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The ACU has also charged seven others associated with Pune Devils during the 2021 season of the Abu Dhabi T10

Nagraj Gollapudi19-Sep-2023Eight people associated with Pune Devils franchise in the Abu Dhabi T10 tournament including Bangladesh allrounder Nasir Hossain have been charged by the ICC’ anti-corruption unit for alleged corrupt activities. The charges concern the 2020-21 edition of the tournament, which was played in Abu Dhabi.Apart from Nasir, the other seven charged are Krishan Kumar Chaudhary and Parag Sanghvi (two of the Devils’ co-owners), Rizwan Javed and Saliya Saman (two domestic players), as well as Ashar Zaidi (batting coach), Sunny Dhillon (assistant coach) and Shadab Ahamed (team manager).The 2021 edition was the last time the Devils were part of the tournament. They finished last with just one win in six matches in the Super League.The ACU was appointed as the watchdog for the T10 tournament by the Emirates Cricket Board, which pressed the charges. All eight have two weeks to respond from Tuesday.ESPNcrcinfo has learned that well-known corruptors in the game, who are high on the ACU list, were trying to infiltrate the Devils camp to influence their matches. However, those attempts, the ICC said in a media release on Tuesday, were “disrupted” by the ACU.In addition to charging the eight for not reporting any approach or any conduct that could be deemed corrupt as well as failing to cooperate in the investigation or attempting to delay it, the ACU has also laid several other charges. Sanghvi faces the charge of “placing bets on the results, progress” of a match. Zaidi, Javed, Saman and Dhillon have been charged with “being party to an attempt to fix, contrive or influence improperly matches or aspects of matches.”Javed and Saman also face a separate charge of “offering a reward in exchange for that player engaging in” corrupt practice. Among the eight, the 31-year-old Hossain, an all-format player who last represented Bangladesh in 2018, is the most high-profile name. He has been pulled up for not reporting receiving a gift worth more than USD 750, a mandatory rule in the ACU code.

England opener on the rise after sensational hundred against South Africa

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jul-2022England opener Tammy Beaumont has jumped three places and made a return to the top 10 of the ICC Women’s ODI rankings for batters, following her 107-ball 119 in the third ODI against South Africa. She is now in eighth place, ahead of Chamari Athapaththu, Smriti Mandhana and Ellyse Perry.Having been “gutted” at being dropped from England’s T20I squad for the Commonwealth Games, Beaumont scored 178 runs at an average of 59.33 in the three ODIs against South Africa.England batter Emma Lamb also rose considerably – jumping 35 spots to 66th place – in the rankings, after making scores of 102, 67 and 65 to finish as the leading run-getter in the series.Related

• Tammy Beaumont banishes pain of Commonwealth Games omission with statement century

• Lisa Keightley defends England's youth policy after Tammy Beaumont's shock omission

• Alice Capsey named in England's Commonwealth Games squad, Tammy Beaumont omitted

Nat Sciver, who sat out of the final ODI with England already having won the series, lost one spot on the table. She moved to third place behind Beth Mooney, while Alyssa Healy continues to lead the ODI rankings.South Africa lost the series 3-0 to England, but Marizanne Kapp rose six places to 18th in the rankings, after scoring half-centuries in the second and third ODIs. Chloe Tryon also had a good series with the bat and rose two spots to 20th position.Kapp also jumped to third place in the allrounder rankings, but her bowling colleagues did not fare well. Fast bowler Shabnim Ismail, who took just two wickets in the ODI series, lost her second spot to Australia’s Jess Jonassen and moved down to third place in the rankings for bowlers. Ayabonga Khaka dropped one place to sixth, while Kapp herself lost three places to move to 10th position on the list.

“We are one-all, and very excited about that because of how well we played in the first game”

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Feb-2021Joe Root has urged England to learn their lessons quickly following a chastening defeat in the second Test against India in Chennai. England collapsed to 164 all out in their second innings shortly after lunch on day four, as India wrapped up a crushing 317-run victory, their largest win by runs in Tests between the two sides.The deficit would have been greater still but for a brief flurry of 43 from 18 balls from Moeen Ali at No. 9, whom Root confirmed will play no further part in the series after choosing to fly home for the final two Tests. But having made only 134 in their first innings, England amassed fewer runs in the match (298) than India’s two highest scorers, Rohit Sharma and R Ashwin, who made 306 runs between them, including a century apiece.”We were outplayed in all three departments this week,” Root told the official broadcaster after the game. “It’s a bit of an education. We’ve got to learn from this because sometimes these are the conditions that you come up against.”We’ve got to find a way of scoring runs in these conditions, finding ways of building pressure for long periods of time with the ball, and in bowling six balls at one batter. Credit to India, they made that very difficult for us.”After losing an important toss, England were pushed on to the defensive from the outset thanks to a masterful initiative-seizing innings from Sharma, whose first-day 161 included 80 runs in the first session alone. By the time England’s turn came to bat on the second day, India’s total of 329 already looked daunting.”On day one, we could have probably been a little bit tighter and squeezed the game a little bit more, restricted them and made it a little bit harder for them to score as freely as they did,” Root admitted. “And then, with the bat, it was obviously quite a challenging wicket from day two onwards, but we’re going to have to be quite smart about how we’re going to score runs out here, how we’re going to build an innings, and we’ve got to learn from the opposition who played very well in these conditions.”The result was quite the comedown after England’s 227-run victory – their match aggregate of 298 was their lowest since the Edgbaston Test against West Indies in 1995, and their second-lowest in Asia behind the Mumbai Test in 1981-82.Asked his opinion of a Chennai surface that has been the focus of intense scrutiny throughout the match, Root acknowledged that the pitch had been “challenging”, but stopped short of outright criticism.”It’s very alien to what a lot of English guys will have experienced before, as are green seamers that you might across in the UK. Do I think it was a good pitch? I wouldn’t say it was a good pitch, but it made for very exciting cricket.”I do think that the toss was an important one to win but it wouldn’t have guaranteed us to win the game either,” he added. “India showed that you can score runs on it and found a way of managing a very tricky surface so we’ve got to learn from that.”There are not many times that guys will have batted on a wicket that has bounced and spun and misbehaved as much as that. One thing I take from how [India] played is how calm they stayed, how unflustered they were when deliveries did really misbehave.”How they didn’t get away from their game plan, how they knew exactly the way they were going to score their runs. How they managed to bat at the other end for long periods of time.”And as a batting group, how does that look for us individually? How I am going to manage these big turning deliveries and how am I going to stay really calm and clear under pressure? We’ve got to take bits from it and add it to our own games, and come back better for it as well.”However, Root insisted that England were still very much in contention with two Tests to play, including the unknown quantity of the day-night Test at Ahmedabad next week, which will be played with a pink SG ball – a match for which James Anderson and Jofra Archer are expected to return to lead the seam attack, after Anderson was rested and Archer missed out with an elbow complaint.”He has been back into training the last couple of days,” Root said of Archer. “His workload will build up ahead of the game. Hopefully he will be available for selection all being well for this pink-ball Test.”We are one-all in the series, with two very important games to come and we’re very excited about that because of how well we played in the first game,” Root added. “We’re very much in the series. [The day-night Test] will be very different. We’ve only played two pink-ball games, one in Australia with a Kookaburra, one in England with the Dukes, so it’ll be different again, I’m sure, but it’s an exciting opportunity to play at what looks like a fantastic venue.”Day-night cricket offers something different again, so we are very much looking forward to that. We’ll have a little bit of a break now to refresh and have a look at a few things, but it’s exciting times.”It’s just very important that we stay level as a team,” he added. “We’ve got to stay very level, and understand that we’ve played a lot of very good cricket in the recent past. We don’t get too far above our station when we win and we don’t see it as doom and gloom when we have tough weeks like we have this time round.”We performed well last week, but we got to learn the lessons. There’s a few guys that haven’t played a lot in this part of the world. So we got to learn quickly and I think that’s one thing that we’ve done quite well in the recent time, so hopefully we can take that into the rest of this series.”

This was the first time the two young batsmen scored heavily together for England, but it’s unlikely to be the last

The Report by George Dobell12-Nov-2019Centuries from Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley provided a peek into England’s future as the Test leg of their New Zealand tour began.This is not a first-class game and there were moments, at an almost deserted ground on a bitterly cold day, when we seemed light years from the intensity of Test cricket.But, as Sibley and Crawley seized their opportunities with centuries in their first innings in England shirts, it was not hard to imagine a time when both men are fixtures in the Test side.Sibley is, in many ways, an old-fashioned Test batsman. He is, by modern standards, unusually patient – he made nine from his first 48 deliveries here, faced 22 successive dot balls at one stage and did not hit a boundary until his 60th delivery – with discipline outside off stump that would impress a Trappist monk.He is not strokeless, though. As he demonstrated once he was set, he can pull, cut, drive and clip with the best of them. It’s just that he places a high value on his wicket and prefers to play the percentages as he builds an innings. His first 50 runs – which included a six lofted back over the head of left-arm spinner Theo van Woerkom – occupied 109 balls; his second 50 just 52 balls. He didn’t give a chance and has now scored centuries – one of them an unbeaten 215 – in three successive innings. It was all but certain he would open in next week’s Test before this innings, but he should now go into the game with confidence high.His stance – as open, perhaps, as any England batsman since Peter Willey – will raise some eye-brows when it is seen by a wider audience on TV. But there was nothing here that would surprise those who have watched him in county cricket over the past 18 months where he has scored prolifically. While he retains a predilection for the leg-side, the open stance – a characteristic of those coached by freelance batting consultant by Gary Palmer – allows him to retain his balance and avoid his bat becoming trapped behind his front leg. Bearing in mind that he was the only man to score 1,000 Division One Championship runs in 2019 – he scored 1,324 and faced over a thousand deliveries more than any other player in the division – it seems to work pretty well for him. He is, in short, exactly what England have required at the top of the order for some time.Crawley may be, too. It is asking a great deal of a 21-year-old averaging 31 in county cricket to make a go of things in the top-order of a Test team and he was not, initially at least, quite as assured as his partner here. It took him 16 balls – several of which troubled him – to get off the mark and he was dropped, at short-leg off the spin of Woerkom, when he had 11. But as he settled, he demonstrated a wide array of strokes and produced an increasingly commanding innings. Both men retired once they had reached their centuries to provide opportunities for their teammates. Joe Root, in making a run-a-ball 41 before stumps, looked in fine touch.”I don’t see myself as a blocker,” Sibley said afterwards. “But opening the batting is tough. So you have to face a lot of balls and make sure you get through the new ball. Then you can cash in. I like to think I have a few shots in my locker and I know that batting always gets easier at some stage if you stick with it for long enough.”Some caution is required in interpreting these scores. While this New Zealand XI does contain some good cricketers – Benjamin Lister and Henry Shipley were the pick of the seam attack – they are also raw: their entire squad has played fewer first-class matches than Stuart Broad has Tests. There is no doubt the standard of competition will increase sharply in the coming days.It wasn’t a perfect day for England, either. With rain preventing play until 2.30pm, their plans to give all their batsmen an opportunity had to be shelved. As a result, they may well bat into the second day of this match which will provide their bowlers a little less time to prepare in match conditions. Ben Stokes also took a blow when batting in the nets which appeared to hurt his wrist. And while Rory Burns looked pretty solid for the first hour, he will be disappointed with the succession of strokes that led to his dismissal: fortunate to survive a series of near misses through the cordon, he could not help himself having another dart outside off stump which resulted in an outstanding catch at third slip.Burns’ position is not in doubt, though. He will have another chance to prepare for the Test series in the three-day first-class game that starts at the same venue on Friday, with Joe Denly expected to return at No. 3. Realistically, that will mean Jonny Bairstow will depart for England – and some time working on his technique – in the next few days and sentence Crawley to a period on the sidelines. Ollie Pope will bat at No. 6 in the Test side, with Jos Buttler below him. Already it seems a better balanced side than the one that failed to regain the Ashes.And while Crawley may have to wait for another chance, he hinted that he will ready if the call comes. This may have been the first time Crawley and Sibley scored heavily together for England, but there is no reason to suspect it will be the last.

The prolific batsman is back after recovering from dengue as Sri Lanka search for their first points in the new Women’s Championship cycle

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Sep-2018Chamari Atapattu has returned to lead Sri Lanka women’s 15-member squad for the three Women’s Championship matches against India starting September 11 in Galle.Atapattu, the team’s most prolific batsman, missed the team’s previous international assignment – the Asia Cup T20 in June – with dengue, but has since recovered and featured in a full Women’s Super League season for Yorkshire Diamonds.Among the new faces, batsman Imalka Mendis has returned to the ODI squad for the first time in more than two years, while the selectors have also retained 17-year-old allrounder Kavisha Dilhari, who made her ODI debut against Pakistan.Overall, the selectors have retained 10 players from Sri Lanka’s 2017 World Cup campaign, showing their push for continuity as they build towards the next four-year cycle under new coach Harsha de Silva. The former first-class cricketer was appointed on a two-year contract last month following Hemantha Devapriya’s resignation.Sri Lanka are currently placed eighth and are winless in six Women’s Championship matches – against Pakistan and West Indies. They have now lost 12 of their last 13 ODIs, a streak that stretches back to last year’s World Cup. India, runners up in that tournament, are currently sixth, having won two of their six matches.Galle will host the first two ODIs, on September 11 and 13, before the series moves to the Moors Cricket Club ground on the outskirts of Colombo for the final match on September 16. The teams will then play five T20Is to round off the tour.Sri Lanka squad: Chamari Attapattu (captain), Prasadani Weerakkody, Anushka Sanjeewani, Nipuni Hansika, Hasini Perera, Dilani Manodara, Shashikala Siriwardena, Nilakshi De Silva, Imalka Mendis, Sripalee Weerakkodi, Sugandika Kumari, Inoka Ranaweera, Udeshika Prabodhini, Ama Kanchana, Kavisha Dilhari

England’s players open up on the “turbulent” circumstances that saw Charlotte Edwards retire after being removed from the captaincy in 2016

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jul-2017England’s players have discussed, for the first time, the “turbulent” circumstances that saw Charlotte Edwards retire after being removed from the captaincy in 2016.Mark Robinson, England women’s head coach, made the decision to shake things up after the team’s failure at the 2016 World T20, telling Edwards – still a world-class batsman and a pioneer of the game – she would not be part of his plans. Heather Knight was subsequently appointed as captain and went on to lead England to victory in the Women’s World Cup final on Sunday.Speaking before the final against India, Robinson said he believed he had made the right decision and that the team “had to go in a different direction”, having come to the conclusion that his players didn’t have enough belief.”I just knew it was right,” Robinson said. “When it’s that simple in your mind – and it wasn’t against Charlotte because Charlotte was still a very good player, but the team had to go in a different direction and we had to put things differently in place and it was something like 18 months before the next competition, this one. It was too long to wait and get through to before you start making changes.”During interviews to chart the team’s progress from the defeat in the semi-finals of the World T20 last year to their success at Lord’s, Jenny Gunn, the experienced allrounder who had been Edwards’ team-mate for more than a decade, said the decision to move on had come as a “bit of a shock”.Fran Wilson, one of the younger players who has enjoyed increased opportunities over the last 12 months, expressed similar feelings but felt Robinson’s call had been vindicated.”It was quite a turbulent time because Charlotte’s always been a part of the England team, as long as I can remember,” Wilson said. “So when it first all happened it was quite a big shock and probably affected the girls a little bit. But, I think in the long-run, what Mark Robinson has done has been really good for the team. That’s just testament to Robbo and the kind of faith he’s shown in all of us.”The change of leadership had immediate benefits, as England’s new opening pair of Tammy Beaumont and Lauren Winfield flourished during a run-soaked series win over Pakistan last year. Beaumont, in particular, has thrived under the guidance of Robinson, and was named Player of the Tournament after finishing as the top scorer in the Women’s World Cup.Beaumont won her first cap under Edwards, in 2009, and they opened together on several occasions. She gave credit to Edwards for laying the foundations for England’s future success.”It was a tough month or so,” Beaumont said. “Charlotte has been probably quite a big influence on the first half of my career. She’s also a good friend. It was hard to see her go through that but she’s moved on into the commentary box with dignity. She can look back at her career knowing that she did a great job for England and left us in a good place.”

Former Pakistan fast bowler Aaqib Javed has declined the BCB’s offer for the post of Bangladesh’s bowling coach

Mohammad Isam06-Jun-2016Former Pakistan fast bowler Aaqib Javed has declined the BCB’s offer for the post of Bangladesh’s bowling coach. Javed’s response came a day after BCB president Nazmul Hassan said the board was in talks with the ex-UAE coach.Javed declined the offer to continue in his new role as director of cricket operations with the Pakistan Super League franchise, Lahore Qalandars, but said he may be open to a short-term consultancy stint after the second season of the PSL later this year. Javed had stepped down as UAE coach in April, after a four-year tenure, to take up the role offered by Qalandars.”I have recently joined Lahore Qalandars and started working from last Friday only, so it’s not possible for me to take any other job,” Javed told ESPNcricinfo. “But I may be open for a short-term coaching consultant job after the second edition of PSL, not as full-time [coach]. Right now I am in a long-term relationship with the Qalanders and I am committed to them, and it’s not really reasonable for me to take up role with Bangladesh.”BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury confirmed that Javed had communicated his decision and the board is now looking at other candidates.”After we contacted him, Javed considered our proposal but [declined] because it would be very difficult to handle two important positions at the same time,” Chowdhury said. “As we were doing before, we are looking for other options in this position.”

Ruvindu Gunasekera made the most of an early let off to make 62 off 54 balls and guide Canada to a 34-run win over Bermuda via Duckworth-Lewis Method on Monday afternoon at Indianapolis World Sports Park

Peter Della Penna in Indianapolis04-May-2015Ruvindu Gunasekera made the most of an early let-off to make 62 off 54 balls and guide Canada to a 34-run win over Bermuda via Duckworth-Lewis method on Monday afternoon at Indianapolis World Sports Park. Canada moved to 2-0 with the win while Bermuda dropped to 0-2 and must now claw out of a major hole to have any shot of finishing in the top-two for a spot in the World T20 Qualifier later this summer.After having won the toss, Canada’s top order batted fluently, reaching 48 for 0 after the six-over Powerplay in cool conditions. The hard-hitting Gunasekera offered a simple chance in the next over on 19 when he mistimed a pull to fine leg, but was put down. Rizwan Cheema got out off the following ball from Janeiro Tucker for 29 but Gunasekera went on to add another 45 runs for the second wicket with Nitish Kumar.Canada’s aggressive mindset backfired a few times, most notably with Nitish who looked set to bat through the end of the innings but was bowled for 20 by Jacobi Robinson attempting a reverse sweep to make it 94 for 2. Robinson continued to burrow through Canada’s middle order by claiming Srimantha Wijeratne at cover for 9 and Jimmy Hansra at long-off for 8 to make it 119 for 4.Gunasekera was still around at the start of the 19th over and looking set to push for 160 but the wheels came off two balls later when the left-hander was bowled by Stefan Kelly attempting a flick. Kelly bowled Navneet Dhaliwal for 4 to end the 19th and spinner Delray Rawlins darted in a quicker ball to knock back Hamza Tariq’s stumps for 2 at the start of the 20th.Bermuda made it four wickets in 10 balls when Tucker ran out Satsimranjit Dhindsa on the second run after a poor backup, and Canada ended on 143 for 8.Moments later, rain started to fall and play did not resume for another two hours and 15 minutes. Bermuda eventually had their target adjusted to 105 off 13 overs.The chase got off to the worst possible start when Dion Stovell skied a chance first ball off Cecil Pervez and was caught running back from mid-off by Hansra. Two overs later, James Celestine fell in similar fashion for 2 before David Hemp got into a tangle with Tucker over a single to backward point. Nitish swooped in and fired a direct hit with Hemp five yards short of making his ground as Bermuda were reduced to 8 for 3 in three overs.Tucker provided a brief counterattack with a pair of lusty blows for six over long-on but he fell quickly for 20 to Hansra, attempting another hoick after backing away from his stumps. Dutta was brought on in the sixth over and struck in the eighth and tenth, causing Oliver Pitcher to hole out to long-on for 3 before bowling Robinson for 6. Tre Manders, who remained unbeaten on 17, ensured Bermuda batted out their overs to end on 70 for 8.

A commanding performance from Shane Watson delivered a handsome opening World Twenty20 victory for Australia over Ireland

The Report by Daniel Brettig19-Sep-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Shane Watson had an impressive day, and the O’Briens were among his victims•AFP

A commanding performance from Shane Watson delivered a handsome opening World Twenty20 victory for Australia over Ireland, as George Bailey’s team showed aggressive intent to pursue the one trophy missing from the national team’s display cabinet.Ireland had fancied their chances of upsetting Australia, but were left with their odds of progression diminished and their ears ringing from a few verbal barbs delivered by opponents in no mood to be accommodating to a team they had briefly been ranked below on the ICC’s T20 rankings earlier this month.Watson influenced proceedings from the first ball of the match, a bouncer Ireland’s captain Will Porterfield hooked to fine leg. He returned to the bowling crease to snuff out a mid-innings revival, then smashed 51 to ensure a modest chase that never assumed anything more than nuisance dimensions.Mitchell Starc and Hogg also delivered telling spells to help keep Ireland quiet, their 20 overs devoid of sustained momentum save for a rearguard stand of 50 between Kevin and Niall O’Brien from the depths of 33 for 4. Kevin O’Brien hinted at the mastery he had shown against England in the 2011 World Cup, but both he and his brother were out-thought by Watson in the same over.Aside from Watson’s all-round prowess, the other hallmark of Australia’s display was their aggression, manifested in a series of verbal stoushes with their opponents. The umpires intervened more than once, and no-one was left in any doubt about the Australians intent to make life as uncomfortable as possible for their opposition.Australia’s pursuit needed to be dogged by early wickets for Ireland to have a chance, but Watson and David Warner played with plenty of sense. They were helped by a wayward Boyd Rankin, who gave away four wides on the way to conceding 12 runs from the third over. Trent Johnston was taken for 19 in the fourth, and from that moment the result never seemed in any great doubt.George Dockrell accounted for Warner, who punched to deep midwicket, and Paul Stirling almost grasped a one-handed return catch from Watson. Having failed to take the half chance, both Stirling and Dockrell were to feel the brunt of Watson’s power, Australia’s vice-captain posting a half century from his 28th ball. An overly languid run through to the non-striker’s end was punished by Johnston’s direct hit, but by then Watson had done more than enough to put victory within sight and also underline his importance to Australia’s campaign.Michael Hussey was lbw to Kevin O’Brien, and Cameron White offered a difficult chance that Johnston put down off Rankin, leaving Australia to conclude their chase with less certainty than Watson and Warner had started it.Watson had taken the new ball for Australia, a move Ireland’s captain Porterfield would have noted from the warm-up games. What he did not expect was a first-ball bumper, as Watson tested the bounce to be extracted from a flint-hard Premadasa pitch. The ball was well-directed, Porterfield’s hook shot was hurried, and Mitchell Starc sauntered in from fine leg to take the catch.There were runs to be found in the pitch, Stirling cracking the final ball of the over to the cover fence to prove it, but Australia’s bowlers were sharp and varied enough to prevent Ireland from finding any sort of rhythm. Starc found a little swing but it was bounce that did for Stirling, his top edge sailing high for Watson to make a testy running catch look routine.Bailey introduced Maxwell’s off-breaks for the sixth over, and was rewarded when Ed Joyce toe-ended a drive to mid off. Brad Hogg’s introduction followed, and he too struck in his opening over when Gary Wilson played around a delivery pitching in line and straightening to win Aleem Dar’s lbw verdict. None of Ireland’s batsmen looked entirely capable of reading Hogg’s variations.Ireland were stuck in the T20 predicament of early wickets, the halfway point passing at a wobbly 46 for 4. The brothers O’Brien were left to fashion a salvaging partnership, Kevin O’brien hinting at his potential for destruction with a handful of boundaries. He responded to taunts from the Australian fieldsmen by clattering Starc through midwicket and cover, and the 50-stand was raised. But Niall O’Brien was unable to follow suit, bowled by Watson’s slower ball when trying to heave across the line.Watson was delivering a keynote spell, and he made it more so by coaxing Kevin O’Brien to touch a shortish, sharpish delivery on its way through to Matthew Wade. Called on to deliver the last over of the innings as well as the first, Watson allowed the innings’ only six to Nigel Jones, but the concession of 12 from the final six balls still left Australia’s batsmen with a chase they were always likely to negotiate in some comfort.

Five English cricketers were named in the ICC’s Test team of the year, reflecting England’s rise to the No. 1 spot

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Aug-2011Five English cricketers were named in the ICC’s Test team of the year, reflecting England’s rise to the No. 1 spot, achieved during their 4-0 whitewash of India earlier this month. Two batsmen, Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott, and three bowlers, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann and James Anderson, made the XI, but there was no place for Ian Bell despite his averaging 89.50 and making four hundreds during the qualifying period from August 11, 2010 to August 3, 2011.Dale Steyn, the South Africa fast bowler, made the team for the fourth straight year, while Sachin Tendulkar was named to the team for the third consecutive year. Three South Africa batsmen, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis, plus Kumar Sangakkara, the former Sri Lanka captain, made up the rest of the XI, while India fast bowler Zaheer Khan was named 12th man. Sangakkara was named captain and wicketkeeper, though he no longer performs either role for Sri Lanka in Tests.”While selecting the squad, the selectors didn’t rely only on statistics only, but took into account all other factors like the opposition, pitch conditions, match situation etc,” Clive Lloyd, the former West Indies captain and chairman of the ICC Awards selection panel, said in a release. “But when you have only 12 places to fill from a big group of world-class players, there will always be a few who will miss out. In the panel’s expert opinion, it has selected the best team based on performances over the past 12 months.”The ICC also released the short-list for its annual awards and Tendulkar will have a chance to repeat as Cricketer of the Year award but will have to fend off challenges from Amla, and the England pair of Cook and Trott to do so. Tendulkar wasn’t quite as prolific as last year, but still managed to score 973 runs in 10 Tests at an average of 64.86 and 513 runs from 11 ODIs at an average of 46.63.Cook and Trott were also short-listed for the Test Player of the Year award alongside their team-mate Anderson, with Kallis the other nominee. Cook was in particularly inspired form in Tests, making 1302 runs from 12 games at an average of 76.58 with six centuries and four half-centuries. Trott was almost as good, accumulating 1042 runs from 12 Tests at an average of 65.12 with four centuries and three half-centuries. Anderson meanwhile was a handful with the ball, picking up 50 wickets in 11 Tests at an average of 25.48 and a strike-rate of 54.00.Amla was nominated for the ODI Player of the Year award as well, along with Kumar Sangakkara, Australia allrounder Shane Watson and India opener Gautam Gambhir. Watson continued to excel in the 50-over game, making 955 runs in 19 matches at an average of 59.68 and a strike-rate of 111.17, while also chipping in with 15 wickets.New Zealand’s Tim Southee’s five-wicket haul against Pakistan was up for the Twenty20 International Performance of the Year, alongside England’s Tim Bresnan, Watson and South Africa batsman JP Duminy.Test team of the year: (in batting order) Alastair Cook, Hashim Amla, Jonathan Trott, Sachin Tendulkar, Kumar Sangakkara (capt/wk), AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Dale Steyn, James Anderson, Zaheer Khan (12th man)

The short-lists

Cricketer of the Year: Hashim Amla, Alastair Cook, Sachin Tendulkar, Jonathan Trott
Test Player of the Year: James Anderson, Alastair Cook, Jacques Kallis, Jonathan Trott
ODI Player of the Year: Hashim Amla, Gautam Gambhir, Kumar Sangakkara, Shane Watson
Emerging Player of the Year: Azhar Ali, Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Wahab Riaz
Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year: Ryan ten Doeschate, Hamid Hassan, Kevin O’Brien, Paul StirlingTwenty20 International Performance of the Year: Tim Bresnan 3-10 v Pakistan,
JP Duminy 96* v Zimbabwe, Tim Southee 5-18 v Pakistan, Shane Watson 59 v EnglandWomen’s Cricketer of the Year: Charlotte Edwards (England), Lydia Greenway (England), Shelley Nitschke (Australia), Stafanie Taylor (West Indies)Umpire of the Year: Aleem Dar, Steve Davis, Ian Gould, Simon TaufelSpirit of Cricket: MS Dhoni for his recall of Ian Bell during the second Test match between England and India at Trent Bridge, July/August 2011, and Jacques Kallis for walking twice during the World Cup 2011 after clarifying with the opposition fielder if they had caught the ball cleanly
People’s Choice Award: Hashim Amla, MS Dhoni, Chris Gayle, Kumar Sangakkara, Jonathan Trott

Members of the voting academy

Former players: Andy Bichel, Naimur Rahman, Aamir Sohail, Pat Symcox, Nasser Hussein, Russel Arnold, Robin Singh, Shane Bond, Grant Flower, Desmond Haynes, and John Davison (Associate Representative Cricketer)Media: Greg Buckle (Australia), Abdul Majid Bhatti (Pakistan), Azad Majumdar (Bangladesh), Kevin McCallum (South Africa), Stephen Brenkley (England), Chris Dhambarage (Sri Lanka), Ayaz Memon (India), Tony Becca (West Indies), Bryan Waddle (New Zealand), John Ward (Zimbabwe) and KR Nayer (Associate Representative) Elite panel of ICC referees representative: Chris BroadElite panel of ICC umpires representative: Aleem DarChairman of ICC cricket committee: Clive Lloyd