th over when Saxena nudged the ball towards square leg and took off, but Kanitkar didn’t respond and a sprawling Ishant Sharma fired in the throw to end the overnight partnership.Till then they had been largely untroubled by the pace of Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav, and a wicket had looked unlikely. Kanitkar and the batsman who had his reputation most enhanced in this the game, Robin Bist, were then comfortable against everything Rest of India threw at them. A few overs before lunch, Rest of India had resorted to having three men deep on the leg side when the left-arm spinners were operating, allowing Kanitkar to push the ball around and accumulate. Bist was more aggressive, unleashing some powerful drives and the partnership swelled towards a hundred.That stand also ended through a mix-up. Kanitkar pushed the ball towards point and wanted the single, but Bist didn’t. Though the return from Badrinath was a tough take for wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik, there was enough time for the bails to be taken off and two of Rajasthan’s most adhesive batsmen had given away their wickets recklessly.Bist wasn’t as solid as in the first innings, edging several past the keeper in the middle of some crisp striking. With Pragyan Ojha getting the odd ball to turn and bounce, much depended on Bist if Rajasthan were to avoid an innings defeat. His footwork had been precise in much of the match, but on 67, he was caught on the crease to a delivery from Ojha that neither jumped nor turned dramatically, but still managed to sneak between bat and pad.That brought together the last pair of recognised batsmen, RR Parida and Dishant Yagnik. That pair, too, was separated by a run-out. Parida played the ball out towards sweeper cover; Yagnik ambled through the first run, assuming there was only an easy two to be taken before Umesh Yadav fielded; Parida pushed for the third but Umesh, who unlike most Indian fast bowlers has a strong arm, rifled in a throw that caught Yagnik short.Rajasthan were soon down to 226 for 8, on a track which was still not spiteful, against an attack which was not exactly fearsome. Ishant was disciplined, keeping the ball around off but wasn’t able to regularly clock above 130kph, Umesh continued to bowl too wide to worry batsmen consistently and the spinners were steady though not menacing.Even without Rest of India’s bowlers being at their best, Rajasthan were overwhelmed in the match, again highlighting the vast difference in between the two sides.

Rudi Webster, who has worked as a mental skills coach with West Indies for three decades, believes Darren Sammy’s side have a fear of winning

Nagraj Gollapudi16-May-2012The West Indies team led by Darren Sammy have a fear of winning. That analysis was made quite recently by Rudi Webster, who has worked with some of the great West Indies teams as a mental skills coach over the last three decades.According to Webster, each time Sammy’s team have found themselves with controls in hand, they have retreated. That is because they found themselves in unfamiliar territory and did not know how to seize the opportunity.”I don’t think deep down the fellas believe that they can win,” Webster said. “Consciously, they will tell you ‘of course, we can win.’ But when you question them and you get below the surface, belief is not there.”It is that lack of belief, he contends, that is negating all the other positives Sammy and the coach, Ottis Gibson, are steadily constructing in the background; the magic card that the likes of Frank Worrell and Clive Lloyd used to inspire their teams is missing.”At this level performance revolves more around self-belief than around talent or potential,” Webster said. “Worrell and Lloyd did one thing that lifted West Indies cricket to greater heights: they were able to get the players to change their self-image and to start believing in themselves. Their self-belief was so firm and strong that nobody could beat them.”Webster presented a ready example to justify his claim. “If you look back at West Indies they were in a similar position in the late 90s. Remember we went to South Africa and got beaten very badly. And then played Australia at home and almost won the series. Everybody said we were improving. And then see what happened subsequently. So, although we have performed better in the last two Test series, it does not mean that we have turned the corner.”The figures support him. In 1998 West Indies travelled to South Africa under Brian Lara’s captaincy. They were mauled 5-0 in the Tests and then drubbed 6-1 in the ODI series. But Lara and the West Indies bounced back triumphantly when they fought hard against Australia to share the Frank Worrell Trophy 2-2. The ODI series was also shared, 3-3 with a tied game. Lara scored three scintillating centuries including a memorable 153 at Bridgetown when West Indies chased down 308 to lead 2-1 in the series. But just like a birthday candle, any hopes of a West Indies revival were blown away quickly as the slide over the last decade indicates.Back in the present, the same sort of optimism has been present in the past 12 months. Late last year, West Indies lost the three-Test series in India 2-0, but on two occasions they relinquished a firm grip on the match. In the first Test in Delhi, West Indies had a 95-run lead but squandered it as they were bowled out for 180 in the second innings. India successfully chased the target of 276.Then in the final Test in Mumbai, the West Indies batting bonded well to raise a formidable 590 and then took a 108-run lead as their bowlers responded strongly, too. But once again, as their hopes started soaring, they plunged equally fast as they were bundled out for 134. If there was any consolation, the match finished as a draw.Then at home this April, Sammy’s side initially dominated the first Test against Australia in Barbados. West Indies had made 449 after electing to bat and when Australia were struggling at 250-7, West Indies dared. But the bowlers suddenly lost the plot as the Australian tail wagged. Incredibly, Australia took the lead in the series with a three-wicket victory. In the third Test, chasing 374 with enough time in hand, West Indies lost the match by 74 runs and the series.So here they are in England, where in the last ten Tests spread over three series, West Indies have lost nine. In these 10 matches they have scored six centuries, while England have scored 20 hundreds. Shivnarine Chanderpaul (3), Ramnaresh Sarwan (2) and Chris Gayle (1) are the only ones to score a Test century in England during this period. England’s bowlers have taken a wicket every 46 balls in these 10 Tests; West Indies’ have taken a wicket every 78 balls.Much of the English media has been blunt in giving a thumbs down to Sammy and his team, even going to the extent of asking how Sammy could hold his place in the team when he has failed miserably as a batsman. At every given opportunity, the West Indies players have been reminded that their top order has a spine weaker than a straw, their bowlers seem to be unfit and how the best players are plying their trade in the IPL.To their credit, Sammy and Gibson have so far successfully ducked all such arrows, while keeping their heads still. Both have been modest in suggesting the main challenge will be to last five days against the No. 1 team. Hence you can understand Sammy when he says that it is not as frustrating to lose players to the IPL as it is to hang the pendant of belief on the remaining players each time they take the field.”It’s about getting victories under our belt and that is something that will come when we play more together and believe even more in ourselves,” he said on the eve of the first Test. “I’m not really frustrated by who’s here and who’s not.”In Sammy’s 16 Tests as captain, West Indies have won 2, lost 6, and drawn 8. That compares favourably with the 17 Tests before Sammy took over the captaincy when they won 1, lost 8 and drew 8.The major improvement has been in bowling. From a bowling average of 44.18 runs per wicket in those 17 Tests, West Indies’ bowling average has improved to 33.61 runs per wicket during Sammy’s time and you can definitely predict a strong hand of Gibson here. Although any batting improvement has remained insignificant (30.63 before Sammy, 28.96 during Sammy), there is more than a whiff of promise.Sammy did not discount Webster’s analysis. “We keep finding ourselves in winning positions and some way we keep letting it go,” he said. “When you are playing against a champion team, they find a way to win so we need to have that way when we are on top not to collapse and stuff.”That’s been happening to us: in India, India in the Caribbean and Australia recently. We’ve been competing and pushing teams down to the wire, if you look at the last series, the 2-0 scoreline doesn’t reflect the way we played. Hopefully we can eliminate these things in this series here.”

A round-up of all the games played in Group B on the second day of the 2013-14 Ranji Trophy season

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Oct-2013ScorecardFile photo – B Aparajith has three centuries in four first-class matches this year•ESPNcricinfo LtdB Aparajith hit his second double-century in four weeks as Tamil Nadu compiled 456 for 7 before they declared. Services weathered 11 overs, scoring 17 before stumps on the second day.Aparajith endured a chastening introduction to first-class cricket – scoring single-figures in five out of six innings in 2011-12- but bucked the trend with his maiden first-class century and has never looked back. He has been prolific this year, and on his back – 212 in the quarter-final and 109 in semi-final – South Zone stormed into the Duleep Trophy final.He was quite fluent as well, stroking 19 fours – more than twice the tally of any other batsman – and a six as he featured in three century partnerships, including the match’s best 168 with S Badrinath. Services’ bowling was as blunt as the first day, with seamer Nishan Singh finally accounting for Aparajith for 203. Dinesh Karthik missed a fifty by two runs, though R Prasanna remained unbeaten on 74.
ScorecardSagar Jogiyani could not add much to his fifth first-class century, but the lower order added to the Rajasthan bowlers’ troubles as Saurashtra ended the second day on 475 for 7.Rajasthan settled for Pankaj Singh as their only seam bowling option on an unforgiving Rajkot pitch, as he went wicketless for 23 overs. Their spinners bowled 160 overs with Ramesh Powar shouldering the bulk of that burden. He picked up four wickets in 61 overs, his best figures in nearly two years. Last season, when he played for Mumbai, he claimed only eight wickets and his most successful outing was with 2 for 139.Aarpit Vasavada and captain Jaydev Shah were dismissed short of their half-centuries, but No. 7 Chirag Jani reached his maiden first-class fifty, and participated in a 52-run stand for the seventh wicket with Kamlesh Makvana, who remained unbeaten.
ScorecardSatyam Choudhary’s dream match gained momentum on the second day as he converted his maiden century into a big double. He remained undefeated on 239 – more runs than he made in the entire 2012 season.Choudhary, 22, spent over 10 hours at the crease before the declaration as Madhya Pradesh reached their third-highest score of 510. Captain Devendra Bundela, their most experienced cricketer, played deputy today, as the fifth-wicket partnership extended to 155 runs after Madhya Pradesh resumed the day on 282 for 3.Rameez Khan chipped in with a half-century and helped MP past 500. Railways’ seamers Shailender Gehlot and Krishnakant Upadhyay toiled for 41 and 44 overs respectively for one wicket apiece, while legspinner Karn Sharma was expensive, though he did pick up two wickets.Railways were hampered further before close of play as last season’s highest wicket-taker, Ishwar Pandey, bowled V Cheluveraj for 28 in the 13th over. Rain struck next as play was halted 52 minutes before scheduled close and Railways reached 46 for 1.Bengal and Baroda are still waiting for play to begin as continuous showers washed out the second day in a row

Former Australia captain Mark Taylor believes Twenty20’s easy money has contributed to the national side’s poverty of Test match batting options

Daniel Brettig25-Apr-2013Even as he performed his stage-managed role to add gravitas and happy history to Australia’s Ashes squad announcement, the former captain Mark Taylor cut through the mystique to state how Twenty20’s easy money had contributed to the national side’s poverty of Test match batting options.Taylor and his successor Steve Waugh were present in Sydney to provide a Cricket Australia-approved reminder that teams past had flown to England with modest billing but returned home as heroes. The spirit of the 1989 Ashes tourists, unfancied almost as much as Michael Clarke’s team but ultimately the inflictors of a right royal 4-0 hammering, was invoked as though a holy rite.But Taylor was blunt in saying the hunger of Australia’s cricketers for Tests, particularly their batsmen, had been sapped by the riches on offer in T20, specifically at the IPL currently buzzing across the subcontinent. Frank and clear-eyed as ever, Taylor said no amount of wistful talk about baggy green caps and representing one’s country could counter the cash on offer to players prepared to forego their best batting technique in order to chase sixes and switch-hits in India.”If you look at the IPL and the money that’s going around there, that’s got to be a big influence I think. As much as they all say ‘Test cricket’s the No. 1’, a million dollars is very distracting,” Taylor told ESPNcricinfo. “You look at Glenn Maxwell getting US$1 million to go play in the IPL and he’s not even playing. How do you compete with that?”How do you tell a young player making the next Australian Test team is more important? Knock back an IPL contract and spend two years working on your batting technique to get in for a Test match, and throw away $2 million? It’s easier said than done.”

“Knock back an IPL contract and spend two years working on your batting technique to get in for a Test match, and throw away $2 million? It’s easier said than done.”Mark Taylor

There was some disquiet earlier this month when the list of CA contracts omitted numerous Ashes aspirants, partly due to a system that recognises all formats. Taylor said the system had improved a good deal since 1989, or even the late 1990s, when an industrial dispute with the board pushed the players to the brink of a strike. But he still doubted how any national contract could now dissuade a young player from considering the IPL’s riches ahead of Test cricket’s more archaic sense of loyalty.”The idea of the contracts system going back to my time was to give players security, and they’ve now got that,” he said. “I think the CA contracts and even the state contracts give players good security, much more than there was back in the 1990s, and that’s what should happen.”But I’m not sure any of these contracts can ever make up for an IPL contract. There’s probably no security in the IPL, but if you get a $2 million contract you don’t need a lot of security. And that’s impossible to compete with.”In 1989, Taylor accumulated no fewer than 839 runs in the six Tests, while Waugh crashed cavalier hundreds at Headingley and Lord’s and returned home with a series average well beyond 100. They were hungry young batsmen, offered only the most rudimentary of playing contracts, and still playing at a time when numerous Australian cricketers still held down day jobs.Notwithstanding the current crop’s vastly different financial circumstances, Taylor challenged the batsmen selected other than Clarke to rise above their mediocre records and make the sorts of scores that would make a statement about Australia’s intentions, much as he and Waugh had done in Leeds.”Trent Bridge and Lord’s, the first two Tests, are very important,” Taylor said. “If you go back to ’89 we won at Headingley where no one gave us a chance, then we won at Lord’s. All of a sudden you’re 2-0 up. If Australia can start something like that, it will start with someone like David Warner or Phil Hughes, or Cowan, or Watson, making 150, a big score.”At Headingley I made 136, Steve made 177 and AB [Allan Border] made a quickfire 66. It’ll start with someone almost out of the blue making a big score and saying ‘we’re here to compete’. That’s what this side needs to do. Look at Warner, Watson, Cowan, Hughes. Four opening batsmen really, they’re all averaging in the 30s. That won’t get it done. One or two of them over there have got to average 70 in this series or more.”

The second edition of the Bangladesh Premier League will be go ahead without any Pakistan player participating

Mohammad Isam16-Jan-2013None of the 26 Pakistan players auctioned in this season’s Bangladesh Premier League will take part in the Twenty20 competition after the PCB refused to issue No Objection Certificates (NOCs).The seven franchises will now have to hastily replace the cricketers in less than two days as the tournament begins on January 18. But the PCB’s stance is seen here as a backhanded victory for the BCB who now have a justification not to tour Pakistan, a tour they originally cancelled on December 31 due to security concerns, as this was used as the main cause of disagreement between the two boards.”A little while ago, we received a phone call from their COO Subhan Ahmed saying that if we don’t send the Bangladesh team on tour to Pakistan, they won’t give NOCs to their players to participate in the BPL,” the BCB’s media committee chairman Jalal Yunus said. “We will hold the tournament without their participation and it will start as per schedule, the opening ceremony on January 17 and the matches beginning on January 18.”The BCB president Nazmul Hassan said that the PCB knowingly waited till the last minute to inform them of the decision. “I couldn’t imagine that they could deliberately wait for so long, a day before the opening ceremony, to inform us that they won’t give the NOCs.”There are many Pakistani cricketers who were bought in the auction so to have all of them pull out at the last minute is a problem for us.”Hassan said that the action by the PCB has given the BCB free reign on deciding to tour Pakistan, which they will not do without a second trip by a security team.Absent names

Barisal Burners Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Kamran Akmal and Hammad Azam

Sylhet Royals Azeem Ghumman, Zulfiqur Babar, Babar Azam and Sohel Ahmed

Duronto Rajshahi Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Sami, Shahzaib Hasan and Khalid Latif

Rangpur Riders Sharjil Khan, Anwar Ali and Raja Ali Dar

Dhaka Gladiators Shahid Afridi

Khulna Royal Bengal Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Awaiz Zia, Umar Amin, Ahmed Shehzad, Haris Sohail and Bilawal Bhatti

Chittagong Kings Imran Nazir, Wahab Riaz and Saeed Anwar jnr

“We are no longer in a hurry. We were under tremendous pressure, so now we have some breathing space. Just before the start of a tournament, they have taken such a tough stance without any prior notice knowing that it would throw the organisation into jeopardy.”We will now decide on the sort of response regarding Bangladesh’s tour to Pakistan. It is not possible for us to commit to a tour without an inspection, and we will not be cowed down by any preconditions.”The franchises were informed on Tuesday evening of the situation, but the official word on the matter was only confirmed late on Wednesday afternoon after a final phone call from the PCB. Khulna will be the most severely hit as they have to replace Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Awais Zia, Umar Amin, Ahmed Shehzad, Haris Sohail and Bilawal Bhatti and they have already begun the process. The other six franchises have also been hit with Dhaka Gladiators being the least affected as they only lost Shahid Afridi.Yunus explained that each team will put forward names to replace their Pakistan players and will be helped by the BPL governing council to contact them and seek NOCs. In the event of a dispute if a player is sought by more than one franchise, it will be decided on a first-come-first-serve basis.”The teams are giving us names and we are giving approvals,” he said. “Clause 4.4 says that if a player doesn’t get an NOC he can be replaced. This replacement can be from within the list of unsold players from the auction or even from outside, for example we are talking to Kieron Pollard. We are trying to bring players from four or five other countries.”Except for one or two players, most of the replacements are at a par with the Pakistan players. It is troublesome for the franchises, but we are taking it as a challenge. We are ready to face it.”