Warwickshire have confirmed that Varun Chopra is to leave the club at the end of the season

George Dobell05-Jul-2016

Warwickshire have confirmed that Varun Chopra is to leave the club at the end of the season.Chopra was captain of the club until January and has a good long-term record as a batsman. He has been Warwickshire’s top run-scorer (if all competitions are combined) in four of the five previous seasons and, after a modest 2015, has rediscovered his consistency this year. Only Samit Patel has reached 50 more often of Division One batsmen and, in his only T20 appearance of the season, he hit a match-winning 97 not out.But, as ESPNcricinfo revealed last week, somewhere along the way, the relationship between Chopra and the club management has soured. His desire to have more time off at the end of the season – the club want all players to report back for training in early November – and his reluctance to commit himself to a long-term future at the club have been perceived as not buying into the team culture and setting a less than perfect example to younger players.The club, mindful of the number of senior players on the staff, are also keen to provide opportunities to younger men and make room in the budget for acquisitions.But Chopra is just 29 – significantly younger than the likes of Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott, Rikki Clarke, Tim Ambrose and Jeetan Patel – and could have his best years ahead of him. He retains England aspirations and is known to be of interest to several clubs. He comes across as a most unlikely rebel – he was widely praised for his calm leadership as he led the club to the NatWest Blast title in 2014 – and Warwickshire may come to rue the failure to manage him more effectively.”Both parties believe that now is a good time for Varun to accept a fresh challenge and he is now able to talk to other counties in order to realise his own career ambitions,” a statement released by Warwickshire says. “In the meantime, he remains fully committed to the club and will continue to perform at his best through to the end of the season.”Whilst everyone at the club is fully aware of his capabilities as a top order batsman, there is also a need to look at the development of the squad in order to be able to maintain a challenge on all fronts in the coming years.”Everyone at Edgbaston would like to thank Varun for his contribution to Warwickshire over the last seven seasons.”

Manchester United have reportedly been in contact with RB Leipzig's Dani Olmo over a potential summer swoop.

What’s the latest Man United news on Olmo?

Olmo, primarily an attacking midfielder who can also play on the wing, has been on the books with the Bundesliga side since 2020 after arriving from Dinamo Zagreb. He has gone on to make 115 appearances for his current employers, contributing to 44 goals in all competitions.

The 24-year-old is out of contract in just over 12 months' time and was linked with a move to Manchester earlier in the year, with journalist Bundesliga insider Christian Falk claiming that the Red Devils were watching the Spaniard.

Described as an 'outstanding footballer' by former coach Julian Nagelsmann and a player who 'can produce magic' by football talent scout Jacek Kulig, Olmo has continued to feature heavily for Leipzig during the current campaign, but an exit could soon be on the cards going off a decent update.

Sport Witness relayed news from SportBild regarding Olmo, where the Red Devils were mentioned. They claimed that a contract renewal appears to be improbable with Leipzig and the report mentions talk of a possible exit worth around €40m (£35m).

The player himself along with his father, who is his agent, are considering a possible move to the Premier League, with Old Trafford a potential destination. The report adds that United have been in contact with the player to learn of his future plans.

Where would Olmo fit in at Old Trafford?

As mentioned, Olmo is an attacking midfielder, so he could provide competition to Bruno Fernandes, who is Erik ten Hag's only option in that area heading into his second season in charge.

Olmo, on £68,000 a week in Germany, has been a solid performer for Leipzig this season, and if he was to replicate his current form at Old Trafford, he would be United's sixth-best performer this season, as per WhoScored. Olmo has even averaged more dribbles per 90 than Fernandes and is fouled more than the Portugal international, so he could bring something different to Old Trafford in the final third while also providing cover out wide.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola also once described Olmo as having an 'incredible work ethic', so he could fit into Ten Hag's counter-pressing style, and it looks as if the midfielder could be keen on heading to England over the coming months, making this one to watch over the coming months after initial contact was made.

Tottenham Hotspur have set their sights on signing Eintracht Frankfurt defender Evan Ndicka and are set to make him a contract offer, according to a recent report from Football Insider.

Will Tottenham sign a defender this summer?

It appears likely that Tottenham will be in the market for a new defender in the summer, and it has been reported they are in talks with Barcelona about making Clement Lenglet's stay permanent, having recently advanced in negotiations.

Crystal Palace's Marc Guehi has also emerged as a potential target, although they are only willing to pay £45m for the defender, which is £20m below his valuation, while they are said to have lodged enquiries about Aymeric Laporte and Pau Torres.

Back in February, it was reported that Spurs are set to prioritise the signing of a left-sided defender this summer, and they now look to have identified a key target to strengthen in that area, as they are set to make a move for Ndicka.

According to a report from Football Insider, the 23-year-old is set to leave Frankfurt upon the expiration of his £12k-per-week contract this summer, potentially opening the door for a move to north London.

The Lilywhites are not the only Premier League club interested in signing the Frenchman, however, with Liverpool joining Spurs as the two sides who set to make a contract proposals at the end of the campaign.

The centre-back is said to fit the ideal profile for both Tottenham and Liverpool, particularly if the north London club are unable to agree terms with Barcelona for Lenglet.

Should Tottenham sign Evan Ndicka?

There are some indications the 6 foot 3 colossus would be a real improvement on Lenglet, given that he has averaged far more blocks, interceptions and aerials won per 90 than his compatriot over the course of the past year.

Not only that, but the Paris-born defender is also available on a free transfer, while the Barcelona loanee could set Spurs back around €14m (£12.5m) in the summer.

Ndicka is more competent defensively than Lenglet, and he is also solid in possession of the ball, having been hailed as "technically gifted" by former Frankfurt sporting director Fredi Bovic.

Spurs' defensive shortcomings have let them down on multiple occasions this season, failing to keep a clean sheet in their last six Premier League games, conceding three goals against both Southampton and Bournemouth.

As such, a new defender will undoubtedly be needed in the summer, and Ndicka would be a real upgrade on Lenglet.

Michael Klinger stayed put when Sussex’s debutant Christian Davies thought he had caught him on 29. The umpires ruled in his favour. He went on to an unbeaten century

Will Macpherson13-Aug-2016
ScorecardMichael Klinger chose not to walk – and finished with an unbeaten century•Getty Images

When Michael Klinger punched Steve Magoffin to backward point, and the Sussex debutant Christian Davis dived forward, appearing to take a very fine low catch, he had 29. But as the fielders celebrated a wicket that would have left Gloucestershire reeling at 92 for five, Klinger was not for moving. He chose to leave the umpires to decide if the ball had carried and, after a lengthy conference, they decided he should stay. Sussex’s fielders initially appeared dumbfounded, but their lips loosened just in time for the exchange of some terse words.Klinger, almost inevitably, was still there at the close with a century to his name, with his team in the ascendancy after a disastrous start on a pitch he had elected to bat first on. On fine margins do such games turn.Sussex were within their rights to grumble (just as Klinger had been within his to stand his ground), but by day’s end they had let their outstanding start go to waste. Steve Magoffin, trotting in from the Sea End, had looked the force of old, picking up the Gloucestershire top three in his first six overs, and Jofra Archer had forced Hamish Marshall to edge to Chris Jordan, who took a fine catch at slip; Gloucestershire were ruinously placed at 34 for four.Magoffin took upwards of 28% of Sussex’s wickets during his first four years at the club, but his influence – on pitches often unkind to his art – has appeared to slightly wane this season, even if he still went into this game with his 25 wickets coming at 29. He was immediately into his work here, however, with his line, length and lots of lift making life uncomfortable for Gloucestershire. Will Tavare was bowled playing across the line, while Graeme van Buuren and Chris Dent pushed and were caught behind; the ball after the latter fell, Danny Briggs parried a very hard chance from Marshall in the gully. Never mind, Archer’s pace did for him shortly after.But then came some vintage Klinger fare; his driving was perfectly precise and his judgment outside off stump perfect, while he was always alive to the possibility of a single. On a day when the outside edge was beaten plenty, it is hard to recall the beaten blade being his. His contentious reprieve was his sole false stroke. He never really needed to put his foot down, but late in the day there was a nonchalant flick for six over midwicket and his cuts had more purpose too.”Given the position he went in on,” reflected his coach, Richard Dawson, “it was a massive achievement to be there at the end. He just took it ball by ball. He’s a soldier, he just carries on going. He’s a consistent person, the way he trains, he’s very honest, he wants to succeed and is hungry and wants to make big runs. If he gets low scores, he doesn’t let it get him down. It’s very simple – he knows his strengths and he sticks to them, and the bottom line is that he’s a quality bloke.”Klinger anchored three vital stands. First, 133 with Phil Mustard, playing his first innings of note for Gloucestershire, a typically roistering affair full of punchy cuts and beautiful off-drives, before he was bowled trying to slog Briggs. Then there was 62 with Jack Taylor, who never fully settled as he looked to open up the offside and, after Taylor and Benny Howell fell in quick succession, an unbeaten 109 with Craig Miles, who had an aggressive half-century by the close of play.It was during the stand with Miles that Sussex seemed to rather drop their bundle. Twice, four overthrows whistled away to the fence and, on a pitch where the new ball is key (as evidenced by Magoffin first thing), their performance with the second one was profligate. As the seamers inexplicably dug the ball in, Ben Brown had to be at his most athletic behind the stumps, and still 18 byes slipped through. Miles, to his credit, batted like a man auditioning for a promotion, accumulating adroitly then feasting on Sussex’s flagging seamers late on.”It was a niggly day, and one of the most difficult to watch this season,” said Sussex’s coach Mark Davis, “because we were in a good position and it didn’t quite go our way on occasions too. We weren’t good enough to make our own luck. The new ball is key on this pitch because the ball is getting soft quickly and when it does get soft it gets harder to get people out. We didn’t bowl well enough with it.”On Klinger’s reprieve, Davis veered on the side of diplomacy. “The umpires are there to make a decision, they made that decision and we have to move on,” he said. “It’s done, it’s massively frustrating – I thought it just went straight to backward point and the umpires conferred and that was that. It’s game-changing, and certainly day-changing. It is what it is, that happens in sport, and we’ve got to move on.”He was right, the umpires had made a game-changing decision. But he also knew that going into day two, his side had plenty to bemoan besides Klinger’s prosperous pardon.

Aston Villa are currently seventh in the Premier League and vying for a place in Europe next season with four games left to play this month.

Unai Emery has his side competing at the top end of the table and goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez has been a key cog in the team's resurgence.

The World Cup winner has averaged a Sofascore rating of 7.02, the second-highest in the squad, and has proven his worth to the Villans with his consistently excellent performances between the sticks.

Whilst not a major issue, Villa have encountered issues when they have been forced to play their second choice, Robin Olsen, when Martinez has been unavailable.

The Swede has averaged a dismal Sofascore rating of 6.53 across four Premier League appearances, conceding 1.8 more goals than the post-shot xG expects the average goalkeeper to ship, and recorded an abysmal score of 5.8 in the EFL Cup defeat to Manchester United.

However, Villa may not have needed to bring in Olsen had they kept faith in one of their former youth prospects who is now thriving at senior level in the Championship; Viktor Johansson.

Who is Viktor Johansson?

The 6 foot 1 talent is a 24-year-old goalkeeper who currently plays in the second tier of English football for Rotherham United and was at Villa Park between 2014 and 2018.

He arrived at U18 level in 2014 and went on to play for the club's U21s before departing in the summer of 2018, when Steve Bruce was in charge of the first team, to join Leicester.

The titan kept 11 clean sheets in 35 youth team games for the Villans but Bruce seemingly decided that the goalkeeper did not have a long-term future at the club and allowed him to leave on a free transfer.

What is Viktor Johansson doing now?

Johansson has gone on to play 96 matches for Rotherham since his move to Yorkshire in 2020, keeping 28 clean sheets, and has caught the eye with his stunning performances this season.

The giant is young in goalkeeping terms but has saved his side 5.1 goals based on post-shot xG, which shows that the stopper has been an above-average performer at that level.

Olsen, who is nine years older than Johansson, conceded 4.3 more goals than expected in his 11 appearances for Sheffield United in the Championship last term, suggesting that the Rotherham man has a significant advantage in the shot-stopping department.

The 24-year-old, who reporter Leon Wobschall described as "one of the best" in the second divison, is proving himself to be an excellent young talent and one that Villa should now regret allowing to leave for nothing.

Johansson could have either been an exceptional deputy to Martinez, given his superior statistics in comparison to Olsen, or the club could have loaned him out to boost his value before selling him on for a profit.

Instead, Bruce allowed the £2.5k-per-week gloveman to depart for nothing and, as things stand, it appears as though the English boss made a mistake with that decision back in 2018.

David Saker, Australia’s newly appointed assistant coach, has vowed not to hold back on his opinions when he joins head coach Darren Lehmann in the national set-up

Brydon Coverdale15-Jul-20163:04

‘Hope my English experience helps Australia’ – Saker

Fast bowlers might be the “yeah, nah” men of Australian cricket, but their new coach David Saker is no yes man. The newly appointed assistant coach has vowed not to hold back on his opinions when he joins head coach Darren Lehmann in the national set-up, despite their history of what they have both referred to as “robust” discussions.As coach of Victoria last summer, Saker raised the ire of Lehmann by questioning why Australia would rush fast bowler James Pattinson back from injury, comments that led Lehmann to publicly tell Saker to mind his own business. But Lehmann has spoken of his admiration for Saker’s passion and energy, and Saker said he would continue to voice his sentiments in his new role.”A lot was made out of that, but Darren and I talk on the phone quite regularly and we begged to differ on a few things last year,” Saker said in Melbourne on Friday. “But we’ve both got Australian cricket at heart and we both want the best for Australian cricket.”Sometimes you need good robust conversations in a group. You can’t have people always agreeing. I don’t think that’s a great environment. That’s one of the things that I hope I do bring to the team. I hope I’m honest and say what I think. I think that’s important.”He [Lehmann] probably works a bit similar to me, he’s quite relaxed in the dressing room, he knows a lot about the game, he communicates really well. I think those are the things I do well. We do have some really good discussions at times. Obviously throughout the year we did that. But we both have the best interests of Australian cricket at heart.”Saker will join the Australian group in time for the one-day tour of South Africa in September-October, and will leave his position as coach of Victoria after only one season – albeit one in which the Bushrangers won the Sheffield Shield. And Cricket Australia has already floated the likelihood that Saker will step in as head coach at some point in 2017 to give Lehmann a chance for time off.Western Australia coach Justin Langer was acting head coach during the recent one-day tri-series in the West Indies and has been viewed as a strong candidate to take over the job whenever Lehmann chooses to step down, but Saker’s new role will see him well-placed for the position as well. Saker said he did harbour head-coaching ambitions, but first was keen to learn from Lehmann.”To work with Darren Lehmann and to be maybe put in charge of a tour here and there, that’s really inviting,” Saker said. “It’s a great opportunity and one that I’m really looking forward to.”This is just another learning curve for me. It’s been great, all through my career I’ve learnt off a lot of really good coaches. Working under Darren Lehmann is going to be the same. It’s going to be a really good experience. What happens down the track we don’t know, but I’m always keen to keep going with my coaching and see where it goes from there.”Prior to succeeding Greg Shipperd as Victoria coach, Saker spent five years as England’s bowling coach and during that time was part of their away Test series wins in Australia and India. His brief with Australia will be to help them achieve similar success in such campaigns, initially in India during a four-Test tour early next year.”When they’ve got all their players on the park, they’re a really good team,” Saker said of Australia. “Mitchell Starc is as good a bowler as there is in the world. I think when they get all their bowlers back and firing, you’ve got a really good attack. I think the really pleasing thing about it is there’s quite a lot. You need six or seven of them, and they’ve got that.”Most of them are quite young, compared to Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, who are pretty experienced cricketers. When they get two or three more years of experience, there are going to be some serious bowlers in that group.”

Newcastle United went into today’s game with Tottenham Hotspur expecting a hard-fought clash with another side chasing Champions League football, and the latter knew the challenge they faced. The neutral tuned in to see two top-quality outfits clash at St James’ Park.

Nobody could have predicted what unfolded.

Ahead inside two minutes, Jacob Murphy’s close-range finish would be the first of five before 22 minutes had been played in Tyneside. Cristian Stellini’s decision to play four at the back was questionable, but even he could not have accounted for the monumental collapse of his side before the game had even got going.

There were neat finishes, long-range screamers and tap-ins, all of which culminated in the final 6-1 scoreline. Then, having taken their foot off the gas, with Harry Kane netting nothing more than a consolation, Callum Wilson combined with Miguel Almiron off the bench to quell any minimal threat of a comeback.

The Magpies were imperious and unstoppable, backed by the raucous home support. A day few around those parts will not forget in a hurry.

Whilst the goalscorers will likely steal the headlines, with Alexander Isak and Murphy both boasting braces, there was another who deserved fine praise.

Indeed, Bruno Guimaraes was in the engine room silently orchestrating this historic result.

How did Bruno Guimaraes play vs Spurs?

With a 7.8 rating for his display, this perhaps underplays the Brazilian’s importance in today’s result. He was ever-present alongside the industrious Joe Willock and Sean Longstaff, adding touches of quality to cap off a perfect afternoon.

His 79 touches alone outline his importance, maintaining a 90% pass accuracy throughout his 70 minutes on the field. To uphold such perfection whilst also recording four key passes only exacerbates the highest level of quality on exhibition today, via Sofascore.

Dictating the play in such a way led Brazilian journalist Vincenzo Dalicani to brand him Newcastle’s “steering wheel.”

However, the £120k-per-week maestro was far from just technically proficient today. It was also a battling performance that earned the 25-year-old the right to play his football, as he made two tackles and won six of the seven duels he competed in at an 85% success rate.

As aforementioned, few could have predicted such a stellar all-around team display from the hosts. However, to see Guimaraes dictating the play in the midfield and at the heart of a famous win is far from a surprise. It’s actually becoming commonplace now as this magnificent outfit seemingly cannot be stopped.

Little more than two weeks ago, David Warner was all about patience and batting for long periods of time in Asia.”You’ve got to be patient enough,” he said before the first Test against Sri Lanka. “You’ve got to rotate the strike. Your patience comes with hitting your four-balls, your boundary balls. They’re the ones you’ve got to really wait on. That’s what we’re talking about with patience in this game, especially over here. You’ve got to bite the bullet.”A pair of Test-match thrashings later, and with another bone-dry pitch in prospect at Colombo’s SSC ground, Warner and the Australians have rather changed their tune. Now Warner is all about attack, as he demonstrated in a pair of shot-a-ball cameos on the sharply turning Galle surface. Waiting for the bad ball is not longer an option. He who hesitates is lost, or at least lbw Herath.”You have to think outside the box,” Warner said. “For me to come out of my crease personally it’s something I don’t normally do but you have to do it in these conditions. If you defend, one’s got your name on it, and one’s going to straighten, which happened the other day. For me it’s about thinking on my feet, using my feet when I’m out here and hopefully putting the bowler off some of his rhythm.”You’re sitting ducks when you’re facing six balls in a row – one of them is going to have your name on it. Especially when one turns and one doesn’t turn. It’s a hard game. People don’t realise that you’re going out here day one and day two and it’s turning square, where maybe five or six years ago probably day three, day four was probably when it was turning. So it’s hard from ball one and we really have to work hard and that starts in the nets.”The nets have seen almost as much change in Australian philosophy as Warner’s rhetoric. Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc charged in at their batting compatriots in Pallekele training, but now they are sent to work separately on centre wickets with Allan Donald while the batsmen face an assortment of spinners – including the part-time leggies Warner and Steven Smith trying off breaks.At the team’s main training session on Thursday, Adam Voges warmed up separately from the group due to a tight hamstring, but then trained fully with the team, including his own stint at the bowling crease. The newly arrived apprentice batsman Travis Head whirred down his own offbreaks too, before batting in the canary yellow pads he will use when the ODI series begins after the third Test.As vice-captain, Warner is aware of how this tour may influence planning for the next Asian trip, to India next year. He noted the words of captain Smith about potentially needing to choose a squad even more tailored to the prevailing conditions than this one, with a rather different batting group taken to India. Regardless of what happens at the SSC, questions will need to be asked.”That’s probably the Moneyball theory isn’t it, you pick players for certain conditions,” Warner said. “End of the day we’re all professional athletes and you have to adapt to the conditions. If you don’t adapt to them, your head’s probably on the line. For us as cricketers we have to do the best we can in these conditions and adapt as well as we can.”If the selectors don’t think we fit that area of expertise, whether or not we can play in these conditions or play at home, that’s up to them if they want to go down that path and pick the team based on that. [India] is our next subcontinent tour so I think there will be a few assessments made. I think the selectors may have to reassess a few things and whatever they think is necessary, they’ll take the appropriate action I’m pretty sure.”

Sri Lanka’s regeneration has begun quicker than he had expected, coach Graham Ford said, in light of several encouraging individual performances in the ongoing series

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Colombo15-Aug-20161:07

We have advantage of bowling last – Ford

Sri Lanka’s regeneration has begun quicker than he had expected, coach Graham Ford said, in light of several encouraging individual performances. Ford had taken up the role at a particularly low ebb for a rebuilding Sri Lanka team, and has since overseen a poor World T20 campaign, and a woeful tour of England.However, having now defeated the top-ranked Test team at home, Sri Lanka believe they have unearthed talented prospects. With Kusal Mendis and left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan having impressed earlier in the tour, middle-order batsman Dhananjaya de Silva has also made a mark in Test cricket, with a stylish maiden hundred on Saturday. All three players are 25 years old or younger.”In one of the first press conferences that I had when I took over again, I said that you just can’t put a time frame on how long the rebuilding process will take,” Ford said. “But the way some of the young guys are starting to put in high-quality performances – I wasn’t expecting that to happen as quickly as it has, against such high quality opposition.”One of the beauties of selecting young guys is that even if they fail, you’ll get some return. If you make the investment you will get something back down the line. Older guys, who are perhaps past their best – when they fail, you’re not going to get much back. I think that’s been a view of the selection panel as well. It’s been exciting to see and I’m a little bit surprised to see them doing as well as quick they have. But we’ve still got a long, long way to go. They will still disappoint us from time to time. But with the attitude that they’ve got and the work ethic, we’ve seen some exciting signs for the future.”Ford was also impressed with the responsibility assumed by Dinesh Chandimal in the first innings of the current Test. He had arrived with the score on 24 for 4, and quickly saw it slip to 26 for 5, before forging a 211-run stand with de Silva. Chandimal’s innings was notable for its length. Often an attacking batsman, he faced 356 balls for his 132, stitching important stands with Dilruwan Perera and Rangana Herath after de Silva had been dismissed.”Chandi’s probably enjoyed the other fine innings that he’s played, but this was probably the most valuable innings he’s played,” Ford said. “I know he played a blinder against India sometime back, but this one for temperament and fight in difficult conditions goes down as his best hundred.”Chandi’s certainly showed a lot of maturity and he helped Dhananjaya through that big innings of his. Batting in those circumstances is not fun at all. I think Chandi took on the hard work, which shows great maturity. It’s something that the team are talking a lot about – about doing the hard work for the rest of the team, doing the hard work for their mates. Chandi showed a real example of that, digging in and fighting really hard.”Sri Lanka have experimented with their batting order over the past three months, first batting Chandimal at No. 4, before moving Mendis there. Kusal Perera has also had a promotion to No. 3, and Ford said the changes may not end there. De Silva has been talked about as an opener, since he has fulfilled that role for his first-class club successfully.”I think the batting order is still a work in progress. Some of these young guys that are batting in the lower order are top-order players. They may in time be moved up the order. That’s something that we’ll have to think long and hard about.”

Former Sri Lanka offspinner Muttiah Muralitharan has become the first player from his country to be voted into the ICC Hall of Fame

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jul-2016Former Sri Lanka offspinner Muttiah Muralitharan has become the first player from his country to be voted into the ICC Hall of Fame. He will be formally inducted into it later this year, along with the late England fast bowler George Lohmann, the late Australia opener Arthur Morris and former Australia Women captain Karen Rolton.Murali is the leading wicket-taker in both Tests and ODIs, and one of only two players to tally over a 1000 wickets in international cricket, in a career that spanned 19 years, from 1992 to 2011.Lohmann, who played in the 1880s and 1890s, became the fastest bowler to 100 Test wickets when he got to the landmark in March 1896, in his 16th match, and the record has stood for the 120 years since. Morris was part of the “Invincibles” in the Ashes of 1948, where he aggregated 696 runs at 87, outscoring Don Bradman.The highlights of Rolton’s international career, which lasted from 1995 to 2009, included a knock of 209 not out at Headingley in 2001 – then the highest score in Women’s Test cricket – and a century in the World Cup final of 2005. She was named captain in 2006.ICC chief executive David Richardson said he was pleased that the list of latest inductees featured players from such a wide-ranging time span. “We have in the list some very famous names of different eras,” Richardson said. “Muralitharan has been one of the greats of the modern era. Lohmann and Morris were outstanding performers during their times and are part of cricket folklore, while Rolton’s performances have been recent and came during an era when women’s cricket became very competitive.”