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“They’ve gained a lot of experience; they’ll only go from strength to strength from here,” Bumrah says of the newcomers to the Test team

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jan-2025Jasprit Bumrah, India’s stand-in captain, expressed disappointment at not being able to have a crack at Australia on what he described as “the spiciest wicket of the series” in Sydney.Bumrah didn’t bowl in India’s defence of 162 following back spasms that flared up during play on Saturday. Bumrah went for precautionary scans and didn’t return to take the field for the remainder of the Test. He finished the series with 32 wickets in nine innings at 13.06, to be named Player of the Series.”It’s a little frustrating, but sometimes you’ve got to respect your body, you can’t fight your body,” Bumrah told Isa Guha on the official broadcast after the game. “It’s a little disappointing in the end because I probably missed out on the spiciest wicket of the series, but that’s the way it is. Sometimes, you have to accept it and move forward.”Related

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Bumrah revealed that he had gone off on the second day after he “felt a little discomfort, [and] wanted to check it out what’s happening in the first innings when I came back from my second spell”.In Bumrah’s absence, Prasidh Krishna, playing his first Test on tour, and Mohammed Siraj helped polish off Australia’s lower order to secure a slender four-run lead. In the second innings, they managed to pick up four wickets but fell short in the end.”The chat was about belief, the other bowlers stepped up in the first innings,” Bumrah said when asked about their plans in their small defence. “With one bowler short, the others had to take extra responsibility. This morning, the chat was about having belief, and that we are good enough and if we create enough pressure, we will be able to do some damage.”Reflecting on the tour on the whole, Bumrah said there were a lot of learnings for the younger group to take back, especially in handling different situations under pressure.As many as 15 of the 17 players in the squad got opportunities in the series. India handed a Test cap to Harshit Rana, while Prasidh returned to play a Test after nearly a year after Akash Deep’s injury. Siraj featured in all five Tests, while Yashasvi Jaiswal, who began the series with a century in Perth, was among the standout batters along with KL Rahul.”So, a lot of ifs and buts, because the whole series was well fought, and today as well we were in game; it was not like it was totally one-sided,” Bumrah said. “This is how Test cricket goes; in the nervy moments, whichever team holds their nerve for the longest and sticks together and tries to find a way out of that will win the series.”I think it was a well-fought series, a lot of learnings for us and experience that our players have gained who’ve come here for the first time. Being in the game for longer, creating pressure, sometimes absorbing pressure when wickets are difficult, sometimes playing to the situation.”Sometimes all these learnings are important. Young players come up and they score runs, have success through a certain way, but in Test cricket you have to sometimes adapt to the situation, make your game work in a different manner as well. These learnings will help us in the future.”They’ve gained a lot of experience; they’ll only go from strength to strength from here. Australia is not the easiest place to play cricket, but we’ve shown we have a lot of talent in our group, it’s all about adapting and learning new things about your game. I’m sure a lot of youngsters are keen, obviously they are disappointed we weren’t able to win the series, but they want to take the learning forward.”Jasprit Bumrah and Gautam Gambhir hatch a plan•Getty Images

Bumrah did ‘everything possible’, says Gambhir

Speaking at the press conference after the series, India head coach Gautam Gambhir summed up Bumrah’s performance both as bowling spearhead and a leader in the group as “absolutely outstanding”.”I think he’s led the attack really well. He’s bowled a lot of overs. And whenever he’s come on to bowl, he’s done a fabulous job,” Gambhir said. “He’s taken wickets. He’s done everything possible he could from his side. But then he’s been helped a lot from the other end as well.”He’s been helped by Mohammed Siraj. He’s been helped by some of the young boys as well, like Harshit Rana in the first two Test matches, Akash Deep… Ultimately, yes, you will always see the wickets and runs. But yeah, there has been a lot of other contributions as well. But from Jasprit Bumrah’s point of view, he had a phenomenal series.”

Middle-order batsman Ajinkya Rahane has been ruled out of the fourth and fifth Tests against England with a finger injury

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Dec-20161:01

Quick Facts: Manish Pandey

Middle-order batsman Ajinkya Rahane has been ruled out of the fourth and fifth Tests against England with a finger injury, while fast bowler Mohammed Shami is an uncertain starter for the Mumbai Test, beginning Thursday.Karnataka batsman Manish Pandey replaced Rahane in the squad, while Shardul Thakur was brought in as back-up for Shami, who has a sore knee. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is likely to be the first-choice replacement in the XI for Shami, while Karun Nair is likely to take Rahane’s place.Pandey and Thakur had to be pulled out of ongoing Ranji Trophy matches and flown to Mumbai. Pandey was playing against Maharashtra in Mohali, and Thakur against Punjab in Rajkot.The BCCI said Rahane had suffered “an avulsion fracture on his right index finger” after getting hit by a ball during a practice session on the eve of the Mumbai Test. He managed only 63 runs in five innings in this series. The board also said that Shami’s fitness was being monitored and a decision on his inclusion in the XI would be taken on the morning of the match.Shami has had trouble with his leg since the start of the series, when he was seen clutching his hamstring on the first day in Rajkot. The team management, however, said he was merely suffering from cramp and he continued to play the remainder of that Test and those that followed in Visakhapatnam and Mohali. Shami was especially potent with reverse-swing, taking 10 wickets at an average of 25.20.If Shami doesn’t make it, India are almost certain to play Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who took a five-wicket haul in the last Test he played. That was why Kohli wasn’t too worried about Shami’s availability.”If you see, whoever has stepped in has given match-winning performances,” he said. “You speak about Bhuvi, he has come in at St Lucia once and in Kolkata once, and both times he has picked up five wickets, and he has been the match-winner for us. I am not worried because the guys sitting outside are waiting for opportunities. It is not like that they are not looking forward to playing, which is I think a great sign for the team and that is why whoever has played at any stage has given those performances for us. As I said they are pretty keen to step on to the field to grab the opportunity with both hands.”Pandey, Rahane’s replacement in the squad, had himself hurt his finger while playing a Ranji Trophy game in November. He returned to action last week, making 75 and 58 against Saurashtra. Thakur, meanwhile, has been a more consistent presence this season, claiming 13 wickets in six matches, including a six-wicket haul against Bengal last week. He had been picked in the 17-man squad for the four-Test tour of the West Indies in July-August, but did not get a game.

Root’s double-wicket burst towards close plus Tongue’s two wickets meant all was not grim for England

Andrew McGlashan28-Jun-2023Steven Smith and Travis Head gave the opening-day honours to Australia at Lord’s, but the scorecard was not quite as bleak for England as appeared likely shortly before the close until Joe Root burgled a double-wicket over after what had been a largely uninspired performance from the home side.It may only have been day six of the series, but as Smith and Head were combining to add 118 in a bit over 20 overs for the fourth wicket, it felt as though Australia were taking a significant step towards having a stranglehold in the Ashes. A close-of-play total of 339 for 5 may yet end up proving decisive but England were clinging on.Head had played in what has become his trademark style as he flayed 77 from 73 balls, catching up with Smith who had a 43-run head start when he joined him at the crease. But having deposited Root down the ground he could not resist trying again and this time he was beaten convincingly, although Nathan Lyon will have noted the turn on offer.Two balls later Cameron Green played a very out-of-character hoick, miscuing Root to mid-off, and Australia’s good work was in danger of unravelling. However, Smith remained immovable and was closing in on Test century No. 32 on the ground where he was felled and concussed by Jofra Archer four years ago. As had been expected, there was not going to be two Tests in a row where he and Marnus Labuschagne did not contribute.David Warner, riding a little bit of luck along the way, had helped lay the early foundation under slate-grey skies which looked tailor-made for bowling although the surface itself was much less green than the days leading into the game. When he departed shortly after lunch, during a terrific over from the recalled Josh Tongue, England threatened to hit back but first Smith and Labuschagne, then Smith and Head shut them out before Root’s late incisions.David Warner already has crossed his tally of Ashes 2019•Getty Images

On an overcast morning where light drizzle and a pitch invasion by Just Stop Oil protesters, which required orange powder to be removed from the square, caused a couple of delays Ben Stokes was happy to insert Australia but England failed to take advantage of conditions. As at Edgbaston, catching – this time from the slip cordon – was one of the key reasons.Usman Khawaja, on 1, survived a low edge to first slip which just reached Root. Then a much more clear-cut chance escaped Ollie Pope at fourth from Warner off Stuart Broad when he had 20. Dismissal No. 16 went begging. Pope later spent much of the day off the field nursing a shoulder injury after diving to intercept a ball.Although Australia did not initially race away with the scoring – they were 39 for 0 after 17 overs – they had weathered the early window, albeit with a little bit of good fortune going their way. Warner had not been afraid to try the unconventional, twice stepping outside off stump to effectively sweep Broad, the first of which brought smiles between the batter and bowler.Warner, who passed his tally from the 2019 Ashes in three innings this time, scored more freely than Khawaja and it appeared the pair would take Australia to lunch without loss. However, Tongue, whose first three overs had cost 24 – including a hooked six by Warner to reach fifty – brought one back down the slope and Khawaja judged poorly as he left it alone.Josh Tongue cleaned up both Usman Khawaja and David Warner on either side of lunch•Getty Images

After the interval, Tongue got the better of Warner during an over where he produced an inside edge that narrowly missed the stumps then sliced him in half with a delivery that went for four byes before bowling one a touch fuller to obliterate the middle and leg stumps. Warner, though, has done enough to ensure he gets the rest of the Ashes, and probably the Sydney farewell he has mapped out.Labuschagne, coming off 0 for 13 at Edgbaston, still did not appear quite at his best but did not have to front up to Broad early – he had faced 29 balls by the time Broad was brought on. Broad’s comeback over involved drama with Smith who began by taking consecutive boundaries and was then given caught behind but the DRS showed daylight between bat and ball.Labuschagne started to find his groove with three boundaries in an over off Broad and another brace off Stokes as the scoreboard rattled along. Then he, too, made use of the DRS when given lbw shouldering arms to Broad against one which nipped down the slope but was shown to be going over off stump. Two overs later, England used a review against Labuschagne, but the ball had been trapped off the inside edge.The partnership had just passed 100 shortly after tea when Ollie Robinson found Labuschagne’s outside edge to give England an opening. But they bowled poorly to Head and he was away to a flying start by dispatched two short, wide deliveries from Robinson through the off side.In the blink of an eye Head was at a run-a-ball and though the ball occasionally flew past his outside edge there was plenty crunched out of the middle – some of his timing through the leg side was exquisite. Smith, as he was during the World Test Championship final against India, was happy to ride in Head’s slip stream as his fifty came in 102 balls during which he became the second-fastest to 9000 Test runs.Tongue, the quickest of England’s attack, was briefly used for a short-pitched plan against Head with the field spread far and wide but he threaded the gap on the leg side to reach fifty from 48 balls. A repeat of the Gabba, where he scored a century in the final session of the day, was on the cards before the spirit of adventure brought his downfall. Smith and Alex Carey negotiated the closing stages, including two overs against the second new ball, but while Australia are not out of sight England are already playing catch up.

‘Never thought I’d live to see the day where West Indies are trying to qualify for major tournaments,” assistant coach says

Deivarayan Muthu17-Jun-2023Former West Indies captain and current assistant coach Carl Hooper has called the team’s current position “distressing”. West Indies are ranked tenth right now in ODI cricket, below Bangladesh and Afghanistan, and will have to compete with nine other teams in Zimbabwe to qualify for the ODI World Cup, which will begin in October in India.Earlier last year, West Indies had failed to make it out of the qualifier to the T20 World Cup proper in Australia, losing to Scotland and Ireland.”The position hasn’t changed,” Hooper said ahead of the ODI World Cup qualifier in Harare. “The point is can we go lower than this? Yes, we can go lower than this and if we don’t qualify, we go a step lower. Never thought that I’d live to see the day where West Indies are trying to qualify for major tournaments. I sat in Australia, and we struggled to get through it in the T20s and here we are in Zimbabwe.Related

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“No disrespect to the other teams, but we’re playing against the likes of the USA, Nepal and Scotland. Even Afghanistan is ahead of us, and Bangladesh has gone ahead of us. So, this is distressing, and can we go lower? Yes, we can go lower. This game continues to remind you that until you start doing the right things, you can go lower. As I said before, I never thought I would live to see this day, but here I am in Zimbabwe, starting a game on Sunday. We’ve got to try and beat the USA.”After West Indies crashed out of the T20 World Cup in Australia, Phil Simmons decided to step down as head coach and then Nicholas Pooran also gave up white-ball captaincy. Daren Sammy, Shai Hope, Hooper and Co have tuned up for the World Cup Qualifier with a 3-0 sweep of the UAE earlier this month. West Indies have been bolstered further by the return of their IPL stars who had rested during the UAE tour.”We’re ready. I mean you get a feel, and you get a vibe for the energy in the team,” Hooper said. “I think Daren Sammy, as you know, is a fabulous, inspirational leader. Now he has been tasked, trying to get West Indies into the qualification, which will be massive for us. So, the energy so far in Dubai and with the other boys joining us here in Zimbabwe has been great. We’re looking forward to the game on Sunday and I’m sure we will do well.”Nicholas Pooran and Shai Hope are among the senior players in the side•AFP/Getty Images

Hooper was also pleased with how some of West Indies’ players have adapted quickly to the Harare conditions, despite not getting enough game time in the IPL. Allrounder Romario Shepherd, who got just one game at Lucknow Super Giants, hit the ground running in Harare, smacking 53 off 34 balls and then bowling three overs in West Indies’ 91-run victory over Scotland in the warm-ups. Rovman Powell, who played just three matches for Delhi Capitals for the IPL, got cracking with 105 off 55 balls, including eight sixes and as many fours, in West Indies’ 114-run win over UAE.”What we’ve tried to do is guys who are going to be an integral part of our campaign get a chance to spend some time in the middle,” Hooper said. “We’ve had quite a few players coming from the IPL. I believe five or six of the boys…while they’ve been involved in the IPL haven’t played a lot apart from maybe Pooran. So, the important thing was to get them some time in the middle.”Having said that, the games that we’re going to play here in Zimbabwe are going to start pretty early in the morning. So, we noticed that in the two games we bowled, it certainly swung around. So, we’ve addressed that, and we’ve been having conversations, so there’s not much you can do technically but you can I suppose raise an awareness of conditions and how we might approach them to get the best out of the batting group.”

No team has won two games in a row in the tri-series so far, and they are all tied on points. Australia and South Africa will want to be the ones moving ahead

The Preview by Brydon Coverdale18-Jun-2016

Match facts

Sunday, June 19

Start time 1300 local (1700GMT)1:15

South Africa riding high before Australia game

Big Picture

The points table for this series would be best read by Richie Benaud: 2-2, 2-2, 2-2. That is to say, Australia, South Africa and West Indies have each won two and lost two. Not only that, but after the first two legs of the series in Guyana and St Kitts, every team has beaten every other team once and no more. That will change in Barbados on Sunday, when either Australia or South Africa will jump ahead on the points table and give themselves a strong chance of qualifying for the final.South Africa enter this match buoyant after posting 343 for 4 in their most recent match, a thrashing of West Indies at Warner Park. It was a win centred around Hashim Amla’s century, although Imran Tahir ended up Man of the Match for his seven-wicket haul. Australia are coming off a loss to West Indies in St Kitts. During that match the captain Steven Smith tweaked his quadriceps, and he did not train on Thursday or Friday in Barbados. However, the Australians are confident Smith will be available for Sunday’s game.As a side note, remarkably this is the first ODI to be held at Kensington Oval for more than five years. The most recent was played on May 2, 2011, when West Indies beat Pakistan in a rain-affected game. In fact, if you were to look at the results of the five most recent ODIs at Kensington Oval, Australia’s World Cup final win over Sri Lanka in 2007 would be part of that list. Only four ODIs have been played in Barbados since that final nine years ago. This is Australia’s first one-dayer at the venue since that final with its bad-light fiasco.

Form guide

Australia LWLWL (last five completed games, most recent first)
South Africa WLWLW

In the spotlight

It is only this year that Usman Khawaja has finally been given a decent run at ODI cricket, and his numbers keep growing. A maiden 50 came in New Zealand in February, then 59 against South Africa in St Kitts, then 98 against West Indies at the same venue. Opening in the absence of the injured David Warner, Khawaja has the perfect opportunity to build innings of substance. He just needs to shake off the fielding woes that afflicted him in the previous game, when he dropped two straightforward chances in the first 10 overs.Imran Tahir not only claimed the best figures by a South African in an ODI on Wednesday, he also became the fastest South African to reach the milestone of 100 ODI wickets. Nobody in world cricket has taken more ODI wickets in the past three years than Tahir’s 91 at 24.60, and it is perhaps surprising that he is not ranked higher than No. 5. Given Australia’s well-documented struggles against spin, Tahir will fancy his chances of adding a few more victims to his collection in this game.

Team news

Nathan Coulter-Nile will make way for Mitchell Starc, as Australia continue to manage his workload. Glenn Maxwell, too, is set to return after he was picked in the 12-man squad on the eve of the game in place of Travis Head. Maxwell was dropped for Australia’s two matches in Basseterre after scores of 0 and 3 at the start of the series. The Australians appear confident that Smith will play but if he were to miss out, George Bailey would likely captain the side.Australia (possible) 1 Aaron Finch, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 George Bailey, 5 Mitchell Marsh, 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 James Faulkner, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh HazlewoodSouth Africa’s bowling coach, Claude Henderson, floated the idea of playing three spinners in Barbados, but after their comprehensive win in the previous match they may wish to use the same XI.South Africa (possible) 1 Hashim Amla, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 AB de Villiers (capt), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Farhaan Behardien, 7 Wayne Parnell, 8 Chris Morris, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Tabraiz Shamsi, 11 Imran Tahir

Pitch and conditions

There was some grass evident on the Kensington Oval pitch in the lead-up to the match, but it is expected to be a good batting surface. The players will also need to adjust to the bigger boundaries after the much smaller Warner Park in St Kitts.

Stats and trivia

• No team in this tournament has yet won consecutive matches
• Mitchell Starc needs five wickets to reach 100 in ODIs, and if he does so in his next four games he will be the quickest man in history to the milestone

Quotes

“I know it’s all precautionary and he’ll be ready to go for Sunday’s clash. I’m sure he’s raring to go and to hit a few cricket balls.”
“Barbados, I’ve been told, is a better batting wicket with a bit more bounce. I also believe the boundaries are also a bit bigger. Who knows, do we go in with three spinners, is that an option?”

Aches perhaps for wannabe Ashes keeper, but pains reserved for Yorkshire as Glamorgan take control

Vithushan Ehantharajah04-May-2023There can’t be much Jonny Bairstow and the Archbishop of Canterbury have in common. But for the next few days at least, their hands are of great interest.Different levels, of course. The duties in Westminister Abbey of popping a crown on the head of King Charles III ranks higher than standing up to the stumps for Ben Coad. But even two days earlier and some 195 miles north of Saturday’s Coronation, a different pair of king-making hands were being scrutinised.Thursday’s opening day to this Division Two bout between Yorkshire and Glamorgan by another name was The Much-Anticipated Return of Bairstow, Even with two teams desperate for a first win of the season, this felt as much about one man’s return as it did about a county looking for light to break through the years of dark cloud. And to arrive at the ground in the morning was to know the bright spots were very much to do with one son’s return. Nine months from suffering multiple fractures in his left leg in a freak accident on a golf course, 2022’s Bazball totem was back.It was, in many ways, the perfect scenario. The buzz around the stands dulled slightly when Yorkshire decided to bowl first after winning the toss. And while it was a shame to have to wait to watch Bairstow bat, more insightful was the 71.5 overs spent keeping wicket. Even after a spectacular last summer – 681 runs, four hundreds and an average of 75.66 – his work behind the stumps between now and Tests against Ireland and Australia will guarantee he reclaims a spot in the XI he feels is rightfully his. Ultimately, by taking it away from Ben Foakes.That Yorkshire followed up their removal of Glamorgan for 245 with 62 for 5 of their own leaves more out there for Bairstow. Originally carded at five, he flexed seniority to call on two nightwatchman – Mickey Edwards and Matt Fisher – before having to walk out at 6:36pm for the final two overs anyway. Presumably sending out a third would have been poor form. Either way, a few hours of vintage on Friday Jonny will echo far beyond this match.Before the two sacrificial lambs were three catches of varying degrees of difficulty across a keeping performance that was surprisingly assured. The aches will no doubt come, but there were no pains evident in real-time.The first dismissal got him up and about, in amongst it a matter of minutes after the team huddled beyond the boundary’s edge. Four balls in, a comically loose drive from visiting skipper David Lloyd gave Bairstow an excuse to test out his side-to-side, shuffling to his right to complete the dismissal.Number two gave us a sense of his athleticism, diving to his left to take a spectacular grab with his left-hand a matter of inches off the turf after George Hill had taken Kiran Carlson’s inside edge. The third was as vital to Yorkshire’s cause as it was to the Ashes narrative: Marnus Labuschagne feathering an edge off Hill for 65.The Australian came to the crease with nothing on the board, and together with Sam Northeast dragged Glamorgan out of the Coad-induced hole of 1 for 2. The pair made 83 between them before Northeast, the aggressor, was sent back by Edwards three deliveries after the lunch break, unable to get his bat (and handle) out of a delivery that exploded off a length. Soon afterwards, Coad left the field – this time the explosion was in his groin.Labuschagne had played possum early doors. He took lunch on 19 from 101 deliveries but soon moved to a second half-century of the season just 32 deliveries later. He had just started looking like Test cricket’s number one ranked batter when Hill got one to hold its line off the seam from the Rugby Stand End.This was the one that drew the most emotion from Bairstow, and not just because of their nationalities. Bairstow had been getting in Labuschagne’s ear since the end of the 21st over when the right-hander, on 10, seemingly edged Edwards behind. Labuschagne’s unperturbed demeanour worked well enough to keep the umpire’s finger down, much to the annoyance of the fielding team and those in the stands.That should have been 42 for three, and who knows what that might have meant for Glamorgan this early on in the piece. Contributions from Timm van der Gugten and Billy Root got them within five of what they considered a par first innings score. To have led by 194 with five Yorkshire wickets already is sure more than they would have expected, considering how the day began.Though even Thursday’s conclusion gives the scoreboard an artificial look. Both of Bairstow’s nightwatchmen fell in the space of two balls, meaning he had to come out at anyway under floodlights and with Labuschagne taking the opportunity to return serve now the shoe was on the other foot. Barring a stifled lbw shout second ball, it was largely without issue. A nudge around the corner off his fourth delivery face brought a first first-class run since 49 against South Africa last August, nine months ago.Nine months or “36 weeks” as Bairstow put it on Instagram on Wednesday night. The content of the post spoke of pain, emotions and unanswerable questions during this long stretch on the sideline. What those closest to him knew was distilled in those 115 words for the rest of us.Privately, the 33-year-old’s angst is as much about the crushing disappointment of losing it all when he finally felt settled as it is about having to watch the last six months from home. The T20 World Cup win, the historic Test series in Pakistan, the rise of Harry Brook from place-holder to wunderkind. There’s FOMO, and then there’s whatever Bairstow went through.There were a few byes, notably one for four which wobbled devilishly past his right after sending him left, but nothing worrisome. At times, he was childlike, at one point running over to an advertising board blown onto the field and lying across it, looking to the stands for laughs like this was panto. It duly came.This is only day one of his return, but to see him with a smile on his face, even as he walked off sheepishly at the end, felt like a positive step forward to all this. Even if it moves us closer to an awkward call for the Ashes, that Bairstow is back is only a boost for English cricket.

Andrew Poynter, the Ireland batsman, has announced his retirement from international and inter-provincial cricket at the age of 29

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jun-2016Andrew Poynter, the Ireland batsman, has announced his retirement from international and inter-provincial cricket at the age of 29. He had been part of Ireland’s T20 squad at the World T20 in March, but had not played ODIs since September 2014.Poynter played 19 ODIs and 19 T20Is in an international career that began in 2008. He scored a combined 474 runs and three half-centuries, averaging 19.61 in ODIs and 19.90 in T20Is. He featured in two World T20s, with his brother Stuart, a wicketkeeper-batsman, also part of Ireland’s squad in the 2016 edition.”I have always found it tough to manage an international and inter-provincial cricket career whilst having to juggle running my own business, AP Sports,” Poynter said. “I’m head of youth coaching at Clontarf CC and have other coaching roles as well as a young family.”I feel that I can still perform at inter-provincial level and scored runs this season, but I do not want to stand in someone’s way who has a dream of playing for Leinster Lightning and Ireland.”I am looking forward to developing my coaching career – I have nearly finished my level three award and [am] keen to move to level four in the near future. But most of all spending more time with my family with a bit less stress.”I am so proud of my achievements in an Irish jersey, especially captaining my country and playing in two World Cups. I’ll miss the green jersey but this is the right decision for me. I’d like to thank all involved in giving me the opportunity to pursue my dream.”

Having arrived with a strong bowling attack, this could be Pakistan’s best-ever chance to finally win a Test series in South Africa

The Preview by Liam Brickhill25-Dec-2018

Big picture

South Africa’s first Test of the home summer is one of three starting on Boxing Day around the world, and there are a couple of reasons why this match is definitely worth following amid a packed schedule. For starters, it will be Centurion’s first time hosting the fixture, but that’s not the only historic element to the occasion: having drawn level with Shaun Pollock six months ago in Galle, Dale Steyn needs one more scalp to make the South African Test bowling record his own.Steyn won’t have his bunny Mohammad Hafeez to bank on for the record after the Pakistan opener’s Test retirement, but he’ll be no less motivated to perform in his absence. Steyn will also have the added responsibility of leading the attack without Vernon Philander or Lungi Ngidi as back-up, with both players injured, though the presence of the world’s top-ranked Test bowler, Kagiso Rabada, will help. While Steyn is no less fearsome a prospect at 35 than he was the last time Pakistan toured in 2013, it is likely Rabada who will challenge them most.ALSO READ: Bogeyman Steyn returns to claim his recordWith or without Hafeez, Pakistan are one of the most watchable teams going, whether they’re winning or losing, and they will be chasing a little history of their own. Pakistan have never won a Test series in South Africa and indeed, haven’t won a Test here in more than ten years.This series could present Pakistan their best ever chance to get past South Africa in their backyard. The hosts no longer have the genius of AB de Villiers to call upon, a couple of their preferred bowlers are injured, and Hashim Amla is in the midst of a long dry spell. Pakistan have arrived with a bowling attack capable of exposing any frailties in South Africa’s middle order.The visitors will also still be carrying the pain of their defeat to New Zealand a month ago, when inconsistent batting allowed the visitors to break a 49-year run of away bad luck against them. Victory would provide a salve for those wounds, but South African conditions will not make things any easier for the visiting batsmen, and they will also know that if Steyn does not get them, Rabada will. There is a mountain to climb if Pakistan are to overcome the hosts.

Form guide

South Africa LLWWW (completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan LWLWD

In the spotlight

It’s been a long haul for Dale Steyn to reach the milestone at the brink of which he now stands. He has played only six Tests in the last three years due to injury, but he has found both form and fitness in the lead-up to this series. He held nothing back during the Mzansi Super League, but Steyn has made no secret of the desire for Test success that has kept him motivated. Expect crazy eyes, fire and brimstone with the ball, and a chainsaw celebration to top them all when the moment comes.Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur reckons his team has the bowling power take 20 wickets “comfortably” in any conditions, and he has made similarly bellicose comments about his batsmen. With Fakhar Zaman back to fitness, the opportunity has come for him to build on his debut effort against Australia, when he fell six runs short of a century in his first Test innings. His efforts at the top of the order will be vital to Pakistan’s success. If he can overcome the challenges presented by Steyn and Rabada, the job of the middle order becomes much easier.Fakhar Zaman stretches forward to defend•AFP

Team news

South Africa’s pace cupboard has been stripped by injury, and there have been a couple of niggles in the batting camp too. Theunis de Bruyn has recovered from the back injury he picked up during the Mzansi Super League, but there are still lingering doubts around Temba Bavuma’s hamstring. If Bavuma isn’t passed fit to play, Zubayr Hamza will slot into the XI – becoming the 100th South African to play Test cricket since readmission.South Africa (probable): 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Dean Elgar, 3 Theunis de Bruyn, 4 Hashim Amla, 5 Faf du Plessis (capt), 6 Temba Bavuma/Zubayr Hamza, 7 Quinton de Kock (wk), 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Duanne OlivierPakistan have announced that Shadab Khan and Mohammad Abbas are not fit for the first Test. Fakhar Zaman is going to play, however, and will open the batting with Imam-ul-Haq.Pakistan: 1 Imam-ul-Haq, 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Haris Sohail, 5 Asad Shafiq, 6 Babar Azam, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 8 Mohammad Amir, 9 Yasir Shah, 10 Hasan Ali, 11 Shaheen Afridi

Pitch and conditions

The Centurion pitch is gaining a reputation for being somewhat unpredictable. It’s traditionally pace-friendly, but during the Mzansi Super League the tracks here encouraged spinners, with Tabraiz Shamsi clean-bowling AB de Villiers with one that dipped, gripped and turned through the gate, and the likes of Jeevan Mendis, Shaun von Berg and Sean Williams enjoyed themselves too. The South Africans have apparently not been in touch to ask for a tailor-made track for the first Test, and while the groundsman is aiming for pace and bounce, don’t be too surprised if there’s something in it for the spinners. The first two days of the Test should be hot and sunny, but summer thunderstorms are common on the Highveld this time of year and there could be rain around towards the back end of the game.

Stats and trivia

• A 3-0 win could carry South Africa to second in the Test rankings, and to within one point of India, should India lose the remaining two matches to Australia.
• Shaun Pollock’s Test bowling record of most wickets by a South Africa bowler has stood for ten years.
• Steyn has played 88 Tests to Pollock’s 108
• The last time these two teams played a Test at Centurion, in 2013, South Africa won by an innings and 18 runs

Quotes

“No, I’ve got him out enough times. He’s a fantastic player and we had a great rivalry. I hope he enjoys his time off.”

The case against Scott Kuggeleijn, relating to a rape charge, will have to be re-tried after the jury hearing the case at the Hamilton District Court couldn’t reach a verdict

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Aug-2016The case against Scott Kuggeleijn, relating to a rape charge, will have to be re-tried after the jury hearing the case at the Hamilton District Court couldn’t reach a verdict. A hung jury was declared today, and the matter will be next called up in the court on September 8, the reported.The charge of rape relates to an incident that occurred on May 17, 2015.Kuggeleijn, 24, an allrounder, plays for Northern Districts in New Zealand’s domestic circuit and is the son of former New Zealand Test cricketer Chris Kuggeleijn. He was named Northern Districts’ Player of the Year and Bowler of the Year at the association’s annual awards for 2014-15 season. In the 2015-16 season, Kuggeleijn finished third on the first-class Plunket Shield’s wickets chart overall with 38 wickets at 25.81.Northern Districts acknowledged the outcome of the trial in a statement. Chief executive Peter Roach said: “We fully respect the integrity of the court process. As such, we will refrain from commenting until the case has been concluded.”

Keegan Petersen admits Old Trafford defeat “hurt” with SA batters in search of big runs

Firdose Moonda06-Sep-2022″It hurt,” Keegan Petersen said, referring to defeat at Old Trafford and not the blow Dean Elgar took to his right shoulder on Tuesday morning.The South African captain was the victim of a hostile throw from his own coach, Mark Boucher, which bounced off the front of his shoulder and hit him on the grille. Elgar was later spotted holding the arm awkwardly with an ice pack to the injured area, and he did not take part in any slip catching. But sources confirm his participation in the decider is not in any doubt. If it was, it would really have hurt as South Africa are still searching for a way to put more runs on the board.For Petersen, the task ahead is simple in word, albeit tricky in practice. “It’s obvious. We need to score hundreds up top,” he said. “That hasn’t happened for a while now. The batters have to step up now and get a couple of big scores.”He wouldn’t go as far as to say some of them are playing for their Test places, but with at least one of the reserves certain of a start in Rassie van der Dussen’s injury-enforced absence, the writing must be close to being on the wall. “I don’t think we want to think that way,” Petersen said. “As an individual you’re probably going to feel that way, but I don’t believe there’s pressure from up top that’s going to make us feel that way.”Related

• Sarel Erwee: 'England is where you learn Test cricket as an opener'

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• Stokes inspires England as Anderson, Robinson round up South Africa for innings win

• Bavuma to lead South Africa at T20 World Cup, injured van der Dussen out

Even if van der Dussen had not broken his left index finger in Manchester, his place for The Oval was in doubt. He has gone 13 innings without a half-century and averages 24.17 from his last seven Tests. Either he or Aiden Markram, who averages 15.56 in his last nine Tests, would have had to make way for Ryan Rickelton.With van der Dussen definitely out, Rickelton seems certain to play but South Africa may see fit to make a double-change, with Markram sitting out for Khaya Zondo. Neither Rickelton nor Zondo have extensive Test experience – Rickelton played two Tests against Bangladesh and Zondo debuted as a Covid-19 substitute in the same series but did not bat – and whoever plays will be under scrutiny from the get-go. But if they are given an opportunity, they’re batting for the bigger picture and the opportunity to make a middle-order spot their own.Rickleton comes in off a second hot streak of form, both of which South Africa have failed to capitalise on. He scored three hundreds and a ninety in five first-class innings between November 2021 and January 2022 but did not play against New Zealand on South Africa’s February tour despite Petersen missing the tour after he contracted Covid-19. Now, Rickelton has two hundreds and four fifties in eight innings for Northamptonshire on a short-term deal he got by chance but specifically in preparation to play in England.Ryan Rickelton is likely to play in the third Test at The Oval•Getty Images

Rickelton was gearing up for winter training in South Africa when his old school friend Ricardo Vasconcelos asked him if he was interested in a county stint. With the Test tour in mind, Rickelton jumped at the chance and has been in the country since late June, familiarising himself with conditions, specifically the swing. If he can counter that, as Sarel Erwee said in an interview with ESPNcricinfo, that’s a big part of the challenge overcome.In South Africa, Rickelton is known for his temperament – honed by years of practising in the school nets when his father was sporting director – and ability to build an innings, something no South African batter besides Erwee has done on the tour so far. He has struck the balance between patience and power-hitting and crucially, converts his starts. He has 14 first-class fifties and 12 hundreds. Of Rickleton’s 12 centuries, five are scores of 150-plus. No-one in South Africa’s Test squad has made a score of that significance since Faf du Plessis’ 199 against Sri Lanka in the Boxing Day Test in 2020, 14 Test matches ago.Petersen puts the lack of big runs down to mindset rather than application, and doesn’t yet have a solution other than showing more resolve. “It’s all mental. I don’t think we’ve struggled to get in. It’s getting starts and getting out, that’s the problem,” he said. “It’s the situation in the middle that you have to prepare for, and you know it’s going to be tough. You have to at least try and fight through that tough period. That’s where you have to challenge yourself mentally all the time. There’s no real process of doing that. It’s just going to happen in the moment.”Keegan Petersen: “It’s obvious. We need to score hundreds up top”•AFP/Getty Images

That’s also why Zondo may come into the mix. He doesn’t have Rickelton’s recent numbers but more than enough mental resolve after the anguish of non-selection several years before, his testimony at the Social Justice and Nation-Building hearings and his first double-hundred last summer. As a black African batter, Zondo is also a rarity in South African cricket and will recognise the symbolism of his selection and the importance attached to his performances. In some ways, it may create an unfair burden on him, but he has spoken powerfully about issues of discrimination and his commitment to representing what he believes is right.The final option for South Africa’s line-up is Wiaan Mulder, who joined the squad when van der Dussen was ruled out and adds to their lower-order reserves. Like Rickelton, he has also had good performances in the County Championship, and scored two hundreds and two fifties for Leicestershire in Division Two and is the third-highest run-scorer in the one-day Cup.Mulder’s place in South Africa’s set-up remains confusing – he hasn’t played a white-ball game in a year, has lost ground to Dwaine Pretorius and Wayne Parnell and did not make the T20 World Cup squad. He played Tests as recently as the Bangladesh series in March-April and then missed out on this squad. With Marco Jansen the preferred allrounder, it’s difficult to see how Mulder will get a more regular run but if the opportunity presents itself, given the form he is in, he’s in a good place to grab it.With some parts of their XI unsettled, South Africa are not going into the decider in as stable a position as they may like to. Their batting still presents more questions than answers, it’s still scraping along thanks to several small contributions and it has to improve markedly if it’s going to challenge the best bowling attacks in the world.But it has got them through four series undefeated (West Indies, India, New Zealand and Bangladesh) and is one win (or draw, though South Africa have not drawn a Test since 2017) away from a fifth and it’s as ready as it can be. “This is what we live for as cricketers: series deciders. It’s going to be thrilling,” Petersen said. “There’s a lot on the line for both teams and I think you’re going to get a good game.”