“Still in discussions how to get the bio part and medical parts stronger,” he says

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Oct-2020The BCCI is yet to send a formal approval to Cricket Australia on the schedule for India’s upcoming tour of Australia, but the Indian board president Sourav Ganguly has pointed out that Indian team will be travelling to Sydney immediately after the IPL which will finish on November 10. Sydney will be India’s first destination, where they will contest the ODI and T20I series against Australia.The white-ball segment, featuring three ODIs and as many T20Is, will be followed by the four-Test series, starting with the pink-ball match in Adelaide from December 17.Both CA and BCCI have engaged in multiple meetings and discussions in the past several months, with the Covid-19 pandemic imposing severe restrictions on the travel arrangements. One of the BCCI’s conditions was that it wanted the Indian players to train while serving the mandatory two-week quarantine period upon reaching Australia.However, some of the state governments in Australia did not want to relax the guidelines owing to public health safety until the New South Wales government recently agreed to allow the teams to train while in quarantine.”So far it (the tour) is [going] ahead,” Ganguly told the on Monday. “The initial part will be in Sydney. We are still in discussions how to get the bio part and medical parts stronger, because it’s a long tour but I am told Australia is Covid-free at the moment, there aren’t many cases.”ALSO READ: Victoria Premier ‘very confident’ over Boxing Day crowd at MCGGanguly also said the BCCI was confident that players’ families will be allowed to be accommodated in the biosecure bubble. Barring Indian support staff and the two Test specialists Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vihari, the rest of the players have been in the UAE for the IPL since the third week of August.Most players have been living in the IPL bubble without their families and with another long tour in Australia, Ganguly said the BCCI had requested CA to accordingly allow them to join the tour. Entry of foreign nationals into Australia is the responsibility of the federal government – although individual states had to give approval to be the first port of entry – as New South Wales has done.Ganguly, though, sounded positive about the families being allowed on the tour. “I don’t see a reason why the families won’t be allowed to come. The Australian cricket board is trying to accommodate the families. It should be okay.”However, he did not want to speculate on the India captain Virat Kohli potentially missing out one out of the two Tests – in Sydney and Brisbane – in the new year, as he and his wife Anushka Sharma are expecting their first child. “This is a personal question. I don’t like to comment and I have not asked him,” Ganguly said.

The PCB also has the option to extend his contract till the 2023 50-over World Cup.

Umar Farooq12-Nov-2020Younis Khan will be Pakistan’s full-time batting coach, after he accepted a long-term deal from the PCB to train the national team at least until the 2022 T20 World Cup. The PCB also has the option to consider extending Younis’ contract for another term, till the 2023 50-over World Cup. In addition to his role with the national team, Younis will also run the Batsmen Development Program at the Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre in Karachi.Younis had travelled with the team to England during the summer on a short-term stint as a batting consultant, with the PCB keen to fully integrate him into the coaching system. His immediate assignment now will be to assist the team’s head coach Misbah-ul-Haq in New Zealand, as Pakistan will fly out on November 23 for a tour that includes three T20Is and two Tests.”I am pleased to join the Pakistan cricket set-up on a long-term basis,” Younis said. “I felt honoured when I was given the opportunity this summer and thoroughly enjoyed my time, and I now look forward to continuing the work with the same group of people on an important tour of New Zealand. I am particularly happy that my scope of work has been extended beyond the national duties.”I am equally interested and keen at working at the domestic level by identifying potential batsmen and then helping them improve their skills. However, I want to remind all fans and followers that there is a process to achieve excellence and while some improvements can be noticed quickly, this will require lots of hard work, perseverance and patience before the required skills are embedded and start producing consistent results.”Younis’ integration into the Pakistan coaching set-up hasn’t been straightforward, as the former batsman had turned down the PCB on two previous occasions. The board had earlier tried to rope him in to work at the development level at the NCA, but those talks didn’t materialise into anything concrete. Then, in May last year, Younis was close to taking up a role as the country’s Under-19 coach, but that plan, too, did not come to pass. One of the sticking points, ESPNcricinfo reported, had to do with finances, while the other was with the job profile, as the PCB had proposed for Younis to be only a mentor and coach, while the former captain wanted a bigger say in the national team’s selection as well.The PCB moved on and turned to other former players, with an aim of revamping the entire coaching structure. While Younis brings with him vast experience as Pakistan’s highest scorer in Test cricket, he has had a frayed relationship with the PCB over the years. However, a pep talk that he gave to the players on video during the Covid-19 enforced lockdown earlier this year, as well as his first stint as batting coach in England, seem to have mended some bridges. Younis even received positive feedback from the backroom staff for his role during the tour of England, where he had to deal with a large pool of players.”I am delighted that Younis will now be with us for, at least, the next two years as a batting coach,” Wasim Khan, the PCB chief, said in a statement. “The feedback we received about Younis’ impact in a short period of time in England was excellent. His work ethics, commitment and knowledge are second to none, and I am confident that his appointment will benefit a number of talented batsmen who have either recently broken into the national side or are knocking on the door of international cricket.”The PCB will also be utilising his expertise and skills when he’s not on national duty as he will help local batsmen hone their skills. This is part of the PCB’s strategy to appoint highly-qualified and respected coaches across all major centres of the country so that we can start producing cricketers who can represent Pakistan with distinction.”

Senior seamers took only one wicket between them in England’s 3-0 win in Sri Lanka in 2018-19

Matt Roller08-Jan-2021James Anderson and Stuart Broad are prepared to put in the hard yards in a holding role during England’s Test series in Sri Lanka, and accept that they are unlikely to play every game in Asia over the next two months.England opted to pick only one of Anderson and Broad at a time in their 3-0 series win in Sri Lanka in late 2018, with the pair taking just one wicket between them in a combined 55 overs as spin dominated the series. While Sri Lanka’s most recent home series against New Zealand saw the seamers play a slightly greater role, head coach Mickey Arthur told the on Thursday that he expected “typical Sri Lankan conditions” in the two Tests at Galle this month.Speaking on Sky Sports’ Cricket Show, both Anderson and Broad said that they expected to perform a defensive role in the series, and said that they are anticipating some rotation among bowlers on their tour of the subcontinent. Straight after the second Test in Sri Lanka, England will fly to India for a four-match series, starting on February 5 in Chennai.James Anderson bowls in the nets•ECB

“You do play a slightly different role [in Sri Lanka],” Anderson said. “As was the case last time we were here, the spinners are the attacking option and the seamers then have a holding role – it’s almost breaking up the spinners and trying to give them a rest, whereas in England, they might be doing that job and you’re the more attacking bowler. It’s a different outlook on it as a seamer, but you’re still in the game and you can still get wickets.””Galle might be a pitch that if you bowl 20 overs, 1 for 40, you’ve actually done a brilliant role,” Broad said. “If you do that for your whole career, you’re not going to stay in the side that long, averaging 40, but it’s being realistic. For a spinner in England, a perfect job would be: first innings, 20 overs, 1 for 40, and then he comes into the game later on. I think we flip that over here: we can hold in the first innings, and then you might get reverse-swing later in the game when the pitch is warm… and the ball roughs up slightly.”It’s unrealistic to think that you’re going to play all six Test matches and be the leading wicket-taker in these conditions. You just have to not get greedy when you get that opportunity: if you play three Tests out of six, [you have to] do your role for those three Tests, not selfishly try to get wickets to get you in the next game.”Anderson suggested this week that Sri Lanka will have “a slight advantage” going into the first Test, having recently completed a two-match series in South Africa while England have not played a Test since late August. England’s red-ball specialists trained in a heated marquee at Loughborough in the final few months of 2020 while the white-ball sides have not played in more than a month, and Broad admitted that the touring squad was “a bit shy” on match fitness a week out from the first Test.Related

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“In international cricket these days you don’t get these sorts of breaks, normally,” he said. “It is a long period of time without spending time in the field, keeping the bones used to fast bowling.”We’re probably a bit shy on match fitness but you’ve got to make the best of what you can. We’ve got warm-up games over the next two days, and that’ll be just about acclimatising to the conditions, but it is by far the shortest preparation time I can remember on an England tour.”Meanwhile, Anderson backed Jonny Bairstow to make a success of his recall to the red-ball side after a year-long absence, but suggested he had underachieved in his Test career to date. Bairstow averages 34.74 with the bat after 70 Tests, but said on Thursday that his game is “in the best place it’s [ever] been” going into the Sri Lanka series.”As we’ve seen when he’s played for England in the past, he can bat anywhere in the order, and he’s got this determination that [means] he wants to do well, he wants to succeed,” Anderson said.”He’s someone who I look at him and think he should probably have done better than how he has done for England. But obviously, situations with going up and down the order, it’s not been easy for him. I’d like to think that he’s got much more in the tank for England.”

The batsman struggled for the first part of his innings but was able to turn in a match-winning hand

Andrew McGlashan01-Feb-2021Sam Heazlett showed the value of hanging in as he turned a batting struggle into a match-winning display against the Sydney Thunder in the BBL Knockout final.Heazlett was 19 off 26 balls in the Brisbane Heat’s chase of 159 before he finally scored a boundary and that flicked a switch for the left-hander, who scored 51 off his next 23 deliveries in a career-best T20 score of 74 not out.With Heazlett labouring and Marnus Labuschagne controversially run-out, the asking rate had pushed above 11-an-over but, having been brought into the side as a match-up for the Thunder legspinner Tanveer Sangha, he then took to him with a pair of leg-side sixes as the game swung back to the Heat.”My head was probably spinning a bit early,” Heazlett said. “I played and missed at a few balls but we had more batting to come, Jimmy’s [Peirson] been in great form this season and we had full confidence that we could lift the rate towards the end.Related

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“I was looking to go hard towards the short boundary with the legspinner on, lucky enough to get a few away and that took the pressure off a little bit and from there tried to hit the ball hard and thankfully it came off.”When Heazlett was recalled for the Eliminator final to break up a batting order filled with right-handers, he had not played since January 2 in a season that had brought 99 runs in six innings – 48 of those in one knock against the Hobart Hurricanes where he struck five sixes – and he admitted to uncertainty at the start of his innings.”I haven’t scored a whole heap of runs this year. [You] still try to go out there with confidence but you don’t want to get out, [it was] two for not many, and I probably wasn’t quite as clear as I needed to be, not watching the ball as hard as I should have,” he said. “But you have to back your skills. It’s good to get that one in now and go into the next game with a few runs under the belt.”Heazlett has had a curious career so far, selected for Australia’s limited-overs squad before he had made a one-day appearance for Queensland, debuting against New Zealand in the match where Marcus Stoinis made 146 not out and having statistics in the 50-over game (average 54.05) that far outweigh his T20 numbers (average 18.18).”[It’s been] frustrating…to have pretty good stats in one-day cricket and coming to T20 cricket and know I have what it takes but not being able to do it enough is disappointing,” he said. “But thankfully the [Heat] coach and captain had a lot of faith in me. I’ve enjoyed that middle-order role a couple of times this year, good to have the field out, get my eye in then take it from there.”The Heat, who qualified for the finals series in fourth meaning they would need to win four games in a row to take the title, will now face the Perth Scorchers in the Challenger final on Thursday to decide who plays the Sydney Sixers at the SCG on February 6. The match will be played in Canberra after Perth was put into a five-day lockdown because of Covid-19.

Fixtures against Netherlands and Zimbabwe also confirmed for 2021 summer

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-2021South Africa will travel to Ireland for three ODIs and three T20Is in July, as Cricket South Africa look to fill the men’s team’s winter with fixtures following the postponement of a three-Test home series against Australia.This tour is part of the 2018-2023 Future Tours Programme (FTP) with the ODIs forming part of the World Cup Super League. The matches will be played between July 11 and 25 in Malahide and Stormont.This is the first time South Africa are visiting Ireland since 2007 when they played one ODI against Ireland and a three-match ODI series against India in the country. Vernon Philander debuted on that tour. Since then, South Africa have only met Ireland at 50-over World Cups and never in a T20I.

Ireland schedule for summer 2021

Netherlands (away)
ODIs – June 2, 4, and 7 (venues TBC)

South Africa (home)
ODIs – July 11, 13 and 16 (Malahide)
T20Is – July 20 (Malahide), 22 and 25 (Stormont)

Zimbabwe (home)
ODIs – August 6, 8 and 11 (Stormont)
T20Is – August 15, 17 and 20 (Bready)

“The tour marks a significant new chapter in our history as we visit one of the fast-developing cricket nations for a six-match tour,” Graeme Smith, CSA’s director of cricket said. “Ireland have shown themselves to be highly competitive adversaries in recent years, with a growing profile in the world game. It will also offer our players further international action in unfamiliar conditions, so we are looking forward to the contest.”Ireland last played cricket in January, when they travelled to Abu Dhabi for series against the UAE – which was interrupted by several positive cases of Covid-19 in the hosts’ squad – and Afghanistan. Their tour to Zimbabwe, which was due to take place in April, has been indefinitely postponed because of the difficulties in scheduling which sees Zimbabwe play Afghanistan later this month and then host Pakistan.Ireland have also announced dates for Zimbabwe’s six-match tour, which comprises three World Cup Super League ODIs and three T20Is. The 50-over fixtures will be staged in Stormont, with the T20Is at Bready.Cricket Ireland confirmed that talks are ongoing with the ECB and PCB around the possibility of staging a two-match T20I series against Pakistan in England, as revealed by ESPNcricinfo last month. Dates for Ireland’s three-match World Cup Super League series in the Netherlands have also been confirmed for early June.”Given the significant changes to the Future Tours Programme due to the postponement of home series’ from 2020 – and all other countries having to reschedule fixtures over the period 2020-2023 – it has truly been a jigsaw puzzle for world cricket administrators to try to make the pieces fit,” Warren Deutrom, CEO of Cricket Ireland said. “We look forward to the season ahead and thank our touring opponents for working with us on this restructured season.”Ireland is currently still allowing South Africans into the country, although they are required to spend 14-days in quarantine on arrival. It has not been confirmed if the South African team will be subject to the same requirements but with the tour still five months away, it will likely depend on the status of the pandemic. South Africa are also exploring the possibility of rescheduling last year’s postponed two-Test and five T20I visit to the Caribbean as well as travelling to Sri Lanka and India in the winter.

Iqbal picked up 3 for 16 before Clarke’s 23-ball 46 reduced the chase to a formality

Danyal Rasool20-Feb-2021Last year’s win was no fluke, and this year’s title defence is no surrender. That was the emphatic message Karachi Kings sent out not just to the hapless Quetta Gladiators, whom they thrashed by seven wickets in the inaugural PSL match of this season, but also to the rest of the teams. The Kings might have copped criticism for letting go of Mohammad Rizwan in the off season, but it was the new wicketkeeping recruit Joe Clarke who was the star of the show for Imad Wasim’s side, taking four catches and blitzing 46 off 23 balls to tear the game away from the Gladiators.The win was initially set up by the Kings bowlers – emerging player Arshad Iqbal chief among them – who punctured the Gladiators with regular wickets throughout the innings, and in the end, bowled them out for 121 in 18.2 overs.After being put in, Quetta, somewhat curiously, opened the batting with captain Sarfaraz Ahmed alongside Tom Banton rather than the more obvious option of Chris Gayle. Banton’s stay was ephemeral, falling to a low-percentage hoick in the first over. Once Gayle settled himself in, he looked the most serious outlet for a potentially match-winning total for Quetta Gladiators. However, no one kept him company, and the Jamaican himself managed more of a cameo before falling for 39 off 24. The next highest for the Gladiators was Azam Khan’s 17.Mohammad Hasnain did briefly threaten to make things interesting by removing Sharjeel Khan in a fiery first over, but a loose one from Qais Ahmed that Clarke spanked for 24, apart from three wides, removed any realistic chances of victory. Hasnain returned to remove Babar Azam midway through the innings, but by this time the Kings only needed to go through the motions to get their title defence off to a resounding start, and when the winning runs were scored, they had 37 balls to spare.Star of the day

While the Gladiators pace unit got most of the attention, with Naseem Shah, Mohammad Hasnain and Usman Shinwari in its ranks, the Kings’ emerging quick Iqbal ended up outshining the lot. Called in to bowl with Gayle having primed himself with 18 off Aamer Yamin, Iqbal held his nerve in the opening salvo, allowing just four in the seventh over. He wasn’t called on again until Ben Cutting and Azam Khan threatened to cut loose; the pair had just taken 11 off a Wasim over.What did Iqbal do? Bowl a wicket-maiden, naturally. He varied the pace beautifully as Cutting and Azam struggled to get a read on the young bowler’s plans before Azam swatted him straight to Daniel Christian in frustration. In his next over, Iqbal sent Cutting’s leg stump cartwheeling, and dismissed Hasnain in his final over, with figures of 4-1-16-3 not flattering him in the slightest.Tom Banton watches on as he is about to be caught by Joe Clarke•AFP via Getty Images

Miss of the day
Erm, the Gladiators batsmen in general? More specifically, Banton. The Gladiators would have plumped for Banton at the auction assuming his miserable outing last year with Peshawar Zalmi was something of an anomaly. But with the young Englishman having skipped the Big Bash League this year, there’s little recent data to gauge his form, and what was on offer today might worry Gladiators.Perhaps too eager to impose himself, he smashed Wasim to cow corner off the second ball he faced, before attempting an ugly smear over midwicket to a ball he never came close to the pitch of. It went a mile up and back down to the wicketkeeper, continuing Banton’s struggles in the PSL. Whether he shakes them off could be pivotal to the Gladiators’ chances in the tournament.Honourable mention

With that boyish innocent smile, the flowing wavy hair and the easy elegant, slender high-arm action, Hasnain can be the most marketable of Pakistan’s fast bowlers once he really gets his career underway. He was at that luscious best today, even if in a losing cause, pace and swing both on offer first up that proved too hot for Sharjeel. He had Joe Clarke on toast off his first delivery, unlucky not to find either the outside edge of the bat or the stumps. Despite little support from the other end, he then dismissed Azam, too, and when he was done, he had leaked just 18 off his four overs. The Gladiators might have had a bad day, but they will have that positive to take out of it.

Rassie van der Dussen and Quinton de Kock also chip in with vital half-centuries in big batting effort

Danyal Rasool04-Apr-2021South Africa survived an astonishing onslaught from Fakhar Zaman to secure a series-levelling 17-run win against Pakistan in Johannesburg.Zaman’s 155-ball 193 was heroic, a one-man show in the truest sense of the word because no other Pakistani managed more than 31 in a chase of 342. It is the highest score in a chase in ODI cricket history, and the second highest ever in a losing cause. Zaman also surpassed Herchelle Gibbs’ 175 to record the highest individual score at this venue.After several stutters, South Africa did manage to get over the line, thanks to a commanding batting performance spearheaded by the top order. Captain Temba Bavuma top-scored with 92, while Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen and David Miller each brought up half-centuries, allowing South Africa to post 341 in the face of a listless bowling effort from the visitors.Pakistan were never really in the chase right until the final 15 overs; once Zaman brought up his first ODI hundred in two years, he would run riot. Despite finishing with the highest score by a Pakistani in ODI cricket in South Africa, it always looked like an unassailable task, and in truth, proved so by some distance in the end.Pakistan have never chased a total of this magnitude in ODI cricket, and a daunting challenge became even tougher when Imam-ul-Haq, one of the protagonists for the side at SuperSport Park, fell in the second over. For a brief while, Pakistan looked to have course-corrected with a 63-run partnership that exuded easy elegance from the bats of both Azam and Zaman. But Pakistan’s bane on Friday, Nortje, would return to haunt them once more, exploiting a vulnerability against the short ball that brought about the seismic wicket of Azam in his first over. Two balls later, he would dismiss Mohammad Rizwan, and just like that, Pakistan’s most in-form batsmen had been taken out of the equation.It was an uncharacteristic innings through the middle from Zaman, as he reined in his belligerent instincts while the middle order crumbled around him. Danish Aziz was no match for Nortje’s short lengths, while Shadab Khan and Asif Ali had little to contribute. Around that time, Zaman decided to go hell for leather once more, bringing up a 70-ball half-century with a colossal six over square leg.That point on, the shackles were off, and even as wickets fell and the asking rate rose, runs off Zaman’s bat came freely. In what seemed like a flash, he had brought up a hundred, and farmed the strike while plundering South Africa’s bowlers, particularly the spinner Tabraiz Shamsi. Temba Bavuma persisted with him for an over too many even as Zaman singled him out and at one point struck five sixes in six balls off the spinner, bringing a ballooning asking rate back under control.The central problem at this point for Pakistan was there were three number 11s at the other end, with Shaheen, and then Rauf, unable to turn the strike over reliably enough. Zaman was forced to take on ever increasing responsibility, turning down singles in a contest where every run was priceless. Thirteen runs off the 48th over brought the equation down to 38 off 12, and individual records were tumbling. By now, Zaman had overtaken Herschelle Gibbs’ 175 in that famous chase of 434, 15 years ago, posting the highest individual score at the Wanderers. In the present, a disciplined penultimate over from Andile Phehlukwayo only allowed seven. A direct hit from long off from the first ball of the final over finally put an end to Zaman’s resistance, and South Africa were home and dry at last.Conditions here were quite similar to the one at Centurion two days ago. Azam called correctly again and elected to field on a belter. But this time, there was no sedate start from Aiden Markram, who set the tone with a classy cameo in the first powerplay, his 34-ball 39 ensuring Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Hasnain were unable to build much pressure early on. Once he fell, driving on the up off Faheem Ashraf, de Kock took more of a leadership role.Haris Rauf was smashed for a six over fine leg and a boundary in the same over, while neither he nor Bavuma allowed Shadab, whose nosediving form shows little sign of recovering, to settle. Even Afridi, brought back a little earlier than Pakistan might have planned owing to the lack of wickets that fell, suffered punishment in his second spell, with de Kock taking 18 runs off his two overs.There was little incision at the top from Pakistan, and while the rawness of Hasnain means there will be ups and downs, he was especially indifferent on Sunday. While Bavuma and the irrepressible van der Dussen were in full flow, Pakistan looked like they had reverted to going through the motions; discussions between captain and bowler were few and far between, and slot balls and full tosses abounded.Van der Dussen brought up his half-century with a sweep to midwicket, following it up with another six and four off the hapless Hasnain. But with the South African going after just about every ball by this stage, he would hole out in the same over to long on, his 37-ball 60 having pushed what looked like a 300 total past 330. Bavuma was unselfish at the other end, continuing to go for high-risk shots even as a first hundred as captain beckoned, and found deep midwicket just eight short of the milestone.By this time, Pakistan’s sloppiness was infectious, as Ashraf leaked 13 off one ball when a no-ball and the free hit were dispatched for six by David Miller whose 27-ball 50 further damaged the visitors. Rauf did manage to pick up a couple of late wickets that slowed South Africa in the final few overs, but Miller would compensate for it by plundering 19 off Afridi’s final over. In a game that ultimately only ended in a 17-run win, it turned out every one of those late blows would come in handy.

Will there be no South Africa in international cricket? If yes, why? Is there no way things can change?

Firdose Moonda23-Apr-2021Is it the end of cricket in South Africa?
It’s possible, at least for a while. If the government gazette containing the minister’s proposed interventions is published, then CSA will no longer be officially recognised as the game’s governing body in the country, and can no longer claim to be in charge of national teams or to hand out national colours.So South Africa won’t have national cricket teams anymore?

Potentially, yes. If CSA is no longer recognised, then existing structures, as we know them, would cease to exist. Another governing body could, possibly, be formed but it would need to be recognised by both the South African sports ministry and the ICC in order to represent South Africa in international cricket.That sounds… massive!
Yes, because this could, for example, mean sponsors and broadcasters walk away and once they do, it’s going to be difficult to get them back even if cricket does manage to get itself back on its feet. And the ripple effect will ultimately be felt not only by the players but by the broader community that makes a living off cricket. Think the stadium security guard or vendor or schools’ and development coaches.Who’s going to run cricket in the country if not CSA?

Who knows? It’s difficult to know how things will work if the governing body is not recognised. This has not happened to a sport in South Africa to date and is not something cricket has dealt with at its highest, most prominent levels.Hang on, remind me – why is this happening?
Essentially because some administrators are against having a new CSA board, which has a majority of independent members. Specifically, there are five presidents of provincial associations on the members’ council, who do not want to agree to having this majority independent board and have not fully explained why.You’re losing me. What is the members’ council?

There are two centres of power in CSA: 1. the board of directors, who resigned last year and have been replaced by an interim board put in place by the government, and 2. the members’ council, which is made up of the 14 provincial presidents and has the highest decision-making authority in the organisation. Some of these presidents also sat on the resigned board and will sit on a new board (but not all of them). Following?Sports minister Nathi Mthethwa is the man calling the shots right now•Gallo Images/Getty Images

Just about. Go on.
Now, prior to the board’s resignation, seven of the members’ council sat on the board, which had five independent directors. The new proposal for the composition of the board – which dates back to 2012, when CSA had another governance review following the Gerald Majola bonus scandal – suggests four members’ council presidents and seven independents. In short, the members’ appears to be unhappy that their representation on a new board is cut and is trying to cling to that power, though we don’t know for sure because they haven’t explained much. Probably important to note at this point is that board members earn Rand 450,000 (US$ 31,500 approx.) a year for attending meetings and enjoy several privileges including traveling to games.Okay, so it’s a power struggle in which the government has now gotten involved.

Long story short, yes.Hasn’t this been going on for a while?
Forever, it would seem.That long story is that the problems stem from the failed T20 Global League in 2017, which saw the exit of then-CEO Haroon Lorgat. Enter Thabang Moroe, under whom CSA spiralled into several crises including a high-profile disagreement with the South African Cricketers Association, issues with broadcasters, and various governance issues. A forensic report found that Moroe had spent large amounts of board money on alcohol and service providers who did not deliver those services. Moroe has since been dismissed and the board that appointed him resigned (though some of them are still part of the members’ council because… see above). But the effects of his time in charge remain. CSA is facing serious financial losses that will run into millions of Rands.In trying to sort out this mess – with the involvement of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committtee (don’t ask, but this might help) – South Africa’s sports minister Nathi Mthethwa has intervened. Last November, he imposed an interim board on CSA, which was tasked with, among other things, putting in place the framework for a majority independent board. Which brings us back to today.You said something about a government gazette needing to be published for this to happen…
Yes, in theory, CSA continues to be the officially recognised governing body for cricket in South Africa until the gazette carrying the minister’s acts is published. That usually happens on Fridays, which means that April 30th (next Friday) is the date when CSA could officially ceases to be recognised. Things could change between now and then, of course, because it’s possible that the members’ council agrees to that board composition within the week, but we’re right at the very edge.

Mitchell Santner, meanwhile, has been ruled out of the next game with a finger injury

Deivarayan Muthu08-Jun-2021New Zealand spin-bowling allrounder Mitchell Santner has been sidelined from the Edgbaston Test with a finger injury. His captain Kane Williamson is under an injury cloud, having sustained an elbow niggle ahead of the second Test, which starts on June 10. New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said that the team management would take the final call on Williamson on the eve of the match.Trent Boult, their premier seamer, however, has been lined up for a Test return after having linked up with the squad for his first training of the tour at Lord’s on Saturday. Boult also trained with the group at Edgbaston two days out of the second Test.Santner had suffered a cut to his spinning finger during the intra-squad match, in the approach to the tour, and then aggravated his injury by playing the first Test at Lord’s. Santner, who was the only frontline spinner in either team in the opening Test, had gone wicketless in 23 overs, conceding 68 runs. He served up eight full-tosses in that game, including a chest-high beamer, according to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, giving up 16 runs. Stead conceded that the cut to Santner’s left index finger disrupted his rhythm.”People probably would have seen him open up the piece on his finger again; he had quite a bit of blood on his pants,” Stead said of Santner. “That came from the cut he originally had. We thought it had healed okay, but obviously we needed a little bit more time for that to happen and it definitely hampered his ability in the match as well.”New Zealand have two other left-arm fingerspinners in their squad to replace Santner – Ajaz Patel and Rachin Ravindra. Patel, himself, is working his way back into international cricket after a calf injury; he had last played Test cricket in February 2020. Ravindra, the Wellington batting allrounder, meanwhile, is uncapped in international cricket.As for Williamson, this isn’t the first time this year that he’s dealing with an elbow complaint. He had earlier been ruled out of the ODI series against Bangladesh at home and subsequently missed the start of IPL 2021.”His [Williamson’s] elbow is still niggling him a wee bit,” Stead said. “We’ve had some more treatment on that and we just want to make sure it’s the best thing for him, playing in this match versus taking a bit more time to be ready and training the way he needs to train.”Mitchell Santner is nursing a finger injury•Getty Images

Stead, though, welcomed Boult back into the set-up, all but confirming his comeback. After the IPL was suspended, the left-arm seamer opted to return home to spend time with his family in Mount Maunganui rather than head straight to the UK along with the rest of the New Zealand contingent. Before the Lord’s Test, Stead had indicated the turnaround for Edgbaston would be too tight for Boult but updated quarantine protocols have allowed him to train immediately after arriving which has advanced his preparations by a few days.”Trent’s back and available to be selected and it’s likely we’ll play him in this game as well,” he said. “It’s good news for us. Things did change when he got here or from the information we had initially. So, think it’s the best thing for Trent to get out there, get the Dukes ball in his hand and show us what he’s capable of.”With an eye on the forthcoming World Test Championship [WTC] final against India, which begins on June 18 at the Ageas Bowl, Stead reckoned that the rest of the attack could also be rotated. Tim Southee, Neil Wagner and Kyle Jamieson all had solid workouts at Lord’s, bowling 40 or more overs each across both innings, despite the entire third day’s play being wiped out by a persistent drizzle. Matt Henry, Doug Bracewell and Southland’s Jacob Duffy, who is also uncapped, are the potential seam-bowling replacements for the frontline quicks. Stead said that they would lock in their XI on Wednesday.”They [bowlers] have all scrubbed up pretty well, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they will play in the next match,” Stead said. “With an eye to the [WTC] final we want to make sure the key bowlers who we think will take part in that game are fresh, raring to go and ready for that first ball of the match versus India.”We’ve got a squad of 20 obviously. So, a lot of guys have played Test cricket before. Matt Henry is here, Daryl Mitchell is here, Doug Bracewell, Ajaz Patel…there’re guys in and around the squad who’ve played for us in the past. So, again, we’re having those discussions with them about what’s best for them given training loads, playing loads and readiness for that match.”

A makeshift Surrey side saw their quarter-final hopes take a hit with nine-wicket defeat

ECB Reporters' Network09-Jul-2021Kent Spitfires restricted Surrey to just 128 for 7 before strolling to a nine-wicket victory at the Kia Oval and strengthening their position at the top of the Vitality Blast’s South Group.Daniel Bell-Drummond went on to a 37-ball 53 not out after he and Joe Denly put on 64 in eight overs for the first wicket to set up a comfortable chase that ended with 4.3 overs to spare. Ollie Robinson also struck a breezy unbeaten 45 from 30 balls and Kent have now won eight of their 12 group matches while Surrey look unlikely to qualify for a quarter-final place.Jordan Clark managed an unbeaten 37 from 31 balls, and there were brief flurries from Jamie Overton and Tim David as 86 came from the last ten overs, but otherwise Surrey’s batsmen could not handle an impressive Kent attack on a sluggish surface. Adam Milne, the New Zealand fast bowler, was outstanding both with the new ball and in the final overs to take 2 for 13.Surrey, put in, were in trouble even before the end of thePowerplay, in which they failed to hit a single boundary while staggering to 17 for 3.
Jamie Smith top-edged a pull at Milne to extra cover in the second over, Ben Geddes fell for 8 when pulling Fred Klaassen’s left-arm seam to deep midwicket and Laurie Evans departed for 6, skying Matt Milnes’ first ball to midwicket at the start of the sixth over.After nine overs Surrey had only reached 28 for 3 but then came three successive boundaries – the first of the innings – as Rory Burns first missed with a reverse swipe at Jack Leaning’s offspin, the ball running away for four byes, before connecting with two more reverse sweeps to ironic cheers from a 5000 crowd.Qais Ahmed bowled four overs of legspin for 22, although he was driven straight for six by David, and Surrey slumped further to 59 for 5 in an extraordinary 12th over.David, a big-hitting 25-year-old Australian-raised Singapore international signed for two Blast games in place of injured New Zealand paceman Kyle Jamieson, clubbed Darren Stevens for a big six before being brilliantly held by a diving Jordan Cox at long on for 20 from the next ball.Stevens found himself on a hat-trick when Burns (19) was then magnificently caught left-handed by Klaassen, flinging himself to intercept a sliced cut at short third man, but Overton defended his first ball before swinging Stevens for the first of his three sixes in the veteran allrounder’s second over.Klaassen and Denly were hit for Overton’s other sixes before he mishit a knee-high full toss from Milne to extra cover to go for 23 in the 17th over.