Cricket News: CA says no thanks Yanks as new 5-year deal locked in, Handscomb in India tour mix, Maddinson hobbled

Cricket Australia have shunned international interest and agreed to a multi-million-dollar contract extension with current broadcasters Seven Network and Fox Sports.

As part of the reported deal, the home Test summer and selected Big Bash League matches will remain on Seven, while subscription broadcaster Fox is set to continue showing Tests and the BBL as well as white-ball internationals and other domestic competitions.

News Corp reports the new contract spans five years and will begin when the current deal expires in 2024.

American media giant Paramount, which owns Network 10, had been the primary suitor hoping to plunder the cricket and made a reported $1.5 billion offer to Cricket Australia (CA) that was more lucrative than those tabled by the Australian networks.

Paramount’s streaming service Paramount Plus rolled out to Australia in August 2021 and is already in the local sporting market as broadcaster of the A-Leagues and Australian soccer internationals.

But it is understood CA felt neither Paramount Plus nor its struggling free-to-air affiliate Network 10 could match the reach of the current broadcast hosts.

Fox has a base of 4.4 million subscribers, nearly 1.3 million of whom are signed up to streaming platform Kayo, while Seven’s Test coverage has continued to rate among the highest programs on free-to-air television this summer.

Paramount Plus has yet to disclose its own figures but August estimates from market research specialist Roy Morgan placed the platform’s local subscriber base at around 400,000.

CA’s decision to overlook Paramount comes after the AFL opted to reject the American company’s advances last year, despite it being the highest bidder on that occasion as well.

The new deal signals a burying of the hatchet for Cricket Australia and Seven after the network took CA to the Federal Court seeking to terminate the last two years of its current six-year contract over alleged breaches.

Seven had been seeking documents to determine whether CA had exercised “reasonable endeavours” to ensure the BBL matched the quality of rival leagues including the Indian Premier League but were understood to have been willing to drop the case if the current deals were extended.

The home Test summer concludes this week with the third Test against South Africa, which begins at the SCG on Wednesday.

Handscomb ‘coming back into Test fold’

Peter Handscomb is well and truly back in the selection mix despite missing out on a recall for the third Test against South Africa at the SCG, Australia coach Andrew McDonald says.

The middle-order batter-cum-wicketkeeper played the most recent of his 16 Tests almost four years ago to the day. 

He has starred as Victoria’s Sheffield Shield captain, though, and this summer boasts the most Shield runs with 571 at an average of 81.57. 

He set a first-class personal best with an unbeaten 281 against Western Australia in October.

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A month later, Handscomb hit two half-centuries in the Prime Minister’s XI match against West Indies and came up two runs short of another when a Cricket Australia XI took on South Africa in a tour warm-up match.

Peter Handscomb. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

Injuries to Mitch Starc and Cameron Green opened up two spots in the squad for the SCG Test but Handscomb lost out to spinner Ashton Agar and versatile batter Matt Renshaw.

Left-hander Renshaw was most often selected to open the batting in his 11 previous Test matches but can also play lower down the order, which appears to have given him the edge.

“We feel with Matt in particular that he’s got the flexibility to bat anywhere in the order from the top through the middle as well,” McDonald said.

“Pete Handscomb no doubt would probably consider himself unlucky not to be in that conversation for Sydney. But there’s another one that is coming back into the Test fold.”

Handscomb remains in contact with selectors and is known for his ability to play spin. He will be eyeing a recall for the tour of India.

McDonald remains confident in the depth of his batting stocks; Renshaw, Handscomb and opening batter Marcus Harris have all played at least 10 Tests and are set to jostle for selection in the tour that begins in February.

“Whether (Handscomb) is on that Indian trip or not is yet to be determined,” McDonald said.

“There’s a lot of great stories of people having a taste of Test cricket going out and coming back in and being really successful.”

Maddinson hobbled as Perth scorch Renegades

Nic Maddinson’s suspected serious knee injury has compounded the Melbourne Renegades’ woes after they suffered a fourth consecutive BBL defeat.

The Renegades copped a five-wicket loss to the red-hot Perth Scorchers at Marvel Stadium on Sunday, continuing their slide after a positive 3-0 start to the season.

Aaron Finch’s 65 off 48 had given the home side a sniff, steering them to 6-155 from their 20 overs.

But import opener Faf du Plessis (39 off 29) and Cam Bancroft (46 off 32) laid a solid platform for Perth and leading run scorer Josh Inglis (47 off 34) all but got the visitors over the line.

Inglis was out lbw to Will Sutherland (1-32) in the final over before Nick Hobson hit the winning run.

The Scorchers reached 5-156 with two balls to spare, despite the efforts of Renegades quick Kane Richardson (2-21).

It was Perth’s fourth straight win, firming up their spot at the top of the table.

Maddinson’s batting form slump continued when he was out for a first-ball duck, giving him a total of just three runs in his last five innings.

His day got worse when was hurt while fielding during the second over of the Scorchers’ run chase, twisting his left leg as he turned to throw the ball.

The 31-year-old immediately slumped to the turf and was assessed for several minutes before being driven off the field.

The Renegades are yet to determine the full extent of the injury, with Maddinson set to be sent for scans on Monday.

“It obviously didn’t look very good. He’s still in quite a bit of discomfort,” teammate Finch said post-match.

“It’s really unfortunate. It was pretty innocuous. Just looking at the replay, it looked like his foot got stuck in the ground and everything twisted.”

Finch said the patchy playing surface was “a bit sandy and a lot slower than I’ve seen it in the past” but was unsure whether it played a role in Maddinson’s injury.

Renegades wicketkeeper Peter Handscomb also failed to see out the match, substituted off after 16 overs as he struggled with the effects of the soaring temperature.

Finch revealed the umpires raised concerns over Handscomb, who uncharacteristically missed the stumps with his first swipe in a simple run-out attempt and was sweating profusely.

“They felt as though he was stumbling around behind the stumps and they wanted him to go off,” Finch said.

“It was a little bit scary. He’s a big sweater and finds it hard to retain any fluids, so I’m sure that contributed.

“It was brutally hot out there today. There was no breeze and it was seriously hot in the middle, especially under a helmet for eight overs there to the spin and batting a bit as well.”

Finch became the second player to reach 3000 career runs in the BBL, joining all-time leading scorer Chris Lynn.

Andrew Tye (3-32) was the pick of the Scorchers’ bowlers.

Heat win controversial Sixers stoush

Josh Brown makes his own Cooper Bison bats and showed he can wield them too as he lit up the Gabba with a whirlwind half-century to inspire the Brisbane Heat’s 15-run win over the Sydney Sixers.

The match had a sensational finish when Heat all-rounder Michael Neser caught Jordan Silk (41 off 23 balls) in the 19th over.

Having reached the ball just inside the boundary rope but been unable to complete the catch while inside them, Neser threw the ball in the air, went outside the field of play, jumped to toss the ball up once more while again airborne, then completed the catch inside the boundary rope. 

Quick-thinking and all within the rules. Neser told 7Cricket: “I knew (Matt) Renshaw did it a couple of years ago. I didn’t know if they had changed the rules so I thought I would give it a crack. Thankfully they didn’t change the rules.”

The 29-year-old Brown earlier produced his whirlwind innings to score 62 off just 23 balls in the Heat’s 5-224.

The Sixers made a gallant response in their pursuit of a BBL record run chase, but fell short to be all out from the final delivery for 209.

The Heat needed something special to get their season moving and Brown provided it in front of 23,689 fans while using a bat he made himself.

He brought up his fifty in just 19 deliveries, the equal fifth fastest in Heat history in just his second BBL game.

Brown cleared the boundary six times with an assortment of scintillating strokes.

The Heat opener works with Cooper Cricket founder Rod Grey. He has crafted hundreds of Cooper bats himself, and repaired thousands for his cricket mates.

“I made my own bat, the Cooper Bison … it absolutely cannons off. It is one of the new ones I made myself and I fell in love with it,” Brown told AAP after his innings. “All my mates call me ‘Bison’.”

Brown said “it wasn’t until I was 24 that I started to take it seriously and then I went from third grade to Queensland Second XI in the space of 18 months”.

Twenty20 franchises around the world will no doubt be making further enquiries about him. Brown told AAP he would “love to” take his T20 game to the world and added that his philosophy while batting was “play with no fear”.

Allrounder Nathan McSweeney (84 off 51 balls) made a superbly paced maiden BBL half-century to lift the Heat to their highest BBL score.

Sixers openers Josh Philippe (27) and James Vince (41) took a franchise record 54 runs off the four overs of the power play in pursuit. Silk and allrounder Hayden Kerr (27) added 54 in 26 balls for the sixth wicket but the brilliant stumping of Kerr by Jimmy Peirson off spinner Matt Kuhnemann (2-31) proved crucial.

Neser’s catch to dismiss Sixers skipper Silk was the decisive moment in the run chase after he took 3-41 with the ball.