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Former South Africa allrounder leaves with less than two weeks to go for the T20 World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Oct-2022Former South Africa allrounder Lance Klusener has quit as Zimbabwe’s batting coach with immediate effect after reaching a mutual agreement with the board.”According to his agent, the decision follows Klusener’s desire to pursue professional engagements around the globe which will impact his full-time availability for the national team’s programmes,” Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) said in a statement.Klusener had re-joined the Zimbabwe coaching staff in March this year, after previously serving as their batting coach between 2016 and 2018.Klusener leaves his role with less than two weeks to go for the start of Zimbabwe’s T20 World Cup campaign. Zimbabwe, along with West Indies, Ireland, and Scotland, are part of Group B in the first round, from which the top two teams will progress to the Super 12 stage. Their first game is against Ireland on October 17.”We are grateful to Lance for everything he has contributed during his time with us, including helping us to qualify for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 which gets underway in Australia in a few days,” ZC managing director Givemore Makoni said. “Unfortunately, due to his pressing commitments elsewhere, he could not continue with us on a full-time basis and we agreed it was in the best interests of both parties to terminate his contract. We wish him the best as he pursues new endeavours.”One of Klusener’s other coaching jobs is to take charge as head coach of the Durban Super Giants franchise in Cricket South Africa’s SA20, with the inaugural season beginning January 10 next year.

“Our batting has to be up if we’re aiming for the World Cup,” says the India Women head coach

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jul-2021Ramesh Powar, the India Women head coach, has echoed team captain Mithali Raj’s thoughts, calling Sneh Rana the “find of the England series”. Rana has sparkled with bat and ball so far, and has “played her role to the core”, Powar said.”Sneh Rana is the find of this series,” Powar told the BCCI website. “The way she was bowling in the practice sessions in Southampton [India’s base prior to the start of the tour], we thought we should give her a chance. It was a difficult decision to play two offspinners [Deepti Sharma is the other], but she has played her role to the core.Related

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“I am really happy for her. Being an offspinner myself, I can see the talent. She is someone who can play in crunch situations, and that is what we need right now. When the big tournaments and the big series come up, we need players of calibre, who can take pressure.”Rana, 27, was given a go for the all-format tour of England after a superb domestic one-day competition, where she was the leading wicket-taker for title-winners Railways. In the XI in the one-off Test, Rana, in the XI primarily as a bowler, scored 80* from No. 8 in over three hours and partnered Taniya Bhatia (44*) in an unbroken stand of 104 for the ninth wicket to help India salvage a draw. She was also India’s most successful bowler in England’s only innings, returning 4 for 131.Then, in the ODIs, she picked up two wickets in two games, conceding runs at an economy rate of 4.35, and played a key role in India’s only win, following up her 7-0-31-1 with a 22-ball 24 in a tight run chase. Her half-century stand for the sixth wicket with Raj took India home in a last-ball finish.Powar was equally effusive in his praise for Raj, who finished her England tour [she is retired from T20Is] with three back-to-back half-centuries. Raj finished the ODI series as the highest run-scorer, her tally of 206 runs a whopping 64 more than second-placed Nat Sciver. During the series, Raj surpassed former England captain Charlotte Edwards to become the leading run-scorer in women’s international cricket, and her 58 fifties are the most by a woman in ODIs.”She deserves every praising word out there,” Powar said. “She has been a fantastic servant of the game for 22 years. She is a role model for a lot of girls; she single-handedly won us the game [third ODI].”The next few months are going to be crucial for India’s preparations for the 50-over World Cup next year in New Zealand. The England tour would be followed by a multi-format tour of Australia. Then, India play Australia and New Zealand in a tri-series before the marquee tournament, where India finished runners-up in 2017.For India to go one step better, the batters must come to the party. Raj aside, no Indian batter managed a half-century in the ODI series, and there have been concerns about the form of some of the batters, T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues among them. “We have to learn a lot many things from this series,” Powar said. “The fielding improved immensely; the bowling improved immensely. Our batting has to be up if we’re aiming for the World Cup.”

Head coach suggests England camp read conditions incorrectly ahead of toss

Matt Roller29-Dec-2019England head coach Chris Silverwood has defended captain Joe Root’s decision to bowl first after winning the toss against South Africa, despite the decision backfiring as South Africa sealed a 107-run win at Centurion.On the first morning of the game, Root admitted that he faced a “tricky decision” at the toss but said England had a “great opportunity” to dismiss South Africa for a low first-innings total. In the event, the hosts rallied from 111 for 5 to reach 284 all out, and made use of excellent bowling conditions on the second day to bowl England out for 181.”It was pretty simple really,” Silverwood told Sky Sports. “When we got here, the wicket was a little bit damp, and we suspected it would do a little bit with the new ball, which it did. It did something for most of the day, and we suspected that days two and three would be the best days to bat, and [the pitch] would deteriorate. As it turned out, day three was the best day to bat.”Root said he maintained the decision was “a 50-50 call” and blamed the defeat on a collapse of 7 wickets for 39 runs in the first innings, rather than his choice to bowl first.”It’s very easy to stand here now and say that, but [when] you get a side 111 for 5, you really think you’ve got ahead of the game if you like. Maybe [that was] a slight opportunity missed, but ultimately you have to give credit to South Africa.”That [collapse] was the real crux of it – that’s where the game was won and lost. It’s really disappointing, but in the same sense it’s really pleasing to see us very quickly put a better performance [in the] second innings.”While there may have been some logic to Root’s decision to bowl, the record of visiting teams who choose to bowl first in recent Test history is extremely poor.In the past two-and-a-half years, there have been 13 occasions on which an away captain has won the toss and inserted the home team, and only once has that resulted in a victory – Sri Lanka’s Kusal Perera-inspired win in Durban in February. Similarly, only once has a visiting team won after winning the toss and choosing to bowl at Centurion, in the infamous 2000 Test between these teams which saw both sides forfeit an innings.ALSO READ: South Africa end Test drought with 107-run winSilverwood also defended the decision to field an all-seam attack for the second consecutive Test match, despite the fact that Keshav Maharaj, South Africa’s left-arm spinner, made two crucial breakthroughs in dismissing Dom Sibley on the third evening and Ben Stokes on the fourth afternoon.”It was a gameplan that we had,” he said. “We looked at the wicket, and it was a direction that we decided to take. There’s plenty of parts of the game you could pick to pieces and say ‘if we’d done better there’ or ‘if we’d made a different decision there’, but we decided to go that way.”We went for it, and when you stick a team in you expect to bowl them out in a day and we did [South Africa were 277 for 9 at the close]. Obviously then to concede a 100-run deficit in that first innings was hard.”Asked if he would feel confident throwing Matt Parkinson, the young legspinner, into the side for the Cape Town Test assuming Jack Leach remains unwell, Silverwood said: “Obviously we’ve got Parky here, we’ve got [Dom] Bess here, and we’ve got to see how Leach recovers first.”We’ll be working closely with the medical staff, but we have got some good spinners here, so if we’ve got to play one then yes, I’m confident.”

The rest of the squad that secured New Zealand’s first series win over Pakistan away from home in 49 years was retained

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Dec-2018The offspinner William Somerville, who played a starring role on debut as New Zealand beat Pakistan last week, has not been included to play the upcoming home Test series against Sri Lanka. The 13-man squad that was announced on Monday had only one slow bowler in it – Ajaz Patel, who claimed a five-wicket haul in a dramatic four-run victory in Abu Dhabi last month.Meanwhile, 26-year old opening batsman Will Young earned his maiden-call up to international cricket. He was told of the development soon after scoring a century in a one-day game for New Zealand A against India A in Mount Maunganui.”Came off the field after a loss, which was a big disappointment,” Young said. “But [selector] Gavin Larsen just asked me, pulled me aside and said I made the Test squad, the 13-man Test squad. Look, I’m over the moon. It’s a dream come true to be part of the Test squad. But yeah, nothing changes. Keep enjoying my cricket. Keep batting and hopefully the chance comes in the near future.”Heading out to the UAE, I just wanted to do as well as I possibly could. I’ve had a couple of A chances before before and didn’t go to plan so I knew it was do or die. Managed to put some performances together and thankfully the selectors have taken note of that. It’s really nice to get the reward at the end of it.”Young has played 66 first-class matches for Central Districts and scored 4221 runs at an average of 41, including six centuries and 27 fifties. He was part of the A squad that went on tour to the UAE in October and has been in a rich vein of form over recent weeks. He was the only New Zealand A batsman to score a century on the UAE tour, one of the three hundreds in his last ten innings across one- and four-day cricket.Back-up wicketkeeper Tom Blundell was also left out of the touring party that secured New Zealand’s first series win over Pakistan away from home in 49 years.The selectors, however, kept their faith in Tom Latham, who managed 99 runs in his last six Test innings, and Matt Henry, who played one match against Pakistan, despite being picked in the ODI and Test squads. While Latham will likely retain his place at the top of the order, Henry will face stiff competition again to break into a bowling attack that already includes Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner.New Zealand will play Sri Lanka in two Tests, three ODIs and a T20I, starting from December 15.”There’s a real swell of support for the Test team following their efforts in the UAE, so we’re hoping to transition that momentum into a big home summer,” Larsen said.”Ajaz certainly grabbed his opportunity on the UAE tour and he’s a proven performer in New Zealand conditions.”Will Somerville was an obvious stand-out on debut in the Abu Dhabi decider and it’s great to know we’ve got quality spin bowlers who can create competition for places.”The first international of the home summer is always an exciting time and the revamped Basin Reserve should be a fitting setting to launch the Sri Lankan tour.”New Zealand: Kane Williamson (capt), Tom Latham, Jeet Raval, Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, Colin de Grandhomme, BJ Watling (wk), Will Young, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Ajaz Patel, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner

Fast bowlers shine as West Indians build on a solid batting show in the first innings

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Oct-2017
ScorecardWICB

Devendra Bishoo, who had a minimal role to play with the ball during the Test series in England, warmed up for Zimbabwe with a three-wicket haul on day two of the tour-opener in Bulawayo, but the more noteworthy effort came from their fast bowling duo of Shannon Gabriel and Miguel Cummins.West Indians, who declared on 336 for 7, skittled Zimbabwe A for 143 in 44.1 overs. In their second innings, the West Indies went to stumps at 74 for the loss of Kraigg Brathwaite.Cummins and Gabriel, expected to share the new ball, picked two wickets a piece while Raymon Reifer, pushing for his first Test cap, also did his chances no harm. Reifer picked up the key wicket of the experienced Chamu Chibhabha on his way to figures of 2 for 29.Six Zimbabwe batsmen got into double digits, with just PJ Moor, the captain, topping with 32. The 39-run fifth-wicket stand between Richmond Mutumbami and Moor was the highest of the innings.Brathwaite was out for two in the second over, but Kieran Powell and Kyle Hope, who appeared to be seeking solid match practice after failing to score a half-century on the Test tour of England, were unbeaten on 34 and 35 respectively.

Lancashire’s two England Lions men took the honours as the NatWest T20 Blast holders finally showed some of last season’s prowess in a four-run win against Durham at Chester-le-Street

ECB Reporters Network22-Jul-2016
ScorecardSaqib Mahmood (centre) struck three times to stifle Durham’s chase•ICC

Lancashire’s two England Lions men took the honours as the NatWest T20 Blast holders finally showed some of last season’s prowess in a four-run win against Durham at Chester-le-Street.Liam Livingstone made an unbeaten 43 off 24 balls to lift Lancashire’s total to 176 for 3 and Durham were on target until Saqib Mahmood struck timber three times in four balls.They were revived by an unbroken stand of 48 in 3.5 overs between Paul Coughlin and Keaton Jennings, but when Coughlin needed to hit the last ball from Nathan Buck for six it landed ten yards short at long-on.Durham finished on 172 for 5, virtually ending their hopes of qualifying for the quarter-finals, a target already looking beyond Lancashire when they arrived in bottom place in the North Group.After being put in, Lancashire worked the ball into spaces as they ticked along to 88 for 1 after 12 overs before doubling the score in the remaining eight. The only six was a powerful straight drive by Livingstone, who used the ramp shot
to hit four fours.Chris Rushworth’s first 11 balls cost one one run, plus four byes, which proved costly in the end. Alviro Petersen guided his first two fours deftly to third man before left-hander Luis Reece was struck on the helmet, prompting a delay while a new one was sent for. But in the next over Reece drove at Coughlin and edged behind.
With only two runs coming off that over, Lancashire were 36 at the end of the Powerplay.Karl Brown opened up on the return of Usman Arshad for the 13th over, taking 15 off the first four balls before Petersen drove well wide of off stump and edged behind for 42.Brown departed in the next over for 41, lbw trying to sweep Scott Borthwick, but Livingstone and Croft upped the momentum.Durham’s top T20 scorer, Phil Mustard, made only 8 before skying Jordan Clark to wicketkeeper Tom Moores.Mark Stoneman smashed Clark for two big sixes wide of long-on in the sixth over but when Croft, the third of Lancashire’s three spinners, brought himself on for the tenth over Stoneman was bowled for 36 when trying to hit a straight ball over midwicket.Calum MacLeod offered Durham’s best chance of victory as he made 45 off 31 balls. But when stepped back to hit Mahmood through the off side he was yorked and the same fate befell Ryan Pringle and Gordon Muchall.Coughlin hit Mahmood for a big six as the 19th over brought 16 runs, but the youngster still finished with 3 for 31 and Durham had left themselves too much to do.

Sri Lanka Cricket has reiterated its commitment to holding elections before the end of January next year, in the wake of the ICC’s warning that “further non-compliance” could result in more sanctions

Andrew Fidel Fernando30-Jun-2015Sri Lanka Cricket has reiterated its commitment to holding elections before the end of January next year, in the wake of the ICC’s warning that “further non-compliance” could result in more sanctions.SLC interim committee chairman Sidath Wettimuny, who recently attended the ICC annual conference as an observer, maintained that while the ICC had publicly urged SLC to hold elections before the end of October, that date served only as a soft deadline. Sports minister Navin Dissanayake had already said SLC elections would be held in January.”Ideally the ICC would like us to have elections before October, but in a letter they’ve said that by the latest we must hold elections by the following meeting on January 26,” Wettimuny said. “If we go beyond that, then we’re getting into trouble. I don’t think we should do that. If we do, they can then ask for an inquiry and take the next step.”We must make sure we don’t let them down, because we have promised to do things in a certain way. We have an excellent relationship with ICC and we must continue that.”Wettimuny said SLC had also extended invitations to ICC president Zaheer Abbas, and chairman N Srinivasan, ostensibly in order to iron out kinks in the board’s relationship with ICC.SLC also expressed protest at their observer status in ICC meetings, arguing that the governing body’s constitution does not allow it to deny Full Members voting rights. However, in the interests of keeping the peace, SLC has so far been willing to accept its reduced role in global cricket governance.

Australia Women’s uncapped player Renee Chappell will replace Jess Jonassen in the Australia squad for the upcoming ICC Women’s World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jan-2013Australia Women’s uncapped player Renee Chappell will replace the injured Jess Jonassen in the squad for the upcoming ICC Women’s World Cup. Jonassen suffered a knee problem and has not recovered from surgery in time for the World Cup starting next week in India.Jonassen is a left-arm spinner who has taken seven wickets in eight ODIs at an average of 28.28. Chappell, 29, is an offspinning allrounder from Perth who has been with the Western Australia Women squad for over a decade.”To play in a World Cup is a rare opportunity so this is obviously a disappointing outcome for Jess,” Julie Savage, Australia’s chief selector, said. “Renee Chappell has performed strongly in the Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) this season and deserves the opportunity and we are confident that she can step into the side and have an impactful role.”Australia start their World Cup campaign with two warm-up fixtures in Mumbai, the first against West Indies on January 28, followed by another against India on January 29. Australia are in Group B along with New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa.

The Asian Cricket Council has confirmed that the Asia Cup 2012 will go ahead as scheduled, all but ruling out the possibility of Pakistan touring India

Umar Farooq15-Dec-2011The Asian Cricket Council has confirmed that the Asia Cup 2012 will go ahead as scheduled, from March 12 to 22 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, all but ruling out the possibility of Pakistan touring India as outlined in the Future Tours Programme. The decision was taken at the ACC’s meeting in Singapore earlier this week; it also endorsed, pending a fuller discussion and satisfaction with security and other issues, a proposal by Pakistan to host the 2014 tournament.”It was agreed that the Asia Cup 2012 would go ahead on the proposed dates,” Subhan Ahmed, the PCB chief operating officer, told ESPNcricinfo. “There was discussion of the ACC postponing the Asia Cup if both India and Pakistan agreed to play their series within that slot but that idea has faded out for many reasons.”The PCB was hoping at the meeting to get some confirmation from the BCCI on the resumption of bilateral series between India and Pakistan but Ahmed said that the BCCI representative, Ratnakar Shetty, was unable to give any assurance in the absence of N Srinivasan, the president of the Indian board.”Pakistan-India series was not on the agenda at the ACC meeting but we were looking forward to Srinivasan coming across to discuss it,” Ahmed said. “We had an ideal platform here to talk with our India counterpart but he [Srinivasan] didn’t attend the meeting.”He [Shetty] was not in a position to talk on it. So I don’t think India and Pakistan could play each other in a full series next year but they will meet in the Asia Cup.”Zaka Ashraf, the PCB chairman, was also in Singapore. He was due to travel to Chennai in the first week of December to talk to Srinavasan on the mutual cricketing interests of both countries but the sudden illness of Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari, also the PCB’s chief patron, forced him to postpone of the visit.At the ACC meeting, Pakistan also proposed hosting the 2014 Asia Cup. Ahmed said that the other ACC members showed their support and understood how essential the hosting of the event was for the country but asked the PCB to satisfy them on security concerns. “Our request has been endorsed and was not turned down. They want a full discussion on the precautionary steps that the PCB will take to ensure security. We obviously assured them the best and the case has been deferred until next meeting.”

With the two teams evenly matched in almost every department, it’s hard to predict how this series will turn out

Sidharth Monga in Centurion14-Dec-2010It’s there in the rarefied air of the Highveld. It’s on the radio, it’s being talked about in pubs even during a Manchester United-Arsenal game, it’s on the streets, it will soon be seen from the grass banks. The No. 1 Test side in the world is here for a three-Test series, no longer the miserable tourists of the past, still with history against them. South Africa are ready, they are going to spice the pitches up a bit, they are going to try and make a move towards the ranking that was theirs before India took it away. It is a series that could define both the teams, but with two days to go the prudent thing to do is to sit on the fence and not call any favourites, as the following breakdown shows.Top orders
Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are arguably the best opening combination going around today, but they haven’t been tested in seamer-friendly conditions consistently by bowlers of the calibre of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. Still it would need a very good combination to hold an edge over Sehwag and Gambhir. Graeme Smith is as tough as they come, and Alviro Petersen scored a century on debut against India. However, if Sehwag and Gambhir have to face a test of conditions, Zaheer Khan holds a mental edge over Smith. As it often happens, and as it might happen for the series overall, this one might just come down to Sehwag.Following the openers we have one of the best Nos 3 ever, and another who is in the form of his life. Rahul Dravid is usually just the man for overcast and seamer-friendly conditions, but he last faced such a test in Australia in 2007-08. Since then he has had dips in form, he has been hit by a bouncer that made him miss a Test for only the second time in his career, and there have been calls for younger blood. That there was no question about his selection is testimony to his value to the team, and he is coming off a 191 against New Zealand. Hashim Amla is the most Indian of batsmen you will get to see out of India, and he has serenely and surely been scoring runs by the truckloads. Since he came to India earlier this year, he has averaged 88 in Tests and 76 in ODIs. It is tough to argue against such a No. 3.Between awe and toughness, reputation and form, it is difficult to stick a neck out here.Middle orders
The Nos 4 of the two teams are absolute legends and have been around forever. In the last series, both of them scored centuries, and nothing much is expected to change there. Sachin Tendulkar is having one of his best years with the bat, Jacques Kallis is not out of form either. Has he ever been? Tendulkar knows the conditions as well as any batsman not South African. You wouldn’t bet against Kallis either, who has already scored four centuries this year, and can also bowl pretty mean bouncers and outswingers if needed.VVS Laxman at No. 5 carries bundles of class and a first-class degree in crisis management with him, AB de Villiers the confidence from having just scored the highest individual score for a South African. However, like Dravid, Laxman hasn’t put his fire-fighting skills to test on spicy pitches under overcast skies for a long time. Does that make de Villiers more reliable? Still hard to tell.Ashwell Prince and Suresh Raina are relative weak links, but Prince’s experience and knowledge of home conditions edge out Raina. South Africa might hold a slight edge here, but Tendulkar and Laxman are not batsmen to be written off.Wicketkeepers
Mark Boucher is more likely to score important lower-order runs than MS Dhoni, if only because the conditions suit his game better. Behind the stumps, there isn’t much between them. If Dhoni is flashy with stumpings, he has been a touch slow going for the catches to his right. South Africa hold a slight advantage here, but in the final equation it might not count for a lot.Spinners
India hold an edge here, but the conditions might negate the spinners as attacking options. Harbhajan, though, will love the bounce on offer after a long season on slow Indian tracks. Don’t forget what Lord Harris did to India in the deciding Test on the last tour.Fast bowlers
Tight. Very tight. You would want to back South Africa with Steyn and Morkel arguably being the most dangerous opening bowling combination. It’s the third seamer’s slot where India level the scales. Zaheer, Ishant Sharma and Sreesanth are all aggressive bowlers, all three capable of utilising helpful conditions. There is a rider, though. Except for Zaheer, you are never quite sure what you will get from the Indian seamers. Ishant and Sreesanth can be very good on their days, but on an off day they can be very bad. With Steyn and Morkel, you are assured of a degree of control.Zaheer’s fitness remains dodgy. He did bowl in the nets today, making the Indian camp feel better, but they were still not completely certain that Zaheer will make it for the first Test. If he doesn’t, South Africa will have a clear advantage.Slip catching
In seaming conditions, there will be quite a few coming the slippers way. If there is such a thing called catching form, Dravid hasn’t been in it. He also injured his finger while dropping one against New Zealand, and is not even sure if he will be standing in the slips. Tendulkar has been out of slips for some time now, with an injured finger, and Laxman’s back doesn’t let him stay there for long durations. Expect to see a lot of Sehwag and Raina there.South Africa are not sure of Smith’s presence there he recently fractured a finger but Kallis and de Villiers provide their cordon a more stable look.Final equation
On paper, nothing gives. It could come down to what kind of mental state the Indian batsmen are in. Collectively and individually, South Africa is the only country where they have failed to compete consistently. Tendulkar’s average falls from 57 overall to 40 in South Africa, Dravid’s from 53 to 34, Sehwag’s from 55 to 26, and Laxman’s from 48 to 41. Consequently, just one win in 12 attempts. They all know they need to correct it, but how much does that play on their minds? It might not matter much if India get off to a good start, but history which says something about India’s dislike for the conditions here gives South Africa the slight advantage.Equally South Africa have a relatively modern history to correct after having failed to close out two Tests against England last season. They have not won either of their last two home series, both against top opposition. That just makes their advantage even slighter. If this is not dead even, it is the closest thing to it.