Tag Futebol

A round-up of the CSA T20 Challenge matches played on November 16, 2017

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Nov-2016Albie Morkel’s unbeaten 34 off 16 balls helped Titans recover from a top-order wobble to beat Cape Cobras by six wickets in Paarl and post their second successive win in the CSA T20 Challenge.Morkel, who came in to bat No. 6 with Titans needing 52 off the last five overs, smashed six fours in his cameo. He was supported by Farhaan Behardien, who remained unbeaten on 22, as Titans surpassed Cape Cobras’ 141 for 6 with seven balls to spare.Cape Cobras had lost Richard Levi in the second over after Justin Ontong elected to bat. They were driven by an 84-run stand for the second wicket between Cebo Tshiki (47) and Jason Smith (38), before Lungi Ngidi’s double-strike in successive overs hurt the Cobras. That they recovered to post 140 plus after a wobble was because Kieron Pollard made a 19-ball 32.Titans lost Henry Davids, bowled by Dane Paterson, off the first ball of their chase. When Heino Kuhn was caught and bowled by Rory Kleinveldt for 11, Titans had slipped to 22 for 2 in the fourth over. Heinrich Klaasen kept chipping away at the target, making a 39-ball 46, while Qaasim Adams made 17. At 90 for 4, Titans benefited from the presence of two experienced batsmen to steer the side home.Cameron Delport narrowly missed his second T20 century•PSL

Cameron Delport’s unbeaten 93 and four-wicket haul helped Dolphins record their first win of the competition, against Lions by 49 runs in Durban.Delport and Morne van Wyk, the captain and wicketkeeper, put on 124 for the first wicket in just 13 overs after being asked to bat. Van Wyk made 60 of those in 37 balls, while Delport batted through to finish with five fours and six sixes in his 62-ball knock. Three of those sixes came in one Eddie Leie over, the 16th of the innings, to give Dolphins a final push; they smashed 63 off the last five overs to finish on 193 for 4.Lions started briskly with Dominic Hendricks firing, but found themselves at 55 for 3 in the seventh over. Nicky van den Bergh made 43 in a 52-run stand with Hendricks before their dismissals in the space of six deliveries set Lions back. They were bowled out for 144 in 19.3 overs with Delport, who was introduced in the 12th over, finishing with career-best figures of 4 for 17.”When the luck is going your way, you’ve just got to ride it,” Delport said, after having been dropped three times in his innings. “Morne and I had that important partnership of 100 up front and we know that when we do that, as a team we bat so deep and have so much diversity on our team that we can post a big total.”I love bowling and work hard on it in the nets. I think I’ve got a role to play with the ball, especially in the shorter format and it was nice to be able to contribute this evening.”

Zimbabwe will play three ODIs and two T20Is in Bangladesh in the first two weeks of November

Mohammad Isam21-Oct-2015

Mortaza hopes to take NCL route ahead of Zim series

Mashrafe Mortaza has been suffering the after-effects of a week-long spell of dengue fever for which he was hospitalised earlier this month. He hopes to play in the National Cricket League from the end of October, and feels he will be ready by the first ODI against Zimbabwe on November 7.
“I hope I can play in the NCL’s round that begins on October 31. The preparation for the Zimbabwe series would have been pretty good,” he said. “But I am not sure if I can manage to play on the 31st too. I still feel weak. But there is time. The first ODI is on November 7. I am hoping to recover by then.”

Zimbabwe will play three ODIs and two T20Is in Bangladesh in the first two weeks of November, the BCB announced on Wednesday. All matches of the tour will be held at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.This will be the first international series to be held in Bangladesh since Australia postponed their two-Test tour on October 1 due to security concerns. South Africa’s women’s team had also temporarily delayed their arrival for a series, but BCB president Nazmul Hassan confirmed that they will arrive on November 3 to play three ODIs and four T20s against the Bangladesh women’s team in Cox’s Bazar.Zimbabwe, who are slated to arrive on November 2, will play a practice match in Fatullah on November 5. The ODIs against Bangladesh will be held on November 7, 9 and 11 while the two T20Is will be held on November 13 and 15.Bangladesh’s limited overs captain Mashrafe Mortaza welcomed the series, as it cut down their ODI hiatus from six months to four. Bangladesh’s last ODI assignment was against South Africa in mid-July this year.”We have been playing well in ODIs this year but a long break would have hurt our consistency,” Mashrafe said. “It would have been tough to hold on to the good form. So in that sense, this ODI series will really help us as it cuts down on the break. We know Zimbabwe well and we have a good record against them. I am hoping that we can hold on to our winning consistency. To be honest, I would have been happy if the Australia series took place but it wasn’t in our hands. I thank both boards for organising this series so quickly.”BCB had earlier announced that the two-Test series against Zimbabwe, which was also in the initial tour programme, will now take place in January next year when the whole series was originally scheduled.ESPNcricinfo has also learned that the BCB had been in talks with the WICB regarding a T20I tri-series (Bangladesh, West Indies and Zimbabwe) after the ODI series against Zimbabwe, but the talks fell through.Bangladesh will also host Zimbabwe Under-19 in Chittagong in November, while the Bangladesh A side will tour Zimbabwe for a limited-overs series during the same window.

There is much talk of players preferring the IPL to first-class or even international cricket but, in Alfonso Thomas, Somerset have a cricketer who has chosen to take the path less travelled.

George Dobell at Taunton26-Apr-2013
ScorecardMarcus Trescothick fell to a spinner once again, but saw his side build a strong position•Getty Images

There is much talk of players preferring the IPL to first-class or even international cricket but, in Alfonso Thomas, Somerset have a cricketer who has chosen to take the path less travelled.Thomas, preferring the security of a new three-year deal at Somerset to another season of IPL, is contracted at Taunton for the entire season. And, on a pitch on which two of his colleagues had made batting look simple with high-class centuries, he produced a spell of bowling that might have made the crucial contribution in this match.Thomas, playing against the club that rejected him after a brief stint in 2007, claimed three wickets in an excellent afternoon spell. Maintaining a nagging line, using the crease well and finding just enough movement to trouble all the batsmen, he had Jim Troughton feeling for one angled across him from wide at the crease, Laurie Evans edging a beauty that was angled in and left him off the pitch, and Tim Ambrose leg before despite more than an hint of inside edge. It knocked the stuffing out of the champions and has left them facing a vast first-innings deficit.That Somerset extended their first innings beyond 400 – claiming maximum batting bonus points – for the first time this season was largely due to Jos Buttler. While it would be stretching a point to suggest that Buttler has preferred county duty to the IPL – he has not had the opportunity to participate in the IPL at this stage – he did admit that his third first-class century here meant more to him that a match-defining contribution in a T20 match. “I’ve made a reputation in one-day cricket” he told, “but under-performed in the Championship.”Warwickshire might also reflect on some sloppy batting. Varun Chopra, under the watchful eye of England batting coach Graham Thorpe, missed a straight one as he attempted to flick across the line, while Chris Woakes cut a long-hop to point and William Porterfield mistimed a drive horribly to gift a catch to mid-off.Rikki Clarke, batting imperiously, was run out attempting a third when Marcus Trescothick’s throw from 10 yards inside the boundary at fine leg hit the stumps – “he was unlucky,” Trescothick admitted modestly afterwards – while, for the first time in many months, Warwickshire now have a longish tail, with three men vying for the No. 11 spot. The foundations of their success last year, built upon a relentless bowling attack and a batting order that disappeared over the horizon, have been weakened.Perhaps we should not be surprised. Somerset were, after all, the only side to beat Warwickshire in the Championship last year – they came close to doing it twice – when they bowled them out for 124 at Taunton and they did finish second. Besides, this match is not over: Dougie Brown, Warwickshire’s new director of cricket, had brave words at the close about ‘”chasing anything” on such a good surface.

Gayle’s Somerset guarantee

Chris Gayle has given a written undertaking to allow Somerset first refusal for his services in return for reneging on his contract in 2012 and there is still a chance he could appear for the club in this year’s T20 competition. The club’s chief executive, Guy Lavender, confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that Somerset “would like him to come” which leaves just the pesky issues of money and availability. Gayle is committed to appearing in the Champions Trophy – between June 6 and June 23 – and expected to appear in the Caribbean Premier League from July 29 to August 26. The group stage of the FLt20 runs from June 26 to July 31, with the quarter-finals on August 6 and finals day on August 17. The Sri Lanka Premier League also runs from August 11. Somerset have currently only signed one overseas player for the competition: Alviro Petersen.

To date, however, Somerset have outplayed Warwickshire with bat and ball. Somerset’s batsmen displayed a discipline that Warwickshire’s could not and Somerset’s bowlers have generated more life from the surface. Had Trescothick, the Somerset captain, not declined the opportunity to enforce the follow-on – a controversial decision bearing in mind that only 13 overs remained in the day when he decided to bat again – then Warwickshire would have been obliged to follow on for the first time since August 2010, when Nottinghamshire were the opposition. As it was, Somerset extended their lead of 248 to 294 by stumps with Trescothick, out to offspin yet again (he has been dismissed by three of the last four balls he has faced from offspinners) the only victim.”It’s really important the bowlers are fresh when they have the new ball,” Trescothick said afterwards, explaining his decision. “Our bowlers had already bowled 65 overs, so I wanted to give them a break. Warwickshire also look tired, so we wanted to put them back out there.”Warwickshire might consider themselves somewhat unfortunate. While the majority of England players, including the fast bowlers, have returned to action in this round of games, Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell continue to sit out this round of matches. Not only are Warwickshire much weakened by their absence, but it seems a shame that such a high-profile televised match, a match that could have been used to market the county game, has been denied such fine players.Warwickshire are also missing Ian Westwood, who is out for around a month having turned his ankle in training, and Keith Barker, who is out for six weeks with a side strain. As a consequence, their batting is considerably weakened.But none of that should have been unanticipated. It was always likely that Trott and Bell would be absent for vast periods and always likely that injury – and Lions call-ups – would weaken Warwickshire at other times. The likes of Darren Maddy were available for selection. There can be no excuses. These days cricket, at county and international level, is a squad game.Besides, Somerset have issues of their own. George Dockrell was unavailable with a finger injury and Steve Kirby was rested with a view to ‘workload management’. Jack Leach, the 21-year-old left-arm spinner playing only his fourth first-class match, compensated for the absence of the former with a tight spell of bowling that suggested he could have a decent future at this level, while the Overton twins, aged just 19, look prodigiously talented. Jamie found bounce and carry in the pitch that only Clarke, of the Warwickshire bowlers, could match, while Craig conceded just seven runs in 10 overs.Things are looking up for Somerset and the club are hopeful of retaining the services of Buttler. The 22-year-old, who produced some outstandingly fluent drives to complete his century, is out of contract at the end of the season and certain to interest a host of other counties. Slightly unsettled by the uncertainty over his future as a wicketkeeper at the club – Craig Kieswetter retains the gloves and is keeping better all the time – Buttler knows his England ambitions may be better served by a move to a club that allows him to keep more often. But, having developed through the system and having a family steeped in the club, it will take some persuasion to lure him away.Buttler remains a work in progress. He has plenty of improvement to make with his keeping and questions to answer about his ability to play the short ball and his ability to survive in bowler-friendly conditions. But the way in which he makes perfectly respectable length deliveries appear as if they are overpitched filth suggests he is a young man of rare talent who will surely find a way.

Chris Cairns was questioned about his work for a diamond trading company and the large sums of money he received from them prior to the third edition of the ICL

Alan Gardner at the Royal Courts of Justice06-Mar-2012Chris Cairns, the retired New Zealand international, has been confronted with allegations of corruption made by former team-mates on the second day of his libel action against the former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi. Cairns, who is suing Modi over a 2010 tweet that claimed the former allrounder was involved in match-fixing during his time in the rival Indian Cricket League (ICL), said that the accusations made him “angry” and “sad”.The High Court in London heard testimony from witness statements of several former players with Chandigarh Lions, the team Cairns captained during his three seasons in the Twenty20 league. The evidence provided in Modi’s defence included a claim that Cairns asked a batsman to score “no more than 5 runs” in an innings, and instructed one bowler to bowl no-balls and another to bowl “loosely”.Cairns was also questioned about his work for a diamond trading company and the large sums of money he received from them prior to the third edition of the ICL. The firm, Vijay Dimon, was run by what Cairns described as family friends and he said he regretted them becoming the focus of public interest.”I didn’t realise how intense this would be,” Cairns said. “Anything that has Modi attached is significant global news. The initial tweet in 2010 started this and now it’s spread like wildfire all over the world. With regards to bringing my friends into this domain, I feel sorry for them.”During his second day on the witness stand – an appearance that ran to almost eight hours in total – Ronald Thwaites QC, representing Modi, accused Cairns of colluding with Dinesh Mongia, a former India international, to “put pressure on younger players to underperform”. Mongia, described as Cairns’ “co-conspirator”, had an unofficial role as vice-captain within the team because of his ability to translate English for the Indian players who didn’t speak the language.The court heard that Rajesh Sharma, a bowler with Chandigarh, said that he had raised concerns about match-fixing during the second edition of the ICL but was told by Cairns and Mongia to keep quiet or he would be removed from the team. Cairns denied such a conversation took place but said that he had spoken to Sharma and two other players about their levels of performance.Another player, Gaurav Gupta, alleged that he had been told by Mongia that Cairns would give him money for fixing matches. He said in one match he had been told to score five runs or less and that Cairns had told him to “get out now” upon joining Gupta, who had scored four runs at the time, in the middle. Cairns responded by saying: “I would never instruct anyone to do that.”Gupta said it was understood a player could earn 10 Lakhs ($20,000) if they agreed to engage in fixing.Two other bowlers were also allegedly pressured by Cairns and Mongia. Amit Uniyal said he was told to “bowl loose balls” in order to keep his place in the side, while Love Ablish was allegedly instructed to bowl a no-ball. Cairns denied the claims.Cairns had his contract terminated after three games of the third edition of the ICL, with his failure to disclose an injury the official reason given. Mongia also left the Chandigarh Lions as the same time.Modi’s defence claims that talk of Cairns’ injury was a cover-up to obscure the corruption allegations that had been made against them. Cairns has denied this but faced further questions from Thwaites about his financial situation in 2008, prior to the start of the third edition of the ICL in October.Bank statements submitted to the court show that Cairns received two separate payments, totalling 600,000 Emirati Dirham ($160,000), into an account in Dubai, where he had set up home with his new wife. The payments, which were made in August and September of 2008, were for Cairns’ involvement with Vijay Dimon. He had a verbal agreement to do promotional and sales work for the India-based diamond trader, which also has offices in Dubai and Antwerp.Thwaites suggested that the transactions were bound to invite scrutiny and questioned the nature of Cairns’ involvement with the diamond trade.”You have drawn suspicion upon yourself,” Thwaites said. “You must be aware that to take large payments immediately before a tournament in a country where match-fixing is rife invites suspicion?”The initial payment, of more than 350,000 AED ($95,000), was for relocation costs, Cairns said, the rest being for appearances at dinners and events. A third payment, bringing the total Cairns received to 900,000 AED ($250,000), was made to the account in 2009, after which his association with Vijay Dimon continued only on an “occasional basis”.However, Thwaites said that the absence of a formal contract with the company “deepens the suspicion you bring upon yourself”.It was also revealed that after Cairns’ departure from the ICL – but before Modi’s January 2010 tweet – that former Australia wicketkeeper Rod Marsh refused to sign a bat to be auctioned for charity that already bore Cairns’ signature, as he did not want to be associated with the allrounder. Cairns accepted this but said he “had it out” with Marsh and that they had resolved their disagreement.Cairns has previously admitted to being made aware of match-fixing allegations during a hotel meeting with ICL officials on October 26, 2008. He said that the reason for his contract being terminated, however, was due to an ankle injury that prevented him from bowling. Despite repeated questioning, Cairns has denied that the ICL’s anti-corruption officer, Howard Beer – who is due to give evidence on Wednesday – was present in the hotel room.Following the meeting, Cairns said he called his lawyer Andrew Fitch-Holland and asked him to “shut down” the rumours about alleged corruption that had begun to circulate. Fitch-Holland is also scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.

South Africa determined to pressurise Bangladesh from the outset says captain

Firdose Moonda in Mirpur18-Mar-2011When a 22-year-old Graeme Smith was given the biggest job in South African cricket, Dhaka was the venue of his first assignment. He had to lead the side to a seven-match tri-series involving the hosts and India, in which South Africa won three of the four round-robin matches they played. The final, between South Africa and India, was washed out.Now, eight years on, Smith is ending his tenure as captain and one of the stops on his last assignment is Dhaka. He seems to have fond memories of the place where it all began. “It was a bit up and down at the start, but in the last four years or so I’ve really felt in control,” he said. “From around 2008, I’ve seen us reap rewards and begun to understand what’s required of me. I’ve had a team that I felt I could really say is mine.”It’s interesting that Smith should pick 2008 as the time when things began changing. That was time enough after South Africa’s Caribbean World Cup semi-final exit to have a fresh look at the one-day set-up and left time enough to build before the tournament’s next edition. In between that they had major Test series to concentrate on as well, and won in England and Australia while drawing in India. They ended up losing the ODI series’ that followed those Test wins but 2008 marked the start of South Africa playing to plans, a phrase that encompasses various things we’ve seen at this World Cup. Like rotating players within the squad to suit conditions and targeting specific players in calculated ways.It’s involved doing a lot of homework, but almost all of it has paid off. When Smith opened the bowling with an offspinner to Chris Gayle, he had him out within three balls. When he opened with a left-arm spinner to Kevin Pietersen, the same happened. They wanted to target the Indians bowlers in the Powerplay and the way they batted in that period won them the match. Similar research has been done for the match against Bangladesh.Smith looked like an eager school kid as he reeled off the things he had learnt about Bangladesh so far. “We’ve seen that they have averaged 40 to 41 overs of spin with the ball, so we expect a lot of that. They have seven left handers and play well on the front foot but if we can put pressure on them from the start, they don’t have a huge confidence base.”Smith emphasised that even though South Africa have qualified for the quarter-finals, they are not going to slack off. It has nothing to do with the win that Bangladesh earned over South Africa in the 2007 World Cup. “There is no added emotion from our perspective and no revenge talk,” Smith said. “Four years it a lot of time to let things go.”What there might be is an eagerness to show how much they have improved from that day in Guyana, when a confident 87 from Mohammed Ashraful and a strangling bowling performance from Shakib Al Hasan and Abdur Razzak saw South Africa bowled out for 184, chasing 252.”We used to rely on brute force in the past, but we are more subtle now,” Smith said. The spinners, for a start, have added to the finesse. All three frontline spinners, Imran Tahir, Robin Peterson and Johan Botha, have been among the wickets but, as is the nature of their trade, it’s out-thinking the batsman that has done the trick more than scaring them. Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers have scored picture-perfect centuries and JP Duminy a gritty 99.They’ve been “street-smart” as Smith likes to call it but that doesn’t mean their bullying days are done. Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel can bruise teams upfront, and given that South Africa are determined to pressurise Bangladesh from the outset, that’s what they will be looking to do.Smith himself may indulge in a bit of the bullying. The captain has been struggling for form, the 45 he scored against West Indies his highest score of the tournament. “It’s been frustrating,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of starts and haven’t been able to capitalise on them.” Getting significant time at the crease and having a good knock is vital to Smith for another reason – it how he shows his ability as a leader. “It’s an important time for me to do well. For a long time I have led from the front and I would like to get back to doing that.”Maybe it wouldn’t be so crucial to have a defining innings if Smith wasn’t wrapping up his stint at the helm. For now, his time is all about the experiences and he hopes Bangladesh will give him one to add to his collection. “It’s going to be wonderful for us to play here in this World Cup. We know the crowd are going to be behind Bangladesh, we’ll be up for it.”

The plays of the day from the latest action at Dhaka as Bangladesh are frustrated when they don’t get the rub of the umpiring green

Andrew Miller in Dhaka22-Mar-2010Innings of the dayWho would have thought that the sight of Ian Bell marching to the wicket could carry with it such reassurance? And who would have thought that a man who has been habitually derided for “soft runs” could attain such fulfilment from a century against Bangladesh? But strange things have happened to Ian Bell this winter, and his chipper tenth Test century was the bedrock of an otherwise jittery England innings. For the first time in his career he was the only man on the card to reach three figures (though Tim Bresnan may yet ruin that statistic) and until he fell in the final hour of the day, his average against Bangladesh had reached a heady 488. No matter. For England’s sake, it was invaluable.Dismissal of the dayJonathan Trott’s second-day 64 was “like watching paint dry”, according to Darren Gough, who added, via Twitter, that innings such as his are “killing cricket”. So it was either a cruel misfortune or a blessed relief when Trott’s resumption was curtailed in the space of eight deliveries this morning. He had added no runs – to no great surprise – when he propped half-forward to Shakib Al Hasan, only for the ball to loop off the pad, onto his elbow, and curl agonisingly and inexorably into his off stump.Controversy of the dayTo make any real headway against a determined England line-up, Bangladesh needed some luck to back up their determination. But as Andy Flower admitted in the build-up to the series, “I think sometimes the bigger teams get things going their way”, and sure enough each of England’s three key batsmen on the third day got a reprieve. Matt Prior might have been pinned lbw on 9 by a Rubel Hossain inswinger, but went on to make 62; Bresnan appeared to nick a bat-pad catch on 5, but was still there at the close on 74; and when Bell walked across his stumps to Abdur Razzak on 82, an irate Jamie Siddons charged out of the dressing-room to gesticulate that it ought to have been given out lbw.Drop of the daySome let-offs, however, couldn’t be blamed on the umpire, and the one that Imrul Kayes handed to Bell, on 120, had the makings of a passion-killer, coming as it did in the third over after tea, and with Bangladeshi heads already beginning to drop. With Shafiul Islam working up a good head of steam, Bell flicked loosely to midwicket, where Imrul dived forward but couldn’t cling onto the chance. And at 381 for 5, with a first-innings deficit of less than 40, England seemed set to push on to the 500-odd total that Kevin Pietersen had predicted on the second evening. But to Bangladesh’s credit, things didn’t quite pan out that way.Mow of the dayPietersen also claimed that it was virtually impossible to remove a well-set batsman on this pitch, but England somehow contrived some impressive ways to end their stays. For sheer lack of gorm, few dismissals rivalled that of Matt Prior, whose already breezy innings was given a bit of jet-propulsion when Shakib Al Hasan served up a brace of help-yourself full-tosses that were readily tonked to the boundary. But with his dander up, Prior forgot that Shakib bad-balls are the exception, not the norm. Two balls later he skipped down the track to attempt a third leg-side four, but yorked himself sublimely as the delivery tweaked out of the rough and into off stump.Stodge of the dayBresnan’s batting is highly fancied by the England management, despite the fact that his only previous Test innings was a non-descript 9 against West Indies last summer. But in a team of all round potential, he has been pushed up the order ahead of both Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad, and today he proved his worth with his maiden Test half-century. It wasn’t a pretty affair by any means, and in fact his 74 from 214 balls put Trott’s 64 from 195 in the shade. But seeing as his primary role is to take wickets, and his secondary role was to support Bell in a 143-run stand, it was rather more forgivable.Bowler of the dayAmid all the gripes, one man rumbled on. Shakib’s end-of-day analysis read 57-27-99-4, a testament to his personal powers of endurance on a day when his team might easily have lost their focus. He still has time to claim his five-for with two wickets still to claim, but he had a hand – quite literally – in one other wicket to fall, when his fingertips brushed a Bresnan drive into the non-striker’s stumps, with Graeme Swann left stranded. It proved to be a timely dose of good fortune, with Broad’s late dismissal redressing the balance significantly.

It’s understood Azhar felt the appointment of Sarfaraz Ahmed in a role that aligned closely with his own responsibilities led him to feel his position had become untenable

Danyal Rasool19-Nov-2025Azhar Ali has resigned from his position at the PCB as selector and head of youth development, ending a 12-month stint in that role. The departure, which was not publicly announced by either Azhar or the board, has been confirmed by ESPNcricinfo.ESPNcricinfo has learned Azhar’s departure came after an extended period of simmering differences in outlook between the former Pakistan captain and the board. Matters eventually came to a head after Sarfaraz Ahmed was reportedly appointed – though, again, not officially confirmed by the board – as the head of Pakistan Shaheens and Under-19 sides, with his remit extending to the organising and managing of tours, as well as conducting training camps.It is understood Azhar felt the appointment of Sarfaraz in a role that aligned closely with his own set of responsibilities led him to feel his position had become untenable. He sent in his letter of resignation earlier this week, which the PCB accepted.Azhar, who captained Pakistan in Tests and ODIs, was first brought into the PCB as a member of the selection panel for Pakistan’s men’s national side in October 2024. A month later, he had the role of youth development head tacked on, one which was publicly announced by the PCB at the time.The official announcement of his appointment on the PCB’s website stated that he had been “tasked with shaping the future of Pakistan cricket by designing and implementing comprehensive youth cricket strategies, establishing robust grassroots cricket structures and talent pathways, collaborating with regional cricket associations to strengthen age-group programmes, educating emerging cricketers under the PCB’s Pathways Programme, and organising seminars and clinics to build awareness of off-field development essentials for aspiring players”.The next major assignment for a Pakistan age-group side comes at the 2026 Under-19 World Cup, which runs from January 15 to February 6, and will take place in Zimbabwe and Namibia. Co-hosts Zimbabwe, Scotland and England are in Pakistan’s group at the competition, which Pakistan have won twice – in 2004 and 2006.

Chloe Tryon is out with a recurring back injury but she will hope to be fit for the T20 World Cup in October

Firdose Moonda31-May-2024South Africa opening batter Tazmin Brits is in line for an international comeback after suffering a meniscus tear and sprained ligament on her left knee in April. Brits has been named in the ODI and Test squads to face India next month and will undergo a fitness assessment before the group departs to determine the extent of her involvement in the three ODIs and the one-off Test.Brits had sustained the injury on April 9, in the same match that she scored her second ODI century of the season, against Sri Lanka and underwent surgery the following week. She was expected to be in line to play by the end of May and is on track in her recovery thus far. The next two weeks are thought to be crucial in her return to play programme. While South Africa have not yet named their T20I squad for the tour, her participation in that series will be most crucial, with October’s T20 World Cup in mind.Allrounder Nondumiso Shangase, who bowls offpsin, has been recalled to the squad after missing the Australia and Sri Lanka series while wicketkeeper Meike De Ridder is also included after a hand injury kept her out of the Sri Lanka series. Those inclusions are a significant boost for a South African outfit that will miss out on the experience of Chloe Tryon, whose back injury has recurred. The problem has plagued her since 2020, and she has regularly missed cricket because of it but will hope to be fit for the T20 World Cup. Batter Lara Goodall and 19-year-old seamer Ayanda Hlubi, who debuted in the ODIs and the Test against Australia earlier in the year, are also out with a hamstring and groin concern respectively.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The rest of South Africa’s squad includes familiar names such as captain Laura Wolvaardt, allrounders Nadine de Klerk and Marizanne Kapp, and a bowling attack led by the seam of Ayabonga Khaka and spin of Nonkululeko Mlaba. De Ridder and Annerie Dercksen, who has played seven T20Is, are the only uncapped players across the ODI and Test format while Shangase and Eliz-Mari Marx are in the line for Test debuts.The four-day Test, scheduled for Chennai from June 28 to July 1, will be South Africa’s third in the last two years, with another to come against England at home this summer, while the ODIs are their second-last series of the Women’s Championship, which determines qualification for the 2025 World Cup. South Africa are in third position on the points table, a point behind England. The top five teams and hosts India will advance automatically to the tournament with the remaining two teams to be determined via a qualifier.Significantly, the India tour will be South Africa’s first series since the departure of long-serving coach Hilton Moreeng, who opted not to continue in the role after more than 11 years in the job. Interim coach Dillon du Preez will take charge in India, and South Africa are expected to confirm a permanent head coach before the T20 World Cup.”Everyone’s excited and looking forward to the tour to India,” du Preez said in a statement. “So far, preparation has been great. We had a big focus on options against spin and it was good to see the buy-in from the team. We also have new management involved, so this would be a great opportunity for them to find their feet before we come back and start our preparation for the World Cup.”The key for us would be to assess the conditions as soon as possible, be calm under pressure and try and play key moments in the game better than the opposition. We all know a series against India in India will always be tough.”The last time South Africa toured India, in March 2021, they won the five-match ODI series 4-1.The tour this time will start with a warm-up match against Board President’s Women XI on June 13 in Bengaluru before the three ODIs in the same city on June 16, 19 and 23. Chennai will then host the Test from June 28 and the three T20Is on July 5, 7 and 9.

South Africa Women ODI and Test squad for India tour

Laura Wolvaardt (capt), Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Mieke de Ridder (wk), Sinalo Jafta (wk), Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Suné Luus, Eliz-Mari Marx, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Tumi Sekhukhune, Nondumiso Shangase, ⁠Delmi Tucker