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South Africa’s head coach to face a disciplinary hearing chaired by senior counsel advocate Terry Motau; he will remain in his role as coach in the interim

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jan-2022In a follow-up to the Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) report, Mark Boucher has been charged with gross misconduct by Cricket South Africa, and will face a disciplinary hearing chaired by senior counsel advocate Terry Motau. Boucher remains in his role as head coach of the senior men’s team, and will be with the team as they take on India in the second ODI in Paarl on Friday.On Thursday, CSA named Motau as chairperson of the disciplinary hearing into the allegations of misconduct against Boucher, and said in a statement that the coach had been presented with his charge sheet.The statement said: “It is proposed that the parties [Boucher] will meet with Advocate [Motau] on 26th January 2022 to determine a timetable for the proceedings.”This follows December’s Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) report, which made tentative findings regarding allegations of discrimination and racism against various persons, including Mr Boucher. Specifically, during the SJN process, allegations of racism were levelled against Mr Boucher by his former Proteas team-mate, Paul Adams.Related

• CSA withdraws misconduct charges against Mark Boucher

• 'Not my job or desire to find Boucher guilty or not' – Adams to not testify against former team-mate

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• SJN follow-up: CSA will argue in favour of dismissing Mark Boucher at disciplinary hearing

• Paul Adams: I was nicknamed 'brown s*** when I was playing'

“CSA confirms that a charge sheet, containing both the disciplinary charges against Mr Boucher, as well as his rights, was provided to him on 17 January. The upcoming inquiry will also consider concerns and allegations that arose following the resignation of former assistant coach, Enoch Nkwe.”While Mr Boucher is being charged with gross misconduct, which could lead to his dismissal, CSA emphasises it is important that the independent inquiry first needs to test all allegations before any question of sanction can arise.”Responding to the development, Boucher issued a statement of his own later in the day, saying: “I look forward to dealing with and defending these allegations which have been made and will do so at the hearing in due course. For now I am solely focused on my duties as head coach of the Proteas.”*The SJN report, which was released in December, made “tentative” findings that Boucher, among others, had engaged in prejudicial and discriminatory conduct in the past on the basis of race. But ombudsman Dumisa Ntsebeza was unable to make definite findings, and recommended to CSA that a further process be undertaken for this. This secondary process is now what CSA is flagging off, with Motau at the helm.The CSA statement said further steps in this regard will be announced “in due course”. “Further steps and action by CSA to transform cricket and act on other applicable recommendations in the SJN report, aligned to the Board’s new strategic framework and pillars of access, inclusion and excellence, will be announced in due course.”*

Todd Greenberg, the ACA chief executive, said players were aware how important it was to keep the game going

Alex Malcolm28-Feb-2022The Australian Cricketers’ Association is hopeful the key parts of a new pay deal between the players and Cricket Australia could be resolved in the coming months with chief executive Todd Greenberg vowing that there will be no repeat of the ugly dispute that unfolded when the last deal was struck in 2017.Discussions on a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) have been ongoing between Greenberg and CA chief executive Nick Hockley with the pair currently in Pakistan together on tour with the Australian men’s team for the first Test in Rawalpindi.They have been speaking regularly since coming into their respective posts in 2021 in a bid to form a stronger bond than the almost non-existent relationship between predecessors James Sutherland and Alistair Nicholson back in 2017 when an ugly 10-month pay dispute led to the players being unemployed for 34 days and an Australia A tour being cancelled before a resolution was found.”I’d be surprised if we haven’t got something resolved in the coming months,” Greenberg told ESPNcricinfo. “First and foremost, we don’t anticipate having any of the MoU discussions conducted in the same manner that it was way back in 2017. I think a lot of that has changed.”Cricket Australia have recognised the revenue share model and the importance of that for cricket. The game has continued to grow during this period of time, and I think despite the difficulties of the Covid pandemic, what it has demonstrated is there is a really strong alignment of partnering between the game and the players because there’s a real need for each other to be aligned on that. So the model works. Effectively if games aren’t being played, revenue is not being earned.”We’ve made some good progress already on the MoU discussions. Nick and I have been leading those on behalf of our respective teams. And I’m hopeful we can come to an agreement in a relatively short space of time, which will see both the players and Cricket Australia in a really strong position to come out of the pandemic.”Bubbles have been a strain on finances and the players•Cricket Australia via Getty Images

Greenberg was pleased he had been able to forge a relationship with Hockley over the last year to create a greater dialogue between the ACA and CA on a range of issues.”We’ve spent a lot of time together,” Greenberg said. “And I’m pleased that we are spending time together because it’s really important when we said we can talk about different issues in the game and I can certainly give him perspectives on behalf of the players both male and females.”That relationship is really strong. I came into this role knowing the history of the last MoU and the difficulties that the game faced, and I was pretty determined to try to repair some bridges and try to mend some of those relationships. And so Nick and I both being new in our roles have an opportunity to do that.”The new MoU is one of a number of key issues for Cricket Australia to resolve in the coming months. New CA chairman Lachlan Henderson outlined a new cricket strategy with refreshing the BBL at the top of the agenda, particularly with a new TV broadcast rights deal set to be negotiated in 2024, after the new MoU is already in place.Covid has also affected CA’s bottom line with Henderson revealing the administration had spent $40 million on biosecurity over the past two seasons, money it needs to recoup.The players are hopeful the bio-bubbles will not be required next summer after two years of playing in such environments both home and abroad.”We’re really hopeful that we can return to some level of normality next summer by the time that rolls around,” Greenberg said. “But it’s certainly not lost on me and it shouldn’t be lost on the fans that the players have made enormous sacrifices to keep the game underway.”The players have made it very clear to me that at any point in time, the most important thing for them is to continue to play cricket and if you go back over the last 24 months the sacrifices players have made to be away from families to be in isolated environments, some of the sacrifices from players from Western Australia who have literally not been home since the middle of last year is nothing short of phenomenal.”They know that they’ve got a huge responsibility to do that, a responsibility to keep the show on the road but a responsibility to play cricket so that the revenues are still coming into the game. Because the revenues are there to generate grassroots participation and to keep the game flowing from top to bottom.”

After 172 overs in the field in Karachi, recovery will be vital ahead of the deciding Test

Andrew McGlashan17-Mar-2022Pat Cummins is confident Australia’s bowlers can recharge in time for the final Test against Pakistan in Lahore after the disappointment of not being able to force victory from a hugely dominant position in Karachi.The deciding match of the series starts on March 21, giving the players an extra day of recovery, with the series locked at 0-0 following Pakistan’s remarkable rearguard led by Babar Azam. Australia sent down 172 overs in the second innings, of which spinners Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Swepson bowled 108, but in the immediate aftermath of the back-breaking efforts, Cummins did not see cause for concern.Related

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“Had a walkaround and everyone is fine, there’s no big injury concerns,” he said. “We knew it was a 15-day tour, basically back-to-back, think that’s why we protected ourselves on the last day of the last Test [in Rawalpindi]. We know what we’ve signed up for, so will put everything into the next week. We’ve got four days, so one extra than what we had before this Test to recover.”The brevity of Pakistan’s first innings and the volume of work for the spinners in the second meant Australia’s quicks did not bowl themselves into the ground. Cummins sent down the most with 39 overs, including a magnificent seven-over spell on the final day, which removed Abdullah Shafique and Fawad Alam, followed by Mitchell Starc’s 34 and then Cameron Green’s 23.Australia have plenty of bowling reserves in their squad, with Josh Hazlewood, who played the opening match in Rawalpindi, and Scott Boland, who has a Test average of 9.55, vying for a spot if a change is required. The uncapped Mark Steketee is also part of the squad. Ashton Agar is the other spinner available.”We’ve got a full contingent if we need to call on anyone,” Cummins said. “The quick bowlers, Starcy and I and Greeny, all bowled between 20 and 35 overs or something like that, so not a huge workload. [It’s] probably the spinners, make sure they are looked after.”Debutant Swepson bowled 53.4 wicketless overs in the second innings but had four chances of varying difficulty missed off his bowling. “I thought Swepo bowled fantastically today,” Cummins said. “I don’t know how he’s ended up with those figures. The way he was able to be a real wicket-taking option on a really good wicket without really footmarks to the right-handers I was just really impressed with how he went about it.”There will be an element of the unknown about the pitch in Lahore, with the soon-to-be-renamed Gaddafi Stadium hosting its first Test since 2009. In five first-class matches played at the ground last year, pace bowlers have averaged 49.16 and spinners 56.00.

“Teams, players, coaches are better prepared for him,” says Daniel Vettori of the KKR allrounder’s batting slump, in conversation with Chris Lynn and Aakash Chopra

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Apr-20225:52

Vettori – ‘Teams, players, coaches are better prepared for Venkatesh Iyer’

Since getting retained by Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 8 crore (40 times his previous salary), life in the IPL hasn’t been easy for Venkatesh Iyer. He’s batted eight times this season and has gone past 20 only once, and neither his average (18.00) nor his strike rate (102.43) make for pretty reading.After six games as opener, Knight Riders have moved him into the middle order, and that hasn’t worked either. So what’s gone wrong?Related

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According to both the former captain and coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore Daniel Vettori and former Knight Riders batter Chris Lynn, Iyer’s troubles this season mostly fall into the category of second-season syndrome.”I think I remember a discussion with Lynny, probably when we were watching a game, when he just thought that there’s a lot more information on Venkatesh Iyer, and therefore bowling coaches, coaches in general, have put a lot more time and effort into how to find a way to bowl to him, and I think that’s simply second-season [syndrome] or whatever it is – it happens,” Vettori said on the ESPNcricinfo show T20 Time:Out. “It’s happened to a lot of players, it’s happened to a lot of very good players, and the challenge, I suppose, is to step up from that.”And I think bowlers also have an understanding – some bowlers would have had success against him and try to relive that, and some bowlers would try to rectify mistakes that they made last year. I don’t think you need to overthink it; it’s just the fact that teams, players, coaches are better prepared for him.”Lynn said Iyer’s challenge would be to come up with plans to fight his way back into form.”On the whiteboards in every change room will be exactly the same plans, no doubt about that, and he’s just got to find a way,” he said. “There’s no doubt he’s good enough to bat from [Nos.] 1 to 6 – he’s playing in the Kolkata side for a reason, because he’s got talent. It’s just that teams have more knowledge and it’s as simple as that, I think.Venkatesh Iyer has gone past 20 only once in eight innings this season•BCCI

“The challenge for him is to try and go back to the drawing board, build some confidence, whether that’s for Kolkata or for another team, but just try and have some clarity when he’s walking out to bat, and it might be putting away a big shot, it might be just getting off strike, it might be using his feet, whatever it may be, just finding a way to get down to the other end and bat time. He’s only scored one fifty so far, he’s just got to bat time, and that’s the only way you build confidence.”The former India opener Aakash Chopra, who was part of the same discussion, felt there might be two other reasons for Iyer’s dip in form.”I completely agree that there is data, there is analysis, and there’s a lot of homework with regards to certain players, and he’s a top-order batter. So that’s one part of the story,” he said. “But the second part is that since that fantastic [2021] season he’s batted at [Nos.] 5 for 6 for his state side, for India, and now he’s back to opening, so yes, while he’s facing these form issues and found-out kind of issues, but the fact is that he’s been up and down the order too much.”Even now, KKR lost faith very quickly. So that’s one side, that he’s now maybe slightly confused in the head, ‘what am I supposed to do, am I an opener or am I a finisher?'”Secondly, nobody else is [performing]. See, sometimes you could go through a bad patch but you have an opening partner who’s scoring runs. He makes your life simpler, easier, and gives you the allowance to just find form, sometimes, but that’s not happening, their batting is in slight disarray. You don’t have runs from a lot of them – once in a while from Shreyas Iyer but nobody has been consistent enough, so that just puts the added pressure on Venkatesh.”Should KKR have retained Iyer?
Another potential source of pressure on Iyer could be having to live up to being retained by his franchise – ahead of Shubman Gill, one of the brightest top-order talents in India, who has since moved to Gujarat Titans.KKR let go of Shubman Gill and opted to retain Iyer ahead of the 2022 auction•BCCI

Vettori felt Knight Riders had made a smart move in retaining Iyer.”You’d have to know the man to answer that question [whether being retained had put more pressure on Iyer], but I think KKR were right in retaining him, because I think that the auction would have taken him to another level in terms of the amount that he would have gone for,” he said. “Everyone talks about that Indian allrounder and what he could have brought to a team, so retained for 6 crore, if I’m correct? [8 crore] I think he would have comfortably gone for more than that if he’d gone into the auction. I think KKR’s strategy was right; it’s just the fact that he hasn’t had the season that they would have expected.”Chopra said he would have retained Gill ahead of Iyer, if it was his call to make.”There are two more seasons to go, two-and-a-half more seasons to go [before the next scheduled mega auction], so let’s not jump the gun, and you can’t always judge a decision based on how things are panning out,” he said. “You do the best at that point in time, whatever you think.”But I think, personally, they had a choice. They had a choice of paying a couple of crores more to Shubman Gill and retaining him, and then invest in him as maybe a long-term captaincy candidate. I think it’s not about Venkatesh Iyer getting retained, and maybe he was worth more or worth less, we don’t know, but Shubman Gill, I think letting him go was a mistake, because it’s important to know when to hold on to, and when to let go of [a player]. I think the best of Shubman Gill is going to come in the next three years for Gujarat Titans and not KKR.”And what of his bowling?
Iyer, meanwhile, has not had much of a chance to show off his second suit this season, with Knight Riders only calling on his medium-pace for two overs. This, Lynn said, was not a reflection of his skills as much as of the team’s requirements. He believes Knight Riders can get their money’s worth out of Iyer in the long term, if he and their coaches can find a way to fix his ongoing issues.Iyer (seen here bowling in the IPL 2021 final) has only sent down two overs so far this season•BCCI

“I think you can’t really use that [not being required to bowl] against him, because […] going back to the auction they’ve done well, and obviously Andre Russell is bowling quite well as well, when he’s needed, so it’s not Venky’s fault there at all, but I think it’s a positive move from Kolkata to retain him.”You look at other teams, there’s two world-class established players that’s probably had a similar season – it’s not rocket science to work out who those guys are – but I think it’s a great move from Kolkata and they’re investing in him long-term; the challenge is up to him now and the coaching staff to get him back up where he wants to be and needs to be, not only scoring runs for Kolkata but getting back in those Indian colours where he does belong, I believe.”As to where Iyer should bat for the rest of the season, the T20 Time:Out panel was unanimous in its opinion that he should go back to the top of the order.”My only humble submission is that once you invest in someone for whatever reason, stick with it for a little longer,” Chopra said. “Don’t lose patience, don’t lose faith that early, Venkatesh Iyer at the top of the order is your best bet. None of your other openers are anyway firing.”Lynn concurred. “Yeah, 100%. It’s the only way we’re going to build confidence back with him. Get him up. He’s a freely flowing batsman, he plays on instinct, and that’s not going to happen at 5 or 6, so let’s get him back up in the opening role when the field’s in.”

Sadia Iqbal and Kainat Imtiaz, meanwhile, are back after recovering from their respective injuries

Umar Farooq18-May-2022Pakistan have named two uncapped players – wicketkeeper-batter Gull Feroza and legspinner Tuba Hassan – in their T20I squad for the upcoming home series against Sri Lanka. Feroza is also part of the squad for the ODI series, which also includes uncapped batter Sadaf Shamas. Left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal, meanwhile, has been recalled to both squads after recovering from an injury.Kainat Imtiaz, the pacer who had been ruled out of the Women’s World Cup earlier this year with a thumb injury, is back in the fold for the T20Is after clearing a fitness test in Karachi. Bismah Maroof will lead the side. She returns to the side after participating in the recently concluded FairBreak Invitational T20 event alongside Aliya Riaz, Diana Baig and Fatima Sana. The trio has now joined the team.The 26 probables for the national women’s team have been training since May 8 at the Hanif Mohammad High-Performance Centre at the National Stadium in Karachi. The pre-series camp is set to conclude today with the selectors having narrowed down the squad to 15. Left-arm-spinner Nashra Sandhu, who missed the camp due to a shoulder injury, will have to wait for her return.The series is set to start with a three-match T20I series from May 24 with the final game to be played on May 28. The ODIs that are a part of the ICC Women’s Championship will be played on June 1, 3, and 5. All games will be played at Karachi’s Southend Club.Related

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“I want to wish the two squads the very best for the series, we have provided opportunities to Gull Feroza, Sadaf Shamas and Tuba Hassan on the basis of their future potential and skills,” Chief Selector Asmavia Iqbal said. “The three youngsters took part in the emerging camp last December and made an impression with their talent. I am pleased to see their progress and we all feel it is now the right time to give them exposure in international cricket.”We had sent Tuba as a reserve player in the recently concluded ODI World Cup, she continues to make good progress; and since spin bowling has been a traditional strength of ours, I feel she can make a good contribution in our bowling strategy. Gull Feroza has also made good progress, she has an aggressive style of play and can provide us with brisk starts in both T20Is and ODIs which are now a big requirement at the international stage. Sadaf, besides her batting skills, provides us a bowling option too with her medium-pace skills.”T20I squad:Bismah Maroof (capt), Aiman Anwer, Aliya Riaz, Anam Amin, Ayesha Naseem, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Gull Feroza (wk), Iram Javed, Kainat Imtiaz, Muneeba Ali (wk), Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal and Tuba Hassan.ODI squad:Bismah Maroof (captain), Aiman Anwer, Aliya Riaz, Anam Amin, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Ghulam Fatima, Gull Feroza, Muneeba Ali (wk), Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Ameen, and Sidra Nawaz (wk).

The pair added 152 after getting together at 4 for 2 before Athapaththu’s two wickets hastened the end for Pakistan

Danyal Rasool05-Jun-2022An all-round performance from Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu helped her team to a convincing consolation win on the final day of their tour of Pakistan. After electing to bat, she scored her sixth ODI hundred, a 95-ball 101, before taking 2 for 20 with the ball to help rout Pakistan by 93 runs.It looked like a miserable tour for Sri Lanka would end with another defeat when they lost two wickets for four runs. Hasini Perera was – you guessed it – run out on the fifth ball of the innings before Anam Amin trapped Hansima Karunaratne in front. But Athapaththu consolidated with Harshitha Madavi in a splendid third-wicket partnership that accumulated 152 runs. While Madavi was circumspect in her approach, her captain was far more aggressive, taking the fight to spinners and fast bowlers alike and putting Pakistan on the ropes for the first time all series.A number of curious captaincy decisions by Bismah Maroof, who had a torrid day, didn’t help. She brought herself on when a wicket was needed, though it was quickly apparent she wouldn’t be the one to deliver it. An increasingly emboldened Athapaththu was taking on every bowler at that point, and she wasn’t spared. When Diana Baig did come on, she was accosted with three fours off her first three balls.When Nida Dar finally had Athapaththu stumped, she had brought up her hundred, and a number of cameos lower down the order took the visitors to 260. Pakistan had only ever managed more than that in a second innings once and, against a buoyant Sri Lanka, they had their work cut out if they were to manage something similar.The chase followed the expected script as Pakistan couldn’t even come close. The fall of Sidra Ameen was perhaps unfortunate, with the batter getting an inside edge onto her pad though she was given out lbw. However, what followed was Pakistan’s own doing. An ordinary call for a non-existent single from Maroof saw Muneeba Ali run out. Soon, Maroof was bowled for a duck by Oshadi Ranasinghe while Nida Dar was cleaned up by Athapaththu.Aliya Riaz’s half-century brought some respectability to the scorecard for Pakistan, but the target was a way away. Sri Lanka kept chipping away as Pakistan waited for the inevitable and, with more than eight overs to go, folded for 167. Sri Lanka may not leave with either of the two trophies they fought for in Karachi, but they had the consolation of the last laugh.

Benny Howell and Jake Lintott also included in 13-man squad for 50-over tour games

Matt Roller04-Jul-2022Rehan Ahmed, the 17-year-old legspinner, has won an England Lions call-up for two 50-over games against the touring South Africans next week after a breakthrough season for Leicestershire in the T20 Blast.Ahmed starred for England at the Under-19 World Cup this year, taking 12 wickets in four games and showcasing his sharply-spun googly. He took 19 wickets in the group stages of the Blast, the most of any right-arm legspinner, and will be given an opportunity as one of two frontline spinners in the Lions squad.Jake Lintott, Warwickshire’s left-arm wristspinner, is also included as England look to test their wristspin depth, with Matt Parkinson winning an opportunity in the main white-ball squads against India while Adil Rashid is in Saudi Arabia for the Hajj pilgrimage.Related

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Tom Abell, the Somerset captain, will lead a squad which features three players who have previously won full England caps in Tom Banton, Ben Duckett and David Payne. Will Smeed, the 20-year-old top-order batter, could make an overdue List A debut after a remarkable start to his T20 career.Sam Hain will be given the chance to showcase his recent improvement at No. 3, after two full seasons without playing a 50-over game. He has the highest List A average of all time and has been a Lions regular but has made strides in T20 cricket of late, significantly improving his strike rate.Benny Howell, the Gloucestershire change-up specialist, could play his first game for the Lions at the age of 33. Stephen Eskinazi and Adam Hose are the other batting options while Sam Cook and George Scrimshaw, Derbyshire’s beanpole seamer who has been a prolific wicket-taker in the Blast this season, round off the squad.Benny Howell could play his first games for the Lions•Alex Davidson/Getty Images

The two fixtures against South Africa clash with England’s ODIs against India and a round of County Championship games. Mo Bobat, the ECB’s performance director, thanked the counties for their “collaborative approach… enabling us to field strong teams”.”It’s always great when we can bring some of our best and highest potential players together, particularly to take on senior international opposition,” Bobat said. “The two games provide an excellent opportunity to continue to grow our depth and assess players’ readiness for England.”The squad reflects a balance of England’s next best players and some future players of note, as well as high performers from this season’s Vitality Blast campaign.” Paul Collingwood, England’s assistant coach, will act as head coach.The ECB said that the first fixture at Taunton on July 12 will “permit full squad participation” to help South Africa prepare for the ODI series, but the second game at New Road will be played as an 11-a-side List A game.South Africa named a 17-man ODI squad last month, which will be captained by Keshav Maharaj in the injury-enforced absence of Temba Bavuma.England Lions squad: Tom Abell (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Banton (wk), Sam Cook, Ben Duckett, Stephen Eskinazi, Sam Hain, Adam Hose, Benny Howell, Jake Lintott, David Payne, George Scrimshaw, Will SmeedFixtures: July 12 – 1st 50-over match, Taunton; July 14 – 2nd 50-over match, New Road

Focused build-up to series pays dividends as England are caught cold on hottest day

Firdose Moonda19-Jul-2022South Africa “were a bit more up for it” in the opening match of their all-format tour, according to Rassie van der Dussen, as they outplayed an overworked England on a scorching day in Durham.With international schedules in the spotlight, not least because of Ben Stokes’ ODI retirement, it did not go unnoticed that the two teams’ journeys to this series were vastly different. South Africa have played only five T20Is since mid-April while England have played six white-ball matches in the first 17 days of this month alone, and lost four of them. Van der Dussen cited the hosts’ packed schedule as a possible reason for their big defeat, but also praised the way South Africa prepared ahead of the series and adapted to conditions on the day.”They [England] are all match-winners on their day. They’ve been playing a lot of cricket. We could see that today. It was obviously very hot but it just looked like we were a bit more up for it,” van der Dussen said afterwards.Although he emphasised that South Africa did not find the weather too bad after their recent tour of India “which was much worse”, he acknowledged that “it was a good toss to win,” because it meant England got the worst of the heat.On a big outfield, and in the knowledge that the opposition bowlers would tire, South Africa focused on accumulation rather than boundary hitting, and did not hit a single six in their innings in an innings reminiscent of ODIs of old. “We’ve done a lot of conditioning work and it’s part of our game-plan to hit space and run hard and make sure we get runs off good balls,” van der Dussen said.But they wouldn’t have been able to do that without some practice. “We came here quite early – ten days ago – because we knew we had to prepare well,” he added. “It’s a long tour with a lot of cricket still left to play. We played two warm-up games and got used to the conditions.Playing tour matches ahead of series proper has not been part of South Africa’s reality since before the Covid-19 pandemic. That cost them severely in New Zealand in February, where they lost the first Test by an innings and 276 runs after coming out of quarantine, but acclimatised to win the second by 198 runs and draw the series. Now that travel is normalising, South Africa are returning to a more old-school way of touring, and are fortunate their calendar allowed them the time to do that.Related

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In van der Dussen’s case, it’s also paid off personally, as he continues to enjoy a rich vein of ODI form that has resulted in three hundreds in his last 14 innings. This was his career-best performance and while it wasn’t flashy, it underlined his worth as a batter who can hold an innings together and anchor a big total. “When I go in, I try to read the situation of the game and plan my innings accordingly,” van der Dussen said. “I try to adapt and have the options and shots to try and put bowlers under pressure regardless of the situation.”He has been particularly successful with the reverse-sweep, shots down the ground and strike rotation, which were all part of his approach in Durham. “There wasn’t a lot of bounce in the wicket so I knew if they went short, you can try and negate that but you’ve got to play straight. That was the general game-plan,” he said. ‘With England’s batting line-up as it is, you know you need to put a good score on. We knew we had to keep the intensity up, keep the body language up and keep looking to score.”South Africa did that and ended up “setting the tone” for what van der Dussen hopes will be a successful culmination of their efforts in training over the last few months.

Four dropped catches and sloppy ground-fielding hurt Bangladesh in the first ODI against Zimbabwe; it’s been an issue for long, says their captain

Mohammad Isam06-Aug-2022Bangladesh have just lost their first ODI against Zimbabwe in nine years, and a series of lapses in the field, highlighted by four dropped catches, hurt them big time on Friday in Harare. Though Bangladesh scored 303 for 2, Sikandar Raza and Innocent Kaia hit centuries to take Zimbabwe home by five wickets, and the two of them made maximum use of the sloppiness in the field.Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh’s captain, acknowledged the issue, but pointed out that fielding has been an area of concern all along.”Our total fielding effort hurt us [in the first ODI]. We have given away too many easy runs,” Tamim said. “We could have created a little more pressure through dot balls, instead we conceded easy singles. You can point out a lot of things when we lose. But when we win, I always give the reminder what mistakes we have made. We got away with dropping catches and not fielding well, but today it got back to hurt us.”Related

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Substitute fielder Taijul Islam dropped a simple catch in the covers when Raza was on 43. Raza finished on 135 not out off 109 balls. Kaia was dropped twice in one Shoriful Islam over. He was on 68 when Taskin Ahmed dropped him at deep third, and Shoriful spilt a straightforward return catch at the end of the over with Kaia on 74. Kaia scored 110 in 122 balls. Taskin, who had a poor day in the field, dropped another sitter at fine-leg when Luke Jongwe was on 17. That didn’t cost Bangladesh much, as Jongwe was dismissed for 24, but the match was as good as over by then.”I have been saying that we have been dropping a lot of catches so it had to cost us at some point,” Tamim said. “This was probably the day. Previously, we have got away with it. We won despite dropping a couple of catches. On these types of wickets [which are good for batting], when you drop four catches, you are not going to win the game.”We have to take the chances. When there’s help in the wicket [for bowlers], there are always chances coming even when you have dropped a catch. But on such a good wicket, it becomes very difficult. We couldn’t hold on to any of the four chances. It is the biggest difference [between winning and losing].”Tamim defended the team management’s decision to not play a left-arm spinner, and add an extra batter at No 7, Afif Hossain in this case. But left-arm spin has done well for Bangladesh and Zimbabwe over the years.”I won’t call it [not playing a left-arm spinner] a wrong decision,” Tamim said. “The story would have been different had we bowled first. But we have to think about the combination for the next game.”At the same time, though, we have had our opportunities, which we didn’t grab. I am not someone who blames a defeat on other things. We must have made mistakes. We take full responsibility.”Things could also have been different had Bangladesh scored more than the 39 they did in the last five overs despite having wickets in hand. They had the experienced Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah in the middle for the last four overs, but couldn’t get a move on.”We should have scored 15-20 runs more when you consider the circumstances,” Tamim said. “We were 250 for 1, so in that kind of situation you can push a little harder to get those 15-20 runs. We had to tackle the first 10-15 overs, which I thought we handled very well with a good partnership [between Tamim and Litton Das]. We didn’t finish well.”It will be very unfair to point out one or two individuals. As a group, we should have got those 15-20 runs. Those in the middle really tried hard. They have done it a lot of times, so I am not one to point fingers at my players.”

The BCCI is also launching a girls’ Under-15 one-day tournament from this season

Edited PTI copy22-Sep-2022The Indian Premier League (IPL) will return to its original, pre-COVID-19, home-and-away format from the 2023 season, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has conveyed to the board’s affiliated state units.The IPL has been held at only a few venues since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 as the lucrative league took place behind close doors across three venues in UAE – Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi. In 2021 too, the tournament was held across four venues – Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Chennai – before it was again moved to the UAE because of COVID-19 cases in teams’ camps.However, with things “going back to normalcy”, the IPL will return to its old format in which each team plays one home and one away match. Ganguly also mentioned the “BCCI is currently working on the much-awaited Women’s IPL” to hold it “early next year.”Related

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Full domestic season in 2023
“The next season of men’s IPL will also go back to the home and away format with all ten teams playing their home matches at their designated venues,” Ganguly’s note said to state units.The note gave them a “snapshot” of the ongoing domestic season.The BCCI is conducting a full-fledged domestic season for the first time since 2019-20 and all multi-day tournaments will also return to the traditional home-and-away format.Women’s IPL to start early next year, new Under-15 one-day tournament for girls
The BCCI is also working to host the inaugural edition of the much-anticipated Women’s IPL “early next year”. The tournament is likely to take place in March after the women’s T20 World Cup ends in late February in South Africa.”The BCCI is currently working on the much-awaited Women’s IPL. We are expecting to start the first season early next year,” Ganguly wrote in the letter dated September 20.The Women’s IPL is expected to raise the standard of women’s cricket in India. Besides the Women’s IPL, the BCCI is also launching a girls’ Under-15 one-day tournament.”We are glad to introduce a girls U15 One Day tournament from this season. Women’s cricket has seen phenomenal growth across the world and our national team has been performing well. This new tournament will create a pathway for our young girls to play at the national and international level,” Ganguly wrote.The inaugural women’s under-15 event will be played from December 26 to January 12 across Bengaluru, Ranchi, Rajkot, Indore, Raipur and Pune.