Sunday, February 5, 2017

England skipper Morgan promises PSL fans 'some good innings' as part of Peshawar Zalmi squad


The second edition of the PSL will be held in Dubai starting Feb 9. The opening match is between defending champions Islamabad United and the Peshawar Zalmi. Morgan joined the Zalmi squad after he completed England's tour of India. "I'm delighted to be part of the Peshawar Zalmi team for the PSL and am really looking forward to the start of the event," he said. Morgan said he had heard good things about the first season of the PSL from many players and was glad he would have the chance to play in the mega event himself. "Last year, many of my friends told me about how good the PSL was, and they really rate the PSL very highly. It's good to be in Dubai for the second season and I'm very excited. The England skipper said he would do his best to perform and entertain PSL fans. "I know how passionate PSL and Peshawar Zalmi fans are. They follow every ball, every wicket, every boundary. I will try my level best to give a good performance in the PSL and come up with some good innings for Peshawar Zalmi," he vowed. Eoin Morgan has scored 1,568 runs in 67 T20Is for England, as well as 5,193 in 173 ODIs.

ICC decides to roll back Big Three system

The decision was taken at the first ICC Board meeting of 2017 in Dubai. The ICC Board agreed to revise financial distribution, ensuring a more equitable distribution of revenues. It also agreed to further progress on future international cricket structures and agreement around the consistent use of Decision Review System (DRS). The council's board agreed to work collaboratively on the detail of the constitution and model, with a view to achieve a final sign off at the April board meeting and submission to the full ICC Council in June. “Today was an important step forward for the future of the ICC and cricket around the world. The proposals from the working group to reverse the resolutions of 2014 and deliver a revised constitution and financial model were accepted by the ICC Board," said ICC Chairman Shashank Manohar following the meeting. “I want the ICC to be reasonable and fair in our approach to all 105 Members and the revised constitution and financial model does that. There are still details to work through and concerns to be addressed, but the principle of change is agreed and not for debate." 

International cricket structures
The top brass of the ICC identified a preferred model for all three formats of the sport. This framework accommodates existing agreements which will be presented to the ICC Board for full consideration in April. According to the framework, a nine-team Test league will be run over a two-year cycle. Remaining three Test teams will be guaranteed a consistent and confirmed schedule of Test matches against all other teams. Similarly, a 13-team ODI league will be run over a three-year period leading to the qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. It was also agreed that the regional T20 competition structures will be developed as a pathway to qualification for the ICC World T20. The session also agreed that a scheduling summit will now be held in March before a detailed proposal is put to the ICC Board in April.