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The 2012 Asia Cup has been rescheduled to avoid conflicting with the ODI tri-series in Australia that also includes Sri Lanka and India

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jul-2011The 2012 Asia Cup has been rescheduled to avoid conflicting with the ODI tri-series in Australia that also includes Sri Lanka and India, the Asian Cricket Council has said. The tournament was originally supposed to be played from March 1 to March 11, but with the tri-series ending on March 8, the tournament will now be played from March 12 to March 22. The venue, Dhaka, remains unchanged.The 2012 Asia Cup will be the 11th edition of a tournament that has had something of a rocky existence, being played at irregular intervals and tacked on as an afterthought to the already jam-packed schedules of the big four teams of Asian cricket – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. India are the defending champions, having beaten Sri Lanka in the final of the 2010 edition in Dambulla.

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat has said the organisation might send a hand-picked side to Pakistan late next year

Cricinfo staff17-Jul-2010ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat has said the organisation might send a hand-picked side to Pakistan late next year to give fans an opportunity to watch international cricket as he is worried the lack of top-level cricket will affect the popularity of the game in the country.”It will always be dependent on the expert advice of the security experts, but we think that perhaps towards the end of next year we must start looking at what the horizon looks like and if it is at all possible [to send a team to Pakistan],” he told .Lorgat said the ICC could not let the status quo continue indefinitely and that he would accompany any team that did go to Pakistan.”We will assess the situation very, very carefully. We know that we can’t leave things as they are if it is at all possible to play in Pakistan,” he said. “I’m not just suggesting a bi-lateral series; it may be an ICC XI. Whether it’s a youth team, an older team, or whatever… I would go with that team as well.”We need to look at it. We shouldn’t just sit back and do nothing. But we certainly would not do something that is not properly calculated.”In another attempt to bolster cricket in Pakistan, the ICC has appointed Mike Brearley and Greg Chappell as ambassadors to support the PCB. The two former Test captains have been tasked with getting the global cricket community to support the PCB and its players at a time when Pakistan is unable to host matches at home.Teams have refused to play in Pakistan since March 2009, when seven Sri Lanka players were injured after gunmen attacked the team bus on its way to Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium.

India B were propped up on Musheer Khan’s magnificent 181 in the Duleep Trophy game in Bengaluru

Shashank Kishore06-Sep-2024Until last week, Navdeep Saini hadn’t touched a red ball for over seven months. He was hoping to ease himself into the season with a steady diet of white-ball cricket courtesy of the Delhi Premier League (DPL). But when the Duleep Trophy call-up came, as a late replacement for Mohammed Siraj, he had to hit the ground running.Two days in, Saini has already had a bigger influence on the game than he may have imagined. A mix of stoic defence and the occasional free swing brought him an excellent half-century, his second in first-class cricket. He occupied the crease for 349 minutes, his longest vigil, during the course of a magnificent 205-run stand for the eighth wicket with Musheer Khan as India B recovered from 94 for 7 to post 321.Saini’s contribution was massive in helping Musheer build from an overnight 105 to a majestic 181. But that was one-half of his efforts on the second day’s play in Bengaluru. He later delivered a telling early spell with the new ball to send Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal back. India A then recovered to finish on 125 for 2 still trailing India B by 187 runs.KL Rahul and Riyan Parag added an unbroken 68-run stand for the third wicket for India A•PTI

Gill was out shouldering arms to an in-ducker that flattened his off stump for 25, reminiscent of his dismissal to Australia’s Scott Boland in last year’s World Test Championship final. Agarwal’s wicket for 36 was slightly lucky; made possible thanks to Rishabh Pant’s agility as he threw himself to his left to take a catch down the leg side to dismiss the opener who had tantalised the audience with a series of superb cover drives. Riyan Parag and KL Rahul, playing his first red-ball game since the Hyderabad Test against England in January 2024, then put together an unbroken 68-run partnership, allaying the early jitters.Related

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Rahul’s was largely an exercise in denial after being lucky twice. Still on zero, he could have been Saini’s third wicket when he nearly dragged a ball back on to the stumps while attempting a loose drive. Then, on 3, he was reprieved by Nitish Kumar Reddy at third slip after poking at an away-going delivery from Mukesh Kumar. Rahul scored his first runs off his 14th delivery and it wasn’t until the fag end of the day, when he unfurled a superb cut behind point off Reddy, that he finally seemed in his element.Rahul’s methods also had something to do with the appreciable movement Saini and left-arm seamer Yash Dayal were able to get. Either way, having been on the field for a better part of the game already, there couldn’t have been a bigger endorsement of the middle-order batter’s match fitness as he eyes a return to the Indian Test squad.Parag was a little more sprightly, even though he was occasionally troubled by the late movement on offer. He survived a close lbw shout early off Reddy when the ball curved away to hit him high on the back leg. Like Rahul, Parag is a stroke-maker but his willingness to show fight and deviate from his natural game was an encouraging sign.Musheer Khan finished with 181 for India B•PTI

There were less encouraging signs as well from India A, like the tactics employed by their captain. Having taken the new ball at the first available opportunity at the start of the 81st over, Gill spread his field out to both Musheer and the No. 9 batter Saini. This not only limited the bowlers’ ability to exert pressure, but it also helped India B push their total ever higher.After Musheer initially denied himself run-scoring opportunities in trying to farm the strike, he was encouraged by Saini’s ability to hold his own. The pair, however, got lucky when they were involved in a comical mix-up didn’t somehow result in a wicket. Both batters were stranded mid-pitch looking at each other in the fourth over of the day, the 83rd of the innings, after Musheer had pushed the ball to point. Khaleel Ahmed, who could’ve thrown at either end, eventually went for the striker’s and missed with Saini having long given up.As Musheer opened himself out to take all the available runs, Gill tried to unsettle him by placing a leg slip. Musheer responded by hooking Avesh Khan for six, and then followed it up with a superb pull in front of square for a boundary in the same over. Along the way, Musheer also made judicious use of DRS to overturn two decisions – one lbw and one caught behind.Musheer brought up his 150 off 326 balls when an overthrow allowed a second run with no one backing up. It summed up the state of play at the time, with India A running short of ideas. Soon after the landmark, Musheer launched Parag for a massive six over deep midwicket to signal a change in intentions.But a double-ton wasn’t to be as he fell in the second over after lunch, a ball after he had slog-swept Kuldeep Yadav onto the roof at deep midwicket. Two of Musheer’s three first-class hundreds are now 150-plus scores. This one, like the others, served to reiterate his maturity and hunger at 19.

Stokes urges his deputy to take vice-captaincy “as seriously as I did”

Matt Roller05-Jun-2023Ben Stokes has implored Ollie Pope to take his new role as England’s official vice-captain “as seriously as I did” as concerns around Stokes’ fitness linger ahead of the first Ashes Test on June 16.Stokes reiterated before England’s 10-wicket win over Ireland at Lord’s that he intends to play a full part in all five Tests – “unless I can’t walk, I’ll be on the field” – but he did not bowl a ball in the match and was in clear discomfort on the final day, appearing to jar his troublesome left knee when taking a catch.Stokes has only bowled once since returning from the IPL, a 20-minute spell in the warm-ups ahead of the third and final day of the Test on Saturday, and it appears increasingly possible that Pope will deputise for him at some stage this summer, even if only for a brief period of time.Related

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Pope has only captained one first-class match – an end-of-season County Championship fixture for Surrey – but has been groomed as future leader for more than six months. In Stokes’ absence, he captained England in both of their warm-up games over the winter: against the Lions in Abu Dhabi, and a New Zealand XI in Hamilton.When Rob Key became England’s managing director last year, he said that he was “not concerned with having to appoint a vice-captain” and that it was “low down on my priorities” but has gradually become convinced of the importance of the role – not least when observing Moeen Ali’s influence within England’s white-ball set-up.Stokes and McCullum told him last month that they wanted Pope to be made vice-captain in a formal capacity after deputising in the winter, and his appointment was ratified before the Ireland Test. “It really shows where Ollie Pope is – how far he’s come in a year,” Key said.On Pope’s promotion, Stokes said after the Ireland Test: “[We had] given him more responsibility over the winter, using him more out on the field, running things by him about what I think. Then we just naturally came to a decision together. And he’s excelled as a player and taken responsibility at No. 3.”I just thought it was the right time to finally, officially, name a vice-captain and Popey was the man for it. I think it will do him the world of good, getting a double-hundred on his vice-captaincy debut.”Stokes’ own reinstatement as vice-captain four years ago “meant the world” to him•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Pope said that he saw the role as “a big honour” but that it would not represent a major change from the winter. “From what I was doing before, it doesn’t make a big difference,” he said. “I’m going to give my opinion and challenge Stokesy when he needs challenging. We’re going to be tested in the Ashes along the way, so it’s not always about going on and agreeing with him.”It’s about providing a different opinion to let ponder in his mind as well. Nothing’s really changed. He’s got a pretty clear vision, and he’s got 15 guys in that changing room who know our roles now, so that’s helpful for everybody.”Before his own appointment as captain last year, Stokes had served as Joe Root’s deputy in two separate spells. He cared deeply about the position, which he lost in the aftermath of the street fight outside a Bristol nightclub in 2017 that briefly threatened his career.He was reinstated in the weeks leading up to the 2019 Ashes after texting Tom Harrison, the then-chief executive of the ECB, to ask if he was eligible for the job. “Forty-eight hours later, I had Ashley Giles, the England managing director, in contact to offer me the position once more… it meant the world to me,” he wrote in his book, .”It’s a role that I took very seriously,” Stokes added on Saturday evening, “and I told him, I want him to take it as seriously as I did. That’s why me and Joe worked so well together: I didn’t take it just as a badge, almost, and we rubbed off [on] each other really well so I’m encouraging Popey to do the same role that I did.”Pope won the match award against Ireland at Lord’s•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Pope believes that Stokes will do everything in his power to be on the field at all times this summer, but said that he feels “confident” he would be able to “implement the same ideas” as his captain if the situation arises.”Fingers crossed Stokesy’s body’s all good,” Pope said. “It’s going to take a hell of a lot for him not to be on the pitch even for a day’s play, knowing what he’s like.”But if it did happen, I feel confident. We’ve played a lot together as a team over the last year and a bit, and he knows a lot how he wants the bowlers to operate, the kind of fields he sets, and tries to get players to hit balls in areas that they don’t normally want to hit [them] in.”So I’ve got a pretty good understanding of how he runs things now and, if needs be, can implement the same ideas.”

SLC medical department chief: “It’s not that he has got a new infection, it’s just that he has not cleared the old infection, according to their (Australia’s) level”

Madushka Balasuriya23-Feb-2022Wanindu Hasaranga is almost certain to miss the upcoming three-T20I series against India, starting on Thursday in Lucknow, after he returned another positive Covid-19 test. Hasaranga, currently in Melbourne, will not be able to link up with the travelling party in India as a result.Related

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Hasaranga, third in the ICC rankings for T20I bowlers, initially tested positive on February 15, ahead of Sri Lanka’s third T20I against Australia. This forced him to miss the remainder of the tour, but the hope at the time was that following a weeklong quarantine, he would be ready to face India.For that, though, he needed to return a negative RT-PCR test. ESPNcricinfo has learnt that Hasaranga, despite having returned a negative Rapid Antigen Test, had a positive RT-PCR test. That will allow him to leave Australia, but he will not be allowed to enter India without a negative report.According to Arjuna de Silva, the head of SLC’s medical department, Hasaranga’s positive result is down to the fact that Australia requires a higher CT value for the result to be deemed negative; lower the CT value, higher the viral load. de Silva, though, expressed hope that Hasaranga would return a negative test soon.”Wanindu has finished his seven-day isolation. His CT value is very high in any case, so we hope that by tomorrow his PCR should be negative,” de Silva told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s not that he has got a new infection, it’s just that he has not cleared the old infection according to their (Australia’s) level. Each country has a different cut-off for a positive result, Australia’s is fairly high and so to reach that value takes some time.”He’ll miss the first match [against India] for sure. Our job is to get him to India. Of course, whether he plays or not is a different matter. That depends on his fitness and other factors.”We’re doing PCRs daily, so as soon he’s negative, he can fly to India – maybe even tomorrow. He will then have to be assessed by the team doctor and the physio to determine if he can play any part in the tour. At the moment, he has no symptoms.”Sri Lanka will play three T20Is in India, on February 24, 26 and 27, with the action moving to Dharamsala after the first game. They will then play two Tests, the first from March 4 to 8 in Mohali and the second from March 12 to 16 in Bengaluru.As such, Hasaranga might have to stay on in India after the Test series, and join the training sessions for Royal Challengers Bangalore, who bought the legspin-bowling allrounder back at the recent IPL auction for INR 10.75 crore (US$ 1.42 million). The 2022 edition of the IPL is expected to start around the end of March.

Draft conducted online – and with the odd hiccup – ahead of November tournament

Andrew Fidel Fernando19-Oct-2020Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Shahid Afridi, Faf du Plessis and Carlos Brathwaite are among the high-profile foreign players that have been drafted into Lankan Premier League teams for the tournament that is set to begin on November 21.Although the draft, held on Monday, was carried out in incredibly haphazard fashion over the internet, with team owners unclear on the draft rules and protocols, SLC has nevertheless taken another step – however unsteady – towards hosting its own T20 franchise tournament.Wasim Akram was among those present at the draft, in his role as Galle Gladiators’ mentor. The Galle side shares the same owner as PSL franchise Quetta Gladiators. Also in attendance were former Sri Lanka players Hashan Tillakaratne (who will coach Kandy Tuskers), Thilina Kandamby (who will coach Jaffna Stallions), and English coach John Lewis (who is involved with Dambulla Hawks). Dav Whatmore, the former Sri Lanka coach who led them to the 1996 World Cup victory, was not seen at the draft, but is linked to the Colombo Kings franchise.Each team had two foreign marquee picks – players whom each franchise approaches individually and signs up. There was one local marquee pick as well. The remaining players will be paid according to the value determined by the category they were chosen in in the draft. Players drafted earlier are generally paid more.Given the disorganised nature of the draft, there was frequent backtracking and repeated misunderstandings, with selectors dropping in and out of the video call, and constant back-and-forth between owners and SLC, which was ostensibly running the draft process. The biggest hiccup came when Lewis had seemingly picked New Zealand legspinner Todd Astle for the Dambulla side, but then received a message several minutes later to suggest that Astle had in fact withdrawn two weeks ago.Nevertheless, the draft juddered to a conclusion, with the teams having picked between 16 and 20 players. Some slots were deliberately left open, with teams essentially backing themselves to persuade overseas players to play in the tournament and fill that position.The LPL is set to run from November 21 to December 13, and will be played initially in Sooriyawewa stadium, before moving to Pallekele for the latter stages of the tournament and the knockouts. The Sri Lankan government has not approved lenient quarantine measure for those coming into the country for the tournament, but SLC insists that the foreign players and officials taking part have all agreed to the strict 14-day quarantine, in which arrivals are not allowed to leave their rooms.The final squads are as follows:Jaffna Stallions Thisara Perera, Dawid Malan, Wanindu Hasaranga, Shoaib Malik, Usman Shinwari, Avishka Fernando, Dhananjaya de Silva, Suranga Lakmal, Binura Fernando, Asif Ali, Minod Bhanuka, Chaturanga de Silva, Mahesh Theekshana, Charith Asalanka, Nuvinidu Fernando, Kanagaratnam Kapilraj, Theivendiram Dinoshan, Yiyakanth YiyaskanthDambulla Hawks Dasun Shanaka, David Miller, Carlos Brathwaite, Samit Patel, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Lahiru Kumara, Oshada Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Paul Stirling, Lahiru Madushanka, Upul Tharanga, Angelo Perera, Ramesh Mendis, Pulina Tharanga, Ashen Bandara, Dilshan Madushanka, Sachindu ColombageKandy Tuskers Chris Gayle, Kusal Perera, Liam Plunkett, Wahab Riaz, Kusal Mendis, Nuwan Pradeep, Seekkuge Prasanna, Asela Gunaratne, Naveen-Ul-Haq, Kamindu Mendis, Dilruwan Perera, Priyamal Perera, Kavishka Anjula, Lasith Embuldeniya, Lahiru Samarakoon, Nishan Fernando, Chamika Edirisinghe, Ishan JayaratneColombo Kings Andre Russell, Faf du Plessis, Angelo Mathews, Manpreet Singh Gony, Manvinder Bisla, Isuru Udana, Dinesh Chandimal, Amila Aponso, Ravinderpal Singh, Ashan Priyanjan, Dushmantha Chameera, Jeffrey Vandersay, Thikshila de Silva, Tharindu Kaushal, Lahiru Udara, Himesh Ramanayake, Kalana Perera, Tharindu Rathnayaka, Navod ParanawithanaGalle Gladiators Lasith Malinga, Shahid Afridi, Colin Ingram, Mohammad Amir, Hazratullah Zazai, Danushka Gunathilaka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Akila Dananjaya, Milinda Siriwardana, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Azam Khan, Lakshan Sandakan, Shehan Jayasuriya, Asitha Fernando, Nuwan Thushara, Mohomed Shiraz, Dhananjaya Lakshan, Chanaka Ruwansiri, Sahan Arachchi

Malan’s 166 leads visitors to total of 384, Helm takes 4-8 as Glamorgan fall to 25 for 4 in reply

ECB Reporters Network13-Jul-2019Dawid Malan, the Middlesex captain, again led from the front as Middlesex recovered from 131 for 6 to reach 384 in their first innings. Malan scored 166 of those runs – his fourth Championship hundred this summer, his third score over 150 and taking his season’s tally to 933 runs.Malan was well supported by the tail, with Toby Roland-Jones scoring a half-century and Nathan Sowter a career-best 57 not out batting at No 10.In reply, Glamorgan were in disarray on 25 for 4 at the close on a day where the seamers obtained plenty of movement from a well grassed Sophia Gardens pitch, but apart from Michael Hogan and Lukas Carey the other Glamorgan bowlers were wayward and failed to advantage of the conditions.Tom Helm wrecked the Glamorgan top order by taking 4 for 8 from his opening four overs, which included the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne, who has scored more than 1000 championship runs this season.Malan did not exercise his right to field first and might have regretted his decision when Middlesex lost four wickets in the opening session. Sam Robson and Nick Gubbins both edged catches off Lukas Carey, who bowled a useful opening spell of 7-1-20-2.Stevie Eskinazi struck 36 in quick time, but Graham Wagg, after an opening over that cost twelve runs, made amends in his second over when his second ball was deflected to wicketkeeper Chris Cooke, who took a tumbling catch.George Scott soon departed, leg before to Michael Hogan playing no stroke, but Malan was confident from the start and, partnered by John Simpson, began his team’s recovery they put on 58 for the fifth wicket.Malan, however, should have been out on 43, when, in the first over after lunch, Carey found the edge of his bat only to see the ball dropped by David Lloyd at first slip. It proved a costly miss as Malan and Roland-Jones shared a 90-run partnership.Roland-Jones was inches away from playing on from his first ball, but then settled to strike some lusty blows and scored 54 from 81 balls, including a six and nine fours.There then followed the best partnership of the innings as Malan found an unlikely ally in Sowter, whose previous best was 37. Playing some unorthodox shots he raced to 50 from only 40 balls, twice carving Marchant De Lange over the short cover boundary for six as the ninth wicket pair put on 103 from just 77 balls.After scoring 57, Sowter was struck on the hand by Wagg, and immediately left the field but, after Tim Murtagh was dismissed, he returned to resume his partnership with Malan. He did not face another ball, however, as Malan was caught on the boundary for an innings that included three sixes and 22 fours.Glamorgan had to face nine overs at the close, but soon lost Nick Selman and night watchman Carey in Helm’s second over, and when Labuschagne and Charlie Hemphrey went in the penultimate over, the follow-on figure of 235 seemed a long way away.

Kolkata Knight Riders were only in control as long as their spinners were bowling, as Sunrisers dominated the rest of the game to consolidate their position at the top of the table

The Report by Varun Shetty14-Apr-20183:54

‘Teams will struggle to figure Sunrisers out’

Sunrisers Hyderabad panicked and flailed in a chase again, but nowhere near as much as they had against Mumbai Indians on Thursday. Their captain Kane Williamson’s half-century, and his 59-run stand with Shakib Al Hasan sealed yet another win that was set up by their bowlers, who had managed to keep Kolkata Knight Riders to 138 for 8 in 20 overs. It was Sunrisers’ first away match of the season and their third victory in three games put them on top of the points tableKnight Riders had a sluggish start to the game after they were put in, and apart from Lynn’s 49 that stretched across a brief rain interruption, they barely had a foot in the game. That was until they realised their three-pronged spin attack was virtually impossible to score off. For much of Sunrisers’ chase, Knight Riders were calling the shots; but with every over of spin bowled, the Williamson-Shakib alliance grew more confident and a calculated acceleration against pace at the right time put to rest the prospect of a collapse-and-recovery style win.Knight Riders tie themselves up with their tacticsKnight Riders made all the team changes that were demanded of them: Vinay Kumar was left out along with Rinku Singh, and the teenage duo of top-order bat Shubman Gill and seamer Shivam Mavi came in.Sunil Narine did not have a good time against Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday. Robin Uthappa did. So when Uthappa was pushed up to open – for only the second time since the end of the 2016 season – against a vastly superior fast bowling attack, it didn’t seem plausible that Gill and Mavi would end up batting one after the other, at No. 7 and 8.Shakib Al Hasan loops one up•BCCI

As it turned out, Uthappa’s plan to get his eye in from a familiar batting position didn’t work out. Chris Lynn and Nitish Rana brought the momentum with their second-wicket stand of 39, before a red-hot Billy Stanlake cramped Rana on the cut – his most productive shot of the evening – and had him lift one to Manish Pandey’s right at point. The former Knight Riders batsman took the first of two world-class catches with a lunge to his right and a grab on the second attempt as he fell towards the ground.It was at this point that Knight Riders made the mysterious punt of sending Narine at No. 4. Perhaps the decision was informed by the fact that they were going at less than seven per over, but it was a strange one nonetheless – Narine had only batted at No. 4 once before this innings. In the Pakistan Super League.If quick runs were the requirement, they didn’t come. When Narine well for 9, he had consumed 10 balls and hit only one boundary. It had caused a telling change in the batting order.Sunrisers stay true to characterAs expected whenever they go out, Sunrisers had clearly set roles for their bowlers. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was allowed to find swing early on, Stanlake was given the license to hit the deck hard, and Kaul was the pacer who would then go full. Perhaps the only way it didn’t go right was that Lynn enjoyed the predominantly back-of-a-length bowling that fed his punches through and over the infield as he backed away. But he was stopped on 49, trying to drive off that very same length against Shakib, who held on smartly to his left off his own bowling. The left-arm spinner had a dot-ball percentage of 44% through his spell and his two wickets forced Dinesh Karthik to drop anchor. Knight Riders tried to replicate their full-attack policy that had worked against Super Kings after they’d lost five wickets cheaply, but there was no coming back tonight. Stanlake got Andre Russell to splice one between point and third man, and Pandey was there once again, this time sprinting backwards before lunging to hold on.For the 10th time in 16 matches since the start of the 2016 season, Sunrisers managed to restrict a team to less than 150 while bowling first. And they did it despite Rashid Khan going for 31 and taking no wickets.A laboured chase
Every time Knight Riders had a seamer on, Sunrisers pummelled them. Every time a spinner came on, the scoring dropped drastically.Wriddhiman Saha had Sunrisers scoring at close to 11 an over halfway through the Powerplay, forcing Karthik to call on Narine, whose loosener down leg side found Saha’s edge.Knight Riders then discovered the magical effect of spin on this pitch. Between overs four and ten, Narine, Piyush Chawla and Kuldeep Yadav kept Sunrisers down to 30 runs while dismissing Shikhar Dhawan and Pandey. At 62 for 3 in ten overs, Sunrisers desperately needed boundaries. Williamson gave them that with a pull off the toe-end in the 11th over, following it up next ball with a more controlled shot. It seemed like the battle signal; Karthik turned to Russell in the next over and Shakib took his last three balls for 14.The eventual split between bowlers said the story: Knight Riders’ fast bowlers went for 79 runs in seven overs, while their spinners went for 60 in 12.Sunrisers sealed their first win at Eden Gardens with an over to spare, and it was the ninth win for a chasing team this season in ten matches.

English legspinner Mason Crane and fast bowler Trent Copeland were also among the wickets for New South Wales on the opening day

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Mar-2017
ScorecardPat Cummins dismissed Sam Raphael and Jake Lehmann on the first day•Getty Images

Pat Cummins claimed two wickets for New South Wales in his first Sheffield Shield appearance since 2011 but Callum Ferguson held South Australia’s first innings together on a rain-blighted opening day at the SCG.Overcast skies and a green-tinged pitch expected to spin later made it a tricky decision at the toss and, after South Australia captain Travis Head chose to bat, Trent Copeland was quickly into rhythm to claim Jake Weatherald lbw in the second over of the morning.Cummins followed up by defeating Sam Raphael, and when Copeland accounted for Head, the Redbacks were in some trouble. However Ferguson formed a series of useful stands with Jake Lehmann, Tom Cooper and finally the wicketkeeper Alex Carey to frustrate the Blues, even as Cummins added a second wicket to his day.The English legspinner Mason Crane deceived Cooper to fetch a wicket on his debut for NSW. The hosts must win the match outright to remain in contention for the Shield final.

Dale Steyn will make a return to competitive cricket after almost two months out of action on Saturday in a club game in Cape Town

Firdose Moonda23-Feb-2016Dale Steyn will make a return to competitive cricket after almost two months out of action on Saturday in a club game in Cape Town. Steyn will play for Western Province Cricket Club in the first day of a two-day fixture against St Augustine in order to determine his readiness for next month’s three T20s against Australia and the World T20.Steyn has been named in South Africa’s squad for the tournament despite being sidelined with a shoulder injury since pulling up during the first Test against England in December and playing just two matches since November. Steyn missed six of South Africa’s eight summer Tests – first with a groin injury he sustained in India and then the shoulder injury on comeback in Durban – and all the limited-overs matches against England.South Africa’s team management took extra care not to rush him back from injury fearing it would worsen their chances of having him for the World T20. Steyn returned to bowling last week and joined the squad for a team bonding session which involved shark cage diving and also a net session at Newlands. T20 captain Faf du Plessis said Steyn, “looks fully fit,” but a call could only be taken on whether he will travel to the tournament if he gets through the matches against Australia.Should Steyn not be available for the World T20, South Africa have put a bowler on standby. Although the selectors have not revealed who that is, Morne Morkel, who was left out the squad, is the likeliest candidate.