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• England on top in Wellington after scintillating Brook century

  Harry Brook smashed an incredible century and Brydon Carse followed up with crucial wickets as England ended day one of their second Test against New Zealand in a commanding position.

  England had initially been reduced to 43-4 after batting first and were indebted to Brook, who hit 123 from 115 deliveries to claim his second ton in as many matches.

  Brook and Ollie Pope (66) put on a 174-run stand for the fifth wicket to get the tourists' innings back on track.

  "I think that might be my favourite hundred so far, I enjoyed that one a lot," a delighted Brook said.

  "Most of the balls came out of the middle of the bat and it feels pretty special to be batting like that.

  "We were three down when I came in and the pitch was doing quite a bit. It was seaming and swinging, so I'm just glad I put my attacking mode on. I really took it to them and put them under a lot of pressure.

  "They had to try and bowl at the stumps early on and I felt like the time to run down was then, cash in when it's full.

  "I just tried to take them off their length and stop them bowling on the stumps. The best mode of defence for me was attack and thankfully it came off."

  With Zak Crawley (17), who hit a six in the first over, top-scoring within the first four wickets and Chris Woakes (18) after Brook and Pope, it is not an exaggeration to say that England largely owe their score of 280 to two batsmen.

  But it was not until the changeover that the value of their partnership came to the fore, with England's bowlers able to claim important wickets to leave New Zealand 86-5 at stumps.

  Gus Atkinson, Ben Stokes and Woakes all claimed one wicket each, with Carse taking 2-28.

  Kane Williamson (37) had survived a caught behind review and being balled off a no-ball from Carse before the fast bowler finally got his man.

  Carse had a hand in the final three wickets of the day, having executed a diving catch to get Rachin Ravindra, before Williamson and Daryl Mitchell were both caught off his deliveries.

  Data debrief: Brook and Carse get England on top

  Brook's century in Wellington was the eighth of his career and second in as many Tests.

  He got to 100 in just 91 balls, while his fifth-wicket stand with Pope also came at more than one run per ball. Carse, meanwhile, contributed to a period in which New Zealand lost four wickets for just 27 runs.

  The Black Caps are aiming for a sixth Test win of 2024, which would be the most victories they have recorded in a single calendar year, but they have plenty of work to do if they are to achieve that feat.

• Guyana's GSL T20 operating in chaotic global cricket schedule environment, says WCA CEO Tom Moffat

  World Cricketers Association (WCA) CEO Tom Mofatt has for a long time now raised concerns about the global structure of the game, and has spoken about the ongoing chaotic global cricket schedule crisis in the context of the Global Super League (GSL) T20 competition, established with Cricket West Indies (CWI) and Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

   During the April’s CARICOM Cricket symposium in Trinidad and Tobago when Guyana President Irfan Ali announced the GSL, he stated: “The World Premier League we’re hoping can replace what used to be the Champions League. That league would have had the best sides coming together to play to recognize the best franchise team.” The tournament has proven to be nowhere similar to the disbanded champions league that ran from 2008-2014 under the joint control of the BCCI, Cricket Australia (CA) and Cricket South Africa (CSA). None of the participating teams are current domestic T20 champions in their franchise leagues.

   The most egregious example being the presence of Victoria state in the GSL competing at the same time whilst its main team is competing in the Sheffield Shield in Australia. Australia-based Moffat addressed the GSL in the wider context of WCAs commissioning it's independent global game structure review in August to find lasting solutions on global issues regarding global scheduling and global game economics.

   “We’re fortunate to be able to look at the game’s issues at a macro global level and whilst it is not for WCA to tell domestic bodies what to do with their teams in their own jurisdiction, the idea of two teams under the same umbrella competing at the same time is not a new one in cricket,” said Moffat.

   “It mirrors what international teams among some bigger nations have done in recent years, where two completely different national teams from the same country are playing at same time or in close proximity in bilateral international cricket. Both reflect a chaotic global schedule. We hope the event is successful and the last thing we want to do is stifle entrepreneurial thinking and new investment in our sport, but we want that to occur within a coherent global scheduling framework.

   “There is currently no agreed framework for everyone to schedule within, and that means there is often cricket that is played to fill gaps in the calendar or short-term thinking. We have been consistent for a long time in urging the game of cricket to come together and provide more order and structure and a global calendar that makes sense to fans and players.”

   Moffat highlighted where WCA sees silver linings amidst the confusion.

   “Cricket has a lot of fantastic ingredients to be the envy of a lot of sports because of the three formats to utilize and maximize the markets where cricket is strong in and can grow into. We are even seeing in the leagues landscape a positive dynamic where franchise ownership is spreading their brands and teams globally, which can be really positive," he said.

   Moffat further addressed the role in CWI sanctioning GSL as a full-member nation and the tournament having no push back or skepticism by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

   “We (WCA) are on record saying the ICC tournament sanctioning regulations are far from perfect. There have generally been different rules for full members and associate members to set up leagues and full members have had the ability to sanction leagues in their own territories. The nature of the rules make it impossible to get uniformity and consistency in the leagues landscape across the world. From a player perspective, it also means there is also no consistency on terms and conditions and protections on basic things like contract standards and enforcement and freedom of movement. That is a big issue for the sport and the players who are central to its success.”

  

  (GSLT20/GettyImages)

   In the 2022 WCA’s third Men’s global employment report, West Indies was ranked as having a below average domestic contracts and domestic player earnings by global standards.

   Asked if WCA sees a correlation with the CWI domestic pay discrepancy and the ability of a GSL-style league to be formed in the Caribbean by a deep-pocket nation state or business entity, Moffat surmised its a global issue rather than specific West Indies.

   “This is a global market forces issue. The trend in the medium and small cricket nations markets in the last decade is that players get better remuneration playing in T20 leagues than in international cricket or traditional domestic cricket. If you get paid twice the amount for half the work, most people in all career pathways would take that option and it's often a straightforward decision for players in their short term careers. They’re also playing within a game structure and schedule that is set by the game’s administrators - conflicts in the schedule are not the players doing,” said Moffat.

   "WCA has always been supportive of international cricket and wants it to thrive, including in places like the West Indies where there is such a rich tradition to the game. But to ensure that is sustainable, some significant changes to the global structure of the game and scheduling will be required.”

   “These are not easy issues to solve particularly in a global sport. But those and many others are under close review by the expert groups we have compiled from across the game including players and their representatives and other stakeholders.

   “There is no silver bullet, but there are some pretty smart heads looking at the Global Game Structure Review process, which will try to give some recommendations on some of the things that might be sustainable solutions to the problems that have been consistently raised by all stakeholders during our process, not just the players.”, Moffat concluded

   

   

   

   

   

• Mindley and Blades replace Forde and Joseph in squad for Bangladesh ODIs

  Fast bowlers Marquino Mindley and Jediah Blades have been drafted into the West Indies Men’s ODI squad for the three match CG United series against Bangladesh in St Kitts & Nevis as replacements for Matthew Forde and Shamar Joseph, respectively.

  The medical team, on further assessment, determined that Forde must continue rehabilitation from a a sustained injury while Joseph is suffering from shin splints following the completion of the recent test series and will be monitored by the medical staff ahead of future assignments. 

  Mindley bagged the most wickets as a fast bowler in the recent CG United Super 50 tournament with 20 to earn his maiden call up while Blades, who is part of the West Indies Academy, took 14 wickets in the regional tournament to receive his first call up to the squad. 

  The two will join the rest of the squad on Thursday evening.

  The first ODI is scheduled for Sunday, December 8 at Warner Park.