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West Indies Tests postponed, decision on new tournament expected next week

Matt Roller24-Apr-2020The ECB has announced that no professional cricket will be played in England and Wales until July 1 at the earliest due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but is yet to confirm the postponement of the Hundred’s inaugural season.The ECB board met on Thursday to confirm the holding date for the start of the season would be pushed back further from May 28, meaning England’s Test series against West Indies and England women’s white-ball games against India have both officially been postponed. “Our plan is to reschedule international matches as late as possible in the season to give the best chance of play,” chief executive Tom Harrison said.While a decision on the Hundred is yet to be reached – an additional board meeting has been scheduled for next Wednesday following a request to dedicate a further session to it – there is broad acceptance that a lack of overseas players, question marks over allowing fans into grounds and a collective will to “keep the lights on” make this an unfavourable time to launch an expensive new tournament.ALSO READ: The Hundred’s future uncertain as ECB board prepares for postponementThere remains a will to play some form of red-ball cricket this season, despite the loss of the first nine rounds of County Championship fixtures. The ECB confirmed that blocks for red-ball and white-ball cricket will be included in a revised schedule, though it seems unlikely that teams will be promoted or relegated this year: players have previously questioned whether such a move would be fair in a truncated season. Some form of regional competition or a knockout tournament are two possibilities.Any revised schedule will also see the T20 Blast pushed as late in the season as possible to maximise its chances of being staged and to increase the likelihood that fans will be allowed into grounds. The ECB has made clear throughout the contingency planning process that it will prioritise the most financially important forms of the game – internationals and the Blast – to help ensure the future of the first-class counties and the MCC. Notably, the Hundred no longer features among those forms.The 50-over women’s competition among eight new semi-professional regional development centres remains scheduled for a late August start, though the recruitment process for those centres has stalled and the ECB conceded two weeks ago that the tournament might have to be postponed. Recreational cricket remains suspended indefinitely.”Our role as a national governing body during a crisis of this scale requires us to carefully plan alongside cricket’s stakeholders and supporters to attempt to overcome Covid-19’s impact on this season,” Harrison said. “As much as we remain hopeful that we can deliver some cricket this summer, we are in the midst of a worldwide crisis and our priority – over and above the playing of professional sport – will be to protect the vulnerable, key workers and society as a whole over.”That’s why, simply put, there will be no cricket unless it’s safe to play. Our schedule will only go ahead if government guidance permits. Our biggest challenge, along with other sports, is how we could seek to implement a bio-secure solution that offers optimum safety and security for all concerned. The guidance we receive from Westminster [the UK government] will help us shape how we deliver this.”Our plan is to reschedule international matches as late as possible in the season to give the best chance of play. The Vitality Blast will also now occupy the latest possible season slot to offer as much time as possible to play a county short-form competition.ALSO READ: India series uncertain but ECB ring-fences £20m investment into women’s game“I want to thank everyone involved in this complex and sensitive work. There have clearly never been times like this and my colleagues at the ECB and across the game have been exemplary in this period. It has been refreshing, but not surprising, to see how cricket has come together.”CWI has signalled its intentions to be flexible in rescheduling their three-Test series, previously highlighting the possibility of playing it in July. Internal ECB discussions have raised the possibility of playing in “bio-secure” environments at Emirates Old Trafford or the Ageas Bowl, which have on-site hotels, or playing a limited-overs series and a Test series in parallel.It remains possible that the West Indies series will be switched to the Caribbean and played in December, while the ECB is soon to receive an offer from Abu Dhabi Cricket to use their facilities to extend the summer.

England have suffered a major injury scare with Buttler hurting his back in the gym on the eve of the match

George Dobell in Hamilton28-Nov-2019Jos Buttler is a serious injury doubt for the second Test in Hamilton after suffering a back spasm in training.Joe Root has confirmed that Ollie Pope will keep wicket if Buttler is, as expected, unable to play.That would be a big ask of Pope. He has kept in just five first-class games, the last of which was in February. Rory Burns, England’s opening batsman, has also kept wicket at first-class level, but not since 2014. Pope is expected to bat at No. 7 if he keeps wicket.”Jos has tweaked his back in the gym,” Root said. “We’ll have to find out a little bit more information on that throughout today and see where he’s at.”The obvious replacement for Buttler is Kent’s top-order batsman Zak Crawley. He is 21 and averages a modest 31.27 in first-class cricket. But he has looked impressive all tour, scored a century in the only innings he has played and looks a terrific fielder.Root also hinted that Chris Woakes could play. Not only could he come into the side instead of Buttler, but England are also understood to be considering dropping their spinner, Jack Leach, and utilising a five-man seam attack. While Leach was generally tidy in the first Test, his lack of bite was something of a disappointment. Certainly Mitchell Santner found more life in the pitch in England’s second innings. Root looked England’s most dangerous spinner at times at Bay Oval and, had Ben Stokes clung on to a chance at slip, would have dismissed BJ Watling for 31. Joe Denly, a part-time leg-spinner, has also been bowling in the nets and could be utilised if required.The pitch at Hamilton also looks surprisingly green and, as of Thursday afternoon, a little damp. With an appreciable covering of grass, it would be no surprise if the captain winning the toss asked the opposition to bat first.”There’s a number of different combinations we could go with and I think a lot of that will rely on the surface,” Root said. “Trying to find the best combination which would take 20 wickets and then balancing that in terms of getting the batting where we want it to be. It could be an allrounder, we’ll see.”Realistically it seems Buttler is unlikely to play. England will be reluctant to go into a Test with a question mark over the fitness of a key player meaning Pope is likely to take the gloves. He enjoyed an extended session with Bruce French, England’s keeping coach, at training on Thursday.While Pope is a relatively inexperienced keeper, England dismissed the idea of calling-up a last-minute replacement; Ben Cox of Worcestershire, for example, who is currently playing Grade cricket in Adelaide. Not only would it have proved tricky to get someone to New Zealand in time, it would have been asking a lot of them to acclimatise to the conditions and the unique team environment. It might also have undermined the position of Pope who was selected as reserve keeper in the original tour party.”We knew that this was a possibility when we selected the squad,” Root said. “I’m quite happy that Popey’s got the capability of doing a good job for us.”If Pope and Crawley perform well, it could have repercussions for Jonny Bairstow. There had been an expectation that Bairstow would win a recall for the South Africa series but, with England likely to pick a 16-man squad and Crawley having an opportunity to make himself impossible to drop, that may not prove to be a formality.”You can’t rule out anything out,” Root said. “For Jonny, you look at his talent and what he’s achieved in Test cricket and what he potentially could achieve in Test cricket and you probably think he’s got the capability to go on and make really big scores and be one of the best players in the world as a batter alone.”Training was voluntary for England on Thursday. Only Buttler and Jofra Archer did not take part in the football that traditionally starts the training sessions, with Archer taking the opportunity for a little more rest after his exertions in the first Test.

New Zealand captain joins team-mates serving UK quarantine at Ageas Bowl

Andrew Miller18-May-2021Kane Williamson, New Zealand’s Test captain, says he has resorted to waving to his team-mates from the balcony of his hotel-room at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton, after going into quarantine in the UK following his post-IPL stop-over in the Maldives.Williamson, who had been captaining Sunrisers Hyderabad in India prior to the tournament’s postponement earlier this month, arrived at the team’s training camp some 24 hours after the bulk of the squad flew in from New Zealand on Sunday, alongside his fellow IPL travellers Kyle Jamieson, Mitchell Santner, team physio Tommy Simsek and trainer Chris Donaldson. The group will spend the next three days in isolation before they can enter “mini training groups” of six, pending negative tests for Covid-19.And while the circumstances of the squad’s reunion haven’t been ideal, Williamson admitted that the challenge awaiting his team – three Tests in five weeks, two against England, followed by the World Test Championship final, at the Ageas Bowl against India – was more than enough to make the current strictures worthwhile.”Most of the team is here now,” Williamson said. “We are all pretty much on the same side [of the hotel] so we’re able to catch up a little bit with one another on our different balconies. For a number of guys, it’s their first time in the bubble, while others have done it a few times, so that can be quite helpful.Related

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“But there’s a lot of excitement. Just being over here to play Test cricket is always a fantastic opportunity, but to play that third one, which is the World Test Championship final, is pretty special.”The first step is getting out of the bubble, and after that we’re looking forward to starting our preparation, in terms of adjustment to conditions and catching up with the guys. It’s always exciting when there has been a period of time away from the team, and I look forward to that.”Williamson described the events of the preceding fortnight as “a bit of a whirlwind”, adding that the situation developing in India was “heartbreaking”. But from a New Zealand perspective, one of the few countries where Covid-19 is under near total control, he admitted that the image posted on Instagram by his Sunrisers team-mate David Warner, showing the players in full personal protection gear while boarding an internal flight, had revealed to his fellow countrymen quite how serious the situation had got.”I had some messages from friends and family,” he said. “It’s been pretty well documented that Covid, certainly at the moment but even beforehand, was in a far different place compared to back home. That’s the reality of it, when you are in countries where it’s so much more serious. You just try to go about what you’re doing as safely as possible.”Williamson sustained a small tear to the tendon of his left elbow earlier this year, an injury that caused him to miss Sunrisers’ first three IPL fixtures, but with Simsek as one of his travelling partners, he has been getting regular treatment on the injury and is confident of full fitness ahead of the Lord’s Test in just over a fortnight’s time.”It’s improving, which is the main thing,” he said. “The people that know more about it than I do say that it is a slow process, and certainly slow to go away entirely, but just managing it will be the focus.”My last hit was maybe about 12 days ago, a wee while before our last match,” he added. “And then everything changed really quickly, and hitting balls became secondary, obviously. In an ideal world you’re wanting to train a little bit more, but we’ve got about 12 days of preparation before our first Test so there’ll be a lot of excitement when we start adjusting to the conditions and the ball, etc.”England named their squad for the two Tests on Tuesday, and while it will be missing some big names, including all of those who had been due to be playing in the IPL this season, Williamson said he had no qualms about England’s selectors choosing to rotate their options.”They’ve got a lot of Test cricket coming up, starting with us, then India and Australia for a five-Test series,” he said. “We try to do the same when we know there’s a huge volume of cricket, you need to manage as best you can.”They have a huge amount of depth, there are a lot of world-class players in that squad,” he added. “That’s a credit to the cricket that is being played here in the UK, and the amount of talented players that are getting opportunities and putting their hands up. We know we’re going to be up against a really tough challenge come the first Test.”And in English conditions, few challenges are tougher than withstanding England’s veteran pairing of Stuart Broad and James Anderson, who first played a Test together at Wellington in 2007-08, and are still going strong with more than 1100 wickets between them.”They are legends of the game, still playing and doing as well as they ever have done,” Williamson said. “They know these conditions better than anyone. They’ve had incredible careers that are still going and they are still at the heights of their games.”

Full-time appointment comes after departure of Richard Goatley, due to ill-health

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jul-2021Andrew Cornish has been confirmed as Middlesex’s new chief executive, having held the role in an interim capacity since April 2021 when the previous CEO, Richard Goatley, was taken ill. Goatley officially stepped down from his position earlier this month.A former CEO at Somerset, Cornish first joined Middlesex in September 2020 as a consultant, charged with developing a new long-term business strategy, and stepped up as chief of staff in March 2021.He has previously held the roles of CEO at Liverpool Airport Holdings Limited, Managing Director at Manchester Airport Group, and Executive Board member at Aer Lingus.”As a Board we are delighted that Andrew has agreed to accept the appointment as CEO,” Middlesex chairman, Mike O’Farrell, said. “In his three months as Acting CEO, he has brought us stability, rigour and process and been very ably supported by all the staff and players.”Our normal policy at Middlesex Cricket is to conduct external searches when recruiting for our most senior positions, but in the very challenging circumstances we are facing, the Board has decided, by exception, that the immediate offer of a fixed term contract is in the best interests of the club.”Related

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The news follows a restructuring of Middlesex’s cricket department, with Head Coach, Stuart Law, now reporting directly into the CEO, following the departure of Angus Fraser as director of cricket on Friday.”I have thoroughly enjoyed my time thus far at Middlesex and to be given the opportunity to play a major part in driving this great club forward is a real honour,” Cornish said.”The game is facing many challenges right now, and at Middlesex it’s no different, both on and off the field there is a lot of work to do, however with the support of the club’s Board, the Senior Management, the players and our excellent and committed staff, I am confident we will succeed – most importantly we must make our members truly proud of their club both on and off the pitch. I am very much looking forward to what lays ahead.”My thanks go to Chairman Mike O’Farrell and to the club’s Board for their support and I am especially looking forward to working closely with Stuart, with an immediate focus on how we turn our on-field fortunes around as quickly as possible.”

The defending champions have opened their title defence with two consecutive wins

Ashish Pant04-Apr-20232:44

Moody: ‘Sudharsan showed maturity beyond his years’

Three-wicket hauls from Mohammed Shami and Rashid Khan, backed up a measured unbeaten half-century from B Sai Sudharsan gave the defending champions Gujarat Titans their second consecutive win at the start of the 2023 season. Delhi Capitals suffered their second straight loss, in their first home game this year.After Shami, Alzarri Joseph and Rashid restricted Capitals to 162 for 8, Anrich Nortje’s pace had Titans in trouble at 54 for 3 in the sixth over. Sudharsan and Vijay Shankar, who was subbed in as Gujarat’s Impact Player for Josh Little, forged a 53-run stand to take Titans closer. David Miller, who had arrived in Delhi from Johannesburg only the previous day, provided the finishing touches as Titans wrapped up the win with 11 balls to spare.

Shami struggles and then hurts Capitals

The Delhi pitch was lively from the outset and Shami was unable to control his swing, conceding ten runs through wides in his first two overs during the powerplay. He also bowled several superb deliveries, one of which beat David Warner and grazed the off stump but did not dislodge the bail. Shami got Prithvi Shaw to spoon a well-directed short ball to mid-on and had Mitchell Marsh chopping a back of a length ball on to his stumps. Though Capitals managed to score 52 for 2 in the powerplay, none of their batters looked confident.Sai Sudharsan is filling the gap left by Kane Williamson at No. 3 for Gujarat Titans•BCCI

Joseph and Rashid contain Capitals

Joseph also made life miserable for the Capitals. His first over cost 11 runs but his second was memorable. He first ended Warner’s difficult stay, inducing a thick inside-edge on to the stumps. The next ball was a snorter to Rilee Rossouw, who fended in the air towards point, where Rahul Tewatia dived forward to take a sharp catch. Joseph was quick, mean, and accurate. Sarfaraz Khan and Abishek Porel were both struck on the helmet by his ferocious bouncers, as Joseph kept hitting speeds in excess on 145 kilometres per hour.With pace causing Capitals plenty of problems, legspinner Rashid Khan was brought into the attack only in the 13th over and he had immediate impact. Rashid had Porel playing all around a sharp legbreak second ball, and he dismissed Sarfaraz and Aman Khan in the 17th and 19th overs. Only Axar Patel looked comfortable for Capitals, and his 36 off 22 balls helped them reach 162.

The Sudharsan-Vijay Delhi connection

Heading into this game, Tamil Nadu team-mates Sudharsan and Vijay had strung together two fifty-run stands in four innings, and coincidentally both of those partnerships had come at the Aurn Jaitley Stadium during the 2021 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Now, batting for Titans, the pair produced another half-century stand in Delhi after beginning their stand in a difficult situation. Nortje had bowled the openers Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill, and Khaleel Ahmed had Hardik Pandya caught behind. With the asking rate under control, Sudharsan and Shankar built the chase steadily, taking no unnecessary risks and rotating strike while scoring the occasional boundary in between.Mohammed Shami gave the Titans two early wickets•Associated Press

Sudharsan keeps his head; Miller does what he does best

Sudharsan was one of the finds of the tournament last year and comes into this IPL on the back of a terrific domestic season. Though Nortje cranking up the pace and Kuldeep Yadav getting the odd one to rip, he never seemed out of depth. Sudharsan reached his fifty off 44 balls and remained unbeaten at the finish. Miller, on the other hand, found his bearings from the start, cracking Mukesh Kumar for 20 runs in the 16th over to decide the game. Miller was Titans’ mainstay last year with his finishing abilities, and he started this season by having a similar impact.

Impact Players: Khaleel Ahmed and Vijay Shankar

Vijay had a stronger impact on the game than his Delhi counterpart. Khaleel entered the game at the start of the second innings, replacing Sarfaraz Khan, and while he did dismiss Hardik, he went for 38 runs in his four overs. Vijay managed a 23-ball 29 and his partnership with Sudharsan was one that turned the game for the Titans.

All his performances between January 17, when he provided his sample, and March 22, when he accepted a provisional suspension, “have been disqualified”

ESPNcricinfo staff17-May-2022Zubayr Hamza has been banned from “all cricket-related activities” for nine months by the ICC after admitting to an anti-doping rule violation.The South Africa batter provided an out-of-competition sample on January 17 in Paarl which was found to contain Furosemide, a substance specified in Section S5 of the 2022 WADA Prohibited List. Hamza accepted the provisional suspension, which was backdated to March 22, meaning he will be eligible to return to cricket on December 22, 2022.In addition, all of the international cricket that Hamza played between January 17, when he provided the sample, and March 22, when he was banned, have been stripped from his stats. That’s essentially one Test match against New Zealand, where he scored 25 and 6.The ICC release made a point to mention that Hamza wasn’t significantly at fault for the substance found in his sample with Alex Marshal, the general manager – integrity unit, adding it was “a timely reminder to all international cricketers that they remain responsible for anything they put into their bodies, to know exactly what medication they are taking so as to ensure it does not contain a prohibited substance and does not result in an anti-doping rule violation”.”I have never intentionally taken a prohibited substance,” Hamza said in a statement issued by the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA), “And I am relieved that the ICC determination confirms this fact. The past few months have been difficult for me on a personal and professional level, and I have learnt lessons that I will share with my fellow players.””We are pleased that Zubayr will be back playing cricket at the end of this year,” SACA CEO Andrew Breetzke said. “SACA will continue to support Zubayr during the period of his suspension.”On March 23, CSA had issued a statement confirming that Hamza was “not disputing” the positive test and was “cooperating fully with the ICC” on the matter, and had agreed to voluntary suspension.Hamza made his Test debut against Pakistan in early 2019 when he became South Africa’s 100th Test player since readmission. He made his ODI debut against Netherlands in November last year, scoring 56 in a washout. He has played six Tests in all and had withdrawn from both Test and ODI series against Bangladesh earlier this year because of “personal reasons”.

Criticism comes after Nathan Lyon walks off lbw without reviewing – and Mitchell Starc seemingly offers him no guidance – with two reviews at Australia’s disposal

Andrew McGlashan in Sydney06-Jan-20193:00

Martyn: Not enough desperation from Australia

Ricky Ponting has slammed Australia for showing “no desperation” after Nathan Lyon opted not to review his lbw when given out to Kuldeep Yadav despite there being two challenges remaining.Lyon walked off almost straightaway after the decision from umpire Ian Gould, as non-striker Mitchell Starc appeared to not offer any guidance on whether to use the DRS. The ball from Kuldeep was very full and may have hit Lyon’s boot flush, which means the umpire has to consider it goes straight on, and there could also have been a question as to whether Lyon got outside the line.”That dismissal actually says a lot to me about the mindset of this Australian team at the moment. There’s no desperation there whatsoever,” Ponting said on Seven, one of the host broadcasters. “Why wouldn’t they have had a look at that? They’ve still got the two reviews up their sleeve. There had to be some sort of doubt in that.”Given out straight away and Mitchell Starc just puts his hand out and says ‘oh well, it’s not me, it’s up to you to make [a call]’. Well, unfortunately, when you’re out there together it’s a partnership. You’ve got to do whatever you can to try and save your mate. And there was absolutely none of that there. And as it’s shown already that would have been given not out. Slack and not desperate enough.””You can see where Mitchell Starc is standing at the non-striker’s end,” he added. “One, look how wide he’s standing. There’s no need to be that wide in the first place. Nathan Lyon looks up, ‘Oh what do you reckon?’ ‘Oh I don’t know mate. Yeah I don’t know. But let’s not bother looking. We’ve only got two [reviews] up our sleeve.'”After the day’s play was curtailed by bad light with Australia having been asked to follow-on in a home Test for the first time in 31 years, Peter Handscomb insisted there were no issues with Lyon walking straight off”You ask Gazza, he thinks he was hit on the full on the middle toe or his big toe, it’s not often anyone in the world thinks they’re going to review that. So he waked off in no doubt, he knew he was out, so that’s fine. That’s his decision, we back that in completely.”Ponting’s forceful reaction was not his first stinging comment during the match. On the third day he had also made a pointed reference to Australia’s inability to make big runs following comments over the last couple of games that the pitches have not provided enough assistance to the home attack. “If they’re flat, get some runs on them,” he said.There have been suggestions of tensions in the Australia camp throughout this Test following the bowling performance on the opening day, where they went to a short-pitched tactic midway through the first session.When Lyon was asked on ABC Radio how the plans came about, he said. “I’m not really sure about, I wasn’t really happy about it to be honest. We missed out using the moisture in the wicket, thought we could have stuck there longer but the captain and the bowlers came up with a decent plan and unfortunately it didn’t work.”ALSO READ: The puzzle of Mitchell’s stark strugglesStarc himself is the most under scrutiny of the bowling having taken 1 for 123 from 26 overs in the first innings which has taken his average in his last nine Tests to 46.05.David Saker, the bowling coach, then gave an interview where he revealed heated discussions in the changing room which Tim Paine later denied were as hostile as had been made out.”We talked quite heavily about the day, more because we thought it was a really disappointing day and we just wanted to get our point across,” Saker said. “Some of it was quite aggressive and that’s not like me usually. I was quite animated, and I know I was not the only one. JL [coach Justin Langer] wasn’t happy. The bowlers know that.”

The batsman faces a disciplinary hearing in Dhaka on Saturday; Shakib Al Hasan included despite finger issue

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Aug-2018Sabbir Rahman, who faces a hearing with the BCB’s disciplinary committee this weekend, has been left out of Bangladesh’s 16-man squad for the Asia Cup that will be played in September in the UAE.Sabbir’s place was always up for debate given his prolonged run of poor form this year, but the 26-year-old’s axing is linked to his off-field issues. His latest brush with the authorities is due to the alleged abuse and threats he subjected two fans to on social media from what is believed to be his official account. His alleged comments include foul language and the threat of physical harm. He faces the disciplinary hearing for this incident.

The Bangladesh squad

Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Shakib Al Hasan (vice-capt), Tamim Iqbal, Mohammad Mithun, Liton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Ariful Haque, Mahmudullah, Mosaddek Hossain, Nazmul Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nazmul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Abu Hider
IN:Mohammad Mithun, Ariful Haque, Nazmul Islam
OUT: Sabbir Rahman, Anamul Haque, Abu Jayed

This comes after an altercation between Sabbir and a fan late last year, a minor who Sabbir assaulted during a Rajshahi Division first-class game. He lost his central contract for that incident and was fined USD 25,000 approximately, with the disciplinary committee’s vice-chairman saying that Sabbir could be “permanently suspended” if there were further breaches.Top-order batsman Mohammad Mithun was included in the 16-man squad named on Thursday, along with Ariful Haque who has so far only played T20Is. Mithun, whose last ODI was the tri-nation series final in January this year, was included after strong recent showings – 87 not out and 73 – against an Ireland A side earlier this month. He is likely to take up a lower-order role in the Asia Cup, in place of Sabbir.According to chief selector Minhajul Abedin, Mithun was the choice of captain Mashrafe Mortaza and coach Steve Rhodes for that role. “They wanted Mithun for the No. 6 or 7 batting position, in place of Sabbir,” he said. “Ariful too is picked for a similar role.”Meanwhile, Anamul Haque and Abu Jayed have also been omitted from the squad.The rest of Bangladesh’s squad for the Asia Cup was unchanged from the West Indies ODI series – their previous one-day assignment – which Mashrafe Mortaza’s side won 2-1.Shakib Al Hasan stays in the squad, meaning he will play with a finger that is not quite right. He injured the little finger on his left hand in January, which forced him out of the home Tests and T20Is against Sri Lanka and the Pakistan Super League. He is supposed to undergo a finger surgery. But now, after being included in the squad, it appears he will miss the home series against Zimbabwe in October to have the surgery.Bangladesh, whose best performance in the Asia Cup was runners-up in 2012, begin their campaign with a game against Sri Lanka in Dubai on September 15.

Chris Morris, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dane Vilas and David Miller, meanwhile, have secured million-rand contracts in the player draft

Liam Brickhill17-Oct-2018Chris Morris, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dane Vilas and David Miller have secured million-rand contracts in the player draft for the upcoming Mzansi Super League, South Africa’s new city-based T20 league. They were all picked in the first round, the six teams having already been allocated headlining Protea players last week and then picking their marquee international players in a mini-draft before the main event.Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Eoin Morgan, Dawid Malan, Jason Roy and Rashid Khan formed the marquee international picks. All will be away for some portion of the tournament, however, having also signed on for the Abu Dhabi T10 League that runs from November 23 to December 2 – right in the middle of the month-long MSL, which starts on November 16 and ends on December 16.With the MSL tournament regulations stipulating that every team must include a minimum of three overseas players (including the marquee internationals), three nationally contracted players (inclusive of the allocated Proteas) and a minimum of one domestic rookie, most of the teams opted to build their squads along similar lines to those seen in the domestic franchises – with a few exceptions.There were some surprises among those who went unsold, including Dwayne Smith, Lendl Simmons, Brendan Taylor, Rilee Rossouw, Sam Billings, Shoaib Malik, Marlon Samuels and Mohammad Irfan. Wayne Parnell and David Wiese might have gone to Durban Heat and Paarl Rocks respectively, but the draft had passed their reserve prices before those teams put in unsuccessful bids.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Jozi Stars: Kagiso Rabada, Chris Gayle, Dane Vilas, Rassie van der Dussen, Dan Christian, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, Dwaine Pretorius, Eddie Leie, Pite van Biljon, Duanne Olivier, Ryan Rickelton, Sinethemba Qeshile, Simon Harmer, Calvin Savage, Alfred MothoaBased at the Wanderers, Jozi Stars’ bowling line-up will be headed by Kagiso Rabada. The Stars have also secured the services of Chris Gayle as their international marquee player. While Gayle may be at the tail end of his career, his six-hitting ability will come in very handy in Highveld conditions at home.Durban Heat: Hashim Amla, Rashid Khan, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen, Kyle Abbott, Keshav Maharaj, Khaya Zondo, Albie Morkel, Marchant de Lange, Vernon Philander, Brandon Mavuta, Temba Bavuma, Morne van Wyk, Okuhle Cele, Sarel Erwee, Tladi BokakoThere’s a local flavour to Durban Heat’s line-up. They have Hashim Amla and David Miller, both of whom play their franchise cricket for Dolphins and are proven performers at Kingsmead. The Heat already have their spin options sorted, having chosen Rashid Khan and Keshav Maharaj in the draft. Indeed, Rashid was the very first pick of the day, and came at a cost of R 1,000,000 (USD 70,000 approx).Cape Town Blitz: Quinton de Kock, Dawid Malan, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dale Steyn, Samuel Badree, Asif Ali, Farhaan Behardien, Anrich Nortje, Janneman Malan, Malusi Siboto, George Linde, Ferisco Adams, Jason Smith, Sibonelo Makhanya, Kyle Verreynne, Dane Piedt.Cape Town Blitz will be based at Newlands, and the core of their bowling attack will be formed by Dale Steyn, Andile Phehlukwayo and Samuel Badree. Coach Ashwell Prince suggested that the Blitz would be making their picks with player availability in mind, and as such they opted for England’s Dawid Malan as their international marquee player.Nelson Mandela Bay Giants: Imran Tahir, Jason Roy, Chris Morris, Jon-Jon Smuts, Junior Dala, Christiaan Jonker, Aaron Phangiso, Ben Duckett, Sisanda Magala, Ryan McLaren, Heino Kuhn, Marco Marais, Dyllan Matthews (rookie), Lizaad Williams, Rudi Second, Carmi le Roux.St. George’s Park is one of the smaller grounds that will host a team at the MSL, with a capacity of 19,000, but they will have one of T20 cricket’s most experienced campaigners in their team: Imran Tahir, the Giants’ marquee South Africa player. They have also secured Jason Roy’s services. JJ Smuts, who is local to the Eastern Cape and plays his domestic cricket for Warriors, has been picked to captain.Paarl Rocks: Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dane Paterson, Aiden Markram, Mangaliso Mosehle, Bjorn Fortuin, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Grant Thomson, Paul Stirling, Tshepo Moreki, Henry Davids, Cameron Delport, Eathan Bosch, Patrick Kruger, Kerwin Mungroo.Boland Park, the ground that will host Paarl Rocks, is even smaller than St George’s Park, with a capacity of 10,000. But the universities in the area mean that day-night limited-overs cricket is generally very well attended, and the ground is truly picturesque. The students will no doubt be treated to some wicket-taking celebratory dance moves from Dwayne Bravo and Tabraiz Shamsi, who will both play for the Rocks, as will Faf du Plessis.Tshwane Spartans: AB de Villiers, Eoin Morgan, Lungi Ngidi, Robbie Frylinck, Jeevan Mendis, Theunis de Bruyn, Rory Kleinveldt, Sean Williams, Gihahn Cloete, Lutho Sipamla, Tony de Zorzi, Dean Elgar, Andrew Birch, Sikandar Raza, Shaun von Berg, Eldred Hawken.Tshwane Spartans crucially secured AB de Villiers as their marquee South African player before the draft began, and the runs could flow at SuperSport Park as their middle order is shaping up to be one of the most fearsome in the competition. Eoin Morgan is their international marquee player, while Jeevan Mendis rounds out the lower middle order. Lungi Ngidi and Robbie Frylinck will lead with the ball.

All Mitchell Starc wanted was some eggs to start his morning, but another hotel guest wanted to share a few words with him

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jun-2019Mitchell Starc’s day started with a sledge over breakfast and finished with him having notched another entry in his World Cup hall of fame with a delivery for the ages to castle Ben Stokes.Hours before Starc speared the swinging yorker under Stokes’ bat, to remove England’s last hope of chasing down Australia’s total, he had his morning briefly interrupted at the team hotel by a guest who had a few words to share about some strapping on his elbow and his choice of food: three poached eggs.WATCH on Hotstar (India only) – England’s wicketsStarc’s wife, Alyssa Healy, mentioned the breakfast chat on Twitter – thanking the person in question, later confirmed to be English, for firing him up – and Starc laughed it off after the match as all “good fun” saying he was “still half-asleep” when it happened.”Someone was having a go at my strapping tape and having a go at my bowling,” he said. “I was just hungry. He was just having a laugh at my strapping tape and what I was eating. It’s all been good fun throughout the tour around the crowds and at the hotel. It’s just part and parcel of a World Cup.”It was no surprise that Starc was in jovial mood having bagged 4 for 43 to take his World Cup haul to 19 wickets at 18.26 and a strike-rate of 20.4. He is now eighth on the list of World Cup wicket-takers with 41 wickets in just 15 matches at an average of 13.92, comfortably ahead of those above him in the list, and won’t have bowled many better deliveries than the ball to remove Stokes four years after the pair had been involved in Stokes’ obstructing the field dismissal on this ground.”We had a bit of a laugh that I think the last time we played one another at this ground was that one that came back at him,” Starc said. “He’s a fantastic player and he’s one of their key batters. Watching that game against Sri Lanka, he nearly got them home there with that 80-odd he scored. We knew while he was batting that we couldn’t just rest up, we couldn’t cruise. We had to try and take that wicket [and] fortunately got one through the gate but he was batting fantastically well today.”I’ve got a pretty simple one-day plan and it’s all about execution. To execute that ball exactly how I wanted to was pleasing for me, but just pleasing to get the result.”Australia are now safely in the semi-finals with two group games remaining, the next of which is on Saturday against local rivals New Zealand who are unbeaten in the tournament.”They are playing some fantastic cricket, they have really gone under the radar,” Starc said. “No one has spoken too much about them and they keep winning games. They’ve got a strong side batting and bowling, Kane Williamson is their linchpin in the middle there and they’ve got bowlers who swing the ball.”It’s another big game for us, obviously we have cemented our spot in the semis now, we want to try and finish as high as we can and play some really good cricket headed towards the finals series. They’re very important for us.”