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New Zealand put on an opening stand of 63 after dismissing the last five Australia batsmen for 44 runs

The Report by Daniel Brettig04-Jan-2020Better than Sir Donald Bradman, better than Steven Smith, better than Neil Harvey. Marnus Labuschagne’s astonishing home summer was crowned by a double-century at the SCG that vaulted him to 837 runs for the home Test summer, the highest tally for five matches by any Australian, bettering Harvey’s 834 more than 60 years ago.Australia, however, did not have day two of the New Year’s Test all their own way, as New Zealand conjured the capture of Australia’s last five wickets for 44 runs and then watched Tom Blundell and their stand-in captain, Tom Latham, put together a determined unbeaten opening stand of 63 in the day’s closing 29 overs.Labuschagne’s first Test double-century had helped him form the backbone of Australia’s first innings against a New Zealand side that was reduced to dressing up assistant coach Peter Fulton as a substitute fielder as illness stretched further across the squad.Matthew Wade and Travis Head were tempted into errors in the morning session, but Labuschagne was content to take his time as only 71 runs were compiled by the hosts before lunch. He then waited patiently in the 190s opposite the captain, Tim Paine, who made 35 in a sixth-wicket stand worth 79 runs.But from the moment of Paine’s dismissal, bowled between bat and pad by Colin de Grandhomme, New Zealand fought well to restrict the Australians to 454, with the wristspin of Todd Astle looking particularly dangerous on a pitch that is starting to take some turn for the slow bowlers.Latham and Blundell then weathered the new-ball bursts of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson, before Nathan Lyon gained some disconcerting spin out of a wearing pitch. The tourists’ stocks had been thinned even further by the news that Jeet Raval was now struggling with flu-like symptoms, forcing Fulton into the whites to augment the touring team’s options for fielding and running drinks out to the middle.Their diligence in the field and with the ball was laudable in not allowing the Australians to get away, even as Labuschagne found the occasional boundary. There was one DRS referral by the tourists against Paine in the morning session, but Astle’s suspicion of some pad before bat was proven a long way from reality by replays.Wade had suggested on the first evening he might be the one to push the game forward, but the day was not yet an over old when he knelt down to sweep Will Somerville, misjudged the flight and was bowled. Once he heard the sound of the off stump knocked back, he angrily swatting his bat into the ground.Head was a little more patient, corralled steadily by New Zealand from around the wicket, but he had made only 10 from 42 balls by the time he tried to cut a Matt Henry cross-seam delivery that was too close to his body and offered a thin edge behind to BJ Watling.Labuschagne, though, was not deterred, cruising through to his third 150-plus score of the Test season, and looking good for plenty more. He had one nervous moment near lunch when he inside-edged Astle just past the off stump, but otherwise radiated an air of security that has been rare for Australian cricket in recent years.The scoring rate was lifted by Labuschagne and Paine in early afternoon, as the SCG avoided the worst of hot temperatures of more than 45-degree C in western Sydney. But with Astle gaining extra turn and Wagner and de Grandhomme offering tight spells, Labuschagne was forced to slow right down in the 190s, with Paine even facing boos from the SCG crowd when he was unable to rotate the strike.Eventually, Labuschagne was able to squirt an edge past Watling’s gloves for the first double-century of his Test career. The innings brought a standing ovation from those in attendance and underlined just how much he had grown as a batsman and a cricketer since he first batted at No. 3 for Australia in the corresponding Test at the SCG against India last year.Whatever hopes Paine may have had for extending the partnership were ended when he failed to cover a de Grandhomme offcutter, and Astle soon followed up a sharply bouncing googly by flighting a legbreak nicely enough to coax Labuschagne into offering a leaping return catch.Pattinson was bounced out by Wagner, and Cummins flicked another Astle googly to Glenn Philips at short leg, before some brief Starc entertainment was ended by Wagner. This meant Australia’s last five wickets had gone down for 44, a reminder that Labuschagne’s feats were not achieved in a vacuum.Australia’s fielders were given plenty of reasons to be interested when Cummins’ first ball kept low and beat Blundell, before his second jumped up to hit the opener on the arm from a good length. There was remarkably calm progress form there until closer to stumps when Blundell looked to drive a fuller ball from Cummins and a noise saw Paine use the DRS after Aleem Dar denied the caught-behind appeal. A mark on the HotSpot looked visible but escaped the attention of Nigel Llong, and New Zealand reached stumps unscathed.

Majority of the previous set of office bearers were voted in uncontested, will hold positions for two years

Andrew Fidel Fernando20-May-2021Shammi Silva has been elected Sri Lanka Cricket president again, after he and the majority of the previous set of office bearers were voted in uncontested. They will hold these positions for two years.Silva’s faction, which includes vice-presidents Ravin Wickramaratne and Jayantha Dharmadasa, and secretary Mohan de Silva, did not face any challenges in this election, after an opposing faction withdrew on Tuesday. That faction had comprised Sri Lanka’s first Test captain Bandula Warnapura, Nishantha Ranatunga, and K Mathivanan, and had cited the “lack of a level playing field” in the elections process in the letter indicating their withdrawal. Both Ranatunga and Mathivanan, however, had held elected positions within SLC over the last 10 years.

SLC’s office bearers until May 2023

• Shammi Silva – President

• Ravin Wickaramaratne-Vice-president

• Jayantha Dharmadasa-Vice-president

• Mohan de Silva-Secretary

• Krishantha Kapuwatta-Assistant-secretary

• Lasantha Wickramasinghe-Treasurer

• Sujeewa Godaliyadda-Deputy treasurer

Although Silva’s faction regained their offices, they will now face increased scrutiny after the parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprise (COPE) publicly questioned several financial and administrative lapses within SLC, earlier this year. There is also the matter of the previous board led by Silva having failed to hold elections in time, which led to the sports minister intervening to dissolve the board, and appoint a management committee to run SLC for several weeks until fresh elections were held.The re-election of Silva and his committee also means that initiatives they had begun in their previous tenure – such as the Lanka Premier League – will likely continue through this next tenure. Silva was first elected president in 2019, and had been vice-president before that.

It is not yet clear if Shaw and Suryakumar will be available for the second T20I

Andrew Fidel Fernando26-Jul-2021

Big picture

Sri Lanka have lost 13 of their last 14 completed matches. Although this is not India’s main team – and there may be further changes following Krunal Pandya* testing positive for Covid-19 – they are more experienced in the format than Sri Lanka, and won comfortably on Sunday. So how do the hosts turn this series around? With a T20 World Cup coming up late in the year, how do they turn their whole game around?On Sunday’s evidence, it is Sri Lanka’s middle order that needs the most work. With Dasun Shanaka out of form, and Wanindu Hasaranga having so far failed to provide the kinds of innings he produced in England, they have been short of firepower through the middle and late stages. In the first match, only Minod Bhanuka (10 off 7) and Charith Asalanka (44 off 26) struck at more than 120.India, you suspect, will feel as if they didn’t bat particularly well in that first match, and yet, their bowlers were good enough to defend their 164 for 5. Bhuvneshwar Kumar ended up with the most wickets, but as has been the case through the tour, Yuzvendra Chahal has troubled Sri Lanka most – some flat out failing to read him, others yet to work out how to score against him, as he gains substantial turn from the Khettarama surface and varies his pace effectively. On the batting front, each of the top four – Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Sanju Samson, and Suryakumar Yadav – has been in decent touch this tour.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)Sri Lanka LLLLLIndia WWWLW

In the spotlight

Like any new captain, Dasun Shanaka wants respect in the dressing room. So far on India’s visit, though, he has not quite found his best form with the bat, failing to produce those explosive, finishing innings. It is India’s wristspin that has usually worked against him – Chahal getting him twice in the ODIs, and Varun Chakravarthy having him stumped on Sunday. If he can overcome this apparent weakness, a boundary-laden innings would do Shanaka, and by extension the team, a world of good.Hardik Pandya made headlines in Sri Lanka, first for giving Chamika Karunaratne (who describes Hardik as a role model) his bat before the first match, and then singing along to the Sri Lankan national anthem. This has been enough to win hearts on the island, but you suspect he is not particularly satisfied with that. His batting form seems to have deserted him, and his bowling has been only marginally better. He also dropped a straightforward catch on Sunday. He is generally a cricketer of such soaring confidence it seems almost unthinkable he could be feeling down about his game. But he’s got only two innings left to rediscover some of that hitting ability.

Pitch and conditions

The surface is likely to be good for batting again, though it will take turn, as all Khettarama tracks do. Colombo has had heavy rain on Monday, and there is a chance of bad weather interrupting the match, but there should be enough play to constitute a match.

Team news

Krunal and eight others identified as his close contacts are now isolating to prevent further spread of the virus. So India’s XI for this game is going to involve a lot of guesswork. Additionally, it is not totally clear whether Shaw and Suryakumar are available, given they have been called up to the Test squad in England. But after the first T20I, Dhawan did say he expected them to be available, so we’ll go with his word.India (possible): 1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 Shikhar Dhawan (capt), 3 Sanju Samson, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Ishan Kishan (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 K Gowtham, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Varun ChakravarthyYou would have thought Ashen Bandara batted himself out of the XI with his nine off 19 in the first match, but with Bhanuka Rajapaksa still likely to be out with a finger injury, and Asalanka also doubtful now with a hamstring complaint, Sri Lanka are running out of batters in the squad. Sadeera Samarawickrama may come in.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Avishka Fernando, 2 Minod Bhanuka (wk), 3 Sadeera Samarawickrama, 4 Dhananjaya de Silva, 5 Ashen Bandara, 6 Dasun Shanaka (capt.), 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Isuru Udana, 10 Dushmantha Chameera, 11 Akila Dananjaya

Stats and trivia

• Despite having played 43 innings in the format, Shanaka’s T20I strike rate is 108.
• India have now won 11 of their last 12 completed T20Is against Sri Lanka.
• Sri Lanka’s three top T20I runscorers since 2016 – Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, and Danushka Gunathilaka – are all unavailable for this series. Kusal is out through injury, Gunathilaka is suspended, and Thisara retired earlier in the year.

Former Notts batsman shows his liking for New Road with 23rd first-class ton

Jon Culley at New Road15-May-2019With an impressive history of success across all formats, Riki Wessels was not short of possible destinations when he left Nottinghamshire at the end of last season. Yet he chose Worcester, much to the excitement of supporters who had seen his destructive qualities at first hand last summer.Wessels smashed nine sixes in a Vitality Blast T20 match on this ground in August, in an 18-ball 55 that launched Nottinghamshire towards a five-wicket win, a rare setback in a campaign that ended with Worcestershire being crowned T20 champions for the first time.New Road, he said, was his favourite ground outside Trent Bridge, which showed him to be a man of taste. As if to underline his liking for the place, he celebrated his first Championship appearance here by scoring his 23rd first-class hundred.It was a typically energetic Wessels knock, one made with a constant eye for a gap in the field and a willingness to take the initiative. Before his arrival at the crease, Worcestershire were progressing at barely two an over against a disciplined and testing Durham attack. He doubled that almost on his own.That is not intended as a criticism. Having lost Daryl Mitchell to the second ball of the innings on Tuesday evening, Worcestershire quickly suffered two more setbacks as a lively new ball spell from Matt Salisbury accounted for Tom Fell and nightwatchman Charlie Morris, leaving a rebuilding job in the hands of George Rhodes, whose struggle for form last year meant he had not played a Championship match in 11 months, and Josh Dell, a 21-year-old academy graduate making his debut. Their watchful approach was entirely the correct one.Dell made a handsome start, executing a lovely late cut for four off Matthew Potts to get off the mark. The right-hander, born in the county at Tenbury Wells, was given his chance after carrying his bat for 131 in a Second XI match against a decent Lancashire attack last month, but he was never likely to imagine that the transition would be easy.A Worcestershire collapse in the circumstances would not have been at all surprising but Rhodes and Dell stood firm and taking their side to 57 at lunch with no further losses was a commendable effort.They were unable to maintain their defiance far into the afternoon session before Rhodes was pinned leg before by Ben Raine. But Dell was not to be shifted for some while, raising his bat to warm applause after his eighth boundary, steered to third man off Rushworth, took him to his half-century.By this point he was playing second fiddle to Wessels, who had drawn on his depth of experience to take control away from Durham’s quintet of seamers for the first time in the day. He got into his stride with two consecutive boundaries off Salisbury and did the same to Potts in the next over.Durham turned to Liam Trevaskis, a 20-year-old left-arm spinner playing in only his fourth first-class match, at which Wessels’s eyes lit up. Twice in four deliveries, he lofted the ball into the seats at the Diglis End, the second one ending in a dark corner somewhere and needing to be replaced.Wessels was enjoying himself now. His fifty came up off 56 balls, including a third maximum off the unfortunate Trevaskis, and when he and Dell touched gloves to celebrate a 100-stand in 19 overs, Wessels had 73 of them.Dell’s vigil ended on 61 off 175 balls when he was bowled by a ball of full length from Gareth Harte, before Wessels mistimed one to be caught at midwicket for 118 off 133.Durham took the second new ball when it was due but did not profit from it. Instead, Ross Whiteley punished them for dropping him on five, when Salisbury spilled a boundary catch at long leg that sprang out of his hands as he landed, by muscling his way to an unbeaten 62, adding 85 unbroken with Ben Cox to give Worcestershire a lead of 48 to take into the third day.

Perfect day at perfect ground, as Madsen seals chase after Masood makes 98

Paul Edwards14-Jun-2022
You really should come to Queen’s Park, you know. I can’t promise you a game such as we have enjoyed over these three days; a game which saw Derbyshire inflict a first Championship defeat on Middlesex and move themselves up to third place in Division Two; a game that ended with a guttural, flat-vowelled roar from the pavilion as Luis Reece completed a win that will always look more facile than it was.But the outgrounds always seem to conjure something precious and you might think it’s a reward for the volunteer labour expended in putting the matches on in the first place. Nor can I promise you a contest as enthralling as this, whose outcome only became clear on this third evening when Shan Masood made 98 and Wayne Madsen’s unbeaten 49 ensured that Derbyshire would suffer no jitters en route to their first victory over Middlesex at Chesterfield since 1965, when Brian Jackson took eight wickets and the home side were five down when chasing a paltry 34.No, I can guarantee none of these things should you come to Chesterfield…But there are beeches and copper beeches, there are oaks and weeping ash and liquidambar and ancient yews; there is an old mulberry tree near one of the two bandstands, and there is a lake, and across the road there is Parkside Café, which rivals Wickets in Taunton as the best nosebag on the circuit.And while you are eating your cobs and drinking your coffee, you can look again at the sweet chestnut and the sycamores and marvel at the trees’ fellowship and think of the consolation offered by conifers that stay green when the rest of their world is grey and the cricket ground is sleeping. And when you look beyond or above the trees, you will see buildings that have summat about them, like the six-columned town hall or the Church of St Mary and All Saints; yes, the one with the spire that’s gone in the fetlock. You see, you know the place already. Look up the route, now, before the magic fades.There is cricket, too, and there are times, like today, when it becomes the sole focus for those sitting in this greatly blessed world. Only when Derbyshire needed fewer than ten to win did the spectators began to drift slowly away and very few left properly until the game was done. They recalled their team had collapsed in a heap on Monday and they knew it was less than seven hours since the match was utterly in the hazard..Middlesex began the morning with a lead of 117 and seven wickets in hand as they sought a target beyond Derbyshire’s capabilities. Mark Stoneman and Ethan Bamber added another 23 runs in half an hour before Stoneman gloved a lifter from Anuj Dal to Brooke Guest and trooped off through the warm, dandelion-seeded air. Bamber fell to Dal as well but not before he had got on one knee and swept Mark Watt into the avenue of limes, where a fellow gave not a fig for his years and reached up to stop the ball.The lead was 179 when Bamber drove fatally to Sam Conners at point and it had been extended by only 13 more where John Simpson called Max Holden for a single and seemed to receive a tentative ‘yes’, followed by a mighty ‘no’. Simpson was run out by 20 yards; indeed when the bails were removed, he was near enough to give Holden a mighty kick up the arse, which is a course of action he may have contemplated. Unembarrassed, Holden hit Alex Thomson for a six over long on but was brilliantly caught by Billy Godleman running from mid-off to cover when he attempted to repeat the trick.We had lunch with Middlesex on 189 for 7. I walked out to the middle and wondered if this was how Fanshawe felt in M R James’ “A View from a Hill” when he sees the glorious spire of Fulnaker Abbey through Baxter’s binoculars, only to find it was a vision from the past. Reassurance was provided by an unlikely source: “From the Lake End, Mark Watt” boomed the chap on the public address.I drifted uncertainly back to the present and, almost on the instant, Luke Hollman was caught by Masood off Reece. The lead was 212 and no one thought it enough against a batting side that included the Pakistani. Give or take, it would have to do, though. Only six more runs had been added by the time Middlesex were bowled out and one admired the medium-pace bowling of Reece and Dal, each of whom took three wickets.Derbyshire’s pursuit of 219 began disastrously but could have been bum-numbingly awful. In the fourth over, Godleman was sent back when he called Masood for a mirage-single and Holden’s throw beat the Derbyshire skipper by around 11 yards. Next over, Masood nicked Roland-Jones to first slip where Stevie Eskinazi, possibly put off by Simpson, shelled the thing. The game settled again and the folk under the limes lost themselves in the struggle.Derbyshire got to tea on 89 for 2, the second batter dismissed being Guest, who was caught behind off Murtagh for 10. On the resumption, Masood got inside the line and drove Roland-Jones wide of mid-on; two overs later he nodded appreciatively when utterly beaten but resumed more normal service by cover-driving Hollman twice in the same over. The ball was changed at the end of the 30th over, which is normally a sign the shape of the game does not suit the fielding side. Ten minutes later, Masood cut Roland-Jones hard to gully where Sam Robson dropped the chance. Had not the Derbyshire’s supporters recalled their side’s first innings hours previously, they would have begun to believe this great thing was possible.Masood had batted beautifully but not faultlessly. Nevertheless, he was two short of a century and nine shy of his thousand first-class runs for the season when he cut Bamber to gully, where Robson clutched the thing. Derbyshire still needed 74 at this point but Leus du Plooy chose the fast lane to glory, whacking Bamber and Roland-Jones for sixes before nicking Tim Murtagh to Robbie White at slip.If Reece felt any nerves, he concealed them perfectly. The Middlesex cricketers, who had hardly celebrated their late successes with much joy, became reconciled to defeat. A few minutes later, players and spectators were shaking hands, saying their farewells and looking ruefully at their sunburn. One day, I hope you will be able to join them. Indeed, I hope beyond dreaming that you will get the chance, not least because if you do, it will probably mean that Chesterfield and so much else that is precious about our game has been saved. Evenings like this encourage the hope it might be so.

“My role is out there for everyone to see – pick up wickets; and that is the role of every fast bowler”

Ashish Pant15-Apr-2022After playing just two IPL matches in over two years, and almost going unsold in the mega auction this year, Umesh Yadav feels he doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone except himself – that he has “the ability, the capability, to keep improving myself”. He has show this ability so far at IPL 2022, where he has been quick, moved the ball around, and picked up wickets, especially early on.Related

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“I don’t think I need to prove anything to anyone, but yes, I need to prove to myself that I still have the ability, the capability, to keep improving myself,” Umesh told ESPNcricinfo. “I am just trying to support my team and my country with my cricket in whatever years I am left with.”Umesh, 34, didn’t have an easy time following the auction, where he went unsold in the first two rounds of bidding, before being picked in the accelerated auction round by Kolkata Knight Riders for his base price of INR 2 crore (US$ 266,000 approx.). It was a homecoming of sorts for Umesh at Knight Riders. He had played 47 matches for the franchise before this season – the most for him for a single team – and was also part of the team that lifted the trophy in 2014.”When you are unsold in the auction two to three times, you don’t know what is going to happen,” Umesh said. “When the first round of the auction took place, most fast bowlers of my group were sold, I was the only one unsold. At that time you feel that maybe you might not get a chance this time.”And then one of your older teams picks you, a team with whom your experience has been good, a team that gave you the first feel and enjoyment of the IPL because you have won the cup with them, then definitely the feeling is great. You feel something good will happen because the same team has recalled you. I have been on very good terms with KKR, so I was sure I will get a chance.”Umesh has been on the money from the get-go this season. He started off with two wickets each in his first two games of IPL 2022 before returning 4 for 23 against Punjab Kings, for which he won the Player -of-the-Match award. He briefly held the Purple Cap too, and is still one of the top wicket-takers in the tournament. And, before Friday’s game against Sunrisers Hyderabad, his economy rate was 6.60.”My role is out there for everyone to see – pick up wickets, and that is the role of every fast bowler,” Umesh said. “I am trying my best, whether I come on during the powerplay or whenever, to pick up wickets and that is what I am doing. There is no pressure on me, whatever my team and captain expects from me, I am giving it my all. I am happy with them and so are they with me. Everything is very clear.”Umesh Yadav picked up at least a wicket in each of Knight Riders’ first five games•BCCI

While Umesh has been excellent in the powerplay, with six wickets in five matches before Friday and an economy rate of 5.46, he hasn’t been as impressive at the death. In the only game where he was required to bowl in the end, Umesh was hammered for 28 runs in two overs, by Delhi Capitals.Historically, too, Umesh hasn’t been at his best at the death, as his economy rate of 10.79 suggests.”A lot of people say this but it goes both ways. I am not the only bowler who gets hit in the death overs, there are plenty of other bowlers too,” Umesh said. “You pick up any bowler, no matter how good he is, there is not a single bowler who has not been hit in the slog overs. When you are continuously bowling, you get used to it. But when you don’t do that for a couple of years and then suddenly start bowling at the death again, then definitely you don’t have that much of an idea.”When you are consistently bowling at the death, you know where your bowling stands. You are not a machine that someone can set and presume the yorkers will land immediately. I might have given a lot of runs in the death overs but I am not alone for sure. I am not sure why but somehow I get scrutinised. Maybe it is because I am a senior bowler.”

The former Under-19 coach says it’s important that Markram understands what he is going through is normal and that he doesn’t lose confidence as a result

Firdose Moonda06-Aug-2018Aiden Markram’s lean patch in Sri Lanka will do him good in the long run, according to his former Under-19 coach Ray Jennings. Markram has not crossed 20 in eight innings on the tour and was dropped for the third ODI on Sunday, but Jennings is confident that the difficulties Markram is facing will make him stronger for the cycles of ups and downs of professional sport.”He had a bit of a honeymoon period when he first started in international cricket and this is his first bad patch. He needs to come to grips with the pressure that comes with that. He hasn’t ever experienced before what he is going through at the moment,” Jennings, who coached the national Under-19 side Markram captained to the 2014 World Cup title, told ESPNcricinfo. “When he goes through another bad patch in three or four years time, he will know what to expect.”Markram made his international debut last September when he was picked to open the batting in Tests alongside Dean Elgar. He struck 97 and two hundreds in his first three Tests, which were against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, and 66 in his first ODI, also against Bangladesh.Naturally, things had to get tougher from there, but Markram was up for the sterner challenges. He scored 94 against India at his home ground, SuperSport Park, and 143 against Australia in a losing cause in Kingsmead: an innings which confirmed his arrival as a Test player. But it has not gone as smoothly in ODIs.Markram has played eight more 50-over matches since the half-century on debut and has not made more than 32 in any of them. Moreover, he was thrust into the captaincy, albeit temporarily, with only two caps to his name, against India. South Africa went on to lose the series 5-1 and Markram acknowledged the burden of leadership may have taken a toll on his own performances, but he has not quite been able to shake it off.In Sri Lanka, he has struggled against spin; in particular against Rangana Herath and Akila Dananjaya. Herath removed Markram all four times in the Tests – in Galle by dangling the ball outside off and forcing him to make a play before he had reached the pitch of it, and in Colombo with deliveries that stayed straight as Markram played for turn. In the ODIs, Akila dismissed Markram twice, first with a googly that Markram played all around, and then with a legbreak when Markram was shaping up for the offbreak.Associated Press

Some may argue that Markram’s ability to read the spinners should be questioned and his approach may need to be refined, but Jennings is not as concerned about that as he is about Markram’s mind. “Technique is not the only thing. He plays fast bowling better than spin but he has already shown that he has enough technique to perform at this level. Now it’s about mindset,” Jennings said. “Is his mindset tense or relaxed? If it’s relaxed, the feet will move and he will be watching the ball. If it’s tense, the feet can get stuck, there will be a lot of emotions involved.”For Jennings, it’s important that Markram understands what he is going through is normal and that he doesn’t lose confidence as a result. “It gets difficult for players when the expectations around them don’t match up to the reality. And then it becomes about whether he is in a love or hate mode, if he is feeling like he belongs or under pressure. If there’s a bad energy and he starts overthinking, he could end up feeling like he should be batting left-handed. That doesn’t need to happen. He has shown he has the credentials to perform at this level.”And because of his pedigree – Markram holds the record for the highest List A score of 183 in South Africa’s domestic competition – Jennings believes Markram should be a shoe-in for South Africa’s World Cup squad and should even be part of the XI as soon as this Sunday. “I would definitely take him to the World Cup. In a few months time, he could be at the top of his game. I would even play him in the next two matches.”With the series against Sri Lanka already won, South Africa can afford to experiment and Jennings hopes that they will try a few things to see how best to fit Markram into the line-up. “Change the scenery a little bit. Maybe use him to open, or bat him down at No. 6. If he gets a fifty in the next two games, he will be up and going again.”Or, with Faf du Plessis nursing a shoulder injury, perhaps Markram could even be back at the helm of affairs, as captain – a role Jennings thinks he will end up with on a full-time basis at some point. “It wasn’t a bad decision to make him captain during the India series. It was a good idea to push him mentally and to show him to reach for his dreams and it will pay dividends in the long run. We could see from Under-19 level that he is a tough guy, a fighter and a leader, and he will learn from this.”

West Indies moved to fourth on the ICC Women’s Championship points table, while South Africa remained second to last in the eight-team contest

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Sep-2018Hayley Matthews poses with the Player-of-the-Match trophy•CWI Media/Randy Brooks

After a duck in the first ODI and the washed-out second ODI, Hayley Matthews fired in the third, smashing her maiden hundred to help West Indies level the three-match series 1-1 against South Africa. Matthews struck 17 fours in her 146-ball 117 as West Indies piled up 292 after opting to bat, following which the right-arm pace of Deandra Dottin claimed four wickets to skittle the visitors out for 177.After losing her opening partner Kycia Knight in the third over, Matthews played the starring role in a 176-run second-wicket partnership with the captain Stafanie Taylor (46) to set the base for a high-scoring finish to their innings, after which Dottin came in at No. 4 to smash a rapid 44-ball 59 – including three sixes – to take West Indies close to the three-hundred run mark. South Africa’s Marizanne Kapp finished the innings with a four-wicket haul.South Africa had a poor start to their chase, losing Lizelle Lee and Sune Luus inside the first five overs, but fighting half-centuries from Laura Wolvaardt (54) and the captain Dane van Niekerk (77) added 108 for the third wicket. After Wolvaardt was stumped off legspinner Afy Fletcher in the 30th over following her 82-ball stay, Dottin ran through the South Africa middle- and lower order.South Africa lost their last six wickets for 25 runs, with the team being bowled out for 177 in the 43rd over. No batsman, apart from Wolvaardt and van Nierkerk, managed to reach double digits. Dottin’s 4 for 36 was her second-best ODI figures. After the win, West Indies moved to fourth on the ICC Women’s Championship points table while South Africa remained second-last in the eight-team competition.

England allrounder can still be a role model for the sport, says ECB boss, in spite of Bristol incident

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Dec-2018Ben Stokes remains “a leader in the England team”, according to the ECB’s chief executive, Tom Harrison, who believes it is time to “forgive and move on” after the player’s involvement in a fight outside a Bristol nightclub last year.Speaking to BBC Sport at the end of an eventful 2018, in which Stokes’s exploits generated numerous headlines on and off the field, Harrison conceded that the Bristol incident had been an “incredibly negative episode”.However, he added that he was “giddy with excitement” about the possibilities that await England in 2019, with the twin peaks of a home World Cup and an Ashes campaign – two competitions in which a fit and focused Stokes could be central to his team’s success.Earlier this month, Stokes was fined £30,000 by the Cricket Disciplinary Commission for his part in the events outside Mbargo nightclub in September 2017. He was retrospectively banned for eight games as well – a punishment that he had already served in missing five months of cricket, including last winter’s Ashes.In August, he was found not guilty of affray after appearing at Bristol Crown Court, but since the end of the court proceedings, Stokes has appeared to redouble his commitment to his England career – he was singled out for particular praise by his coach, Trevor Bayliss, after playing a vital role in England’s 3-0 Test series win in Sri Lanka last month.All of which is music to the ears of the ECB hierarchy, who have gone out of their way since the day of Stokes’ arrest last year to ensure that, as far as possible, his rehabilitation takes place on the field. Harrison, for one, is sure that he can be a role model for the sport going forward.”Ben is a leader in the England team,” Harrison said. “I do think he can [be a role model] – he’s been through a year that will serve as a constant reminder of how quickly things can go wrong if you allow them.”He’s got great people around him, he’s got good support structures and I’m sure he’s learnt a lesson.”Ben Stokes suckered Angelo Mathews with the short ball•Associated Press

Stokes’ punishment included being stripped of the England vice-captaincy, while his absence from last winter’s Ashes tour is the sort of career highlight that any sportsman would regret missing.But Harrison defended the timing of the CDC judgement on Stokes, as well as the independence of the panel that had been assembled to rule over both his misdemeanours, and those of his team-mate, Alex Hales, whose role in the fight did not lead to a court appearance.”We have an independent body making these judgements, they are qualified people and this has been a proper process,” Harrison said. “The sanctions handed down are serious, this is not something that’s been brushed under the carpet.”Ben is a key part of the Test and ODI team but I don’t think that’s got anything to do with the sanctions which have been handed down – the processes have been separate and deliberately so.”Hales was fined £17,500 for his role in the Bristol incident, £10,000 of which was suspended for 12 months. He was also banned for six white-ball matches, two of which he missed in the immediate aftermath of Stokes’ arrest, and the remaining four are suspended.All of which means that both players have been cleared to play a full part in the tour of the Caribbean in the new year, and after that the World Cup, which England will enter as favourites, with a golden opportunity to end a 44-year wait for a global ODI trophy.”We’ve got huge plans for making sure the Cricket World Cup is a platform on which we grow the game in England and Wales,” Harrison said.”It is an unbelievable opportunity for English cricket, it’s up to us to make sure we take advantage of that. And for the first time you sense we have this gilt-edged opportunity to take people from the white-ball game directly into the Ashes series which immediately follows the World Cup.”It’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity. I’m giddy with excitement about 2019.”