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The lawyer of former Pakistan captain Salman Butt argued there is no reliable evidence for a jury to hand down a criminal conviction

Richard Sydenham at Southwark Crown Court24-Oct-2011The lawyer of former Pakistan captain Salman Butt argued there is no reliable evidence for a jury to hand down a criminal conviction against his client, and accused the prosecution of “working backwards from an assumption of guilt”, a London court heard on Monday.On day 14 of the trial, Butt sat listening intently in the dock throughout the closing speech by his representative Ali Bajwa QC, as the jury heard why he should not be handed a guilty verdict. This followed a three and a half hour speech from prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee QC, who highlighted Butt’s “corrupt relationship” with agent Mazhar Majeed.Butt and fast bowler Mohammad Asif face charges of conspiracy to cheat, and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, following the Lord’s test in August last year when they allegedly conspired with Majeed, teenage paceman Mohammad Amir and other people unknown to bowl pre-planned no-balls. Butt and Asif deny the charges.Bajwa played on the conscience of the jury and asked them to consider if they had really heard enough genuine evidence that links Butt to the no-balls in question. He referred to a great, British tradition of justice and also sought to undermine the credibility of Majeed, as he has done consistently throughout the trial.”Every phone call he makes, every text he receives, every pound he earns has been presented to you as suspicious,” Bajwa said to the jury, after apologising for sounding indignant following on from Jafferjee’s speech. “But what I suggest to you is going on is that Mr Jafferjee has been working backwards from an assumption of guilt.”Salman Butt’s life has been torn apart to the point of analysing his bank records, his every move and even anything his mother does or planned. If I worked backwards from any of your lives (the jury) I could find or twist things about what you have or might not have done.”What we are asking you here is to stand back from this case and uphold that strong tradition of justice and say we are not going to presume that there is no smoke without fire. That is no basis for justice.”When you came into this court room for the first time you all took an oath to say you will give a verdict according to the evidence and nothing but the evidence. In the case of Salman Butt there simply isn’t enough evidence to find Salman Butt guilty. There seems to be a fix between Mazhar Majeed and Mohammad Amir and you must decide if that fix involved Mohammad Asif. What reliable evidence does the prosecution have that Salman Butt was involved in the fix of the Lord’s no-balls?”When all is said and done and after I remove the sand that has been thrown in your eyes suggesting the claims that have been thrown at you (from the prosecution), it all comes down to August 26 and 27 and the News of the World journalist and the words of Mazhar Majeed at the Copthorne Tara Hotel on August 25.”There was £2,500 of marked News of the World money discovered in Butt’s room during a police raid, though Butt claims that money was handed to him by Majeed as a half payment towards a fee for opening an ice cream parlour in tooting, London. Bajwa reminded the jury how they had been told that Butt had confirmed earnings of £548,000 between mid-2007 to 2010 and how that was hardly “peanuts” by British or Pakistani standards but it “suited Majeed” to say as much.Bajwa, who told the jury that Majeed will not be cross-examined, added: “Is it right that we can condemn someone on the words of a man without his evidence being tested in court? You are being asked to give a criminal conviction on the strength of Majeed’s evidence. Majeed was £704,000 overdrawn and on the verge of bankruptcy.”This is a man who claimed be good friends with Brad Pitt, Roger Federer and former England players like Mike Gatting, Geoff Boycott and Phil Tufnell – who won ‘I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here’. Well I say Majeed is the celebrity and we need to get him out of here.”The case continues.

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has injured his left hamstring and is fighting for fitness ahead of the tour of Australia which starts later this month

Sa'adi Thawfeeq07-Oct-2010Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has injured his left hamstring and is fighting for fitness ahead of the tour of Australia which starts later this month.Sri Lanka team physio Tommy Simsek said that Sangakkara suffered the injury while training on a muddy track on Tuesday, but was confident he would be fit for the Australian tour. “It is a mild grade-one hamstring injury,” Simsek said. “He is currently under treatment and requires about two weeks to recover from the injury.”Sangakkara also suffered a hamstring injury during Sri Lanka’s last tour to Australia in 2007-08 and missed the first Test at Brisbane. The injury came a day after Sangakkara was named the CEAT-Sri Lanka Cricket cricketer of the year and most popular cricketer. He is also currently the number one ICC ranked Test batsman.Simsek said that Sri Lanka allrounder Angelo Mathews was also struggling to be fit for the tour with an injury to his left knee bone. “We are monitoring Angelo’s fitness daily,” Simsek said. “At the moment he cannot put much effort on his left knee and is unable to bowl. He has time until the team leaves for Australia on October 16 to show improvement otherwise we will have to replace him.” Batsman Thilina Kandamby has been put on standby for Mathews.Sri Lanka play a series of three one-day internationals and one Twenty20 international against Australia in addition to three warm-up games against state sides during the short tour.

Three controversial decisions go against hosts after CSA chooses not to pay for review technology

Firdose Moonda17-Dec-2024Heather Knight, England’s captain, says that the decision not to use the Decision Review System (DRS) during their historic women’s Test against South Africa in Bloemfontein was a “sign of the status of the game”, after England wrapped up a 286-run victory on the third afternoon to seal their first win in the format for a decade.The absence of DRS was not the deciding factor in England’s comprehensive victory, as South Africa collapsed to 64 all out in less than 20 overs in their fourth innings. However, the host board’s decision not to spend a minimum of US$48,500 (R880,000) on the technology arguably contributed to the final margin between the teams, with least three contentious umpiring calls all going against South Africa.The most interesting of those came in South Africa’s second innings, when Lauren Bell appealed for a catch off Annerie Dercksen that was taken by Tammy Beaumont at short leg.Dercksen was given not out on-field by umpire Kerrin Klaaste but, after consulting with her colleague, Klaaste called for an umpire review, a procedure that is typically used to determine whether a catch has carried. The ball, however, had carried to Beaumont at chest-height – and while it is possible Klaaste was unsighted and needed to double check – TV umpire Bongale Jele duly gave the decision as out, despite clear doubts that Dercksen had inside-edged the ball onto her pad.”We all thought she hit it and obviously the umpire delayed the decision,” Knight said. “I think the review was around whether it was a bump ball, but it was pretty clear it wasn’t, so I’m not really sure what happened there.”Mandla Mashimbyi, South Africa’s newly installed head coach, was similarly confused at the process that had led to the decision.”There was no communication and I didn’t understand why,” he said. “It was quite bizarre. But the umpires feel they made the right decision and we can’t go against that.”Related

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“We make do with what we have. Our job is to make sure we play good cricket. Those are things we can’t control. Obviously we will be disappointed with certain decisions but we can’t change what has happened. There are people that will be dealing with that, who are outside this room at the moment. If I leave it to myself, it might not be nice.”Klaaste was the umpire for two other contentious decisions, on days one and two. In the first instance, Marizanne Kapp appealed for an lbw against Beaumont , who was on 2 at the time, with the second ball of the match and it was given not out. It looked like a close call but Kapp could not review.Asked on day two if she felt hard done by, Kapp said: “We’re probably disappointed we were on the wrong side of it, but it goes both ways. That’s just the game. It’s never easy for the umpires out there. Even though you get upset when it doesn’t go your way, it’s still a hard job for them to be correct every single time.”The second incident took place on day two when Laura Wolvaardt, on 65, was given out lbw to Sophie Ecclestone. Her reaction, which included throwing her hands up in the air and walking off shaking her head, suggested she thought she’d hit the ball and earned her demerit point for dissent.According to Enoch Nkwe, South Africa’s director of national teams and high performance, the absence of DRS for the Test had been agreed upon by the two boards at the planning stage of the tour. However, Knight claimed the first she had known of it was on the eve of the contest, after the system had been in use throughout the six white-ball matches at the start of the tour.”I was pretty shocked when I found out in the umpire’s meeting the day before, that we weren’t going to have it,” she said. “I think it’s a real shame. You come to expect it as a player now, and I guess the reason is always money. But, particularly in Test cricket, where wickets are such a premium, it’s a really important thing to have. It’s probably a sign of the status of this game, maybe, that we didn’t have it, which is a bit frustrating.”In his pre-match explanation, Nkwe added that the white-ball contests had been prioritised because the matches had a bearing on the team’s rankings in T20I cricket and the ICC Women’s Championship (IWC), as well as “the overall CSA strategy for the senior women’s national team”.”It is worth noting that resources are currently being directed at the white-ball formats due to the significance of ODI and T20I cricket in the current women’s international cricket landscape,” he said.Speaking on the second evening, Kapp agreed that she preferred DRS in the shorter formats. “It’s a new thing that we have DRS available,” she said. “I don’t believe we’ve had it available for T20s and ODI cricket. So it’s really helped in the ODI and T20 series. And if I have to be completely honest, I’d probably prefer having it in those two formats.”But whether CSA needed to be penny wise could be debated after they recorded a profit of R815 million (US$45.6 million) for the 2023-24 financial year. The cost of DRS for this Test match amounts to just over 0.1% of that money.

Wicketkeeper effects four dismissals to keep Superchargers to 100 before batters clean up the total with 13 balls to spare

ECB Reporters Network06-Aug-2023Rhianna Southby put on a sensational wicketkeeping clinic as Southern Brave returned to winning ways with a thumping five-wicket victory over Northern Superchargers.Southby affected a record four dismissals – two catches and two stumpings – in her second Hundred game in front of a strong Ageas Bowl crowd of 9813.The retiring Anya Shrubsole starred with two wickets while Georgia Adams picked 3 for 21 as Superchargers were stifled to just 100.Maia Bouchier took control of the chase with 31 as Brave eased to the total to make it two wins from three, while Superchargers’ away day blues continued.Shrubsole won the toss, chose to bowl, and continued her farewell tour with her greatest hits to dismiss the overseas duo of Jemimah Rodrigues and Pheobe Litchfield. The former with a textbook extravagant inswinger, the latter brilliantly caught on the rise by Southby.Marie Kelly and Hollie Armitage collaborated with a 43-run stand before Southby stooped to affect a stumping off a low bouncing ball to see off Armitage before taking an under edge from Alice Davidson-Richards on review.Southby, who didn’t play in the Southern Vipers’ successful T20 Charlotte Edwards Cup campaign, continued her good work behind the stumps to stump Kelly – who top-scored with an anchoring 39.A sticky pitch assisted turn for Adams, Kalea Moore and Chloe Tryon, who bowled the bulk of the middle balls, but it was Lauren Bell and Shrubsole who went at under a run-a-ball at either end of the innings.Bess Heath chipped to mid-off, Leah Dobson was caught and bowled by Adams and Kate Cross was deceived by a cunning Bell slower ball.In reply, Danni Wyatt initially looked the freest flowing batter on display with five sweetly-struck boundaries but came unstuck when she drilled Cross to point. Smriti Mandhana ticked through the runs with a l’aise au fait style, while Bouchier accelerated after a slow start.Bouchier had been 8 off her first 14 balls but exploded with a pair of boundaries and a six in three successive balls. Mandhana and Adams swung to deep midwicket, while Bouchier rolled on with a stylish cut shot before she was caught and bowled by Linsey Smith’s full toss with 14 still required.Smith and Georgia Wareham had both taken two wickets for 11 and 15 respectively to scare the Brave, with Freya Kemp bowled by Wareham to put the hosts five down. But Tryon pulled a boundary and sent Brave to the top with 13 balls to spare, with Superchargers still only winning two games away from Headingley in their third season.

Senior figures from UK Sport, FA and Manchester City also invited to give input

ESPNcricinfo staff25-May-2022Andrew Strauss says that England’s ambition is to become the “best in the world at all formats of the men’s game within the next five years”, after announcing a panel of experts for the ECB’s high-performance review that includes Sir Dave Brailsford, the former head of the British Cycling team that topped the medal tables at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.Writing in a blog post on the ECB’s website, Strauss reiterated his intention to be “bold” in assessing the failings that have left England’s Test team with one victory in 17 matches since March 2021, and with their lowest ICC ranking since 1995. His aim, he added, is to have solid proposals for the game to vote on by September, in order for the restructuring to begin in time for the 2023 season.”Over the past 42 years, England’s Men have been the number one ranked Test team in the world for a total of 12 months, and 50-over number one for 64 months,” Strauss wrote. “In T20 cricket, we have held the top spot for 748 days since the inception of those rankings in 2011.”At the moment, we aren’t top in any format. So we want to set an ambitious and clear goal – to become the best in the world at all formats of the men’s game within the next five years.”It’s extremely ambitious because we’ve never done it before. But why can’t it be achievable? What’s stopping us – and what else could help us get there? That’s what I want our high-performance review to consider.”From within cricket, the ECB’s panel includes Rob Key, England men’s director of cricket, and Durham’s Marcus North, alongside Daryl Mitchell from the PCA and Mo Bobat, the ECB’s performance director.From outside the game, Strauss has also secured the expert input of Kate Baker, director of performance at UK Sport; Simon Timson, Manchester City’s performance director; Dan Ashworth, the former FA director of elite development, and Penny Hughes, the ex-chair of Aston Martin.However, Brailsford – who is currently the director of the professional cycling team Ineos Grenadiers – is arguably the most prominent name on the panel. Strauss has long been an admirer of his “marginal gains” philosophy, and adopted many of those principles on England’s victorious Ashes tour of 2010-11.Brailsford’s reputation within cycling was recently tarnished, however, when his ex-colleague, Dr Richard Freeman – the former doctor at British Cycling and Team Sky – was found by a medical tribunal to have ordered testosterone “knowing or believing” it was to be used to improve the performance of one of the team’s riders.”I wanted to find experts in high performance whatever that field, some who’ve been in the spotlight, others who’ve been in the background generating high-performance programmes or systems,” Strauss added. “Some with cricket knowledge and expertise, others from a wider sporting background. People with different experiences, who have undergone different journeys, but all of whom we can learn from. And people who are all keen to help cricket.”Strauss added that views would also be sought from cricket’s supporters, and that the whole process would have oversight from a group of first-class county chairs. The remit of the review will not, however, take in the international schedule, nor will it tackle the specifics of the domestic calendar until the remodelled structures have been put in place.”I read a lot of speculation about the domestic competition structure. Of course, this is an important part of the picture, but it’s not the only part,” Strauss added. “The review is designed to look at the high-performance system in its entirely, including the England men’s pathway and our high performance set-up.”And let’s be clear – we have no pre-built solution. At this stage the project is only just starting. There are no hidden agendas. I wouldn’t be bothering to carry out a review if I was already sitting here with specific proposals for change.”

The founders of Laver Cup and Betfair, and the CEO of British Telecom among fresh funders

Nagraj Gollapudi15-Jan-2021The creator of the Laver Cup in tennis, the CEO of British Telecom, the founder of Betfair are among the global entrepreneurs who have invested in the Rajasthan Royals in a fresh funding drive. The investors injected the funds via the franchise’s lead stakeholder Emerging Media IPL Limited (EMIPL), which is owned by UK-based businessman Manoj Badale.The franchise has not disclosed the value of the funding exercise, but the development means EMIPL is now the leading investor in the Royal with over 50% stake, further establishing Badale as the lead owner. The Royals, one of the eight original IPL franchises, won the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2008. Their fortunes have swung differently since then as the Royals finished last in IPL 2020, which was held in the UAE.”Funds were raised from a small number of new individual investors, including Ian McKinnon, one of the founding partners of TEAM8, a leading sports and entertainment company and the creator of the Laver Cup, UK business leaders including BT CEO Phil Jansen, FutureLearn and Network International Chairman Ron Kalifa and Betfair founder Ed Wray have invested, as well as Arizona-based tech entrepreneurs Kal Somani, Simer Mayo and Mihir Patel,” the franchise said in a media release on Friday.Despite being billed as an Indian domestic T20 franchise tournament, the IPL has grown into the most lucrative cricket event in the world. In 2017, Star India bought the five-year global media rights for a record sum of US$ 2.55 billion (INR 16,347.5 crore). Recently, the BCCI approved to make the IPL a ten-team event from the 2022 edition.While Somani said the IPL’s “huge potential” could not be ignored, Badale said the growing appeal of the IPL globally – the tournament has its own free window for nearly two months in the Indian summer – was what investors recognised. “Investors are now recognising the value of sports franchises,” Badale said. “EMIPL’s increased ownership of the franchise and expanded network of US-based, value-add investors presents an exciting opportunity to drive the growth of both the Rajasthan Royals and the IPL.”Mike Fordham, new Royals CEO
The Royals have also announced Mike Fordham as the Group CEO. Fordham was part of the International Management Group (IMG) team that helped the IPL take off in 2008. According to the Royals’ release, Fordham also helped the ECB in “development” of The Hundred, which is scheduled to start this summer in England after its launch was postponed in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lara also urges the West Indies board to focus more on developing players for Test cricket

Vishal Dikshit in Mumbai17-Oct-2019Former West Indies captain and batting great Brian Lara believes appointing Kieron Pollard as the ODI and T20I captain is “a step in the right direction,” but he has urged Cricket West Indies to focus more on developing players for Test cricket.”He’s got some good experience,” Lara said of Pollard, who last played an ODI over three years ago, at the launch of a T20 tournament for retired players in Mumbai. “I also believe that a captain is as good as his team and the people who really support him. And I believe that he will get the support, that’s half of your job done.ALSO READ – Hayden Walsh Jr, Brandon King break into West Indies’ ODI, T20I squads“Practically, he has played cricket all around the world, he will understand what needs to be done. So it’s not a bad decision. If he’s committed to West Indies cricket for a long period of time, it’s a step in the right sort of direction and let’s see how it goes.”In Tests, the eighth-ranked West Indies recently lost 2-0 to India at home. They started the year in emphatic fashion by beating England 2-1 in Tests at home but against India in August, they were able to bowl out the visitors only twice in four innings and could not cross 250 even once in as many attempts.Brian Lara, Jonty Rhodes and Sachin Tendulkar at an event to promote the Road Safety World Series T20 cricket league•AFP

“We came off about six months ago a win against England in the West Indies which was very promising,” Lara said. “So you expected the team to maybe follow on after that. But there was a lot of one-day cricket and different things happening over the last five-six months with almost the same players. So the attrition level is something the West Indies cricket board and the management will have to see if they can solve that because some of the cricketers are understanding the shorter version of the game but the longer version they’re missing some key elements.”I think first we’ve got to get back to playing good and competitive first-class cricket in the Caribbean where the guys spend time in the middle as batsmen, bowlers bowl long spells and see if we can work from there.”But I still believe that the talent on show for West Indies is very good and promising. Maybe the entire batting line-up is in their 20s, you just want to know that if they’re playing at the highest level that they are capable of performing well. I think learning the game at the international stage is not where you want to go.”West Indies’ next assignment is a full tour against Afghanistan in India where they will play three T20Is, three ODIs and a one-off-Test over a period of three weeks. A short gap after that they will feature in another three T20Is and three ODIs against India in India. Lara emphasised on the importance of adapting to conditions on their tour of India, where spin usually plays a vital role.”To be successful anywhere in the world you have to adapt very quickly,” he said. “If you’re playing in Australia, India, South Africa, West Indies…they’re all different conditions. First and foremost, everyone that plays international cricket has a certain level of skill and talent to play the game. How you approach with your mental strength is key, adaptation of the environment you’re in is key. Learning all these important things to be successful…to be a step ahead, not having any excuses. I think those things are key to making sure that you’re successful playing anywhere in the world.West Indies have been a much harder opposition to beat in the shortest format, ever since they won the T20 World Cup back in 2012. They are currently ranked ninth in the format but could pose a different challenge for oppositions in the format, banking on some of the CPL stars who have broken into the team recently. The next T20 World Cup is still over a year away and Lara said handling the talent coming through from T20s will be key for defending champions West Indies in the coming months.”It’s still quite a long way,” Lara said of the T20 World Cup to be played in Australia in October-November 2020. “Whatever tournament the West Indies are going to, they’ll never be favourites at this point in time…even when we won the two tournaments in the past. What we do have is the shorter version of the game. A lot of young players that are coming into the team, [Shimron] Hetmyer, [Nicholas] Pooran, they are very very good in the T20 version, in the limited-overs version of the game.”The talent is there, and I’ve always said in the past that the West Indies have some of the best talents in the world coming through. What we do with that talent, how we harness that talent is the most important part. I reckon that the next eight-ten months before the World Cup there will be a lot of planning. You may even see some new faces coming through. If you listen to any other teams in the world or captains, they’re very wary of the West Indies. They never ever take us for granted, which is a good thing. So hopefully we will make a good showing coming to the World Cup.”

Foreign nationals ejected from domestic T20 for “using their mobiles in a suspicious manner”

Madushka Balasuriya27-Aug-2018A group of foreign nationals were ejected from an ongoing SLC T20 League fixture, Sri Lanka Cricket has confirmed, after “suspicious individuals” were reported to the board’s Anti-Corruption Unit. Though no approaches are believed to have been made to players, SLC has since taken steps to tighten anti-corruption measures at match venues and team hotels.”Sri Lanka Cricket has also notified the team managers and the players taking part in the tournament to inform SLC, immediately, of any approach by those suspicious individuals,” a SLC release said. “In the meantime, the Anti-Corruption Unit of the SLC has already taken steps to refresh the players on the Anti-Corruption Code of Sri Lanka Cricket.”While SLC was unable to confirm the exact numbers or nationalities of the individuals in question, it is understood that they were from the subcontinent. The suspicious use of mobile phones is what is believed to have led the tournament director flagging the individuals to SLC’s Anti-Corruption Unit, who then asked police to eject those under suspicion.”There were a few – we think Indian nationals – at the ground, who had been using their mobiles in a suspicious manner. Immediately we brought them to the notice of the police, who proceeded to eject them from the stadium,” SLC CEO Ashley de Silva told ESPNcricinfo.While it is unclear what exactly constitutes using mobiles “in a suspicious manner”, it is understood that officials have been told to keep a look out for excessive use of mobiles, while de Silva noted that officials are particularly vigilant in the case of foreign nationals.”When there are foreign – South Asian – spectators at the matches you’re always a bit more suspicious,” he explained. “And during domestic matches, when matches are not being broadcast terrestrially, we’re especially cautious. We don’t know for sure if they were match-fixers, we were only suspicious and we didn’t want to take any chances.”While these games are not being broadcast terrestrially, they are on local cable and are being streamed on YouTube, which means they are accessible to a global audience. That global availability would make the tournament more attractive to bookies.Also, de Silva said the number of spectators at the ground for the game during which people were ejected stood around 600. Given the number is usually significantly smaller at domestic games in Sri Lanka, this too could have piqued the interest – and subsequently the suspicion – of officials.The SLC T20 League features four teams representing Galle, Colombo, Dambulla and Kandy, and is set to conclude on September 9 in Colombo.

Tendai Chatara’s third five-wicket haul in List A matches ensured Netherlands were skittled out for 142, a total that Zimbabwe had no trouble chasing

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jun-2017Zimbabwe 144 for 4 (Ervine 44) beat Netherlands 142 (van Beek 64*, Chatara 5-34, Mpofu 3-30) by six wickets
ScorecardFile photo – Tendai Chatara removed five of the top six Netherlands batsmen•AFP

Zimbabwe eased to a six-wicket win in Amstelveen after their pacers, led by Tendai Chatara who took his third List A five-wicket haul, skittled Netherlands out for 142 in under 38 overs. That total looked rather unlikely when Chatara and Chris Mpofu – who finished with three wickets – had Netherlands reeling at 40 for 8, but an unbeaten 64 from Logan van Beek saved the hosts some blushes. Still, Zimbabwe got to their target with 19.4 overs to spare as Craig Ervine top-scored with 44.Netherlands openers Wesley Barresi and Stephan Myburgh were the first to go, falling in Chatara’s second and third overs respectively. The score was 22 for 2 then but four overs and six runs later, Chatara struck again, this time twice in two balls to send back both Michael Rippon and Roelof van der for ducks. When Mpofu took out Ben Cooper for 6, Netherlands had lost five batsmen inside 10 overs, and had to wait till the ninth-wicket pair for some semblance of a partnership. Van Beek combined with No. 10 Timm van der Gugten (34) to put on 86 runs to delay the inevitable and remained unbeaten on 64 off 83 balls with six fours and one six.

New Zealand have retained the services of head coach Mike Hesson, batting coach Craig McMillan, manager Mike Sandle, and strength and conditioning coach Chris Donaldson

ESPNcricinfo staff26-May-2016New Zealand have retained the services of head coach Mike Hesson, batting coach Craig McMillan, manager Mike Sandle, and strength and conditioning coach Chris Donaldson. All four have signed contracts that extend until after the 2019 World Cup.NZC chief executive David White welcomed the development.”This is very positive in terms of our succession planning, our preparation for the major events on the horizon and, not least, general team stability,” White said. “It was really important for us to retain the intellectual property and institutional knowledge that these people have developed.”White had words of high praise for Hesson, who has held the head coach role since July 2012.”Mike’s the most successful coach in New Zealand cricket history and, in my opinion, the best selector we’ve ever had,” he said. “To have him committed to the Black Caps until after the next World Cup is great news for all concerned.”Hesson called it a “privilege” to coach New Zealand.”Being around a group which works together and is striving to head in the same direction is extremely rewarding,” he said. “It’s a privilege to be a part of the Black Caps culture and I feel lucky to be able to contribute to that for a little bit longer.”