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After a lean couple of season, South Africa’s wicketkeeper has rediscovered his touch and is holding together the batting line-up in tough conditions

Andrew Fidel Fernando at St George's Park21-Feb-2019Across the world, batsmen are not having a happy time in Test cricket right now. If you’re not being blasted out in Australia, you’re being nicked off in West Indies, turned inside-out in England, ground into the dust in Bangladesh, or – and perhaps this is the worst indignity – smiled all the way back to the dressing room by nice-guy New Zealand, who will later come to a press conference and talk about how beautifully you batted for your 7 off 42 balls.Amidst all this, there is the advent of pink-ball cricket, which is almost unquestionably bowler friendly, while also a global conversation simmers about whether every country should switch to the Dukes ball, which has a prouder seam and is thus better for both quicks and spinners than the widely-used Kookaburra. Meantime, in Sri Lanka, where there hasn’t been a draw for a record 24 Tests, spinners there could conceivably run through a batting line up with a well-chosen tomato.Batsmen had it way too good for way too long, so of course, no one should even think about sympathising. Averages last year were their lowest since 1960, but you only need to cast your mind back around a decade to recall cricketing atrocities such as this Test in St. John’s, or this nauseating run-smorgasbord in Colombo.But if there did exist a country where batsmen deserve a little understanding, perhaps it is South Africa. Since the start of 2017, only in the Caribbean have batting averages been lower than the 24.98 here. And unlike for the West Indies, the figure in South Africa has been achieved despite great batsmen – the likes of Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers – having played in this top order. Amla’s average has retreated over the past seasons. De Villiers’ had slipped slightly from its 2014 peak as well.Part of this batting decline is the doing of coach Ottis Gibson, for whom – understandably – fast bowlers are kings, and batsmen merely the guards sworn to protect the royal bloodline. So, over the last two seasons, South Africa have played on extremely lively surfaces, and batsmen have taken arrows in the backside for their quicks. In this home summer, South Africa have eased to a whitewash against Pakistan, and were only separated from a fourth win by possibly the greatest Test innings ever played, and yet their own batsmen feel as besieged as ever. Since December, every player in their top seven has seen their overall average either stagnate or suffer.Every player, that is, except Quinton de Kock. Not for him the groping, jerking and prodding away of his teammates. Not for him the tearful nursing of red bruises on the edges of their bats, in the dressing room. He had had a poor 2017 with the bat and was even worse for the majority of last year, but this season the man seems to have found his calling. Coming out to scorelines such as 146 for 6, or 93 for 5, or 89 for 4, de Kock has bludgeoned away, often in the company of the tail, making those vital, prise-them-from-your-opponents’-fist kind of runs. Several times, when South Africa have actually been in danger of giving up a first-innings lead, de Kock has ensured that they punched and kicked and somehow wangled their way to an acceptable score.Following his sparkling 86 off 87 balls in Port Elizabeth on the opening day, his average since December has risen to 67.42 – 25 higher than that of his next-best team-mate. Perhaps the most telling number, though, is not his average. In one of the toughest batting summers in South Africa, de Kock has breezed his 472 runs at a strike rate of 85.81. Essentially, he has brought into the Test arena, his batting in ODIs – a format he has been consistently outstanding in. In doing so, he may also have happened upon a vital mantra for bad-pitch batting: score your runs quickly, before inevitably, the unplayable ball comes for you.Twice in as many Tests against Sri Lanka he has forged excellent partnerships with lower order batsmen. At Kingsmead, he and Keshav Maharaj had put on 47 together off 51 balls. On day one at St. George’s Park, his 59-run stand with Rabada, was the best of the innings, and produced more than a quarter of the team’s eventual total.”The runs Quinton is scoring and the way he’s scoring are so important,” Aiden Markram, the only other half-centurion in South Africa’s innings, said. “He really moves the game forward and changes the momentum in our favour. He’s batting at a pretty vital position for the side. When he’s scoring quickly, it really helps us pull away.”Maybe inadvertently, also, in South Africa have got de Kock batting in the best possible position in the order. Low-scoring matches are often turned on counterattacks. And de Kock – the most capable of the South Africa batsmen of producing these definitive salvos – arrives at the crease when the ball is not old exactly, but has lost a little bit of the hardness around the seam that had wrecked the rest of the top order earlier on. He arrives when conditions are not quite so stacked against him, and has lately used that little leverage to propel his side to an un-embarrassing total.It is often said of bowler-friendly tracks that they bring teams closer together. When scores of 250 play scores of 200, and edges through slip comprise a significant portion of a team’s total, the lower-quality team doesn’t always look so bad, as they might in better batting conditions. If South Africa go on to win this Port Elizabeth Test – and they are far from doing that yet – they owe plenty to de Kock’s 86. Just as they do to his 45, 59 and 129 against Pakistan.

In the other camp, Sri Lanka bowling coach Ratnayake praised Lakmal, saying his spell was among the best he has seen “in a long time”, but was also wary that batting would be equally difficult for his team on this surface

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Kolkata16-Nov-2017Rumesh Ratnayake, Sri Lanka’s bowling coach, has termed Suranga Lakmal’s spell of 6-6-0-3 as among the best he has seen “in a long time”. Lakmal’s relentless probing on a green Eden Gardens pitch and under overcast skies left India struggling at 17 for 3 at the end of a first day during which only 11.5 overs were bowled.”I would say it is one of the finest I have seen in a long time,” Ratnayake said. “I am not sure if it’s the best spell I have seen but one of the finest I have seen for a long, long time. Saying that, the wicket was very receptive, it was very helpful, and it’s going to be a big challenge [for Sri Lanka’s batsmen later on].”We were sort of expecting, looking at the wicket, we knew that it was going to seam. By saying that, the job isn’t finished. It’s only started, it’s just started.”Ratnayake admitted it was a good toss for Sri Lanka to have won, but he expected conditions to remain helpful to fast bowlers for a while longer.”Yeah, certainly a good toss to win, but I personally feel that it may last about one-and-a-half days or so, maybe more. We can’t play God here and say it will last for two-three days but I would say it will last at least for two days. But since it’s a new wicket, I believe it might be an extra day or two because there is a certain amount of grass. The surface is grassy.”Before they went out to bowl, Ratnayake said he stressed that the fast bowlers pitch the ball up.”As much as we push the batsmen back, it is very important that we keep it up because, as you may have seen, the movement or the vulnerability was more as the bowler pitched it up and also within the wicket. Our tactics on a normal wicket would be different, our tactics in this game are different. So it’s just keeping the ball up.”It was also important for the fast bowlers to make the batsmen play as much as possible; while Lakmal did this, his new-ball partner Lahiru Gamage struggled with his line, bowling too far outside off stump, though Ratnayake suggested he got better as his spell wore on.”Did you see the difference after the [stoppage due to bad light]?,” he said. “It was a matter of him getting his rhythm right and more importantly the timing also right.”So he was not having that right and when you get your rhythm and timing right, you get the place where you want to hit it in a much easier way for the body. As much as you need timing in batting, you need timing in bowling as well. If you rush through the delivery, the chances of you hitting the right place is not as great as when your timing is right.”India’s batting coach Sanjay Bangar, meanwhile, said his batsmen were tested not just by the conditions but also by the fact that there were so many interruptions in play. With the floodlights turned on right through, he felt it resembled a day-night Test.”The conditions were pretty tough for batting, and what didn’t really help us was that we didn’t get an extended passage of play, wherein you had 15-20 overs bowled at a batsman in a particular fashion,” Bangar said. “So that didn’t allow the batsmen to get into any sort of a rhythm.”It didn’t seem to be a day Test match. It was more like a day-night Test match and at times when you play in such circumstances, playing with the red ball becomes pretty tough because it’s more difficult to pick the red ball.”Given how much help there was for the quicks, there was a case for India to pick three fast bowlers and just the one spinner to enable them to play an extra batsman. India, however, picked three fast bowlers and two spinners.”This team management has believed in going in with five batsmen and the quality of the allrounders that we have – Ashwin, Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and also Wriddhiman Saha – we think that that gives a lot of depth in the lower order and it gives us a lot of bowling options as well to pick up 20 wickets in a Test match. That has really worked well for us,” Bangar said. “If you look at the last two-and-a-half seasons, we’ve won nearly 20 Test matches. So that’s mainly due to the team composition that we have opted to play.”The spinners, Bangar felt, would come into the game as it progressed, particularly if the pitch dried out and the dents caused by the ball’s impact on a damp surface hardened.”I think we’ve got all bases covered,” he said. “As the game progresses into the fourth and fifth days, you’ll also find that because of the dampness, there would be dents on the wickets. As the game progresses, there will be variable bounce which might come into play. So both the spinners are really vital to us and we’ve got all bases covered – we’ve got the swing and seam and the pace we require. We’ve got a variety of bowlers and we’ve got all bases covered.”Before that, however, India’s batsmen will need to put up some sort of total on the board.”Yes, you’ll have to grind out quite a bit because there are going to be a lot of balls which are going to beat the outside edge as well as the inside edge of the bat,” Bangar said. “We need to respect the conditions as a batsman and think about the next ball. If you start thinking or worrying about the amount of times you’re getting beaten, it plays on your mind.”The best mindset is to forget the previous ball and accept that you’re going to get beaten on a number of occasions. Probably, on such a wicket, you might not play really, really beautiful shots, but you’ll have to grind it out and take runs. So most of the runs might not be beautiful or elegant but those are equally important runs.”

Shaun Marsh and Ashton Agar have been named in Western Australia’s squad for next month’s Matador Cup, despite both carrying injuries that will likely prevent them from being available for the start of the tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Sep-2016Shaun Marsh and Ashton Agar have been named in Western Australia’s squad for next month’s Matador Cup, despite both carrying injuries that will likely prevent them from being available for the start of the tournament. Fast bowler Jason Behrendorff has also been included and will make his return from a lengthy lay-off, having not played since the BBL in January due to a stress fracture of the lower back.Western Australia have named a near full-strength group for the one-day tournament, with only Mitchell Marsh unavailable due to Australian duties and Nathan Coulter-Nile injured. However, Shaun Marsh’s broken finger and Agar’s shoulder injury will likely mean they are unavailable until later in the tournament, in which case WA can apply to Cricket Australia for injury replacement players.”It’s great to see Jason [Behrendorff] back in the squad after a long time out,” coach Justin Langer said. “He’s a consummate professional with his rehab and has been diligent throughout so we’re confident he can return to his best during the Matador Cup.”It’s great to have Adam Voges here to lead the side, while we’ve got good experience with players like Michael Klinger and Nathan Rimmington around him.”Western Australia squad Adam Voges (capt), Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Hilton Cartwright, Michael Klinger, Shaun Marsh, David Moody, Joel Paris, Nathan Rimmington, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Jonathan Wells, Sam Whiteman.

Australia’s Test tour of Bangladesh is in doubt after Cricket Australia delayed the departure of its team due to increased security concerns

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Sep-20151:11

Australia awaiting further security advice before taking further decisions on Bangladesh tour

Australia’s Test tour of Bangladesh is in doubt after Cricket Australia delayed the departure of its team due to increased security concerns. The players were due to depart for Bangladesh on Monday but that has now been postponed as Cricket Australia awaits further security advice before determining if the tour will go ahead.Cricket Australia published a press release on Saturday night in which chief executive James Sutherland cited “recent advice from a range of Australian government sources” that identified potential security risks to Australian interests in Bangladesh.”We have received advice from DFAT [Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade] and based on that information we are working with security experts and the Bangladesh Cricket Board on a revised security plan for the tour,” Sutherland said. “We want the tour to go ahead and are planning for that, but the safety and security of our players and support staff is our number-one priority and won’t be compromised.”We will wait to receive updated security information early in the week before confirming the team’s travel arrangements. In the meantime, we are working with the Australian Cricketers’ Association and keeping our players and support staff fully informed.”Sources at the BCB has said that they were taken by surprise by the developments. There had been no security alerts issued in the country.However, the Australian government’s travel advice website, Smartraveller, issued updated travel advice for Bangladesh on Friday. It said “There is reliable information to suggest that militants may be planning to target Australian interests in Bangladesh.”The original tour schedule had Australia playing a warm-up game in Fatullah from October 3, followed by two Tests in Chittagong and Mirpur. It is due to be Australia’s first Test tour of Bangladesh since 2006, although the team has travelled there for one-day matches and last visited in 2014 for the ICC World Twenty20 tournament.

Former Australia batsman Darren Lehmann has been appointed the new coach of the IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jan-2013Former Australia batsman Darren Lehmann has been appointed the new coach of the IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab. Lehmann has previously coached the now defunct franchise Deccan Chargers, and had played for Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural edition in 2008. He replaces Adam Gilchrist, who was the coach and captain of the Punjab side in the 2012 season.”I’m geared up for the challenges it brings and will always encourage our team to be an entertaining and aggressive brand that people love to watch and associate with,” Lehmann said. “I’m also looking forward to working with Adam Gilchrist again and help all the players grow on and off the field.”Lehmann also coaches Australia’s state side Queensland, and the Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League.

ESPNcricinfo previews the only Test between New Zealand and Zimbabwe, in Napier

The Preview by Firdose Moonda25-Jan-2012

Match Facts

January 26-30, Napier
Start time 1030 (2130 GMT on January 25)Brendan Taylor will have a big role to play as most of his team have little experience of conditions in New Zealand•AFP

Big Picture

Two higher profile series leave this one-off Test to play out in the shadows but it promises to be a test of character for both sides. New Zealand and Zimbabwe played one of the Tests of the year in 2011, in Bulawayo, which ended in a thrilling 34-run win for the visitors. Zimbabwe have not played any Test cricket since then and will still be buoyed by how close they came. New Zealand, however, have a bigger cloud to float on – victory over Australia in Hobart.The Zimbabwe series is a curtain raiser to South Africa’s arrival in New Zealand later in the summer and the hosts will want to use what is effectively a warm-up tour to fine-tune their plans. They have question marks over who the best wicketkeeper in the country is, how many allrounders to play and which of their four quick bowlers will edge ahead if they have to pick between them. One Test may not be enough to clarify all of these issues but it will go some way to guiding New Zealand in the immediate future.Zimbabwe have a far more daunting mission to accomplish. For the first time since making their Test comeback in August last year, they will play away from the comfort of Harare or Bulawayo. While still finding their feet in the longest form of the game, they will also have to quickly assess and understand the ground beneath it as they adapt to foreign conditions. Their captain, Brendan Taylor, has already spent time in New Zealand playing in the HRV Cup and his insights will be valuable.Under Alan Butcher, Zimbabwe have formed a close-knit and increasingly confident unit but this match will test those bonds and other aspects of their game. The result matters less for them than the manner in which it is achieved and how they perform in this match will provide a good yardstick for measuring Zimbabwe’s progress.

Form Guide

New Zealand WLWDL (most recent first)
Zimbabwe LLW (Zimbabwe’s results only reflect matches they have played since making their Test comeback in August 2010)

Players to watch …

After just three Test matches in which he has scored three fifties, Dean Brownlie has already earned a promotion up the order. He will bat at No. 5 and will act as the fifth seamer in an attack that will contain four quicks and the spotlight will fall on whether he can convert a start.
Like most of their squad, Zimbabwe’s new-ball pair of Kyle Jarvis and Brian Vitori will experience Test cricket on foreign spoil for the first time. On a pitch in Harare that offered only early assistance for the quicks, the pair took 10 wickets between them and will be able to push themselves on a surface offering more assistance.

Team news

On a seamer-friendly pitch, New Zealand are set to play four quicks with Daniel Vettori coming in at No. 6. That means Brownlie will be promoted a place and Kane Williamson gets an opportunity at No. 3 in Jesse Ryder’s absence. The most debated topic in New Zealand over the past week is the wicketkeeper’s spot which will be taken by BJ Watling, over Kruger van Wyk. Sam Wells, the allrounder who was included in the New Zealand squad at the eleventh hour, is reportedly unlikely to play.New Zealand: (probable) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Brendon McCullum, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor (capt), 5 Dean Brownlie, 6 Daniel Vettori, 7 BJ Watling (wk), 8 Doug Bracewell, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Chris MartinZimbabwe are without two of their most experienced players. Vusi Sibanda was left out of the touring party after being declared ineligible for the national team following a grade cricket stint and Chris Mpofu suffered a lower back injury. Hamilton Masakadza partnered Tino Mawoyo at the top in the tour match, and will do so again in Test. Forster Mutizwa will bat at No. 3 and Regis Chakabva will bat at No. 6. Zimbabwe will play three allrounders, Malcolm Waller, Graeme Cremer and Shingi Masakadza. Keegan Meth was struck during training and is on crutches. Cremer gets the nod ahead of veteran Ray Price who was ruled out with a groin injury.Zimbabwe: 1 Tino Mawoyo, 2 Hamilton Masakadza, 3 Forster Mutizwa, 4 Brendan Taylor (capt), 5 Tatenda Taibu (wk), 6 Regis Chakabva, 7 Malcolm Waller, 8 Graeme Cremer, 9 Shingi Masakadza, 10 Kyle Jarvis, 11 Brian Vitori

Pitch and Conditions

Talk in New Zealand is that the hosts have ordered a green top as they look to pick from where they left off in Hobart. Although Napier has traditionally been a batsmen’s pitch, with the last match between New Zealand and Pakistan playing out to a high-scoring draw in 2009. A wetter summer than normal should provide for bowler-friendly conditions. Napier is expected to be mild and sunny with the only possibility of rain forecast for the second afternoon.

Stats and Trivia

• New Zealand have never won a Test match in Napier. Of the nine matches played there, seven have been draws with only England and Sri Lanka registering Test wins at McLean Park.
• New Zealand and Zimbabwe have played against each other 14 times, with New Zealand winning eight and six draws. Three of the victories were by more than an innings.
• Zimbabwe have only won two Tests away from home – in Peshawar against Pakistan in 1998 and in Chittagong against Bangladesh in 2001.

Quotes

“People say it’s easy to change up from Twenty20 to Test cricket. But I disagree. It is a lot harder than you think. It’s more a mindset change than technique.”

“We showed that New Zealand can be beaten. I hope we can take the confidence we gained from that match forward.”

India’s environment ministry has ordered an investigation into the building of an international cricket stadium by the Kerala Cricket Association, citing violations of coastal protection laws

Tariq Engineer24-Dec-2010India’s environment ministry has ordered an investigation into the building of an international cricket stadium by the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA). Citing violations of coastal protection laws, the ministry sent an order on December 21 to the Kerala State Coastal Zone Management Authority instructing it to put a halt to all construction activity, take appropriate action under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, and to submit a report within 15 days.The ministry claims the land contains protected mangrove swamps, most of which the KCA is accused of illegally removing, as well as being part of a Ramsar site, which are wetlands of international importance designated under an agreement signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971.The KCA has denied the area ever contained mangroves, saying it was land that was used to grow paddy. “We are not lawbreakers,” KCA secretary TC Matthews, told ESPNcricinfo. “We are a law abiding association.” According to Matthews, construction has not even begun on the site as the stadium is still in the process of being designed by the architects, so there is no question of putting a stop to it. They have also applied to the state government for various building permits. “We have applied to the state government for an exemption to the Wetland Act and the Land Ceiling Act because we don’t want a problem at a later stage.”The KCA had acquired a 23.5 acre plot in Edakochi, a part of Ernakulum district in Kerala, to build the stadium. Its construction is widely supported by the local community, who see it as a way of attracting tourists, which in turn would boost further development. The prospects of the stadium actually coming up in Edakochi, however, appear somewhat bleak, as the Union environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, told the last month that “we will not support a stadium coming up in that area.”

Chris Tremlett, the 6ft 7 quick bowler, is set to sign for Surrey after being given permission by current team Hampshire to talk to other clubs

Cricinfo staff24-Jan-2010Chris Tremlett, the six-foot-seven-inch paceman, has signed for Surrey on a three-year deal after being given permission by Hampshire to leave the Rose Bowl.Tremlett, 28, played three Tests for England in 2007 and impressed as his pace and bounce brought 13 wickets against India. Since then, he has been ravaged by injuries and has fallen off the selectors’ radar.Chris Adams, the Surrey coach, said however, that Tremlett has his best years ahead of him and has all the attributes to push for an international recall. “In Chris Tremlett, Surrey have signed a bowler of Test Match ability who is just beginning to approach the prime of his career,” he said.”His height, action and pace make him very well suited to bowling at The Oval and I am looking forward to him developing partnerships with our existing pace attack. He is joining a very different and highly motivated Surrey side and I feel we have got somebody that has the right attributes to continue his England career.”Surrey are in a period of rebuilding their side having appointed 22-year-old Rory Hamilton-Brown as their captain for next season and Tremlett said he’s looking forward to helping Surrey return to the pinnacle of the domestic game. “Coming to Surrey will open an exciting chapter in my career and I am very much looking forward to getting the opportunity to work alongside my new team mates to help return this great club back to the top of English cricket.”Tremlett has taken 289 wickets at 28.66 in his first-class career, but played only seven championship matches for Hampshire during another injury-plagued season last year. With the arrival of Kabir Ali, another former England bowler, at the Rose Bowl last week, Tremett’s place in the Hampshire side was uncertain.”Chris is in a similar position to what Kabir was at Worcestershire,” Rod Bransgrove, the Hampshire chairman, said. “A new environment will help to challenge and revitalise his career at both domestic and International level and he has therefore been released from his contract with immediate effect. I sincerely hope that this move will allow him to regain the cutting edge we all know he possesses and give him the best chance of re-capturing a place in the England team.”

The government’s new Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill 2025 has disallowed “real money games”, hitting companies like Dream11 hard

PTI25-Aug-2025Fantasy sports company Dream11, which recently shut down its real money games after the central government passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill 2025 in both houses of parliament, has intimated to the BCCI that it won’t be able to continue as the lead sponsor of the India cricket teams as its revenue stream is expected to be severely hit.Dream11 has a US$ 44 million (INR 358 crore approx.) deal with the BCCI – 2023 to 2026. Between them, Dream11 and My11Circle, another fantasy sports company, contribute around INR 1000 crore to the BCCI through the sponsorship of Indian cricket teams and the IPL.The new government bill states that “no person shall offer aid, abet, induce, indulge, engage in offering online money gaming services nor shall involve in any advertisement which directly or indirectly promotes any person to play any online money game”. BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia declined to comment on the development and the way forward, but it is understood that Dream11 might not have to pay a hefty penalty as the contract has a specific clause about getting a waiver in case there is a government regulation in place.