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Donald, Aiden Markram, Sam Northeast score half-centuries as Hants top South Group and secure semi-finals spot

David Hopps05-May-2019Hampshire trounced Somerset by seven wickets with 18.3 overs to spare at Taunton to confirm themselves as South Group winners and, as a result, secure a home tie in the semi-finals.The absence of James Vince and Aiden Markram to international duties could weaken them in the knockout stages, but Hampshire might just have found an answer in the form of Aneurin Donald. Given his head as an explosive player at the top of the order while Vince was already donning an England shirt in Dublin and Cardiff, Donald has worked out rather well.He followed up his 41 against Sussex at the Ageas Bowl on Thursday with 57 from 53 balls in front of an excellent crowd at Taunton. That Somerset had little chance of defending their 216 on a used but reliable surface became apparent as early as the fifth over when he took successive sixes off Josh Davey, the second of them a wristy affair over midwicket which told of his potential. A third followed late in his innings when he deposited Roelof van der Merwe into the Sir Ian Botham stand before falling later that over by skying to mid off.Once a youthful carrier of Glamorgan hopes, Donald switched to Hampshire late last season with the aim of furthering his ambition to become the first Wales-born player to represent England since Simon Jones in 2005. He said he thought his game was stagnating, and he got out just in time before somebody write a song about him: you don’t have to show much promise in Glamorgan for the rhapsodies to begin.Those England aspirations remain a long way off as a record of only one half-century in 27 List A appearances indicated, but there is certainly something about him. He believes that he is ideally suited to the role of top-of-the-order dasher and Hampshire might have made a shrewd – if enforced – call by giving him a run. The recent call-up of Sussex’s free-spirited opener Phillip Salt into England’s T20 squad has provided further proof that reputations in such a role can be made an instant.”It’s nice to be up there having a bit of a hit,” he said. “It can be a pretty tough time down at No 7. Hopefully I can fill a hole at the top of the order. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I think my game suits it.”I knew what I was getting myself into when I joined Hampshire. I had come down to Hampshire late last season just to settle in and I was hanging around trying to get a game. I knew the white ball came round earlier this year so I’d be in the frame to get a go early on.”Tom Alsop also made punishing inroads into Somerset’s inadequate total, hitting seamer Davey for 4,4,6,4 before pulling a catch to short fine-leg off Craig Overton to give Somerset a breakthrough. But composed half-centuries from Markram and Sam Northeast followed, Northeast reaching the landmark with the winning blow – a regal one-legged flat bat off the long-suffering Davey to win the game in style.A May Bank Holiday chill had descended upon the Quantocks and spectators slumped ever deeper into winter coats as seven of Somerset’s top eight reached double figures without managing a single half-century.Yellow is back in vogue here after the local elections – but regretfully for local tastes it was Hampshire who were wearing it. About the best that can be said for Somerset’s innings, as they were bowled out with nearly 10 overs unused, was that Kewstoke Village Hall would be £25 better off. Peter Trego had promised £1 a run to their village hall fund-raising, but the new football goal posts will have to wait a little longer after he was bowled by Liam Dawson, trying to cut.Azhar Ali’s cautious innings ended when he was caught at the wicket, trying to run Gareth Berg. There were two top-order wickets, too, for Mason Crane’s leg spin, although the first of them, a loopy thigh-high full toss, left him covering his eyes in mild embarrassment as James Hildreth scooped it into the leg side. Tom Abell’s full-blooded sweep was more convincing but he picked out deep square.George Bartlett top-scored with 40 from No. 6, his best List A score, but his inexperience showed in an increasingly skittish innings which saw him perish to an inside-out drive against Dawson. There was even a one-ball partnership between the Overton twins which ended in a first-ball run-out for Jamie. Craig was entirely innocent, responding to his brother’s call instantly only for Jamie, somewhat lumbering, to fail to beat Northeast’s direct hit from mid-off.Somerset must now win their final match, under floodlights against Surrey on the same Taunton ground on Tuesday, and hope that they can secure a place in the top three for a play-off berth. Surrey might be bottom of South Group, but they still possess obvious danger for all that. Somerset’s head coach Jason Kerr termed their display “disappointing, bordering on embarrassing” as a campaign that began well with four wins but which has now lost further impetus with a third successive defeat.To satisfy local sentiments they would have to thrust the England left-arm spinner Jack Leach into the side, but he has little experience of white ball cricket and that is highly unlikely. If they balance up their side, then offspinning all-rounder Dom Bess, who started the tournament, is a likelier choice. Davey, or Jamie Overton, who came unscathed through his first bowl of the season after returning from his latest injury, would be expected to make way.

Warwickshire and rain spoil homecoming, but not for a grateful crowd who lapped up the occasion

Paul Edwards at York18-Jun-2019
There are times when cricket is defined by tumbling stumps, frenzied tension and the arcs of Eoin Morgan’s sixes. And there are those days when maiden overs, skilful leaves and the patience of saints are more than enough. These three sessions at York were notable for the latter and they offered almost perfect satisfaction to the spectators sitting under the wonderful white poplars on the far side of the ground, even as most of them yearned for the fall of visiting wickets. They will not forget this day at Clifton Park and neither will Rob Yates, a 19-year-old Warwickshire batsman who fell one short of a maiden fifty after over three hours in which his every stroke proclaimed a determination not to yield.Yet just as the evening crowd were ready to applaud the first major achievement of Yates’ career, his moment was stolen by a cricketer 16 years his senior whose value to Yorkshire appears to increase with every match he plays. In the morning session Steve Patterson’s 60 had helped his side post 259, which most thought a competitive score on a pitch offering bounce and carry. Yet deep in the evening session it seemed that Yates and Dom Sibley’s 101-run stand for the second Warwickshire wicket would erode that advantage much as water wears down stone. But Patterson is also a patient man.Yorkshire’s captain brought himself back for his third spell of the day at the City End. In his fourth over he bowled Sibley off the inside edge for 60 when the opener played an ungainly defensive shot outside the off stump. Six overs later the left-handed Yates pushed at a ball slanted across him and was caught at slip by Tom Kohler-Cadmore. Adam Hose survived his first ball before immediately playing around an in-ducker and falling leg before. By the close Matt Lamb had perished in the slips off David Willey, thus completing the loss of four wickets for 27 runs in ten overs. The day ended with Warwickshire on 192 for 5, the new ball due early in the morning and both sides hoping tomorrow’s weather forecast is wide of the mark.Yet if our cricket ended with Yorkshire’s cricketers suddenly buoyed by the fall of wickets, its heart had been dominated by the stand between Sibley and Yates, two young batsmen in a top order suddenly devoid of seniority. Indeed, many familiar figures at Edgbaston – Jonathan Trott, Keith Barker, Boyd Rankin – are suddenly absent and a Bears top order lacking Ian Bell is like a plate of eggs royale without salmon. The old solidities, the old pedigree are missing and in this context the batting of Yates and Sibley assumes fresh significance.Their partnership blunted Yorkshire’s attack and it even quietened the 380 corporate hospitality guests, although almost nothing could silence the stentorian auctioneer during the intervals, when he boomed out like Brian Blessed addressing the partially hearing.Sibley’s innings was replete with the defiance Edgbaston supporters have come to expect. The opener’s nine championship innings before today had yielded 426 runs including two centuries and his powerful flourishes though the leg side were also par for his course. Yates’ effort, by contrast, turned fresh earth. The 19-year-old had managed only 90 runs in seven visits prior to this match and his innings today offered encouragement even as it ended in disappointment. Yet Yates still needed the luck that fortifies any young cricketer. Most notably this came in the form of the straightforward chance dropped by Adam Lyth off Patterson when he had only a single to his name.Thus reprieved he went on to cut Willey over the slips and cover-drive Jordan Thompson for fours, but the quality of Yates’ batting consisted more in the good balls he defended or simply let go. To watch his mid-afternoon duel with James Logan, Yorkshire’s 21-year-old left-arm spinner, was to see two young cricketers at important stages of their development. And you may be assured most of the crowd realised it.For if the cricket at Clifton Park might be dismissed as slow in this 17-sixes-a-pop era, it prompted no discontent among the thousands on the ground for whom such contests are custom-built delight. They had enjoyed the morning’s play, too, when for nearly 90 minutes Patterson and Logan had batted with the prudence of Yorkshiremen squirrelling a few quid away in their building society accounts. Regular accretion was preferable to risky punts.This was no boisterous, end-of-term thrash but a considered alliance between batsmen who trusted each other during their 48-run stand for the ninth wicket. Only three boundaries had been struck, none of them in front of the wicket before Patterson lost his off stump when trying to cut Oliver Hannon-Dalby. He had made 60, which was only his fourth first-class fifty, but he had batted like a skipper who knew the value of his runs and a bowler who would have to defend the total he was compiling. And deep in the evening Patterson was doing precisely that.

Darren Bravo returns with an all-format deal while the number of women’s contracts has risen from 12 to 15

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jul-2019Nicholas Pooran, Fabian Allen and Oshane Thomas have been handed Cricket West Indies central contracts for the first time and Darren Bravo returns with an all-format deal while the number of women on contracts has increased from 12 to 15.Among the men’s contracts there are now seven players on all-format deals, an increase from four, with Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer and Keemo Paul joining Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph and Kemar Roach.The CWI deals for the men come in three categories of all-format, red-ball and white-ball contracts.Pooran, Allen and Thomas were all part of the World Cup squad with Pooran, especially, impressing in the closing stages of the tournament with 118 against Sri Lanka and 58 against Afghanistan. Opening batsman John Campbell, who made his Test debut against England earlier this year, has also been handed his first contract in the red-ball category.Left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican has been given a red-ball deal while Sheldon Cottrell gets a white-ball offer.Six players who had deals for 2018-19 have fallen off the lists: Sunil Ambris, Devendra Bishoo, Miguel Cummins, Ashley Nurse, Kieran Powell and Raymon Reifer.In the women’s contracts, Reniece Boyce, Anisa Mohammed, Akeira Peters have not been offered new deals along with the retired Merissa Aguilleira.”We believe the 2019-20 contract list provides us with a multi-talented group of players who can represent West Indies men and women across all formats over the contract period,” interim chairman of the CWI Selection Panel, Robert Haynes, said. “We believe the mix of players selected are important for the development of our teams going forward and we have looked to award contracts to players who have shown commitment and performance during the past year.”CWI allows for up to 22 men’s contracts to be offered each year so there is scope to add three more names. Currently, only verbal offers for the deals have been made to the players while negotiations continue on the new four-year Memorandum of Understanding with the West Indies Players Association. Jimmy Adams, the CWI director of cricket, said the contracts are subject to the players reaching minimum fitness standards.”To assist in our drive towards a new fitness and conditioning culture, the CWI board of directors has approved our recommendation that the award of all new West Indies men’s contracts this year will be conditional on each player achieving a minimum standard of fitness,” he said. “This new policy will also be introduced to all men’s regional franchise contracts and West Indies Women’s contracts next year for the 2020-21 season.”CWI men’s contracts for 2019-20All-format Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Keemo Paul, Kemar RoachRed-ball Kraigg Brathwaite, John Campbell, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Jomel WarricanWhite-ball Fabian Allen, Carlos Brathwaite, Sheldon Cottrell, Nicholas Pooran, Rovman Powell, Oshane ThomasCWI women’s contracts 2019-2020Retained Shemaine Campbelle, Shamilia Connell, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Hayley Matthews, Chedean Nation, Shakera Selman, Stafanie TaylorNew contracts Shabika Gajnabi, Shawnisha Hector, Chinelle Henry, Stacy-Ann King, Kycia Knight, Natasha McLean, Karishma Ramharack

Seamer to continue injury comeback by playing in T20 and Second XI game

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Aug-2019Jofra Archer will be given the chance to prove his Ashes fitness by playing in a T20 Blast game for Sussex this Friday, and a three-day Second XI game next week.Archer was named in England’s 14-man squad for the first Test at Edgbaston, but was omitted from the final XI as he continued his rehabilitation from a side strain he had suffered during the World Cup.”Jofra is coming back from quite a serious injury,” said England’s captain, Joe Root, explaining his omission. “We looked at conditions and made a decision on what we thought would best take 20 wickets here.”It also gives him time to get absolutely ready and fit to make sure he has his workloads up and ready to go for later in the series if he needs to make an impact. [His fitness] will be monitored throughout the week. It’s important that he’s ready to go to offer something different.”Archer was one of the stars of England’s World Cup win, taking 20 wickets at 23.05 before bowling the decisive Super Over in the final against New Zealand, but admitted he had played through “excruciating” pain during the tournament.After a brief trip back to his native Barbados, Archer took 2 for 21 in his four overs in Sussex’s tied T20 Blast game against Surrey before joining up with the Test squad.Archer has been released to play in Sussex’s game against Kent on Friday night, and will then make his first appearance in the Second XI Championship since 2016 when he plays against Gloucestershire at Blackstone, a game which starts on Tuesday.Sussex also have a T20 against Glamorgan that day, but Archer will instead have the chance to prove he is fit enough to bowl longer spells with the red ball.It had been suggested that Archer might be loaned to Worcestershire to play in their tour game against Australia, as has happened with Andrew Strauss (Somerset), Nick Compton (Worcestershire), and James Taylor (Sussex) in previous years, but he will instead be kept away from the limelight in rural West Sussex.Olly Stone and Sam Curran, the other unused members of England’s Edgbaston squad, have also been released to play in the Blast on Friday night.Stone will join up with the Birmingham Bears squad for their game at Trent Bridge, while Curran will play for Surrey at Taunton.Eoin Morgan returns to Lord’s for his first appearance since the final tonight in Middlesex’s game against Kent, while Adil Rashid has been included in Yorkshire’s Blast squad for the first time this season for Friday night’s fixture against Worcestershire.

He has over 11,000 first-class runs and CSA hope that experience will help them combat the spin-friendly conditions in India

Nagraj Gollapudi09-Sep-2019Cricket South Africa (CSA) has appointed former Mumbai batsman Amol Muzumdar as batting coach for South Africa’s three-match Test series against India, which starts on October 2 in Visakhapatnam.The 44-year-old last played at the first-class level for Andhra in 2013 and has since held several coaching positions, besides being a TV commentator. Muzumdar’s specialist role for this tour mirrors the one former Sri Lanka batsman Thilan Samaraweera played for New Zealand during their Test series in Sri Lanka last month.Muzumdar will join team director Enoch Nkwe’s coaching staff, which comprises Vincent Barnes (assistant bowling coach) and Justin Ontong (assistant fielding coach).ALSO READ: Rabada ‘not too worried’ with Archer, Bumrah snatching spotlightMuzumdar got the offer last week from CSA acting director of cricket Corrie van Zyl, and accepted the interim role readily, looking at it as an opportunity to work with an international team.Asked whether it would be a challenge for him to coach at the highest level despite having never played international cricket, Muzumdar told ESPNcricinfo, “This is a myth that people carry in India and I would like to break it. I don’t think experience of playing at international level matters if you know the subject very well. I am dealing with batting at all levels, which is a subject for me. And if you know your subject thoroughly then the experience and all doesn’t matter.”Muzumdar’s 20-year career as one of the most prolific run-scorers in Indian domestic cricket – he made 11,167 runs at 48.13 – is expected to help on that front.”Amol is a perfect fit for us,” van Zyl said. “He brings an intimate knowledge of Indian playing conditions and the challenges our batsmen are likely to face. He also assisted us at the spin bowling camp we held recently in India and thus has already built up a good working relationship with Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma and Zubayr Hamza.”South Africa last toured India in 2015-16 and found it particularly difficult to tackle India’s spinners, going past 200 in only one of the seven innings they batted in. A full encapsulation of their struggle against spin came in the last innings of the fourth Test, when they made an all-out commitment to defence, batting 143.1 overs as they were eventually bowled out for 143 chasing 481.Muzumdar agreed that the challenge for the South African batsmen this time would be even greater, because the Indian bowling attack has grown to become ruthless in the last two years both at home and overseas. “That is exactly why I will not stress on spin. Because, at the moment, India have a potent bowling attack. Their entire bowling attack is a good one and it will be a challenge and we will have to come up with the plans.”As for the personal challenge of settling down quickly in the South African dressing room, Muzumdar was more confident. “Having played first-class cricket for 21 and years and a major part of it for a champion team (Mumbai), I know what a team environment requires and how champion teams operate. It won’t be easy, but I will accept the challenge.”Despite ending his career as the second-highest run-getter in the Ranji Trophy, Muzumdar never played for India. A contemporary of Sachin Tendulkar [both of them were coached by the late Ramakant Achrekar], Muzumdar won the Ranji title eight times with Mumbai including once as captain, in 2006-07.Muzumdar holds high-performance coaching certificates from the BCCI, Cricket Australia as well as in the UK through both Lancashire and Yorkshire, also was the batting consultant with Cricket Netherlands between 2013-15. He has been batting coach for Rajasthan Royals at the IPL, coached India’s Under-19 and Under-23 sides at the National Cricket Academy, and was briefly a batting consultant for the Netherlands men’s team. He had applied to be India’s batting coach earlier this year but couldn’t make the shortlist.Muzumdar now joins a select group of Indians who have worked with other international teams in recent years, such as Sridharan Sriram (currently with Australia men’s team), Sunil Joshi (spin consultant with Bangladesh men’s team till recently), Wasim Jaffer (part of the coaching staff at the Bangladesh High Performance Centre) and Lalchand Rajput (worked as head coach of Zimbabwe and Afghanistan men’s teams).

How ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball commentary recorded Ben Stokes’ match-winning stand of 76 with Jack Leach

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Aug-2019115.2 – Pattinson to Broad, OUT, pitched up, Broad is hit on the boot – given! But he reviews, did he get some bat on it? Doesn’t look like it on the first replay, but we’ll need UltraEdge – no, that’s clear, and Hawk-Eye has it smashing the base of off stump! Pattinson’s yorker rips through Broad and Australia are on the brink
SCJ Broad lbw b Pattinson 0 (6m 2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00116.4 – Lyon to Stokes, SIX runs, shout of ‘catch!’ from Lyon… but Stokes has mowed it over long-off! There’s a man out there, but this was struck fine of him, lands it pretty much on the rope118.1 – Lyon to Stokes, SIX runs, goes down the ground again, clears long-off! Hazlewood leaps on the rope, but he can’t get near it… Six more!118.5 – Lyon to Stokes, SIX runs, Bloody Norah! He’s reverse-slog-swept this into the stands! Extraordinary from Stokes, smashing the cover off one over deep point! IncredibleBen Stokes reverse-pulls a six over cover•Getty Images

120.3 – Cummins to Stokes, SIX runs, he gets the ramp away this time, into the stands at fine leg! Still ambitious, but he’s got the chops to pull it off! Stokes into the 90s and the crowd are going like Billy-oh again!121.1 – Hazlewood to Stokes, FOUR runs, short outside off, smoked through wide long-on! Rocks back and this to the boundary – hundred for Stokes, but he’s not interested. Work still to do, he nods his head and then returns to his crease121.2 – Hazlewood to Stokes, SIX runs, full toss, scooped over the ropes at deep square! You’ve got to be kidding me! Sails away and England are getting ever closer121.3 – Hazlewood to Stokes, SIX runs, goes again, soaring into the Western Terrace! Length delivery, he rocks back and smashes it to smithereens between two men parked on the boundary122.1 – Lyon to Stokes, no run, darted flat outside off and Stokes goes for the reverse-sweep… Paine appeals for caught behind, but the umpire isn’t interested. Kiddology122.2 – Lyon to Stokes, no run, goes for a big mow over the leg side, this spins out of the rough to slip122.3 – Lyon to Stokes, no run, slower, Stokes aims a little reverse-prod at it and misses123.1 – Cummins to Stokes, no run, dropped! Sliced to third man, Marcus Harris can’t hold it… The ball carried, he got his hands there, couldn’t cling on! Very similar to Simon Jones in 2005…123.2 – Cummins to Stokes, FOUR runs, short ball, cracked on the pull, through Warner’s dive on the rope! Was it catchable chance? Hard to tell, but it was travelling!123.3 – Cummins to Stokes, FOUR runs, smashed down the ground, Stokes is on the rampage, the target now in single figures! Hazlewood threw himself full length but couldn’t cut it off123.6 – Cummins to Leach, no run, pitched up, skids into the pads, appeal for lbw but looked leg side. Australia review, but it’s a desperate one, pitching well outside leg124.3 – Lyon to Stokes, SIX runs, tossed up, and he goes down town… Hanging in the air… There’s a man on the rope… Gets it over his head for six! Stokes wasn’t sure, it wasn’t out of the middle, he crouched, he watched – and then the crowd erupted!124.5 – Lyon to Stokes, no run, missed run out! Leach is charging down, he’s miles out of his ground as the throw comes in… but Lyon drops it! Can you believe it? Stokes reverse-swept, picked out backward point, but Leach was headlong down the pitch looking for a non-existent singleNathan Lyon misses the chance to run out Jack Leach with England needing two to win•Getty Images

124.6 – Lyon to Stokes, no run, goes for the slog-sweep, hit on the pads, Wilson shakes his head! Lyon can’t believe it, Australia have no reviews! That looked a pretty good shout, pitching on middle and leg. Did it straighten enough?125.1 – Cummins to Leach, no run, slams down a bouncer, high over the batsman’s head125.2 – Cummins to Leach, no run, short and at the body, 85mph/137kph and Leach shovels it away, leg gully cleans up125.3 – Cummins to Leach, 1 run, round the wicket, banged into the ribs and Leach jabs it past short leg, they scamper through and SCORES ARE LEVEL! Leach’s first run, too125.4 – Cummins to Stokes, FOUR runs, there it is! Flayed through the covers, Stokes has completed the Miracle of Headingley Part II! Holy hand grenades, Stokes is a monster! He throws his arms wide and roars! England win by one wicket and the series is level in the most heart-stopping fashion imaginable!

Earlier, Dean Elgar led the Tshwane Spartans’ innings with an unbeaten 57

The Report by Firdose Moonda21-Nov-2019Match abandoned There were only 17.1 overs played between the Tshwane Spartans and Durban Heat as rain forced a fourth no-result in 12 matches in the Mzansi Super League so far. The impact of the weather-affected games has been most keenly felt on the points table where the two teams sit in opposite halves, despite both completing only one match each. The Spartans had won their match and are in the third position, while Heat had lost theirs and are in the fifth place. The Heat may have fancied their chances of claiming a second victory when they were asked to chase 66 in five overs at SuperSport Park but three quick wickets swung the game in the Spartans’ favour before rain had the last say.De Bruyn and Elgar at it againAfter their 104-run stand in a stunning chase in Paarl, Theunis de Bruyn and Dean Elgar showed why they should be on the radar for the national white-ball teams with another impressive start. The pair took 21 off Kyle Abbott’s first two overs to race to 62 without loss at the end of the powerplay before de Bruyn was run out for 40. There was an appeal for obstructing the field against Elgar when he was on 43 but third umpire decided Elgar had not changed his path and he went on to bring up his fifty off 33 balls and looked set for many more.Quiet ABKeshav Maharaj turned the screws on the opening pair, which may have led to de Bruyn’s dismissal when he took on Andile Phehlukwayo’s arm, but that brought AB de Villiers to the crease. In front of his home crowd, de Villiers was expected to thrill but it was Phehlukwayo who produced the magic once again. He lured de Villiers into chasing a short, wide ball and Dane Vilas took an easy catch behind the stumps.The first signs of troubleAfter 65 minutes into the first innings, the players were called off the field due to rain. They stayed off for 40 minutes and returned for ten before lightning forced them off again. Another 35 minutes passed before play resumed.Ngidi jolts Heat’s chaseThe Spartans’ defence started in the best way possible when Lungi Ngidi took a simple return catch off his bowling to dismiss Wesley Marshall on the first ball and then had dangerous Wihan Lubbe caught at deep midwicket by de Villiers off the next ball. Alex Hales survived the hat-trick ball by tickling it to third man to get Heat off the mark. The umpires decided to keep continuing in the drizzle but after 2.1 overs, just when Vilas’ off stump was removed by Morne Morkel, the rain got heavier and the match had to be called off.Can rain leave these two teams alone?The short answer seems to be no, and here’s a breakdown of how it’s all (not) played out. The first match between the Heat and Spartans, which was due to be played in Durban, was abandoned without a ball being bowled after heavy rain on the country’s east coast. Six days later, Heat’s second match against the Paarl Rocks, also at Kingsmead, was also unable to get underway. By then, the Spartans game against the Nelson Mandela Giants at SuperSport Park had yielded a no-result with just 7.1 overs bowled. The Spartans may have been rather pleased to get away with that one because they were 33 for 4 when the heavens opened.Both teams got their campaigns underway on the same day, November 17, in the ninth and tenth matches of the tournament respectively. Heat finally got on the park in Durban and went down to Cape Town Blitz by ten runs while the Spartans had better luck in the Boland. They hunted down 186 against the Paarl Rocks. And then came this, an innings cut down to 15 overs and a chase reduced to five that couldn’t be completed.

Stokes reported pain in his left knee as he completed his second over in Hamilton, will be assessed

George Dobell in Hamilton29-Nov-2019Ben Stokes may not be able to bowl in the rest of the second Test against New Zealand after experiencing a recurrence of a knee problem.Stokes reported pain in his left knee as he completed his second over in Hamilton. While he remained on the field, the England management reported the injury would be assessed before a decision was made over whether he would bowl again in the first innings. There has been no official word of a scan from the England camp, but it would be a surprise if Stokes was not sent for one.Stokes has long had to manage his left knee. He underwent surgery on it in May 2016 after tearing cartilage while bowling against Sri Lanka and, ahead of the first Test of this series, admitted he was managing it. He was used sparingly compared to his seam-bowling colleagues in that match – he bowled 26 overs compared to Jofra Archer’s 42, Sam Curran’s 35 and Stuart Broad’s 33 – and England named an extra seamer in their second Test team partially as cover for Stokes.ALSO READ: Latham century drives NZ before rain hitsIt may be that his relative lack of mobility contributed to his failure to cling on to a chance offered by Tom Latham on 66. It was not by any means an easy chance but Stokes is probably the best catcher in this England side and will have been disappointed not to hold on. Latham went on to finish the day unbeaten on 101.Given Stokes’ importance to the team and the relative unimportance of the Test – it does not form part of the World Test Championship – it would be a surprise if he was asked to bowl for the remainder of this game.It would be premature to speculate on his fitness for the South Africa tour. But with the first Test in that series starting on Boxing Day it does not leave a huge amount of time for recovery if the problem is significant. Stokes is travelling to South Africa a few days after the rest of the squad in order to allow him to attend the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award presentation. Stokes is favourite for the award.

Mashrafe Mortaza asks that he be kept off contracts list

Mohammad Isam12-Jan-2020The BCB has raised the match fees of Bangladesh’s centrally contracted players after three years, with the highest jump given to Test fees. In the 2020 calendar year, a player will earn BDT 600,000 (approximately $7,000 approx) per Test, which is a rise of more than 70% from their BDT 350,000 ($4,000 approx) from 2017 and 2019.The rise in Test match fees comes after a poor year in the longest format, when Bangladesh lost all five matches to New Zealand, Afghanistan and India. But the BCB has put emphasis on their performance in Tests in light of the World Test Championship, which has already increased the number of Tests Bangladesh play in the next two years.Match fees for ODIs and T20Is have also increased significantly from the previous three years. For each ODI, a player will get BDT 300,000 ($3,500 approx) compared to the previous BDT 200,000 ($2,300 approx), while the match fees for T20Is have increased from BDT 125,000 ($1,400 approx) to BDT 200,000 ($2,300 approx).BCB president Nazmul Hassan, after the board meeting on Sunday, said that they will also reconsider the number of centrally contracted players. During the players’ strike last year, the cricketers had demanded that the number should be 30. They had also pointed out that their salary or match fee hadn’t increased since 2017.”We will again discuss the number of players on January 15. We want there to be some more new guys who have performed recently,” said Hassan.He also said that Mashrafe Mortaza, Bangladesh’s ODI captain, had asked the board to not given him a central contract. “Mashrafe Mortaza has asked us not to keep him in the central contract [list]. He will continue playing but he wants someone new to get a place among the contracted players,” Hassan said. “We have accepted it.”

The Australia coach gave the Test team eight out of ten after they won every match by a big margin

Andrew McGlashan07-Jan-2020It was Marnus Labuschagne’s summer, David Warner hit a triple century, Nathan Lyon had a career-best season and Pat Cummins remained the No. 1 bowler in the world, but when pressed to pick his highlight of Australia’s 5-0 home Test campaign, coach Justin Langer singled out captain Tim Paine.On the back of retaining the Ashes and now leading the side to a sweep of the summer against New Zealand and Pakistan, Paine has gone from an emergency captain in times of crisis to a likely longer-term leader with visions of taking the side through to 2021.For Langer, it has been both Paine’s leadership and his work behind the stumps that stood out even though his performances did not produce the headline-grabbing feats of many of his team-mates. But in Melbourne, Paine had one of his finest all-round games too, with a bustling 79 and eight dismissals with glovework that remained almost faultless all season.ALSO READ: Marnus Labuschagne leads a summer for Australia to savour, but not for long“Highlight of the summer would be Tim Paine’s captaincy and wicketkeeping,” Langer said. “People will be going ‘what about Marnus?’. I could tell a story about the comeback of Mitchell Starc after playing only one [Ashes] Test match. I could talk about David Warner’s 300 and how well he’s batted after what’s happened in the Ashes. I could talk about Nathan Lyon again, what a role he plays. I could talk about Pat Cummins being the best fast bowler in the world. I could talk about Travis Head’s hundred. I could talk about Matthew Wade letting [Neil] Wagner hit him over and over again.”I could talk about every one of our players but I think Painey’s leadership, strategically and tactically, has been excellent. The way he took to the [focus of the] Test Championship, the way he kept wicket, a few of his innings, I thought Painey was brilliant this summer. And of course Marnus was great too.”Tim Paine was delighted with his work to stump Henry Nicholls•Getty Images

Langer said that the five Test victories by such convincing margins had “probably” exceeded expectations and gave the season an eight out of ten when asked to rate it. “After the Ashes, we needed to get better. We needed to get tougher,” he said, before explaining where the extra points could come from. “We dropped a few catches, a few run outs, a few of the boys got starts they would have liked hundreds. There’s always room for improvement.”Even during the difficult times Australia have had over the last 18 months, the bowling attack was rarely an issue. The biggest success of the season has been stabilising the top order through Warner’s run-glut against Pakistan and then the series-ending hundred at the SCG, his productive partnership with Joe Burns – even though Burns’ returns were more modest – and Labuschagne’s stunning output at No. 3. It meant that a more modest season for Steven Smith, who averaged under 40 and did not score a century, was barely noticed although some of Smith’s contributions against New Zealand were vital.”We talked about a couple of things when we came back from the Ashes. One was cementing our top three. I think we’ve done that. The second one was winning after winning. We had to get better after that. I think we did that right throughout the summer,” Langer said. “What [Marnus] has done is mind-blowing, really. It’s a great credit to his mental and physical endurance. It’s a great credit to his humility that he’s been able to stay so grounded through it all.”Don’t underestimate the impact Steve Smith had on this series. He didn’t get the big hundreds and the big accolades but he chewed up a lot of balls when it really mattered in the first innings. He was outstanding without doing the superhuman stuff he did in during the Ashes but he had a great series.”Australia’s next Test assignment is two matches against Bangladesh in June. Before then there is a return to limited-overs cricket with the one-day squad leaving for India on Thursday – a trip Langer will miss as he takes a break, handing over to Andrew McDonald – then a T20I and ODI tour of South Africa in late February. The men’s home summer splutters back into life for three ODIs against New Zealand in mid-March before a trip across the Tasman for three T20Is.