Sikandar Raza saga shows the sinister trend haunting cricket's T20 franchise leagues - and the dangerous world it opens up
If you hadn't followed the story closely, you might have been surprised to tune in to the last few balls of this year's Pakistan Super League on Sunday evening, and see a guy at the crease called Sikandar Raza.
After all, barely 24 hours earlier, a guy called Sikandar Raza had been scoring 60 for Zimbabwe against England at Trent Bridge. How many Sikandar Razas does cricket need?
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
33 minutes ago
- BBC News
One-punch knockout saves Wardley in Huni title bout
British heavyweight Fabio Wardley delivered a stunning, one-punch 10th-round knockout to stop Justis Huni and claim the vacant interim WBA dramatic, unforgettable finish sent a rain-soaked Portman Road crowd into by a vocal home crowd of around 20,000 at Ipswich Town's ground, an outboxed Wardley struggled to find his rhythm and pin down the slicker, sharper on the scorecards and facing defeat by the Australian, all it took was a single punch to turn things around for the landed a thunderous right hand on the chin to send Huni, 26, crashing to the canvas. "Eat your heart out Deontay Wilder, that was a Deontay Wilder moment," Wardley's promoter Frank Warren said victory marked Wardley's 18th knockout in 19 professional wins and moved him one step closer to a world title shot."I don't profess to being any [Oleksandr] Usyk or Justis Huni who has all the skills, but I know how to win fights and that's one thing I knew I had to do tonight," said Wardley."Justis Huni is a great operator. We'd drilled everything over and over again. I should've performed better in some of those champions Usyk and Daniel Dubois set to meet for the undisputed title in July, Wardley – now ranked number one by the WBA – is well-positioned for a shot at global who replaced American Jarrell Miller on short notice, suffered his first professional defeat after 12 consecutive wins."That's my curse. I even said before this fight it only takes one second to switch off, it happened tonight," he said. Dramatic turnaround provides perfect homecoming An outdoor fight in the United Kingdom is never without its risks. Fans wore ponchos and reporters scrambled for shelter as heavy rain fell throughout the downpour eased when Brisbane native Huni made his ring walk to a predictably hostile reception, before the mood shifted as a steely-faced and focused Wardley in the golden glow of the floodlight, the Ipswich-born boxer soaked in the moment he had been dreaming of since turning opening rounds saw both fighters cautiously size each other - well-schooled and boasting serious amateur pedigree – landed a thudding left hook followed by a sharp right in the who only took up boxing at 19 and turned pro after just four white-collar bouts, was known for his raw power and ability to dig it was Huni landing the cleaner shots, especially with that left only two contests beyond six rounds in his career, Wardley began to feel the pace. His timing was off and a grimace in the seventh said it all after Huni whipped in a punishing right when it seemed the homecoming would turn into a nightmare, Wardley achieved one of the biggest turnarounds in recent times to send the crowd into a his beloved football team's recent relegation from the Premier League, with the Tractor Boys failing to register a single home league win in 2025, Wardley brought the good times back to Ipswich. What next for Wardley? Wardley's meteoric rise is nothing short of remarkable, especially for someone who only laced up the gloves a decade said, there is room for caution. He struggled for large parts of the fight, raising the question of whether he is ready to mix it with Usyk, Dubois or Joseph Parker - three of the division's most in-form Wardley has cleared every hurdle put in front of him in the pro ranks. He stopped domestic rival David Adeleye, beat Olympic medallist Frazer Clarke in a thriller, and has now added a respected international name in Huni with a dramatic, highlight-reel when he has that sort of equaliser in his locker, he is a dangerous proposition for any heavyweight will now take some well-earned time to enjoy a more personal milestone, with his partner due to give birth to their first child in a matter of days.
Telegraph
44 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Jeremy Clarkson meets Australia captain Pat Cummins: ‘I've never been a fan of cricket'
Jeremy Clarkson hosted Australia captain Pat Cummins at his Diddly Squat Farm but admitted that he is no fan of cricket. Cummins is gearing up for Australia's World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord's next week and took the opportunity to visit Clarkson's famous farm in Chipping Norton. The pair also played a game of farmyard cricket, testing a bat that had been made from willow grown on Clarkson's Diddly Squat Farm. Cummins, who will lead Australia against England in the Ashes series later this year, bowled at Clarkson's Farm stars Kaleb Cooper and Charlie Ireland in the light-hearted game. Clarkson watched as a spectator-cum-fielder. 'I've watched every episode of Clarkson's Farm and visiting the team from Diddly Squat Farm ahead of training for the World Test Championship final was a real treat,' said Cummins, who owns a farm in New South Wales. 'The life of a farmer is just as chaotic as you see on the show, and I was very impressed with Charlie's idea to grow English cricket bat willow. Thanks to Jeremy and the team for hosting me.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Pat Cummins (@patcummins30) Clarkson said that he relished hosting Cummins, despite his lack of interest in cricket. 'I've never been a fan of cricket,' Clarkson said. 'I always had too much hay fever to know what was going on. But at least now I've found a way to make some money out of it. 'We enjoyed showing Pat around Diddly Squat Farm, after we had Oscar Piastri visit us previously as well. The only non-Australian sportsman who's visited was David Beckham.' The event was arranged by Amazon Prime, who are showing the World Test Championship live in Australia and also broadcast Clarkson's Farm. Australia are the reigning World Test champions, after defeating India in the 2023 final. Their match against South Africa at Lord's begins on Wednesday. Cummins, who has taken 294 Test wickets at an average of 22.4 as well as contributing crucial lower-order runs, is regarded as one of Australia's finest-ever cricketers.
Times
44 minutes ago
- Times
Post Office victims offered ‘pathetic' payouts: 0.5% of their claims
Dozens of postmasters caught up in the Post Office Horizon scandal have been offered compensation of just a fraction of their original claims, according to a forensic accountant working on their cases. Kay Linnell, a former chief investigating accountant at the Inland Revenue, now HM Revenue & Customs, described the offers made to victims as 'pathetic' and argued that the compensation schemes seemed 'designed to fail'. She is aware of about 30 subpostmasters who have received offers of between half a per cent and 15 per cent of their original claim. While many are reluctant to speak out while their claims are still being processed, The Sunday Times has been told of one former subpostmistress who has been offered just 0.56 per cent of what she believed she was entitled to. Linnell, 70, has been fighting alongside Sir Alan Bates for 12 years to secure justice for hundreds of subpostmasters who were wrongly fired and prosecuted by the Post Office due to financial shortfalls in their branch accounts. Those shortfalls were found to be the fault of the Horizon IT system — yet the Post Office continued to prosecute victims even after it was alerted to potential problems. Linnell, who was appointed OBE in January for services to justice, worked with Bates's Justice For Subpostmasters Alliance (JFSA) free of charge and was one of the figures portrayed in the ITV drama series Mr Bates vs the Post Office. She became involved through her business partner, Barbara Jeremiah, who got to know Jo Hamilton, one of the most high-profile victims, because she bought lunch at her Post Office in their small Hampshire village every day on her way to work. More recently, Linnell has been helping with compensation claims for the 555 subpostmasters who secured a High Court ruling against the Post Office in 2019. They are eligible for compensation via the group litigation order (GLO) scheme, which is one of four schemes being administered by the Department for Business and Trade. Claimants can opt for a fixed sum of £75,000 or to seek an individual settlement of their losses, likely to require a higher payout. The claims are initially assessed by the business department but if there are disputes the cases can be referred to an independent panel for review and ultimately to the independent reviewer, who is a retired High Court judge. As of March, 282 of the 446 claims made had been paid, although 155 of those settled accepted the £75,000 fixed payment. However, growing numbers of subpostmasters believe the scheme is denying them the compensation they deserve. Last month, Bates said the government had turned it into a 'quasi kangaroo court', and assurances that the scheme would be 'non-legalistic' had turned out to be 'worthless'. Officials have been demanding documents from claimants that many had lost years ago. Bates also revealed he had been presented with a 'take it or leave it' offer amounting to less than half his original claim. Linnell said she had been contacted by about 45 to 50 claimants whose offers appeared to be 'substantially undervalued'. She added about 30 of those had received offers worth less than one sixth of their claim, adding these were the cases 'I get most upset about'. Linnell said that 'when you boil down the patheticness of the offers', they were the result of the scheme administrators putting a much lower value on the loss of investments that subpostmasters suffered when they were forced to sell assets to cover their account shortfalls. She added that a similar approach was being taken towards loss of future earnings — the amount subpostmasters should be compensated for losing their livelihoods. Linnell cited the case of one subpostmistress who has been offered 0.56 per cent of her claim. While the woman wishes to remain anonymous, she became a victim of the Horizon scandal shortly after purchasing a small Post Office branch that had generated low profits under the previous owner. She took out a substantial bank loan to add a café and shop. However, when the branch reopened after renovations, she was unable to pay suppliers because the Post Office had taken funds to recoup shortfall losses that were, in fact, the result of Horizon. This forced her to close the branch just six weeks later, at which point the bank demanded full repayment of her loan. The former subpostmistress contacted Linnell when putting together her compensation claim. 'Her claim had gone through all the checks Alan and I agreed should be in place, before the department started moving the goalposts,' Linnell said. 'It came back with an offer that was so pathetic.' Linnell said the dispute arose because the officials assessing her claim did 'not accept her trading and profit forecasts'. Instead, they cited the previous owner's revenue streams, despite the fact that the investments made by the subpostmistress would have meant that the business probably would have generated higher returns in future. 'I've gone back to her lawyers and suggested they submit the business plan that the bank happily accepted when issuing the loan,' Linnell said. Linnell, like Bates, believes the GLO scheme has become overly bureaucratic and legalistic, pointing out that three law firms are involved in the process. 'This is a pro bono scheme, it doesn't need to be following strict legal principles,' she said. She also believes that despite promises made by ministers, the officials involved in the schemes are attempting to reduce the total amount paid out in compensation. Labour has set aside £1.8 billion to settle claims. Linnell added: 'They are finding every legal loophole they can think of, under civil litigation rules, not to pay. It's designed to fail. What they are trying to do is to keep a handle on cashflow.' The government disputes this characterisation. A Department for Business and Trade spokesman said: 'We recognise the suffering that sub-postmasters have endured, which is why this government developed our compensation arrangement in discussion with Sir Alan Bates as well as Dr Kay Linnell and their lawyers, with £964 million having now been paid to over 6,800 claimants across all the Horizon schemes. 'Victims who are unhappy with their offer have access to legal support and an independent panel to review their claim.'
