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Cricket may not actually be the new football afterall, but one man who knows a thing or two about the other game is Yorkshire’s new chief executive, Stewart Regan. He joins the county from the Football League, where he has been the director of the Championship division for the past two years.Regan, 41, will succeed Colin Graves in the role, with Graves continuing to serve on the board. His exact start date is yet to be confirmed, although the club say that they are hoping Regan will be in the job before the season begins.”We were looking for someone with a strong business background who could lead this club as we enter a new phase in its development,” explained the club’s chairman, Robin Smith. “Stewart’s extensive experience, both in corporate business and football, will be invaluable. I am delighted he has accepted the role.”Regan brings with him experience from the brewing industry; he is a former director of strategic planning for Coors Brewers, owner of the Carling and Worthington brands.”I am delighted and honoured to be joining one of the biggest names in the world of cricket at such an exciting time in the club’s history,” said Regan. “Yorkshire has a huge potential to grow on the back of its acquisition of the Headingley cricket ground, promotion to the First Division of the County Championship and the securing of a 15-year staging agreement to host Test Cricket in Yorkshire.”

Three-time finalists Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC) completed a hat-trick of away teams winning after round one of the group stage of SA20 2025-26. All six teams have been in action over the last 24 hours and there’s a clear trend from the first three games. Not only have the visitors won on each occasion, but the team batting first has too.SEC claimed their opening win over Paarl Royals, who went unbeaten at Boland Park last season, but whose lack of bowling firepower was exposed. SEC’s innings was bookended by big partnerships as Jonny Bairstow and Quinton de Kock posted 66 for the first wicket and Matthew Breetzke and Jordan Hermann put on 73 for the fifth wicket as SEC totalled 186 for 4. That was the third-highest SA20 total at this venue.Royals used six bowlers, and mystifyingly gave Jersey international Asa Tribe only one over which cost one run. Everyone else conceded eight runs an over or above. In response, Royals were in early trouble at 7 for 2 after two overs and collapsed to the lowest score in the SA20 of 49 to suffer the second-biggest tournament defeat. SEC, with a bonus point, are now top of the table. An experimental No.3 De Kock and Bairstow raced to 51 from the first five overs and shared a first-wicket stand of 66. They were relatively untroubled before some David Miller brilliance separated them. Bairstow tried to hit Ottneil Baartman over mid-off but chipped the ball to the left of Miller, who took a diving catch to give Royals their first wicket.In an XI that includes Breetzke and Tristan Stubbs, SEC opted to promote Marco Jansen to No.3 but the plan didn’t work. Jansen scored four off the first nine balls he faced before he timed a cover drive off Bjorn Fortuin to get going.Fortuin then delivered the ball as slowly as he could, Jansen was through his slog sweep almost before the ball had even reached him. He could do nothing as it spun away and bowled him. This was the first time Jansen had batted at No.3 in T20 cricket. SEC went from 66 without loss to 89 for 3 in 21 deliveries.Breetzke and Hermann take down Baartman and finish strong With four overs left to go, SEC were looking for a big finish and it was up to Breetzke and Hermann to provide it. Royals turned to former SEC superstar Baartman and he started with a short ball that Breetzke latched onto immediately to start the 17th over with a four. Baartman adjusted to fuller lengths once Hermann was on strike and he went over extra cover for four. Baartman went short again and Hermann pulled over square leg for the fifth six of the innings.Jordan Hermann helped SEC finish strongly•SA20

That was the over that got Breetzke and Hermann going as their partnership grew to 73 off 41 balls. Baartman had the last laugh when he bowled Breetzke with his penultimate ball to dismiss him for the fifth time in 13 innings. Hermann continued on regardless and brought up a 26-ball fifty. SEC scored 57 in their last four overs.Jansen strikes early; remains tournaments most successful bowler Jansen is the most successful bowler in the SA20 tournament history, and it took him only three balls to make an impression on this edition. He pitched the ball up and found Lhuan-dre Pretorius’ inside edge.Pretorius, who was last season’s leading run-scorer wasn’t sure if he made contact, he reviewed and UltraEdge confirmed the contact. He was dismissed for a duck and Jansen’s haul across 36 matches at the SA20 extended to 48, five more than Baartman.Nortje’s puts his name in lights With Kagiso Rabada racing against the clock to prove his fitness for the T20 World Cup squad, Anrich Nortje made sure he cannot be ignored with a statement performance of pace and bounce on an otherwise benign surface to claim 4 for 13.Nortje was brought on in the last over of the Powerplay and had an enterprising Tribe caught off a top edge as he tried to pull a cross seam delivery. Nortje was brought back on in the 11th over and bowled Delano Potgieter with a brutish ball, full and shaping away to destroy the stumps.In the same over, Fortuin was rushed by another short ball and caught by de Kock behind the stumps. Then Nortje iced the cake when he bounced Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who fended the ball to de Kock. With three wickets in his third over Nortje left Paarl Royals 48 for 8. Five balls later, their opening game was done, with 49 balls remaining in the innings.

A joining date for Graham Ford, chosen yesterday as the coach of the Indian side, is likely to become clearer sometime tomorrow when he sits down for talks over his current contract with Kent County Cricket Club.Paul Millman, Kent’s chief executive, said that the county were keen to retain him but also suggested that they would respect whatever decision he would take. “Graham is due back later today and we will sit down and talk with him then,” Millman told Cricinfo a day after the Indian board had chosen Ford over John Emburey for the job.”We have always been fairly relaxed about the situation,” Millman said about Ford’s contract, which lasts till September 2008. “As far as we are concerned he went on a fact-finding trip and we don’t yet know what he has found out. He is still employed by us, but clearly there is an offer on the table, but we don’t know whether he has taken it. We are obviously keen to keep him but things will take their course when we talk to Graham.”Ford was confident that Kent wouldn’t stand in his way of taking up the Indian job. “I’ve got the County’s support, but we haven’t discussed an early release from my contract which, as you know, runs till September 2008,” he was quoted as saying in the . “I’ll begin discussions [with Kent] … I’m sure the County won’t stand in the way.”The discussion is set to take place after its penultimate group match in the Friends Provident Trophy against Hampshire on June 11. “Discussions with Ford will take place after the match,” a statement issued by the county side said. “It is hoped that the popular South African will remain at Canterbury to continue the progress made towards re-establishing Kent as a major force.”The Indian board were waiting for Ford to get back to them about his existing contract with Kent, Ratnakar Shetty, the Chief Administrative Officer of the BCCI, confirmed. “He is expected to get back to us soon, once he discusses the matter with them.”India’s cricket chiefs expect Ford to get back to them sometime tomorrow (June 11). They hope he would join the team ahead of the tours of Ireland and England, starting later this month.

The Himachal Pradesh allrounder Rishi Dhawan is likely to accumulate a lot of frequent flyer points and bowl a lot in the nets, but the India cap looks as far as it did before he was selected for the Australia tour. On pitches where Australia are playing no specialist spinners, and where the India spinners have been moderately effective, captain MS Dhoni feels the only way Rishi can play is if a specialist batsman is dropped, and if that happens, Dhoni said, India will be playing with “six bowlers”.Despite going for 239 in 37 overs for three wickets to outfield catches, spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are being considered better on hopelessly unhelpful tracks than Rishi on tracks with good bounce. This should come as a strong message to the selectors.Dhoni was asked if he had given a thought to going horses for courses as opposed to playing his best bowlers on paper. He responded: “If you see what is important is to see that we played the first game with our best bowling attack. In this game, too, Ishant [Sharma] was fit and we thought he will get good bounce. We feel it is important to play with a proper bowling set-up. And at the same time you cannot neglect the batting.”When it comes to whether we can play the extra seamer, if your frontline three seamers are going for runs, it is slightly difficult for somebody like a Rishi to come in. He may bowl well, but I am saying it will be slightly difficult for him to be successful with the fielding restrictions. He is not someone who bowls very quick. At the same time in the middle overs you need to bowl a lot of dot balls. That’s where you have to decide whether you are better off playing with the two spinners.”The only option you have is, you will have to sit out Ashwin because Jadeja gives you that cushion of batting. It is a difficult one. I still feel 3-2 (seamer-spinner) is the best combination. If somebody was there who could bowl a bit of seam-up, that obviously helps. As of now we don’t really have [one]. We can’t really look at Rishi because to play him we will have to get rid of a proper batsman. Then we will have to play six bowlers. Six bowlers is a bit of luxury to have in cricket nowadays.”Australia, on the other hand, have handed out debuts to two fast bowlers and have stuck with them. They have rotated two other quicks, but have been blessed with the presence of a proper allrounder in James Faulkner and a batsman who can bowl in Glenn Maxwell. The only “allrounder” in the Indian squad is not being considered much of a bowler. In the absence of any evidence against proper batsmen, Dhoni’s assessment of Rishi is the only considered one we have even though it goes against the view of the selectors.At any rate Dhoni seems to have stopped asking for better from his bowlers. After India lost defending 309 in Perth, there was a clear change in the way they batted in the middle over in Brisbane. They had now set themselves up for 340, but lost their way in the end, and the bowlers gave up the defence of 308 just as easily in Brisbane as they did in Perth. Now Dhoni says there are only two choices left: either score in excess of 330 or just choose to chase. And he said that while answering a question about the extras – 11 wides and a no-ball.”In both the games we have given a fair amount of extras,” Dhoni said. “That takes that number of runs off the total. On good wickets it does matter. As far as Ishant is concerned, I think the breeze was flowing in circular motions. I felt that made it slightly difficult for him. I feel even if we cut down the extras we will have to score more runs. There are two options: either put pressure on [our] batsmen and score 330 or chase down the score, give them the batting first. These are the only two options we have got. We will have a look and decide what suits us the best.”If India are to score those extra 30 runs a quick start from Shikhar Dhawan can go a long way, but he has thrown his wicket away twice. Even if Dhoni wanted to drop him, he wouldn’t be able to because the selectors have given him only five established specialist batsmen. The only way for that to happen would be for Ajinkya Rahane to open, the idea of which Dhoni likes; he is not entirely convinced with the idea of Rahane the middle-order batsman.”Jinx has improved a lot in his batting,” Dhoni said. “But also the wickets are good here. What is important is to see him when the wickets slow down and he is pushed to play the big shots. When ball comes on he loves it, and plays very good strokes. I feel he has improved a lot. We will wait and watch and see what the best position for him is. I have personally believed he is very good opener because he plays proper cricketing shots. He cuts and pulls, but he plays proper shots. He can accelerate whenever he wants to. Also once he starts with the new ball, he is quite good by the time the middle overs start. So far it is good he has done well in both the positions. We will see how it goes.”For now, though, Shikhar has the captain’s confidence. “Shikhar is someone who loves to play his shots,” Dhoni said. “If somebody plays shots from the very start, there will be periods when he won’t score runs. You can say it was a rash shot, but that’s the time you are supposed to back your stroke-players.”

The National Cricket League (NCL), Bangladesh’s premier domestic competition, got underway with the defending champions in the four-day event, Dhaka, holding onto a draw against Khulna at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur .Batting first, Khulna declared at 303 for 9, relying on Shakib Al Hasan’s 78 and Abdur Razzak’s aggressive 78 coming in at number 9, to lift them from 64 for 4 and 170 for 7. Dhaka were in trouble on day one when they closed at 17 for 2 and things didn’t get any better the next day as Mashrafe Mortaza took four wickets on an unresponsive pitch to bowl Dhaka out for 174. Captain Habibul Bashar’s painstaking 67 stretched Khulna’s lead to 313 and the onus was on Mohammad Ashraful, who survived a torrid examination under fading light against Mortaza on day three to rally his side with 242 still required. Ashraful set the right tone on the final day and for the first time in the game, Khulna were feeling the pressure. But things evened up when Mortaza dismissed the Bangladesh skipper for 85 with the scoreboard reading 197 for 4. The pace trio of Mortaza, Syed Rasel and Dolar Mahmud were relentless and Dhaka lost two more wickets without adding much to the total. It was left to Mehrab Hossain (Jr.) and Mosharaf Hossain, the number 10 batsman, to hold fort as they passed a nervy last 14.5 overs to force a draw.But Khulna won the one-day match that followed. A watchful 71 from opener Imrul Kayash, 56 from Shakib Al Hasan and some feisty blows from Mortaza carried Khulna to 240 for eight. On a wicket where the bounce was on the lower side, Dhaka’s reply got off to a poor start. Javed Omar (3), Al Shahariar (1) and Ashraful (1) falling with 13 on the board, while Rasel and Mortaza were the pick of the bowlers once again. Rasel’s swing and nagging line got him a five-for while Mortaza picked up three as Khulna won by 39 runs.Barisal defeated the more-fancied Chittagong by five wickets at Bogra’s Shahid Chandu Stadium. They were led by a fine all-round performance from Sajidul Islam, who took seven wickets in the match and scored a vital unbeaten half-century in their first innings. Batting first, Chittagong were dismissed for 176, Islam finishing with figures of 4 for 42 and his new ball partner Talha Jubair taking three wickets. The only resistance came from Aftab Ahmed (61) and Nazimuddin (47). Islam returned to haunt Chittagong on day two, scoring an unbeaten 64 to take Barisal from 174 for 8 to 274 after Tareq Aziz’s five-for triggered a middle-order collapse. Shahriar Nafees top-scored for Barisal with 79. Chittagong fared much better in the second innings with half centuries from opener Tamim Iqbal and Nazimuddin and useful knocks from the top-order giving Barisal a target of 220. With almost the whole day to get those runs, Barisal’s approach was composed and despite losing captain Nafees for 1; Hannan Sarkar (49), Raqibul Hasan (55) and Raisul Islam (54 not out) ensured the chase was a cruise.Barisal were brought back to earth in the one-dayer when their 224 was overhauled with 14 overs to spare thanks to a spanking 92-ball 133 by Tamim. However, the Chittagong win was somewhat overshadowed by the confrontation in the middle between Tamim and Jubair which apparently involved physical contact. Both players were later disciplined by the match referee and were suspended for two four-day matches or four one-dayers of the ongoing NCL.Rajshahi hosted Sylhet at the Divisional Stadium and underlined their strength by winning both the four-day and one-day matches. Play started an hour late because of rain and Khaled Mashud’s decision to bowl first was justified as Sylhet were reduced to 95 for six by pacers Delwar Hossain, Farhad Reza and Mohammad Shahjada. Sylhet crawled to 141 all out by close. Despite opener Jahirul Islam’s 67, Rajshahi were in a spot of bother at 190 for eight on day two. Mashud’s gritty 82 that took 241 balls and his 80-run partnership for the ninth wicket with Hossain, tilted the balance as Rajshahi reached 301. Sylhet, 160 behind, needed their top-order to fire if they wanted to stay in the game but only captain Rajin Saleh (68) stuck around for any length of time as left-arm spinner Suhrawadi Shuvo got into the act with four wickets. Rajshahi’s reached the 99 required with eight wickets to spare.

The one-day match was a closer contest, with Rajshahi edging home by two wickets chasing 169. The small target became a stiff one for Rajshahi when they slumped to 98 for 8, but Mushfiqur Rahman had other ideas and maintained his cool in a match-winning unbeaten 50. He was involved in an unbroken 71-run stand for the ninth wicket with Mohammad Shahjada, who smacked a six and three fours as Rajshahi scampered home in the last ball of the 48th over. Earlier, Slyhet crawled to 168 with Sharifullah top-scoring with a 90-ball 56.Player of the week Mashrafe MortazaAfter a disappointing tour of Sri Lanka and the World Twenty20, Mortaza regained his form in the opening round tussle against Dhaka at Mirpur, where he never held himself back on an unresponsive pitch. His four for 36 in the first innings was followed by an even more terrific effort in the second innings, where he bowled 24 overs on the final day. The shape away from the bat with the new ball and the deadly reverse-swing at great speed with the old one had the Dhaka batsmen gasping. In the one-dayer, Mortaza continued to impress as he hit 35 off 25 balls and then destroyed Dhaka with figures of 3 for 35.

Points table

National Cricket League

Note: Points include bonus points for batting and bowling and points for the first-innings lead in the drawn gameNational Cricket League one-day

The number of participants in Botswana’s youth development programme has swelled dramatically from 300 children to almost 1300 in under six months, and shows no signs of abating.Seven more schools have joined the initiative which has been sponsored by the ICC and the African Cricket Council (ACC) to promote the game to a wider, younger audience. Such is the enthusiasm that a league has been set-up for government primary schools.”We are about to commence the league Oct 3,” Girish Ramakrishna, Botswana’s development manager, told Cricinfo. “There are five schools participating in a contest lasting the entire month. This is the first time in the history of Botswana cricket that a separate league has been [set-up] for government-educated kids.”The kids are quite enthusiastic and we expect a good response from the sports council and the media. To make it more interesting we are giving prizes for every game, for the best batsman, bowler and fielder. With 20 schools already in the development phase encompassing 1300 kids, the future looks quite encouraging.”Botswana have been an Associate member of the ICC since 2005.

Michael Vaughan’s first-class comeback for Yorkshire lasted just 13 balls, as he was dismissed for 1 by Hampshire’s Billy Taylor in their County Championship fixture at Headingley.Opening the innings, Vaughan was caught behind by Nic Pothas, as Yorkshire slumped to 13 for 3 on the opening morning of the match. He had tested his knee during his 67 against Scotland on Monday in a limited-overs match, his first game since undergoing surgery just before Christmas last year. But while he was happy with that innings he wouldn’t make any big statements about when he aims to come back for England.”I’ve been quiet because I was very confident and I didn’t want to come out with any rash statements,” he told reporters. “And I won’t now because I know the knee is still a bit of a problem and I have a lot of hurdles to overcome before I’m available for England.”This is the beginning. I need to get through a few games and test it out over two or three weeks. I’ll try to play all the games I can for Yorkshire and see how it reacts to some four-day cricket.”

After strolling to a five-wicket win in the first one-dayer at Bulawayo, South Africa are expected to go in with a full strength side as Herschelle Gibbs is set to return from injury and bolster the batting. The action in the short three-match series shifts to the Harare Sports Club for the weekend double-header.Gibbs missed the first match due to a lower leg injury and is expected to bat in the middle order. JP Duminy, who missed out after scoring 3 in South Africa’s chase at Bulawayo, is likely to make way for Gibbs. Gulam Bodi, who impressed with a debut half century, will retain his place, as will opener Loots Bosman, despite falling for his fifth consecutive score under five. The plan would be to try out all the players set to take an active part in the Twenty20 World Championship next month.The bowling attack is likely to be retained, despite letting Zimbabwe off the hook at Bulawayo. Zimbabwe, in a hole at 72 for 7 by the 25th over, looked in danger of being wrapped up under 100 before the lower order stepped up and set a fine example for the rest. A 115-run stand between Elton Chigumbura and Gary Brent lifted them to 206, giving the visitors a little to think about. Allrounder Johan van der Wath is likely to keep his place despite leaking 59 off nine overs in his one-day comeback. Dale Steyn, not in the squad for the Twenty20 championship, may have to sit out another game, depending on how the team management decides to rotate the bowlers over the weekend.The Zimbabweans on the other hand are contemplating a few changes in the bowling attack, going in with just one specialist spinner. Legspinner Timycen Maruma, who went wicketless in his debut ODI, is likely to be dropped, leaving the lone spin duties to Prosper Utseya. Tawanda Mupariwa is set to join Brent and Christopher Mpofu in the seam attack.The top order will continue to worry the home side, with players like Vusi Sibanda and Tatenda Taibu failing to convert their starts. Chamu Chibhabha, after a poor run in the World Cup, is expected to return in place of either Hamilton Masakadza or Stuart Matsikenyeri. The running between the wickets too left a lot to be desired at Bulawayo, with five dismissals coming by way of run-outs.

Scorecard

Clinton Perren smashed 82 from 37 deliveries to set up a Queensland victory in the first Twenty20 match of the season. Despite the extraordinary bowling of Tasmania’s Michael Dighton, who claimed 6 for 25, the Bulls’ 202 was enough as a Nathan Rimmington hat-trick ended Tasmania’s hopes.Perren blasted seven sixes and six fours and together with Nathan Reardon, whose 54 came from 31 balls, did the damage before Dighton kept the Tigers in the game. Dighton, a batsman who has not taken a wicket in 49 first-class matches, kept the scoring down in the late overs after the front-line spinners Daniel Marsh and Xavier Doherty proved expensive.But the visitors could not match Queensland’s run-rate and were dismissed for 164 in the 19th over. Rimmington, who finished with 5 for 27, picked up four wickets in five balls to end the fight. George Bailey made 41 from 26 balls and Michael Di Venuto scored 36 from 19 but tight bowling from Rimmington and Ashley Noffke made the chase difficult.

Dennis Lillee says Shane Warne deserves his record for the most wickets in a calendar year and won’t be sad if it gets passed during the first Test. Warne enters Friday’s South Africa match with 84 victims for 2005 and needs only two to pass Lillee’s 1981 collection.”It’s all his. He deserves it,” Lillee said in . “He can come and get it. There isn’t a bit of sadness there for me in passing on the record to the greatest bowler we have seen. I have always really enjoyed Shane’s career and what he has brought to the game.”Lillee, the Western Australia Cricket Association president, will be at the WACA and should get a first-hand look if Warne can make some breakthroughs on his least successful Australian ground. Warne’s role in Perth is as a support bowler to the fast men and he has taken only 26 wickets in ten Tests.”We have always got along well and he has had to overcome a lot of setbacks to get where he is,” Lillee told the paper. “He has had an amazing career and I am really looking forward to being at the WACA when he breaks the record.”Lillee’s incredible 1981 included 85 wickets at 20.95 in 13 matches with Test series against India, England, Pakistan and West Indies. In the first Test against West Indies he broke Lance Gibbs’ world record of 309 wickets with first-innings figures of 7 for 83.