The Times Sport - UK (2020-08-01)

Sport

the times | Saturday August 1 2020 2GS 13

Warwickshire
Captain Will Rhodes
Coach Jim Troughton
2019 Seventh in Division One
Last year was a rebuilding one but
with Olly Stone, Craig Miles and Liam
Norwell all fit and the signing of Tim
Bresnan, their seam bowling is strong.

Worcestershire
Captain Joe Leach
Coach Alex Gidman
2019 Ninth in Division Two
Josh Tongue, Ed Barnard and Pat
Brown are all talented young players
from the academy. Batsman Jake
Libby joins from Nottinghamshire.

Somerset
Captain Tom Abell
Coach Andy Hurry
2019 Second in Division One
Marcus Trescothick has retired and
Peter Trego is at Nottinghamshire.
Abell and James Hildreth will be key
for runs. Look out for George Bartlett.

Lauren painted

picturess of

Willis in full cry

to cope with

his death

North group

Durham

Captain Ned Eckersley

Coach James Franklin

2019 Fifth in Division Two

Signed seamer Paul Coughlin from

Nottinghamshire, who is a good asset

if he can stay fit. Young paceman

Brydon Carse is one to keep an eye on.

Lancashire

Captain Dane Vilas

Coach Glen Chapple

2019 Division Two champions

Vilas was central to success, scoring

1,036 runs at almost 80. Will be reliant

on veterans Graham Onions and Tom

Bailey for wickets.

Derbyshire

Captain Billy Godleman

Coach Dave Houghton

2019 Seventh in Division Two

Will be very reliant again on their

experienced trio of Godleman, Wayne

Madsen and Luis Reece. Watch out for

the promising Fynn Hudson-Prentice.

Nottinghamshire

Captain Steven Mullaney

Coach Peter Moores

2019 Eighth in Division One (relegated)

Will be intriguing to see how Haseeb

Hameed gets on after his move from

Lancashire. Peter Trego’s arrival from

Somerset will add some experience.

Yorkshire

Captain Steve Pattersen

Coach Richard Pyrah

2019 Fifth in Division One

A concern about lack of depth in the

squad given the absence of their two

very good overseas signings in Ravi

Ashwin and Keshav Maharaj.

Leicestershire

Captain Colin Ackermann

Coach Paul Nixon

2019 Bottom of Division Two.

Hassan Azad is one to watch having

scored 1,189 runs in 2019 and passed

50 in 11 out of 26 innings. Need to

replace wickets of Mohammad Abbas.

All start at 11am

South group

Chelmsford Essex v Kent

Kia Oval Surrey v Middlesex

Hove Sussex v Hampshire

West/Midlands/Wales group

Bristol Gloucestershire v

Worcestershire

Taunton Somerset v Glamorgan

Edgbaston Warwickshire v

Northamptonshire

North group

Trent Bridge Derbyshire v

Nottinghamshire

Chester-le-Street Durham v

Yorkshire

Worcester Lancashire v

Leicestershire

This weekend’s

opening matches

THOMAS SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY/GETTY IMAGES

Billings: I need to

be playing cricket –

not carrying drinks

Sam Billings believes that his experien-

ces in the Indian Premier League would

help England in their bid to retain the

World Cup in India in 2023.

Billings’s England career has been a

frustrating one. He has played only 16

one-day internationals in five years —

his appearance against Ireland on

Thursday was his first since June 2018

— despite often finding himself in the

England squad.

“I have done it consistently in the

middle order over the last five years,”

Billings said. “I have averaged over 50

batting at No 5 for Kent at a strike rate

of 120 and it’s a role I really enjoy. In the

past I have come in for the odd game

here or there and put way too much

pressure on myself and gone away from

what I have done well in the past.”

Thursday’s ODI against Ireland, in

which he made an unbeaten 67 as

England successfully chased down

Ireland’s 172, served as a reminder of

why there has consistently been

interest in the Kent captain from IPL

franchises.

Billings, 29, is well known for being

solid against spin bowling, much of

which comes from his experiences in

the sub-continent, and he believes that

gives him an edge over some other

England batsmen.

“I think that’s something I can

potentially offer compared to other

players — my game against spin. I have

benefited from all the different fran-

chise experiences I have had but espe-

cially the IPL and the relative success I

have had on turning pitches in Chennai

and Delhi. I back my game against spin

and it’s definitely something I have got

to continue to work hard on. The

England one-day side is arguably one of

the toughest sports teams to get into as

a fringe player at the moment but

building towards matches in the sub-

continent, whether that’s the one-day

formats or the longer format as well, I

think it’s somewhere I could potentially

do well.”

Billings opted against putting himself

into the IPL auction for the 2020

season, deciding it would be better to

have a long run in the side for Kent in

order to find some consistency.

Although the tournament has now

been moved to October, meaning he

could have been involved, Billings

doesn’t regret the decision.

“I hit a heavy bump in my England

career last year but I have been very up

and down over the last five years. The

opportunities have been sporadic. I

need to be playing cricket, not carrying

drinks, so wanted to get a good stretch

of games this year in all formats.”

Billings was only in the side for

Thursday’s opening ODI because of an

injury to his Kent team-mate Joe Denly.

Denly has now been ruled out of the

rest of the series because of back

spasms and has been replaced in the

squad by Lancashire’s Liam Living-

stone, though Billings looks set to keep

his place for the second match of the

series at the Ageas Bowl today.

“It’s an opportunity that has come

out of an unfortunate situation to one

of my best mates,” Billings said, “but I

have got to do what I have got to do

and that is to prove what I can offer to

this team.”

Elizabeth Ammon

We need an independent

regulator, says UKA chief

The head of UK Athletics has called for

the creation of an independent regula-

tor for safeguarding in British sport.

Joanna Coates, who took on the role

of UKA chief executive in March,

responded to the publication of a QC-

led report into safeguarding in track

and field by outlining plans for a “more

robust system” that should make it

easier to “identify and remove” anyone

who poses a threat to the welfare of

those involved in the sport.

Coates has also called on the relevant

agencies to form an “independent body

that can support individual sports in

making it as safe as possible”.

The executive summary of the

review, led by Christopher Quinlan,

QC, identified that “significant change”

is required, due, in part, to “a lack of

precision in respect of safeguarding

lines of responsibility”. UKA has

acknowledged that there is “a lot more

work to be done”.

The review was prompted by revela-

tions in The Times last year about Cov-

entry Godiva Harriers and the fact that

the husband of Zara Hyde Peters, who

was due to become UKA chief execu-

tive in December, was managing a team

with athletes as young as 16 and also

coaching adults at the club without a

UKA coaching licence.

Mike Peters would not have been

granted a licence because he had been

banned from teaching for life by the

Department for Education for an inap-

propriate relationship with a 15-year-

old female pupil. It led to Hyde Peters

stepping down before she had taken up

the £200,000-a-year role, and since

then both Hyde Peters and her husband

have left Coventry Godiva.

Among a series of recommendations

made by Quinlan is the need for a

trained safeguarding officer at each

athletics club, who will keep a proper

register of coaches and licensing, which

is subject to criminal-record checks.

UKA has also been tasked with

“taking ownership of all cases” and an

independent case-management group

will now be appointed. “The improve-

ments we make will absolutely lead to a

more robust system,” Coates told The

Times. “But we can’t change the system

without also changing the culture.”

Quinlan makes 29 recommenda-

tions as part of creating a “modern,

fit-for-purpose safeguarding regime”.

Coaches will now be subjected to crimi-

nal-record checks every three years.

Athletics

Matt Lawton Chief Sports Correspondent

Second ODI, today, 2pm

TV: Sky Sports (BBC1, 10.50pm)

England v Ireland