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Trevor Bayliss has provided the clearest hint yet that Jake Ball has earned the final spot in England’s XI for the Brisbane Test

George Dobell in Townsville18-Nov-2017Trevor Bayliss has provided the clearest hint yet that Jake Ball has earned the final spot in England’s XI for the Brisbane Test.While Ball has bowled only 22 first-class deliveries on the tour – he sprained his ankle early in the Adelaide warm-up game and was subsequently deemed unfit to play in Townsville – Bayliss is content he has now proved his fitness and suggested he had done enough to win selection ahead of Craig Overton.Ball bowled 15 overs at full pace on Saturday. And, while England’s bowlers claimed only one wicket in the entire day on a slow Townsville pitch, Ball bowled Moeen Ali within a few minutes on the same surface in a practice session that followed the game.”I thought Ball was our best bowler in Perth and he started off that way again in Adelaide too,” Bayliss said. “He’s fine now. He bowled on Friday and got through a few spells in the nets today [Saturday]. He should be fit and raring to go for Brisbane.”Is it Ball v Overton for selection? I see it just like that, yes. Ball is fine now. He’s fully fit and will be available for selection. I’m pretty close to knowing the XI in my mind, yes.”Bayliss insisted he was not overly concerned by England’s lack of penetration on the final day in Townsville, instead crediting some fine batting from the two Cricket Australia XI centurions and a flat surface that offered bowlers little. He also suggested England’s batsmen had failed to fully capitalise on it the previous day.”We are always a bit disappointed when we don’t take 10 for 90, but the wicket was very flat,” he said. “And those two young guys batted very well. There were two young guys out there that batted very, very well. All credit to them. They looked good. It’s good for Australian cricket.”If you play cricket long enough those days will happen. They stuck at it and that’s all you can ask.”We lost a few wickets at the end of that first innings and probably should have scored a few more runs. From the bowling point of view, we tried a few different things, but I’m sure in the Test matches we’ll be back bowling line and length.”It’s not really damaging to us before the first Test. It was good to spend some time in the field. We will probably have another one or two of them in the Test matches. It was probably good to experience it and the heat as well.”Although the surfaces and the opposition have left England short of experience against the sort of pace anticipated in the Test series, Bayliss considered himself satisfied with their progress.”Over the three games we have got as much out of it as we possibly could,” he said. “We started slow, then built it up over the last couple of games. A Test match – an Ashes Test – will see our intensity rise as high as it possibly can.”A number of guys spent time in the middle with the bat and the bowlers got a lot of overs under their belts. Hopefully everyone now has got their rhythms right and they can come out next week and go from ball one.”Mark Stoneman has been our most consistent batsman. He looks like he’s made for this. He’s tough and nuggety and likes to get on with it when he gets the opportunity.”Bayliss also admitted a couple of selections in the Australian squad had surprised him. But while he was respectful of the opposition – conceding he was close to several members of the Australian team – he made it clear friendships will be put to one side.”There were one or two names in there we maybe weren’t expecting,” he said. “But they are all good players. No matter who Australia pick, they will be good players and we will have to play well to win.”Australia, whether batting or bowling, like to hit the opposition hard early. And we have been talking about going hard ourselves. We are not here to make up the numbers. We are here to win.”I do know some of the guys in the opposition team, but I’m sure they fully respect that I’ve got a job to do. I liken it to playing backyard cricket years ago against your brothers and your best mates. It was full on in the backyard, but you walked away mates. I’m sure the same will occur after the five Tests.”We’ve played some good Test cricket over the last few years. There has been the odd game where we haven’t performed, but we’re very confident, and have played very well against Australia for the last few years.”

She retires as the leading women’s run-scorer for South Africa in T20Is, and the second highest in ODIs

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jul-2022Lizelle Lee, the hard-hitting South Africa opening batter, has announced her retirement from international cricket with immediate effect. In a statement shared by CSA, she said she would continue to play domestic T20 cricket around the world.”It is with a lot of mixed emotions that I announce my retirement from international cricket,” Lee, 30, said on Friday. “From a very young age, I have lived cricket, and wanted to represent my country at the highest level. Over the past 8 years, I was able to live that dream, and I feel I have given everything I could to the Proteas.”I feel that I am ready for the next phase in my career, and will continue to play domestic T20 cricket around the world.”Lee’s announcement came ahead of South Africa’s ODI series in England starting next week. South Africa drew the one-off Test ahead of the white-ball series, where Lee returned scores of 0 and 36.She made her international debut against Bangladesh at home in 2013, and went on to play exactly 100 ODIs – the last of which was against England in the World Cup semi-final earlier this year. She also played 82 T20Is in addition to two Tests. Lee scored her ODI best score – an unbeaten 132 – which was her third century in the format, against India in Lucknow last year when South Africa won the series 4-1.”It has been an incredible journey, and it would not have been possible without everyone who has supported me during my international career,” Lee said. “I want to thank my family, especially my wife Tanja for all the sacrifices they have made for me to live out my dream to represent my country.”Thank you to CSA, SACA and all stakeholders involved for the opportunities and support you afforded me to make my dreams of playing for the Proteas come true. My fellow Proteas teammates, thank you for the wonderful memories we have made together. You have made this journey incredible, and I could not have done this without you. I will always be supporting you; we will always be rising together.”Lastly to my fans, I am the person I am because of the love and support you have given me throughout my international career. I look forward to continuing this journey with you in the different leagues around the world.”Laura Wolvaardt and Lizelle Lee formed a fantastic opening pair for South Africa•BCCI/UPCA

During the T20 World Cup in Australia in 2020, Lee became the second from her country to score a century in women’s T20Is [Shandre Fritz was the first], and the first to do so in the global event. She retired as the leading run-scorer among South African women in T20Is with 1896 runs, and second-highest from her country in ODIs with 3315 runs.”It is with great sadness that we have to bid farewell to a titan of South African cricket at a relatively young age,” Enoch Nkwe, CSA director of cricket, said. “However, we wholeheartedly respect the individual’s decision and her desire to move onto the next chapter of her playing career.”Lizelle has given this nation countless memorable moments on the field of play, most notably in 2021 when she was leading from the front with the bat towards being named the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year in an effort to help South Africa soar to second place on the ICC ODI Rankings. We wish her and her young family nothing but the best from here onwards.”Lee is the second high-profile South Africa player to call it quits following the World Cup after Mignon du Preez also hung up her boots from ODIs and Tests.Lee will play for Manchester Originals in The Hundred this season as her next assignment, having also represented them in the inaugural season in 2021.

Alastair Cook is refusing to look beyond the next game as he prepares for his record-breaking 150th Test

George Dobell in Perth12-Dec-20172:06

‘Not many people play 150 Test matches’ – Cook

Alastair Cook is refusing to look beyond the next game as he prepares for his record-breaking 150th Test.Cook, England’s record Test run-scorer, will on Thursday become the first England player – and the eighth man from any nation – to appear in 150 Tests. But while Cook insisted those who have suggested he was on the verge of retirement (the likes of Kevin Pietersen and Mitchell Johnson) did so from a position of ignorance – “they have no contact time with me” – he did admit he had “no idea” whether this Ashes campaign could prove to be his final Test series.All of which did little to quell the rising tide of speculation that suggests Cook could be tiring of the demands of a life as an international cricketer. And while he points to the extra training sessions he is taking as proof of his enduring ambition, he did hint that a decision about his future could be taken by the selectors unless he is able to rediscover his form with the bat.Cook has never been dropped from the Test team but the scars of losing the ODI captaincy at the end of 2014 are still apparent.”At the moment, I’m very much taking things on a game-by-game basis,” Cook said ahead of the third Test at the WACA. “I’m trying to score runs, trying to set up England wins.”Could it be my last series? I’ve no idea. And I’ve said that since I gave up the captaincy. Things change incredibly quickly. I was taught a lesson in 2014 with that World Cup. In the morning I was expecting to lead England in that World Cup and in the afternoon I got a phone call saying they didn’t want me to do it. And that was an hour after a meeting when they said they wanted me to, so you end up living on the edge in professional cricket.”I wouldn’t be going to do extra gym sessions or the extra batting behind closed doors if I wasn’t keen on carrying on. The people who are saying that [I’m finished] have had no contact time with me. They wouldn’t know the extra nets I’ve been having behind closed doors. I was with the batting coach Gary Palmer for an hour-and-a-half yesterday morning desperately trying to keep working at my game. That’s probably not a guy who’s given in.”It doesn’t get any easier. I think I said before that it doesn’t matter what you’ve done before, you still go out on nought every time you bat. That’s why it’s called Test cricket. It’s meant to be hard. I’m not saying I’m absolutely flying here, because you only fly when you’re really scoring runs.”If you’re scoring runs all the time your place is guaranteed and if you don’t there are plenty of other people who want your place so that hasn’t changed. That hasn’t changed in my 12 years and it won’t change in the next 20 years. People want your place and it’s up to me to score runs to get those people off my back. It’s just judged on results.”He did, he admits, lose a little of the drive required to lead the side at the end of 2016 but says he has enjoyed the transition back into the ranks.Alastair Cook lines one up in the nets•Getty Images

“I did my stint doing the best job in the world,” he said. “And at that time, I’d run out of that motivation to really drive this side on. In that last year, we lost too many games of cricket for a side that talented. So I probably felt as if I wasn’t doing my job well enough to drive that team forward and didn’t quite have the energy that job needed.”I’ve really enjoyed the last 12 months, with Essex obviously winning the County Championship and with England winning the last two series. We’ve got the biggest game of our lives coming up now, and we’ve got to scrap unbelievably hard for the five days.”It is, Cook says, the fact that he has played so many consecutive games (this match will be his 148th in succession; only Allan Border, with 153, can claim more) that provides most cause for pride. It is a record that demonstrates consistency, sustained fitness and a good relationship with the England management who have ensured he has been extended patience during the lean days.There have been a few of those, too. And, while is he keen to remind us that it is only four Tests since he made a double-century at Edgbaston, he is in something of a lean run now. That Edgbaston effort is his only hundred in his last 25 Test innings and he has not reached 40 in the eight innings since it.”Clearly I’d like to score more runs,” he said. “My job at the top of the order, and it has been since 2006, is to try to get England off to a good start and on this tour I have struggled. I thought in Adelaide I played a bit better. Four games ago I got a double hundred. So it’s amazing how the cycle of the world goes. I’m not going to sit here and say I’m setting the world alight but you get through that first hour as a batter and you try to get a big one. That doesn’t change.”I probably didn’t think I would be here when I turned up in Nagpur [for his Test debut] all those years ago. It’s obviously a very special moment in terms of a personal milestone. Not many people play 150 Test matches so to do that and do it at the top of the order, I’m quite proud of that.”It is a very special thing to pull on that cap. It’s a special thing to walk out and play for England. And that’s why I love doing it. Hopefully there can be a few more.”

Former NZ batter and selector Bruce Edgar will be in charge of the red-ball side

Deivarayan Muthu09-Jun-2022Former New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter BJ Watling has been appointed Wellington Firebirds’ white-ball head coach, ahead of the upcoming domestic season. This will be the 36-year-old’s first role as head coach of a senior side, having been in charge of the Northern Districts A side after playing his last Test against India in the WTC final in June 2021.Watling takes over from Glenn Pocknall, who had coached Wellington to titles in all three formats and even had a stint with the New Zealand national side for a tour of Bangladesh last year, when Gary Stead was absent. Pocknall will now lead Cricket Wellington’s talent acceleration programme, which aims at producing more players for the men’s and women’s national sides.While Watling will oversee the one-day and T20 teams, Bruce Edgar, the former New Zealand batter and selector, will take charge of the red-ball side. The 65-year-old will also serve as Cricket Wellington’s director of cricket until the end of 2022-23. The dual role marks his return to the Wellington set-up since stepping down as Wellington’s head coach at the end of the 2018-19 season.Watling said that transitioning from playing to coaching was something that was always on his agenda. Since his retirement, Watling has been active as Northern Districts’ network coach in the Waikato. He even assisted Northern Brave men during their triumphant Super Smash campaign.Related

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“To be honest – for the whole way through – I kind of have been planning for this,” Watling said during a virtual media interaction. “Been doing whatever ones and twos and what not throughout playing and probably started my network coaching three or four or five years ago with ND [Northern Districts] here. So it has always been on the backburner. Obviously, once I retired I started to dive in a bit more.”Watling shrugged off any apprehensions around his quick elevation to the head coach’s role, less than a year after he retired, and looked forward to working with Edgar and Toby Radford, who has also joined the Wellington support staff as a specialist batting coach.Notably, Radford was West Indies’ batting coach when they won the 2012 T20 World Cup and recently worked as the head of high performance in Bangladesh. Radford was also England Under-19s batting coach at the 2022 Under-19 World Cup in the Caribbean, where they finished runners-up.”Not yet [apprehensive]. I’m quite excited to be fair,” Watling said. “It is something that might have come in a little bit early, but I’m definitely ready for the challenge and looking forward to working with what I see as a very talented young group and core senior players as well and some Black Caps. It looks like a fantastic squad to be in charge of, especially in the white-ball stuff, and I can’t wait to get stuck in.”[My role is] to lead and I’ll try to do that through my attitude. I know I will get a good little preparation time with Bruce in charge there. I will have some good learning off him and obviously Toby as well – two very experienced coaches I can lean on and use throughout the season. I plan on doing that and basically connecting with the playing group and staff will be the first priority and trying to find my feet at Wellington.”Watling said he would also draw motivation from the success of countrymen Brendon McCullum, Stephen Fleming and Daniel Vettori who are all now active coaches in top-flight cricket.”It’s great to see the boys out there coaching,” Watling said. “Obviously, recently was exciting to see him [McCullum] get the England role. I know he will do a fantastic job. I’ve kept an eye on Flem with the Chennai Super Kings there [IPL]. Yeah, I guess that has inspired me, but throughout my career, I love cricket and I’m passionate about the game and I’m really looking forward to get back.”Cricket Wellington CEO Cam Mitchell was confident of Watling making an impact at the province as coach.”We have no doubt that BJ will be a successful elite coach, and we are pleased to be able to help support his career development,” Mitchell said in a Cricket Wellington statement.”His work ethic, strong values and recent playing experience will be so valuable for our young playing group, and his strong track-record of success as a player shows what we are trying to achieve.”

The visitors leave South Africa empty-handed, defeated in the Tests, ODIs and T20s with David Miller’s mauling being the final nail in the coffin

The Report by Firdose Moonda29-Oct-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:00

Knocks like this don’t come every day – Miller

David Miller smashed the fastest T20I century off 35 balls, beating countryman Richard Levi by 10 deliveries. In doing so, Miller took South Africa to a series win and a historic clean-sweep across formats against a visiting team, the first such instance in 17 tours in which they have played an opposition in all three formats. As a result, Bangladesh leave the country empty-handed, defeated in the Tests, ODIs and T20Is, with Miller’s mauling being the final nail in the coffin.South Africa, with new coach Ottis Gibson at the helm, aimed to be as ruthless as possible in this early-season series, and underlined that intention with this performance, in their 100th T20 international.Hashim Amla set the tone with his 85 off 51 balls and seemed set for a century but was dismissed in the 17th over, attempting to clear the midwicket boundary. Miller was on 42 off 20 balls at the time, with 21 balls left in the innings. Miller, however, needed only 15 of those to get the 58 runs that took him to a hundred, including five sixes in succession off Mohammad Saifuddin in the penultimate over of the innings.Bangladesh had reason to rue that assault, for they could have dismissed Miller early in his innings, even before he had a run to his name. The second ball Miller faced was short from Rubel Hossain and he gloved it down the leg side. Mushfiqur Rahim, the wicketkeeper, dived one-handed to his right, got to the ball but could not hold on. In the next over, Miller charged Saifuddin and lofted a drive over the covers. Three fielders converged on the ball but the ball landed between them.At that juncture in the game, Bangladesh were more concerned about Amla, who was timing the ball well and had sauntered to his fifty off 32 balls. He held together the first half of South Africa’s innings, in which the visitors kept them fairly quiet. Shakib Al Hasan bowled both Mangaliso Mosehle and JP Duminy for single-digit scores and AB de Villiers holed out to long-off for 20. South Africa were 78 for 3 at the halfway stage when Amla began to up the ante.He took on the short ball, which Bangladesh offered in abundance, and allowed Miller ample time to settle. Miller seemed to need it and could have been out a third time when he came out of his crease and edged Mahmudullah in the 15th over, with the ball rolling towards the stumps, but missing it eventually. Miller made it back in time and avoided being stumped. That was, however, the last of the nerves shown by him.Miller slammed the next ball over long-off for the first of his nine sixes. There was much more to come. He dispatched Rubel to cow corner for four in the next over, then sent him over long-on for two sixes in the next three balls. By the time Amla was dismissed, Miller had got his eye in. He reached his half-century with a top-edge off a hook and followed that up by smashing a Taskin Ahmed full toss over long-on before the showstopper.Saifuddin, who had figures of 2 for 22 from his first three overs, started his final over with a full, slower ball. Miller clobbered it for a six. Then, he went quicker but still full, outside off. Miller went inside-out over the covers for six. The third ball was also full, Miller shuffled across and flicked behind square leg for the third six. Then Saifuddin darted the next one full down the leg side and out came another flick for another six. It was only after he had been hit for four consecutive sixes that Saifuddin received some advice from his captain but to no avail. He went short and Miller pulled. For six.AFP

Only two other players have hit six sixes in a row in an over in international cricket, one of them a South African – Herschelle Gibbs – and Miller was on the cusp of joining them. The final ball was full and wide and Miller went down on one knee but drove it along the ground for one. He was disappointed but kept strike, which enabled him to go for a hundred in the final over.Miller fell over as he reached for a full Rubel delivery that he sent for four and then under-edged a full toss for four more before a brace of twos took him to the fastest hundred in this format. Farhaan Behardien, the non-striker, was as much a spectator as the beleaguered Bangladesh attack. While Shakib conceded only 22 runs off his four overs, the other five bowlers gave away 201 runs off 16 overs at 12.5 an over. Saifuddin’s 31-run fourth over meant he finished with 2 for 53 but Miller could be heard commiserating with him as the teams left the field.”Tough luck,” Miller said. For Bangladesh, it only got tougher.They have never scored over 200 in a T20 and needed 225 this time. They started well, with 17 runs off the first over but South Africa had a trick up their sleeve. Duminy brought himself on in the second over and should have had a wicket immediately. Soumya Sarkar took him on and sent the ball straight to Robbie Frylinck at mid-on, who had to take a simple catch but could not hold on. Duminy kept Sarkar quiet for the rest of that over and on the last ball, he was desperate to get a move on and called for a suicidal single after belting the ball into the covers. Miller collected and threw the ball wide of Mosehle, who had to move to his left but had enough time to gather and run Imrul Kayes out.Rather than see himself as a novelty, Duminy continued and in his next over, struck the killer blow. Shakib made room and Duminy aimed at the stumps and bowled him. In the next over, Mushfiqur edged Frylink to Mosehle; Bangladesh were 32 for 3 before five overs were up and they had little opportunity left to stage a comeback. It was only a matter of time for them and all of South Africa’s bowlers enjoyed some reward as they wrapped up a professional, clinical victory.

Decider wrapped up in style inside an hour-and-a-half on the fourth morning

Andrew Miller27-Mar-2022West Indies 297 (Da Silva 100*) and 28 for 0 (Brathwaite 20*) beat England 204 and 120 (Mayers 5-18) by ten wicketsThe stadium DJ was playing as the last rites of England’s Caribbean humiliation were being administered by West Indies’ openers, Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell. 4.5 overs was all they needed to pick off the 28 runs needed for victory in the third Test in Grenada, and just 89 minutes of the fourth day’s play all told, as the Botham-Richards Trophy was captured with an elan to match the heyday of that pair’s rivalry.Fittingly, it was Brathwaite who sealed the spoils with a flick through midwicket for two off Chris Woakes, as he finished a series of stunning personal resolve with an unbeaten 20 from 21 balls – a gleeful sprint for the finish at stark odds with the equivalent of eight marathons that he had run in compiling his 673 minutes of resistance in the drawn second Test at Barbados.England, shellshocked by the extent of their shortcomings in the course of this series-deciding Test, had no prayer as their fleeting stint in the field began, although in throwing the new ball to Saqib Mahmood, they did at least acknowledge the one seamer to have truly enhanced his credentials in the course of a miserable campaign. But the closest he came to a breakthrough was a speculative review for lbw, as Brathwaite pinged him for consecutive fours in his second and final over.England had resumed the final day with even a miracle feeling a far-fetched option for salvation. They led by 10 runs overnight with just two wickets standing, although in keeping with the trend of the match, there were few demons for Woakes and Jack Leach to confront against the softer, older ball, which was already 53 overs old when play got underway.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

West Indies resumed with their third-day wrecker, Kyle Mayers, at one end, and the quicker options of Jayden Seales and Alzarri Joseph alternating at the other, but Leach and Woakes watched the ball carefully and played within themselves to add 13 runs in a sedate first 40 minutes.But then, Mayers made way for West Indies’ attack leader, Kemar Roach, and all he required was a solitary delivery to break the deadlock. The ball itself was a rank leg-sided long-hop, but Woakes’ firm flick flew rapidly to Jason Holder’s right at leg gully, who clung onto a one-handed blinder with the ball almost behind his back.Woakes was gone for 19, having added just one run since an earlier moment of alarm, when Joseph tucked him up from back of a length for a looping deflection to short leg. After a successful review, umpire Gregory Brathwaite had to reverse his decision – the 19th overturned decision of the series.At 116 for 9, Leach was joined by England’s last man – and first-innings top-scorer – Mahmood, with the team management hoping against hope that could at least replicate their first-innings stand of 90, without which West Indies would already be celebrating an innings victory.This time, however, their partnership was almost ended after four balls, as Roach bent his back on the short ball, and Leach sliced inches short of point. Mahmood then got in a tangle twice in the same Joseph over, first with an appeal for caught-behind that flicked off his arm-guard, and then with a flapped pull off the eyebrows that looped over gully.The hostility of the short-ball approach was at stark odds to the tame fare that England had served up when hunting the tenth West Indies wicket on the third morning, and with Leach pinned to his crease, Roach fired in the surprise fuller ball, to produce a thin edge through to the tumbling Da Silva. Once again, umpire Joel Wilson was unmoved, but West Indies were already celebrating before their review revealed a thin spike on UltraEdge.Related

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Afterwards, England’s captain, Joe Root, was magnanimous in defeat as he sought out each of West Indies’ players for a handshake, but despite the growing sense that he has taken his team as far as he can carry it, he claims for the moment that he still relishes the challenge of leading the urgently required rebuild.”Throughout this series we’ve played some really good cricket, and shown what we’re capable of as a group,” Root said. “We’ve grown over first two games as a batting group, we’ve shown big strides in that department.”But as Brathwaite and his men held aloft the Richards-Botham Trophy, all such issues were secondary to the glory of a West Indies team that has once again rallied round. Their remarkable home run of success against England has now extended to three series wins and a draw since 2004, and one loss in 11 campaigns since 1968.”We had a camp before the series began, and we said this is one of our best series at home, we’ve got to fight hard,” Brathwaite said. “It’s carried through in every game, someone else raising their hand and doing the job, whether’s it’s in the field, or with the ball or with the ball, spending time. The effort was remarkable.”

Pakistan’s collapse, he suggested, came about because conditions were difficult for batters new to the crease

Umar Farooq23-Mar-2022Pakistan have a long history of collapses in Test cricket, and they added a new chapter on Wednesday, when they lost their last five wickets for just four runs – a new record – to hand Australia a 123-run first-innings lead. Azhar Ali has conceded that the lower-order implosion has “dented Pakistan’s chances” in the Lahore Test, but has not lost hope that they can come back into the game.Related

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Pakistan began the day at 90 for 1, and the overnight pair of Azhar and Abdullah Shafique batted through the first session and stretched their second-wicket stand to 150 to put Pakistan in a solid position at 170 for 1 in response to Australia’s 391. Along the way, Azhar also brought up a major milestone, becoming only the fifth Pakistan batter to score 7000 Test runs.There were no major partnerships thereafter, however, as Pakistan crumbled around Babar Azam’s 67 to be bowled out for 268, with Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins running amok in furious spells of pace and reverse-swing.”The collapse we had after tea has dented our chances a little bit in the game but Test cricket is like that – it goes up and down,” Azhar said in his press conference at the end of the day’s play. “That’s the beauty of Test cricket and hopefully we can turn things around tomorrow.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

He was generous in his praise for Starc and Cummins. “We have to give credit to them. We always knew how good they are, especially Starc when it comes to reverse-swing. Cummins, he’s an all-round very good bowler – he is the top bowler in the world right now, and he exploited the conditions really well.”It was hard work for the fast bowlers but there was always a kind of low bounce and reverse-swing was going on since yesterday. They kept on bowling on the right areas and kept asking questions, even to the set batsmen as well, and late in the day there was some good results for them. It was lovely to see good, fast, reverse-swing bowling, and unfortunately we were on the receiving end.”Asked for a possible reason behind Pakistan’s collapse after tea, Azhar suggested the pitch was not an easy one for new batters to settle down on. Knowing this, he said Pakistan’s batters had been conscious of needing to bat long when set, but that didn’t quite happen, with neither he, Shafique nor Babar going on to convert their half-centuries into a hundred.”When you play on these pitches you have to bat long, because runs don’t come very quickly. Our intent was to maximise the partnerships because it becomes a little difficult for the new batsman, because runs don’t come quickly, you don’t become set, and reverse-swing starts very early. So I think against a quality bowling side like Australia who have Cummins and Starc, they can cause problems in these conditions especially for new batsmen.”Our 80s, we wanted to convert them into 150s and 170s because it was difficult for the new batsmen. Once our partnership [Azhar-Shafique] was broken, it wasn’t easy for the new batsmen who came in. Unfortunately the collapse happened very early, and yes, we are in some trouble. But we will try to change [our situation] and in a similar way we have the opportunity to take quick wickets and change things around.”Pat Cummins held a stunning return catch to remove Azhar Ali•AFP

Pakistan’s scoring rate – 2.29 over their innings – became a talking point too. Other than Babar, who scored his runs at a strike rate of 51.14, no batter even struck in the 40s. Azhar said these scoring rates were an outcome of the slowness of the pitch.”The conditions basically dictate how you play cricket, Azhar said. “If you compare across all three Test matches, both teams have been batting similarly. Even when we used to play in the UAE, one question was always asked, why we score so slowly. When you get slow pitches it’s not easy to score quickly. It’s easier when the ball is new, but when the ball gets old and there are straight fields [more fielders in front of the wicket], and when there are low-bounce pitches, it’s not easy to score quick runs.”Pakistan went into this match with five specialist bowlers, leaving out their allrounder Faheem Ashraf and playing only six specialist batters including the keeper Mohammad Rizwan. Asked if that had left them with a long tail that contributed to their collapse, Azhar backed the decision, saying it was a positive move made with taking 20 wickets at the forefront.”You have to take a chance sometimes,” Azhar said. “I think it was a positive move from the management, they wanted five bowlers because you win Test matches only by taking 20 wickets. Our top six were the ones scoring maximum runs and we wanted to take [extra] responsibility as a batting unit. Unfortunately this collapse happened, but it doesn’t mean the team selection was wrong. Naseem Shah proved that decision to play him as a fifth bowler paid off; he took four wickets and bowled very well. So sometimes, while taking a positive decision, you have to sacrifice something else, and we stand behind the decision as a team and and optimistic that it will pay off.”

Allrounder Solomon Mire, who has played 10 ODIs for Zimbabwe, most recently at the 2015 World Cup, has made himself available for international duty

Firdose Moonda09-Feb-2017Allrounder Solomon Mire, who has played 10 ODIs for Zimbabwe, most recently at the 2015 World Cup, has made himself available for international duty. Zimbabwe Cricket have included him in the squad to play Afghanistan in a five-match ODI series that starts next Thursday. Mire, who has been playing grade cricket in Australia since the end of the World Cup, will bolster a Zimbabwe squad that is desperate for fixtures ahead of next year’s qualification for the 2019 World Cup.Mire is accompanied by another allrounder Elton Chigumbura, who has kept his place despite a poor tri-series in which he scored only nine runs in three matches and did not bowl. Whether Chigumbura’s allround ability will be needed in an XI that welcomes back a key strike bowler is yet to be seen.Tendai Chatara, who last played an international in June 2016, has returned to full fitness after recovering from a leg injury and will likely form one half of the new-ball pair with Chris Mpofu.Zimbabwe have left out seven players from the squad that reached the final of the tri-series. Chamu Chibhabha, Tendai Chisoro, Hamilton Masakadza, Brian Chari, Carl Mumba, Tinashe Panyangara and Sean Williams all miss out with Mire, Chatara, Wellington Masakadza and two uncapped players, Ryan Burl and Nathan Waller, included. Burl is a left-hand batsman fresh off a a century and two fifties against Afghanistan A, while Waller is an allrounder and cousin of Malcolm.Two more players will be added to the group after this weekend’s round of Pro50 matches.Zimbabwe do not have anything on their calendar until a tour to Sri Lanka in mid-2017 and have not played international cricket since a triangular series featuring Sri Lanka and West Indies in November. ESPNcricinfo understands they are in talks to host Scotland and West Indies in June and October respectively in a bid to fill up their calendar, which has also seen a dearth of domestic fixtures.Zimbabwe were due to have a bumper home season with 12 rounds of Logan Cup first-class fixtures, List A matches and a club competition but the Logan Cup has been delayed several times. It will be pushed back further with this weekend’s fixtures moved to later in the month, but with good reason. The Pro50 Championship will be played instead, in preparation for the Afghanistan series.Zimbabwe squad: Graeme Cremer (capt), Peter Moor (wk), Ryan Burl, Tarisai Musakanda, Sikandar Raza, Malcolm Waller, Elton Chigumbura, Wellington Masakadza, Donald Tiripano, Tendai Chatara, Christopher Mpofu, Nathan Waller, Craig Ervine, Solomon Mire.

The Committee of Administrators (CoA) has sought the Supreme Court’s immediate interference to ensure both the fourth Test between India and Australia and the IPL are not disrupted by disgruntled state associations

Nagraj Gollapudi22-Mar-2017The Committee of Administrators (CoA) has sought the Supreme Court’s immediate interference to ensure both the fourth Test between India and Australia and the IPL are not disrupted by disgruntled state associations.In its second status report, submitted in the court last week, the CoA singled out the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA), which will host the fourth Test in Dharamsala later this week, for “intransigence”. The CoA also had stern words for the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA), which wanted more funds to host IPL matches despite having “substantial” reserves.”The Committee of Administrators believes that there is an urgent need to issue appropriate directions to ensure the smooth conduct of the fourth Test match between India and Australia by the HPCA as well as the smooth conduct of IPL matches by the state/member associations,” the CoA said in the status report, which was prepared on March 17.The court is likely to hear the matter on Friday, a day before the Test match starts in Dharamsala, where the two teams arrived on Monday.The HPCA, the CoA said, had asked the BCCI to release funds to host the Tests despite not having adhered to the twin orders delivered by the court last October. Through two separate orders in October, the court had made it clear to the BCCI “cease and desist” from disbursing funds to the states associations until they had submitted a written resolution saying they would adopt the Lodha Committee’s recommendations.”One of the intransigent state/member association is the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, which has not demonstrated compliance with the orders, but has sought funds for smooth conduct of the fourth Test match between India and Australia,” the status report said.The HPCA, the CoA said, had enough in its reserves to conduct the Test without any issue. According to the CoA, the HPCA had about INR 6.27 crore as savings on March 31, 2016. An amount of approximately INR 59.44 crore was transferred by the BCCI to the HPCA account between April and October last year. This was not including the INR 16 crore that each state association received from the BCCI towards the cancellation of the Champions League T20.The CoA was also wary of the threat posed by some the 10 state associations set to host the IPL, which starts in two weeks’ time. The tournament opener between defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore – the 2016 finalists – is scheduled in Hyderabad on April 5. Incidentally the Hyderabad Cricket Association is under duress after its groundstaff went on an indefinite strike last week for the non-payment of their salaries.The CoA told the court that the SCA had written to the BCCI “more than once” asking for funds to be released to address various payments including the “conduct” of the IPL. Rajkot, where the SCA is based, is the home base for Gujarat Lions, who will play five matches there. In its letter, the SCA had asked the BCCI to release INR 30 lakh per match, an amount which every venue that hosts IPL receives from the BCCI. This sum is separate to a similar amount the venue gets from the host franchise a day before each of the matches.Again, as in the case of HPCA, the SCA, too, had a substantial amount in its reserves as per its audited accounts from last March. According to the CoA, the SCA had about INR 213.47 crore as bank savings in addition to the sum of INR 42.66 crore it received from the BCCI between April and October last year.Even as it waits for the court to issue further directives, the CoA authorised BCCI CEO Rahul Johri to address the SCA and the other IPL host associations, telling them that the fee payable to the states associations will be transferred as per the contract: 14 days after the tournament ends. Johri also reminded all 10 state associations that payment will be made pending their compliance with the court orders.Ever since its institution on January 30 this year, the CoA has been locked in a tussle with the state associations, which have been reluctant to implement the Lodha Committee’s recommendations. On February 22, the CoA sent an email to all the state associations asking for a status update relating to their compliance with the court orders issued on implementing the recommendations.The state associations wrote back to the CoA citing reasons as to why they would not be adopting the recommendations prescribed by the Lodha Committee. The CoA was also told that the states had approached the court requesting further clarity.In its status report, the CoA said it had “noted with regret” the replies of the state associations. “Instead of upfront compliance with what was primarily a request for information/status update on the implementation of the reforms, they have unfortunately used the pendency of various applications as an excuse to avoid necessary compliance,” it said.The CoA told the court that the state associations had themselves to blame for not receiving the BCCI funds. “The Committee of Administrators understands that adequate funds are necessary in order to ensure that cricketing activity continues smoothly. However, it is the intransigence of state/member association to comply with this Hon’ble Court’s order dated October 7, 2016 and October 21, 2016 that has resulted in the consequential inability of BCCI to release funds to them.”It appears that the stand taken by these state/member association is part of a well thought out strategy of refusing to comply with the orders even at the cost of letting players, employees, etc. suffer, and cricketing activity be adversely affected, which is unfortunate.”In its first status report, submitted on March 5, the CoA had told the court that the state associations had not complied with even one of the steps that had to be implemented to meet the timelines set by the Lodha Committee.

Australian fast bowler Andrew Tye is returning to Gloucestershire in 2017 to play in the NatWest T20 Blast

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Dec-2016Australian fast bowler Andrew Tye is returning to Gloucestershire in 2017 to play in the NatWest T20 Blast.Tye, 30, a team-mate of Gloucestershire’s Michael Klinger and Cameron Bancroft at Perth Scorchers, who begin their Big Bash campaign on December 23, was instrumental in the county reaching the T20 Quarter-Final after finishing top of the South Group.He picked up an impressive 18 wickets in 14 matches, with a match best of 3 for 16 against Surrey in Bristol in July.