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New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has broken into the top-five rankings for batsmen across formats, climbing to no. 4 on the T20I list after his team’s 3-0 sweep of Bangladesh. Williamson is ranked fourth in Tests and fifth in ODIs. Virat Kohli is the only other batsmen to occupy positions in the top-five rankings across formats.With 145 runs in the three matches, Williamson was the highest scorer from either side. His 57-ball 60 on Sunday helped his side recover to 194 after a slow start, before the bowlers snuffed out Bangladesh’s fight during the chase to win by 27 runs. With the 3-0 win, the team retained their No. 1 ranking in the format.”Really pleased with the series as a whole,” coach Mike Hesson said. “We were put under pressure at times during all three games with both bat and ball, and different players stood up and that’s critical for us as a developing side even though we are ranked number one in the world.”It shows our consistency over the last 18 months to two years. We’ve been the most consistent side in Twenty20 cricket around the world, and in different conditions, having played in India and other places around the world. It’s a nice mantle to hold, although it doesn’t drive us so much. But it is nice to reflect on.”Hesson was especially pleased with the manner in which a young team put its hand up. New Zealand handed out debut caps to four players during the series, and most players in the squad were in their 20s. “The nature of Twenty20 is that you need guys who can turn the game on its head. You need that with both bat and ball, and we’re fortunate enough that we’ve got some really talented players,” he said.”Sure, they might be a little bit inexperienced, but they’ve certainly got the ability to change a game on their day, and that’s what T20 is about. Some of our match winners are quite young and raw, but there’s some really good signs there.”Colin Munro, who slammed a 52-ball century in the second T20, leaped up 20 places to 19th position, while Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi achieved career-best rankings. New Zealand also succeeded in discovering young talent from the domestic circuit in the form of Lockie Ferguson, Ben Wheeler and Tom Bruce.”It’s a nice sign for us moving forward that we can bring players in from domestic cricket in the Super Smash and they can do well, which is great,” Hesson said.Among other big gainers, Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman broke into the top ten among T20I bowlers, displacing Shakib Al Hasan as Bangladesh’s highest-ranked bowler.

ScorecardSaurabh Tiwary’s 84-run stand with Ishank Jaggi helped consolidate Jharkhand’s innings•KCA/Ranjith Peralam

Virat Singh and Saurabh Tiwary made good use of perfect batting conditions at the St. Xavier’s College Ground in Thumba to help Jharkhand take the first-innings lead on the second day of their final Group B clash against Odisha.Having folded for 152 on the opening day, Odisha needed to grab the chances that came their way. But they let off Tiwary on 5 at short fine leg. The Jharkhand captain struck 65 before retiring hurt; Jharkhand ended the day on 236 for 5 for a lead of 84.The day began with a fiery spell from Suryakant Pradhan. Sumit Kumar was bowled by one that cut back in at pace and uprooted leg stump. Virat walked out to a chirpy cordon and a short-ball barrage from Pradhan, who was pacy and hit good lengths to extract bounce on a flat deck. He also grazed the shoulder of Anand Singh on an occasion.Jharkhand’s batsmen, however, kept the score ticking, running sharply between wickets, making for a neat contrast to Odisha’s start on the first day. When Pradhan erred in his length, they were smart in using his pace to pick up boundaries.Anand and Virat added 63 for the second wicket to offset the early loss of Sumit, before Govinda Poddar, the Odisha captain, broke through, having Anand caught at cover. Poddar was denied a double strike when Tiwary lobbed a catch that the short fine leg fielder missed in the last over before lunch.Virat showed good judgement outside off and used his feet well against the spinners. The fifty came with a straight six after stepping down the track to Poddar. Virat handled the short and fuller balls with ease, cutting and driving to equal effect. But when he fell, it was to a nothing shot, trying to guide a wide ball from Basant Mohanty and finding point.Tiwary, though, was unafraid to loft the ball when it was pitched up. Shortly after he retired hurt, Mohanty struck for Jharkhand when Ishank Jaggi charged down the track and missed a fuller ball that took out off stump.A couple of muscular straight sixes from Kaushal Singh provided some late entertainment before Jharkhand suffered a late setback. Ishan Kishan, who had benefitted from some neat tucks and a swept boundary, was trapped lbw by Deepak Behera in the penultimate over of the day. But given the amount of dust on the surface, this lead could soon swell into a decisive one.

Cricket South Africa chief executive Haroon Lorgat has called on the ICC to clarify the rules around polishing the ball, particularly with regard to what constitutes an “artificial substance”, after South Africa’s captain Faf du Plessis was found guilty of ball tampering.A decision has not yet been made on whether du Plessis will appeal the verdict, which resulted in him being fined his entire match fee from the Hobart Test but cleared to play in Adelaide this week. During the Hobart Test, du Plessis shined the ball with saliva while he had a confectionery item in his mouth, which the ICC determined was in contravention of Law 42, which allows players to polish the ball provided no artificial substance is used.”At this stage we’ve advised Faf to reserve his position with regard to the match referee’s finding and wait for the full reasons of his decision before deciding his next step,” Lorgat said in Adelaide on Wednesday. “Very understable, Faf is obviously disappointed by the decision and I can fully understand.”In fairness to both him and the ICC, this is an unprecedented case involving unique issues of policy, science and performance that need to be carefully considered at the highest levels of the game. There are also issues relating to fair and just process, interpretation of the rules, and importantly, the consistent application of the Code of Conduct that needs to be considered.”CSA believes that the Laws of the game do not currently define the term ‘artificial substance’, leaving room for inconsistent application of the rules. For instance, the Laws currently prevent the use of ‘artificial substances’ to polish the ball, yet artificial cotton fibres from playing kit can be used to shine the ball.”Players also regularly chew gum when applying saliva to the ball, or ingest sugary drinks and sweets during short breaks in play before shining the ball. No action is taken in such circumstances by the umpires.””Test match cricket is a competitive sport at the highest level and players and fans deserve certainty around these issues. Integrity and consistent application of the rules are important for everyone. We’ll consult with our legal teams. We want to engage with the ICC in a constructive matter, and we want to deal with this properly.”The Code of Conduct charge was laid by ICC chief executive David Richardson, who is also a qualified lawyer. On Wednesday, Richardson said on Australian television that the ICC “drew the line” because du Plessis’ actions were “pretty obvious”.”Probably in this case in particular, we drew the line,” Richardson told the Nine Network. “We said, ‘we need to charge’ because in our eyes anyway it was pretty obvious that he was using the residue from the sweet directly on the ball.”I think the bottom line is if you want to change the condition of the ball by polishing it, in other words improving it, keeping it, retaining its condition, do so, but don’t use any artificial substance.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details3:15

Compton: Umpire’s call leaves too much to debate

In an era of faster, harder, shorter – when the virtue of a young batsman is increasingly judged by strike-rate rather than overs endured – Haseeb Hameed produced a throwback innings to match that produced by his captain and opening partner, Alastair Cook, as England launched what already counts as a heroic rearguard, irrespective of what may come to pass on the fifth and final day at Visakhapatnam.While Cook and Hameed were in harness, calmly withstanding India’s best efforts throughout a magnificent opening stand of 75 that spanned 50.2 overs (which is longer, incidentally than four of Australia’s last eight completed innings), survival had seemed very much within England’s grasp – much as it had done for South Africa in similar circumstances 12 months ago, when AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla came together for another mighty blockathon in Delhi.But, in a devastating denouement in the final half hour before stumps, England lost both of their incumbents to a pair of memorable lbws – Hameed for 25 from 144 deliveries, pinned on the shin as R Ashwin grubbed an unplayable offbreak along the deck in a manner utterly reminiscent of Nasser Hussain’s shooter against Carl Hooper in 1997-98.Then, in the final over of the day, Cook, the rock of England’s resistance, played once too often across the line to Ravi Jadeja, and Kumar Dharmasena raised his finger. The umpire’s judgment was spot on on this occasion, for the ball was heading straight for middle and leg, but with India already out of reviews and Dharmasena’s relationship with DRS at an all-time low, he deserved credit for trusting his judgment at such a critical juncture.That late strike allowed India to leave the field with the spring back in their step, and Virat Kohli took the chance to gather his men into a huddle before they returned to the dressing room. India remain strong favourites on a surface that will compromise the more stroke-based techniques in England’s middle order – not least that of Ben Duckett, who is next man in to join Joe Root when play resumes tomorrow – but if any further proof were needed that this five-Test series will be a fight to the finish, this was it.Not for the first time in this match, England’s determination with the bat had been replicated with the ball. With Stuart Broad in another of his rhythmic moods, and with Adil Rashid mixing it impressively to claim four wickets in the morning session, including the prize scalp of Kohli for 81, it required a spiky tenth-wicket stand of 42 between Jayant Yadav and Mohammad Shami to revive India’s second innings, as they slipped from their overnight 98 for 3 to 204 all out on the stroke of a delayed lunch break.Of course, England’s success with the ball wasn’t entirely encouraging, given what it implied about the challenge of batting last, but they were happy to settle for pyrrhic victories wherever they could find them.Broad was particularly eager to strike some psychological blows. He may not feature in next week’s third match in Mohali but, buoyed by the confirmation that his foot injury was not as severe as he might have feared, he produced one of his most skilful spells of a stellar year, manipulating the old ball with cut and cross-seamers alike, and a variety of angles on the crease. He deserved more than just the scalps of Ajinkya Rahane and Ashwin for his morning efforts, as he finished with figures of 4 for 33 in 14 hard-pounding overs.Broad’s success was a reminder that seam, as well as spin, can play a part when surfaces start to crumble, and Hameed received a similarly timely reminder from the very first ball he received in England’s rearguard – a skiddy bouncer from Shami that rapped him on the glove as he took his eyes off the ball. But, when tea was taken 28 overs later, he was looking settled and solid, 12 not out from 84 balls, and oblivious to the attentions of up to four close catchers round the bat.It was a staggering display of technique, resolve and stamina way beyond his tender years, and further enhanced the impression that he is The One, as far as England’s long-term opening ambitions are concerned.However, Hameed could have asked for no better role model in his defiance than Cook, England’s past master in the art of batting time, whose long strides have been so adept for so long at smothering the attentions of Asian spinners.Kohli shuffled his pack largely in vain for the first 33 overs of England’s innings, resuming after tea with his seamers reunited but still no way through England’s defiance. But, then, suddenly, he hit upon the right formula, bringing Jadeja on at the Subba Rao End to target the footholes outside Cook’s off stump, with Ashwin handed the duties from the Vizzy End where Broad’s cutters had found their purchase.The heightened threat to both batsmen’s outside edges prompted a more proactive response, with Cook lining up a series of cuts and a well-placed drive through the covers for four to combat Jadeja, before Hameed responded to an Ashwin drifter that beat the bat by walloping his next ball hard and flat through mid-off for his first boundary in 80 deliveries from the spinners.On 45, Cook survived a reviewed lbw against Jadeja that was adjudged to be turning down the leg-side, although had umpire Rod Tucker raised his finger, it would have stayed up. One over later, he was living dangerously again, when Ashwin implored Kohli to take a second look at another lbw that he was convinced had squeezed pad before bat. Ashwin was right, but the impact was adjudged to be umpire’s call. India, somewhat disbelievingly, had burned through both of their reviews in the space of five balls.But then, with England’s thoughts just beginning to drift towards stumps, came the brace of body blows that undermined so much of their good work. All is not yet lost, with Root in a mood to atone for his wasteful first-innings dismissal, and Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow already attuned to the challenge of batting long on this surface. But as Hameed’s demise showed, accidents can and will happen in the fourth innings. India will believe victory is only a matter of time.

Pakistan fast bowler Wahab Riaz said that dew in the final session of the second day in the Dubai Test against West Indies had a significant impact on the pink ball, making it difficult for bowlers to find conventional or reverse swing well into the third day’s play on Saturday.Wahab, who took two late wickets on the third day, said that the seam and the ball lost its shape due to moisture and the bowlers found it easier once the old ball was changed 55 overs into West Indies’ innings. West Indies finished the day at 315 for 6 in response to Pakistan’s mammoth total of 579 for 3.”It is difficult and we are having problems with it, specially under the lights,” Wahab said. “The first two sessions are fine but in the third session there is a lot of dew and the ball gets wet, the seam gets swollen too. When we bowled with the same ball the next day, the ball was very soft and it doesn’t do anything off the pitch. We neither got conventional swing nor reverse swing.”After 55 overs it lost its shape because it got wet and we got another ball to bowl with which was a bit harder and that was going through nicely. The way Sohail Khan bowled to Samuels and we got that wicket because of the ball, which was harder and it was skidding on.”Pakistan broke the 113-run, third-wicket partnership between Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels after Sohail Khan dismissed Bravo for 76, more than 10 overs after the ball had been changed. After the dinner break, Wahab dismissed Jermaine Blackwood and Roston Chase in successive overs to firm up Pakistan’s advantage.Samuels who had played an attacking 76, with 13 fours in his innings, attributed his dismissal to his failure to pick the ball off Sohail’s high-arm action.”This is my first game with the pink ball. Apart from the long day, you see the ball better the longer you play, you will always find a bowler who is going to give you problems,” Samuels said. “For me, the bowler who got me out had a high-arm action and I wasn’t picking out the ball as well as possible. A couple of times in the outfield you react late to the ball. So I guess we scored 300 runs so it’s very good for the game. But with the pink ball, we have to play more games to get used to it.”West Indies’ total of 315 for 6 was only the sixth time the team had scored 300 or more runs in 29 Test innings [16 matches] since January 2015. Samuels said the team had played according to the demands of the format and hoped this response would become a template for them to replicate in later Tests. He also hoped that the overnight pair of Shane Dowrich and Jason Holder could thwart Pakistan’s bowlers with a strong partnership on the fourth day.”We played Test cricket today,” Samuels said. “We were patient put away the bad balls and picked up singles here and there so this is Test cricket and this is the way it should be played. We should use (how we played) today as a team and try and be more consistent in what we do.”Shane Dowrich is in good touch, you could see that. Hopefully he can go on and get a big one. Jason Holder has a Test hundred so we still have enough batting there. Hopefully we can get a big enough partnership from these two guys.”

Durham could face the prospect of a points deduction, and possible relegation, as a consequence of receiving financial support from the ECB during the 2016 season that finished last week.In spite of a troubled summer off the field, Durham retained their Division One status thanks to a strong finish to the season, including back-to-back victories in their final two games over Surrey and Hampshire, who were relegated alongside Nottinghamshire.However, to retain their viability, the club had to call upon assistance from the ECB – including an accelerated annual fee payment, as well as the rescheduling of their £923,000 staging fee for the third Test against Sri Lanka in May – to help service debts to the local council, believed to be in the region of £5-6 million.Now, according to a report in The Times, the ECB is considering whether to impose a penalty on Durham as punishment. A points deduction would appear to be the only realistic sanction available to the board, given that a financial penalty would merely exacerbate the club’s issues.However, the situation for the ECB is made more complicated by the circumstances of this year’s County Championship, in which two teams were relegated but only one, Essex, was promoted, to pave the way for next year’s eight-team first division.Whether it should be Hampshire who earn the right to remain in the top flight, having finished 31 points clear of the bottom club, Nottinghamshire, or whether the division two runners-up, Kent, should be promoted alongside Essex (as they would have been in every other season since the two-division structure was introduced in 2000) is a point that is sure to be robustly debated in the event of any sanction.In addition, Durham may argue, with some justification, that any penalty would be unfair, given that they are being penalised, in effect, for carrying out the wishes of the governing body. Their granting of first-class status, in 1992, included the stipulation that the county should develop an international-standard venue. However, the risk of hosting international matches has since shifted from the ECB to the counties themselves, and Durham have found it hard to compete for the biggest games against the more powerful and better established venues to the south.There is no suggestion of financial impropriety at Durham, and other Test-match grounds have accrued greater debts in the course of modernising their venues. However, the club’s remote location makes it harder to diversify and generate the sort of revenues that keep their rivals solvent.The club, which won the County Championship three times in six seasons between 2008 and 2013, has proven itself to be one of the most successful counties in terms of producing England players, with Ben Stokes and Mark Wood among the most recent examples. However, in a sign of potential struggles to come, they have lost two of their most influential batsmen of recent seasons, with Scott Borthwick and Mark Stoneman choosing to move to Surrey.

Eoin Morgan wants his England one-day team to keep pushing themselves to new heights and believes there is a confidence in the squad that anything is possible.England’s focus now returns to white-ball cricket with Morgan back in charge for the five ODIs against Pakistan followed by a one-off T20 which finishes the international season.The importance given to 50-over cricket is reinforced by there being no rotation in the one-day squad for this series as eyes remain firmly fixed on the Champions Trophy next June.Since the beginning of the last home season, England’s reinvigorated one-day side has ticked up an impressive list of batting feats: a first total over 400, another total of 399, chasing down 350 with six overs to spare, a ten-wicket win chasing 255 and, individually, a record 46-ball century from Jos Buttler plus Jason Roy’s 162.Since May 1, 2015 they have scored their runs faster than any other team and hit more sixes.”The key phrase is pushing the side. Over the last 12-18 months we’ve seen the progression of everyone and the skill levels,” Morgan told ESPNcricinfo at a NatWest Cricket grassroots event. “There’s a huge amount of belief. It’s almost as though there are no restrictions to anything we can do.”However, Morgan wants more consistency from the side – series win against New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have been tempered by losses to Australia and South Africa since the last World Cup – and a climb from their current position of No. 5 in the rankings. Within the next year, the period which includes the Champions Trophy, he wants England within the top three.”Realistically, if we want to be favourites going into the Champions Trophy or the World Cup then we need to work our way up the rankings which means showing more consistency in all three facets. We want to be in the top three three years before the World Cup. You still need to deliver in the tournament itself, but getting the results to move up the rankings builds confidence.”Morgan believes that one of England’s most significant results of late has been the tie they earned in the opening ODI against Sri Lanka at Trent Bridge when Liam Plunkett launched the final ball for six following a stand of 138 between Buttler and Chris Woakes to revive the chase.”We were down and out,” Morgan said. “It’s about building the belief that no matter how far behind the game you are there is an escape route.”‘I had my first hit two days and didn’t walk out of the net thinking I’m that far behind’•NatWest

Morgan said he sees “17 or 18 players” that the Champions Trophy squad will come from next year in England. But he added that the squads for the tours to Bangladesh (security permitting) and India will be selected with those specific conditions in mind. He indicated four spinners could be the picked for those trips, something England have edged towards with Liam Dawson’s call-up against Pakistan.Morgan explained that, in a perfect world, he would be able to call on a left-arm quick who can bowl 90mph – that is now available in T20 with Tymal Mills, but he is not an option for 50-over cricket. However, Morgan has been delighted by the battering-ram role played by Plunkett and is excited to have Mark Wood’s pace back.”We probably have three guys who can do it [bowl at 90mph] at the moment and you want to have one in the side that can hurry up the batsmen when the ball is offering nothing else. That’s important in the 50-over game where it can stand still for periods.”From a personal point of view, this series will be Morgan’s return to action having been out for almost a month with a chipped bone in his finger. He led from the front in 2015 home season with prolific series against New Zealand and Australia, but has been the most underwhelming of a dazzling top order since.He hasn’t hit an international half-century in 23 innings but made an unbeaten 47 off 39 balls in the T20 against Sri Lanka, and was frustrated that the injury struck when he was finding form having made a century for Middlesex in late July.”The finger doesn’t look great but it’s functioning better than it looks,” he said. “I had my first hit two days ago and didn’t walk out of the net thinking I’m that far behind. That was quite nice because I actually broke it when I was finding a bit of form which was a bit of a pain. I’ve had breaks away before, then come into series without having scored many runs, so am very relaxed and feel quite refreshed”Eoin Morgan was speaking at the NatWest U13 Club Championships Final. NatWest are proud partners of grassroots cricket. To find out more visit natwest.com/cricket

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDarren Sammy made his highest CPL score and entertained his home crowd•CPL/Sportsfile

Darren Sammy ran amok in the first match at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, at Gros Islet, since it had been renamed in the honour of West Indies’ World T20 winning captain. Sammy belted 59 off 35 balls, including five sixes and two fours, to lift St Lucia Zouks, coming off three successive losses, to a 35-run victory and knock St Kitts & Nevis Patriots out of contention for the knockouts.Coming in at the fall of Michael Hussey at a precarious 83 for 4, halfway into the 12th over, Sammy set to work by launching a straight six off legspinner Samuel Badree. He then hit Jonathan Carter for two boundaries in the following over. David Miller was bowled by a Krishmar Santokie cutter for 11 off 19 balls, but the dismissal hardly dented Sammy’s momentum.Sammy carted Santokie for back-to-back sixes before raising his first half-century off the tournament off 32 balls, with a drilled four down the ground. Sammy celebrated the landmark by kissing the turf and bowing to the crowd. He top edged fast bowler Alzarri Joseph to long leg in the final over, but by then Zouks had passed 160. Joseph finished well with three wickets off the last four balls of Zouks’ innings.Joseph had started positively as well, taking a tumbling catch at third man off Sheldon Cottrell to dismiss Andre Fletcher in the second over. He then struck with his first ball to limit the contribution of Johnson Charles, who has a stand named after him at this ground, to 25 off 14 balls. Carter got rid of the Australian pair of Shane Watson and Hussey, but Sammy ensured his side ended with a competitive 174.That total began to look bigger when Patriots’ openers – Lendl Simmons and Evin Lewis – fell within the Powerplay in the chase. JJ Smuts (30) and captain Faf du Plessis (48) counter-punched, but the scoreboard pressure was too much for the visitors. They lost their last five wickets for 13 runs and ultimately fell short by 35.Left-arm seamer Delorn Johnson was the pick of the bowlers for Patriots with figures of 3 for 37, while Sammy pitched in with the wicket of wicketkeeper Devon Thomas. The ticket prices had been slashed by 50% to celebrate the first game at the ground, and the crowd lapped up Sammy’s all-round show.The night had begun with Sammy and Charles walking through a guard or honour, and it ended with Sammy bagging the Man-of-the-Match award. The win dragged Zouks up from the bottom of the points table. They face Barbados Tridents next at the same venue on Saturday and Guyana Amazon Warriors on Sunday. Patriots have a week-long break before taking on Trinbago Knight Riders at Lauderhill on July 29.”It was a big day for Darren [Sammy] and it was important for the guys to get the win… It has been a frustrating campaign for the Zouks, and we have had rain, we played out games with breaks between games, it was tricky,” Morne Morkel, who took 1 for 29, said after the match. “As a bowling unit, we rely on a lot of rhythm. Hopefully, with us playing at home with back-to-back games, we will get that sort of rhythm.”

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes the size and weight of bats used in Test cricket should be regulated to ensure a greater balance between bat and ball.At present, cricket’s laws only limit the length and width of bats, not the depth or weight. That has led to the development of bats made from lighter material but with extremely thick edges, such as the Gray-Nicolls Kaboom bats used by David Warner.Speaking at a recent Australian Cricket Society function, Ponting said he had no problem with such bats being used in the shorter forms of the game but believed they should be banned from Test cricket. The main issue, Ponting argued, was the lightweight materials used, and he said that players should not be prevented from using big bats as long as they were also heavy.”I don’t know how they are doing it to make the size of bats they are making now,” Ponting said. “The modern day bats and weight in particular — it’s just a completely different game. Full credit to them. If they are there use them, if there’s a better golf club or tennis racquet everyone will use it. It’s nothing against the players.”If you are strong enough to use them that’s fine, but you should not get a bat that’s bigger in size than [MS] Dhoni’s but a whole lot lighter. Chris Gayle’s the same. Everyone talks about Chris Gayle’s bat size, but it’s 3½ lbs. He’s big enough and strong enough to use it. I only get worried when they are really big and really light.”Ponting will be at the next meeting of the MCC’s World Cricket Committee at Lord’s early next week, and he said bat size and weight would be one of the topics discussed.”I think it will happen,” he said. “I am going in a couple of weeks for a World Cricket Committee meeting and that will be one of the topics talked about. I don’t mind it for the shorter versions of the game.”I would actually say you’ve got a bat you can use in Test cricket and a certain type of bat you can use in one-day cricket and T20 cricket. The short forms of the game survive on boundaries – fours and sixes – whereas the Test game is being dominated too much now by batters because the game is a bit easier for them than it was.”

The ICC Americas office’s relocation from Toronto to Colorado Springs may spark plans for the creation of a new turf pitch facility and national training base in the city for the USA national team.Colorado Spring Sports Corporation president and chief executive Tom Osborne has told ESPNcricinfo that since the initial stages of recruitment in December, that kicked off the process of luring the ICC Americas regional office to Colorado Springs, a turf cricket ground has been mooted in an altered plan for a $30 million, 70-acre sports complex that is being labelled the Field of Dreams.”They’re looking at potentially putting a cricket pitch in between two soccer fields and utilising it for a practice area,” Osborne told ESPNcricinfo regarding proposals for a revised plan. The plan of a multi-purpose field with a turf pitch open to reconfiguration is similar to the design of the Indianapolis World Sports Park, which hosted the ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 championship in May 2015.The Field of Dreams complex is being coordinated by local businessman Craig Ochs and is slated to break ground later this year or early next year. The facility includes plans for baseball, softball, football, lacrosse and rugby fields, as well as indoor training facilities. The proposed complex is located 12 miles north of downtown, just north of Interquest Parkway and on the eastern border of the United States Air Force Academy campus.Osborne says that an alternate or complimentary plan is also being discussed to include a cricket field in another publicly funded $120 million project called City for Champions. The four-part project, which is yet to break ground, has plans for an Olympic museum, a sports medicine centre, relocation of parts of the US Air Force Academy visitors centre and gift shop. The fourth part, in which the cricket facility may be factored into, is the construction of a sports and events centre.Osborne also indicated that such a bold plan was being pitched with the intent to eventually move the future headquarters of USA cricket’s governing body – whether that is USACA’s current headquarters in Lake Worth, Florida or an entirely new entity – to Colorado Springs alongside the ICC Americas office. ICC officials would not confirm any plans regarding the move of a USA Cricket headquarters, but Osborne stated that the ICC Americas offices will be located at the El Pomar Foundation on the Spencer Penrose Estate.Other tenants in the building space shared by ICC Americas will include USA National Karate Do Federation, Running USA and the USA Bobsled & Skeleton Federation. The El Pomar Foundation has made a $10,000 grant to the ICC Americas to enable them to use El Pomar office space rent free for the first year.Regarding a new turf facility in Colorado Springs, ICC head of global development Tim Anderson said that such a facility could encourage a further step in developing a national training centre for USA cricket.”We think it’s a great community and we think cricket being based in Colorado Springs is going to provide a great springboard for the sport’s future in the USA,” Anderson said. “There’s obviously some fantastic general sporting facilities in Colorado Springs and having USA cricket teams coming for training camps and other activities in Colorado Springs is very possible.”We, however, will need a better cricket facility here to do that and we’re certainly talking to lots of people about having a better cricket facility here. But because we’re now a part of the family, we’re now able to access things that we wouldn’t be able to access before. So we’re excited about that and I think they are as well, so I think there’s a mutually beneficial partnership established that I think will serve us well.”Currently, there is only one cricket field in Colorado Springs, an artificial pitch installed in 2002 at the sprawling Memorial Park multi-purpose complex located a mile south of the US Olympic Training Center. Colorado Springs CC president Raymond Mascarenhas says it is utilised as the home ground by their own club, as well as Alburquerque CC, whose members drive 400 miles from New Mexico to use it for matches in the Colorado Cricket League.Mascarhenhas also said it is used annually for the Rocky Mountain State Games, an Olympic style multi-sport games weekend festival in July featuring 10,000 athletes annually. Last year, nine teams featured in, both, tennis ball and leather ball 10-over cricket tournaments. Having another cricket facility beyond Memorial Park could open up participation to more teams in the future at the Rocky Mountain State Games, while Osborne says he is trying his best to convince the ICC staff that the Rocky Mountain State Games model can be used to get cricket into similar events held in other states in an effort to spread the sport.”In talking with the cricket guys, the national congress estate games has about 28 or 30 states that run an Olympic-style sports festival,” Osborne said. “One of the things we’ve suggested is trying to get cricket in each of the different state games.””They need to get a whole strategic plan in getting into grassroots, in getting into classes at the PE level, state games, or various different community-based organisations like the YMCA. It all depends on the leadership they hire and how that individual is going to work with the community, work with us, raising funds, developing fields, developing the high performance plan and training, bringing in conventions and clinics. It just runs the gamut.”