Cricket Ireland has defended the absence of star bowler Josh Little from next week’s Lord’s Test against England, declaring the match is not “a pinnacle event”.
The 23-year-old left-armer is one of Irish cricket’s hottest properties and landed a deal worth more than £400,000 with Gujarat Titans in this year’s Indian Premier League.
But he will be conspicuous by his absence when his country play just their second Test against England, having requested a break following his busy white-ball schedule.
Champions of Test cricket will see that as a worrying signal at a time when the most prestigious form of the game is being squeezed from all sides by franchise tournaments, but for Ireland the matter is more clearcut.
The World Cup qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe in June and July is a clear priority and takes precedence over a standalone showpiece at the home of cricket.
CI’s high performance director Richard Holdsworth explained: “What we have to understand is that while we are incredibly proud to go and play against England at Lord’s…it’s a special occasion, but it’s not a pinnacle event.
“Going to a World Cup qualifier where only 10 teams can qualify for the World Cup, that is still the biggest priority in the game as far as we’re concerned. Josh has been on the road for the best part of five months, that in itself is very tiring physically and mentally.
“Josh asked us initially if he could have a period of rest ahead of the World Cup qualifier. Our management team and selectors discussed the issue in detail and were amicably in agreement that it was in the best interests of Josh and the team.
“We’ve made it very clear at the beginning of our last strategy that our pinnacle events would be white-ball cricket. A member with the funding we’ve got simply cannot commit to three formats of the game, it’s financially impossible.”
Holdsworth also suggested that Little’s steady diet of T20 cricket in recent times may have meant he was undercooked for the rigours of a Test match.
“Bowling four overs is not good enough to prepare any cricketer to play Test cricket, where he could be bowling 20-plus overs a day in two innings,” he said.
“We didn’t feel physically he was actually going to be ready for that having had no preparation.”
With more domestic leagues than ever before and a lack of financial muscle to match them, Ireland could face further tricky decisions if their first-choice players attract tournament deals.
That is a fact not lost on Holdsworth, who added: “This is a whole new world to us and the players, it’s absolutely going to challenge everybody.
“All our players who’ve played franchise cricket have learned a lot about how we balance that and being the best they can be for Ireland, but it is a challenge.”
IPL: Yadav century ends Mumbai's losing streak in style
Suryakumar Yadav scored an unbeaten century to lead Mumbai Indians to a seven-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League on Monday.
Yadav hit a sensational 102 not out off 51 balls with six maximums as Mumbai successfully chased a target of 174 with 16 balls to spare, lifting them off the foot of the table.
Despite a slow start to the Indians' innings in which SRH took three wickets in the first five overs, Yadav’s introduction turned things around as he put on a partnership of 143 with Tilak Varma (37 not-out).
Sunrisers had started well, with Travis Head reeling off a quick 48, but Piyush Chawla (3-33) and Hardik Pandya (3-31) limited Hyderabad to 173-8, with Anshul Kamboj claiming his maiden IPL wicket by bowling out Mayank Agarwal.
Pat Cummins finished with a flurry, knocking 35 runs from 17 balls, and the Australia captain helped SRH put the Indians on the ropes when he dismissed Rohit Sharma in the fourth over.
Yet Mumbai would lose only one more wicket as Yadav inspired them to victory that snapped a four-match losing run.
Data Debrief: Yadav star of the show
This was Yadav's first IPL hundred of the season, with his knock including 18 boundaries (12 fours, six sixes), taking him up to 334 runs so far this campaign.
He is 16th in the overall rankings, and some 108 runs behind leader Virat Kohli.
Matthews among nominees for ICC Women’s Player of the Month award for April
West Indies Women’s Captain Hayley Matthews has been named among three nominees for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for April.
A past winner of the award and current holder of the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year, Matthews is another top-ranked performer to have grabbed headlines in April.
The 26-year-old skipper piled on the runs in her six outings for the West Indies, notching two brilliant ODI centuries followed by back-to-back half-centuries in the T20I contests against Pakistan.
Alongside her 451 runs in April, Matthews also flourished with the ball, taking 12 wickets; six in the ODI matches at an average of 14, and six more in the T20Is at 10.50.
Matthews’ competition for the award are South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt and Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu.
The South African opener is looking to claim her maiden Player of the Month award in what is her fourth nomination, and is a strong contender after another historic series of displays in April.
Wolvaardt started the month with a half-century in the final T20I contest against Sri Lanka before carrying her excellent form into the ODI series.
Her innings of 41 in the first match preceded an emphatic 110 not out in the second to claim a vital win, but the 25-year-old saved her best score for the last game, blasting a national record score of 184 in 147 balls only for South Africa to be outdone by the brilliance of Athapaththu.
Athapaththu, last year’s ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year, continued her dominance in the 50-over format, reclaiming the top spot in the ICC Women’s ODI Batting rankings after a stellar showing in April.
Records tumbled for the Sri Lanka skipper, thanks to a sparkling unbeaten 195 in Potchefstroom against South Africa as the tourists won in a record run chase.
258 ODI runs was complemented by 148 runs in T20Is, which included two half-centuries in South Africa, plus another against Scotland in the ongoing Women’s T20WC Qualifier in Abu Dhabi, where Sri Lanka eventually sealed their qualification thanks to semi-final success on Sunday.
Knight Riders dispatch Super Giants to move top of IPL
Kolkata Knight Riders moved to the top of the Indian Premier League courtesy of a 98-run victory over Lucknow Super Giants.
Sunil Narine hit a sensational 81 from 39 balls, and he was ably supported by Ramandeep Singh's 25 from six deliveries, as KKR reeled off a third straight win on Sunday.
Ramandeep enjoyed a great day in the field too, as he took one of the catches of the season as LSG managed just 137 in response to KKR's 235.
Phil Salt struck 32, but it was fellow opener Narine who did the damage for KKR.
Ravi Bishnoi eventually ended his stand, but only when KKR had reached 140. Angkrish Raghuvanshi (32) had to be substituted out, but Shreyas Iyer added a useful 23 before Ramandeep hammered 25 from just an overs' worth of deliveries.
KL Rahul (25) and Marcus Stoinis (36) tried to get Lucknow going either side of Ramandeep's spectacular catch to dismiss Arshin Kulkarni, but the Super Giants never set the pace to truly trouble Kolkata.
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