Association of Cricket Officials | Page 20

By the Byes BBC and ESPN Cricket in New Highlights Deal It has been announced that BBC and ESPN have secured four-year deals to show highlights from a variety of ICC competitions. The deal will see highlights, video clips, end-of-day round-ups all become available on the BBC Sport and ESPN websites. Barbara Slater, Director of BBC Sport, expressed her delight at securing the deal, saying that ‘[the BBC is] very pleased to announce this new agreement with the ICC, which is all about free-to-air accessibility and bringing the best of cricket to as wide an audience as possible across the UK’, adding that ‘the online rights will complement our live radio commentary portfolio and popular online offering, giving UK audiences video of the best of the action wherever they are’. The deal starts with this year’s T20 World Cup and will also include next year’s Champions Trophy and Women’s World Cup, as well as the Men’s 50-over World Cup in England and Wales in 2019. Whitticase and Graham Cowdrey – plus the former rugby league referee, Stuart Cummings. Under 19s Mankading Former ICC Elite Panel Umpire Steve Davis Appointed ECB Cricket Liaison Officer The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) recently announced the appointment of Steve Davis to the role of Cricket Liaison Officer. His new duties will include supporting umpires, groundsmen, counties and the ECB by providing detailed reports of activity throughout domestic competitions. The Australian retired from umpiring last year following the five-match ODI series between England and New Zealand. Since 1992 he has umpired 57 Tests, 135 ODIs and 26 IT20s, including three World Cups, five World T20s and two Champions Trophies. Chris Kelly, ECB Umpires’ Manager, said: ‘Appointing people of Steve’s calibre shows we are prepared to invest in the level of support we give to a range of people on match days – not least the umpires. ‘His vast experience behind the stumps and extensive knowledge of the professional game will make him a valuable addition to the team.’ The Cricket Liaison Officer role was introduced at the start of last season, and the current four-man team includes three former First Class cricketers – Tony Pigott, Phil 20 The issue of mankading and the Spirit of Cricket was again raised during an ICC Under 19s World Cup game between West Indies and Zimbabwe. With Zimbabwe needing three runs to win from the last over and West Indies requiring one wicket to advance themselves, the match was completely in the balance. Keemo Paul had been given the task of removing the last Zimbabwean wicket, and with only three runs needed from six balls, a West Indian wicket would most likely be necessary. As Paul ran in to deliver the first ball of his over, he stopped before entering his delivery stride and removed the bails of Zimbabwe’s No.11 Richard Ngarva. Tim Robinson, who was TV umpire, confirmed that, despite Ngarva’s bat being on the crease it was not within it, and was therefore given out. To some this was seen as an unsatisfactory end to an enthralling game of cricket, and there is no doubt that the game would have been better served with Paul knocking a stump out the ground or Matigimu, the on-strike batsman, driving a four for victory. However, from a Law perspective the correct decision was upheld and the umpires followed the correct procedure. A spokesman said on behalf of MCC that: ‘It's clear to us. If he's out of his ground, he's out. If the batsman had not been out of his crease, there would have been no issue about the Spirit of Cricket. Obviously this is as small a margin as it