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Al-Amin Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman share four wickets to restrict Zimbabwe despite Brendan Taylor’s unbeaten 59

The Report by Liam Brickhill11-Mar-2020Bangladesh sprinted to a 2-0 series victory in the second T20I at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka. Once again, Liton Das shone with the bat, registering an unbeaten 60 off 45 balls to guide his team to a nine-wicket over Zimbabwe. While Brendan Taylor had also scored 59 not out off 48 balls, there was little else of substance from the visiting batsmen and they had no answer to Bangladesh’s sustained pressure in the field, crawling to a sub-par 119 for 7.With Tamim Iqbal rested today, Das had a new opening partner in Mohammad Naim, but the result was much the same. Bangladesh cruised to 77 before they lost a wicket, and by then the result was a formality. With one foot on the plane, Zimbabwe went through the motions and whatever intensity there was earlier in the match fizzled out long before Soumya Sarkar pulled Chris Mpofu over midwicket for the second six of his innings to level the scores and then dabbed him down to short third man to end their misery.Mahmud’s first outingHasan Mahmud turned heads with his pace in the last edition of the Bangladesh Premier League, picking up ten wickets for Dhaka Platoon with a best of 4 for 32. Having been touted for big things by various scouts and coaches, Mahmud was included in the T20I squad for this series and made the playing XI ahead of Shafiul Islam today as Bangladesh looked to blood some youngsters. As Mahmudullah rang the changes in his attack from the outset, Mahmud was into the fray in the fourth over of the innings and soon showed why there have been whispers of big things to come from him.His very first ball hooped across the left-hander Craig Ervine to beat his outside edge, his fourth seamed waspishly off a length to repeat the dose, and his fifth was clocked at over 140kph. With his sixth he should have had Taylor caught at short fine leg. Looking to upset the youngster’s rhythm, Taylor shuffled across his stumps and aimed a scoop shot over short fine leg but got more height than distance. Al-Amin Hossain hustled backwards but couldn’t quite get into position to cling on to the chance. Nevertheless, an impression had been made by Mahmud, and the entire bowling attack followed suit. The wickets were shared around, as were 50 dot balls in the innings, with Al-Amin getting through his quota of four overs at under a run a ball and the offspinners Afif Hossain and Mahedi Hasan taking a combined 2 for 16 from four overs. Bangladesh conceded just one extra throughout the innings, a leg-bye, and never made things easy for Zimbabwe.Taylor scores an unbeaten half-centuryTo say that Taylor hasn’t had the best tour would be a bit of an understatement: he managed just 27 runs across two innings in the one-off Test as his attempts to take the attack to Bangladesh backfired. In the ODIs, meanwhile, he got starts and alright but repeatedly found ways to get out. And while he was out for 1 in the first T20I, he was the glue that held a somewhat flimsy effort from Zimbabwe’s batsmen together tonight.Opening the innings, Taylor laid a platform with a 57-run second-wicket stand with Craig Ervine but Bangladesh’s doggedness with the ball meant it was a lot of hard graft. Unfortunately, Taylor had little support from the other end. Ervine provided some stickability, if not rapid scoring, but the rest of Zimbabwe’s top order made virtually no impact. Taylor reached a sixth T20I fifty from 42 balls in the 19th over, and hit the only six of the innings but Zimbabwe’s total never looked like challenging Bangladesh.Zimbabwe pay the price for indisciplineWhile tight lines and canny change-ups were the hallmarks of Bangladesh’s effort in the field, the same was not true of Zimbabwe’s attack. They feed Das on his pads, and Naim outside off, as the openers cruised to 44 in the powerplay. Had Naim not holed out, somewhat against the run of play, Bangladesh could have broken yet another partnership record tonight. While there was the odd good delivery bowled, consistency was lacking and so was control: Zimbabwe bowled four wides in the innings, as well as giving away a bye and two leg-byes.Das does it againEverything Das has touched on this tour has turned to gold. So, there was a sense of inevitability to proceedings this evening, with Zimbabwe’s bowlers seemingly having learned nothing in their battles with him over the past few weeks.Not that they had much say in the matter. Das displayed a remarkable serenity, even as he ticked along at well over a run a ball. Good deliveries were kept out, or nudged for singles, and bad ones unerringly slotted to the boundary. He registered a 35-ball fifty without a hint of violence in his strokeplay, killing Zimbabwe softly, and was named both Player of the Match and of the Series for his efforts.

West Indies opener draws on great’s mental strength ahead of England Tests

Valkerie Baynes17-Jun-2020Kraigg Brathwaite has engaged the help of West Indies great Desmond Haynes as he seeks to rediscover the form that saw him narrowly miss scoring twin centuries against England at Headingley in 2017.Both opening batsmen from Barbados, Brathwaite and Haynes have worked together previously on technical components of Brathwaite’s game but, more recently, the focus has shifted to the mental side as West Indies prepare to face England in their three-Test series behind closed doors, beginning at the Ageas Bowl on July 8.”I had some words with Desmond Haynes back in Barbados,” Brathwaite said on Wednesday via video link from the team’s Manchester training base. “Me and him always had a good relationship because he was team manager for the Barbados team when I first started, so I had some chats with him. He was obviously an opener as well and that’s been very beneficial to me.”A lot of it is keeping it simple, you don’t really want to complicate it too much. It’s just simple advice, just about what he did back in the day. Three hours left in a day is always a tough period for an opener, or an hour. So it’s just mental stuff that he helped me with… he was very strong mentally.”ALSO READ: Moeen Ali back in Test frame as England name 30-man training squadBrathwaite scored 134 and 95 when West Indies chased down 322 to win the second Test at Headingley in 2017 – their first Test victory in England for 17 years – and team-mate Shai Hope became the first man to score two centuries in a first-class match at the ground with 147 and 118 not out.Since then, Brathwaite has suffered a dip in form, averaging 25.33 in his last 20 Tests. He made it into the 40s twice as West Indies defeated England 2-1 in the Caribbean 18 months ago but his failure to convert those starts, followed by even leaner returns against India and, most recently, Afghanistan has put him under increasing pressure.Brathwaite did strike some good form with the bat during the West Indies Championship, reaching three half-centuries and scoring 40 or more on three further occasions for Barbados before the competition was halted with two rounds to go in mid-March because of the Covid-19 pandemic.The absence of batsmen Darren Bravo and Shimron Hetmyer, who opted not to travel to England during the outbreak, only adds to the expectation on Brathwaite and Hope for this series, although Brathwaite doesn’t necessarily see it that way. Nor does he give too much currency to his feats in Leeds last time West Indies toured England.”That was almost three years ago,” Brathwaite said. “Looking back at stuff I did I can obviously see things I did well, but that’s history. I have a current job to do here and I’m ready, I’m raring to go.”I’m up for the challenge… I know all the guys here can do well. I’m starting the innings and I’m just going to do my job, it’s as simple as that. I know we have a good batting line-up and everyone’s ready and raring to go, so no added pressure really.”Having said that, Brathwaite also believes that run-chase at Headingley could hold the key to success this time around for a side that, by head coach Phil Simmons’ admission, has come to rely too heavily on its bowling attack.”We’ve got to score runs,” Brathwaite said. “Once you can put runs on the board we put our team in a great position. We’ve still got to be disciplined with the ball but I think potentially, when we won the game at Headingley, we scored runs, we chased down over 300 runs, so we’ve just got to put runs on the board.””You’ve just got to be mentally strong. The last couple of series, we’ve got to be honest with ourselves, we didn’t do as good as we know we can so we’ve got to buckle down and stay disciplined. Discipline will carry you a long way, in Test cricket in the whole and then especially here in England where the ball will potentially be moving. Once you can be disciplined throughout the whole day and not just for half an hour, an hour, I think that will bring forth big runs.”Brathwaite’s discipline and patience stood out against England in the Caribbean 18 months ago, where he performed well against the seamers and the new ball, but fell to Moeen Ali three times in six innings. But he has never faced fellow Barbadian Jofra Archer, who is set to play West Indies for the first time in a Test since qualifying to represent England last year.”Jofra is quality,” Brathwaite said. “I’ve never played against Jofra, not even back in Barbados, but I look forward to the challenge. We know it won’t be easy so you’ve just got to work hard. Our net sessions are quite competitive, our guys are quite aggressive so we’re getting in shape.”

Inoka Ranaweera has moved down to Grade B, while Yasoda Mendis finds herself out of the list

Andrew Fidel Fernando09-Jun-2020Sri Lanka captain Chamari Atapattu is the only player to earn a top contract in 2020, as Sri Lanka Cricket announced a 35-strong list of centrally-retained women players.As has been the case in the past year, these contracts are valid for only six months at a time (members of the men’s team get 12-month contracts), with this lot having gone into effect from May 1. And as with the previous round of women’s contracts, 20 of the contracts are for national-team players, and 15 are for emerging cricketers who get a “fixed monthly rate” to support their training, in addition to an “attendance allowance”.Two other players in addition to Atapattu had been placed in the highest contract category in 2019, but from among those players Shashikala Siriwardana has retired, and left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera has dropped into the second – Group B – category.Sathya Sandeepani and Umesha Thimashini graduated to Group D, having been in the Emerging list in the last round of contracts. Batsman Yasoda Mendis, who had had a group B contract last time but has not played for Sri Lanka since October, is not in this list at all.SLC central contracts:Group A: Chamari Atapattu.Group B: Anushka Sanjeewani, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Inoka Ranaweera, Nilakshi De Silva, Sugandika Kumari, Udeshika Prabodhani, Hasini Perera, Harshitha Madavi.Group C: Dilani Manodara, Prasadini Weerakkody, Kavisha Dilhari.Group D: Ama Kanchana, Imalka Mendis, Inoshi Fernando, Achini Kulasooriya, Hansima Karunaratne, Madushika Meththananda, Umesha Thimashini, Sathya Sandeepani.Emerging players: Malsha Shehani, Lihini Apsara, Tharika Sewwandi, Jimanjalee Wijenayake, Harshani Wijeratne, Shashikala Silva, Sachini Nisansala, Iresha Sandamalee, Tharuka Shehani, Nilkashana Sandmini, Rose Perera, Janadi Analee, Shikari Niwarthana, Thilishiya Sathsarani, Saduni Nisansala.

“If I didn’t have a great relationship with him, I think it could have spiralled into something nasty,” captain says of star allrounder

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jul-2020Andre Russell, man of the tournament in IPL 2019, had criticised the “decision making” of his franchise Kolkata Knight Riders midway through the tournament, when losses for the team were piling up. That criticism had come on the back of Russell having suggested a week earlier that he wouldn’t mind moving up the order given his devastating form, saying: “To go out there and chasing 14-15 per over, it’s not the best way you want to start as a batsman.”KKR captain Dinesh Karthik had copped the blame for Russell batting lower down, but he said on Sunday that Russell was a “heart on sleeve” kind of player, and that they both shared an excellent equation which prevented a sour situation from turning ugly.”I think he’s one of those guys who wears his heart on his sleeve. It’s up to you how you take it,” Karthik said on the . “If you want to take it offensively, the mistake is on your part. If you want to take it constructively, which is how I looked at it… we had a conversation over it. Man to man, we discussed it. He wasn’t unhappy with me, he wasn’t happy that the team wasn’t winning. That is the bottom line.”ALSO READ: Andre Russell questions KKR’s decision-makingKarthik said that there was a gulf between the meaning Russell had intended to convey with his words and how they were perceived.”Whatever he said, I completely respected it. I think he got a taste of the Indian media then as well,” Karthik said. “Because what can be said and what comes out can be two different things. The tone of what you say to what comes out can be very different when it comes in print. He realised (that) and was a little apologetic as well. But at the end of the day, I have a great relationship with him. That makes the difference. If I didn’t have a great relationship with him, I think it could have spiralled into something nasty. Because I have an honest relationship, I can go straight up to him and say, ‘Russ, I don’t think what you said is right, because the way it has come out is not great, so what are we going do?’ And he said, ‘No, skip. This is how I felt about it, not how it’s come out.’ So there itself half the battle is over because what he said to what people are reading are two different things.”Karthik said that the duo had worked out the issues Russell had while explaining his own rationale, and had met his star allrounder “halfway”.”As a leader, I think having different opinions and dealing with it is one of the most important things,” Karthik said. “You need to be able to stand up and have a conversation, sometimes a hard conversation.”

Riley Meredith left Steven Smith flat on his back when he dismissed him with a bouncer

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Aug-2020Cummins XI 250 for 8 (Maxwell 108, Stoinis 87, Lyon 3-47) beat Finch XI 249 (Tye 59, Starc 41, Stoinis 4-31) by two wicketsGlenn Maxwell hit a century in his first innings since the Big Bash final in February and Marcus Stoinis produced an impressive all-round display with 87 and four wickets in Australia’s latest warm-up match ahead of the England series.This intersquad game was played across 50 overs and saw the Pat Cummins XI get home by two wickets chasing 250 after Maxwell (108) and Stoinis had added 174 in 26 overs for the third wicket. Earlier, AJ Tye top-scored for the Aaron Finch XI with 59 as that top-order stuttered to 113 for 6 before recovering.Maxwell’s last appearance for Australia was in the T20I series against Sri Lanka at the end of October, but neither he or Stoinis have appeared in the ODI team since the World Cup when the pair had disappointing returns.They came together at 9 for 2 following early wickets for Mitchell Starc, who trapped Matthew Wade lbw second ball for a duck, and Riley Meredith who bounced out Steven Smith leaving him flat on his back in the crease.Glenn Maxwell lofts the ball away during his century•Getty Images

The boundaries flowed between Maxwell and Stoinis with both striking two sixes in their dominant partnership before Meredith removed Stoinis 13 short of a hundred with a yorker from around the wicket.”It took a bit of time to get used to the wicket, but it was nice to get some rhythm,” Maxwell said. “That’s all you can hope for as a middle-order batter, is a fight for spots and for guys to put their hands up and make some big scores and give the selectors something to think about.”Can’t just have Warner, Finch and Smith making runs all the time, we’ve got to have other guys contributing as well.”The Cummins XI fell from 215 for 3 to 249 for 8 as Nathan Lyon claimed three wickets before the target was ticked off.Adam Zampa had produced an eye-catching spell with the ball during the first innings as he removed Marnus Labuschagne and Josh Philippe with a brace of wrong ‘uns. David Warner had again looked in good touch making 34 off 44 balls before he edged behind off Cummins.The Finch XI’s lower order more than doubled the total as Tye, who has a List A high score of 28 not out, Starc and Daniel Sams – the latter batting twice to make up the XI – muscled the ball around the ground. Stoinis, who has spoken of his belief that he can add value to the Australia limited-overs sides with his death bowling, claimed three late wickets.

Mayank Agarwal almost took Kings XI Punjab home, but Stoinis stole a tie out of nowhere before Kagiso Rabada bossed the Super Over

Karthik Krishnaswamy20-Sep-2020Seam movement and bounce with the new ball. A 20-ball half-century that came out of nowhere. A two-wicket over ending with a nasty-looking injury. A slow-burning, calculated rescue act that all but aced a tricky chase. A short run that wasn’t. Then, with one run required from three balls, somehow, Marcus Stoinis, who had also been the Capitals’ gamechanger with the bat, produced a dot and two wickets.The second match of IPL 2020 contained pretty much everything, until an anticlimactic Super Over handed two points to the Delhi Capitals and heartbreak to the Kings XI Punjab, particularly to Mayank Agarwal whose 89 off 60 balls had rescued them from an abject 55 for 5 in their chase of 158.Just as he was against the Kolkata Knight Riders last season, Kagiso Rabada was the Capitals’ Super Over hero. He took out KL Rahul with a well-directed bouncer, which followed the batsman’s premeditated movement towards the leg side, and bowled Nicholas Pooran next ball. Pooran’s slog across the line wouldn’t have been cause for too much censure in the regular part of a T20 game, but it was an unwise shot off the third ball of a Super Over, in which teams are only allowed two wickets.That left the Capitals just three runs to get, and they completed the job with no additions to the day’s quota of twists and turns.A fast bowlers’ pitchWith only three venues hosting this tournament, the pitches will, at some point, slow down and offer plenty of assistance to the spinners. For now, though, they’re keeping the fast bowlers interested. Saturday’s surface in Abu Dhabi had a healthy covering of grass. Today’s pitch in Dubai was well-grassed too, and offered seam movement and plenty of bounce. Both teams filled two of their overseas slots with fast bowlers.It was an Indian quick, however, who made the most of the early help. Delivering with his trademark upright seam, Mohammed Shami nipped the ball around, got it to spring off the pitch, and sent back Prithvi Shaw and Shimron Hetmyer in his second over. He had two catches dropped in his first over too, but one of them – Rahul putting Shikhar Dhawan down off a gloved hook – turned into a run-out.A recovery, and an eye-catching debutFrom 13 for 3 at the four-over mark, there was a bit of rebuilding to be done for the Capitals. Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant ensured they wouldn’t lose another wicket for another 10 overs, but the Capitals’ run rate remained in check. Staying below 6 an over even at the 12-over mark.One of the main reasons for this was the performance of Ravi Bishnoi, the 20-year-old legspinner, who performed the difficult act of keeping Pant quiet despite being the left-hander’s obvious target to go after. He did this by slanting the ball across Pant from over the wicket, and almost exclusively bowling sliders and wrong ‘uns that veered away from his hitting arc. He exhibited impressive control over his lengths as well, and only conceded 13 runs to Pant off 12 balls, ending their skirmish by bowling him off the inside edge.Iyer had a better time against his designated target, hitting the offspinner K Gowtham for three towering sixes. Ever since his India return late last year, Iyer has shown he’s become a ruthless hitter against spin, and this ability should come in handy for the Capitals right through this season.Stoinis goes berserkJust when Iyer was looking dangerous, Shami returned to the attack in the 15th over and dismissed him with a well-disguised knuckle ball. There were no boundaries in that over, or the next one from Bishnoi, or the one after that from Sheldon Cottrell. After 17 overs, the Capitals were 100 for 6 and looking at a total in the region of 130.They ended up with 158, thanks to one of the most remarkable slog-overs efforts the IPL has ever seen. The bowling wasn’t great – Chris Jordan and Cottrell didn’t vary their pace all that much, and kept missing their length while going for yorkers, both wide and straight – but Stoinis’ hitting was magnificent. He took guard on off stump to get closer to the line if the bowlers went wide, and that also allowed him to put away straighter deliveries behind square on the leg side. From there, it was all still head and stable base, and the last three overs brought the Capitals 13, 14, and an eye-watering 30 runs respectively.Stoinis ransacked 49 runs in the last three overs of the Capitals’ innings. Only Virat Kohli and Andre Russell have scored more in that part of an IPL innings.Mayank Agarwal drives powerfully•BCCI

Ashwin’s two-way impactJust as in the first innings, the new ball did a bit in the second too. Kings XI expected this, and also had a not-particularly-steep target to chase, so their top order played out this phase with a little more caution than Shaw and Hetmyer in particular had done for the Capitals. Rahul muscled a Mohit Sharma free-hit for a monstrous leg-side six but was otherwise circumspect until he was bowled by an inducker from Sharma in the fifth over. Agarwal was even more circumspect: he was on 4 off 10 at the end of the fifth over.Ashwin came on for the sixth over, and took a wicket with his first ever ball for the Capitals, against the team he captained last season; Karun Nair was the victim, falling to a top-edged sweep. Four balls later, Ashwin burst through Pooran’s defences with an arm ball from around the wicket. Kings XI were 34 for 3, and were looking at negotiating 19 more balls from Ashwin, but in an attempt to dive and save a single down the ground, he damaged his left shoulder and left the field in what appeared to be intense pain.Glenn Maxwell fell in the next over, miscuing Rabada to mid-off, but Kings XI had a bit of a lifeline. With Ashwin unable to bowl any further, targets could be found among the other five bowlers.Agarwal comes agonisingly closeWhen Kings XI lost Sarfaraz Khan at the end of the 10th over, they needed 103 from their last 60 balls with only five wickets in hand. Agarwal at that point was batting on 13 off 20.The boundaries began to arrive for him, but still in small, measured doses: a pulled six off Stoinis in the 11th over, two fast-hands slashes square on the off side off Anrich Nortje in the 13th. Amidst all this, the left-arm spinner Axar Patel kept him and Gowtham quiet, finding a bit of in-drift and getting the ball to skid towards the stumps.With 74 needed off 36, Gowtham went after Sharma, picking his slower delivery and launching it over the long-on boundary before flat-batting a short one over mid-off for four. He fell in the next over, off Rabada, but Agarwal kept Kings XI in touch with the required rate with two more fours off Nortje in the 17th.If Ashwin had been able to bowl, Sharma may not have had to finish his quota. As it happened, Sharma bowled the 18th and conceded two sixes to Agarwal, who was by now picking his spot and finding it ruthlessly, even if it meant carving full balls over point. Then, in the 19th over, Agarwal got the bit of luck that his innings deserved, Iyer putting down a chance running to his left from deep midwicket and giving away another four.Twelve came off that Rabada over – it could have been 13 but for a tight but erroneous call of short run when Jordan turned for a second run – leaving the Capitals’ sixth bowler, Stoinis, to defend 12 off the last over. Agarwal smacked the first ball for six, high over long-off, and seemed to have the match all sewn up two balls later with a drive that beat long-off to his left.That left one to get off three balls. A dot ball followed as Agarwal slashed at and missed a bouncer outside off. Stoinis brought all but one of his fielders into the 30-yard circle, and bowled a wide full-toss. Did he mean to? Who knows, but Agarwal picked out deep point, the only fielder on the boundary.Then, with one to get off the last ball, Jordan flicked powerfully, but just within range of Rabada, who moved a step to his right at square leg to pull off a terrific reflex catch. There was no logical reason for the Capitals to still be alive in this match, but logic was taking a day off.

Moeen Ali and Chris Jordan will also skip the tournament with England scheduled to play T20Is in South Africa

Danyal Rasool02-Nov-2020Faf du Plessis is the highest-profile new name drafted in for the playoff stage of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2020 to be played in Karachi, with the former South Africa captain set to represent the Peshawar Zalmi.A number of players originally part of the squads of the PSL franchises that made the last four remained unavailable due to international commitments. As a result, the PCB has drafted in multiple fresh names to take the count of foreign players who will arrive in Pakistan, to 21. Out of these, 13 are from England and South Africa, while Tamim Iqbal also remains a notable inclusion, with the former Zalmi opener to pad up for the Lahore Qalandars this time.Alex Hales was suspected to have contracted Covid-19 during the PSL’s original schedule in March this year, something that remained unconfirmed until the tournament was called off. However, it had led to the playoffs being cancelled just an hour before they began, though Hales is set to return to the tournament for the Kings this time. He will be joined by team-mate James Vince, though Moeen Ali and Chris Jordan will be unavailable, with the pair due to take part in England’s T20I series in South Africa.The knockout stage, though, has reverted to the playoffs format, which means four matches will be played instead of three as was decided in March, when the PSL had shortened the format in a bid to conclude it earlier with the Covid-19 pandemic beginning to take hold. That means the Multan Sultans will play the Kings with the winner directly qualifying for the final, with the loser to battle for the second spot in the final against the winner of the Qalandars and Zalmi game.”I am very excited to join Peshawar Zalmi for the playoff stage games of HBL PSL 2020,” du Plessis said. “I have fond memories of playing in Pakistan when I toured with the ICC World XI in 2017 and I am sure this experience, although different due to Covid-19, will be a memorable one as well.”Among the other notable misses will be Kieron Pollard, with West Indies’ tour of New Zealand clashing with the PSL. Pollard is the player du Plessis has replaced, while Sherfane Rutherford has slotted into the Kings squad for Jordan.The playoff games have been scheduled from November 14 to 16, with the final on November 17.The squads
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Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon are part of the squad for the defending champions

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Oct-2020Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon are part of New South Wales’ Sheffield Shield squad that will depart earlier than planned for the hub in Adelaide following a return of Covid-19 cases around Sydney.On Wednesday, three new cases of community transmission were confirmed ending a 12-day run of zero cases outside of hotel quarantine in New South Wales.There is currently an open border between New South Wales and South Australia so Peter Nevill’s squad will head into the Shield hub on Thursday to avoid any potential tightening of restrictions.The defending champions do not start their campaign until October 22 with their first-round match against Victoria pushed back to mid-November due to the need for Victoria’s players to undergo 14 days quarantine in Adelaide.While it is yet to be confirmed how many games Starc will play ahead of the international season, which is due to begin in late November, coach Phil Jaques was hopeful than Lyon would be available for all the Shield matches in the first block of fixtures.Starc, Lyon and Sean Abbott recently completed two weeks quarantine in Adelaide following their return from the limited-overs tour of England but were able to train at Adelaide Oval during that time.Chris Tremain, who moved from Victoria over the winter, is included in the squad as is 18-year-old legspinner Tanveer Sangha.”At times when you win a Shield, there can be a little bit of complacency within the camp, I’ve seen it in teams I’ve played in, but I certainly haven’t seen it at all through this whole off-season,” Jaques said.”There continues to be a real hunger to keep improving and take our cricket to the next level. [During the preseason] we were operating in groups anywhere from four up to full squad training, but changing weekly, so the guys have had to be really adaptable throughout the preseason.”I can’t commend them enough for how adaptable they’ve been to get a really good body of work done and be as prepared as we are.”New South Wales squad Peter Nevill (capt), Daniel Hughes, Nick Larkin, Kurtis Patterson, Moises Henriques, Daniel Solway, Jason Sangha, Matthew Gilkes, Sean Abbott, Trent Copeland, Mitchell Starc, Chris Tremain, Nathan Lyon, Liam Hatcher, Harry Conway, Jack Edwards, Tanveer Sangha

England are due to travel to South Africa on Monday to begin 10 days in quarantine

Firdose Moonda15-Nov-2020England’s tour to South Africa remains green-lit by the country’s sports ministry, even as the minister, Nathi Mthethwa, is closer to intervening in the game’s governing body.A highly-placed source told ESPNcricinfo that the six-match white-ball series, which is scheduled to start on November 27, will be played “for the sake of the players and the cricket-loving public,” but that does not mean Cricket South Africa is off the hook. Instead, there remains a strong chance of Mthethwa using the National Sports and Recreation Act to step in at CSA (which could include withdrawing funding and stripping them of their status as a nationally representative body) if the members’ council does not recognise the interim board. The members’ council and interim board are due to meet imminently, where a final decision could be taken.ALSO READ: Appoint board or face sanctions – Mthethwa to members’ councilEven if the members’ council fail to recognise the interim board, as has been their stance so far, ministerial action may not result in the England tour being called off. England are due to travel to South Africa on Monday to begin a 10-day quarantine. All matches will be played in a bio-secure environment in the Western Cape, with fixtures at both Newlands and Boland Park.The series will be the first in South Africa since the country went into lockdown in March and the first international action the South African men’s team have had for more than seven months. They are also due to host Sri Lanka, Australia and Pakistan and could travel to Pakistan in the 2020-21 season, and it’s those fixtures that may be under threat if the members’ council does not comply with the sports minister.Mthethwa was forced to turn his attention to CSA after months of administrative issues which came to a head when the organisation refused to comply with instructions from the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), who asked for the board and executive to step aside while SASCOC conducted an inquiry into CSA’s affairs. SASCOC, which is a legislatively created umbrella body under whom all South Africa’s sports federations operate, then referred the matter to the ministry.The CSA board has since stood down but the members’ council, a body made up of the 14 provincial affiliate presidents, remain in place and have refused to recognise a nine-member interim board which Mthethwa was at the helm of convening. Instead, the members’ council believe they are in charge of the game. CSA are in a state of crisis, with financial losses looming, important negotiations over their new broadcast deal on the horizon and they are still operating under an acting CEO. The interventions by SASCOC and now Mthethwa are aimed at stabilising the organisation.

The lower-order hitter made a stunning half-century to lead Sydney Thunder to victory over Brisbane Heat

Alex Malcolm15-Dec-2020Daniel Sams believes his work with Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting is part of the reason for his extraordinary career-best batting performance in Sydney Thunder’s remarkable win over Brisbane Heat in Canberra on Monday night.Sams had never scored more than 42 in 35 innings in T20 cricket and had only struck 12 sixes in his career prior to Monday’s match. But he smashed 65 not out from 25 balls with seven sixes to steal the game from the Heat after entering with the Thunder in all sorts of trouble at 5 for 80, needing 99 runs from 56 balls.Sams revealed post-match that his stint in the IPL under Ponting had been vital for his batting.”It was unbelievable,” Sams said. “I obviously grew up watching Ricky playing pull shots and hitting the ball everywhere. It was awesome to be able to get some work with him. He really instilled some confidence in me, and we just worked on a couple of technical things that have obviously worked for me.”It was basically just trying to keep my hands up earlier and just getting into a little bit of a better position, a little bit more powerful, so I can access more of the ground.”Ponting was commentating on the match for and explained what they had been working on when Sams arrived at the crease.”He’s been working very hard on his batting, Daniel Sams,” Ponting said. “He is a very, very powerful hitter of the ball. He hits the ball as far as anybody. He’s been working on a few things in his back lift. Not letting his bat drop down too low after the ball has been released, trying to give himself a little bit more time to get a good solid swing on the ball.”Ponting’s words were prophetic as Sams then plundered the first of seven sixes over deep square leg.Sams’ performance was even more remarkable given in his last 26 T20 innings, following his previous career-high of 42 against the Melbourne Stars in January in 2019, he had made just 107 runs at an average of 5.09 and a strike-rate of just 87.70. He only reached double-figures five times in that stretch with a highest score of just 18, and he had registered six ducks, including a first-baller against the Stars in the opening game of this season.”I think it was just more the mental game,” Sams said. “I know that, without it sounding bad, that I’m good enough at this level with my batting.”I think I just wasn’t switched on mentally and I let the occasion [of the opening game] get the better of me. And it was kind of the same last game, trying to hit a (six) first ball.”So just giving myself a chance, take it deep, that gives me the best opportunity to get the guys over the line.”Confidence is a really funny thing. One of the things I’ve been working on is to keep my confidence nice and level and not let my confidence from my performances shoot up or shoot low, just trying to stay nice and level and that way I’m able to come into every game feeling the same about it.”Sams is trying to take the same attitude to his bowling. Last year’s leading wicket-taker in the BBL was rewarded with a T20 international debut against India at the SCG recently. He claimed Virat Kohli as his first international wicket but came crashing back to earth when he was asked to bowl the final over the match with India needing 14 runs to win. Hardik Pandya thumped him twice into the stands to end the match with two balls to spare.”With that particular instance, he’s the best in the world,” Sams said. “My first game, he was better than me at the time. I can 100 per cent live with that. I gave it my best shot and I’ll just learn from that. It was an amazing experience, I had so much fun with that.