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Pat Cummins, however, was happy with the verdict of third umpire Kettleborough, whom he called “probably the best umpire in the world”

Shashank Kishore11-Jun-20231:37

Was Green’s catch to dismiss Gill clean?

India captain Rohit Sharma is disappointed at the process followed by third umpire Richard Kettleborough in deciding to rule Shubman Gill out in the final innings of the WTC final on Saturday. Rohit feels the third umpire could have taken more time and looked at more angles before arriving at his decision.”I just felt disappointed. I mean, the third umpire should have seen a little more replays, a little more of, you know, how the catch has been held,” Rohit said after India’s 209-run loss early on Sunday. “I think it was three or four times he saw, and he was convinced with it. It’s not about whether it was given out or not out, you need to have a proper and clear information about anything. It’s just not about the catch, it can be about anything.”Related

• Rohit: 'There was no lapse of concentration; we wanted to bat in a different way'

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Gill was out jabbing to gully where Cameron Green took a low catch diving to his left to end a threatening opening stand of 41 in India’s chase of 444. The decision was referred upstairs, and in the absence of a soft signal, which has now been done away with, Kettleborough went through a number of replays before ruling in Australia’s favour.”That was, that is something that I was a little disappointed with – the decision was made quite quickly,” Rohit said. “When a catch like that has been taken, you need to be more than 100% sure because it’s a final and we were at that important stage of the game as well. So that was to me a little disappointing.”Rohit Sharma feels the third umpire should have watched more replays, from more angles, before coming to his decision on Green’s catch•Getty Images

The replays on the broadcast seemed to lose a bit of action between frames, between Green catching the ball with his fingers underneath it, as he fell to the turf, and then throwing it up in celebration. The big question at the time was whether the ball touched the ground when his hand hit the turf.”More camera angles should have been shown,” Rohit went on. “There was only one or two camera angles that were shown. We’ve got more angles in IPL. We’ve got 10 different angles in IPL. I don’t know why in a world event like this, there was no ultra motion that was seen or any kind of zoomed image was seen. That is what I was a little disappointed with.”Australia captain Pat Cummins, though, was more than satisfied with the process followed, and suggested that Kettleborough was the best umpire in the world, when asked his thoughts on the catch. He was also asked about Green being booed by a section of the Indian fans.”Passionate fans,” Cummins said. “But I thought it was a fair catch. Green was an absolute screamer and obviously we’re just players, we’re out on the field so we leave it in the umpire’s hands and personally, probably the best umpire in the world, he knows the rule books, he’s seen every angle. I’d probably back his decision more so than emotional, passionate fans that are looking on a big screen from 100 meters away.”Cummins in a way echoed former Australia captain Ricky Ponting’s views. “When I saw it live, I knew it had carried to him on the full, but I wasn’t sure what the action was after that from all replays we have seen,” he told the ICC. “I actually think some part of the ball did touch the ground and it is the interpretation of the umpire that as long as the fielder has complete control of the ball before the ball hits the ground then it is out. That must have been what the umpires’ interpretation was and I think that is exactly what happened. It carried probably six or eight inches off the ground then there was another action after that.”

There is no specific target for Head’s comeback, but he isn’t expected to be available until at least midway through the World Cup group stage

Andrew McGlashan29-Sep-20232:22

What role will Travis Head play at World Cup for Australia?

Glenn Maxwell has been backed to play the role of a frontline spinner for Australia during the World Cup after they opted not to replace the injured Ashton Agar like-for-like. They instead brought in Marnus Labuschagne to provide batting cover as Travis Head recovers from his broken hand.It means that Maxwell and Adam Zampa are Australia’s only genuine spin options among their 14 fit players given that Steven Smith barely bowls anymore and Labuschagne’s legspin has faded in recent years. Should Head recover and be able to bowl, his offspin would provide a valuable option.There is yet to be a specific target for Head’s comeback, but he isn’t expected to be available until at least midway through the group stage.Related

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Maxwell took a career-best 4 for 40 in the final ODI against India in Rajkot, and although he averages 47.71 in ODIs, national selector George Bailey believes his bowling should not be underestimated.”Think it’s unfair on Maxi to say he’s not a specialist spinner,” Bailey said. “Think his white-ball spinning record is pretty handy and you could very much consider him a frontline option. We certainly consider that we have two frontline spinners within our first-choice XI.”More broadly across the squad, when you are limited to 15 [players], there are compromises that you have to weigh up [and] which way to want to take a risk. That was all the considerations that we had to take. We certainly think that Zamps and Maxi can do a really good job for us as the frontline spinners and we’ve still got plenty of options for quicks and back-up allrounders.”Maxwell’s outing in Rajkot was only his second ODI since suffering a badly broken leg last year and there have been concerns about how he would cope with an intense World Cup schedule after pulling up with an ankle problem on Australia’s first day of training in South Africa last month.However, Bailey praised the work Maxwell has put in to get himself ready for the tournament although did suggest there may be times when he is given a break from the more high-intensity fielding positions he has traditionally occupied.1:25

What does Labuschagne’s inclusion mean for Australia?

“Glenn’s been so dynamic across his one-day career, not only his ability with bat and ball but just the positions he puts himself in the field. So there’s been a high workload there,” Bailey said. “There may be games here – and not just this tournament, but maybe Glenn for the rest of his career – where he doesn’t have to go to the hot spots, or he might have some games where we can find some quieter spots for him in the field. That’s something we’ll weigh up from game to game.”From mapping out with Glenn…what the build-up to this tournament would look like, he’s done a power of work around trying to get some strength and functionality back into that leg. Fingers crossed that’s all tracking well.”In terms of Head’s potential return, Bailey conceded there was still an element of the unknown but the prospect of what he could bring later in the tournament was too strong to ignore.”We were aware of the risk that if there is a setback at some point that it makes it really challenging for Trav, but he’s a really important player for us,” he said. “We’ll be getting the information of how he’s recovering as the bone starts to heel, but we’ll clearly be able to see how we are progressing in the tournament and how that’s working out as well. Those two will hopefully marry up at some point.”Mitchell Marsh will be able to bowl at the start of the World Cup and should get a run during the warm-up games having not been used against South Africa or India. The plan had been for him to have a run in Rajkot but his 96 in stifling conditions led to a conservative approach.”Would have been nice for Mitch to get a bowl the other night but he was a bit cooked after batting,” Bailey said. “He has been doing a lot of bowling in the background.”Bailey admitted Australia’s lead-in to the World Cup had been far from ideal with a lengthy injury list to manage amid a hectic schedule where they have played eight ODIs in South Africa and India.”We’ve had a lot of cricket and probably a few more moving parts than we’d ideally like this close to a World Cup,” he said. “[It’s] been a little bit of a challenge through some of the one-day series we’ve had over the last couple of years, the timing of them has meant quite often they’ve come at the back of big Test series.”One way to look at it is we haven’t had the chance to put together what you might consider our first-choice XI too often. The great benefit of that is it’s also provided some opportunity for some players who have forced their way into what is our first choice XI, so that’s been great.”That balancing act will continue in the two warm-up matches, especially the first one against Netherlands on Saturday, with Bailey joking about the need for reinforcements.”It will be a bit of an all-hands-on-deck one, particularly early coming off this India series. There’s a few sore bodies and a lot of cricket to be played,” he said. “If you’re an Australian in Kerala and you’d like a game of cricket, feel free to wander down tomorrow.”

A lowdown of ICC’s new slow over-rate rule that played a key role in the India-Pakistan clash on Sunday

Sidharth Monga29-Aug-2022Is it me or were India and Pakistan overly attacking with their fields in the death overs of their Asia Cup opener on Sunday?Your observation is accurate, but it was forced on them. Their over-rate was so slow that they were forced to bowl the last three overs each with an extra fielder inside the 30-yard circle.What is this rule and when did it come into play?This new playing condition came into effect in January 2022. Simply put, any over that begins outside the stipulated time limit of 85 minutes for an innings has to be bowled with at least five fielders inside the ring. An over is said to have begun when the bowling side is in position to bowl the first ball.Related

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Why 85 minutes?That is the time an innings should not exceed to achieve the desired over-rate of no less than 14.11 overs an hour. Or, four minutes and 15 seconds for an over. In the case of an 18-over match, the 18th over must begin inside 76 minutes and 30 seconds.I imagine it would be chaos in case of rain-shortened innings. Especially when the interruption occurs during an innings.That’s a good observation, but the ICC has made a provision for that. If three or more overs are lost in a delayed or interrupted innings, bowling teams have to be in position to start the penultimate over by the time the innings is supposed to end. And in innings shorter than ten overs, there is no such penalty unless the team is so slow that it has already incurred the penalty at the time of the interruption that reduces the duration of the match.But a host of Pakistan players struggled with cramps. How is that fair?Several allowances are made including and not limited to treatment given by authorised medical personnel in the field of play. Other allowances are time lost in replacing an injured player, during third umpire referrals and DRS reviews and any circumstance, which according to the umpires, is beyond the control of the fielding side.A lot of the Pakistan players came down with cramps•AFP/Getty Images

In the India-Pakistan match, Ravindra Jadeja spent precious seconds changing his gloves immediately after Haris Rauf had a long treatment. Do fielding sides get allowances for such delays?Yes. This is an example of an event that is not in the fielding side’s control. On top of that, if the umpires deem the batter’s act to be deliberate time-wasting, that time lost is deducted from the allowances “granted to such batting team in the determination of its over-rate” over and above other penalties under “unfair play”.That creates a problem that the ICC playing conditions are silent on. If a team batting first is found wasting time, it will incur the in-game penalty when it bowls, but what about batters wasting time during a chase?Does this all mean taking wickets is not a good idea because of the time it takes for batters to change over?Not quite. Once you have taken five wickets, every subsequent wicket earns you one minute of allowance. If you bowl a side out, the innings is deemed completed at that instant.Who keeps track of the time?The third umpire. So if you think that official has a cushy job, just think again.How do teams keep track of all the allowances made?The umpire at the bowling end informs the fielding captain, the batters and the other umpire of the scheduled time by which the innings should end. After every interruption, the same drill has to be followed to advise them of the rescheduled closing time. The umpire shall also inform the same parties of any allowances as and when they occur barring the allowances for the sixth to ninth wickets, which the teams have to keep track of themselves.Apart from this stated playing conditions, the umpires keep captains informed of their over-rate as much as possible especially when they are behind.What about the fans? Who tells them what is happening?In venues with the capability, it is requested that the innings timer and over-rate are displayed on the replay screen at all times. Otherwise, it is expected that the over-rate is displayed on the replay screen at the end of every over for at least five seconds.That’s all well and good, but we had a perfectly entertaining match. What difference does it make if overs are not completed in time? Do we really need in-game penalties for over-rates?Apart from many fans wanting T20 to be a contest that finishes quickly and broadcasters losing viewership if a match goes into after hours, there is also a possible competitive advantage to be had by bowling overs slowly. You get more time to think and plan, your lack of fitness and planning is not penalised, and you can also break the momentum of a batter who is on a roll. It is a little similar to tennis where the server has to start the next point within a stipulated time frame.Now whether this is too extreme and might lead to farcical circumstances where a team is bowling part-time spinners when it would rather be bowling a quick is something for the lawmakers to keep reviewing.

Stafanie Taylor’s 91-ball 50 and Hayley Matthews’ three catches were the only contributions of note from West Indies

Annesha Ghosh14-Mar-2022Rachael Haynes made a fist of Australia’s 132 chase with an unbeaten 83 after Ellyse Perry and Ashleigh Gardner’s three-fors helped bowl West Indies out cheaply in 45.5 overs at the Basin Reserve. Stafanie Taylor’s 91-ball 50 and Hayley Matthews’ three splendid catches were the only contributions of note against an undefeated Australia, who romped to a seven-wicket victory with nearly 20 overs to spare.After a 30-minute rain-induced toss delay, it was the new-ball tandem of Perry and Megan Schutt that set the tone for Australia’s fourth successive win in this World Cup. Perry kicked off the domination under overcast conditions with a double-wicket second over.Rachel Haynes’ unbeaten knock saw Australia cruise to victory•ICC via Getty Images

First up, she had the seaming ball ram into the top of Matthews’ off stump and then drew the left-hand batter Kycia Knight into edging the next ball to wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy. Taylor moved herself up to face the hat-trick delivery, an attempted yorker that ended up as a full toss easy enough for Taylor to flick for three runs.A seemingly innocuous full toss nearly caused the undoing of the other opener, Deandra Dottin, on 8. Given lbw off a Schutt delivery in the fifth over, Dottin, whose availability for this fixture had been under the cloud due to back issues in the last game, reviewed the decision. Replays showed an underedge as the ball floated past the bat on the way to plonking Dottin’s back pad.West Indies had a second lbw decision overturned soon after – Taylor’s off Perry – though the allrounder wouldn’t be too far from a third wicket. An agile two-handed catch by Meg Lanning at first slip proved too good for Dottin’s flying outside edge and handed Perry her three-wicket haul. As a result, West Indies slumped to 34 for 3 in the powerplay, their lowest tally in the passage so far in the tournament.Taylor had another close shave in the sixth over of Perry’s probing eight-over spell when an incoming seaming delivery jagged back, clipped the top of her pad and missed the stumps by a whisker. Second-change Alana King, the only legspinner in Australia’s XI, delivered an incisive run-less second over during which Shemaine Campbelle survived a review by Australia for lbw. Replays vindicated the umpire’s decision of the ball hitting the bat before thudding onto the front pad, though Lanning appeared displeased why neither UltraEdge nor ball-tracking was used for the review, even remonstrating with on-field umpire Alex Wharf.Ashleigh Gardner’s three-for hurt West Indies’ middle order•ICC via Getty Images

Tied up by the accuracy of King and third-change Gardner’s offspin, Campbelle’s inability to rotate the strike sent her back not long after. She eventually fell to Gardner, flicking one to Beth Mooney at midwicket for a 51-ball 20. Gardner took her second wicket with a ripper of an offbreak that fizzed past Chedean Nation’s outside edge to round out the double-wicket 23rd over that saw West Indies plummet to 70 for 5.West Indies’ rapid unravelling extended into the loss of their sixth wicket when a bid for a third run led to Healy running out Chinelle Henry at the wicketkeeper’s end. Taylor tried to mend the innings, but parched of strike for extended periods, she could do as best as taking West Indies past the three-digit mark. In the 41st over, Gardner trapped her lbw before left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen, who replaced wristspinner Amanda-Jade Wellington in the XI, struck twice to clean up the tail.West Indies held their own in their defense against the vaunted Australian line-up. Matthews had a forgettable day with the bat, but she thrust herself in the thick of things from the get-go of the chase. First, she gobbled up a superb reflex catch off her own bowling as Healy smacked a full ball straight down at rocket speed. In the next over, she plucked Lanning’s edge at first slip off Shamilia Connell to consign the Australian No. 3 to her eighth duck in ODIs.DRS handed Haynes a lifeline when she was adjudged lbw on 16. Ball-tracking showed Connell’s delivery was going over middle and off. Early in her thirties, Haynes treaded danger territory when her edge off Ramharack, who replaced fellow offspinner Anisa Mohammed in the XI, fell marginally short of first slip Matthews.Then, a throw from Henry almost found Haynes short of her ground during an ill-attempted single in the eventful 16th over. Haynes’ fifty stand off 78 balls with Perry promised to draw the inevitable closer but Henry combined with first slip Matthews to dismiss Perry for a 31-ball 10.Mooney and Haynes then stepped on the gas. They took 10 off the 21st before Haynes brought up her 17th ODI fifty to add to her 2022 World Cup tally of 134, 34, and 30. Mooney stitched a fifty partnership for the fourth wicket with Haynes, who also hit the winning run.

Pigeons and windows come a cropper as Warwickshire turn the screw at Canterbury

ECB Reporters Network 11-Jul-2023Kent 171 and 55 for 1 (Denly 29*, Compton 17*) trail Warwickshire 549 for 7 dec (Yates 228, Maxwell 81) by 323 runsA double-century from Rob Yates put Warwickshire in a commanding position after day two of their LV= Insurance County Championship game with Kent at Canterbury.The visitors declared their first innings on 549 for seven, a lead of 378, before reducing Kent to 55 for one at stumps.Yates hit his highest first-class score of 228 not out from 421 balls, with 23 fours and a six, having batted for nearly nine hours. Australia’s Glenn Maxwell made 81 in his first championship appearance for four years and Henry Brookes was unbeaten on 52 as the visitors dominated throughout.Chris Rushworth bowled Tawanda Muyeye early in Kent’s second innings and although Ben Compton and Joe Denly survived till the close, the hosts are still 323 behind with two days remaining.Warwickshire began the day on 155 for two and they’d nudged into a three-run lead when Sam Hain edged Arshdeep Singh and fell to a diving catch by Jordan Cox for 32.Jacob Bethell immediately went on the attack, clubbing Hamid Qadri for a six that flew into the gardens on the Old Dover Road side of the ground. The ball was lost, somewhere in the vicinity of a dead pigeon it had apparently hit.Kent’s hopes were looking nearly as lifeless when Jack Leaning briefly revived them with two wickets in five balls. Bethell was out for 31, caught by a back-pedalling Arshdeep at deep mid-on for 31 and Ed Barnard went for a four-ball duck, narrowly surviving an lbw shout off the third ball he faced before getting caught behind.This spasm of hope for the home side quickly subsided as Yates and Maxwell put on a stand of 124. The former reached three figures when he cut Arshdeep to third man and the lead was exactly 100 at lunch.Maxwell looked set for a hundred, but he was caught behind chasing a wide delivery from Matt Quinn, though with the lead already past the 200 mark there was little celebration either in the middle or on the boundary.The most dramatic moment of the afternoon session came when Yates hit Qadri for a six that went so far over the bowler’s head that it ended up smashing a glass panel on the balcony of the Kent dressing-room.Yates cruised past his previous highest score of 141 with a straight-driven four off Grant Stewart and it was 442 for six at tea.Michael Burgess was subsequently out for 42, caught off Quinn by Harry Finch at backward point but Yates survived a major scare when he was on 199, chipping a ball from Qadri just out of reach of three fielders, before he drove the next ball through the covers to pass 200.The declaration came as soon as Brookes had creamed Leaning for six to reach his half-century, leaving Kent with 14 overs to survive under increasingly ashen skies.Muyeye lasted just five balls before Rushworth sent his off stump flying and although Denly and Compton made it to the close on 29 and 17 respectively, Kent will need something approaching a miracle over the next two days to avoid a damaging defeat.

India galloped to a seven-wicket win in the first ODI in Colombo with 80 balls to spare

Andrew Fidel Fernando18-Jul-20215:10

Muralidaran: India’s ‘fearless’ batters went after ‘not very good’ SL attack

Prithvi Shaw played gloriously through the offside, debutant Ishan Kishan lit up the stadium with a thumping fifty on his birthday, and Shikhar Dhawan saw the chase through from start to finish, as India’s second string served Sri Lanka a walloping first up. Chasing the hosts’ half-decent (but far from daunting) 262 for 9, India galloped home with 80 balls and seven wickets remaining. Long passages in their innings were more a celebration of their batting depth and fearlessness than a serious contest; Sri Lanka’s bowlers were unable to contain them no matter which field or angle of attack they employed.Sri Lanka’s batters, in contrast, had been constricted by the spin of Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, and Krunal Pandya, who took grip of the middle overs and struck frequently to prevent any partnerships from prospering for long. Chahal and Kuldeep took two wickets apiece – their early strikes instrumental in reducing Sri Lanka to 89 for 3, before Krunal’s miserly left-arm spin kept the run rate in check. Sri Lanka’s batters occasionally found the boundary through this period, but were largely unable to keep the runs flowing in between the big shots – a reflection of their own limitations, as well as the quality of the bowling. Six batters got themselves past 20, but only Chamika Karunaratne breached 40, with his late explosion. As a team, they played out 159 dot balls.Related

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Although Kishan would hit a half-century and Dhawan top-scored with 86 not out off 95, it was Shaw’s innings that was the most manic of the evening, setting the tone for India’s thundering victory. He punched Dushmantha Chameera through the offside twice in the first over with sublime timing to get India moving rapidly, then hit majestic boundaries off Isuru Udana at the other end. He hit three successive fours in the arc between point and cover in the fourth over, each one seemingly more glorious than the last.When Shaw got out for 43 off 24, Kishan ensured India’s scoring rate – which was over 10 at the time – would not slow down. Facing his first ball in ODI cricket, he ran down the track at Dhananjaya de Silva and launched him over his head for six, then creamed the next ball through cover point for four. In de Silva’s next over, he pummelled three successive boundaries. Later in his innings, after the powerplay had ended, Charith Asalanka’s offspin would be punished as well. It was with a one-bounce four off Asalanka that Kishan reached his fifty, off the 33rd ball he faced. He would eventually be out for 59 off 42, edging Lakshan Sandakan behind.Prithvi Shaw was named Player of the Match•AFP/Getty Images

Dhawan’s innings was stately in comparison. When India reached 50 in the fifth over, he was on seven. When they went past 100 in the 13th over, he was on 16. In fact, Dhawan hit only one boundary off his first 57 balls, choosing instead to turn the strike over, and look for safe runs into the outfield. It was only in the company of Manish Pandey, who made a sedate start relatively speaking, that Dhawan took it upon himself to begin looking for boundaries. When he hit the winning run in the 37th over, he had six fours and a six to his name.Earlier, Sri Lanka had made a decent start, getting to 49 for no loss after nine overs, before Avishka Fernando spooned Chahal’s very first ball to short cover, and Sri Lanka’s problems began. Batters made confident starts, but rotated the strike poorly, and were out looking for boundaries on what they knew was a good pitch to bat, and on which they would need a score of close to 300 to seriously challenge India.After Chahal provided the initial brekathrough, Yadav claimed the next two wickets – debutant Bhanuka Rajapaksa edging him high into the infield as he attempted to slog against the turn, before Minod Bhanuka, who had compiled a patient 27, edged to slip. Krunal’s only wicket was an important one – that of de Silva, who holed out to long-off.Partly because of their frequent loss of wickets, Sri Lanka were poorly placed for the slog overs. They lost two wickets in quick succession as they approached the 40th over, and would soon lose Dasun Shanaka as well, after he made 39 off 50 in his first innings as captain. His dismissal would leave them 205 for 7 in the 44th over.No. 8 Karunaratne, though, worked himself gradually into the innings alongside Isuru Udana, with whom he shared a boundary-less 17-run stand, before exploding in the company of No. 10 Dushmantha Chameera, in the last two overs. Chameera struck a four and six off successive Hardik Pandya deliveries in the penultimate over, before Karunaratne hit two sixes – including a helicopter shot over deep midwicket – and a four off Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the 50th. Sri Lanka reaped 32 runs off the last 12 balls. Once India got going, that final fillip seemed a lot less impressive.

Allrounder hasn’t played for England since September but could make T20 comeback after six years

Alan Gardner20-Jun-2021Chris Woakes has conceded that his winter of inaction with England “felt like a bit of a waste”, and revealed that he had received an apology from the team management and the ECB over the shared car ride that led to him having to self-isolate on arrival in Sri Lanka in January.Woakes has not played international cricket since last September, having travelled to South Africa, Sri Lanka and India without making it into the starting XI in any format of the game. He was recalled this week to the T20I squad for the first time in almost six years, and while admitting that had come as a surprise he said he would be hoping to push himself into the selectors’ thinking ahead of the T20 World Cup later this year.”I haven’t been in this squad for a while and I look at this as an opportunity” he said. “It is great for me to be back amongst the squad. I don’t take any squad selection for granted, I am certainly not just here to make up the numbers – if I get a go I will be trying to stake a claim. I also realise there are a few injuries knocking around but that doesn’t take anything away from me being part of this England team and putting my hand up to be part of this World Cup – with two World Cups around the corner.”T20 is the only format Woakes has had any game time in recently, initially at the IPL and then with Birmingham Bears in the Vitality Blast. After being named PCA Men’s Player of the Year last summer, Woakes was part of the ODI squad that flew to South Africa only to return without playing a game after concerns over bio-security. He then missed the first Test in Sri Lanka – a game he felt he was “a shoo in to play” – after being deemed a close contact of Moeen Ali, who tested positive for Covid-19 on arrival in the country.When the Test team moved on to India, Woakes was repeatedly overlooked before returning home as part of the ECB’s rotation policy, then missed the three ODIs due to the logistical demands of travel and quarantine required to rejoin the England bubble. “I just want to put it behind me really and look to what’s ahead,” he said. “It’s certainly been a tough seven or eight months since last September.Related

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“It all bubbles up to a really frustrating time. Not playing a single game all winter, after the summer I had, almost felt like a bit of a waste for me. Still great to be with the squad but you want to be playing cricket and making the most of your form when you’re hot.”On the decision to send him and Moeen in a shared taxi from Birmingham to Heathrow, despite the multitude of protocols in place to protect players from potential Covid-19 transmission, Woakes said that he had “vented” his frustration at the time, with his period in isolation effectively costing him his place in the side.”I felt like I was kind of a shoo in to play that first Test match in Sri Lanka, and obviously having had what happened, therefore obviously it did have a knock-on effect, [if] the team wins or the team does as well, all of a sudden it becomes hard to break back in. It doesn’t mean that I’d have played all the Test matches for the winter, but it might mean that I’d have had an opportunity to put my hand up before in a strong performance. And then the thoughts around selection for further Test matches might have been different.”I vented my frustration at the time, and apologies were given. [No] stone was [left unturned], but unfortunately that was the one thing that we did not quite get it right, and I did pay a price for that.”Having opted to go to the IPL after being picked up at auction by Delhi Capitals, Woakes then missed England’s two-Test series with New Zealand earlier this month. That decision was agreed between the player and ECB, with Woakes saying time away from home had “taken its toll mentally” – but he was keen to find a way to press his case for a Test return against India later in the summer, despite few opportunities to play red-ball cricket over the next six weeks.”I spent a lot of time away from home in that period and it had kind of taken its toll mentally,” he said. “The IPL was very much a decision which I took on, it’s on my shoulders, but I felt it was a great opportunity to learn and play some cricket after the winter I’d had.”Those two Tests versus New Zealand were put in [the schedule] quite late and I think the issue was as soon as getting out of isolation in London I’d have had to have a few days at home then play for Warwickshire to make myself available for any part of that Test series. Then there’s the tricky side of Covid restrictions and getting back in that bubble. Once we’d made the decision it was never really an option to play the second Test match. You’d have had to be in the bubble from the start.”It’s a real tricky situation. I felt I needed a refresh and some time at home with the young family. I kind of put up the pros and cons of missing that two-match series. It was very much in our hands, I spoke to Spoons [head coach Chris Silverwood] and the rest of the backroom staff here and they said ‘as much as we feel you probably should have a breather and get away from cricket, it is on you. If you want to be part of that we’ll definitely let you’.”I decided that little break would do me good in the long run. They certainly know I want to play Test cricket, don’t get me wrong. I haven’t played much red-ball cricket but they know I want to be a part of that Test squad and I believe they want me to be part of it so hopefully come that India series I’ll be fit and firing and ready to play a big part of that.”

South Africa have called up two uncapped players for the two-Test series, seam bowlers Corbin Bosch and Kwena Maphaka

Firdose Moonda18-Dec-2024South Africa have gambled on the fitness of Keshav Maharaj and Wiaan Mulder, and included both in the Test squad to play Pakistan over the festive season.Maharaj suffered an 11th-hour groin strain in the warm-ups for the first ODI in Paarl on Tuesday and had to be removed from the team sheet just before the toss. He underwent a scan later on Wednesday which revealed a left adductor strain that took him out of the ODI series. He will return home to Durban “for rehabilitation and will be reassessed ahead of the first Test.Left-arm spin-bowling allrounder Senuran Muthusamy is the only other spinner in the squad, which means if Maharaj is unavailable, South Africa may have to cast the net wide for reinforcements.Test coach Shukri Conrad said a decision on any additions to the squad would only be made after the results of the scan are known. “Based on the outcome of that, we’ll do the necessary,” he said. “We’ll see how severe it is, whether it’s only potentially the first Test (he misses) or both Test matches. Once I get the results of the scan, I’ll be in a better position to either replace [or] chat to the other coaches and make up my mind on the back of that.”Given that the first Test takes place at the seamer-friendly SuperSport Park in Centurion, if Maharaj is unavailable for that game, it may not affect South Africa too much. The last time they played there, against India last year, South Africa went in all pace and won.Where they will miss him, is in the brains trust, which suggests he will remain part of the squad. “Kesh is obviously one of the senior players in the side. He is a great sounding board. He’s got a huge amount of experience and he’s such a calming influence in the change room as well,” Conrad said. “And he’s an excellent spinner. Him, KG [Kagiso Rabada] and thankfully we’ve got Marco [Jansen] back – they’re really the triumvirate that will ensure that we get the bulk of the 20 wickets we need to win a Test match.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Rabada and Jansen are both currently fit, and part of the ODI squad playing against Pakistan, but South Africa have a quartet of other injured quicks, who could not be considered. Lungi Ngidi (hip), Gerald Coetzee (groin), Nandre Burger (lower back stress fracture) and Lizaad Williams (knee) are all out until next year, which means much hinges on Mulder’s fitness.He broke his right middle finger while batting against Sri Lanka in Durban last month and is in the final phase of his recovery. If he is passed fit for the Boxing Day match, top-order batter Matthew Breetzke will be released from the squad.Mulder will have another scan on Thursday morning to check on his progress, which has been described as being in the final phase of recovery in a Cricket South Africa press release. “He has started hitting balls and doing some work with Kruger [van Wyk, fielding coach] up in Pretoria,” Conrad said. “I’m not going to get ahead of ourselves in terms of where he’s at right now. We’ll see what the scan throws out and then we’ll obviously take it very conservatively. We’re not going to do anything daft and rush him into action if he’s not quite ready yet. But that decision will only be taken pretty much when we get together next week.”As bowling cover, there are two uncapped players in the mix: seam bowlers Corbin Bosch and Kwena Maphaka. Bosch, the son of former international Tertius, has earned his first call-up to an international side. He recently featured for a South African Invitation XI against the England Lions and took 1 for 21 in five overs and has a first-class batting average over 40. “Corbin Bosch adds so much to our attack. On the Highveld, we need a little bit of pace in and Corbin provides that. It [SuperSport Park] is his home ground if he gets to play. And he’s in top form. He’s doing well domestically,” Conrad said. “He had a really good outing against the English Lions last week that I managed to catch a glimpse of. He’s matured nicely from when I last saw him when he was with the [national] academy with me a couple of years ago and he’s turned into a really good cricketer.”Kwena Maphaka is part of the ODI squad currently playing against Pakistan•ICC/Getty Images

Maphaka was called up to the squad that played Sri Lanka as cover when Coetzee was injured but did not play. He is part of the ODI squad currently playing against Pakistan but has yet to debut in the format. Seven other Test players are also in the 50-over playing group: captain Temba Bavuma, Tony de Zorzi, Jansen, Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Ryan Rickelton, Rabada and Maharaj. Rabada and Jansen both played the opening game but are unlikely to feature in all three matches as South Africa manage their bowling resources.South Africa will have a three-day turnaround between the end of the ODIs and the start of the Tests, which leaves no time for a warm-up match and only two practice sessions which Conrad is happy with. “Teams prepare differently nowadays. Gone are the days of warm-up matches. Guys that are not involved in the ODI squad, will be playing in Titans versus the Warriors (domestic first-class) game. Whatever our preparation looks like, it’s going to be good enough. And we’re really looking forward to playing at Centurion. It’s a ground that we play particularly well at and the guys know the conditions rather well.”In the last ten years, South Africa have only lost one Test at SuperSport Park, to India in 2021. They need one more win to guarantee a place in the World Test Championship (WTC) final and two Tests to try and achieve that. They face Pakistan at SuperSport Park on Boxing Day and then at Newlands for the annual New Year’s Test.

South Africa squad for Tests against Pakistan

Temba Bavuma (capt), David Bedingham, Corbin Bosch, Matthew Breetzke, Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne (wk)

Michael Jones sets tone for hosts in comfortable 48-run victory at Riverside

ECB Reporters Network01-Jun-2022Durham 186 for 7 (Jones 44) beat Worcestershire 138 for 9 (Raine 3-23, Tye 3-27) by 48 runsDurham bounced back from successive defeats to get back to winning ways in the Vitality Blast with a comfortable 48-run victory over Worcestershire Rapids at Seat Unique Riverside.Michael Jones set the tone for the home side with a brisk 44 from 25 balls, notching five boundaries and three sixes. Ollie Robinson and Graham Clark provided useful knocks to allow Durham to post a competitive total of 186 for seven from their 20 overs.The Rapids were behind the rate from the off after losing Ed Pollock and Jack Haynes in the first nine balls of the innings. The visitors struggled to find the fence amid tight bowling from the Durham attack led by three wickets apiece from Ben Raine and debutant Andrew Tye, resulting in a dominant victory for the hosts.Worcestershire captain Ben Cox won the toss and elected to field in the bright sunshine at the Riverside. Clark and Jones continued their bright start to the Blast campaign by racing to fifty inside five overs. Jones was particularly destructive for the home side, smashing 15 off Pat Brown’s first over before taking a further 18 off spinner Josh Baker, including two sixes straight down the ground.Jones was pegged back going for one heave too many as Charlie Morris bowled the opener, while the visitors worked their way back into the game as Clark fell victim to a good delivery from Brett D’Oliveira.Robinson used the dimensions of the Riverside to great effect in his innings of 35 from 23 balls, but D’Oliveira turned one through the gate to send the wicket-keeper on his way. D’Oliveira’s fine evening with the ball continued when Paul Coughlin was stumped off a wide, earning revenge after being struck for a maximum from the previous ball. The Rapids skipper finished as pick of the bowlers with impressive figures of three for 24 from his four overs.David Bedingham, Brydon Carse and Ned Eckersley played vital cameos for the hosts in the latter stages of the innings, propelling them towards a competitive total of 186.Pollock scored six runs from the first two balls of Worcestershire’s reply, but Coughlin removed him with the third as Bedingham produced a brilliant diving catch at cover. Carse continued Durham’s strong start with the ball by bowling Jack Haynes for one, reducing the visitors to nine for two in the second over.D’Oliveira and Munro played within themselves after the early wickets, which resulted in the run rate ascending over 10 per over. As a result, the pressure was on the duo to accelerate, but D’Oliveira was pinned lbw by Raine before Munro was caught on the fence from a Scott Borthwick loosener.Tye marked his Durham debut with three late wickets amid a Worcestershire lower-order collapse, removing Ed Barnard, Cox and Matthew Waite, allowing the hosts to ease over the line.

Sunrisers’ hopes of semi-final berth are all but over after eight-wicket loss

ECB Reporters Network13-Jun-2024The Blaze 140 for 2 (K Bryce 57*, S Bryce 54*) beat Sunrisers 137 for 7 (Scrivens 42) by eight wicketsKathryn Bryce continued her prolific Charlotte Edwards Cup form with an unbeaten 57 from 37 balls as The Blaze racked up an eighth straight success, coasting past Sunrisers at Lord’s.Bryce, the tournament’s leading run-scorer, registered her fourth half-century in six games, sharing a third-wicket partnership of exactly 100 with her younger sister Sarah, who struck 54 not out from 35.The Scotland international pair maintained their side’s 100 per cent record in the group stage, steering them to a comfortable victory with 29 deliveries still unused.Earlier, home captain Grace Scrivens top-scored with 42 from 38 as Sunrisers posted 137 for seven, but the result all but mathematically ends their slim hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals.Scrivens was soon up and running after Sunrisers had been put in, cracking two boundaries from Grace Ballinger’s opening over – one wrong-footing the fielder thanks to a deflection off the bat of non-striker Mady Villiers.Having swept Sarah Glenn for four, Villiers was lbw attempting to give the spinner’s next ball the same treatment, but Lissy MacLeod maintained her side’s momentum, hitting over the infield to good effect in a brisk 16 from 11.Once MacLeod was bowled, beaten for flight by Gordon (two for 32), Sunrisers became bogged down during the middle overs – even more so after losing Scrivens to Marie Kelly’s direct hit from mid-off.Jo Gardner (22 from 26) and Jodi Grewcock (22 from 18) did their best to rebuild with a partnership of 35 from 31 before Heather Graham (two for 22) reasserted the visitors’ dominance with two wickets in three deliveries.Despite gleaning eight from Graham’s final over, Sunrisers’ total looked short of par – although their hopes gained a significant boost when Grewcock turned the first ball of The Blaze’s reply to send Tammy Beaumont on her way for a duck.The visitors would have been under more pressure if Gardner, running in from mid-on, had held on to Kelly’s miscued drive off Kate Coppack, but the opener capitalised on that let-off to clear the ropes twice in the next over.Kelly’s good fortune soon ran out when she speared Eva Gray to cover, but Sarah Bryce joined forces with her sibling in a measured partnership that ensured The Blaze were always ahead of the asking rate.The elder Bryce dispatched Nicola Hancock’s first two deliveries to the fence and brought up her half-century from 33 deliveries with another boundary, reverse-sweeping Villiers neatly beyond point.Sarah seized the initiative as The Blaze eased towards their target, hammering Gray for two sixes in as many balls and going on to post her first 50 of the tournament before applying the finishing touch with a square-cut boundary off Amu Surenkumar.