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Key moments from the fith day of the 1st Investec Test between England and South Africa at The Oval

Firdose Moonda and George Dobell23-Jul-2012 Interest of the day

Test cricket has flirted with extinction but it is likely that it will not get there for a long, long time. If you needed any proof of its vitality you need only have disembarked at the Oval underground station at around 10.30 on Monday morning. The train was packed and the touts were doing a roaring trade. Fifth-day tickets were a fifth of the price of the other days and school holidays had started but it was a working day and England up against it, which might have lessened the support base. Nothing of the sort happened. When play started, two-thirds of the seats were filled and after four sold-out days, more than 100,000 people had seen some play at The Oval.Drop of the day

AB de Villiers did a handy job in the first innings, when he held on to every catch that came his way but the same cannot be said of the second. With South Africa five wickets away from a series lead, Imran Tahir sent down a venomous legbreak, with enough turn and bounce to take the edge off Ian Bell’s block. Bell was half forward, the catch was fairly simple and de Villiers had two attempts to complete it but could not hold on to register his first fluff behind the stumps. Bell was on 20 at the time and went on to make a stubborn half-century so vital to England’s cause that he received a standing ovation.Celeb-spot of the day

With Olympic fever raging in the air, there was every chance the five rings themselves would make an appearance. They did not quite make it to The Oval but an Olympian did: South Africa’s 4 x 100 metre gold medallist Ryk Neethling, who will compete at the London Games was in attendance when South Africa wrapped up a famous win. The timing of the Games has meant the national cricket team has received support from people who do not usually get to watch them. Two days earlier, the country’s sports minister Fikile Mbalula, who is in the United Kingdom to set up the South African athletes village, was also at the ground to congratulate Graeme Smith on his century in his 100th Test.Contrast of the day:

The dismissal of Matt Prior, top-edging a sweep to slip, produced wildly-contrasting emotions in the batsman and bowler. Matt Prior, aghast at the sheer awfulness of his stroke, was rooted to his crease, head in his hands, coming to terms with the injury he had inflicted upon his team. Imran Tahir, meanwhile, celebrated with the unbridled enthusiasm that has made him such an endearing player. By the time Prior dragged himself from the crease, Tahir was at deep fine leg running in circles and bellowing with joy.Over rule of the day:

England’s last hope died when Stuart Broad, a man with a Test century to his name, was caught down the leg side. It was an interesting decision by the TV Umpire, Kumar Dharmasena. While the on-field umpire – Asad Rauf – had given a ‘not out’ decision and there were no obvious signs of contact from Hot Spot, Dharmasena made his decision partially on the evidence of the stump microphones, which did suggest contact with the glove, and partially on replay evidence which, while not conclusive, was certainly suggestive. He was probably right, but whether there was enough evidence to overrule the on-field umpire was a moot point.Concern of the day:

Amid all the South African celebrations, there was just one area of concern for South Africa: the performance of AB de Villiers as a stand-in wicketkeeper was increasingly unconvincing. He dropped Ian Bell, on 20, standing up to Imran Tahir and his failure to reach the stumps in time to collect JP Duminy’s throw – not the first time in the match that de Villiers failed to do this – also cost South Africa the chance of running Bell out on 28. England were unable to make South Africa pay for the error but, when the tourists select their team for the second Test, they may reflect that their top six is perfectly adequate and they could so with the specialist keeping skills of Thami Tsolekile. If that is the case, it may prove bad news for Duminy. Perhaps if Duminy’s throw had hit, de Villiers error may have gone unnoticed?

Morne Morkel, who limped out of the Champions Trophy with a quad strain, has been named in the South Africa squad to tour Sri Lanka for a five-match ODI series

Firdose Moonda04-Jul-2013Morne Morkel, who limped out of the Champions Trophy with a quad strain, has been named in South Africa’s squad to tour Sri Lanka later this month. The group will be under the control of newly-appointed head coach Russell Domingo and will play five ODIs and three T20s but no Tests because of a request by the SLC to postpone the longer format.While Domingo has one pace ace back, he will be without another. Dale Steyn, has been left out of the squad as he still needs about three weeks of recovery after a side-strain and groin injury dented his participation in the Champions Trophy. Steyn played only one of South Africa’s four games and will be rested to ensure he is fully fit for the upcoming summer which includes a trip to the UAE and incoming tours by India and Australia.The rest of the fifty-over squad had a familiar look about it with only one change to the 15 who were at the Champions Trophy. Wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock has been recalled and could slot in at the top to partner Hashim Amla, although he will have to compete with Alviro Petersen for a place.”Consistency in selection” has been one of convenor Andrew Hudson’s catchphrases during his time in the job and it continues to be the mantra for the national team. As a result, the Domingo days begin in much the same way as the Gary Kirsten era ended although the demands on the new coach appear greater.While Kirsten was tasked with securing the Test mace above all else, Domingo has been asked to maintain that stature and return South Africa’s ODI squad to their form of years gone by – when losing a series was uncommon – and to have an eye on winning the 2015 World Cup. His building for that event starts in Sri Lanka.”I want to try and get consistency in one-day cricket and stick to selecting a group of about 18 players over the next few years,” Domingo said at his press conference in Johannesburg. “I don’t think South Africa have won in Sri Lanka, so if you’re looking for a tough assignment, this is one of the toughest. I would love to have hosted a team in South Africa and played in our conditions but that’s not the cards that were dealt. This is a challenge but if we can get through with a positive result, it will be a good start.”An obvious speedbump on that road is the lack of seniority in the ranks. Graeme Smith could not be considered for the tour because he is still recovering from ankle surgery. Team management remains hopeful he will be ready for the Tests against Pakistan in October but will only have clarity by early September.Jacques Kallis is the other notable absentee. He has not played an ODI in 17 months and speculation has grown over his future in the shorter formats. Kallis made himself unavailable for the Champions Trophy for personal reasons although Kirsten said he would be on standby for major tournaments.Now, even that has become unclear and Domingo indicated there will be decision made on his further involvement in fifty-over cricket soon. “We’re going to have to have a discussion with Jacques about his future in the shorter version,” Domingo said. “We’re trying to put a squad together that will take us to World Cups. There needs to be a discussion in terms of where he is at and whether we see him adding value in those tournaments.”

South Africa squads

• South Africa ODI squad: AB de Villiers (capt.), Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, JP Duminy, Colin Ingram, Rory Kleinveldt, Ryan Mclaren, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Alviro Petersen, Robin Peterson, Aaron Phangiso, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

• South Africa T20 squad: Faf du Plessis (capt.), Farhaan Behardien, Henry Davids, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, Rory Kleinveldt, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, David Wiese

• South Africa A squad for four-day matches: Justin Ontong (capt.), Kyle Abbott, Temba Bavuma, Marchant de Lange, Dean Elgar, Ayabulela Gqamane, Simon Harmer, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, Rilee Rossouw, Thami Tsolekile, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Stiaan van Zyl, Hardus Viljoen

• South Africa A squad for one-day matches: Justin Ontong (capt.), Kyle Abbott, Temba Bavuma, Dean Elgar, Ayabulela Gqamane, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, Richard Levi, Rilee Rossouw, Yaseen Vallie, Roelof van der Merwe, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Dane Vilas, Hardus Viljoen

Although the World Cup is foremost in South African administrators minds’, they also have an eye on next year’s World Twenty20. Domingo has been in charge of the T20 squad since December. In what has been a largely experimental phase, South Africa beat New Zealand in a three-match series but lost to Pakistan.Domingo now seems to have settled on an outfit, which will be captained by Faf du Plessis. Robin Peterson has been left out, with Imran Tahir the second spinner. The Pakistan-born legspinner has not played for South Africa since being smacked for 260 runs in a Test match against Australia in Adelaide, but has enjoyed a strong return in domestic cricket. Tahir took 12 wickets in the domestic T20 competition last season at an average of 23.58 and was the second-highest wicket-taking spinner behind Aaron Phangiso. Domingo hopes the two will combine well at international level too and that Tahir’s wicket-taking abilities will come to the fore.”To have him to bowl in the middle of innings is massive. With the conditions we will be playing in and the World T20 in Bangladesh next year, he has got to come into the picture,” Domingo said. “His performances have shown he has overcome whatever perceived mental frailties he had after the Australia series. He is a tough guy.”Allrounder David Wiese is the only new face in the T20 squad. He has earned his place through strong performances with the A side and boasts a strike rate of 172.46 in the format. He was chosen over the likes of Marchant de Lange, who the selectors feel is still working his way back into form after stress fractures robbed him of a summer of his career.De Lange has been included in the A squad to play Australia A in two four-day matches later this month as part of a plan to bring him back into contention for the senior squad. South Africa A play two unofficial Tests against their Australian counterparts and a fifty-over tri-series which also includes India A.As is often the case, nobody will be able to accuse them of being underprepared when the big challenges arrive later in the year. But that has seldom been the main issue for South Africa’s coaches to deal with. Instead, theirs has always been a case of resolving the mental conundrum that continues to hold South Africa back in major tournaments.Domingo admitted healing the wounds from the Champions Trophy exit will be his foremost in his mind when the team tours Sri Lanka. “If anybody says it’s not hurting, then their heart is not in the right place,” he said.”Whether we choked or not is another case but if you look at it, England are ranked higher than us, which says they have been playing more consistent cricket. For us to have the expectation that we could beat them was maybe getting ahead of ourselves. It hurts the players when we don’t win and when we disappoint people. It will need some mending to get over.” He hopes Colombo on July 20 will be the first band-aid.

The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) has adopted a new constitution and, as per the stipulations of the new constitution, elected former assistant secretary Drubahadur as its president

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jan-2013The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) has adopted a new constitution and, as per the stipulations of the new constitution, elected former assistant secretary Drubahadur as its president. These changes were sanctioned at the GCB’s annual general meeting in Georgetown on January 27, but it is as yet not certain whether this new development would ease the WICB-backed Guyana board’s continuing standoff with the country’s government.Drubahadur, a GCB press release said, was the lone nominee for the post of president. He takes over from Fizul Bacchus, who was named acting president following the resignation of Ramsey Ali in February 2012. Ali had been elected to the post in a contentious election in July 2011, and quit after police and court officials raided his home and the homes of other board officials.Those raids were part of the ongoing conflict between the GCB and the Guyana government, which began when the government dissolved the board due to the dispute over the 2011 elections. The elections were boycotted by some of the board’s constituent members, one of which, the Berbice Cricket Board, took the GCB to court, claiming the new administration was not properly established. The Chief Justice recommended that “there may be immediate need for the minister responsible for sports to impose his executive will in the national interest”.Following that ruling, Guyana’s sports minister Dr Frank Anthony appointed an Interim Management Committee (IMC), headed by ex-West Indies captain Clive Lloyd, to run cricket in Guyana. The WICB, however, refused to acknowledge the IMC, in keeping with the ICC’s stance against government intervention in cricket administration, and said the only authority it would recognise was the GCB.At Sunday’s AGM, Bacchus was elected vice-president, administration, while Anand Sanasie and Anand Kalladeen got the posts of secretary and treasurer respectively. Auditing firm Barcellos Narine was also elected to be auditors of the Guyana board.

UAE and Ireland also tasted victories to kick off their campaigns, defeating Canada and Uganda, respectively

Sreshth Shah16-Jan-2022
India’s captain Yash Dhull impressed with his batting and catching to help his side seal a 45-run win over South Africa. However, the game was closer than what the scorecard would suggest, with South Africa capitulating in the final third of the chase. And making most of their collapse was left-arm spinner Vicky Ostwal, who took three lower-order wickets to finish with 5 for 28.In pursuit of 233, South Africa needed 100 to win in the last 15 overs with seven wickets in hand. At that stage, both Dewald Brevis, who top-scored with 65, and captain George Van Heerden were set at the crease. But South Africa went on to lose their next five wickets for only 20 runs, a collapse triggered by Brevis’ dismissal.Nicknamed ‘Baby AB’, No. 3 Brevis showed off his range of shots with six fours and two sixes, but was caught by Dhull while diving forward at mid-off off right-arm seamer Raj Bawa. Bawa, who had conceded 17 runs in his first over, was bowling his second spell when he prised out Brevis’ wicket in the 36th over, and followed it up with Van Heerden’s dismissal, eventually finishing with 4 for 47.However, Bawa was not the standout bowler. India’s bowling effort was controlled by their two left-arm spinners Nishant Sindhu and Ostwal. Although Sindhu went wicketless, he conceded only 22 runs in his quota of ten overs, while Ostwal’s five-wicket haul came at an economy of 2.80.South Africa’s chase had started off with opener Ethan-John Cunningham out lbw to a beautiful length delivery from seamer Rajvardhan Hangargekar. It nipped in and trapped Cunningham while he shouldered arms. Ostwal then removed the dangerous-looking Valentine Kitime for 25 with a ball spinning away that took the right-hander’s outside edge to wicketkeeper Dinesh Bana, and took his second when Gerhardus Maree edged another one behind.Brevis and Van Heerden then began South Africa’s recovery from a score of 83 for 3, but consumed too many dots, scoring just 55 runs in a partnership that lasted 91 deliveries. Most of those overs were bowled by the two left-arm spinners who put in the choke. Yet, with seven wickets standing and the required run rate a manageable 6.67 in the last 15 overs, it was still doable for South Africa.Dewald Brevis’ 65 went in vain for South Africa Under-19•ICC via Getty Images

That is when Bawa got in their way to remove Brevis. Ostwal too returned, rattlling Michael Copeland’s stumps, and going on to dismiss Kadence Sullivan and Matthew Boast as well. Dhull, earlier India’s hero with the bat, took the final catch in the 46th over to complete India’s 45-run victory.But during India’s innings, South Africa’s left-arm seamer Aphiwe Mnyanda had given his side a promising start. He got both openers Harnoor Singh and Angkrish Raghuvanshi lbw early on, taking advantage of the moisture that was around following some pre-match rain.At 11 for 2, Dhull joined his vice-captain Shaik Rasheed, who scored 31, and despite the early jolts, batted positively to keep the scoreboard ticking with a 71-run third-wicket stand.Dhull played exquisite cuts off the back foot, and crunched cover drives through the gaps to balls that had width. And when the No. 5 Sindhu began with a flurry of boundaries, Dhull briefly took the back seat, but the partnership broke when Sindhu was stumped off Copeland for a 25-ball 27.At that stage, India were 126 for 4 in the 27th over, but Dhull was growing in confidence after going past fifty. He struck 11 fours in all and looked set for a century, offering no real chance to the South Africa bowlers. But that changed in the 39th over when he looked for a single that wasn’t there, and while trying to turn back, was out via a direct hit from point.Kaushal Tambe then took over, contributing 35 after a slow start to his innings. However, he was out while trying to cut to point off Boast. Next ball, Boast took his third when Hangargekar fell for a duck with India in danger of not batting the entire 50 overs. And that is what ultimately happened when Ostwal chipped a half-tracker back to legspinner Brevis with India’s score at 232.In the end, though, the 19 deliveries that India did not face did not end up hurting them. Their superior run rate on a two-paced and spinning surface proved too much for South Africa.Ali Naseer hit 73 in just 50 deliveries•ICC via Getty Images

Group A started off with United Arab Emirates riding on the back of seventies from Punya Mehra and Ali Naseer to defeat Canada by 49 runs in Basseterre.Batting first, they put on 70 for the fifth wicket after UAE were 104 for 4 at one stage, and once Mehra was out for 71, Naseer brought out the big shots, including four sixes and five fours, to score 73 in just 50 deliveries. He combined with Nilansh Keswani, who scored 39, in a 69-run sixth-wicket stand as UAE added 92 runs in the last nine-and-a-half overs before Naseer was the last man out in the final over with the total at 284.Canada had three significant batting contributions, with their captain Mihir Patel leading from the front with a 105-ball 96, while opener Anoop Chima made 46 and No. 8 Kairav Sharma scored 43. But with only one other batter crossing double digits, they fell well short, bowled out for 235 in the 47th over.Keswani contributed with the ball too, taking 2 for 32 with his left-arm spin. Legspinner Adithya Shetty grabbed two middle-order wickets, and seam-bowling allrounder Alishan Sharafu dismissed Mihir and Kairav.
In Port of Spain, a century from their captain Emmanuel Bawa and a collective effort from the bowlers helped Zimbabwe crush Papua New Guinea by 228 runs.Batting first, Bawa’s 95-ball 100 – that included ten fours and two sixes – set the tone for others around him to help Zimbabwe post 321. Opener Panashe Taruvinga scored a patient 36, but the rest of the batters went at a much quicker clip. David Bennett scored 58 in 53 balls, Brian Bennett struck a quick-fire 23, Connor Mitchell smacked a run-a-ball 35 and, in the death overs, No. 10 Victor Chirwa cracked a 16-ball 35. Albeit expensive, PNG’s Rasan Kevau took three wickets in ten overs.In response, however, PNG were all out for 93 in 35 overs, their highest partnership reading 23 and their highest individual score being 15. Ngenyasha Zvinoera, Brian Bennett and Chirwa took two wickets each, with one apiece from Tendekai Mataranyika and Mitchell.
In the other Group B match of the day, Ireland’s wicketkeeper-batter Joshua Cox struck an unbeaten 111 to set up a 39-run win over Uganda. Uganda rode on their captain Pascal Murungi’s innings of 63 to stay in contention of the 237-run target, but eventually fell short as a result of four wickets from Ireland’s left-arm spinner Matthew Humphreys.Batting first, Ireland had lost four wickets before even crossing 100, but Cox’s 59-run fifth-wicket stand with Philippus le Roux, who got 32, started their recovery. Even though wickets fell around him, Cox at No. 4 stayed undefeated in an innings of eight fours and one six to take Ireland to 236 in the end.In the chase, Humphreys began Uganda’s downfall with two wickets in third over, dismissing both openers cheaply. In the 29th over, he got Pius Olaba to reduce Uganda to 97 for 6. And with Murungi being the lone man standing between Ireland and a win, Humphreys sent him back too in the 42nd over with an lbw. Even though Juna Miyaji hit a 21-ball 38 from No. 9 for Uganda, Ireland seamer Muzamil Sherzad returned in his last spell to clean up the last two wickets to give Ireland the two points.

Kevin Pietersen has been ruled out of the Test series against New Zealand after it was decided he needed further time to recover from his knee injury

Andrew McGlashan16-Apr-2013Kevin Pietersen has been ruled out of the Test series against New Zealand after it was decided he needed further time to recover from his knee injury.Pietersen was forced to miss the final Test in New Zealand last month and was diagnosed with bruising on his right knee. He has since been wearing a brace to aid his recovery – which he has yet to come out of – and will not be risked for the two-Test series, which starts on May 16, with his next target being the Champions Trophy in June although the ECB have not confirmed a new timescale.Pietersen, who is currently in Dubai, tweeted: “Injuries are a sportsman’s worst nightmare! This one is hurting me the most..”When he flew home from New Zealand his recovery time was estimated at around eight weeks which always left it unlikely that he would be fit for the start of the international season.An ECB statement said: “England and Surrey batsman Kevin Pietersen has been ruled out of the upcoming Investec Test series against New Zealand as he continues his recovery from significant bone bruising to his right knee. Pietersen will have a repeat scan next week to determine when he is able to resume training.”Pietersen first picked up the problem before England’s warm-up match in Queenstown ahead of the Test series, possibly when he slipped during a fielding drill, and although he played the Tests in Dunedin and Wellington he was not fully fit.Although there is still a month before the New Zealand series starts at Lord’s on May 16, the ECB have taken an early decision on Pietersen’s fitness which will avoid conjecture and allow the selectors to assess the form of his likely replacements in the County Championship.Jonny Bairstow came in for him in Auckland, as the only spare batsman on tour, and struggled having played one first-class innings in seven months. If the selectors maintain consistency, Bairstow should be the first in line to play at Lord’s although the next few weeks of Championship action will allow others to stake their claim.

Inglis, Ackermann seal eight-wicket win in nine-over chase

ECB Reporters' Network02-Jul-2021Leicestershire Foxes inflicted a damaging defeat on Durham’s bid to qualify for the Vitality Blast quarter-finals by beating the home side by eight wickets via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method at Emirates Riverside.Josh Inglis and Colin Ackermann were on point for the visitors in a revised chase of 88 from nine overs, powering their way over the line with four balls to spare.Durham posted 115 for 4 from 15.1 overs before rain interrupted their innings. Graham Clark and Sean Dickson scored vital runs to allow the hosts to post a competitive total. However, their bowlers struggled to contain the Foxes to slip to their second defeat on the bounce, leaving their last-eight hopes in the balance.After inserting the home side, Callum Parkinson made immediate inroads to dismiss David Bedingham, who chipped straight to Ackermann. Ben Stokes’ struggles to find his form continued as he looped an attempted pull to Parkinson at leg-slip to hand Naveen-ul-Haq his first wicket before two Foxes men combined again as Cameron Bancroft fell attempting a scoop shot.Clark found his rhythm with boundaries from the off-spin of Scott Steel and Ackermann. The opener made his way to 40 before he Rishi Patel produced a fine low grab at cover, allowing Gavin Griffiths to claim his 50th T20 wicket. Dickson and Ned Eckersley rallied the home side’s innings, putting on a stand of 45 before the rain brought a premature end to the Durham innings in the 16th over.Play resumed after a stoppage of over an hour, with the Foxes chasing a revised target of 88 from nine overs. Inglis got the Leicestershire innings off to a strong start, scoring two boundaries off the first two balls of Harry Crawshaw’s opening over. However, Steel was run out against his former club for only two to set the visitors back in their chase. Stokes then removed Arron Lilley with a neat catch on the return to put the pressure on the Foxes.Inglis and Ackermann responded in turn with a brilliant counterattack, whittling down the required rate with superb striking to the fence. Matthew Potts and Ben Raine failed to contain the Foxes, leaving the visitors needing only 15 from the final two overs. Ackermann eased his team over the line four balls to spare scoring back-to-back boundaries off the first two balls of the final over, securing their fourth win of the competition.

Spending 179 and 159.2 overs on the field has led to them getting to a “breaking point”

Mohammad Isam01-May-2021The Bangladesh team reached a physical and mental “breaking point” on the third afternoon of the second Test in Pallekele, according to coach Russell Domingo. He was referring to the 179 and 159.2 overs they have been in the field over the two Tests against Sri Lanka with three rest days thrown in. Domingo however said that there were some soft dismissals as the visitors were bowled out for 251 – losing 7 for 37 – and ending the day behind by 259 runs.”The guys have spent so much time on the field in the last 4-5 days (over the two Tests),” Domingo said. “They are probably a little bit mentally fatigued after being in the field for 338 overs. It wears you down physically and mentally as a cricketer. It could be one of the reasons. Obviously, there were one or two soft dismissals.”All teams reach a breaking point. Our breaking point came this afternoon when we were batting. It has been a tough day for us. We have to try to be positive. There’s still a lot of cricket to be played. We have to make sure the guys are in a good frame of mind when we bowl tomorrow (Sunday).”Domingo also expects the less-experienced players in the line-up to make bigger contributions. And as part of that process, he wants to identify young players and back them. In return, he expects them to repay the faith to lessen the burden on the likes of Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim.”It is a batting unit that we need to support and identify roles for, and make sure get better,” he said. “There are six or seven batters who all need to contribute, and build partnerships. While Tamim has played really well, the focus shouldn’t be just on one particular player. We have some younger players who need to step up and put in big performances. We have to give them opportunities so that they can get to the levels of Tamim and Mushfiq in time to come.”The coach was also of the opinion that Iqbal should continue to bat aggressively upfront. The senior batter has scored four fifties in a row now, having shredded a slightly-conservative template.”In our particular line-up at the moment, we have four or five players who haven’t played ten Tests yet,” he observed. “There’s a lot of inexperience, so we need to encourage someone like Tamim to play positively, and take pressure off the younger players. Some of the younger players are not at east to express themselves, and play with that sort of intent.”Domingo also pointed towards Bangladesh’s previous Test series for inspiration, underlining how West Indies scaled their 395-run target in the fourth innings to win the Chattogram Test by three wickets.”We were part of an unbelievable Test match a few months ago, when West Indies chased down 387,” he said. “We know that we are way behind the game at the moment. We are under a lot of pressure. Sri Lanka are dominating at the moment. But if we can pick up early wickets, cause a little bit of jitters in the change room, you never know. Somebody comes out and plays a great innings. So we have to remain positive going into day four.”Did Bangladesh pick the best XI? Domingo certainly thinks so, despite the bowlers toiling away. “It is easy to say after three days of cricket that we picked the wrong team,” he said. “I don’t think we have (picked the wrong team). We have a balanced bowling attack, who we think can take 20 wickets. When we bowled on day one, there wasn’t much spin on offer. Obviously the wicket started to spin now, towards the end of day three. It was tricky for the batsmen.”

Despite having played little cricket in recent times, Shane Watson is convinced about his readiness to bowl as many overs as his team needs in Perth and ease the workload of the frontline seamers

Brydon Coverdale in Perth28-Nov-2012Shane Watson has bowled 71 first-class overs in the past year. Peter Siddle delivered nearly that many in the Adelaide Test alone. Watson has bowled with the red ball in only one match this summer – the Sheffield Shield game in which he broke down after four overs. Since the start of last season, he has sent down fewer first-class deliveries than Simon Katich. And yet Australia will rely heavily on Watson to ease the workload of the frontline fast men when the Perth Test starts on Friday.It is easy to forget how little long-form cricket Watson has played in recent times. His presence around the squad, and his omnipresence in Twenty20s and one-dayers around the world never keep him away from a headline or a highlights package. But the decider against South Africa at the WACA will be Watson’s first Test on home soil since the disastrous 2010-11 Ashes campaign. How his body will cope remains to be seen, but he is confident that his most recent calf injury is behind him.”Over the last week I’ve been gradually building up my running and my bowling,” Watson said in Perth on Wednesday. “I bowled six overs in the nets yesterday before we left in Adelaide so I’m certainly going to be up to bowling as many overs as Michael [Clarke] wants and probably the normal sort of workload really that I bowl in a Test match. Things have progressed really well over the past week so I’m ready to go.”He needs to be. The heavy burden shouldered by Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus in Adelaide, where the loss of James Pattinson early in the match left Australia one bowler short, will make Clarke reluctant to ask too much of them, given the short break between games. Put simply, it is unlikely the Australians will have the luxury of easing Watson back in with one or two overs here or there, and despite his serious lack of red-ball bowling over the past year, he believes he is up to it.”I understand that could be a possibility and at the moment that’s the biggest challenge for Ben and Peter for their mammoth effort in second innings to be able to freshen up as quick as they can,” he said. “I do understand there will be a possibility of me bowling as many overs as I need to, to be able to help the team hopefully win. But in the end my body is on the condition to be able to do it, so I’m certainly fresh over the past couple of weeks compared to some of the other guys that have been out there.”Fresh is one way of putting it. But the line between being fresh and underdone can be a thin one. That’s something Watson has come to learn the hard way over the course of his career. Rushing back too soon from injury has cost Watson in the past, and he has had more time than most players to ponder the best balance for his game. Typically, bowling has caused or exacerbated his many injuries, even though his batting at the top of the order is his primary role within Australia’s Test side.The Adelaide Test marked an unwanted milestone for Watson: it was the 50th Test he had missed since his debut in 2005. Although he might have been left out of some of the early matches for reasons of form or team balance, the vast majority of his absences have been due to injury, and the numbers are staggering when compared with his batting team-mate Michael Hussey, who also debuted in 2005 and has played 75 Tests without missing one.But despite the frequency with which he has been sidelined, Watson remains unwilling to consider himself a specialist batsman. In his own mind, he remains an allrounder, and it would take a drastic course of events for him to change his thinking – more drastic, that is, than missing more Tests than he plays.”Not unless something goes very horribly wrong, I wouldn’t want to give up on bowling,” he said. “One part I love of the game – I know it puts more pressure on my body to be able to play consistently but it’s something I just love so much and have loved doing since I was an allrounder since I was a young kid. The ultimate enjoyment for me is to play as an allrounder. Mentally the injury setbacks are frustrating at times, but it doesn’t take away the love of being able to contribute with bat and ball.”

Mohammad Hafeez has urged the PCB to schedule more Test matches for the national team because he believes it is the format that helps produce quality cricketers

Umar Farooq14-Jan-2013Mohammad Hafeez, Pakistan’s Test vice captain, has urged the PCB to schedule more Test matches for the national team because he believes it is the format that helps produce quality cricketers. In the last five years, Pakistan have played 35 Tests, more than only Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. England, in comparison, played 63.”It’s unfortunate that we get less Test matches,” Hafeez said in Karachi. “We played three Tests in January [2012] and then three in June, and again after six months we will play in South Africa, which is hard on us. I would urge the board to take up this issue and try to schedule more Test matches for us because I believe players only develop by playing Test matches.”Test cricket produces good quality cricketers, like we have found Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq. We need to promote Test cricket but if we play only six Tests in a year then it will be tough. I think PCB needs to fight for more Tests in the next fixture because you get quality cricketers from Test cricket.”According to the ICC’s FTP, Pakistan are scheduled to play 88 Tests between 2012 and 2020. They will play ten Tests in 2013 and then face a five to six-month break before hosting Australia for three Tests in October 2014. Pakistan have had to play their home Tests at off-shore venues such as England and the UAE after the Sri Lankan team was attacked by terrorists in Lahore in March 2009.Pakistan’s last Test series was in Sri Lanka in June and July and they head to South Africa later this month for a three-match contest, which begins on February 1. Their previous tour to South Africa was in 2007, and of this current squad only Hafeez, Younis Khan and Faisal Iqbal were in that tour party.”A Test series in South Africa will be challenging because the conditions are different. We played there in 2007 but this time we are carrying an entirely new combination,” Hafeez said. “We are going there ten days in advance and have a side match before the Test so it will give us some good preparation. They have a good combination of batting and bowling but we too are going there after winning our series in India, which has lifted our morale a lot.”Pakistan selectors on Friday named two rookie fast bowlers – Mohammad Irfan and Ehsan Adil – for the South Africa tour, along with Junaid Khan and Umar Gul. “It’s a decision of the selection committee,” said Hafeez, accepting his “side is short of another fast bowler” but he was confident this attack, which includes spinners Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman, would fare well in South Africa.”We have an emerging bowler in Junaid Khan and then Umar Gul is very experienced,” Hafeez said. “Mohammad Irfan is also progressing well.”

“We need to use him in a space where we can maximise his skills and we’ve looked at how we can do that”

Shashank Kishore31-Mar-2021Mike Hesson, the Royal Challengers Bangalore team director, is clear that the team is looking at Glenn Maxwell to be the finisher they have lacked in the recent past. Without giving away much of the team’s plans, Hesson stressed on clarity of roles as being key to getting the best out of “X-factor players” such as Maxwell.”Glenn Maxwell is a fantastic player, and he fits what we require in the middle order,” Hesson said on Wednesday. “We want some X-factor players, that high-impact player we’ve talked about. We’ve just found through the middle overs as an area [to work on], so to have another player of that quality just adds to the likes of AB de Villiers and a two-pronged attack through the middle overs and the back-end.Maxwell was released by the Punjab Kings after a poor IPL 2020, in which he managed just 108 runs and three wickets in 13 matches. However, that did not stop Maxwell from listing his base price in the highest bracket of INR 2 crore ahead of the 2021 season, and for the Royal Challengers from entering a fierce bidding war with the Chennai Super Kings, before securing his services for INR 14.25 crore.Related

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“We know on his day, he can turn a game on its head,” Hesson said. “We need to use him in a space where we can maximise his skills and we’ve certainly spent some time looking at how we can do that. Really looking forward to working with him and preparing over the next few days to be clear around his role.”He is [clear], but just want him to spend a few days amongst his peers, the people he’s going to be batting with to understand that role implicitly. It’s really important we do that. Also, from a bowling point of view, we know he adds some good skills in that area. He’s an amazing fielder, also adds some leadership in terms of how he goes about things.”Elaborating on the significance of Maxwell, especially, Hesson explained that the team think tank had analysed their batting right through the previous season to identify areas they needed to get better at. Among those was the middle phase (overs 7 to 15), where the Royal Challengers had the lowest run rate among the eight sides.”Sure, we were pleased to make the playoffs, that was great, but we also identified some areas where we needed to improve,” Hesson said. “And it wasn’t some odd one-off performance, they were definite trends in terms of phases of the games that we wanted to tweak. I think we are also aware no team in the IPL is ever going to dominate every phase of the game with bat and ball, because we are obviously in competition with some highly competitive sides. But what it does mean is that, consistently in some areas particularly through that middle overs we needed to make a tweak in terms of our planning and preparation.[File photo] Mike Hesson is all ears as Virat Kohli makes a point•PTI

“So that goes back to the auction, in terms of our auction strategy and how we thought about our side, not certainly about overhauling it. If you look at the current squad, we’ve got seven-eight players that played the majority of our games last year still with us. So it was not a matter of overhauling, it was a matter of tweaking and adding strength in certain areas.”It will not only potentially add depth to the playing XI but also add depth to our options, so when we get on different surfaces, rather than having to make two-three changes, we might only make only one. That’s going give us a real distinct advantage in terms of how we can make those subtle changes from venue to venue, from pitch to pitch and potentially even from opposition to opposition.”Royal Challengers choose split training in weeklong camp
Eleven Indian players have completed quarantine in Chennai, where the Royal Challengers will start their IPL 2021 campaign, as the side began their first outdoor training session on Tuesday evening. It was a combination of centre-wicket training and match simulation that the group – divided in two – will undergo, to try and ensure every player gets the best chance, according to Hesson.In addition, they will get their strength and conditioning programme going under trainer Shanker Basu, the intensity of which will depend on how much cricket each has played lately.”We’ve got more than half of our squad already on deck,” Hesson said. “We’ve split our squad into two for the first four days. We know, having come out of quarantine, we know there’ll be guys incredibly keen to get stuck into training. Rather than have four days in a row, they’ll go day on, day off. And then we’ll get on to game scenarios. We’ve planned our build-up nicely. We’ve got players entering our bubble and coming out of the bubble daily and it’s just great to really reinvigorate the group when you see those new faces and start to drip feed-in to the group.”Virat Kohli, the captain, will be among the last to arrive, on April 1, having taken a short break to be with his family in Mumbai after the completion of the England series. He will undergo a weeklong quarantine before linking up with the group, possibly for one training session, ahead of their tournament opener against the Mumbai Indians on April 9.”Form is important but it’s more about the confidence you bring from there,” Hesson said. “Virat is so experienced, and he’s going to bat at the top of the order, a position he knows well. He’s in fine touch, his tempo is pleasing. I thought the way he played in the England T20Is showed his tempo how he can control the innings. On his day if he does that at RCB, we know we can get above par scores. He’s hugely passionate to play for RCB and we can’t wait to have him back [among the group].”