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PCB’s High Performance Director calls spinner’s actions “irresponsible and damaging”

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Nov-2020Pakistan left-arm spinner Raza Hasan, who once played a pivotal role in a win against Australia in the 2012 World T20, has seen his career set back sharply once more after being expelled from the Quaid-e-Azam trophy for breaching Covid-19 protocols. According to a PCB release, the 28-year old left the bio-secure hotel where his team, the Northerns 2nd XI, was based. Nadeem Khan, the PCB’s High Performance Director, called his actions “irresponsible and damaging”.The PCB has set up bio-secure hotels for both the Quaid-e-Azam trophy teams as well as the second XI sides, with players forbidden from leaving the premises without seeking express permission from the medical staff as well as the High Performance department. Hasan, it appears, did not attempt to obtain clearance from either, which has landed him an effective ban for the rest of the season.”It is sad and unfortunate that despite several reminders and educational programmes on the significance and importance of respecting and following Covid-19 protocols, Raza Hasan decided to take matters in his hand and overstepped the line,” Nadeem Khan said. “As such, he has been expelled from the tournament and will not be allowed for the remaining season.”The PCB has a zero-tolerance approach towards Covid-19 breaches as these are designed to not only ensure health and safety of all participants but to also demonstrate to the world that we can successfully organise and deliver domestic competitions.”I sincerely hope Raza Hasan will use this time to reflect on his irresponsible actions and the potential damage his breach could have caused to the event in general and Pakistan cricket in particular.”This is the latest incident in a career that began promising so much, but has so far too long appeared on a path of self-destruction. After making his debut as a 19-year old in T20 cricket in 2012, Hasan was picked for the T20 World Cup, where he memorably returned figures of 4-0-14-2, against Australia removing both Shane Watson and Glenn Maxwell in a Man-of-the-Match performance. Consistency, as well as discipline, however, eluded him, and in 2015, he was banned for two years for testing positive for a prohibited substance.He was given an opportunity to return when Lahore Qalandars snapped him up in a draft ahead of the 2018 PSL. He played two games without making an impact, or indeed taking a wicket. He was let go after the season, and has been a regular in the Northerns 2nd XI side this season, without quite delivering the standout performances that might hint at a career anywhere near as promising as the one he looked set to have in 2012.

Johnson Charles smashed 76 and Wanindu Hasaranga took 3 for 15 to see off Dambulla Viiking

Madushka Balasuriya14-Dec-2020How the game played outThe Jaffna Stallions will meet the Galle Gladiators in the finals of the Lanka Premier League. Though the hope for those watching will be that it will be a touch higher quality affair than the semi-finals that preceded it.This is not to say there wasn’t quality on show in this second semi-final; to the contrary, Wanindu Hasaranga once again highlighted why he’s the leading wicket taker in the tournament, Johnson Charles played the only real innings of substance in the game, while Usman Shinwari couldn’t stop hitting the wickets if he tried.But the margin of victory, 37 runs, will leave the Viiking more than a little disappointed in their efforts, especially after they had done so well to reel in the Stallions in the first half of the game.On a track tailored for batting, the Viiking felt comfortable chasing – especially with dew expected later in the evening – but they got off to an underwhelming start when Kasun Rajitha dropped an easy chance at deep fine leg to reprieve Charles, who would make the most of this second chance, going on to score a 56-ball 76, putting on stands of 68 and 43 with Avishka Fernando and Charith Asalanka along the way.But that would be that for the Stallions in terms of meaningful partnerships. When Charles took 19 runs off the 12th over of the game the Stallions were on 108 for 1 and in pole position for a score in the region of 200. The next eight overs would see them lose eight wickets and score just 57 runs – the last five overs were particularly wasteful from the Stallions’ point of view, as they managed just 35 runs, and even worse, just a solitary boundary.Suffice to say, by the time Charles fell in the 17th over, the game had changed considerably. And having limped to 165 for 9, the Stallions looked 20 runs short at the very least. But that of course doesn’t account for the Hasaranga tax any team playing the Stallions seemingly must pay.Hasaranga’s 3 for 15 was by far the standout bowling performance of the game, as he took his tournament tally to 16 wickets – comfortably topping the charts. His googly once more proved unreadable by most batsman, accounting for the wickets of Samiullah Shinwari – trapped lbw – Malinda Pushpakumara – caught at slip – and, crucially, Upul Tharanga – who had been the Viiking’s last hope before edging behind for a 39-ball 33. He even managed to end his spell with a wicket maiden.With Hasaranga doing Hasaranga things, the other bowlers were left to simply reap the benefits of the pressure created, as the Viiking were eventually bundled out for 128.Stars of the dayHasaranga, obviously. At 23, he is a genuine star in the making, with game-changing abilities with bat and ball. Simply by virtue of having him in their side, the Stallions head to the final as favourites.But while Hasaranga deservedly gets much of the plaudits, there was one other truly exceptional performance in the game. While Charles’ innings essentially provided the foundation for the Stallions’ total, it was the efforts of Usman Shinwari in the field that turned the game on its head. He made three direct hits, two of which led to crucial run-outs. Without him, the game might have still slipped away from the Stallions.Turning pointShinwari running out Dasun Shanaka, who had set off from the non-strikers end for an admittedly ill-advised single after the ball was played to short fine leg. Shanaka was the third highest scorer in the tournament and had already highlighted his ability to take a game away from the opposition, but Shinwari was having none of that.The big missCharles being dropped by Rajitha in the first over of the game. Yes, the Viiking pulled things back towards the end of the game, but 70-plus runs is a hefty penalty to pay for a dropped catch.

Menon solitary Elite umpire, while pair of Chaudhary and Sharma to make Test debut

Nagraj Gollapudi28-Jan-2021The trend of home umpires officiating in Tests during the pandemic will continue in the upcoming India-England series, with the ICC appointing the pair of Anil Chaudhary and Virender Sharma to stand alongside Nitin Menon in the first two Tests. Both matches will be played in Chennai, with the first Test starting on February 5 and the second from February 13.While Menon, the only Indian official on the ICC’s Elite Panel, will be standing in his fourth Test, it will be the maiden Test appearance for both Chaudhary and Sharma, both of whom are part of ICC’s International Panel of umpires. While Chaudhary has an experience of officiating in 20 ODIs and 28 T20Is, Sharma has stood in just two ODIs and a solitary T20I.Chaudhary will be the on-field umpire for the first Test, with Sharma replacing him in the second. C Shamshuddin, also part of the International Panel, will be the third umpire for the first Test, and will be replaced by Chaudhary for the following match. Former India fast bowler Javagal Srinath will be the match referee for England’s entire tour, which also comprises five T20Is and three ODIs.Related

• BCCI gives informal nod for spectators at second Chennai Test

• Jos Buttler: Wicketkeeping fun in spinning conditions

• First two Ind-Eng Tests to be played behind closed doors

• Ind vs Eng: Three-day training for teams ahead of first Test

The ICC has not yet announced the roster for the final two Tests, which are to be played in Ahmedabad, including a day-night Test starting February 24 followed by the fourth and final Test from March 4. It remains to be seen whether the ICC will get a neutral umpire for the second leg of the Test series.Although the pandemic has allowed the ICC and cricket boards to gauge the performance of several match officials on the International Panel, the debate on whether the best umpires should stand in a Test series has remained a key talking point during this period. Last December, West Indies Test captain Jason Holder had questioned why ICC was not making Elite umpires travel for bilateral series when players were being asked to adhere to bio-secure environment norms.However, England’s Richard Illingworth was recently announced as a neutral on-field umpire for the two-match Test series between Bangladesh and West Indies. But that was facilitated by the ICC only because hosts Bangladesh do not have an umpire in the ICC’S Elite Panel.Menon, who became the 62nd Indian umpire to stand in Tests in 2019, has never stood in a pink-ball Test. However, he has the experience of standing in first-class matches under lights, including the Duleep Trophy and a Sheffield Shield game. Shamshuddin and Chaudhary are the next two senior-most umpires followed by Sharma and K Ananthapadmanabhan, both of whom were added to the International Panel recently.

New Zealand have been handed a boost with Mitchell Santner being available after illness

Andrew McGlashan04-Mar-2021

Big Picture

After a poor performance then a better performance, Australia produced an almost-perfect performance to keep themselves alive in the T20I series. A well-constructed innings, lit up by the hitting of Glenn Maxwell, was followed by a strong bowling display led by an impressive debut for Riley Meredith and a record six-wicket haul from Ashton Agar.Barring the early loss of Matthew Wade, if Australia could plan a T20 batting innings what they put together in Wellington would be close to the ideal template: a run-rate touching nine-an-over at the midway point with Maxwell having enough time to assess conditions and then cut loose as he did with the 28-run over off Jimmy Neesham.For a little while it looked as though New Zealand could replicate it as they scored freely in the powerplay, but Meredith’s brace of wickets were key in keeping Australia ahead of the game. Having got set, Martin Guptill had to bat deep but when he fell to Adam Zampa the task quickly became too much – the contest sealed when Agar took three wickets in an over.New Zealand’s balance was off as they replaced the ill Mitchell Santner with batsman Mark Chapman, relying on just the five bowling options (although Chapman or Kane Williamson could have had a trundle) and the side felt out of kilter. The good news for the home side is that Santner is available for the fourth game having received a negative Covid-19 test and has started to feel better.Related

• Finch, Maxwell and Agar turn on the style to keep series alive

• 'Thought about that first ball a thousand times' – Meredith

Form guide

(last five completed matches)
New Zealand LWWLW
Australia WLLWLL

In the spotlight

Matthew Wade is a senior figure in this side as the vice-captain and first-choice wicketkeeper but he hasn’t quite got going yet. He impressed against India late last year but there will be a lot of options to choose from when it comes to nailing down the top three as the likes of David Warner and Steven Smith become available again. There are other keeping options in this squad, not least Josh Philippe at No. 3 in this XI, so while there’s unlikely to be a change it remains one of the positions up for grabs.Wade’s opposite number Tim Seifert has had a lean series to date with scores of 1, 3 and 4 although his success against Pakistan earlier in the season – where he made 57, 84 not out and 35 – means there is credit in the bank. Devon Conway and Glenn Phillips are other options in this side who could take the gloves but before the third match New Zealand coach Gary Stead said they are very keen to leave Phillips as an outfielder where he is among the best in the business.

Team news

Santner is back in the mix and barring any change to his condition would seem very likely to make a swift return to the XI at the expense of ChapmanNew Zealand (probable) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Tim Seifert, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Devon Conway, 5 Glenn Phillips, 6 Jimmy Neesham, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Kyle Jamieson, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Ish Sodhi, 11 Trent BoultHaving secured such a convincing win there may be a reluctance to change the side, although the selectors could decide to rotate a quick bowler.Australia (probable) 1 Aaron Finch, 2 Matthew Wade (wk), 3 Josh Philippe, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Ashton Agar, 8 Jhye Richardson, 9 Kane Richardson, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Riley Meredith

Pitch and conditions

There is some uncertainty over how the surface will play with the increasing amount of traffic on it. All the matches being played on the same pitch, which will host six games in total with the women’s series also taking place. Initially it looked tricky in the first game, but once batsmen got set scoring came freely. The forecast is for a cloudy but dry evening with a brisk Wellington wind around. “It feels as though everywhere you stand the wind is hitting you in the face, but the ball never gets to you at certain times,” Aaron Finch said.

Stats and trivia

• Maxwell has the highest strike-rate (158.79) of any batsman with at least a 1000 T20I runs
• This ground is one of Santner’s best in T20I: he has 10 wickets at 12.60 – his most for any venue – at an economy rate of just 6.00

Quotes

“The start of an innings you are always a little bit nervous, a little bit tentative and when it hit me on the pad it was just one of those things, was a 50-50 call. Once I got into my innings felt I was moving a lot better, my feet were moving, my intent was there and it was nice to get a few out of the middle.
“When you miss Mitchell Santner it shows what an impact he has for us and then also when their left-arm spinner takes six wickets and bowls well it shows what he brings to our team.”
Luke Ronchi

The Lahore Qalandars have objected to the idea of not playing the second leg of matches in Lahore

Umar Farooq03-Mar-2021The Covid-19 outbreak in Karachi within the biosecure bubble during the Pakistan Super League (PSL) has prompted the PCB to look at contingencies. The league management is believed to be considering the option of playing the remainder of the tournament in Karachi instead of moving for the final leg to Lahore as scheduled, from March 10. The discussions are only in very preliminary stages – “food for thought” as one official said – but the Lahore Qalandars have already objected to the idea, insisting that fans in Lahore cannot be deprived of the matches and moving from one bubble to another won’t increase the risk.The PSL was meant to be played at four venues this year but due to the ongoing pandemic, the PCB decided to hold all 34 matches in Karachi and Lahore. The first leg of 20 matches is being played at the National Stadium in Karachi until March 7 and the following 10 league games and four playoff matches are scheduled for Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium. Chartered flights were meant to be used for travel between the two cities.However, three overseas players – Fawad Ahmed, Tom Banton (who revealed his positive test publicly on Wednesday) and another Islamabad United player – and one support staff member with the Karachi Kings (Kamran Khan) testing positive for Covid-19 have led to concerns. The PCB spoke with all six franchises on Tuesday to remind them of the standard protocols required to maintain the biosecure bubbles.Related

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• PCB offers Covid-19 vaccine to all PSL 2021 participants

• After Fawad, two overseas players and one support staffer test positive

• Islamabad-Quetta game postponed as Fawad Ahmed tests positive

As well as the positive cases, there were breaches of the bubble reported earlier that involved Peshawar Zalmi’s Wahab Riaz and Daren Sammy meeting their franchise owner, who was not part of the bubble. There are believed to be other breaches as well, though the PCB insists that the “bubble isn’t weak and there is no loophole”.The PCB is committed to making sure the league is completed successfully and safely with the final scheduled for March 22, but it is now mulling the best way of doing that. The board internally agreed that the schedule will not be tinkered with as long as a team has up to five affected players, since all teams have 18-member squads. But they are also working on a back-up plan ahead of the next round of PCR tests set for Thursday, which is considered the most crucial one after the recent outbreak.All the franchise players and officials in the bubbles were initially being tested on a weekly basis but on Monday the PCB decided to carry out the PCR tests once every four days.”It (keeping the entire event in Karachi) will give a wrong message by not continuing with the original plan,” a Qalandars spokesman told ESPNcricinfo. “There was a lapse in the management either at a hotel or elsewhere but the risk involved is the same everywhere. It’s about the management not about the venue so if the cases are positive in Karachi then you can’t deprive the Lahore crowd of cricket they have been waiting for. It’s in fact an opportunity for the PCB to show their ability to carry out their operation without panicking.”Lahore has been a great host in the past and had successfully completed the South Africa series without any glitch. So we don’t support any such plan which eventually gives out a message that we cannot control the situation. We are still going to travel through buses like every day here (in Karachi) as usual for the games and the only difference will be the one time traveling from Karachi to Lahore – that is on the chartered plane – which is fully sanitised. So it’s beyond understanding how this is going to mitigate the risk and how you will be Covid-protected.”All players and officials – as well as families traveling with some of them – are part of a biosecure bubble in one hotel in Karachi. Each franchise nominated its own list of officials apart from the players to be part of the bubble, and everyone had to go through a three-day isolation period and return two negative tests before entering that bubble.Two other franchises in the league questioned how exactly playing all the games in Karachi is going to reduce the risk as the teams are to move from one bubble to another, although one of them is open to a change of venue “if required”.The Karachi Kings owner Salman Iqbal supported the idea of staying back in Karachi. “I think we should keep the boys in the bubble and not make them travel. Flights, airports, new hotel, new procedures…I believe the players also don’t feel comfortable leaving the bio-bubble. It is very important for Pakistan cricket and one wrong move could jeopardise the whole PSL and lead to loss of revenue. So I believe we should stay put.”

Title celebrations three years ago were interrupted by two players being whisked away for Australia duty amid a crisis

Daniel Brettig14-Apr-2021Usman Khawaja was a world away the last time Queensland hosted the Sheffield Shield final – and had their stride to the title rudely interrupted by the Newlands scandal.In the last week of March, 2018, Khawaja was part of the Australian team pilloried for egregious ball tampering and an even worse cover-up in South Africa, leaving a young deputy Jimmy Peirson to lift the Shield and then see Matt Renshaw and Joe Burns spirited away to fly across the Indian Ocean as replacement players for the banned Cameron Bancroft, David Warner and Steven Smith.It’s an experience that Peirson remembers vividly as taking sizeable gloss off what is usually the most glittering prize in Australian domestic cricket. “It was day three of the game when that [scandal] broke and we were just in shock, we didn’t understand what was going on or how big it would get,” he told ESPNcricinfo this week. “Then by the end of that game we had guys literally pulled out of our team song to go ‘mate, pack your bags, you’re going to South Africa’ – Matty Renshaw and Joe Burns, they went over and played.”So we very quickly went from winning the Shield and the euphoria of that to having them go over there to deal with what was happening. It was a bittersweet moment, we wanted to celebrate our achievement with those guys, but it was also very satisfying to see them go, although the circumstances weren’t fantastic. It’s certainly burned into my memory, that weird feeling in Australian cricket as a whole at that time.”Related

• How is a drawn Sheffield Shield final decided?

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• Swepson emulating Warne and challenging Lyon

• New South Wales out to prove depth of youthful batting in Sheffield Shield final

Three summers and one pandemic later, Peirson is happy to have handed the captaincy back to Khawaja, who in the wake of being discarded by the national team has proven himself a thoughtful and astute – both strategically and tactically – leader of the Bulls.”He’s quite calm, whereas I’m not so calm in some situations so he’s a great factor for us and someone I’ve learned a lot from,” Peirson said. “I really appreciate that he’s using me more in terms of tactically coming to me and asking for my opinion on things, which is helping me to develop in my tactical role in the side, and I’m really enjoying working with him.”When Usman went away [in 2018] and I was given the captaincy, it was something I was completely shocked by. I was taken off-guard and I actually considered not taking it on, because I didn’t feel like I was ready. But I’m glad I took it on, I learned so much and I was lucky that year was similar to this year where we had very few injuries and the same bowling attack for the whole season with our guys hitting their straps.”I was very lucky that the team ran itself and I didn’t have to make any massive calls. I had guys like Joe Burns there the whole year who really helped guide me in some of the decision-making. So I was making it up as I went and I was really lucky we managed to win the Shield that year.”One area in which Khawaja has shown himself adept as a leader is in helping to change attitudes about spin bowling. He recalled a pointed conversation with the state coach Wade Seccombe that helped turn Mitchell Swepson from a week-to-week selection proposition to a fixture in the team and now a genuine challenger to Nathan Lyon’s spin supremacy.”I think it was a line in the sand last year,” Khawaja said. “I remember talking to ‘Chuck’, Wade Seccombe, my coach about it. We were at the Gabba and we were umming and ahing whether to play Swepson.Will it be Kurtis Patterson or Usman Khawaja holding the Sheffield Shield?•Getty Images

“It was probably the third game and I said, ‘look, Australia has Nathan Lyon and they’re playing at the Gabba.’ And he said, ‘yes.’ So I said, ‘well we’ve got to play Swepo every single game. If they’re playing the best spinner, why aren’t we playing our best spinner?’ I think that was the line in the sand and since then we’ve always picked him.”At the same time, Khawaja has been driving towards a title that has personally eluded him. He played for New South Wales in the 2011 Shield final on the losing side, and spoke passionately in his opposition to the new system that no longer awards the competition to the top team in the event of a draw.”They talked about taking out the Shield final – I love the Shield final, I think it should be there, but I think the team that comes first should have that little bit of advantage that you have to beat them [outright],” he said. “Because a team could come first by 15 points and they’re clearly the best team in the competition. They should have a massive advantage. It’s not like a BBL tournament where you’re playing one day at a time, it’s four days at a time and takes a lot to win a red-ball game. Ten games, it takes a lot to get there.”That passion, Khawaja noted, was a byproduct of how much interest he has felt about the Shield in his adopted state. Queensland, famously, did not win their first Shield title until 1995, spawning a sense of overdue reward that has added to the level of interest retained in a competition that is often reduced in status to that of “research and development”.Queensland celebrate with the Sheffield Shield in 2018•Getty Images

“I’ve got people from Mackay, Townsville, random people coming up to me and going ‘good luck with the Shield’, you realise how big Queensland is and you realise how much people care about the Shield, especially when it comes to country towns in Queensland,” Khawaja said. “First and foremost we have a lot of support here and it’d be really nice to win a Shield, because to me it seems a lot of people still care about it, particularly in the country areas of Queensland.”Queensland’s a big state, there’s a lot of people living in the country areas, and so is New South Wales to an extent, but I think when you first move up to Queensland, you know how much Queensland love their sport, but you don’t realise how much until you come up here. Now I’m a Queenslander, as I say to my wife I bleed maroon, I love it up here, it’s my home. We love our sport and we want to win whether it’s in footy, in anything, particularly cricket.”It’s good to see, in a world so BBL-dominated, that there are still so many people who love the Shield game. That’s the biggest thing for me.”Peirson, too, is eager to reclaim the Shield, as much because the last one disappeared in a Newlands-heightened blur as anything else. “It all went by so fast,” he said. “I told the guys that I really want to enjoy this week and enjoy a Shield final. Plenty of guys haven’t played one and plenty of guys haven’t won one.”

The 35-year-old will end his career as New Zealand’s most prolific Test keeper behind and in front of the stumps

ESPNcricinfo staff11-May-2021BJ Watling has announced he will retire from all cricket at the end of New Zealand’s upcoming Test tour of England. This will mean that form and fitness permitting, he will end his career with two Tests against England at Lord’s (June 2-6) and Edgbaston (June 10-14), followed by the World Test Championship final against India, which is scheduled to be played from June 18 to 22 in Southampton.”It’s the right time,” an NZC release quoted Watling as saying. “It’s been a huge honour to represent New Zealand and in particular wear the Test baggy. Test cricket really is the pinnacle of the game and I’ve loved every minute of being out there in the whites with the boys.”Sitting in the changing rooms having a beer with the team after five days’ toil is what I’ll miss the most. I’ve played with some great players and made many good mates. I’ve also had plenty of help along the way for which I’ll always be grateful.”Related

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The 35-year-old Watling will end his career as arguably New Zealand’s greatest-ever wicketkeeper-batsman in Test cricket. He has scored more runs (3381) than any other wicketkeeper from his country, and at a better average (39.77) than any New Zealander to have kept wicket in at least ten Test matches. He also has more dismissals (257) than any other New Zealand keeper, apart from ten catches as an outfielder.”My wife Jess has been a constant source of stability and support and I’m certainly looking forward to being able to spend more time with her and the kids,” Watling added. “I also owe a big thanks to my mum for steering me in the right direction early on and always being there for me.”Although I’ve had to make this announcement ahead of the tour to England, my focus is very much on the three Tests ahead and preparing to perform in them. This tour will be a challenge on a few levels and we know as a team we will need to be at the very top of our game if we want to succeed.”Overall, including his eight Tests as a specialist batsman, Watling has played 73 Tests and scored 3773 runs at an average of 38.11, with eight hundreds, including a highest score of 205 against England at Mount Maunganui in November 2019.BJ Watling has 257 dismissals behind the stumps in Tests, a New Zealand record•Getty Images

Known for his nuggety, hard-to-dislodge style with the bat, Watling was involved in two of Test cricket’s three highest partnerships for the sixth wicket, both coming at the Basin Reserve in Wellington: 352 alongside Brendon McCullum against India in January 2014 and an unbroken 365 with Kane Williamson against Sri Lanka a year later. Both stands turned their respective Test matches around, earning New Zealand a series-clinching draw and a win, respectively.”BJ turned games around,” NZC chief executive David White said. “I can’t think of another player who reacted so positively, and who was successful in the face of adversity. His ability to wring every possible run out of the tail was unmatched; his work behind the stumps tireless and efficient. He has a quiet, unassuming and undemonstrative manner that belies the huge appetite he has for the contest and the challenge.”BJ’s been a huge part of the success of the current Black Caps team and on behalf of NZC, I want to wish him well for the upcoming Tests in England and life after cricket.”New Zealand coach Gary Stead was effusive in his praise for Watling too.”BJ is a wonderful player and a great bloke,” Stead said. “He works really hard on his game to get improvements and always puts the team first. You just have to look at the respect he’s held in by his teammates and the opposition to appreciate his standing in the game.”The records speak for themselves and he’s been such a crucial cog in the Test team’s rise over the past decade. That double hundred he scored at the Mount in 2019 was one of the best innings I’ve ever seen and epitomised BJ Watling as a player, really.”The attitude and fight he brings to every day and every session of a Test is what has made him such a valued member of the Black Caps. He is without a doubt one of our best ever wicketkeeper batsmen.”

England and Australia to play five Tests in six weeks; Women’s Ashes commences on January 27

ESPNcricinfo staff18-May-2021England’s men will begin their attempts to reclaim the Ashes at Brisbane on December 8, with an intense programme of five Tests in six weeks culminating at Perth’s new Optus Stadium in mid-January. The multi-format women’s Ashes will commence shortly after, with Australia looking to a achieve a third consecutive defence across a single Test, three ODIs and three T20Is.With the T20 World Cup being staged in October and November in India, and the likelihood of players arriving in Australia having to quarantine for 14 days, the start of the 2021-22 Ashes has been pushed back significantly. The first Test will remain at the Gabba, where Australia have only lost once since 1988, before a day-night game at Adelaide Oval.With Melbourne and Sydney retaining their traditional Boxing Day and New Year spots, the series will finish up in Western Australia – but not at the WACA, which hosted its last Ashes Test in 2017. This will be the first time since 1994-95 that the Ashes has not concluded at the SCG.Ahead of the men’s Ashes, Australia will face Afghanistan for the first time at Test level in Hobart from November 27 after that meeting was postponed from last season due to the impacts of Covid-19. For the Australian players also involved at the T20 World Cup that will be their only preparation before facing England.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Joe Root has overseen England’s last two Ashes campaigns – a 2-2 home draw in 2019 and a 4-0 loss on the 2017-18 tour – and the challenge this time around will only be increased by a packed schedule and the biosecurity provisions implemented in response to Covid-19.England’s Test specialists are likely to arrive in Australia in advance, with those multi-format players involved at the T20 World Cup joining them. The schedule for warm-up matches is yet to be confirmed, as are rules governing crowds and whether fans can travel from overseas.”In a perfect world, we would welcome England fans back to these shores for a summer of singing and sportsmanship,” Nick Hockley, Cricket Australia’s interim CEO, said. “Of course, we will be guided by the Australian government on all things related to international travel.”He added: “We are absolutely thrilled to announce our men’s and women’s international fixtures for the 2021-22 summer of cricket. The lessons learned from successfully delivering a safe summer in ’20-21 gives us confidence on what we’re able to achieve, and we’re all hoping for a summer of full crowds and an Ashes atmosphere we’re all accustomed to.”The Ashes is one of the great global sporting rivalries and seems to grow ever larger with each series and generation. We cannot wait to host England men over five Tests this summer. The most recent men’s Ashes series was a remarkable contest that captured the imagination of the entire cricketing world and I expect this summer to be no different.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Heather Knight will lead England’s attempts to regain the Women’s Ashes for the first time since 2015, starting with a Test at Canberra’s Manuka Oval. T20I and ODI legs will follow in Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne, with points on offer for all the matches. Following the conclusion of the series, both teams will head to New Zealand for the 50-over Women’s World Cup, which was postponed from 2020 due to the pandemic.”An Ashes series in Australia is a global highlight of the cricketing calendar and is always a focus series for England teams,” Tom Harrison, the ECB’s chief executive officer, said.”It’s a hugely exciting prospect that both men’s and women’s squads will be heading to Australia. It promises to be a highly competitive and close contest with teams in both series evenly matched. I have little doubt that the rivalry and drama will once again capture the interest of sports lovers across the globe.”2022 is going to be an amazing year for women’s cricket. With an Ashes, a World Cup in New Zealand and a home Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, this could be a landmark year for our team. It represents a huge challenge, but one Heather Knight and her talented squad are very excited about.”

Men’s 2021-22 Ashes schedule

December 8-12 1st Test, Gabba
December 16-20 2nd Test, Adelaide Oval (D/N)
December 26-30 3rd Test, MCG
January 5-9 4th Test, SCG
January 14-18 5th Test, Perth

Women’s 2021-22 Ashes schedule

January 27-30 only Test, Manuka Oval
February 4 1st T20I, North Sydney Oval
February 6 2nd T20I, North Sydney Oval
February 10 3rd T20I, Adelaide Oval
February 13 1st ODI, Adelaide Oval
February 16 2nd ODI, Junction Oval
February 19 3rd ODI, Junction Oval

Spinner claims seven to limit Northants’ lead to 12 as tense contest heads for showdown

David Hopps05-Jul-2021This is a high-pressure match as far as the Championship is concerned, but don’t talk to Dom Bess about pressure. He experienced what pressure really means in India during a deeply unsettling England winter. The sort of pressure that does not just have a cricket match at stake but which tears at your very soul.It is something to celebrate therefore that when expectations focused on him as much as at any time this season, his rehabilitation at Yorkshire looked well underway as he turned in career-best figures of 7 for 43 on a used Northampton pitch, the sort that turned just enough for spin bowlers to take centre stage but demanded resilience if they were to succeed.If there was not much turn for Bess on a surface that had previously been used for three T20 fixtures, he bowled with impressive consistency to make use of what variations there were and held Yorkshire together in the face of a stiff Northants challenge.Bess was contentiously dropped by England after taking 17 wickets at 22 runs apiece in three Tests in Sri Lanka and India. His return for the final Test in Ahmedabad was an unhappy one and, although England called him up as cover for the second Test in New Zealand in the Spring, a restorative season was clearly needed.Progress until now has been solid rather than spectacular, but he had reason for satisfaction after working through the Northants order in methodical fashion. Jeetan Patel, England’s spin bowling coach, was on hand and will have been encouraged by what he saw.Yorkshire sneaked past Northants by one run at Headingley in early May, but they have entered their final two Group 3 matches with Northants and Lancashire also contesting the top-two finish required to qualify for Division One in the climax of the Championship season later this summer. With Yorkshire 147 ahead at the close of the second day, with four second-innings remaining, another tension-wracked finale is eminently possible. They would grab a 200-run lead with open arms.The muse was also with Harry Brook once again as unbeaten 76 followed up Bess’ performance with the ball. The leading run-maker in the Blast, he has also had his best Championship season to date, averaging not far short of 40, but is still to add to his two first-class hundreds.Related

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There is a meditative quality to his game, which is based on timing not power, which brings occasional reminders of Michael Vaughan. As he has grown into the season, his little tics and twitches appear to have lessened. Regularly blazing it for four can have that effect.He played with minimal risk, his first half-dozen boundaries coming from deflections or routine punishment of the strayest deliveries. His next boundary, on 57, was his one heartstopping moment as he pulled Ben Sanderson just beyond the dive of Emilio Gay at deep backward square.Yorkshire’s attempt to shore up a weakened batting line-up with a two-match loan deal for Sam Northeast has not paid dividends here at least – he still has next week’s Roses match at Headingley left to make an impression. He has made 3 and 2 here, his second-innings dismissal a frustrating one as Simon Kerrigan turned one past his defensive push and his back foot was deemed not to be behind the line.Kerrigan’s left-arm spin has 4 for 31 in 20 overs to date. George Hill, the main source of resistance in the first innings, and Harry Duke were bowled through the gate, looking for turn, and he then turned one a shade to have Gary Ballance leg before.Spin bowling might be dominating but many wickets have fallen to the one that didn’t turn rather than the one that did, or might have done.Northants, 61 for 2 at the start of the second day, were essentially three down as Luke Procter was absent for a day at least because of a family bereavement. One of those wickets was Kerrigan, a nightwatchman, and Yorkshire’s advantage was only 97.Bess dominated the morning. Brought into the attack for the fifth over, he persisted until the end of the innings, taking six of the seven wickets to fall.For nine overs, Northants’ overnight pair, Ricardo Vasconcelos and nightwatchman Gareth Berg, made Yorkshire sweat and it smacked of unnecessary risk when Berg sought to hit Bess over the top and holed out at mid-on. Bess’ total lack of celebration communicated that, in his mind, this was just the start of a process he felt he had to deliver.He struck twice more in his next three overs. He found Charlie Thurston’s outside edge, pushing forward, for Duke to take the catch, and Yorkshire’s 19-year-old keeper also held on for the prize wicket of Vasconcelos, for 55, clutching the ball to his chest at the second attempt after Vasconcelos had been cramped up, trying to cut.At the Wantage Road End, Duanne Olivier drew occasional inconsistent bounce. That did for Rob Keogh, who fended a lifter to second slip. At 110 for 6, still 48 adrift, Northants needed a partnership and it came from Tom Taylor, the one batter to play with occasional freedom, and Saif Zaib, who laboured for 40 balls over his first three runs before he tried to break Bess’ shackles and just cleared mid-off.The tension was evident when Olivier was refused a catch at the wicket when Zaib was on 2. Adam Lyth, from second slip, provided the histrionics, but presumably Olivier provided the verbals. Certainly, something caused umpires Billy Taylor and Tom Lungley to call up Patterson and Olivier for a dressing-down, enough to take Lyth’s gesticulating into a second act.Bess took a hand immediately after lunch, having Zaib lbw, caught on the crease, and removing the left-handed Wayne Parnell in the same manner in his next over. A few late blows from Taylor took Northants into the lead, but Bess limited the damage to a 12-run advantage on first innings when Ben Sanderson was caught at slip. All is still to play for

Spinner who was the first person of colour to represent South Africa, opens up during SJN hearings

Firdose Moonda12-Jul-2021Omar Henry has revealed how he wanted to return home from the 1992 World Cup after being given what he considered an unsatisfactory answer over why he was left out of South Africa’s match against New Zealand.In an emotional testimony at Cricket South Africa’s Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) hearings, Henry revealed how he was regarded as a “sell out” by his own community after he accepted an offer to play for a white club in the 1970s, and the challenges of being the first player of colour to represent South Africa post-readmission in 1992, including his difficulties at the World Cup, which he believes reflect selection issues that continue to exist today.Henry was the only player of colour included in South Africa’s squad for the tournament, and the only specialist spinner. He played just one match, against Sri Lanka in Wellington, despite South Africa’s schedule featuring three group matches in spinner-friendly conditions in New Zealand.”I did my research and knew as the frontline spinner that I was not going to play that many games because of the conditions and the way our squad was selected, because we were stacked with a lot of allrounders. I made peace that I would be lucky if I played one or two games. But when I saw New Zealand play in New Zealand and I saw there was a pitch that was going to suit me, I had high expectations that I would play,” Henry said.He didn’t.”I wasn’t selected. I was very disappointed and I needed to know why I wasn’t selected. I went to the manager and asked him if he could give me a reason why I wasn’t selected, which was the protocol. He said, ‘I know you’re disappointed and I will talk to the captain and the coach and I will come back to you.'”By match-day, Henry had not received a response and after South Africa’s defeat, was involved in “an incident,” with captain Kepler Wessels. “We played the game, we were absolutely annihilated and everybody was upset. In the dressing room an incident happened between me and the captain and it created a very unpleasant situation that eventually had to be stopped by the manager,” Henry said. “I was unhappy with the way I was treated and the answers that were given to me so I pursued the matter further. Several meetings were held, and still I wasn’t satisfied and then I wanted to come home. I wanted to leave. That created even more tension.”It was only the intervention of CSA’s first president of colour that convinced Henry to stay. “I managed to find out that Krish Mackerdhuj was in Australia and I requested a meeting with him. I explained my situation and said I wanted to go home if I don’t get the right answers and he pleaded with me that there is a bigger picture and I can’t go home,” Henry said. “He was of the view that if I go home, there is no guarantee that things like this won’t happen with players of my colour in the future. He pleaded with me for a few hours and I changed my mind and stayed. I felt that maybe it was meant to happen to me as the first black person to play for South Africa, and hopefully that will be addressed and we will move on. In hindsight, I was wrong. That’s why we are here today.”Omar Henry bowling his left-arm spin on Test debut•Getty Images

Henry spoke of happier times when he played for the Free State province, a historically white, Afrikaans team, who embraced him.”Afrikaaners felt they were given a raw deal, just like black people, although they enjoyed the privileges of Apartheid. My stay in Bloemfontein was an education in how liberal some of those Afrikaaners were and I made friends for life,” Henry said. “We won the Currie Cup and it was the last year of the Currie Cup. That was a great achievement. When I look at my contribution to that, trying to prove to the white man that a black man can also play cricket and that we can all live together in peace and harmony and respect one another, I felt in my heart that I broke down barriers. And I think I did. Those players and people that were close to me, we still had respect for one another although we come from different backgrounds. They knew, in their heart of hearts, that Apartheid was wrong.”Henry also saw continued challenges in selection, specifically relating to racial bias when he worked as an administrator. He coached Boland and was a selector at the province, and also served as selection convener for South Africa. Throughout that time, Henry had to work within the confines of the target system which stipulates the minimum number of players of colour that a domestic team and the national side must field.Henry found the system limited, that it set a bar people were not willing to go beyond and turned transformation into a number-crunching exercise. He provided an example from his time at Boland, when the targets required teams to field three players of colour and he faced resistance when he wanted to pick a fourth player, Henry Davids. “I took the risk and fought for him to be selected, knowing full well that I could lose my job. But I stuck my neck out and that’s when the realisation came that there is still some misunderstanding or mistrust or dishonesty within the system,” Henry said.Henry also said the transformation goals presented to him when he served on the national selection panel were unrealistic and could only be met in time. “I was told I need to pick 50% black players in the team. From what I knew about the system at the time, I couldn’t honestly say that I could have achieved that immediately. I had to be honest and say I am sorry I can’t deliver on that,” he said.Overall, Henry painted a picture of a sporting system that is grappling to understand how to develop talent as it tries to redress past wrongs. He acknowledged that the pain of people of his generation, a few of whom left South Africa to seek opportunity abroad (Henry played for Scotland for example), and most of whom never got the chances they may have wanted, has not healed and that true inclusivity continues to be elusive.”There is a lot of hurt. There is a lot of healing to be done. People of my age, at unification, thought they were going to get an opportunity. They didn’t. They didn’t come close. We don’t know the depth of the emotional damage we have done to people,” Henry said. “There is a lack of education about understanding what development is, what transformation is. I can talk about this all my life because it was my life. It is not an easy subject and it is something we have to continue and we are probably going to continue this even when my grandchildren are adults.”The SJN hearings are due to run for the next two weeks after which transformation ombudsman Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza, will produce a report and recommendations to CSA.