Ramiz Raja, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman, is keen on exploring the idea of introducing an auction to the Pakistan Super League (PSL), instead of the draft the league currently uses, in a bid to strengthen the league.
Raja wants franchises to be able to pick players for longer-term contracts on higher pay and the ideas were well-received among franchises after a meeting between them this weekend, reports said over the weekend.
But standing in the way of these changes is the long-standing impasse between the PCB and franchises over the league’s financial model, it is also reported.
* Osaka likely to return soon
Four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka says she will return to tennis soon after getting the “itch” to play again.
Osaka took a break from tennis earlier this month after her US Open title defence was ended by eventual runner-up Leylah Fernandez in round three.
The 23-year-old Japanese previously withdrew from this year’s French Open and missed the Wimbledon to focus on her mental health.
“I know I’m going to play again,” Osaka has told HBO, adding that her return would be “probably soon”.
Osaka has also added: “I kind of have that itch again. I used to love the competition and just being competitive. If I were to play a long match, the longer it was, the more fun it was for me. I just started to feel recently the longer it was, the more stressed out I became, but I just needed a break to go within myself.”
She returned for the Tokyo Olympics, where she lit the flame at the opening ceremony, but was beaten in the third round.
The World No. 7 has also said a series of tough matches had taken their toll on her, culminating in her US Open exit.
* Hamilton’s 100th win can’t mask concern for F1 title chances
In an interview after the Russian Grand Prix on Sunday (26), Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris held their own personal post-mortem into how, in a chaotic final few laps, a maiden Formula 1 victory for Norris had turned into a record-extending 100th for Hamilton.
“You didn’t want to come in?” Hamilton asked Norris, of the McLaren driver’s decision not to pit for treaded intermediate tyres as they battled for the lead, just as a late-race rain shower turned slowly into a deluge.
“Me neither. I was like, ‘He’s right there!’”
“Until then,” Norris has said, “it was dry enough for slicks. What I got told was the rain was going to stay like that. Apparently what you got told was different.”
* Moeen Ali retires from Test cricket
England all-rounder Moeen Ali announced his retirement yesterday (27) from Test cricket, but will continue to play in the limited-overs internationals.
Moeen, 34, scored 2,914 runs and took 195 wickets in 64 Tests, having made his debut against Sri Lanka in 2014.
He won the 50-over World Cup in 2019 and is in England’s preliminary squad for this year’s T20 World Cup too.
“I want to play for as long as I can and I just want to enjoy my cricket,” Moeen said.
“I’ve enjoyed Test cricket but that intensity can be too much sometimes and I feel like I’ve done enough of it and I’m happy and content with how I’ve done.”
Moeen has added that Test cricket was “better than any other format by far” and “more rewarding.”.
The left-handed batter and off-spinner hit five centuries and took five five-wicket hauls in Tests, finishing with a batting average of 28.29 and a bowling average of 36.66.
Only 15 bowlers have taken more Test wickets for England and Moeen is ranked third among English spinners, behind Derek Underwood (297) and Graeme Swann (255).
In 2017, Moeen became the fifth-fastest player in terms of matches played to reach 2,000 runs and 100 wickets, also taking a hat-trick against South Africa that year to seal a series win at The Oval.