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Ballance concussed in the nets while Salt suffers foot injury after cycling accident

Matt Roller07-Apr-2021Freak injuries have ruled Gary Ballance and Phil Salt out of the opening round of the County Championship season, which begins on Thursday.Ballance, the Yorkshire batsman who played 23 Tests for England, will miss the fixture against Glamorgan against Headingley following a “freak accident” in the build-up to the game. It is understood that he suffered a concussion after being hit by a ball in the nets, and he is expected to be available for Yorkshire’s second match of the season, against Kent on April 15.Related

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The timing is particularly frustrating for Ballance after he missed the whole of the 2020 season for a number of reasons: he fell ill during the UK’s first lockdown and suffered from anxiety in the early weeks of the season, while his pregnant wife tested positive for Covid-19 as he was preparing to return, setting his return further back.Salt, meanwhile, will miss Sussex’s first game of the season away at Lancashire after a cycling accident which damaged his right foot. Salt suffered the injury in the weeks after his return from the Pakistan Super League, and he played no part in the club’s pre-season schedule. A Sussex statement said that he was due to visit a specialist for “further imaging and consultation” and that no timeframe has been set for his return.For Lancashire, Luke Wells is not available to face his former club, after he suffered a hamstring injury while running up Rivington Pike in pre-season.The majority of England’s centrally-contracted players who are not involved in the IPL have been made available for their counties: Rory Burns and Ollie Pope will play for Surrey, Dom Sibley for Warwickshire, Zak Crawley for Kent, and Joe Root for Yorkshire. James Anderson is not due to play for Lancashire until the third game of the season, while Stuart Broad and Mark Wood are also expected to miss the opening rounds.

All the latest updates from the 10th round of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy

Ankur Dhawan02-Dec-2019

Canada wicketkeeper Hamza Tariq was only 20 years old when he could have fallen prey to bookies had he not reported it to the ACU. Here’s what happened

Hamza Tariq23-Oct-2018Canada’s wicketkeeper Hamza Tariq in action during practice at the 2011 World Cup•AFP

I was probably the last player at the 2011 World Cup who would have expected to be approached by someone attempting to involve me in corrupt activity. I was only 20, had just played at the ICC U-19 World Cup a year earlier, and was not well established in the Canada team. I never thought someone would approach a Canada player, and if they did then, in my own mind, I thought they would want to go after a star instead of a reserve player like me.But it happened.When I’ve told people that I was approached, the first thing they ask is, ‘How much money did they offer you?’ No one is really worried about the entire story, how you get into it, and how you get out of it. That’s where a lot of players make mistakes. In my experience, one doesn’t have to be offered money for there to be an attempt at corruption.I was excited to be at the World Cup, only my third overseas tour with the men’s team. We began in Bangladesh for warm-up matches before taking on Sri Lanka in Hambantota for our first match of the tournament. In both places, there was nothing unusual. When we went to Nagpur for our next match against Zimbabwe, that was the first time I was introduced to a cricketer named ‘Raghav’.In November and December 2010, Canada had played 10 matches in India during a preparation tour. Several of the players of Pakistani origin, myself included, had missed the tour because of trouble securing visas. Raghav, who was from Nagpur, had played for one of the opposition sides during these matches and made friends with many of our team-mates.During the World Cup, we had seven days of downtime in Nagpur before the Zimbabwe match. One night Raghav met me and two of my team-mates at the hotel bar. He offered us drinks – I don’t drink – then invited us out to a club afterwards, which I also declined. But I remember him saying to us, ‘All the drinks are on me. You guys are guests. We’ll go out to another place and everything will be taken care of.’ He looked like a normal guy, friendly and treating us with a lot of respect. He was a cricketer and so were we, so there was nothing out of the ordinary about our chats.We lost our next two matches, to Zimbabwe in Nagpur and to Pakistan in Colombo, before returning to India for our fourth match against Kenya in Delhi. On March 6, the night before that match, one of my team-mates came to me and said, ‘Hamza, Raghav is coming with his three uncles. They want to meet us and take us out for dinner so I’ve asked them to come to the room for a few drinks.’I said sure. It was early in the evening and within half an hour they had arrived. They were very normal looking guys, in normal clothes – jeans, t-shirts and not too much jewellery. The first one’s name was Sunil. I don’t remember the second one’s name, though he said he ran a cricket academy in Hyderabad, and the third one barely spoke a word and never gave us his name.At one point, when I think back, they did ask a very specific question but I never looked at them with any suspicion. ‘Are you in the playing XI tomorrow?’, they asked, and I said, ‘No, I’m in the reserves and only come in if [captain] Ashish [Bagai] gets injured because I’m a wicketkeeper as well.’ That was it, their only question in the time while we were in the room.Soon afterwards, we headed out for dinner at a Hakka restaurant, a combination of Indian and Chinese food. It was me, two team-mates and Raghav in one taxi to the restaurant, and we met the three uncles there.I had no clue what any of the menu items were so the uncles called the waiter and said, ‘Just bring everything you have. You’re our guests right now but when we come to Canada, you make sure you treat us well.’We spent about an hour and a half in the restaurant, chatting normally with this nice guy and his three uncles who we thought just wanted to take care of us while we were in their city. My two team-mates then went back to the hotel in a taxi with Raghav. But I wanted to stop off to have , a street food wrapped in betel leaf, so I got in a second taxi with the three uncles.On this trip, they asked me if I knew what the playing XI would be, but not like a direct question. It was more like, ‘Hey, so who do you think is playing?’ Even then I was like, ‘I’m not sure. I’m just a junior player in the team and I don’t know these things.’ One of the uncles put his hand on my shoulder and said, ‘Hey Hamza. You’re young, you’ll be back. We’ll always be here for you.’ I was just enjoying my and didn’t really pay attention to what he said.As soon as we got back to the hotel, they said, ‘Go up to your room. We’ll call you in a bit. We have something for you.’ When I started walking into the hotel, I saw someone in a long trench-coat taking pictures. I didn’t think anything of it, I thought it was a reporter or something, and just went into my room.A good hour or so passed before they called. It was after 10.30pm. Sunil called me on my cell phone in my room and told me to come down to the lobby. When I got there, Sunil, the third uncle who didn’t speak much, and a girl were waiting for me. She was probably around the same age as me, very young, 18-21, and very beautiful. They said, ‘You can take this girl up to your room and after tomorrow, when you guys go to Mumbai [ahead of playing New Zealand on March 13], she’s going to stay with you there for the entire week and we’ll take care of everything.’At that point, it was a red flag. I had only met them a few hours earlier, but they were already offering me a girl to take up to bed, and now the questions they had asked earlier in the taxi were slowly coming back to me. But even then, I didn’t think they could be bookies or even bad people that I needed to stay away from. It was simply that they were offering me something and I had an option to take it or refuse, and I decided to refuse.I said to Sunil, ‘Hey, I’m not comfortable doing this. Thank you for the offer but I’ll pass.’ There was a lot of security in the hotel that night, as the Indian team had just arrived, and he said that if I was scared about being spotted, he knew a back staircase to my floor. He even offered to take us to a different hotel just down the street. I said, ‘No, I’m okay. I really appreciate the offer but I just don’t feel right doing it.’They weren’t aggressive, but they were definitely trying to find ways for me to accept her. But I told them, ‘Look, if I want a girl, I will definitely contact you so don’t worry.’ That’s when they backed away and said, ‘Okay, no problem.’ I was in the lobby for a good half-hour with the two uncles and the girl before they finally relented. We said goodbye and I went back up to my room.Hamza Tariq bats at the ICC World Twenty20 Americas Sub Regional Qualifier A in 2018•Peter Della Penna

About 10 minutes later, I came back to the lobby to talk to my family in Canada (the reception was better downstairs than in my room) and I was approached by someone else who I thought was sketchy. He was offering equipment and said, ‘I’m part of a company. We want to support teams such as Canada. If you want to get some gear, cricket stuff, I’ll hook you up.’ For some reason, I thought he was the sketchier person.I was still on the phone when I noticed the man in the trench-coat who had been taking photos earlier on. Wherever I went, he would follow and sit as close to me as possible. Not right next to me, but within view so he could see what I was doing. At one point, I went to the reception desk to ask about sightseeing; the man immediately followed and asked the receptionist what we had been talking about.So I went to the man and said, ‘Hey, I saw you taking pictures of me when I came back from dinner. May I know who you are?’ He asked me who I was, and when I told him, he said he knew I played for Canada, and wondered why I was up so late. I told him I was just hanging out. That’s when he told me he was with the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit. At that point I was scared. He was straightforward and told me, ‘Go to bed’.Shortly before noon the next morning, we went down to the lobby to catch the bus for our match against Kenya. The Anti-Corruption officer was waiting to speak to us all. He said there had been some emails and messages regarding our match and added, ‘If there’s anything that any player wants to speak about, it’s best if you share it with us before the game starts rather than after the game.’I sought him out and said, ‘There was someone who approached me last night who was offering me equipment’. In my head, that was sketchier than the three uncles and the girl. A few other Canada players were approached by the guy offering equipment and they also reported it to the ACU officer. I remember him asking me, ‘Was there anyone else?’ I said no and he said okay, and that was it.We were at the ground, about to begin our warm-ups, when it hit me that the uncles might be suspicious too. I waved over to Johnny Bujan, our assistant team manager, and asked if I could talk to the Anti-Corruption Unit guy. It was about an hour before the match was due to start. Five minutes later, Johnny brought him over and the first thing the ACU officer said was, ‘I knew you would call me.’I said to him, ‘I met these three guys through someone. I don’t think there is anything wrong or suspicious there. We met him through a friend named Raghav.’ He asked me, ‘Do you know where they’re staying?’ I said, ‘Yeah, they said they’re staying down the road at another one of the hotels.’ But he said, ‘No. They’re staying at the same hotel as you guys are.’ That’s when I knew something was wrong.I told the ACU officer everything: how I had met Raghav through my team-mates; how Raghav took our players out for drinks ahead of the Zimbabwe match; how Raghav introduced us to the three uncles; how the three uncles had asked me questions about the Kenya match, how they took us out to dinner and how they had offered me the girl. The ACU officer asked me for the names of the uncles. When I told him I didn’t know the name of the third uncle who barely spoke, the ACU officer asked me to call them up.I told him, ‘Look, you can take my phone and call whoever you want. I don’t want to get involved in this.’ But he said, ‘No, you’ve got to call because you’ve been in contact with them.’ I said, ‘If I call, they will know something is up because they know I’m not supposed to have my phone on me once I’ve got to the ground and during the game.’ At this point the toss was not more than 10 minutes away. But he said, ‘You’re old enough. Figure something out.’So we went outside the stadium and he gave me my phone. I called Sunil’s phone number but it was Raghav who answered. I said, ‘Raghav, can I talk to Sunil?’ He asked why and I told him, ‘I just want to talk to him about something.’Raghav gave the phone to Sunil. I was supposed to get the phone number of the third uncle. I asked Sunil, ‘Hey, the guy who brought the girl last night with you. Can you give me his number so I can try to get that girl again for tonight?’ He said, ‘Is that why you’re calling me?’ I said, ‘Yeah’.He said, ‘Aren’t you supposed to be at the game?’ I said, ‘I went to bed late last night so I couldn’t get up on time and I’ve missed the bus. I’m actually in the lobby trying to get a taxi to get to the ground.’ He said, ‘Don’t worry. If you want a girl, call me after the game.’ I said, ‘Okay’. Everything was on speaker and the ACU officer was listening.Then Sunil asked, ‘Do you know who is opening today?’ That was the first time he had asked me a direct question. I told him, ‘I’m not sure. I’m a junior player and I don’t know such things in the team.’He followed up with another straightforward question. ‘Do you guys think you have a strong enough team to beat Kenya today? Should I put some money on it?’ We were speaking in Hindi. His exact words in Hindi were, ‘?’ At that point I was like, ‘I don’t know. It’s your money. You can take that decision yourself.’ He said, ‘Okay. Call me after the game.’I hung up and we went back inside the ground, where Canada beat Kenya by five wickets for our first win of the tournament. The Anti-Corruption officer joined us for the ride back to the hotel and, as soon as we pulled up at the hotel gates but before we got off the bus, he asked me to call Sunil. It was around 11pm. Sunil answered and I said, ‘Hey, I’m just calling you about the girl.’ He said, ‘So you’ve reached the hotel?’ I said yes and he replied, ‘I’ll call you back in a bit.’ It was a very short call, not even 30 seconds.I remained in the lobby with most of the Canada players, celebrating our win. But an hour had passed since the call from the team bus and Sunil still hadn’t called back. The ACU officer asked me to call him again. He picked up and said, ‘I’m at the temple. I’ll call you back.’ I didn’t even say anything before he hung up. The call lasted not even five seconds. I never heard from him again.At that point, I was very frustrated with how the whole day had gone. I told the ACU officer, ‘Listen, I’ve given you everything. I don’t know anything. You can take my phone if you want but I just want to go enjoy our win with the team.’ He told me to go ahead and enjoy the night and I went back to my team-mates in the bar. For rest of the World Cup, nothing unusual happened.Thinking back to the whole experience, I never thought as a younger player in the team that I would be approached by such people. I used to think that bigger players in the team or bigger teams would get approaches from people like Sunil, Raghav and his uncles.Associate games are definitely a target. Associates play a lot more cricket now, and a lot more cricket on TV. With that, the attraction and attention is there. A normal person would think that matches with bigger teams will be targeted but the reality is anything and everything that’s on TV can potentially be targeted.I’m more aware of my surroundings now when I’m on tour. One mistake then could have cost me my career. The moment you feel that something is wrong, report it right away. Never take that chance.

Jason Roy’s reputation is markedly higher than his red-ball average, but for once those worlds collided at Kia Oval in a tight London derby

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Kia Oval29-Aug-2017Jason Roy led Surrey’s response•Getty Images

A young Surrey side spurned the opportunity to run rings around a Middlesex XI that creaked in the field on day two of a match that is still anyone’s when it really should be theirs. It may be putting too fine a point on it, but what sprightly exuberance the hosts displayed on day one to fight for every run in the field was countered by a batting display that began well and lost concentration as it went on. The wise heads accompanying James Franklin in the field managed enough of the game to ensure it was rarely beyond them.Dismissing Middlesex inside 85-overs gave Surrey the luxury of batting at their own pace. Even with the loss of both openers, they began day two at their leisure: 69 runs scored in the entirety of the morning session, for the loss of just Scott Borthwick, edging Steven Finn behind, 10-minutes before lunch. The bulk of those runs came from Nightwatchman Stuart Meaker: booed for turning down runs the night before, was egged on after every boundary – three in a row were taken off Toby Roland-Jones – on his way to a more than useful 42.Time was the real currency, here. Surrey’s batting card had a club cricket quality to it: wiser heads dotted in and amongst the younger kids. Experienced spread about like policemen on street corners, making sure everyone ticked along nicely. When the peace needed to be disturbed, Surrey had just the men for it.An older ball in the second session was flayed around, as Jason Roy and Ben Foakes made use of a slow pitch and a frustrated Middlesex attack, helping to put on 149 between lunch and tea. Naturally, England thoughts crept in. It doesn’t take much at a county match for home fans to plug their own, especially when England are rattling through players like disposable razors.In Roy, Surrey have a player who seems to command a Test place in newspaper columns rather than in his work against the red ball. For 91 balls, those two worlds collided.In at four, he got off the mark with a cut off Finn through point. As scoring became tougher, he knuckled down, picking off singles at will. He didn’t have to battle, but he did have to grind. Then, when he was 36 from 48 balls, he decided it was time to kick things up a gear and smashed Ollie Rayner into the Pavilion two balls in a row to move to 48 from 50. The half-century came up eight balls later. Thing is, it was only his second half-century of the season – albeit a season in which he has been limited to just five innings so far through white ball commitments with the IPL and England.Once that was in the bag, Roy stepped aside for Foakes, who had played it cool for the most part, contributing 35 of their century partnership. Foakes was 33 from 82 balls before making his move: a brace of fours off Finn, one off Roland-Jones helping him to 50 from 94 balls.From this point on, it really should have been a tale of two men reaching their first Championship centuries of the season. Instead, the story to tell is of an advantage spurned. When Roy had a brain fade and failed to clear mid off against Adam Voges’ passable left-arm spin, and Foakes was trapped in front by James Franklin, it sent about a cascade of wickets that saw Surrey’s secure a first innings lead of just 33.The final four wickets would fall for just 49 runs, the last four with the new ball: Roland-Jones finishing with four for 66 and Tim Murtagh bagging his first two of the match. All the hard work of the fifth wicket stand between Roy and Foakes should have turned the match. In the end, it reads as a flashy 125 that simply got the game back to square one, with honours just about even.At stumps, brought about by bad light, Middlesex were just 18 behind, Sam Robson and Nick Compton still in tact, with weather expected to play some part on day three. For the second evening in a row, they leave the happier despite Surrey having controlled most of the preceding play.

Division Two’s leading run scorer Ed Joyce scored his third hundred of the season to help put Sussex in a good position against Glamorgan at Hove.

ECB Reporters Network03-Jul-2016
ScorecardEd Joyce put Sussex on course for a first-innings lead•Getty Images

Division Two’s leading run scorer Ed Joyce scored his third hundred of the season to help put Sussex in a good position against Glamorgan at Hove.Joyce made 106 to take his aggregate for the season to 838 as his side reached 227 for 3 in response to Glamorgan’s 335 for 9 at stumps on the second day.A slow pitch was ideal for someone with Joyce’s phlegmatic temperament. He seldom played a cross-batted shot and it was a surprise when he chopped on to Tim van der Gugten in the 60th over.Joyce survived one moment of alarm on 61 when Will Bragg put down a very difficult chance at slip off the debutant slow left-armer Owen Morgan, but Joyce’s ability to play straight and late once again paid dividends. He hit 14 fours in 177 balls faced.Joyce had shared an opening stand of 133 with Chris Nash although Nash struggled for timing. Normally a fast scorer, it took him 66 balls to lodge his first boundary but he appeared to be finding some fluency when he shaped to cut Morgan and was caught behind for 37.It was a deserved reward for Morgan, a 22-year-old slow left-armer from Swansea, who bowled with impressive control on his Championship debut. His efforts epitomised a persevering Glamorgan attack without their main strike bowler Michael Hogan who did not return after he ducked into a bouncer from Stuart Whittingham earlier in the day and was hit on the helmet.Hogan spent ten minutes regaining his composure but eventually decided he could no longer continue. His condition will be monitored overnight but he is expected to be able to bowl on Monday.With skipper Jacques Rudolph nursing a hand injury which will require an x-ray Glamorgan employed three substitute fielders including bowling coach David Harrison and Australian fast bowler Shaun Tait who has linked up with the squad as he prepares to play in their T20 side.Sussex were 176 for 2 when Joyce was out and had added just five runs when Ross Taylor was leg before playing across the line to Graham Wagg. But Luke Wells and skipper Luke Wright, who is playing his first Championship innings of the season at Hove, added an unbeaten 46 for the fourth wicket.Hogan’s retirement came after Glamorgan had added 44 runs to their overnight 291 for 7 during the morning. Both wickets fell to the impressive Whittingham who bowled with good pace in a spell of 8.1 overs which cost just 20 runs as he finished with a Championship best 4 for 58.Thomas was caught behind by a ball which seamed away before Rudolph, struggling after Whittingham struck him on the left hand, was caught at third man for 87 from 197 balls which was compiled in four and a half hours.

ESPNcricinfo previews the opening Test of the Investec Ashes which takes place in Cardiff, the scene of a dramatic outcome in 2009

Andrew McGlashan07-Jul-2015

Match facts

July 8, 2015
Start time 11.00am local (1000GMT)

Big Picture

Here we go again. For the third time in two years an Ashes series is about to be played out. Ten years since the Greatest Series Ever (probably) dare we hope for something that will even come close to matching that drama?It all begins in Cardiff – at what was formerly known as Sophia Gardens but is now named after a major power supplier. Whether the series calls for a demand for extra electricity when fans up and down the country rush to put the kettle on at lunch and tea could well depend on how this first Investec Test unfolds.Six years ago the corresponding fixture ended in the pulsating scenes of James Anderson and Monty Panesar repelling the threat – if that’s the right word – of Nathan Hauritz and Marcus North. In those closing overs Mitchell Johnson was stood in the outfield; this time Johnson returns with memories of a 37-wicket haul down under still fresh.Only six of the England team that appeared in the final game of that series in Sydney will play here (name the full XI for the match, it is a good quiz question) while Australia are likely to have eight. Whether that reinforces the ‘Dad’s Army’ tag thrown around in the last few weeks or will become viewed as the value of experience could be a little clearer in five days.There is not as much between the two sides as may have been envisaged a few months ago, but if Australia – ageing side or not – get an early lead in Cardiff they will be difficult to haul in, notwithstanding the fact England lost the first Test in 2005. A win for England and the series could be a classic.But after the 18 months of ups and downs they have had in Test cricket, Alastair Cook, who spent the closing overs of the 2009 match sat in the showers unwilling to move, would probably be content with another draw.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
England LWLWD
Australia WWDDW

In the spotlight

It is fascinating to see a new generation of Test cricketer emerge. In this series the head-to-head between Joe Root and Steven Smith should be compelling. Smith’s promotion to No. 3 means his role has evolved a little, while Root is England’s engine room at No. 5. Both have been through Ashes traumas – Smith in 2010-11 when England thought he was a bit of a joker and Root in 2013-14 when he was eventually dropped – but the pair are now at the top of their games. Smith has scored 1052 runs in his last six Tests and Root, since his recall last June, has made 1318 runs at 82.37. Both also bowl handy part-time spin, are superb in the field and don’t mind the odd word or two.There has not been this much talk of the Mitchells in England since Phil was shot in EastEnders. Australia might have three of them, and at least two. Mitchell Johnson comes with the recent Ashes history, but it is Mitchell Starc with the compelling recent form which has seen him translate his World Cup menace into red-ball wickets. His 2013 Ashes series was underwhelming, but the consensus is that Starc is now ready to rule the world. And, if the pitch is flat in Cardiff, he can take the 22 yards out of the equation with one of the finest yorkers in the current game.

Teams news

In 2009, England were sucked into playing two spinners in Cardiff. Ultimately they were grateful as Panesar helped save the day, but his pairing with Graeme Swann was not fruitful. They are unlikely to go down that route again despite the presence of Adil Rashid. The recent (British) heatwave has abated somewhat in South Wales, so four quicks with Moeen Ali – and some Root – is the most likely attack. Meanwhile, Gary Ballance and Ian Bell both begin the series under some pressure.England 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Adam Lyth, 3 Gary Ballance, 4 Ian Bell, 5 Joe Root, 6 Ben Stokes, 7 Jos Buttler (wk), 8 Moeen Ali, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Mark Wood, 11 James AndersonTwo Marshs, one Marsh or no Marsh. That appears to be Australia’s selection conundrum. Has Chris Rogers, who missed the two Tests in West Indies with concussion, done enough to force his way back past Shaun Marsh and has Shane Watson done enough to keep his place ahead of Mitchell Marsh? The answer to both would appear to be yes.Australia 1 David Warner, 2 Chris Rogers, 3 Steven Smith, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 Adam Voges, 6 Shane Watson, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Nathan Lyon

Pitch and conditions

Keith Exton, the Glamorgan groundsman, said he does not expect a “sporting” pitch although there was a decent matting of grass left on the surface and the forecast of an overcast first morning could make the toss interesting. However, the weather is set fair and is expected to warm up during the weekend.

Stats and trivia

• Four of the top 10 Test run-scorers since January 2014 will play in this Test: Smith, Warner, Root and Ballance
• Each team is likely to have three players who appeared in the 2009 match on this ground (Cook, Broad, Anderson; Clarke, Haddin, Johnson)
• Dean Cosker, the 37-year-old Glamorgan left-arm spinner, will be one of England’s substitute fielders for the first two days of the Test. Cosker was once viewed as an England prospect, reaching England A level between 1997 and 1999.

Quotes

“There is a lot written about my captaincy and it is important I sometimes get on the front foot. If you look back at previous teams, they were more methodical. Maybe there’s more opportunity to be on the front foot with the players we’ve got now.”
Alastair Cook“We’ve been fortunate enough to have a lot of success as a team, winning away from home has been the area we’ve addressed and said we want to be more consistent. Beating teams in their own backyard is always the toughest part of our game and I’m sure this series will be no different.”

Hurried along at a cracking pace by Hashim Amla and Graeme Smith, South Africa’s lead over Australia is already a vast 292 runs at the end of day two in Perth

Daniel Brettig01-Dec-2012South Africa 225 and 2 for 230 (Amla 99*, Smith 84) lead
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRicky Ponting was lbw for 4•Getty Images

When the critical moment of the series arrived, South Africa grabbed it with a ruthlessness entirely befitting the world’s No. 1 team. On the day they had hoped for a valedictory Perth century from Ricky Ponting to capitalise on a strong opening to the match, Australia were instead dismantled with the bat and run ragged in the field. Hurried along at a cracking pace by Hashim Amla and Graeme Smith, South Africa’s lead is already a vast 292 runs.Dale Steyn joined Smith and Amla in turning in a command performance, and the hosts’ response was limp, with only the isolated batting resistance of Matthew Wade and a pair of startling catches standing out amid mediocre batting and worse bowling. Ponting’s rapid exit was a sombre subplot as South Africa’s bowlers clambered all over Australia’s batsmen, and Michael Clarke’s team were simply overwhelmed in the final session by the poise and aggression of Amla and Smith. Much like Steyn, they identified the time to strike with fearful precision.United when Alviro Petersen fell shortly after tea to Mitchell Johnson’s thrilling return catch, Smith and Amla tucked into poor spells from John Hastings and Mitchell Starc in particular. While Smith enjoyed a series of deliveries directed heedlessly at his pads, Amla toyed with Australia’s bowling and fielding placings by moving across the crease with impunity to flick to the legside or drive handsomely through the off. He finished the day only a run shy of a century in the final session.

Smart stats

• Australia’s total of 163 is their lowest in the first innings in Perth since January 1993, when they scored 119 against a West Indies attack of Curtly Ambrose, Ian Bishop and Courtney Walsh. In 19 Tests at the WACA between these two matches, Australia had never scored less than 200.

• For only the second time in the last 75 years, and the fourth time ever, each of Australia’s top seven batsmen scored less than 14 in their first innings of a Test.

• The 178-run stand between Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla, which came off 153 balls, is the third-fastest 150-plus stand recorded in Test cricket.

• Dale Steyn is one of only two bowlers to dismiss Michael Clarke seven times in Tests. Ishant Sharma is the other. Clarke is one of four batsmen to be dismissed seven times by Steyn.

• Since the beginning of 2007, only once has Amla had a spell of more than four successive innings without at least a half-century in Tests.

• South Africa’s 414 for 4 in 2008 is the highest winning fourth-innings total in a Perth Test.

Smith too deserved a century, but was thwarted in his quest by a hook he did not quite control and another stunning catch, this time by Nathan Lyon. Whatever succour Australia took from this moment was to be greatly reduced when Lyon appeared to lose his footing and spilled a simpler chance offered by Jacques Kallis shortly after – the drop more representative of the hosts’ foggy approach to the evening’s play, which completed perhaps their worst day’s cricket at home since Clarke became captain.It was almost as though Australia’s players had been overcome by melancholy at the events of the morning. Granted an opening by David Warner’s poor stroke to Dale Steyn’s first ball of the day, the visitors produced bowling of the highest quality on a WACA ground pitch that had quickened overnight to rumble the hosts for 163.Quieter than usual for most of this series, Steyn pounced on what may come to be remembered as this series’ most pivotal day, moving the ball at high pace and conjuring arguably the ball of the series to find the outside edge of Australia’s captain and batting cornerstone Clarke. Vernon Philander contributed the wicket of Ponting, his skidding trajectory winning a second lbw of the innings on a surface not lending itself to such dismissals with its steep bounce.Robin Peterson extracted a measure of revenge for a pair of earlier sixes by defeating Wade after lunch, and the left-arm spinner added the wickets of Mitchell Johnson and Hastings to round up the innings and more than justify his selection.Resuming at 2 for 33, Warner and the nightwatchman Lyon were charged with setting a foundation for Ponting and others. Warner kicked his commission away however with a flat-footed swish at his first sight of Steyn, an edge clearly audible though the opener compounded his error by calling haltingly for a review. With no strongly contradicting evidence available on replays, Richard Kettleborough’s finger was raised a second time.Ponting nearly shovelled his first ball to midwicket, but found a sharp single to get off the mark in his penultimate Test innings. That brought Lyon on strike to face Steyn, and first ball he was turned around by a well-pitched outswinger and the snick was held in the gully.Willed on by a capacity crowd and countless television watchers, Ponting swivelled into one pull shot from Philander, the stroke looking attractive but not timed with the precision of his younger days. It was to be his only signature moment, as Philander whirred one down the line of middle and off to pin Ponting lbw. For what seemed reasons as much emotional as tactical, Clarke unwisely allowed Ponting to refer the decision, which confirmed the right call had been made, thus stripping the hosts of their remaining review.Dominant as he has been this year, an outstanding delivery was required to dismiss Clarke, and Steyn duly provided it. Angling into the stumps before bending away treacherously late, Clarke did well to edge it, and South Africa rejoiced Australia’s punch-drunk tally of 6 for 45. Wade and Hussey resisted for a time, the wicketkeeper taking the attacker’s role while the senior batsman tried to weather a hostile spell from Morne Morkel.Wade’s innings showed that runs could most certainly be scored, but he lost Hussey not long before lunch as he pushed indeterminately at a Morkel delivery from around the wicket and presented a slips catch to Smith. Hastings fought out the remaining minutes of the morning, and after lunch gave Wade some stout company.The stand was worth 40 when Wade miscalculated against Peterson, ending an innings that might have tilted the match had it been allowed to continue for another hour. Johnson’s defeat was the result of subtle variations in flight from Peterson and a not-so-subtle response from the batsman, while Hastings was last out when Petersen took a steepling chance and then regathered it after stepping momentarily over the boundary rope at long off.The opening overs of South Africa’s innings featured a couple of nervy moments for Smith in particular, but all 10 wickets remained intact when tea was called. Alviro Petersen would be lost shortly after the resumption when he popped up a bouncer off glove or bat handle that Johnson did wonderfully well to catch after an athletic chase and dive, but the rest was to be a procession. South Africa are not quite hoisting the ICC’s Test Championship mace yet, but after this day’s domination they may as well be.

Australia could realistically have a permanent head coach before the start of the home summer, according to Cricket Australia’s new general manager of team performance, Pat Howard

Brydon Coverdale09-Nov-2011Australia could realistically have a permanent head coach before the start of the home summer, according to Cricket Australia’s new general manager of team performance, Pat Howard. The first Test against New Zealand begins on December 1, just a week after the Test squad returns home from South Africa, where Troy Cooley has been the acting head coach.Howard started his new role this week and immediately flew to Cape Town to meet the Australian squad, including the fielding mentor Steve Rixon and the assistant coach Justin Langer, who are both likely to be candidates for the head coach position. Rixon is considered a front-runner due to his strong relationship with captain Michael Clarke.The new position is an expanded role compared to the job that was occupied by Tim Nielsen. Following the appointment of Howard and the national selection manager John Inverarity, it is the one remaining major role to be filled. The new coach will report to Howard, who said he was optimistic about finding a candidate before the New Zealand series.”The process is well and truly in train,” Howard said. “It is realistic yes, it is better than hopeful, but we have to get it done and as part of the process is to make sure not only that they are appointed but that they hit the ground running so part of the process is thoughts of how are we going to able to do this and move it forward.”But the reality is there are always negotiations, contract negotiations, current employment status. When I left my job I had two months’ notice but fortunately my previous employer were good and let me go early. There’s a whole heap of conditions but to know where we are going for the New Zealand Test is the absolute ideal.”In one of his previous jobs, as high-performance chief with the Australian Rugby Union, Howard was central in the appointment of several coaches including Robbie Deans, the current Wallabies mentor. Cricket Australia have launched a global search for Nielsen’s replacement and Howard said it was important to keep an open mind.”Often the trap in sports is names come to mind first,” he said. “But any time you go and recruit in a normal sense and a corporate sense and a world sense, you think what are the skills I need in this situation and let’s get those right first. So that’s been the start of the process, getting that right and trying to steer people away from names, know what you want then start dealing with the recruitment process.”Head coaching experience matters and I mean that in terms of there’s assistants and there’s heads … success, demonstrated success and the ability to consider where Australia is today and where we want to go to. Those factors have all got to be weighed up.”If Australia want someone with previous head coaching experience, that would enhance the prospects of Rixon, who led New Zealand during a successful period and also won titles during his time in charge of New South Wales. He has also spent time in charge of Surrey and has been an assistant to Stephen Fleming at the Chennai Super Kings.The other major positions that need filling are the two part-time selector roles, which Howard said Inverarity would have a say in determining. For the time being, Andrew Hilditch’s panel remains in a standby capacity – Hilditch is the selector on duty in South Africa – but Inverarity is expected to choose his first squad for the Test series against New Zealand.”John’s heavily involved in the process,” Howard said of picking the other two selectors. “There are some areas the Argus review talks about and so we can say, John, here are some frameworks here are some ideas. There are a long list of candidates to get through.”

A masterful 80 by Darren Bravo was all that stood in the way of Sri Lanka, as they closed out the third day of the second Test 222 runs ahead

The Bulletin by Andrew Fernando25-Nov-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDarren Bravo’s classy 80 ended in the day’s penultimate over•AFP

A masterful 80 by Darren Bravo was all that stood in the way of Sri Lanka, as they closed out the third day of the second Test 222 runs ahead. Darren Bravo was assured as he notched up his second half-century in as many innings in Tests, even as his more illustrious team-mates struggled to come to terms with the skill and variation of the Sri Lankan attack. The visitors looked good to end the day just three down as the gloom set in over Premadasa Stadium, but a double-strike from Tillakaratne Dilshan minutes before stumps meant Sri Lanka were still well in the hunt for a win and the visitors were left to ponder how they might save the Test.Darren Bravo was difficult to tie down in his 129-ball stay, happy to settle into a steady rhythm of singles for the majority of the afternoon, but taking the attack to the spinners and forcing Kumar Sangakkara to adjust the field when it became too tight for his liking. He hit four sixes and they may as well have all been carbon copies of each other. Thrice he waltzed down to left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, getting to the pitch of the ball to launch him over long-on and long-off, while Mendis, too, was treated to a lofted wallop that sailed over the ropes in the same area.Darren Bravo fell in the penultimate over of the day to a stunning catch. Having watched Brendan Nash perish two balls prior, Darren Bravo tried to hit out against Dilshan, but his attempted slog over midwicket – perhaps the first rash stroke he played all day – took the leading edge and looped in the air on the off side. Herath, who was fielding at backward point, ran towards cover and flung himself horizontally, arms outstretched, and the ball landed in his palms mid-flight and his ecstatic teammates converged to congratulate him.Sri Lanka looked to step up the scoring in the morning, as they attempted to force a win in the rain-hit match, declaring at 387 for 9, after the tail had chipped in with some valuable runs. Kumar Sangakkara departed early on, having hit a couple of imperious boundaries off Kemar Roach, and Prasanna Jayawardene’s 34 guided Sri Lanka steadily towards a formidable first-innings total.Herath batted well in the company of the other lower-order batsmen, and exploited some negative field placements to make some quick runs, tempering occasional aggression with a series of canny ones and twos. He remained unbeaten on 24 when the declaration came and the hosts had left themselves just enough time before lunch to knock over Adrian Barath.Chris Gayle began the afternoon session with some typically brutal strikes off the wayward Suranga Lakmal and his 30-ball stay was littered with glimpses of the kind of arrogance with which he flayed the Sri Lankan attack during his triple-ton in Galle. Gayle drilled boundaries through cover and point, but was not always his domineering self, as he survived a couple of close lbw shouts off Lakmal, who bowled the odd good delivery amid the rubbish. Gayle was out hooking for 31, top-edging a steepling bouncer to Angelo Mathews, who shuffled around at the square-leg boundary to snaffle the chance, giving Lakmal his first wicket in Tests.Shivnarine Chanderpaul didn’t last too long, falling to a Mendis legbreak and Nash never looked comfortable at the crease during his strained 29. The spinners tormented him outside the off stump while Lakmal, too, caused some nervous moments with the short ball. He was given a reprieve on 15 when a well-directed bouncer from Lakmal induced a top- edge, but Prasanna Jayawardene’s valiant effort – running full tilt towards backward-square for about thirty metres – was not enough to end his stay, the ball brushing past the wicketkeeper’s gloves as he put in a full-length dive. He was eventually adjudged lbw by Asad Rauf, giving Dilshan the first of his two quick wickets. Bad light intervened soon after Darren Bravo had departed and caused yet another premature end to play, with two days remaining in the Test.

Fortress Newlands brought the best out of South Africa again as they levelled the one-day series with a crushing 112-run victory on the back of a blistering 85-ball 121 by AB de Villiers

The Bulletin by Andrew McGlashan27-Nov-2009
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAB de Villiers celebrates his breathtaking hundred which powered South Africa to 354 at Newlands•Getty Images

Fortress Newlands brought the best out of South Africa again as they levelled the one-day series with a crushing 112-run victory on the back of a blistering 85-ball 121 by AB de Villiers. There had been some strong words in the home camp after the defeat at Centurion and a refocused group of players emerged to produce a powerful all-round display, capped off with the fit-again Wayne Parnell claiming a career-best 5 for 48.It would be easy to look at Graeme Smith winning the toss and surmise that it made a huge difference given the ground’s history. There is no doubt it helped – batting under pristine blue skies was a head start – but it would be a huge disservice to South Africa’s top order, and especially de Villiers, to suggest it was the deciding factor. This wasn’t one of those nights where the ball zipped around under the lights, instead England were beaten by sheer weight of runs from a batting display that wasn’t far off the perfect gameplan.England didn’t roll over in a daunting run chase but after losing their top three for 58 and Kevin Pietersen at the half-way mark the task was always too much. Paul Collingwood continued his recent rich vein of form with a combative 86 including three sixes – taking his tally since the start of the Champions Trophy to 393 runs in six innings – but it was only an effort in narrowing the margin of defeat. South Africa’s attack was far sharper with the return of Parnell and Morne Morkel who shared eight wickets in a throw-ahead of what the Test series could entail.From early in the innings it appeared a given that South Africa would make hay, but not quite to the extent of 354 – comfortably a record score against England and equalling their best for this venue. Smith and Hashim Amla opened with a stand of 107 in 18 overs which paved the way for de Villiers to produce one of his finest one-day innings.In a wonderful display of clean and controlled striking de Villiers went a long way towards correcting his poor one-day record against England which stood as an anomaly in his career where his previous best was 42. At no stage did de Villiers take his foot off the gas, but the innings really exploded into life when South Africa took their batting Powerplay in the 43rd over.De Villiers greeted Stuart Broad with an audacious ramp-turned-scoop over the keeper’s head then swept him fiercely through midwicket in an over that cost 15. His hundred – the fourth of his career – came in the next over off 75 balls with another boundary pummelled through midwicket. When he finally skied to cover, a number of England players acknowledged the innings as he left the field. Along the way de Villiers shared stands of 98 with Amla and 95 in 10 overs with Alviro Petersen, but on both occasions his partners became almost forgotten bystanders.Amla and Smith were allowed to kick-start the innings against some wayward new-ball bowling. Smith went to a run-a-ball fifty then dragged Luke Wright into his stumps, but Amla settled into the anchor role. Amla wouldn’t have been playing in this series if Jacques Kallis hadn’t been ruled out with a fractured rib but, as he always does, he continued to make the most of his opportunity. De Villiers backed up the opening stand with a positive start as he took advantage of the delayed bowling Powerplay with a flick over midwicket and two rasping cut shots. The warning signs were flashing.De Villiers rushed his fifty from 39 balls as he made good ground on catching his partner. Amla had a century for the taking when he bottom-edged a pull to Matt Prior and momentarily England held the run-rate in check as Wright had JP Duminy taken at deep square-leg. However, South Africa were just biding their time.De Villiers and Petersen consolidated for a few overs until the mayhem started. The fourth-wicket stand was worth 95 with 57 of those coming from the batting Powerplay as de Villiers cut loose against Broad and Anderson. Mark Boucher ensured the innings ended with a flourish as the final 10 overs brought 109 runs. Extraordinarily, given the total, Boucher launched the first six of the innings in the 48th over with a straight drive off Wright. Petersen reached an almost-ignored fifty from 39 balls – matching de Villiers’ rate – during the final over as South Africa moved past 350.Faced with an asking rate of seven England shuffled their batting order and the promoted Wright chanced his arm for 24 off 19 balls before picking out deep square-leg. Andrew Strauss batted with intent and no little flourish, but not for nearly long enough when he edged a wide ball from Morkel. In the next over Jonathan Trott was brilliantly held at first slip by Smith who was having one of those days that captains savour.Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen, the latter still searching for form, had to try and rebuild in the face of an ever-rising asking rate and just when a partnership was settling Pietersen failed to cover his leg stump when he swept at Duminy. Despite Collingwood’s strong biffing, which included consecutive sixes off Ryan McLaren, sustaining the required rate was mission impossible.On both occasions that South Africa have been surprised by England on this tour – the opening Twenty20 and at Centurion – they have bounced back in grand style. They will be eager for the next meeting in Port Elizabeth on Sunday, while England face another test of their confidence.