All posts by n8rngtd.top

Joel Garner, the former fast-bowling great who is now West Indies’ team manager, feels players from the region have promise but don’t work hard enough

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Aug-20162:31

‘Why work for five days when you can work for three hours?’ – Garner

Joel Garner, the former fast-bowling great who is now West Indies’ team manager, feels players from the region have promise but don’t work hard enough.”We’ve always had promising players, we’ve always had attractive players, the problems we have is that, most of the players are identified, I don’t think they work hard enough, and they fall away,” Garner said, in a media interaction on Tuesday. “I think that if the players are prepared to work as hard as they need to work, they can get to the top of world cricket as well.”When asked which areas the players might need to work harder on, he pointed to the lack of long innings and sizeable partnerships, which has been a problem for West Indies right through their ongoing Test series against India, apart from the final day of the drawn second Test in Jamaica.”I think that the longer they spend in the middle, the easier the batting becomes,” he said. “And I think that is one area that I’d like to see improve, where you’d like to see the fellows batting long, not only batting long but batting effectively.”If you look at it, partnerships are important in any cricket game. The reason we were able to save the game in Jamaica was we had batting partnerships virtually whole day. If you don’t get the partnerships, you won’t get the performances. It’s very important to take something away from the game in Jamaica, to look at how we prepare and how we can build on it.”Garner said the lure of T20 may be hampering West Indies’ younger players coming through the junior ranks.”I think that, when you look at our cricket, we are challenging maybe up to Under-19s,” he said. “If you look at every world competition, when you look at them, West Indies is there. Where we have the challenge is when we go away. I think everybody looks at the T20 cricket and they want to play the T20 format of the game as opposed to playing the longer version of the game, and, you know, it is a matter of choice. Why work for five days if you can work for three hours? I think that that’s the mentality and it’s something that we’ve got to try and change in terms of how our players look at the cricket and the type of cricket our players want to play.”While Garner clarified that he wasn’t dissuading players from playing T20, he wanted revenues earned from T20 to be invested in the grassroots, and for the players to be able to play more first-class cricket. He compared the current situation, where domestic players play ten matches a year, to the situation of the best West Indies players of his era, who were all overseas professionals in county cricket.”I don’t know about discouraging [players from taking part in T20],” he said. “As I said, T20 cricket is used to raise finances for everybody, and I think that if you look at it, that is where we should have been trying to say we can, you know, earn some income that we can reinvest in our junior cricketers and in our local cricket.”We are fortunate that we can play ten games now as opposed to five. Are ten games enough in a year? When I played, I played 20-somebody or 40-somebody games in a year playing county cricket, and that is where the strength of the cricket is – the more you play, the more you get accustomed to it, the harder the cricket is, and the more professional you become.”Asked about the proposal to split Test cricket into two tiers, Garner said such a move would keep Test cricket to “a chosen few”.”I wish them luck if they want cricket to remain with the big three or the big four,” he said. “You have the two-tier system, I mean, you’ve got to start someplace, and the only way you can get into the two-tier system is by playing against the teams that are above you in the table. If you can’t play the teams above you on the table, how will you get in?”So, to me, it begs the question, what purpose does it serve? Are you trying to preserve Test cricket or are you trying to keep it to a chosen few? I can’t answer it for you because you want to preserve Test cricket, the only way you can preserve Test cricket is to let people at the lower level play against teams above them to be able to compete and to be able to progress.”

Facing a side resting three first-choice bowlers in a dead rubber, Steven Smith’s Australia were shot out for 167 as South Africa romped to a six-wicket win and a 4-0 lead in the series

The Report by Daniel Brettig09-Oct-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details0:56

By the Numbers – SA bowlers equal lbw record

Australian hand-wringing about taking an under-strength bowling attack to South Africa was placed in sharp perspective on a breezy morning in Port Elizabeth. Facing a South African side resting three first-choice bowlers in a dead rubber, Steven Smith’s side were shot out for a mere 167 to set-up a six-wicket win.Kyle Abbott and Tabraiz Shamsi were the chief tormentors of the tourists, the former finding exactly the right length to best use the early movement on offer, the latter re-opening the sorts of wounds inflicted by Sri Lanka’s spin bowlers on Australia’s previous tour with a clever spell of left arm wrist-spin. Neither had been needed in the live matches.Save for a 50 by Mitchell Marsh and a punchy contribution from Matthew Wade, the most notable moment for Australia was Wade’s running battle with Shamsi. This culminated in something very near to a physical clash as Wade hung his elbow out while running past Shamsi, causing the umpires to intervene.There were further exchanges as the Australians sought to defend their meagre total. Clearly the visitors had intended to fight this one out, but despite an improved bowling effort they never really had a chance to bowl South Africa out. A pair of missed chances did not help either, most notably a sitter dropped by Adam Zampa off Faf du Plessis, who went on to top-score with 69.Overall this was another performance South Africa could be proud of, demonstrating that their ODI squad presently has plenty of depth to it. South Africa had withdrawn the injured David Miller plus Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada and Imran Tahir. In their places were Abbott, Farhaan Behardien, Aaron Phangiso and Shamsi.The visitors made only one change to the team that lost from such a strong position in Durban, recalling Scott Boland for Daniel Worrall. Australia’s batsmen had regained some of their former strut at Kingsmead, and after Smith won the toss the expectation would have been to capitalise on a seemingly weakened home attack.However, Abbott took full advantage of both his first start in the series and a modicum of early seam movement with the new ball. First he bowled Aaron Finch through the gate with a lovely delivery that shaped to swing away before cutting back, then followed up with an appreciably quicker ball that surprised Warner with pace and movement back between bat and pad.Kyle Abbott picked up 4 for 40 in his first game of the series•Associated Press

At the other end, Dwaine Pretorius provided a neat contrast with his greater height and high action, angling one back to George Bailey for an lbw verdict from the umpire Nigel Llong. All of a sudden Australia were 12 for 3, the innings in grim shape and the allrounder Marsh already at the crease.He and Smith tried to steady things for a time, but the introduction of Shamsi’s left-arm wristspin brought another period of South African jubilation. Smith propped forward to a ball straightening down the line of the stumps, and a review found he was struck in line for the lbw. In the same over, Travis Head played inside a delivery that straightened past his groping blade, and a scoreline of 50 for 5 was the deflating result.Not for the first time in his career, Wade came out spoiling for a fight, and a series of verbal confrontations with Shamsi escalated to the point that he hung out an elbow while running more or less straight at the bowler. That moment caused Llong to speak to both players and call for calm.Marsh played sensibly meanwhile, forging to 50 and offering Australia the faintest hope of a reasonable tally. However he had not made another run when Abbott returned to coax an outside edge, and re-commence the procession of wickets. Wade and Chris Tremain were able to add a pesky 46, but even that still left Australia with comfortably their lowest ODI total at St George’s Park.Tremain delivered a decent opening spell at the start of South Africa’s pursuit, which began before the scheduled innings break because Australia’s innings had ended so quickly. Hashim Amla was lbw to a break-back before Quinton de Kock picked out deep square leg with a sweetly-struck pull shot.However du Plessis and JP Duminy were able to carry the hosts past halfway to the target, notably getting on top of the experienced John Hastings once again: his high economy has been one of many problems for Smith’s team. Zampa’s drop of du Plessis did not help either, causing plenty of befuddled looks on the team balcony.When du Plessis did finally fall, the tourists upped their intensity in the middle, “chirping” frequently at the new batsman Farhaan Behardien. But it was sound and fury signifying nothing, as the total was reeled in with 87 balls to spare. A whitewash looms in Cape Town.

MCA has accepted Sachin Tendulkar’s suggestion to have 14 players feature in a side at inter-school tournaments

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Oct-2016The Mumbai Cricket Association has accepted Sachin Tendulkar’s suggestion to have 14 players in a side at inter-school tournaments. While only 11 players will field at any point, the new rule allows for the players in the squad to be used for batting and bowling by way of rolling substitutions.PV Shetty, the MCA joint-secretary, confirmed that Tendulkar’s suggestion had been approved and would be implemented from the upcoming season starting with the Harris Shield on November 11. The new guidelines have also been accepted by the Mumbai Schools’ Sports Association.”The best batsmen among the 14 can be picked for 11,” Nadeem Memon, MSSA’s cricket secretary, told ESPNcricinfo. “For instance, you will see that sometimes there are three fast bowlers who may not be good batsmen, so you can have three batsmen to fill up those three slots while a team is batting. When you come to bowl you can pick the eleven best bowlers who can bowl out the opposition. So, there will be tough competition.”Tendulkar welcomed the move and said this would offer encouragement to many young cricketers. “Six more players will now get an opportunity in every game,” he was quoted as saying by . “If the boys are missing their school and leaving academics to play cricket then they should be either bowling or batting. Otherwise they would be wasting their time.”Tendulkar was also confident the new rule would help players lift their standards.. “A batsman will get a variety of bowlers to face,” he said. “Similarly for a bowler, all his wickets would be of a proper batsman.”Incidentally, Rahul Dravid had made a similar suggestion to Tendulkar’s at the MAK Pataudi memorial lecture last year. “When an XI is picked, there are four kids on the bench who have taken a day off from school to sit on the sidelines and do nothing,” he said. “Our junior cricket needs to think of options – rolling substitutions like in football, or a rotational system in batting or bowling, where everyone is given a chance.”Just as an example: maybe batsmen could retire after scoring a 50 (or a 30?) and return only after their side has lost 3 more wickets. Bowlers should be allowed to bowl a maximum of one-third the number of the total overs instead of one-fifth.

The New South Wales coroner has released the findings of his inquest into the death of Phillip Hughes

Brydon Coverdale03-Nov-20163:52

Brettig: ‘Hughes inquest findings could change cricket’

The death of Phillip Hughes was a tragic accident arising from a “minuscule misjudgement” from the batsman and no players or umpires were at fault, according to the New South Wales coroner Michael Barnes.Mr Barnes on Friday released his findings from the coronial inquest into the death of Hughes, who was struck on the neck by a bouncer during a Sheffield Shield match at the SCG in November 2014. Although the coroner determined that Hughes had been targeted by bouncers during his innings, he found that no laws of the game had been breached, and Hughes was well-equipped to deal with such bowling.”Phillip was targeted by short-pitched balls bowled at or over leg stump or middle stump that placed him in greater danger of being struck,” Mr Barnes said. “Of the 23 bouncers bowled on that day, 20 were bowled to him.”However, in view of the evidence of the other players, the presiding umpires, and Mr Taufel [former umpire Simon Taufel], that Phillip was, because of his high level of skill and confidence, comfortably dealing with the short-pitched balls, I conclude that no failure to enforce the laws of the game contributed to his death.”Such was his skill and experience, he was well able to deal with such bowling, but even the best can’t perform perfectly all of the time. He could have avoided the ball by ducking under it, but such was his competitiveness, he sought to make runs from it.”A minuscule misjudgement, or a slight error of execution, caused him to miss the ball which crashed into his neck with fatal consequences. There is absolutely no suggestion the ball was bowled with malicious intent. Neither the bowler, nor anyone else, was to blame for the tragic outcome.”

Inquest recommendations

Recommendation 1: Cricket Australia review dangerous and unfair bowling laws to eliminate anomalies, and provide umpires with more guidance as to applying the laws
Recommendation 2: CA continue research and development to find a neck protector that can be mandated for use in first-class matches
Recommendation 3: Daily medical briefings at SCG to ensure a clear process in case of any emergencies occurring on that day
Recommendation 4: Training of umpires to ensure they can summon medical assistance quickly

The coroner also said that while it was hard to believe that no sledging had occurred during the match, the evidence suggested that Hughes’ confidence and composure were unaffected by any such sledging. However, while Mr Barnes made no finding as to whether sledging had occurred, he hoped that cricket would use the opportunity to reflect on whether such tactics were appropriate to the game.”Hopefully the focus on this unsavoury aspect of the incident may cause those who claim to love the game to reflect on whether the practice of sledging is worthy of its participants,” he said. “An outsider is left to wonder why such a beautiful game would need such an ugly underside.”The coroner found that independent medical evidence had established conclusively that the injury suffered by Hughes was “unsurvivable”, regardless of the efficiency and skill of the emergency response. However, he also noted that there were failings in the emergency response on the day which might have prevented Hughes receiving life-saving treatment, had his injury not been so serious.”None of those on the field at the time knew how to summon medical assistance onto the field,” the coroner said. “Although it was immediately obvious that Phillip was injured, it was not clear whose responsibility it was to call an ambulance. An ambulance was not called for over six minutes after he was hit.”The person who called the ambulance did not have sufficient information to enable an accurate triage to be made by the ambulance dispatcher. As a result, the ambulance response was given a lower order of urgency than it would have been given had the relevant information about Phillip’s condition been conveyed.”Mr Barnes also said that the ambulance service was given inconsistent information regarding how to gain access to Hughes, and that important medical equipment was not immediately at hand at the ground. However, he noted that some changes had already been made to emergency medical response procedures as a result of Hughes’ death.”Not that anyone involved was lackadaisical or cavalier, rather the systems in place to respond to such an incident were inadequate,” he said. “Unless addressed, those failings could result in a preventable death occurring… All of those who responded to Phillip’s injury did so selflessly and to the best of their ability. They are to be commended.”Mr Barnes also found that, although Hughes had not been wearing the latest model of helmet at the time he was struck, even if he had been wearing the most modern equipment then available, it would not have protected the area of his body where the blow landed. He concluded that Hughes’ death was “a tragic accident”.”The family’s grief at losing their much-loved son and brother was exacerbated by their belief that unfair play had contributed to his death,” he said. “In the course of this inquest they have heard from independent experts, high-ranking cricket officials and some of the players who were on the field with Phillip when he played his last game of cricket.”Clearly, they do not agree with all that they heard. However, it is hoped that they accept the compelling evidence that the rules were complied with; that Phillip was excelling at the crease as he so often did, and that his death was a tragic accident.”Nothing can undo the source of their never-ending sorrow but hopefully, in the future, the knowledge that Phillip was loved and admired by so many and that his death has led to changes that will make cricket safer will be of some comfort.”Later in the day, the Hughes family issued a statement saying that they accepted the coroner’s findings. They also said they hoped the changes made to the game, in order to make it safer, as a result of their son/brother’s death would become part of his legacy.”[Father] Greg, [mother] Virginia, [siblings] Jason and Megan accept the coroner’s findings,” the statement said. “They have noted the four recommendations made by the coroner, and Cricket Australia’s commitment to implement them. They are deeply hoping that no other family has to go through the pain of losing a loved one on an Australian sporting field.”As the coroner has noted, Phillip’s death has led to changes that will make cricket safer. The Hughes family hopes that this will be part of Phillip’s legacy to the game that he loved so dearly. They would like to sincerely thank the many people who have been in contact throughout and since the inquest.”David Warner, one of the witnesses who gave evidence at the inquest, stood by his testimony despite Barnes’ conclusion that he found some of the players’ versions of events “hard to believe”.”I’m happy with my testimony. The umpires said the same thing, that there was no sledging out there, and I’ll stick to my word that there was no sledging out there,” Warner said. “And I think we have to respect what they handed down and respect what their thoughts are as well, and us as cricket and Cricket Australia our thoughts and respects are still with the Hughes family.”Warner said he did not think seriously abusive sledging or threats to kill, as alleged at the inquest, were an endemic problem in the sport. “If I go back four or five years, when I used to dish it out a bit, yeah, maybe,” he said. “I think at the end of the day we’re all adults and when we’re on the field we know what line not to cross, and whether you’re touching the player or you attack them personally, banter and sledging is about trying to create energy.”You’re talking to your team-mates and no direct threats to any player, that’s totally gone. I don’t even know if that was in the game. I’ve never been pointed at and said any words of any malice, for us it’s just normal banter. It’s not really sledging if you want to say it. I don’t think there’s any in the game at the moment at all.”

A round-up of the fourth day of Ranji Trophy games from Group B

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Dec-2016Seamers Rahul Shukla and Ashish Kumar combined to knock Assam over for 299 on the fourth morning before Jharkhand chased down the target of 110 with five wickets in hand. The win pushed Jharkhand to first place on the Group B points table with 32 from seven matches. Resuming on 269 for 5, Assam lost Arun Karthik in the second over of the morning. Overnight batsman Sibsankar Roy was subsequently dismissed for 86 as Assam lost their last five wickets for 30 runs. Shukla returned figures of 3 for 74, while Kumar chipped in with two wickets.Coming in at 52 for 3, Ishank Jaggi quelled any hope of an Assam fightback with a 15-ball 34 that included four fours and two sixes. Arup Das claimed 3 for 49.Karnataka offspinner K Gowtham ripped out four wickets and gave Saurashtra a bit of a scare but couldn’t prevent them from wrapping up a four-wicket win in Patiala and climbing off the bottom of the table. Karnataka began the day 168 for 5 – effectively 9 for 5 – in their second innings, and their last five wickets only managed to add 48 to their total as the left-arm spinner Jay Chauhan finished with 4 for 71 to end with match figures of 7 for 123 on debut.Apart from two overs from their captain Vinay Kumar, Karnataka used spin throughout in a desperate bid to defend a target of 58. Gowtham took four wickets in 7.4 overs and left-arm spinner Abrar Kazi two in eight, before Arpit Vasavada and first-innings centurion Prerak Mankad steered Saurashtra home with an unbroken 22-run stand for the seventh wicket. The defeat meant Karnataka slipped to second place, two points behind Jharkhand.Only 19 overs were possible on another rain-hit day at the SSN College of Engineering ground in Chennai, where Delhi picked up three points for their first-innings lead against Vidarbha. With day three washed out completely, Delhi declared on their day-two total of 250 for 8, with a lead of 67. Vidarbha lost three wickets in getting to 37, with seamers Sumit Narwal, Navdeep Saini and Vikas Tokas picking up one each.

The ICC is keen to increase the number of teams playing cricket at the highest level to “15-16”, and is working towards that under the leadership of Shashank Manohar, according to chief executive David Richardson

Sa'adi Thawfeeq16-Dec-2016The ICC is keen to increase the number of teams playing cricket at the highest level to “15-16″, and is working towards that under the leadership of Shashank Manohar, according to chief executive David Richardson.”The ICC has a strategy to have more competitive teams playing at the highest level,” Richardson said in Sri Lanka, where he was at the invitation of SLC and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Thilanga Sumathipala to discuss the global development of the game. “For too long we had 10 Full Members. If we are honest with ourselves, there are eight, probably nine, teams that can play cricket at the highest level.”We like to increase that number to 15-16 countries [with] the likes of Afghanistan, Nepal, Malaysia and various other countries in the Asian region. It’s very important that we can develop their cricket to a level where they can play against the big boys on an equal basis.”Richardson said the global governing body was on the verge of putting forward some proposals “that would do wonders for international cricket”. “Those proposals would cover governance and a new revised financial model, which would hopefully provide all the Full Members with a bigger slice of the cake than what it is currently envisaged,” he said.In early 2014, a constitutional revamp of the ICC had given the boards of India, England and Australia greater authority and a larger share of the revenue, an episode dubbed the “Big Three” takeover by the media. Soon after he became ICC chairman in November 2015, Manohar had criticised the imbalance of power triggered by that revamp, and said he wanted to end the “bullying” in the game’s administration.Richardson said he was confident the game will not be affected by another such power war under the current administration. “The international game has gone through a period of turbulence, where the governance, the financial model, the playing [of the game] was in turmoil by the resolutions passed by the ICC in 2014. What happened in 2014 took place because unfortunately countries like South Africa, Sri Lanka and New Zealand were not able to stand up to the big boys. I don’t think that will happen again.”He said the ICC also wanted the ACC to use its resources to develop the game, and the global governing body would provide it with “guidance” and “strategy”. “Obviously we [the ICC] are responsible for global development, but our resources are limited. It’s important that the ACC, with the resources they have both from a financial and a HR perspective, make best use of those. We want to provide the guidance, principles, overall strategy. [It is important that] the activities that we can carry out at global level are supplemented by what the ACC can afford to do on a regional basis.”

USA batsman Fahad Babar has left the ICC Americas squad midway through their WICB Regional Super50 campaign in Barbados on the recommendation of his immigration lawyer

Peter Della Penna04-Feb-2017USA batsman Fahad Babar has left the ICC Americas squad midway through their WICB Regional Super50 campaign in Barbados on the recommendation of his immigration lawyer. Babar, a Pakistan national who qualified to play for USA under the ICC’s seven-year residency rule, said he returned to the USA as a precautionary measure in the wake of the executive order from US President Donald Trump blocking entry for 90 days to people from seven predominantly Muslim countries.Babar left Barbados on Wednesday night after ICC Americas’ 66-run loss to Jamaica and landed in Chicago on Thursday morning.”I had no issues coming in and out,” Babar told ESPNcricinfo on Friday. “But there’s always that fear which bothers you. So that’s the issue. Other than that I’ve had no other problems.”He is one of six Muslim players in the ICC Americas squad. Ali Khan and Akeem Dodson, both American citizens, are the two other USA players while the rest reside in Canada.Babar said the uncertainty over his own immigration status weighed on his mind during his time in Barbados, where he scored 29 runs in two innings. Leaving the team to come back to Chicago was a difficult decision, particularly because one of the incentives for the ICC Americas squad members is an opportunity to be drafted by a Caribbean Premier League franchise through their performances at the Regional Super50, but he said he felt this was the best course of action after speaking with USA head coach Pubudu Dassanayake, other members of the ICC Americas staff and his lawyer, William McClean.”Cricket is a mental game and you have to be mentally fit enough to play the game and I think it affected me a little bit in my performance,” Babar said. “I worked really hard to get into the ICC Americas team. I had to perform and prove myself before coming here. I was in Sri Lanka to gain experience to work hard towards this. Unfortunately, it’s not my time right now. That’s what I can say and I will work hard in the future to get another opportunity. It’s disappointing but it’s life and you have to be strong sometimes to get through this.”Currently, the US travel-ban specifically applies to nationals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. McClean said he was wary of the list being expanded beyond the initial seven countries and wanted his clients to be protected in case that happens.”He’s [Fahad] from Pakistan which is close to those other countries and might be next on the chopping block,” McClean told ESPNcricinfo. “If he’s out of the US when they say, ‘okay we’re extending the ban to Pakistani people’, Fahad will be barred. He will not be allowed to come back into the United States even if he’s travelling for cricket and that’s what we’re scared of.”Babar, 24, came to the USA as a 14-year old and went on to represent the USA Under-19 team in 2011 before making his senior team debut in 2013. He has developed into one of USA’s most consistent batsmen and was named tournament MVP at the 2015 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 championship in Indianapolis.Babar recently spent two months in Sri Lanka playing first-class cricket for Kalutara Physical Culture Club through an opportunity organised by Dassanayake. He came back through Miami on January 24 on his way to Barbados for the Regional Super50, just days before President Trump’s executive action was signed halting immigration from certain countries.USA’s next international competition is the ICC WCL Division Three in Uganda in May. However, McClean said he will continue to advise caution because Babar was flagged for “secondary inspection” on his arrival back to the USA this week.”The only thing that happened to him, in my opinion, that shouldn’t have happened when he came back to the United States is that they put him in secondary inspection,” McClean said. “A lot of people have to go through that but there was no reason for him to have to go through secondary inspection and they made him go do that anyway. Secondary inspection is a room with no windows and a locked door.”That 120-day rule, that should not apply to Fahad because he’s not a refugee and he’s not from any of those countries that are affected by the ban. But he’s not a citizen. Green card holders are being excluded from the United States but for Fahad himself, the actual bar should not have an effect on him.”No replacement player has been named for Babar, who was replaced by Dodson in the starting XI for Friday’s match against Barbados, and an ICC Americas source indicated that none would be added for the team’s final three matches at the Regional Super50.Babar’s departure leaves the squad with essentially 13 available players from their original 15. Ali Khan has not played since aggravating a hamstring injury in the team’s first warm-up match prior to the start of the Regional Super50 and his fitness is being evaluated on a day-to-day basis.

Assured of winning the ODI series, South Africa captain AB de Villiers said they looked to not miss out on the opportunity at hand to complete a 5-0 whitewash against Sri Lanka

Firdose Moonda in Johannesburg05-Feb-20171:52

Target of 250 would have been tough on this pitch – De Villiers

After a few questions about South Africa’s continued swarming of a Sri Lankan side with little sting, AB de Villiers suddenly could not believe where his post-match conversation was actually going.”Guys, we are talking about bees,” the captain balked. And they were.Some asked how de Villiers knew the bees had arrived at the Wanderers? “When the slips went down,” was the answer. Others wondered whether the break in play affected concentration? “It was annoying,” de Villiers said, while Niroshan Dickwella offered a much more stern assessment. “Our momentum was taken away by that break,” he lamented. The rest of the reporters may have opted to skip the player interviews in search of the beekeeper who saved the day. Requests to talk to him were coming in even as play continued.But novelty aside, South Africa had something really sweet to enjoy afterwards.They have now won their sixth successive ODI series at home and have racked up a record 12 wins since beating England last February. Their previous best – 11 victories in a row in their own conditions – came in the 1996-97 season. They are stacking up well ahead of the Champions Trophy and de Villiers’ only hope is that they keep on winning, especially over the next week.Sri Lanka appear unable to keep up, which has given South Africa a chance at a whitewash, even though de Villiers is wary of putting too much pressure on the side too soon. “There were too many 3-2 results in the past and we’ve had many opportunities to win series 5-0 and 4-1. We are all a bit sick and tired of not taking our opportunities and we are sitting here with another opportunity,” he said. “We try to be clinical about every game we play, with a bit more emphasis and importance on getting results in every single game we play and not just trying to win a series. Having said that, I don’t want to mention it too often and I don’t want to make it our main thing that we play for 5-0 whitewashes, because that can backfire quickly.”Dwaine Pretorius, who replaced Wayne Parnell, took three wickets in his seven overs•AFP

As much as winning is a priority, South Africa may also use the next two matches to experiment because “we are trying to give the whole squad a chance of playing,” de Villiers explained. They’ve already been forced to use bench strength in the batting department because David Miller was ruled out of the series with a finger injury. Farhaan Behardien, who replaced Miller, was not needed at the Wanderers but he will hope for some time at the crease in Cape Town and Centurion. The other player South Africa may want to look at is chinaman bowler Tabraiz Shamsi, who is being kept out by the evergreen Imran Tahir, but has a reputation for being a secret weapon. But the real battle will be between the allrounders.Wayne Parnell, who played in the first two matches and did “fantastically well” according to de Villiers, was left out in Johannesburg in favour of local lad Dwaine Pretorius and de Villiers liked what he saw. “He is pretty accurate. He is consistent in his areas and is open for advice from some of the senior players. It’s an open door to chat to him, I always like to work with bowlers like that,” de Villiers said.Pretorius’ tight line and effective use of the short ball saw him finish with a career-best 3 for 19 and stake a claim for a more regular spot in the XI. It’s little wonder that he, too, could not stop buzzing. “This is the biggest crowd I have played in front of and it was amazing. It was a great atmosphere the whole time. I know there were bees on the field but it sounded like bees were everywhere,” Pretorius said.

Tom Westley and Liam Livingstone hit unbeaten half centuries to steer England Lions out of a sticky situation in the opening game of their tour of Sri Lanka

ECB Reporters Network12-Feb-2017
ScorecardTom Westley stemmed a Lions collapse•Getty Images

Tom Westley and Liam Livingstone hit unbeaten half centuries to steer England Lions out of a sticky situation in the opening game of their tour of Sri Lanka.After dismissing the Board President’s XI for 153 on the first day of their only warm-up fixture before the two four-day games against Sri Lanka A, the Lions slipped to 69 for four in reply, with their England openers Keaton Jennings and Haseeb Hameed, who both made Test debuts on the sub-continent this winter, going cheaply.But Westley and Livingstone responded with an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 99 in 24 overs, meaning the Lions will resume on the second day of the three-day match 15 runs ahead.Westley, who made an important 84 for the Lions in the first-class match against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi before Christmas, reached an unbeaten 65 from 108 balls with 12 boundaries.Livingstone, who signed an extended contract with Lancashire just before the Lions left for Sri Lanka, will resume on 61 from 75 balls after reaching his half century with a six in addition to hitting seven fours.Tom Helm had claimed the best figures after the home team chose to bat first, although the wickets were shared around as all seven of the specialist bowlers in the Lions squad had a decent spell in a game that does not have first-class status because of the squad system being utilised.Tom Curran shared the new ball with Toby Roland-Jones and took a wicket in each of his first two overs to reduce the Board XI to 9-2.Helm, who was fast-tracked into the Lions squad from the Pace Programme in December after impressing in the training camp in Dubai, ended with three for 18 from 7.3 overs, and there were three catches for Joe Clarke as he kept wicket in place of Ben Foakes, who has a back problem.Sam Curran and the spinners Ollie Rayner and Jack Leach claimed one wicket apiece, and there were two for Leach’s Somerset team-mate Craig Overton.

Steven Smith passed 5000 Test runs en route to his second hundred of the series, and along with Glenn Maxwell’s composed unbeaten 82, carried Australia into the ascendancy

The Report by Daniel Brettig16-Mar-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:41

Manjrekar: Very uncharacteristic innings from Maxwell

Test hundred number 19, nine of them made overseas, was a measure of the quality Australia’s captain Steven Smith has brought to Ranchi to give his team a chance of unseating India at home. Ball number 147, kept out by Glenn Maxwell in the day’s final over, was a measure of the resolve he brought to his first Test innings in nearly three years.Previously, the most deliveries Maxwell had faced in any international innings across all three formats was 98. By stumps, his new personal mark not only showed how much he had steeled himself to contribute alongside Smith, but also put Australia in a very strong position to dictate terms on what is comfortably the best pitch prepared for this Border-Gavaskar Trophy bout.When Maxwell joined Smith, the day had hung rather more in the balance. Umesh Yadav was reversing the ball sharply, and the 28-year-old Victorian’s propensity for batting brainstorms was recalled by many watching. Yet with Smith’s counsel, Maxwell was able to avoid his usual rush, so much so that he waited until his 56th delivery to reach the boundary – this from a man whose most significant moment for Australia had been a World Cup hundred off 51 balls against Sri Lanka at the SCG in 2015.What followed was a certain acceleration, but nothing too outlandish. The day’s viral video moment was instead saved for Wriddhiman Saha’s attempt to glove a Ravindra Jadeja ball lodged between Smith’s padded legs, so desperate had India’s search for a wicket become. The attempt proved fruitless, and Smith was soon toasting his century, and with Maxwell, walked off boasting a wicketless final session, an unbeaten stand of 159, and the promise of more to come.Their concentration and discipline made for a contrast to some of the more wasteful dismissals seen earlier in the day, as the Australian top order failed to make the most of their starts. David Warner and Matt Renshaw would be particularly frustrated to have wasted starts on a surface that played far better than widely predicted.Peter Handscomb also got established at the crease before being defeated by a fine inswinging yorker from Yadav, the most threatening member of India’s bowling attack. Ishant Sharma had a couple of concerted lbw appeals denied, but R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja found far less assistance than they had seen in Pune and Bengaluru. Pointedly they missed Virat Kohli, who left the field for treatment after landing heavily on his right shoulder when trying to stop a boundary.Glenn Maxwell’s fluency grew as his innings progressed, finishing with an unbeaten 82•AFP

Ranchi’s pitch played far better than appearances had suggested, meaning plenty more runs will be required. But at the very least, Smith and Maxwell have ensured something to bowl at for a team featuring another cricketer making a long-delayed return to the Australian Test team – the fast bowler Pat Cummins.Kohli conceded the loss of a key toss before play began, and that seemed more so as Renshaw and Warner rattled to 50 in less than 10 overs by taking advantage of the pitch’s even pace and a scorchingly fast outfield. Jadeja erred on the full side to Warner, but a full toss found the batsman in two minds about hitting square or straight, and the resultant return catch maintained his mediocre overseas record.Renshaw had been finding gaps either side of the wicket and looked in full control, so it was a surprise when he fiddled in undisciplined fashion at Umesh and edged to Kohli at first slip. Umesh had created uncertainty by gaining some movement. Shaun Marsh was unable to get established, well caught at short leg by Cheteshwar Pujara off bat and pad, the decision made after India’s successful DRS referral against Ian Gould’s initial not-out verdict.Handscomb’s cover drive off his first ball to the fence underlined the improved batting conditions, and though Smith edged one reversing ball from Umesh to the fine leg boundary between his pads, shortly before lunch, he was otherwise certain in his methods and safe in his defence. Handscomb also looked capable of going on to something substantial, but for the fifth time in as many innings this series he was dismissed at a frustrating juncture, unable to get his bat to a Umesh yorker that swerved back sharply to strike him in front of the stumps.Maxwell’s likely approach had seemed a mystery to even his team-mates before this match, but he quickly showed an impressive level of composure to build his innings in Smith’s slipstream while taking few risks. His only moment of nervousness came from the first ball of an Ishant spell that swung back into his pads, but India’s decision referral was waved off when replays showed the bowler had overstepped.In the evening session a steady stream of runs came with the occasional boundary, and Maxwell hammered a second six of his innings to go past 50 for the first time in a Test. Nothing affected Smith’s deep concentration, not even a period of more than an hour spent in the 90s. As attentive, mature batting partners do, Maxwell took up much of the scoring slack during this episode. Like so much else in his innings, it came as a pleasant surprise.