Live Report – South Africa v England, 3rd Test
All the best stats, graphics and chat from the Port Elizabeth Test with ESPNcricinfo’s live blog
Alan Gardner16-Jan-2020
All the best stats, graphics and chat from the Port Elizabeth Test with ESPNcricinfo’s live blog
Alan Gardner16-Jan-2020
Stokes made an OBE and Buttler an MBE for services to cricket in New Year’s Honours list
ESPNcricinfo staff25-Feb-2020England’s World Cup celebrations have continued with Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler collecting honours at Buckingham Palace.The pair were named alongside their World Cup-winning captain, Eoin Morgan, coach, Trevor Bayliss, and Joe Root on the New Year’s Honours list and received their awards from the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William.Stokes, who also won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award in December, was made an OBE for services to cricket and Buttler was made an MBE following a remarkable year for the England team, who beat New Zealand to win the men’s World Cup for the first time in the most thrilling of finals at Lord’s.Stokes struck an unbeaten 84 in the final – including two sixes in the last over – to tie the game, and then batted in the Super Over to help England to a memorable triumph. Stokes also hit a stirring 135 not out to hand England victory in the third Ashes Test at Headingley. Meanwhile, it was Buttler who featured in the decisive moment of the World Cup when he gathered Jason Roy’s throw and completed the run-out of Martin Guptill, which meant England won the title on boundaries scored.Jos Buttler poses with his medal after being appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) following an investiture service at Buckingham Palace•AFP via Getty Images
The pair were joined at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday by Colin Graves, chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, who was recognised with a CBE for services to the sport.”Without a shadow of a doubt, it’s two great players and to share the day with them is brilliant,” Graves told the Press Association. “You just have to look at the Sports Personality of the Year awards, Stokesy won the main award, the team won the team award, the team won the moments of the year award.”Morgan is due to be appointed a CBE and Root is to be made an MBE, while Bayliss will be made an OBE.
The captain’s 28-ball 49 helped the side to a formidable total before the spinner picked up three wickets to restrict Ireland
The Report by Hemant Brar08-Mar-2020Asghar Afghan scored a 28-ball 49 to lift Afghanistan to 184 for 4 before Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s three-wicket haul restricted Ireland to 163 for 6 in the second T20I in Greater Noida. The 21-run victory meant Afghanistan now have an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.Afghanistan had a slow start after opting to bat as their openers Hazratullah Zazai and Rahmanullah Gurbaz struggled for the timing on a sluggish pitch. The Ireland seamers also didn’t allow any room to Zazai who eventually fell to legspinner Gareth Delany for a 33-ball 28.Gurbaz used his feet against Delany to hit a couple of sixes but despite that Afghanistan were 85 for 2 after 13 overs. Asghar, who too was struggling to find the middle of the bat till then, suddenly starting connecting his hits. He struck six, four and four off successive Boyd Rankin deliveries to take the side past 100 in the 14th over.Craig Young was the next to suffer. Asghar smashed him for two fours and two sixes as the 16th over of the innings produced 25 runs. Going for another big hit, Asghar holed out to long-on and fell one short of his fifty. Najibullah Zadran and Gulbadin Naib hit two sixes each in the final over as take Afghanistan to a formidable total.After giving away 99 runs in the last seven overs, Ireland started their chase positively before Mujeeb dismissed Kevin O’Brien and Paul Stirling to reduce them to 37 for 2. Andy Balbirnie and Harry Tector kept finding the boundaries though and took Ireland to 90 for 3 after ten overs.Then, Rashid Khan was introduced to the attack. After conceding five in his first over, he dismissed Balbirnie in the next for a 35-ball 46. From the other end, Nabi too didn’t allow any easy runs. As a result, Ireland were left needing 51 from the last four overs.Tector took 12 off the first three balls of the 17th over, bowled by Mujeeb, but the bowler came back strongly. He not only bowled the next three balls dots but also got rid of Tector.Ireland needed 26 from the final over – Afghanistan too had got 26 from their 20th – but Shapoor Zadran conceded only four to seal the match and the series.
England tour might still go ahead if logistical challenges are met
ESPNcricinfo staff14-May-2020Ireland’s men will not play a full international fixture this home summer, after Pakistan and New Zealand’s scheduled tours were postponed at a virtual board meeting on Wednesday.Warren Deutrom, Cricket Ireland’s chief executive, remains hopeful that the three scheduled ODIs against England can go ahead in some form, but said that “numerous challenges [still] have to be resolved” which “will take a little while to work through”. This will be the first Irish summer since 2005 not to feature a full international.New Zealand’s entire European tour has now been postponed, with the scheduled fixtures against Scotland – an ODI and a T20I – also canned following the recent postponement of the planned matches in the Netherlands.”We deeply regret that we can’t provide any international cricket at home to our fans this year, but we were always up against it with our entire home international programme coming in the first half of the season,” Deutrom said.”It had become fairly obvious following the recent series of Government announcements in the Republic and UK that the New Zealand series was not feasible. While of course it’s disappointing for the fans in Northern Ireland who I know were looking forward to the visit of the World Cup runners-up, given the circumstances we entirely understand NZC was left with no choice but to stay at home.”David White, NZC’s CEO, said: “These are extremely difficult times for international cricket and we feel deeply for our friends in the northern hemisphere, whose season has been so badly disrupted. Hopefully, in brighter and less dangerous times, we can return and play the games that have been postponed.”Gus Mackay, Cricket Scotland’s CEO, said: “We are obviously disappointed that New Zealand’s European tour has been postponed, however, it was to be expected under the current circumstances. We will work closely with New Zealand Cricket and look at opportunities in the future when they are next touring Europe.”Pakistan’s two T20Is in Ireland, scheduled for mid-July, were due to take place immediately before their tour to England. Deutrom said that complications regarding government timelines, bio-security, quarantining players and finding a window to fit in around the England series meant that it “just hasn’t been possible to find a way to get the matches played”.ALSO READ: Cautious PCB open to possibility of summer tour of EnglandWasim Khan, the PCB’s CEO, said: “We fully respect and endorse Cricket Ireland’s decision at this difficult time. As we have all reiterated, the safety and security of players, officials and fans comes first. The PCB stands firmly with CI in these difficult times and we look forward to revisiting Ireland again as soon as normal services resume.”Regarding the three-match ODI series in England, initially scheduled for mid-September, Deutrom said that Ireland would “try to be as flexible as possible”, but admitted “numerous challenges have to be resolved” regarding dates, bio-secure venues, and quarantine requirements. “We will continue to work with the ECB on trying to make these fixtures happen, but the issues involved will take a little while to work through.”Deutrom also confirmed that no firm decision has been made regarding the Euro T20 Slam, which was due to start this year after its inaugural season was postponed in 2019. A final call will be taken next month, but with all cricketing activity in Ireland suspended until June and the game feeling the financial strain of the pandemic, it appears unlikely that the competition will be able to go ahead.
Several Kolpak players will move to overseas contracts
Matt Roller03-Jul-2020The ECB have confirmed that two overseas players will be permitted per side in all county competitions next season.Previously, only one overseas player had been permitted in the County Championship and the Royal London Cup. The change has been anticipated for some time, after the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) confirmed in February that it had lobbied for it in order to protect the contracts of its Kolpak players following the UK’s departure from the European Union.The ECB’s cricket committee, chaired by Sir Andrew Strauss, made a recommendation for the change to the ECB’s board, which approved the changes this month.ALSO READ: Counties remain hopeful of two overseas players in 2021The development means that counties will be able to keep hold of players who had been on non-overseas deals via Kolpak registrations, with that loophole expected to close when the UK’s transition period with the EU ends on December 31. Several players like Simon Harmer, Duanne Olivier and Dane Vilas have either contractual or spoken guarantees with their clubs that they would become overseas players from next season onwards.”There is an important balance to be struck to ensure the need for good foreign players in county cricket and providing opportunity for nine England-qualified players in each county team,” Strauss said.”There are clearly long-established benefits for our domestic players to compete against and learn from the best players from across the world in addition to providing high-quality domestic cricket for county members and fans to enjoy.”An increase in unqualified cricketers allows first-class counties to maintain that standard while also enabling them to plan and prepare for next summer.”The ECB’s statement on the change made no mention of the Hundred, but it is understood that the number of overseas players permitted per team in that competition is likely to remain at three in 2021. Last month, PCA chairman Daryl Mitchell told ESPNcricinfo that he expected there would be “an element of retention from each of the teams” from the squads picked in last year’s draft, but that a decision would be made “further down the line”.”There’s so many moving parts around it at the moment, so it’s very different to make any decision on what the best method is for retention or a complete rollover,” Mitchell said. “That’s one for further down the line, once a little more water has passed under the bridge over the next couple of months.”
Players found picking up ball against white seats “tricky” in warm-up game
Matt Roller24-Jul-2020Ireland have flagged an unusual problem with playing behind closed doors ahead of their three-match ODI series against England next week, after their fielders struggled to pick up the white ball against the backdrop of empty cream-coloured seats in an intra-squad practice match.All three games in the series will be played at the Ageas Bowl, where Ireland and England have been staying since last week. While empty stands did not cause major issues for fielders in England’s Test against West Indies at the ground last month, Ireland’s players found it difficult to see the white ball against the light seats.”The thing that’s a little bit of a concern is the background,” Graham Ford, Ireland’s head coach, said in a virtual press conference on Friday. “The seating is either cream or white, and you’ve got a white ball and an empty stadium, so that background for fielders might be a challenge.”Andy Balbirnie, Ireland’s captain, said that he hoped extra sessions will prepare his fielders for the challenge. “It does take a bit of getting used to, but we’ve got a week of prep and we can make sure that we hone that, and make sure that guys are comfortable and almost getting their eyes in while fielding,” he said. “It can be tricky: a white ball on cream and white seats will be tricky, but we’ve got enough time to make sure we can’t use that as an excuse.”All three games are day-night matches, meaning it will likely only be a problem in the first innings. ESPNcricinfo understands that the ECB has no plans to add dark covers to the seats, and will instead rely on fielders being able to adapt. Hampshire have played a number of one-day games at the ground with only a limited number of fans present.Meanwhile, Ford has laid down a marker for Ireland in saying that it is not enough for them to simply give England a scare. “We’ve certainly shown in the previous ODI at Malahide and in the Test match [last year] that we can give them a fright,” he said. “But that’s not what we want to do: we want to be winners.”There are a few little elements we may have to work on – a few things we might to able to see in terms of the psychological side of it and the pressure they’ve got. It’s a potential banana-skin game for them: they can’t afford to lose to us, and they’ll take a lot of flak if they do.”There’s a few little issues of, perhaps, egos, and things that we can work on, but I wouldn’t want to talk about the things we want to exploit in the media. The most important thing is that we put good basics in place.”Getty Images
Balbirnie admitted that there was “no doubt” that Ireland were “going in as underdogs”, but said that with key players like Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes absent on Test duty, England could be vulnerable if they lost early wickets.”Those two in the middle order have been standout players for England over a number of years,” he said. “They’ve got a really strong top order, and against these big teams early wickets are vital, no matter who you’re playing.”In the first game of the series, it’s a statement if we can take early wickets and really set the ball rolling, but they’ve got a really strong squad here. They’ve played as many games as we have this summer, so we’re going in with a clean slate, and hopefully we’re building momentum nicely towards that first game.”Balbirnie said that he was confident Ireland would be able to cope with the challenge posed by England’s two main spinners, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, on a relatively slow wicket with big square boundaries. Balbirnie said he had been doing his homework, checking the type of player who has been successful in Hampshire’s one-day games at the ground, and thought that taking pace off the ball would be crucial.”One of the benefits of playing Afghanistan so often [is] you get the opportunity to play against world-class spinners on a regular basis. You learn different things, and learn how to play them in different scenarios. As a squad, we tend to play spin pretty well.”One bowler who may prove crucial to Ireland’s hopes in the series is Josh Little, the 20-year-old left-arm seamer who took 4 for 45 on ODI debut against England last year. England’s batsmen have generally struggled against left-arm seamers in recent years, and Ford said that Little would “certainly be very close” to inclusion for the first ODI.”It’s no good just picking somebody because the opposition have a perceived weakness against that type of bowling,” Ford said, “[but] he’s gone quite nicely. I’d like to see him just step it up a little bit, but it’s nice to know we’ve got that sort of variation to our attack. He’s a really exciting prospect.”Ireland have one more warm-up game to prepare ahead of the first ODI on July 30, against an England Lions XI that will include Eoin Morgan, who was rested for England’s intra-squad warm-up on Friday. They are set to be without Mark Adair for the series, who is yet to bowl at full intensity in training, but Ford is hopeful that Paul Stirling will be fit after missing the intra-squad game with a calf niggle.
Robbie White digs in as Middlesex battle for runs on rain-hit second day
ECB Reporters Network16-Aug-2020Kent’s bowlers enjoyed the best of a second dreary day as visitors Middlesex stumbled to 123 for 6 from 61.5 overs at the midpoint of this rain-ruined Bob Willis Trophy clash in Canterbury.Having lost 80.3 overs to bad light and showers on Saturday, the two South Group sides sparred for runs and wickets throughout an overcast morning session before rain returned three overs after lunch to wash out another 46 overs from the match.Resuming on their overnight score of 22 for 1 at 11am, Middlesex’s second-wicket partners Sam Robson and Stevie Eskinazi found runs hard to come by against the frugal new-ball attack of Matt Milnes and Darren Stevens.The visitors added only 10 in the opening half-hour before visiting captain Eskinazi, on 9, groped for a Stevens away-swinger and edged low to keeper Oli Robinson, who took the catch in one glove diving away to his right.A double bowling change led to the introduction of Grant Stewart and Fred Klaassen, but Kent’s tactic to restrict the flow of boundaries continued to reap rewards.In a tidy, seven-over stint down the Nackington Road slope Klaassen, a 27-year-old left-armer making only his third first-class appearance, helped maintain the stranglehold on the run rate as Middlesex mustered only three boundaries in the opening hour, one of which came via a thick outside edge to third man.Having faced 86 balls for his 36 runs, Robson chipped a Klaassen in-ducker to Daniel Bell-Drummond at short midwicket then, seven overs later, Martin Andersson mistimed an attempted on-drive to another Klaassen inswinger and clipped a firm return catch to the Netherlands’ bowler.The clouds returned three overs into the middle session and shortly after 2pm with the rain strengthening in intensity throughout the afternoon. But the torrent abated by 4pm and, after two inspections and tireless work by the groundstaff, umpires Nigel Llong and Neil Bainton decided play could re-start at 5.30pm with 16 overs remaining in the day.The joust between bat and ball continued under blue skies and in bright sunshine after the resumption, yet Middlesex needed 8.3 overs to record their first boundary of the evening session with four leg byes to fine leg.Nevertheless, fifth-wicket partners Jack Davies and Robbie White dug in to take their partnership to 40 before first-class debutant Davies, off-balance and working to leg across an inswinger, went lbw to Stevens.With the penultimate ball of the day Klaassen ran one across left-hander John Simpson and found the outside edge for another spectacular tumbling catch by Robinson. Klaassen improved his career-best first-class figures to finish the day with 3 for 19 while Stevens closed with 2 for 32.
End of Kolpak era means Wiese moving on but van Zyl will see out contract as an overseas player
Matt Roller06-Oct-2020Sussex have confirmed that Stiaan van Zyl will stay at the club in 2021 despite the end of Kolpak registrations, fulfilling his contract on overseas terms, while David Wiese’s time at Hove is set to come to an end.Van Zyl, who signed a three-year extension in early 2019 after initially joining the club in 2017, missed the 2020 county season due to restrictions on international travel and club finances, and it was mutually agreed that he would return as an overseas player next summer.Wiese, the South African allrounder, has left the club at the end of his contract after four seasons as a Kolpak player, but a Sussex statement said that he could still return as an overseas player for the T20 Blast.The ECB confirmed in writing to counties two weeks ago that Kolpak registrations would be invalid once the UK’s transition period with the European Union comes to an end on December 31, with affected players either leaving their clubs or re-signing as overseas players. Players with settled or pre-settled status in the UK through EU citizenship will be free to continue playing as locals.Counties will be allowed to field two overseas players in all formats next season, having previously been permitted only one in the County Championship and Royal London Cup.Travis Head, the Australia batsman, is due to be Sussex’s second main overseas player after having his contract for this summer deferred to 2021, but it remains to be seen which formats he will play. With Rashid Khan, whose contract was cancelled this year to allow him to play in the CPL and the IPL, also under consideration for a T20-only deal, it could be that van Zyl and Head only play in the County Championship and the Royal London One-Day Cup. “Obviously the government is kicking us out of here with Brexit at this stage, and I suppose the joy-ride had to come to an end at some stage,” Wiese joked after Sussex’s Blast quarter-final defeat to Lancashire last week. “It’s been a good couple of years for me, and hopefully it’s not the end.”I could come back as an overseas – obviously it’s trying times financially, a lot of the clubs are in tough positions and there are contracts in place with other players, so we’ll have to see what the future holds. I’ll go back home, chill out with a bit of family time and hopefully things work out in the future that I can come back here.”David Wiese carves into the off side•Getty Images
Wiese is the latest Sussex player to depart in a period of transition for the club. Luke Wells and Harry Finch will both be released at the end of their contracts, while Danny Briggs has signed for Warwickshire and Laurie Evans spent the season on loan at Surrey ahead of a permanent move. George Garton, Tom Haines and Delray Rawlins have all signed new deals.Meanwhile, head coach Jason Gillespie has returned home to take up the South Australia job, with the club not expected to recruit a replacement until the start of next year. Assistant coaches James Kirtley, Ian Salisbury and Jason Swift are all likely to be candidates.
An interim CSA board will be now be constituted, with further details expected by the end of the week
Firdose Moonda28-Oct-2020The CSA’s Members’ Council – the highest-decision making authority in the game made up of the 14 provincial affiliate presidents – and South Africa’s sports minister Nathi Mthethwa held a “constructive” meeting on Tuesday, which was the deadline for the organisation to convince Mthethwa why he should not intervene in their affairs.Mthethwa was satisfied with the progress made at CSA after the entire board stood down on Monday. An interim board will be now be constituted, with further details expected by the end of the week.Mthethwa also met with the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), who CSA has previously refused to comply with, as well as the South African Cricketers Association (SACA) to “share the outcomes of the meeting with CSA for the purpose of keeping key role players abreast of the latest developments,” according to a ministerial statement issued on Wednesday morning.It is not clear if CSA will now work with SASCOC, who demanded the board and executive stand down while an investigation is conducted into CSA’s affairs and unrestricted access to the forensic report used to fire former CEO Thabang Moroe. SASCOC also wanted CSA to foot the bill for a task team that would stand in for the organisation’s leadership while issues around governance are resolved. This team could now take the structure of an interim board.ESPNcricinfo understands that the minister will be involved in the process of choosing the members of the interim board, which could include prominent South Africans in business and former players. For now, CSA is represented by a board of four Members’ Council participants – Rihan Richards (who is also the acting Members Council president), Zola Thamae, John Mogodi and Donovan May. Thamae, Mogodi and May were all part of the board that stood down.
Neither team looks settled, and for the team that loses this, the table will not look pretty at all
Sreshth Shah17-Oct-20207:41
Moody: Russell needs to prove his worth with the bat
The Kolkata Knight Riders and the Sunrisers Hyderabad enter their face-off with a difference of only two points on the points table, but they are both in precarious positions. Depending on other results, by the time Sunday’s games are done, things might not look pretty at all for the team that loses this game.Both the teams have soft middle orders. The Sunrisers have chopped and changed positions four and below through the tournament, and those batting slots are still not firmed up. The Knight Riders have the experience there, but the consistency is missing.ALSO READ: SRH vs KKR Fantasy Pick – If KKR bat first, replace Mavi with CumminsThat said, both teams have reasons to feel confident. From the Sunrisers’ point of view, the Knight Riders are likely to be without Sunil Narine, have a new captain, and are trying to avoid a third straight loss. The Knight Riders know they won the last time these sides met, and like them, the Sunrisers enter the contest on the back of two defeats.Therefore, it will come down to which team hides their weaknesses better. Apart from the middle-order issues, the performance of the two Indian pace attacks will be important. Neither team is settled, they are both missing momentum, and for the winning team it can be a massive morale-booster.
Manish Pandey hit a half-century for the Sunrisers, but they could score only 142 for the loss of four wickets on the back of impressive spells from Pat Cummins and Varun Chakravarthy. Shubman Gill then struck a 62-ball 70, while Eoin Morgan crunched a 29-ball 42 to seal the Knight Riders’ win with two overs to spare.
Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Rahul Tripathi, 3 Nitish Rana, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Andre Russell, 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Pat Cummins, 8 Lockie Ferguson, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Varun Chakravarthy, 11 Shivam MaviSunrisers Hyderabad: 1 David Warner (capt), 2 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 3 Manish Pandey, 4 Kane Williamson, 5 Priyam Garg, 6 Vijay Shankar, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Shahbaz Nadeem, 9 Sandeep Sharma, 10 Khaleel Ahmed, 11 T NatarajanVarun Chakravarthy and Andre Russell are key to the Knight Riders’ plans•BCCI