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Claire Polosak to stand with Paul Wilson in the List A contest between New South Wales and a Cricket Australia XI at Hurstville Oval on Sunday

Daniel Brettig04-Oct-2017Claire Polosak was a Goulburn teenager with a love of cricket when a schoolmate gave her a new idea for getting involved in the game. “A friend came to school with a flyer and she said ‘Dad says you like cricket, you should give this a go’,” Polosak said. “She thrust the flyer into my face and it was a course for umpiring. So I thought ‘oh I’ll give this a go’ and it grew from there.”From that abrupt introduction, her career did indeed grow, to the point that Polosak, 29, will on Sunday become the first woman to officiate as an on-field umpire in an Australian domestic men’s fixture – standing with Paul Wilson in the List A contest between New South Wales and a Cricket Australia XI at Hurstville Oval.In doing so, she will join the likes of Kathy Cross (New Zealand), Jacqueline Williams (West Indies) and Sue Redfern (England) as women to have umpired at the men’s first-class level. Polosak’s progress also follows significant progress for female officiators in other sports. In May, the South Australian Eleni Glouftsis became the first woman to stand as a field umpire in an AFL men’s match.”A little bit nervous, but if you don’t have a little bit of nerves, you don’t care,” Polosak said in Sydney. “So it’s all about getting all the butterflies going in the same direction. Planning on going out there and having my routines, get through the first ball and go through it from there. I love the challenge, watching balls, being out there, the camaraderie between umpires as you’ve come through is really good, it’s a family, the challenge of having to answer decisions is always good.”I never played cricket, but I always followed cricket, and my parents got me into it [umpiring], Dad used to drive me up from Goulburn to do the umpires course here. It took a few times to pass but it was something I was determined to do and I just kept working through the grades in Sydney competition.”I got a phone call from Simon Taufel [to say I would umpire on Sunday]. I followed Simon when I was a lot younger growing up, he was at his peak, so to have the phone call from him was quite special.”Having umpired men’s and women’s matches extensively, Polosak is in a unique position to compare and contrast. She has found that the women’s game can be more difficult to judge as the high standard of fielding often catches out runners between the wickets, while the greater speed of the ball in men’s matches means that nicks off the edge of the bat can be more easily heard. But either way, she is yet to meet an angry fast bowler or irritated captain she has not been able to “deal with”.Equally, Polosak has not yet joined other colleagues in wearing much in the way of protective equipment when standing. “Cricket Australia is very open to if you want to wear a helmet or protective equipment, they’re happy to provide that,” she said. “At the moment I’m fortunate that I haven’t been in that situation. But if you’ve got good positioning and watching the ball, hopefully that reduces your chance of any injury.”Asked whether her pathway had been anymore difficult than for a male equivalent, Polosak paused. “A bit hard to tell, as I’ve come through the grades, I’ve come through at the same speed that players have, so now in first grade in Sydney I’ve seen players I’ve worked with all the way through, so I’m not a novelty anymore,” she said. “The way the appointments work are based on merit, so I can never ask for anything extra.”I’ve probably had to work a little bit harder [than men] but it’s all part of the enjoyment, and being able to do well makes it even better.
It just shows there is a pathway now, there are increased opportunities. Cricket Australia and Cricket NSW are really increasing the amount of support available for female umpires, and I think that’s showing in other sports as well.”In addition to her own umpiring, Polosak works in female engagement and umpire education at Cricket NSW, where she is intent on building the number of females coming through the ranks of the game’s arbiters. “We’re looking to improve the numbers,” she said. “There’s now an increased awareness of women’s sport and an increased pathway so it’s really exciting.”As for whether the road, that started with that flyer waved in her face, can lead to standing in a Test match, Polosak said she was not putting any limitations on what could be achieved. “There always is [a dream to umpire a Test match],” she said, “but if you ask players or referees from any sport, you just want to go to the highest possible opportunity that you can.”

Derbyshire have turned to Kim Barnett, one of the most inspirational captains in their history, to shake them out of their torpor

David Hopps30-Sep-2016Derbyshire have turned to Kim Barnett, one of the most inspirational captains in their history, to shake them out of the torpor which saw them finish bottom of the second division of the Championship without a win to their name and fail to progress in both limited-overs competitions.Barnett has been appointed as director of cricket in a new coaching set-up which leaves the future of John Sadler uncertain. Sadler stepped up as first team coach in June after Graeme Welch resigned from his role after his two-and-a-half years in charge failed to revive the county’s fortunes.Barnett, who will step down immediately from a role as president that he accepted in April, became Derbyshire’s youngest ever captain at 22 and won six Lord’s finals in a 24-year career as well as enjoying brief England recognition. He became known in county circles for strong opinions about how the game should be run and a determination to see those opinions carried out; the largely ceremionial role of president always seemed an unlikely fit.Welch laid much emphasis on developing young players, but Barnett’s appointment seems to have come with a slight shift of approach with the club talking of “targeted recruitment of senior players”.Chris Grant, Derbyshire’s chairman, said that the current coaching structure had been found wanting: “We have been spending over 20% of our overall cricket budget on coaching and this new model will achieve a better balance between our coaching and playing budget.”As well as providing more targeted coaching resources, it will also free up funds from the cricketing budget that can be spent on attracting higher quality players.”We believe Kim is the perfect man to lead this new structure. He has done it all as a player and knows how to win competitions. His experience, knowledge and tactical awareness will be invaluable as we move forward.”Below Barnett, as director of cricket, the club will interview shortly for the positions of 1st XI support coach, Twenty20 specialist coach and development coach. Specialist coaches will also be employed on an occasional basis.Barnett said: “We have some great talent here and some great facilities with a tremendous fitness and medical team supporting the players. However, we have not achieved enough success on the field in recent years. We’re determined to change this.”With a strong captain and players technically sound and tactically clued up, we will be in a great position for next season. If every player at the club proves their worth and takes responsibility for their own performances, the chances of success are greater. Our talented youngsters will come into a dressing room with experienced cricketers that know how to win.”

The Karachi City Cricket Association has protested against the restructuring of the Quaid-e-Azam trophy

Umar Farooq18-Aug-2015The Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) and Pakistan Cricket Board are in disagreement over the changes made to domestic cricket in the country. In July, it had been decided that the final four of the 16 teams participating in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy, Pakistan’s premier first-class tournament, have to play a qualifying round. But the KCCA have objected to it, and insisted that their two teams should gain direct entry to the main round.According to the PCB, the KCCA had accepted to the change in format in earlier meetings. But on Tuesday, the KCCA president Ijaz Farooqi protested by staging a walk out of the PCB governing board meeting in Lahore. He did return to attend the meeting in full, but the symbolism was clear. The PCB considered deliberating the issue raised by the KCCA, but decided that making an exception for one team was not wise. The other teams set to participate in the tournament are understood not to have raised any concerns.The PCB had revamped format of the Quaid-e-Azam trophy for the third time in the last four years, trimming the competition from having 26 teams to 16 – eight regional and eight department sides.Of the 16 teams, 12 – six regional and six department – will gain automatic qualification on the basis of their performance last season. The last four places will be filled through a qualifying round introduced by the PCB, which will be played between 14 teams. The top two regional and department teams will qualify for the main tournament. The qualifying round will be a non-first-class tournament in which six departmental teams will play five matches on single-league basis while eight regional teams will play three matches each.Traditionally, Karachi gets to field two teams as a result of having a greater number of people. The PCB have allowed for that to continue, but Karachi Zebras failed to finish within the top 12 last season and the new format dictates they have to go through the qualifying tournament if they want to play first-class cricket this season.Apart from Zebras, Faisalabad Wolves, Abbottabad Falcons, FATA Cheetas, Lahore Eagles, Multan Tigers, Bahawalpur Stags, Sialkot Stallions are the other teams who will compete in the qualifying round. The inter-department qualifying round features six teams: Pakistan International Airlines, State Bank of Pakistan, Sui Southern Gas Company, Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited, Khan Research Laboratories, Karachi Port Trust.No one other than Karachi have disputed the new format. They have called a meeting of the local governing council on Wednesday to plan their next move.This is not the first time the two parties have been at loggerheads. The KCCA, in the past, had claimed the PCB deliberately neglected players from Karachi when selecting the national team. The KCCA had also launched a court petition in 2003 over hosting a Test in Karachi. At the time, the PCB had intended to stage the matches at the then newly formed Sindh Cricket Association instead of the KCCA. However, the court decided to maintain the status quo and the first Test between Pakistan and Bangladesh was hosted by KCCA.

Mithali Raj’s fourth ODI century, which came one match too late, helped India maintain their unbeaten record against Pakistan and end their World Cup campaign with a consolation victory

The Report by Amol Karhadkar in Cuttack07-Feb-2013
ScorecardMithali Raj’s fourth ODI century, which came one match too late, helped India maintain their unbeaten record against Pakistan and end their World Cup campaign with a consolation victory. The six-wicket win helped India end the tournament at seventh place.No team had chased more than 105 at the Barabati Stadium during the tournament. However, once the Pakistan batting eventually clicked, the sizeable crowd – expectedly the biggest turnout so far – knew that India had to bat very well in order to chase down a respectable target of 193.India lost Poonam Raut cheaply for the second time in as many games, falling over while attempting an on drive, trapped in front of the wicket. Mithali walked in at No.3 and looked in sound touch and though she had started off on a similar note against Sri Lanka, she made sure she stayed till the end.When Raj and the left-handed opener Thirush Kamini were looking set for a big partnership, the opener perished, holing out to Sana Mir at mid-off off Bismah Maroof with the score on 51. Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur were untroubled by the Pakistan bowlers. Raj did the bulk of the scoring, charging down the wicket and lofting the offspinner Mir straight and following it up with a square cut through point off the next ball.Four balls after the halfway mark, Kaur perished, thanks to a run out. Shortly after, the offspinner Nida Dar sneaked through Sulakshana Naik’s defence to leave India at 108 for 4. Raj found an able partner in Reema Malhotra. While Malhotra focused on rotating the strike, Raj went after the Pakistan bowlers at will.Once India crossed the 150 mark, Raj cut loose and eventually reached her century to robust cheers from the crowd after pulling Dar for a one-bounce boundary through midwicket. India thus overhauled the target with four overs to spare.Pakistan’s decision to bat first appeared surprising, considering they came into this game on the back of totals of 84, 104 and 81. However, fifties by Nain Abidi and Nida Dar, and the duo’s 80-run stand for the fifth wicket helped Pakistan post a better total.The pair not only resurrected Pakistan’s innings but also helped them register their highest ever total in World Cup matches, also their fifth-highest total overall. Despite losing Abidi while attempting to push the scoring, Dar remained unbeaten, raising the third-highest individual score for a Pakistani in international women’s cricket.

Alastair Cook admitted England’s batsmen hadn’t started their tour as they’d hoped but wasn’t overly concerned despite an unconvincing display against an ICC Combined XI in Dubai

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jan-2012Alastair Cook admitted England’s batsmen hadn’t started their time in UAE as they’d hoped but wasn’t overly concerned despite an unconvincing display against an ICC Combined XI in Dubai. Cook top-scored with 76 but no one else reached 20 as England struggled to 185 for 8 before Andrew Strauss declared.For Cook it was his first competitive innings since the one-day series against India in October but for some of his team-mates, notably Strauss and Eoin Morgan, it has been much longer. Strauss last played in mid-September while Morgan suffered a shoulder injury at the start of the home one-day series against India.”It wasn’t ideal,” Cook said. “I think we have to put that down to a little bit of rustiness. But credit to the opposition, especially Boyd [Rankin]. I thought he bowled very, very well. I think when you haven’t batted outside for probably four months, with whites and a red ball, it does take a while to get into that rhythm. But it’s not the end of the world.”However, Cook suggested that even if the top order had fired during the first two sessions, a declaration would have still been part of England’s plan to keep the game open.”I think, if we’d batted better, we still would have pulled out to set up a game. One of [coach] Andy Flower’s big things is to try and win these preparation games to make them competitive for us,” he said. “They do lack that intensity of Test cricket, of course. But we try to get as much competitive cricket into us as possible, so that when we come to the first morning of that Test match we’re ready for it.”It has been a busy time of late for Cook who, while now concentrating on opening the batting for England, got married on New Year’s Eve and joined the tour 36 hours later than his team-mates after being granted brief leave by the ECB.”It was an amazing day – a bit too short with the celebrations afterwards,” he said. “Thirty-six hours can’t really be allowed to constitute a honeymoon. I hope at some stage in the next 12 months we’ll get to go away. But it was very kind of the ECB to give me that time.”Meanwhile Boyd Rankin, who removed Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell during the afternoon session, knows that such performances can’t do him any harm with a view to furthering his England ambitions. After this match he will join the Lions squad in Bangladesh and has gained good reviews on the county circuit for Warwickshire.”Hopefully I’ve done myself a few favours and shown what I can do,” he said. “It is a pretty flat pitch and I’m actually surprised how many wickets have fallen. We had plans against all the batsmen and we did well to put them under pressure. Hopefully we can get a few more runs in the morning and then we’ll be confident of bowling them out.”

Pakistan retained the advantage in the Hamilton Test with their batsmen edging out a testing battle against the New Zealand bowlers on a placid surface more deserving of a one-sided contest

The Bulletin by Siddhartha Talya07-Jan-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Asad Shafiq and Misbah-ul-Haq batted patiently and put Pakistan ahead•Getty Images

Pakistan retained the advantage in the Hamilton Test with their batsmen edging out a testing battle against the New Zealand bowlers on a placid surface more deserving of a one-sided contest. Middle-order batsmen Asad Shafiq and Misbah-ul-Haq batted patiently to rebuild Pakistan’s reply to 275, which had lost track in the session before tea against a determined spell from the seamers. The pair provided stability to the innings and set the platform for a lead with an unbeaten 128-run stand that has eased the burden on the inexperienced line-up to follow.The bowling was unthreatening, the conditions even more so with the virtual absence of swing and movement. Such a situation lent itself to a waiting game, one that New Zealand appeared to have an upper hand in after Taufeeq Umar and Younis Khan brought about their own downfall post lunch. Misbah and Shafiq played their own waiting game, assured that the pitch would have little role to play in their dismissals and aware that a bad ball wasn’t too far away with New Zealand rotating their bowlers. Both were opportunistic, Shafiq more so than Misbah, helping offset any extended period of quiet with the occasional boundary and taking their team closer to the first-innings target.Shafiq found the boundaries with ease on a quick outfield, clipping and driving the seamers through midwicket and fine leg and using his feet well against spin. He charged out to Daniel Vettori to loft him over mid-on, rocked on the back foot to punch Kane Williamson through the covers and stepped out to part-timer Martin Guptill to smote him over midwicket. Too often did the seamers bowl on his pads – his fifty was brought up with a tickle to fine leg – but he also scored through off, driving through point and cover.Misbah’s intention was to occupy the crease and he did that well with his solidity in defence and not feeling compelled to force the pace with a fluent partner at the other end. He’s been Pakistan’s in-form batsman in Tests with three half-centuries in four innings against South Africa, and a century in the warm-up match prior to this. His first major expansive shot, quite inexplicably, came towards the end of the day; a slog-sweep for six off Williamson. He then went a notch higher, reverse-sweeping the same bowler successive boundaries to reach his half-century just two overs before stumps. For the bulk, Misbah ceded floor to Shafiq and secured one end for Pakistan.The pair built on the efforts of the Pakistan seamers, who brought about an early conclusion to New Zealand’s innings on the second morning, and Taufeeq. Tim Southee and Williamson had set up frustrated Pakistan with a fighting stand to save New Zealand the embarrassment of being bowled out for under 200 on a track full of runs. But their resistance ended this morning when Pakistan’s seamers made up for the lack of purchase from the pitch by ruffling the batsmen up with short deliveries.When the time came to defend 275, New Zealand’s bowlers were guilty of doling out freebies on the pads, Chris Martin particularly, and Taufeeq duly dispatched them. Martin was struck for three boundaries in an over, through midwicket, square leg and mid-on, while Brent Arnel paid for dropping too short, slashed and pulled to the ropes.Post lunch, however, New Zealand bowled better. Lengths were rethought and both Martin and Arnel targeted the good-length area, and angled the ball in by bowling round the wicket to the left-hander. Taufeeq, who had dealt in boundaries, became more restrained and didn’t help himself when he struggled to middle the ball when opportunities came his way. He lost a solid partner in Azhar Ali not too long after lunch, and that gave New Zealand an opening.Taufeeq fought through his frustration by reaching his first half-century since 2003 by guiding Arnel to the third-man boundary, while at the other end Younis injected some urgency to the innings. Like Taufeeq had done before lunch, Younis went after Martin, opening the face to square-drive him thrice for fours and flicking him to the fine-leg boundary.But just when it seemed Pakistan were emerging out of a difficult phase, they put themselves back into one. Taufeeq played a loose flick straight to midwicket, and Younis closed the face too early to spoon a catch back to the bowler. It was Arnel who dismissed the pair, leaving it to the captain Misbah and Shafiq to rebuild.

The MCC has confirmed it has explored possibility of joining a consortium bidding to buy an IPL franchise

Cricinfo staff25-Feb-2010The MCC has confirmed it explored the possibility of joining a consortium bidding to buy an IPL franchise, and said matches could be held at Lord’s if the MCC succeeds in buying a team.”It’s a logical conclusion that if the MCC were involved with an IPL side, to have that side playing at Lord’s would be extremely exciting,” Keith Bradshaw, the MCC chief executive, told .There are two new franchises, which will be revealed on March 7, up for grabs with 12 Indian cities in the running. Bidding starts from a base price of US$225m, more than four times the US$50m base price that the original eight franchises were auctioned for in 2008. Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, previously announced that “a very famous football club in the UK is very interested in bidding” but that has so far proved little more than speculation.It would be a major boon for the MCC, and Bradshaw travelled alongside Anthony Wreford, a trustee of the club, to India for a weekend of talks with consortium members and IPL officials. Discussions also included the ongoing partnership with the IPL to promote the MCC Spirit of Cricket campaign in the tournament.”MCC has a proud history, is respectful of the game’s traditions and always mindful of its role as guardian of the laws and spirit of cricket,” said Bradshaw. “We would not pursue a path that we believed was contrary to the best interests of the sport or to the future health of Test match cricket.”Undeniably, the game is changing. MCC, as an innovative, independent cricket club, wants to be at the heart of that change. Playing cricket is something that we have quite a bit of experience in – we compete in over 450 matches every year around the world and currently have a men’s team in the UAE and a women’s team in Trinidad & Tobago.”The concept of MCC involvement in the IPL is something I believe is worthy of thorough investigation, and something that we’ll take to our committee for their deliberation.”

Clash of table-toppers ends in one-sided win after Will Jacks’ half-century drives hosts

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay13-Jul-2025Surrey 201 for 6 (Jacks 57) beat Somerset 134 (Topley 3-20) by 67 runsSurrey booked a home tie in the Vitality Blast knockout stages as they thrashed Somerset by 67 runs in the battle of the South Group’s top two at the Kia Oval.Reece Topley (3 for 20) led the charge for wickets, while Jamie Overton, Sam Curran and Adam Zampa all got two apiece as Somerset collapsed from 73 for 2 to 134 all out in pursuit of 202 to win, Tom Kohler-Cadmore top-scoring with 38.Earlier, Will Jacks made 57 in 37 balls with four sixes to provide the backbone of Surrey’s 201 for 6. Migael Pretorius was the pick of the visitors’ attack with 1 for 28.Jacks lofted the second ball of the match from England spinner Jack Leach into the crowd. Pace too got the treatment early on as Ryan Patel sent one from Riley Meredith over the ropes and Jacks planted the last ball of the over into the crowd at cow corner as 61 came from the powerplay.Leach broke the stand a run later, luring Patel down the pitch to be stumped, but another six helped Jacks to 50 in only 30 balls as he and Jason Roy kept up the pressure with a second-wicket stand of 49.Jacks’ departure lbw to Lewis Goldsworthy sparked a slump, the all-rounder then castling Surrey skipper Sam Curran first ball.Roy thumped another huge six and looked to be moving into overdrive, but when he under-clubbed another from Leach and found the hands of Tom Abell in the deep, Surrey were 127 for 4.Dan Lawrence threatened to pick up from his century two days earlier with two sixes in a breezy 16-ball 32, but it needed a last-over six into the sightscreen from Chris Jordan to set Somerset 202.That target looked larger 15 balls into the chase when Topley splayed Tom Lammonby’s stumps with 13 on the board, but five fours from Jordan’s first over, four of them from the bat of Kohler-Cadmore put the Cidermen on the charge.A collector’s item followed as Ben Foakes dropped Kohler-Cadmore on 20 from an attempted ramp off Topley.In search of a momentum shift, skipper Sam Curran brought himself on and struck immediately, Will Smeed slapping the first delivery straight to cover.A tight following over from Overton lifted the rate over 11, but Kohler-Cadmore’s response was to spank one from Zampa into the JM Finn Stand for six. The Australian legspinner’s revenge was swift as three balls later Kohler-Cadmore skied a top edge into the gloves of Foakes.And top-edges were catching with Abell following suit from the bowling of Overton, Lawrence the catcher on this occasion.As the rate soared, Overton caught and bowled Tim Dixon and while skipper Lewis Gregory sent one from Sam Curran high into the seats, he perished trying to repeat the feat and Somerset collapsed.