Dinesh Karthik: Spirit of Cricket is a grey area

Bowlers should be allowed to run out a non-striker if they are found wandering outside the crease without being subjected to criticism and the 'spirit of cricket' debate. These are the thoughts of Dinesh Karthik, the Kolkata Knight Riders captain, who wants the rules to be "watertight and either black or white".

"I think every time a batsman crosses [the line before the ball is delivered], the bowler should be allowed to create a run out," Karthik told Cricketnext. "I don't think there is any spirit of cricket question that is there in that. Because I feel if a batsman nicks a ball and he doesn't walk, where is the spirit then?

"I think you need to be fair. You should take it out of the bowler's hand and the umpire's hand. It is either out or not out, that's all. There is no question of asking the captain, asking the referee and those kinds of things. I think a batsman at the point of delivery should definitely stay within the crease. It's as simple as that.

"If the batsman goes out, then the bowler can dislodge the bails and there should be no question about that. Because that means every time the batsman does that, and people feel the bowler - by creating a run out is cheating - then every time a batsman taking two metres is cheating again. So why does nobody complain about the batsman backing up? That's always been my view."

Karthik's reaction comes at a time when the cricket world has sharply reacted to Ricky Ponting's views on the matter. On The Grade Cricketer podcast last week, Ponting, the head coach of Delhi Capitals, had spoken about having a "hard conversation" with senior offspinner R Ashwin about running out batsmen backing up at the bowler's end. He said, "That's not going to be the way that we play our cricket".

While the dismissal itself is well within the laws, the MCC had called it against the spirit of cricket. Karthik, for one, believes it is unfair to judge bowlers who effect such dismissals.

"Rules need to be watertight and there is no question of... it's either black or white, it's as simple as that," he said. "There should be no grey areas for people to use a loophole and find out. Spirit of cricket I feel is a massive grey area that people tend to use whenever they're not comfortable with something that they're doing.

"Then they get a little too personal, they get into the player's personality, start judging people on what they've done. I think that's a bit unfair. I think the rules need to be very clear. It should be out or not out. If it's out or not out, the bowler and the fielding team have the ability to do it every time. As simple as that. If the rule applies to the bowling team, I'm sure when they start to bat the opponent can also do it. It needs to be very simple and clear."

 All Credit Goes To: Cricinfo

VVS Laxman: Empty stands in IPL 2020 won't affect the quality of cricket

VVS Laxman, the Sunrisers Hyderabad's batting mentor, feels that empty stands won't affect the quality of cricket in the 2020 IPL but he is a little wary of the nature of pitches in the UAE.

The Sunrisers, along with the Delhi Capitals, are the last of the eight IPL sides to reach the UAE. Both sides took the same chartered flight and landed in the UAE on Sunday. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the tournament will be played behind closed doors in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

"I can assure all the fans of the game that they will really enjoy the competition even though there won't be any crowd or any spectators on the ground," Laxman said in a video released by the franchise on Sunday. "Don't ever think that the energy or the quality of cricket will come down.

"Probably the wickets may be on the slower side but we have to just wait and see because we may just be surprised with the efforts put in by the ground staff. The outfield will be fantastic but the wickets are something that I hope will be well taken care of by the ground staff."

In the 2020 IPL auction, the Sunrisers had focused on young Indian middle-order batsmen. They picked Priyam Garg, Abdul Samad, Virat Singh and B Sandeep among others. Laxman said that it was a conscious effort on part of the management.

"In the auction, it was a very intentional effort to have the youngsters. While they are youngsters, they are all the most prolific performers in domestic cricket. When you see the composition of our team, we had a lot of experienced players from both overseas and India. But when we look at the domestic players, we [were] required to strengthen our batting, especially our middle-order batting. So we went with the performer in the last couple of seasons."

Ahead of the auction, the Sunrisers had made changes to their coaching personnel too. Trevor Bayliss replaced Tom Moody as the head coach, while Brad Haddin came in for Simon Helmot as the assistant coach. Haddin and Bayliss have worked together before, winning the 2012 Champions League T20 for Sydney Sixers as captain and coach, respectively. Bayliss had also coached the Kolkata Knight Riders from 2012 to 2015, a period during which they won two IPL titles. Laxman is upbeat about the prospect of working with both of them.

"Trevor is one of the most successful coaches in world cricket; England won the World Cup for the first time under his coaching," Laxman said. "He is someone who I have always admired and all the interactions I have had with him have been excellent - I learnt something with every interaction. He is a cool, calm person and an amazing human being. At the same time, he has the temperament of handling the best of teams and the best of players.

"I played against Brad Haddin a lot when I was playing for India and he is someone who is a hardcore competitor. He will definitely give 100% or probably more than 100% as the assistant coach. I am looking forward to working with both Trevor and Brad."

 All Credit Goes To : Cricinfo

The Australia squad linked up from around the country for the first time since March and flew out of Perth on Sunday, bound for England, to follow West Indies, Ireland and Pakistan as countries to resume international tours in the "new normal" of the Covid-19 era.

As with the other series to take place in England over the last couple of months the negotiations to make it happen have gone to the top level of governments on both sides of the world with the final sign-off for Australia coming just a couple of weeks ago.

Preparation for the players has differed significantly between states, through a combination of climate and Covid-19 restrictions, ranging from those in Queensland and Western Australia being able to have centre-wicket practice to almost full lockdown in Victoria.

The New South Wales-based contingent have been training in their own group for several weeks and were told to avoid public places such as cafes and restaurants with Covid-19 numbers bubbling along in the state.

In Victoria, where Melbourne has been under stage-four restrictions for three weeks, captain Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell have been almost fully home-bound - not even allowed to visit supermarkets - except for training under very strict guidelines at the Junction Oval away from state team-mates.

Steven Smith gave an insight into the level of precautions being taken with an Instagram post showing him in mask and gloves as he made his way to the airport where he then did a social-distanced interview with the media who were told to stay three metres away.

The atmosphere of the tour will be far removed from when Smith was last in the UK for the World Cup and Ashes a year ago.

"I'm looking forward to getting back into it, obviously it's going to be a bit different than what we're used to being in a bubble and playing with no crowds," Smith told reporters at Sydney airport. "That presents a challenge in itself, but one we're looking forward to. I do like batting there, unfortunately there's going to be no crowd there to egg me on and give me a bit more motivation."

For some of the players who enter the biosecure bubble it could be a way of life for the rest of the year; 12 of the squad will head to the UAE for the IPL after the England series, while the remainder of the party who return back to Australia will be required to quarantine for two weeks in Perth.

The IPL-based players who also play international cricket are then likely to return straight into another bubble for the start of the home season involving India and maybe Afghanistan, while even those playing domestic cricket - the structure of which is still to be confirmed - are increasingly likely to have to enter hubs to enable the season to take place. In the week leading up to the tour, the tone has been that every effort must continue to be made to keep international cricket going.

"I've been very strong with the guys in the last couple of weeks about making sure that we do literally everything we can with regards to the protocols to keep the global game going," Finch said. "Because at the end of the day, if that fails then we are all out of jobs and the game is not in a healthy state, which we can't afford to have."

The England series itself is a brief affair with three T20Is followed by three ODIs, a trip that would normally be low-key by the standards of England-Australia tussles but, as with any sport taking place at the moment, now has huge significance attached. From the ECB's side it means they will have been able to complete their full men's international summer; CA will be hoping they can pull off the same feat later in the year.

On the field, Australia will be aiming to continue their strong T20I form, which has seen them win nine of their last 11 matches - although there is now no T20 World Cup to aim for this year - while in ODI cricket they will be looking to atone for last year's World Cup semi-final defeat and find the missing ingredients to their 50-over form.

Three players could make their international debuts - wicketkeeper batsman Josh Philippe, fast bowler Riley Meredith and left-arm quick Daniel Sams, who have all earned selection largely on the back of their Big Bash returns. Their first taste of the Australia set-up will be something few could have imagined six months ago.

All credit goes to : Cricinfo