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Carlos Brathwaite has said adapting to spin in home conditions that aren’t too different from India, will be key for a young side that is looking to build from their gains in Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jul-2016West Indies allrounder Carlos Brathwaite has said adapting to spin in home conditions that aren’t too different from those in India will be key for a young side that is looking to build from their gains in Australia.West Indies lost that series 2-0 but showed signs of improvement, mainly in their batting, as the tour progressed. Brathwaite made his debut in Melbourne by scoring 59 and followed it with an attacking 69 in Sydney.”As a team, we ended that tour on a high note, but transforming it now from Australia to West Indies will be a challenge,” he said after a training session in Jamaica. “The pitches are slow here and the Indians will attack with spin, unlike Australia who went with pace. So it’s about being patient for us.”Brathwaite said Phil Simmons, the head coach, has been working with the batsmen over a period of time to get them spin ready ahead of the four-Test series that starts in Antigua on July 21. “Spin has plotted our downfall over the last two years, but I think we’ve gotten better,” Brathwaite said. “The coach has done a good job by getting a few batters in even during the off season, and the focus has been on playing spin better. It’s a matter of us having a few options to each delivery, being patient and playing the waiting game.”With Jerome Taylor having ended his Test career and Kemar Roach searching for match fitness after recovering from an injury following a poor tour of Australia, Brathwaite is part of an inexperienced pace attack alongside Jason Holder, the captain, Shannon Gabriel and uncapped Miguel Cummins, who have a combined experience of 31 Tests.Brathwaite said the challenge as a bowling group would be to remain persistent against a quality batting line-up. “Bowling plans are important because India, undoubtedly, are one of the more strong batting line-ups in the world both home and away. Unfortunately or fortunately, conditions here aren’t too different from India now, but we have our plans for each batsman. It’s about executing the plans and keeping at it even if things don’t go our way.”It’s a lot tougher challenge than our regional first-class cricket. It’s about being patient and understanding momentum. When you’re on top, you stay on top. If the other team is on top, it takes just one good hour to wrest the momentum. Once we understand ebbs and flows of the game, we should do well to put smiles on the faces of the West Indies fans.”

Brendon McCullum, who is returning from a back injury, is impressed with New Zealand’s performances in his absence, and the leadership of stand-in captain Kane Williamson

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Auckland30-Jan-2016Having literally flung himself into injury in an ODI late last month, Brendon McCullum earned a four-week glimpse into his future. McCullum aggravated a back complaint when he dove into advertising hoardings, attempting to save a boundary in the second ODI against Sri Lanka.

Azhar hopes for bowling improvement

Azhar Ali said his team had dissected the Wellington loss and knew they needed to put in a more complete performance on Sunday. The bowling had been one area of concern, having had New Zealand at 99 for 6 at one point, before letting them reach 280 for 8.
“In 22 overs we had picked up the best part of their batting line up, but it taught us a lesson that until we get the last wicket, it’s not over,” Azhar said. “We have the capability to take 10 wickets. These days you need to get wickets to stop the flow of runs. In the last game, the last five overs went for too many. We looked at that and we’ll try and rectify that in this game.”
On the batting front, Azhar suggested Pakistan have no plans to move Sarfraz Ahmed up the order, although he averages over 40 when batting in the top three, as opposed to a career average of less than 30.
“He’s a wonderful player and I always say he’s a wonderful team man. Wherever you want him to bat he accepts that and tries to perform well. But at this moment we aren’t looking to make too many changes. It’s not in our cards yet.”

Since then he has watched Kane Williamson lead the New Zealand side, and spent time on his horse racing hobby – both of which he seems destined to spend more time doing when he draws the curtain on his career at the end of February. He had decided horse racing was “a tough business” on the eve of his likely cricketing return, against Pakistan, but was more impressed with the New Zealand team’s performance in his absence. They had won two out of three ODIs and four out of five T20s under Williamson this season.”I thought Kane did an outstanding job as captain,” McCullum said. “You’re pretty proud when you step back and see that the team still has the same strong values that you tried to instill within the group over the period of time.”Henry Nicholls hit his first international fifty, and Corey Anderson made a successful return from back injury, while McCullum was unavailable.”It’s hard because you don’t want to pry too much either. You want to give guys the space to operate without you. I’ve been really impressed with what we’ve seen from the younger guys as well. They’ve taken to the environment really quickly. They’ve had some clear role clarity as well, which is easily seen when they come in and have success in their positions.”New Zealand’s success has come despite a slew of injuries to key players. McCullum said the constant change in personnel over the past few weeks did not necessitate a substantial change in strategy, thanks largely to the depth in New Zealand’s stocks at present.”We’ve tried to play a reasonably consistent brand of cricket,” he said. “Credit to the selectors and the coaching staff on being able to implement a gameplan which has built up some depth. When guys do come in, they don’t have to differ their roles greatly from what they’ve done at domestic cricket. That’s why we’ve had some success this year with guys on the periphery of the squad as well. They know what their job is, and can go out and execute.”McCullum has four ODIs and two Tests remaining in his international career, and he said the break had not dulled his desire. He spoke of his decision to retire as having given him mental freedom.”If anything, it’s probably a release of pressure when you know that the time in the spotlight is starting to come towards the end,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to the last month of being around the boys, playing amongst the New Zealand cricket team, and having a good time. Hopefully if we can win a few games and continue what we’ve done over the last 12-18 months – the things that have put smiles on the faces of New Zealand fans.”Those that know me know I’m either all-in or all out. I’m committed through to the end of the Australian series. I’m really excited about that. I’ve got a little bit of fight left in me for that series.”

The legal wrangle ahead of what is expected to be an interesting BCCI annual general meeting (AGM) continued on Monday, with developments in two separate court cases

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Sep-2013The legal wrangle ahead of what is expected to be an interesting BCCI annual general meeting (AGM) continued on Monday, with developments in two separate court cases. While the BCCI has challenged an order restraining it from holding its special general meeting (SGM) on September 25 to decide the fate of former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB) secretary Aditya Verma has moved the Supreme Court, pleading that BCCI president N Srinivasan not be allowed to contest the board’s election.A Delhi trial court had issued an order on September 21, barring the BCCI’s SGM on Wednesday, and expectedly the board has now moved the Delhi High Court. Even though the lower court had stayed the SGM, it had declined to pass an order on Modi questioning the appointment of Sanjay Patel and Jagmohan Dalmiya as BCCI’s secretary and head of day to day affairs, respectively, by president N Srinivasan who had stepped aside in the wake of IPL spot-fixing scandal.After hearing the BCCI’s argument against the trial court’s order, which was based on the court having no jurisdiction to pass the same, Justice VK Shail decided to continue the hearing on Tuesday and also hear Modi’s cross petition against the appointment of Patel and Dalmiya.Senior advocate CA Sundaram, on behalf of the BCCI, told the judge that since the SGM was slated to be held in Chennai, a trial court in Delhi could not pass an order staying it. “The Delhi court has no jurisdiction to pass such an order as the BCCI headquarters is in Mumbai and SGM was to be held in Chennai where Srinivansan resides. Just because the disciplinary committee meeting [which found Modi guilty on eight different charges] was held in Delhi, Modi has approached the city court,” Sundaram was quoted as saying by . “In the SGM, the report of the disciplinary committee will be considered and if the report will be accepted, then a show cause notice will be issued to Modi to make his defence.”Even if the High Court gives the go-ahead for the BCCI to conduct the SGM on Wednesday, the BCCI camp is expecting Modi to move Supreme Court in what is believed to be “delaying tactics”.In the other case, CAB secretary Verma moved an application in the Supreme Court seeking an interim injunction against Srinivasan from contesting the BCCI election pending the verdict on the special leave petition (SLP) filed by Verma against the BCCI. The Supreme Court, on September 12, had run out of time and hence failed to hear the SLP where the BCCI lawyers were expected to enter final arguments against the CAB petition that had challenged the Bombay High Court order for failing to appoint a fresh probe panel to investigate corruption in the IPL despite ruling the BCCI probe panel was constituted illegally.On Monday, Verma, through his counsel Gagan Gupta, entered a prayer in the Supreme Court asking it to restrain Srinivasan from not only standing for the BCCI president’s polls (scheduled to be held during the board’s AGM on September 29) but also bar him from being part of any of the board’s committees. The court is expected to give a date of hearing on Tuesday.The Bombay High Court had pointed out in its order that Srinivasan had “prima facie” a hand in the appointment of the two-man probe panel that had cleared the owners of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals of corruption charges. The High Court had called the finding “illegal”. The BCCI had filed its own SLP challenging that order. The Supreme Court is yet to announce the next date hearing for this.The main reason behind the BCCI’s SLP was to erase the black mark on Srinivasan left by the High Court order. Lawyers on both sides confirmed that Srinivasan was free to attend the BCCI AGM as well as stand for the president’s elections despite the CAB petition.The significance of the CAB prayer cannot be determined at this stage. Verma’s intention from the beginning has been to restrain Srinivasan from performing his BCCI duties till the courts conclusively clear him of all allegations.

Sean Ervine played argubly his most valuable innings for Hampshire when the support of last man David Balcombe enabled him to reach an unbeaten century on a green pitch against Glamorgan at West End.

Ivo Tennant23-May-2012
ScorecardSean Ervine played one of his most invaluable innings for Hampshire with an unbeaten hundred on a West End greentop•PA Photos

A little over a year ago, Sean Ervine thought hard about giving up
county cricket to concentrate on playing for his native Zimbabwe in
whatever form of the game he could still participate. There was,
though, something about the lure of Hampshire cricket – as well as the lure of becoming an
Englishman – that led him to stay put. It is just as well for Hampshire’s
sake that he did, for his innings against Glamorgan was perhaps the
most valuable he has played.On a green pitch which was indistinguishable from the rest of the
square at the start of play, Hampshire, asked to bat, slumped to 97
for 5 and then 204 for 8t. Ervine was dropped without scoring by
Mark Wallace, a low, difficult chance, and then on 76, a quite
catchable opportunity at long on. He relied on eye, instinct and good
timing in making an unbeaten 109, his first century of the season.Ervine was also reliant on support from David Balcombe, who is too good to be going
in last. Together they put on 85 from 86 balls for the last wicket:
entertaining hitting against an attack shorn of its three best seamers
and which, until then, had performed perfectly respectably. Rather
than defend in textbook manner and sooner or later be beaten by the
conditions as much as the bowling, this pair simply looked to hit the
ball – hard.So a total of 316 could well be a pretty useful one. For this does not
look to be a four-day pitch. John Glover took the new ball for
Glamorgan and moved it sufficiently off the seam to have Liam Dawson
leg before and Michael Carberry and James Vince taken by Mark Wallace.
Simon Katich was his customary adhesive self, compiling 36 before
playing slightly across the line at Will Owen as if batting on the
harder pitches of his homeland down under.Jimmy Adams and Michael Bates, by contrast, played straight and
watchfully. Or at least they did until the former played on to Owen
and the wicketkeeper, who was in form and was driving particularly
well, was bowled by Jim Allenby. When Owen removed Chris Wood and
Kabir Ali with successive balls, Hampshire were 204 for 8. Only
there was still Balcombe to come.His highest previous championship score was just 30, but he can bat.
Or he looks as if he can bat. Ervine reached his century with a six over
long on off Allenby, having made his previous best score this season,
75, against Glamorgan. His clean hitting emphasised why Rod
Bransgrove, the Hampshire chairman, believes him to be a good enough
cricketer to represent England, as he has just become qualified to do.Had James Harris, Huw Waters and Graham Wagg been playing, the
likelihood is that Hampshire would not have reached 300. Even so,
Wallace had little option but to bowl first when he inspected the
pitch. Until the umpires appeared to have their own examination, and
while the groundstaff were in their hutch at square leg, it really was
impossible to tell where the match would take place. Still, this made
for an interesting day. And there is pace in the pitch.Glamorgan’s openers, the cerebral Gareth Rees, and Nick James, who
replaced Stewart Walters, survived the seven overs they had to face on
a sultry evening. Their side has mustered just one batting bonus point
thus far this season, an embarrassing statistic which provides just
the incentive they need to make some runs now.

David Warner is not thinking about the possibility of being Australia’s Twenty20 captain, and is focussing on sweeping India 4-0 in Adelaide

Daniel Brettig18-Jan-2012Umesh Yadav’s bouncer is not the only thing making Australia’s opener David Warner dizzy right now. At Sydney’s Olympic Stadium he was peppered with questions about his captaincy aspirations, which may be pushed further if he is appointed to lead Australia’s Twenty20 team in two internationals against India in February.While Warner deflected most of them with due deference to the incumbent, Cameron White, he also reinforced Australia’s desire to complete a 4-0 sweep of India in the final Test at the Adelaide Oval from January 24.”As Michael Clarke said the other day after the game, celebrate your win, but at the end of the day we want to try and beat the second team in the world four-nil,” Warner said. “That’s a massive thing for us at the moment. Where we are placed at the moment, our goal is to become No. 1 again by the next Ashes in 2013. If we can keep working towards that, our goals will be achieved.”In response to the question of whether or not India look a beaten team, Warner was frank in suggesting it would be difficult for some members of the touring party to visualise scoring plenty of runs in Adelaide given their recent returns.”There might be a lot of people in their shed wondering how they’re going to score runs,” Warner said. “In my mind there is probably only one player, and that’s Sachin Tendulkar, who looks like he’s using a sight screen when he comes out to bat. [But] the other players, they’re all world-class players. You look at the amount of runs they’ve got in the top six in their careers it’s phenomenal … We are expecting them to show some aggression in this next Test.”Beyond the Test lie the T20s and the triangular ODI series. A groundswell is building to have Warner installed as the national T20 captain, following glowing assessments of his leadership capability from the head coach Mickey Arthur and the former Test opener Simon Katich, among others. But Warner was careful not to tread on White’s toes, even as the Melbourne Stars captain endures a dire Big Bash League.”One day it might happen but for now Cameron White is the captain. And I am still going to be playing by his rules,” Warner said. “He is a class player, we’ve seen that many times with Cameron that he can come out and fire … with Cameron’s ability with the bat to clear the fence, we are backing him 100%.”I am just excited and overwhelmed that they are looking at me as a possibility for the future. It’s a massive achievement for people to say that but at the end of the day I just have to concentrate on my cricket.”For now that concentration is still affected by the after-effects of Yadav’s blow to the side of Warner’s head, a rare lapse during his 180. Warner said he was in regular touch with Australia’s physio Alex Kountouris but was on course to be fit for Adelaide.”I think I’m over it. I had a little bit of a dizzy spell yesterday morning. I spoke to Alex Kountouris about that and it’s generally what happens,” Warner said. “I was fine when I got hit. I didn’t have a black out or anything. You’ve just got to try and get up and keep playing.”At the moment it’s a day by day thing. I’ve got to speak to Alex this afternoon about how I’m feeling. At the moment I’m feeling quite fine. I can’t say I have been waking up and seeing Umesh hitting me in the head with the ball. You don’t really like getting hit in the head … Hopefully next time I can just keep my eye on the ball.”

Nathan Hauritz, the Australia offspinner, was struck in the face during an altercation at a nightclub and required facial surgery

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Sep-2011Nathan Hauritz, the Australia offspinner, was struck in the face during an altercation at a nightclub and required facial surgery. The incident was investigated by police but Cricket Australia’s general manager of cricket operations, Michael Brown, said Hauritz decided against pressing charges.Hauritz, who is recovering from a dislocated shoulder he suffered during the home one-dayers against England in January, has been sanctioned but CA refused to release any details of the penalty.The incident took place in Hervey Bay, Queensland, a fortnight ago but the matter was not resolved by CA until September 8. “By his own admission Nathan said he was immature and silly,” Brown told the . “He had a few drinks, the incident occurred, Nathan was struck by a patron. Nathan has chosen not to lay any charges, which is his right. We’ve investigated the matter and it has been resolved internally.”I have great sympathy for what Nathan has been through. No person deserves to get whacked in the face. All parties are happy with the outcome and we move on. He’s a bit sheepish and he’s learnt a valuable lesson.”Hauritz has received medical clearance to play for New South Wales in the Champions League Twenty20 in India starting on September 23.

Azeem Rafiq, the Yorkshire offspinner, has launched a foul-mouthed rant on Twitter after being left out of the England Under-19 side for the second Test against Sri Lanka at Scarborough

Cricinfo staff28-Jul-2010Azeem Rafiq, the Yorkshire offspinner, has been suspended by his county pending a full investigation after he launched a foul-mouthed rant on Twitter following his omission from the England Under-19 side for the second Test against Sri Lanka at Scarborough.Rafiq, who captained England to a 199-run defeat in the first Test, fired a scathing attack at coach John Abraham after he was omitted for what the ECB called “inappropriate conduct” and Rafiq is now under further investigation by the board.After he was told the news of being dropped Rafiq posted: “What a f***ing farsee … John Abrahams is a useless ****… ECB prove it again what incompetent people are working for them!!”And he hadn’t finished there when he added: “John Abrahams is a useless w****r.”Stewart Regan, Yorkshire’s chief executive said: “Azeem’s behaviour was totally unacceptable and the club will not tolerate it. Our professional players are role models to aspiring young cricketers and need to behave as such. Whilst Azeem has apologised formally to the ECB, the club and the coach in question the club still intend to carry out a full investigation before deciding on what disciplinary action to take. In the meantime, he is suspended on full pay and unavailable for selection.”The ECB are likely to summon Rafiq to Lord’s for a disciplinary hearing, and are considering his future place in the Under-19s.Andrew Strauss was asked about the incident as he prepared for the first Test against Pakistan. He has had experience of a player getting into trouble over Twitter when Tim Bresnan was forced to apologise for a comment he posted during the Champions Trophy last year and Strauss said players, at whatever age, must take responsbility.”What I would say is that if you haven’t led by example and have let yourself down you’ve got to take it on the chin and learn from it,” he said. “For a start players should be aware that what they write on Twitter is going to be seen by people they might not want it to be seen by. We’ve had a number of occasions of that happening, so I’d say to be very careful on that.”The other thing I’d say is that there is a right way to react to things and there is a wrong way and venting your frustration is not the right way to do it especially if you have been in the wrong. You need to take it on the chin and learn from it otherwise there are plenty of other people who can do it better than you.”It isn’t the first time Rafiq has been caught in controversy although the previous occasion was much less his fault. Yorkshire played him in their 2008 Twenty20 Cup quarter-final against Durham without realising he wasn’t properly registered and didn’t hold a British passport.Graeme Swann is the most prolific ‘tweeter’ in English cricket with an avid following and has just about avoided pushing the boundaries too much. James Anderson also tweets regularly and the pair often take part in extensive banter. However, Australia batsman Phil Hughes had less success when he announced he’d been dropped for the third Test of the Ashes last year before the team wanted it revealed to the public.

West Indies broke a 13-match losing streak and topped Group B to set up a semi-final against New Zealand

Firdose Moonda15-Oct-2024West Indies pulled off the biggest heist of this T20 World Cup and qualified for the semi-finals, against all expectation, and knocked one of the favourites, England.Having last beaten England in 2018, West Indies broke a 13-match losing streak and topped Group B to set up a semi-final against New Zealand in Sharjah. That year was also the last time West Indies played in a semi-final of the T20 World Cup.This is only the second time England have missed out on the knockouts of a T20 World Cup after being eliminated in the group stage in 2010. After wins in their first three matches, they were confident of making the final four this time. Instead, it is South Africa who join West Indies, with England’s net run-rate leaving them third in the group.West Indies win was made all the more remarkable because they were without former captain and veteran batter Stafanie Taylor, who is struggling with a knee injury. In her absence, Hayley Matthews and Qiana Joseph, found form and wiped away the bulk of the 142-run target. Matthews, playing in her 100th T20I, scored her 14th half-century in the format while Joseph, who had a career-best of 34 before this game, scored a 38-run 52. The pair shared an opening stand of 102 inside 13 overs and West Indies were on their way. This is the sixth time West Indies have successfully chased a total of 140-plus, and the second time since their record chase of 213 against Australia last December.England may have thought they had enough after Nat Sciver-Brunt’s half-century but lacked contributions from the rest of the order. To add to their worries, Heather Knight retired with a calf-injury on 21, with the score on 80 for 3, which halted the momentum England regained after they slipped to 34 for 3 in the seventh over. Afy Fletcher and Deandra Dottin, bowling for the first time in the tournament, took four wickets between them and conceded 37 runs in seven overs, which gave West Indies an advantage they carried through the game.

West Indies’ whirlwind start

West Indies’ youngsters Zaida James and Ashmini Munisar spoke to ESPNcricinfo a few days ago about their commitment to building a new legacy for West Indies cricket and almost combined to start that today. James, recovered from a blow to the chin, tossed her second ball up to Maia Bouchier, who tossed it up to Munisar at cover point but she shelled a straightforward chance. Bouchier went on to hit the first boundary of the innings and England were up and away until Matthews brought herself on to bowl. Danni Wyatt-Hodge hit her behind point for four but when she tried that a second time, Dottin lunged forward to take a low catch and West Indies had a breakthrough. In the next over, Alice Capsey was run out for one, chancing Dottin’s arm at her peril, and immediately after the powerplay, Bouchier skied Afy Fletcher to Qiana Joseph at extra cover. England were 34 for 3 in the seventh over and stunned.Nat Sciver-Brunt’s fifty was in vain for England•ICC/Getty Images

Knight and Nat: steady then surge

Sciver-Brunt survived an lbw review when she was on 2 when Fletcher pitched it outside leg, and went on to open her boundary count with lap over Shemaime Campbelle and that got England going. Knight bisected the extra cover and mid-off fielder for two overs in succession to take England to fifty and beyond. The pair then brought out the sweeps and England were running away with it at 79 for 3 after 12 overs when injury struck. Knight had treatment during that over but then left the field with a calf concern. At the time, the partnership was worth 46 off 36 balls, which was the only stand of more than 30 in the innings. Sciver-Brunt watched Amy Jones hand Dotting a catch at backward point and Charlie Dean pick out Matthews at mid-off as the 17th over started. She played an almost lone hand in scoring 14 runs off the 18th over and 13 off the 20th to register her 14th T20I half-century and taking England over 140.

Most runs in an over and the highest powerplay score

It took until the final group stage match to see some proper aggression upfront and it came from the team with the reputation to hit big, but not always the results. Matthews, who has registered scores of 10, 8 and 34 in the tournament so far and has not been as much of a presence with the bat, hit Lauren Bell over long leg for six off the second ball. She went on to score fours through fine leg and mid-off and the first over cost Bell – the most expensive of the tournament so far. Matthew owned opening over and her and Joseph rode their luck to take charge of the rest of the powerplay but not without some nerves.Joseph got off the mark with a thick outside edge between backward point and short third that went for four, then hit Sciver-Brunt to deep mid-wicket, where the ball went through Sophia Dunkley’s hands for four more. She settled in the next over and hit Charlie Dean for six before taking on England’s trump card Sophie Ecclestone for back to back boundaries. West Indies were 67 without loss in the powerplay, the highest of the tournament so far.

England’s drops add up

Dunkley’s drop was the start of one of England’s worst fielding performances recently as they put down five catches. In the fifth over, Joseph was on 31 when she skied Sciver-Brunt into the night sky and though Alice Capsey settled herself underneath it at point, she tried to catch it reverse-cup and dropped it. Then, on 35 in the eighth over, Joseph hit Sarah Glenn to mid-wicket, where Bouchier ran to her left but let it slip through her fingers. The ball followed Bouchier for a little while after that, and she did not collect cleanly at mid-wicket when Campbelle called Dottin through for a run. Bouchier berated herself and England were falling apart. According to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, there have been 75 dropped catches in the group stage of the tournament, and England have been responsible for nine, the third most of any side.

Pakistan still has “deep concerns” about security; no decision yet on whether they will play India in Ahmedabad

Danyal Rasool06-Aug-2023Pakistan will send their cricket team to India for the 2023 men’s ODI World Cup in October-November this year, ending months of uncertainty over the country’s participation.”Pakistan has consistently maintained that sports should not be mixed with politics,” Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “It has, therefore, decided to send its cricket team to India to participate in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. Pakistan believes that the state of bilateral relations with India should not stand in the way of fulfilling its international sports-related obligations.Related

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• CAB requests BCCI to reschedule Pakistan-England game

“Pakistan’s decision shows its constructive and responsible approach vis-à-vis India’s intransigent attitude, as the latter had refused to send its cricket team to Pakistan for the Asia Cup.While the statement effectively guarantees Pakistan will participate in the World Cup, it also suggested significant areas of divergence remain. ESPNcricinfo understands Pakistan has not yet taken a decision on whether they will agree to participate in the group stage game against India in Ahmedabad, or demand to have it moved elsewhere. The statement, however, does not mention a desire for a change of venue.The statement also signalled a lack of complete confidence in the security arrangements for Pakistan at the World Cup. “Pakistan, however, has deep concerns about the security of its cricket team,” the statement said further. “We are conveying these concerns to the International Cricket Council and the Indian authorities. We expect that full safety and security of Pakistan cricket team will be ensured during its visit to India.”ESPNcricinfo understands the PCB will reach out to the ICC for security guarantees once there is more clarity on arrangements.The World Cup schedule has been hit by several delays and tweaks. Pakistan’s fixture against India was brought forward by a day to avoid a clash with the Hindu festival of Navaratri. That created a knock-on effect, with Pakistan’s earlier game against Sri Lanka on October 12 moved to October 10 to give them enough time to prepare, arrangements that the PCB agreed to. The PCB accepted those date changes to their fixtures.On Saturday, ESPNcricinfo reported that the Cricket Association of Bengal had requested the BCCI to have Pakistan’s game against England moved from November 12 to November 11, to avoid a clash with another Hindu festival, Kali Puja.The PCB has privately expressed frustration at the potential change of date for the England fixture, and the constant rejigging of fixtures affecting Pakistan. It is understood there has been no communication between the PCB and the BCCI about the fixture change, and no clarity on when a decision will be reached or how it will be communicated to the PCB.The World Cup is scheduled to begin with reigning champions England taking on New Zealand On October 5, and end on November 19, but there is still no update on when the tickets will go on sale.

After last-ball thrillers in East London and Durban, England chase down South Africa’s second-highest score at Centurion in fine style

The Report by Firdose Moonda16-Feb-2020After last-ball thrillers in East London and Durban, England sealed the T20 series in the final over in Centurion to deny South Africa a first series win since March 2019. In a high-scoring thriller, England chased down South Africa’s second-highest score at this venue in fine style, with half-centuries from Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow keeping them on track and Eoin Morgan’s unbeaten 57 providing the perfect finish.

England fined for slow over rate

England were fined 20% of their match fee for maintaining a slow over rate during South Africa’s innings.
Match referee David Boon imposed the sanctions after the hosts were found to be one over short of the target after taking time allowances into account.
As per the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, players are fined 20% of their match fees for every over short.

The result means England leave South Africa with two out of the three trophies on offer and half of the third (the ODI cup was shared) and have provided high-class entertainment during a summer of rebuilding for the hosts. The run-rate in the series was the highest in any three-match rubber – 10.12. It’s a nice record to be part of, but it won’t mean much to South Africa, who started each of the three formats with a win, only to fade away as the fixtures rolled on.England’s early preparations for the T20 World Cup are on track with several of their players finding form. Morgan was the highest run-scorer overall with two half-centuries in three matches while Tom Curran’s variations were used to good effect. He claimed the important wickets of top-scorer Heinrich Klaasen and Dwaine Pretorius at the death in this match to derail South Africa’s push towards 240 and finished as England’s highest wicket-taker of the series.South Africa, under stand-in captain Quinton de Kock, will be pleased with the way he has taken to leadership and his opening partnership with Temba Bavuma but have work to do finding the right combination in the middle order. Dale Steyn’s return bodes well for the T20 World Cup but he was left in the shade by Lungi Ngidi, who topped the wicket charts and whose slower ball has added greatly to his skill set. It did not do the trick at SuperSport Park but after spending much of the last three months recovering from injury, Ngidi will just be pleased to be on the park and performing.The last five overs South Africa scored 58 runs in the last five overs, so England’s ask of 62 off the final five was not out of the question. Steyn ushered in the final passage of play by giving away only three runs off the first five balls of his final over. But the sixth one, a slower ball of the kind that foxed Ben Stokes, did not deceive Morgan, who heaved it over long-off for six. He tucked into Ngidi’s next over, with two sixes in three balls and then Stokes pulled Andile Phehlukwayo’s penultimate over apart, with successive maximums. The 17th and 18th overs cost South Africa 36 runs and ensured England scored more than half of what they required in the final five, to clear their path to victory.Best of the summer Buttler and Bairstow shared in the highest partnership of the match, 91 runs, and both put on their best performances of the summer to leave South Africa in a different state than when they arrived in. The pair have been under pressure in the longest format but came good with half-centuries each to keep England on track in the chase. Buttler latched on to anything too full, with the pick of his shots a six over long-on off Steyn, while Bairstow was ruthless against spin. He took 10 runs off Bjorn Fortuin’s first two balls and 14 runs off the first three balls of Shamsi’s second over, including a six straight down the ground. Much like what happened to South Africa when their set pair were dismissed, when Buttler and Bairstow were snuffed out, England wobbled. They lost 3 for 39 in the middle of the innings but had Morgan on-hand to put them back on track.Opening stands South Africa’s top two set the tone strongly in all three matches in this series with stands of 92, 48 and 84 while England’s pair did not manage a partnership more than 20 once. At SuperSport Park, de Kock and Bavuma showed intent from the first ball, when Bavuma cut Moeen Ali for four. That shot served him well throughout his innings and he initially looked to be taking a more aggressive approach than de Kock, until Chris Jordan came on in the fourth over. De Kock hit three successive sixes – the second brought up South Africa’s fifty off 22 balls – to overtake Bavuma, but only temporarily. Bavuma took 10 runs off Adil Rashid’s first two balls to edge ahead. If the game between them had continued, South Africa could have seen 250 in their sights but they were dismissed within four balls of each other, which stalled the innings.England also started on an encouraging note, with 15 runs off the first seven balls they faced but then Jason Roy was brilliantly caught by Tabraiz Shamsi, whose time at the strength and conditioning camp seems to have paid off. That meant England’s first-wicket stand was the lowest of the three matches.The real cost of the wides England’s nine wides meant that they bowled an extra over-and-a-half but their transgressions cost them much more than that. A calculation of the runs scored off the extra ball bowled – the ball immediately after the wide – revealed that England conceded a further 31 runs, meaning the real cost of their wides was 40 runs. That included a Klaasen six off Stokes over deep mid-wicket, fours off Mark Wood down the ground and Jordan through backward point and a David Miller four through backward square leg off Jordan and six over deep mid-wicket off Curran. Ultimately, the wides were the difference between 180 and 220 but it still didn’t stop England from winning.Crucial drops Bavuma is not a player you would associate with fielding errors but he made one when he put down a straightforward chance off Pretorius, that would have seen Dawid Malan dismissed at the end of the 12th over. Bavuma was at extra cover when Malan, on 8, hit the ball firmly towards him and it burst through his hands. Little damage was done as Malan only added three more to his score before under-edging Shamsi to de Kock. Pretorius, though, went on to make a bigger mistake. In the penultimate over, two balls after Ngidi had Stokes caught on the boundary, Moeen top-edged, Pretorius ran in from short fine leg and made the ground he needed to take the catch but then put it down. England needed 16 from nine balls at that stage and another wicket might have made the difference but it was not to be.