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Sussex captain will be without Jofra Archer due to England’s T20Is against Australia

Matt Roller05-Sep-2024Tymal Mills’ delight at leading Sussex to Finals Day in his first season as their T20 captain was tempered by his frustration that Jofra Archer will be unavailable, due to a scheduling clash that he described as “pretty stupid” and “a real shame”.Blast Finals Day – which sees the two semi-finals and the final played back-to-back-to-back at Edgbaston – will be staged on September 14, with England playing the second and third T20Is of their series against Australia on September 13 and 15. The ECB is working through scenarios but players will only be released if they are not required for the final two T20Is.”As far as I’m aware, no England players will be available – which is pretty stupid, to be honest,” Mills said after captaining Sussex to an eight-wicket win over Lancashire in Wednesday night’s quarter-final at Hove, in which Archer took 2 for 20. “Obviously no England players will be there from any side, but it is a real shame for us to lose a player like Jof. Whoever comes in for him will have big boots to fill.”Surrey, who beat Durham at The Oval on Tuesday, will be worst affected, with Jamie Overton called up by England as injury cover on Thursday and joining Sam Curran, Will Jacks and Reece Topley in the T20I squad. They are waiting for confirmation of the availability of their four Test players: Gus Atkinson, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope and Jamie Smith.Dan Mousley and Jacob Bethell, the uncapped allrounders, are also in England’s T20I squad. “I know Warwickshire will be without Mousley and Bethell – two of their better players – if they beat Gloucestershire on Friday,” Mills said. “It’s disappointing. This is a big day of the year and you’d like your best players there.”For us, it hurts us a lot, because you take Jofra Archer out of your team and it is a huge loss. Other counties – Surrey, for example – can maybe cover their losses a bit better than what we can, but it is what it is. The XI that’s taking the field on the 14th will have to step up. But I’m sure you won’t find many people that will agree with the schedule and say, ‘Yeah, it’s great.'”Surrey will be without Sam Curran on T20 Finals Day•Harry Trump/Getty Images

The Blast’s quarter-finals took place more than six weeks after the end of the group stage, which Kent captain Sam Billings branded “ridiculous” earlier this year. But many counties prefer a long gap as it allows them a bigger window to sell tickets, with a record quarter-final crowd at The Oval on Tuesday and a sellout at Hove on Wednesday.Sussex have thrived under Mills’ leadership this year. They missed out on the quarter-finals under Ravi Bopara’s captaincy in 2023, but have won 10 out of 15 games this season. Daniel Hughes, their Australian overseas player, is the Blast’s leading run-scorer, Mills himself is the third-highest wicket-taker and James Coles has enjoyed a fine all-round season.”I love the club,” Mills said. “This is my 10th year now, and I don’t just want to waste my last few years ticking over and then ride off into the sunset without anything to show for it. I put myself forward for the captaincy when Ravi left… I could have gone elsewhere at some point over the last few years and gone to a bigger club but I live here and this is where I want to be.”I’ve never even captained in a club game before, but I’ve really loved it. I’ve always been a senior player and I like to think about the game a lot: I don’t just stand at fine leg, look at the sky and twiddle my thumbs… One thing I’ve learned is just to trust your gut. There were a couple of times when I’ve got a little bit defensive with fields or bowling changes, and it comes back to haunt you.Related

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“I take T20 cricket very seriously, because it’s all I do, whereas I felt maybe as a club, there were players that maybe didn’t quite take it as seriously – which is hard, when guys are playing all formats. I’m 32 now. I’m not going to be playing forever. I want to win as many games as I can and nothing would mean more to me than winning [the Blast] for Sussex.”Mills has been particularly pleased at Sussex’s aggression with the bat, having reached 200 in five out of seven innings while batting first. “We’re playing positive, entertaining cricket,” he said. “We were poor here [at Hove] for the last few years, and our record here has really improved. I’m really proud of everything that the coaching staff and the players have done to get this far.”First of all, you want to get out of the group. We did that, and to win a knockout game against a very experienced and talented Lancashire side was obviously really pleasing as well. We’ll wait to see who we will play at Edgbaston next Saturday, but we’ll turn up expecting to win. That’s the attitude now that the team have.”

Women’s team to face South Africa for the first time in a four-day Test; West Indies come visiting as well

ESPNcricinfo Staff and AAP14-May-2023Test cricket will return to the WACA in Perth, with the Australia women’s team set to face South Africa for the first time in the format as part of their multi-format series early in 2024.It will be one of three Tests Australia will play in nine months following the Ashes encounter in June and one on the multi-format tour of India set for December and January. However, unlike the five-day Ashes Test, the match against South Africa will be over four days.Cricket Australia (CA) announced the home fixtures for the 2023-24 season on Sunday, which sees Pakistan men visit for three Tests, including the traditional Melbourne and Sydney fixtures, while both West Indies men’s and women’s sides will feature.West Indies men are touring in consecutive seasons due to a quirk in the next FTP, with their Tests taking place in Adelaide, which will revert to a day game for one season, and then Brisbane which will host a day-night encounter.Australia men’s home summer schedule•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The men’s Test summer stretches deep into January next season due to the 2023 ODI World Cup then a five-match T20I series tacked on afterwards, meaning Australia won’t return home until early December. However, the T20 and Test teams are likely to look very different.Their summer begins with the first Test against Pakistan in Perth from December 14, before the teams meet in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne and the New Year’s Test at the SCG.Adelaide will host a red-ball Test against West Indies from January 17, before a day-night Test at the Gabba from January 25. It means all Tests will fall in the holiday period.White-ball players will be available for the entire men’s BBL, before they enter camp for three ODIs and three T20s against West Indies between February 2 and 13.But the opening of the international season risks being completely overshadowed by the National Rugby League (NRL), with the first match scheduled for Sydney on grand final day with Australia’s women playing West Indies in a T20I at North Sydney Oval on October 1.That game will finish only hours before the NRL grand final, asking fans to choose which event to attend and viewers to switch off rugby league’s grand final lead-up games.CA takes the view that in a cluttered schedule, a Sunday start in Sydney is the right way to go, hopeful they can benefit from Channel Seven promoting the match during the AFL grand final the previous day.They are also adamant October 1 should be the start of the cricket season, that scheduling clashes with other sports are inevitable and that their world champion women’s team can win out.But privately there are concerns from some over the significant challenges the sport will face promoting the T20 match in Sydney, with a second game to be played the day after the grand final.Australia women’s summer schedule•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Australia vice-captain Alyssa Healy was hopeful the situation would not impact crowds while acknowledging there could be some hurdles to overcome in drawing fans.”It could be [a problem], maybe we might get washed out a little bit in that,” Healy told AAP. “But in saying that, it’s the start of the cricket summer. So hopefully that is spoken about that week.”Yes, the headlines will be dominated by AFL and NRL, but they are anyway. Come and watch some world-class athletes do their thing at North Sydney if the NRL is not your thing. I don’t think we need to compete against the NRL grand final, we can work around it.”It is not the first time concerns have been raised around the scheduling of women’s fixtures.Players were unhappy when they were switched to play on January 26 last summer, with Indigenous woman Ashleigh Gardner vocalising her opposition to the decision.Another match in the same series, against Pakistan at North Sydney Oval, clashed with the Sydney Smash in the BBL.There is some good news for the women in the upcoming fixtures, however. After three T20Is and three ODIs against West Indies early in the summer, they host a multi-format series against South Africa in January and February.Included is a day-night ODI at a major venue, Adelaide Oval, on February 3, followed by the Test on the pacy WACA wicket from February 15.

Loss in 2017 final not important, “right now it’s all about momentum and that’s on our side,” she says of taking on England

Vishal Dikshit15-Mar-2022An ODI average of under 28 between the two World Cups in 2017 and 2022, but an imposing average of 53 in the 18 World Cup innings she has played so far tell the story of a player who steps up on the big stage.Harmanpreet Kaur had been under pressure before the ongoing World Cup because of a severe lack of runs since the 2017 ODI World Cup, giving an impression that she had been given a long rope because of that epochal 171 not out against Australia in the 2017 semi-final.Related

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But crucial knocks of 109 and 71 against West Indies and New Zealand, respectively, have served a reminder of the value she adds to India’s middle order.”Big tournaments are very important and your role is more important, you need to take more responsibility and perform for your team. Maybe that’s the reason [I do well in World Cups],” she said a day before India’s game against England in Mount Maunganui. “I always want to give my best for the team but sometimes, things don’t go your way. But I’ll make sure whenever we play the World Cup, I’ll be there for my team.”As opposed to her career batting average of 35.17, Harmanpreet averages a whopping 53.07 in ODI World Cups and has struck three of her four centuries in the format in world tournaments, her World Cup runs coming at a strike rate to 97. In fact, many of the highlights from her ODI career have come in World Cups. ODI debut – 2009 World Cup. Maiden ODI century –
2013 World Cup against England. Her only Player-of-the-Match award in the format – the 2017 World Cup semi-final, of course.Smriti Mandhana, who was involved in a record partnership of 184 with Harmanpreet against West Indies, scoring a century of her own, had said Harmanpreet brought out her “best” self when “her back is towards the wall”.Harmanpreet agreed that backing herself was the key to playing such big innings. “Sometimes, I just need to back myself and that’s what I’ve been doing, like before this West Indies game, and the New Zealand game,” she said. “When I bat with Smriti and someone who is already settled, it’s always easy for me to settle there and that’s what I enjoyed the other day.”Harmanpreet warmed up for the ongoing World Cup with a knock of 104 off 114 balls against South Africa, after she had scored a brisk 63 off 66 against New Zealand in the final ODI of the bilateral series.”The greatest thing was before the World Cup, we got a five-ODI series against New Zealand, and one T20,” she said. “Because of that, we got that momentum and got used to these conditions, and that is the reason which is helping us perform well.”Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana put together the best partnership for India in World Cups in the game against West Indies•ICC via Getty Images

With two wins from three games, India now take on defending champions England, who are in danger of crashing out early after three losses in a row. England had beaten India in the 2017 World Cup final by just nine runs, but Harmanpreet said India were focusing on current form instead of past results.”If we talk all over, we started that [2017] World Cup by beating England [in the league stage],” she pointed out. “And we can’t just focus on past performances. They had played good cricket [in the 2017 final] but right now, it’s all about momentum, and that’s on our side. We want to focus on our strengths. Past is history and if we focus too much on that, we’ll add to our own pressure. We want to live in the present and focus on the good things we’ve done rather than think about past results.”The only aspect of India’s game that Harmanpreet was wary of was losing wickets in clusters, which has happened consistently. They were 112 for 5 against Pakistan, 95 for 5 against New Zealand, and 78 for 3 against West Indies, before the lower-middle order rescued them.”Sometimes, we are losing back-to-back wickets and if we can work on that… otherwise, things are the way we want them,” she said. “Now is the time we just need to stay relaxed and enjoy the situation, because sometimes, that helps you perform better.”

“It can be quite tough because you are surrounded by four walls the whole time and that can be a factor mentally”

Firdose Moonda23-Nov-2020South Africa’s cricketers are gearing up for a summer inside “luxury prisons” as they move from one biosecure bubble to the next for series against England, Sri Lanka, Pakistan (away, potentially, and at home) and Australia. Although Kagiso Rabada expects it to be difficult, he hopes the squad can keep perspective about their privilege.”It can be quite tough. You can’t interact. You’ve basically lost your freedom. It’s almost like luxury prisons we are in. But we have to remind ourselves that we are fortunate,” Rabada said. “People have lost their jobs, people are struggling at the moment, so we must be grateful for the opportunity we have been given to make some money and to do what we love.”And we don’t get treated too badly. We stay in great hotels. We get the best food. It’s like a spoilt kid not getting what they want at the candy store. It can be quite tough because you are surrounded by four walls the whole time and that can be a factor mentally. But just remind yourself of all the good things that are happening and once we start playing, it will take away from the desolate times.”ALSO READ: Kagiso Rabada 100% in support of BLM movement – but South Africa won’t be kneelingRabada has just returned from the IPL, where he was in a bubble for 11 weeks, having spent the previous six months in some form of lockdown imposed by the South African government to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. The extended period of isolation did not appear to have any adverse effects on his game. In fact, one could argue the opposite. Rabada finished the IPL as its top wicket-taker, raising questions over how much he needed a break, and how he will fit in more time off in the future.”The break helped to refresh the body and to take the mind off of a lot of things,” he said. “But I don’t know if long extended breaks will happen in future because cricket is getting more and more. I’m not sure how much of it is due to a long break, but I don’t think it will happen a lot in the future. I don’t think we will get breaks that long unless we get Covid-20.”The bad joke aside, with a packed schedule on the horizon, Rabada hopes to work with the national management team to ensure he gets regular time off to stay at his best.”When I first got in, I just really wanted to play every game and it’s not that that ambition has gone but now it is about being smart with it,” he said. “You have to realise there is a long career ahead, there is a lot of cricket and it’s about how can I stay fresh. It is going to take some good communication between myself, coach, fitness trainer and medical staff. I definitely do have a say [in when I get time off]. It’s about me taking advice from the medical staff and medical staff hearing me out.”But it is also about making sure playing cricket stays fun. Rabada put down some of his excellence at the IPL to the nature of the tournament, which is both sexier and not as “serious” as international cricket.”There’s a lot more superstardom hype,” he said. “There are big media and content creation teams. There’s a huge following. International cricket is more serious. Although we do have fun in international cricket because you are with guys that you know and we have jokes in the team, it’s a lot more serious. The IPL has a bit more fun to it, without saying that there is no fun in international cricket. Of course there is, but I think international cricket is held in a higher prestige.”What both forms of the game – T20s’ extravaganza and international cricket – have in common for now, is that they are being played behind closed doors which Jofra Archer said takes away some of the enjoyment. Rabada agreed but seemed to suggest that spectators did not have a real impact on results.”The crowd plays its role. A big role. We have our supporters and they add to the drama. But at the end of the day, if I am running in to Joe Root, or whoever, it’s a contest between me and him,” Rabada said. “The crowd can get you going but at the end of the day, no one is bowling the ball for you.”Still, the closed doors and long stays in hotel rooms all make for a “quite bizarre” situation where team-mates don’t see each other, socialising is limited and everything is sanitised. “We have to train in groups now. There’s a group of non-contacts and a group of close contact,” Rabada said. “The team is doing well at sticking to the strict rules that have been set in place. It’s challenging and really bizarre.”And for South Africa, things have already got complicated. Two players returned positive for Covid-19 test results since arriving in Cape Town, causing their intra-squad practice match to be cancelled. Another round of tests will take place in the lead up to Friday’s series start, which will mark a return of international action in the country for the first time since March. Let the summer of luxury prison-time begin.

Marsh suffers fractured forearm after being struck by a ball from Pat Cummins during a net session

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jul-2019Shaun Marsh is out of the World Cup with a fractured forearm after the Australian batsmen endured a brutal net session at Old Trafford. He was struck by a ball from Pat Cummins while batting at Old Trafford two days before Australia’s final round-robin match against South Africa.Peter Handscomb will replace Marsh in Australia’s squad. Handscomb is already in England with the Australia A team that is touring the country concurrently and is set to join up with the World Cup squad on Friday.Marsh wasn’t the only batsman to suffer a blow to the arm at Australia’s training session. In the same net, Glenn Maxwell was hit on the right forearm by a short ball from Mitchell Starc. Both batsmen aborted their net sessions and went for scans immediately.Australia coach Justin Langer has confirmed that while Marsh has been ruled out, Maxwell hasn’t suffered extensive damage.”Shaun Marsh has had scans on his right forearm after being struck while practicing in the nets at training today,” Langer said. “Unfortunately, the scans have revealed Shaun has suffered a fracture to his forearm which will require surgery.”This is obviously shattering news for Shaun and the squad. Throughout this tournament, his spirit, professionalism and the way he has competed has been typically outstanding. We are right behind Shaun in his recovery and rehabilitation.”Glenn Maxwell also underwent scans after he was struck on his right forearm in the nets. The scans have cleared Glenn of any serious damage and we’ll continue to monitor him over the coming days. We are hopeful he will be fit to perform for us on Saturday against South Africa.”We have made the decision to call up Peter Handscomb to replace Shaun in our World Cup Squad of 15. Pete is a like-for-like player, in terms of batting in the middle order, and he performed very well for us during our recent tours in India and the UAE.”Handscomb narrowly missed out on a spot in Australia’s original World Cup squad, showing impressive form in the lead-up to the tournament but having to make way for the returns of Steven Smith and David Warner from their ball-tampering bans.Since the turn of the year, the wicketkeeper-batsman has scored 479 ODI runs at an average of 43.54 and a strike rate of 98.15, with three fifties and a match-winning century in a chase of 359 against India.

Both batsmen made sparkling fifties to carry Pakistan to their highest T20I total before West Indies surrendered meekly again in Karachi

The Report by Danyal Rasool02-Apr-2018
A significant difference in quality between teams isn’t like jetlag; it doesn’t wear off in 24 hours. Pakistan turned in another dominant performance in the second game, as they had in the opener on Sunday, thumping West Indies by 82 runs to take an unassailable lead in the three-match series. An unbeaten 58-ball 97 by Babar Azam powered Pakistan to their highest ever T20I score, two more than yesterday’s 203. Hussain Talat, Man of the Match on Sunday, more than played his part in a 119-run partnership with Babar, smashing 63 off 41 balls.Fakhar Zaman fell early to a sharp bouncer from Rayad Emrit, but it wasn’t going to prevent the bowlers from copping relentless punishment.
The fielding by West Indies was well below par again. Like replays from the first game, fielders on the boundary let simple pick-ups slip through their fingers for fours. Under pressure from a confident, ruthless Pakistan batting line-up, the bowlers’ lengths went haywire.A side that has won 16 of its last 19 T20Is now, Pakistan’s batsmen were getting help they didn’t need. Even more poignant was the lack of self-belief with which West Indies carried themselves. At one point, they barely appealed for an lbw that, on review, saw Babar saved by inches on the umpire’s call.Pakistan would be encouraged by the cameo Asif Ali played, because it bodes well for the future of their power-hitting. Long bemoaned as a striking weakness in Pakistan’s game, Asif, whose penchant for big sixes came to light in the recently-concluded PSL, showed he could be the solution. It was only 14 off 8 balls, with one six, a bottom-hand jab off the back foot, would have caught batting coach Grant Flower’s eyes, who singled him out as an exciting prospect from this year’s PSL.The only disappointment for Pakistan in the first innings was Babar’s failure to get to his hundred. Incredibly, Ahmed Shehzad’s 111 against Bangladesh is still the only time a Pakistan batsman has scored a century. Babar had his chance in the final over, but his timing deserted him. Kesrick Williams hit his lengths and varied his pace well enough to keep the ball away from Babar, but his hunger, undimmed so far, bodes well for Pakistan.West Indies, in response, avoided the catastrophe of the first game, but it was clear within a few overs that the result would be the same: a comfortable win for Pakistan. The asking rate, over 10 at the start of the innings, stifled West Indies before the chase had even begun, and other than Chadwick Walton, no top-order batsman looked even close to being up to the task.West Indies scored only 30 runs in the Powerplay, and though they had lost only one wicket by then, the required rate had already ballooned to almost 13. Once Shadab Khan cleaned Walton up – with a beautiful flipper – he had scored 40 of his side’s 50 runs, it was only about how many Pakistan would win by.Mohammad Amir found his lengths and hit his yorkers often. Hasan Ali was his usual wily self and Shadab was lethal and potent. Pakistan hadn’t let the lack of competitiveness dim their intensity, keen to drive home the advantage as much as possible. Amir looked especially sharp; the yorker that castled opposition captain Jason Mohammed worth waiting for even in the backdrop of rather dull cricket. His disguise of the slower balls was also world-class as he finished with figures of 4-0-22-3.West Indies mentally checked out of the game well before it officially ended, the point epitomised in the 18th over. Emrit cut Amir to the boundary, wide enough of third man to allow the batsmen to comfortably run two. Williams on the other hand, never so much as looked at his partner, and both batsmen found themselves at one end. Emrit didn’t even bother looking back, never breaking his stride as he jogged back to the pavilion.Hasan and Talat picked up the final two wickets to seal the demolition, as West Indies were bowled out for 123, just about more than double their total from the first match.

The Sri Lanka captain, who has come under fire, following the team’s poor showing in Tests in South Africa, has said he is ready to continue as a player even if he is removed as captain

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jan-2017Angelo Mathews, who is nominally in charge of Sri Lanka until after the 2019 World Cup, has said that he would have no protests if he was sacked from the captaincy following his side’s horrendous Test showing on their tour of South Africa.Sri Lanka lost all three Tests by heavy margins, leading for calls for Mathews to resign even though the limited-overs leg of the tour is barely underway.Mathews, who became Sri Lanka’s youngest Test captain, at 25, left the tour after the second T20 in Johannesburg on Sunday after suffering a sprained ankle but he dismissed suggestions that he had given serious consideration to stepping down after four years in charge.”I haven’t thought about it,” he said in an interview in the Colombo . “I will not run away from pressures. Anyone can say anything. If I feel this is the time or if the selectors say, I’m open to it. Whatever others say, I’m not bothered.”It’s not in my control. If the selectors or Sri Lanka Cricket think they need a change and believe someone else is ready to do the captaincy, it’s not at all a problem for me. As long as I enjoy the game, I will keep playing. I just want to try and perform well as a team and I will always help whoever is captain in the future as well.”Sri Lanka Cricket’s CEO Ashley de Silva also stated that prior to the tour Mathews had indicated he might need time off for family reasons. His wife Heshani is expected to give birth to the couple’s first child shortly. Injury had brought the date of his departure forward a little.After a third T20 in Cape Town on Wednesday, with the series tied at 1-1, Sri Lanka and South Africa embark upon a five-ODI series, with Upul Tharanga taking over from Mathews. A stronger performance over 50 overs would leave Sri Lanka in better heart ahead of the Champions Trophy in England later this year.”I know I am answerable but, as captain, I have done the best possible,” Mathews said. “I worked closely with the coach [Graham Ford]. I always discussed with the selectors when it came to the team. It has been a collective effort. But if someone wants to put the blame on me, so be it.”Mathews’ early experience of the job was a good one. He led Sri Lanka to a first Test win against England and had support from players of the calibre of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. Those senior players have gradually retired from view, leaving him to lead a largely inexperienced side which struggled to compete in the South Africa Test series.”Players like Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva have not played much Test cricket, forget about playing outside Sri Lanka,” Mathews said. “So, we need to give them opportunities. Let everyone blame me, it’s fine. I can take it but let’s not blame the other players. They need support and encouragement and not to be put down.”For the moment, he continues to lead in typically pugnacious style, tries to win matches and awaits his fate in philosophical fashion.”I’m not here to be captain forever and I will never be captain forever,” he said. “This is just a passing cloud. I am not afraid to lose it and I don’t need it forever. I’m not afraid to step down or lose it or to keep it. I can play under any captain no matter who he is. As long as I perform, I have a lot more to give to the team and the country.”

Steven Finn may well have bowled himself into the England team for the first Test against South Africa after an impressive display on the first day against South Africa A in Pietermaritzburg

George Dobell in Pietermaritzburg20-Dec-2015
ScorecardSteven Finn may well have bowled himself into the England team for the first Test against South Africa after an impressive display on the first day of the tour match at Pietermaritzburg.On a sluggish pitch and against strong opposition with genuine international aspirations of their own, Finn bowled with pace, control and rhythm to claim four wickets to help England enjoy an almost perfect day. A post lunch spell of three wickets in nine balls was especially impressive and knocked the stuffing of the South Africa A middle order.While Chris Woakes, who has impressed in white ball cricket and in training, was probably pencilled in to play in the first Test before the start of this game, Finn has taken the chance offered with a style that will surely prove hard to ignore. With just two days between the first and second Tests, it bodes well for England to have a group of seamers in decent form.

Finn sees value in injury break

As if his bowling had not made the point eloquently enough, Steven Finn said he felt he was ready for a return to international cricket ahead of the Durban Test on Boxing Day.
Finn, who was drafted into the tour party only a week ago having proved his recovery from injury on the Lions tour to the UAE, bowled with pace and control in taking 4 for 34 against a strong-looking South Africa A side and afterwards suggested he was disappointed not to be included in the original squad.
“I was disappointed to be left out of the squad in the first place because I know my body and thought I had very good chance to be fit for the Boxing Day Test,” he said. “But the selectors obviously didn’t think that, I had to accept it and it made me work doubly hard.
“I’d like to think I’m ready for a Test match, but it depends how I pull up over the next day or so because I haven’t spent this long on my feet for the last three months. But I had two weeks with the Lions in Dubai building up to this point and there has been no bad reaction in my foot.
“I was on crutches for two and a half weeks. And I had the surgical boot on for a little longer so it was a steady amount of time to be off my feet and parked on the sofa. I did a lot of upper body and trunk strength work before building up my rehab with Watford FC, which I’m very grateful for, and at the moment everything is falling into place.
“Sometimes these things happen for a reason and to have seven or eight weeks of not using certain parts of my body that I use for bowling was a break I’ve not had for five or six years.”

Stephen Cook offered South Africa A’s only consolation as they succumbed for 136 in 56 overs. By carrying his bat for an unbeaten 53 in four-and-a-quarter hours, the uncapped 33-year-old demonstrated the patience, discipline and hunger required to prosper at Test level.Finn, who was forced to pull out of England’s Test series in the UAE in October after suffering a bone-stress injury in his left foot, was drafted into the squad as a late addition last week after impressing for England Lions in two Twenty20 comeback appearances against Pakistan A in Dubai.Despite having played just three Tests in the last couple of years, Finn made a strong case to be considered a first-choice selection during his comeback game at Edgbaston during the Ashes. Bowling with the familiar pace of old, but also with an ability to swing the ball which he had developed during his spell out of the Test side, he claimed 6 for 47 in the first innings and looked to have recovered the form and confidence that rendered him such an exciting prospect at the start of his career.It took him only three deliveries to strike here and, if his first wicket owed something to batsman error – Quinton de Kock edged a lavish drive outside off stump – his next three were the result of well-directed fast bowling that exposed the batsmen’s frailties around off stump. Omphile Ramala sliced a drive to point, Khaya Zondo fenced to slip and Dane Vilas appeared to be beaten for pace when he missed a straight one.It is still slightly premature to state for certain that Finn will play in the first Test. The England support staff will monitor how he recovers from his exertion in the morning. But, presuming that nothing untoward occurs, it would be a surprise if he does not play in Durban now.The selection of third seamer was the only dilemma left for England, but this was a pleasing day in other respects. Despite the heat and humidity, England clung on to some fine catches, with James Taylor’s effort at point – diving forward to snatch the ball up just off the turf – a highlight. Joe Root also held a couple of good chances, leaping above his head to hold on to an edge offered by Chris Morris, while Alex Hales, the new man in the cordon at third slip, also held a sharp chance.The only real blemish came when Ben Stokes, at slip to Moeen Ali’s off-spin, put down a sharp chance offered when Cook edged an arm-ball on 41. It is likely that James Anderson will return to fielding at slip off Moeen in the Test series, however, so Stokes’ blemish need not provoke any lasting concern.To complete England’s day, Alex Hales batted with much greater assurance and unveiled some typically elegant strokes in helping his captain reach stumps without loss. Hales took one blow to the left hand courtesy of the distinctly hostile Marchant de Lange, but generally emerged with some credit from a tough examination. Barring injury, he is certain to open in Durban.There is nothing untoward in Anderson’s omission from the XI for this game. He is at the stage of his career where he knows what he needs in terms of preparation and also knows that, whatever cricket he has left, is best played on the pitch and not in the nets. He only bowled 12 overs ahead of the Pakistan series in the UAE.Stuart Broad looks fine, too. Experienced enough to know this was not the game to try to rediscover those Ashes-winning spells, he bowled tidily and generated some decent bounce upon occasions. Stokes, too, was controlled and proved too good for the tailenders.Steven Finn appeals unsuccessfully for lbw•Getty Images

Mark Footitt, while not quite as consistent as his colleagues, also bowled pretty well. But while he produced a fine delivery to account for Reeza Hendricks – on off stump and demanding a stroke – he also went off the pitch one over into his second spell before lunch suffering from cramp. England are unlikely to take a chance on him in the immediate future.Cook was the one batsman to play with the application required on a slightly two-paced surface offering some seam assistance. While he looked fortunate to survive two big leg before appeals against Finn, both times when he had scored 27, and has a tendency to play across straight balls, it is far from impossible he may win his chance at Test level before the end of the series.The struggles of his teammates suggested that, whatever the strength of their Test XI – and the No. 1 Test ranking tells its own story – there is some doubt about the depth in quality of the game in South Africa.

Pakistan captain Misbah-Ul-Haq took a harsh view of Denesh Ramdin’s actions during the last ball of the ninth over at The Oval, labelling the wicketkeeper’s ruse “not in the spirit of the game”.

Andrew Fidel Fernando at The Oval07-Jun-2013Pakistan captain Misbah-Ul-Haq took a harsh view of Denesh Ramdin’s actions during the last ball of the ninth over at The Oval, labelling the wicketkeeper’s ruse “not in the spirit of the game”.Misbah bottom-edged a Kemar Roach delivery to Ramdin, who initially seemed to have snaffled the chance, but lost control of the ball falling forward, and it slipped out of his gloves onto the turf. But instead of making his mistake obvious to the umpire or his team-mates, Ramdin simply picked up the ball and threw it in the direction of the square leg umpire, before joining his team-mates in the celebratory huddle.Misbah turned to the dressing room, but square leg umpire Nigel Llong alerted the third umpire, and the replay revealed the chance had been dropped. The batsman, who had not scored at the time, went on to make 96 not out.”What can I say about that?” Misbah said when asked about the catch after the match. “I think he should have told them what happened, but I don’t know what he was thinking at that time. I would not be very happy if my wicketkeeper did that.”If we don’t know anything, then it’s fine, but if you know clearly that it’s not a catch, you should not claim that because it’s not in the spirit of the game.”West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo vouched for and defended his wicketkeeper, whom he says, does not feel he acted dishonestly. According to MCC’s Law 32, a batsman can only be caught if the fielder obtains complete control over the ball and his movement.”Denesh honestly thought he had control of the ball,” Bravo said. “By rights the umpire had another look and the replay showed he did not. So we don’t play the game like that. History shows we’ve never had anything negative against us unlike other teams.”Unfortunately, he did not catch it. He’s a very honest player, and as I said, history shows if you check the records that we don’t have any stigma or negatives around us as a team. We have been true in our cricket careers and history has shown that we play the game in true spirit of the way it should be played. I don’t think we did something like this deliberately.”Roach said he had also thought it was a clean catch, but was philosophical about the lost chance, which would have given him his fourth wicket of the morning, and left the opposition 17 for 4.”I thought he caught it. I really thought he caught it,” Roach said. “But the square umpire thought differently. That’s an issue for them to deal with, and we’ll see what plays out from here. You make mistakes. No one goes to drop a catch, but it happens, so you just have to accept it and move on and be professional about it.”

Yorkshire’s match with Hampshire fizzled out on the final day as rain ensured a draw

Myles Hodgson at Headingley19-May-2012
ScorecardMitchell Starc made his first appearance for Yorkshire while on duty as 12th man•Getty Images

Yorkshire may well have made a public declaration of their desire to play attacking cricket in the aftermath of last week’s stunning victory at Bristol but sometimes even the most cavalier of intentions are defeated by the weather and their draw against Hampshire resulted in a more old-fashioned finish.As final days go, there could not have been a bigger contrast between the thrills and spills of Yorkshire’s successful chase of 400 and the sedate close to play at Headingley, with both sides seeming to accept little chance of a positive result almost as soon as bad light and drizzle delayed the start until 12.30pm, losing 24 overs from the day’s allocation.The time lost ensured a traditional final-day’s fare without the prospect of either county winning, and both sides were happy to go through the motions once Hampshire resumed 49 runs ahead on 21 for 1. Yorkshire did make some impression on the scoreboard, Iain Wardlaw finding Jimmy Adams’ edge shortly after a delayed lunch, but otherwise both teams played out time.Hampshire grumbled about the timing of Yorkshire’s declaration the previous day, with captain Adams claiming: “It could have kept more options open if they had declared earlier, but we had to concentrate on our own game to bowl them out and, unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that.” What sort of target Hampshire would have been comfortable setting after the pyrotechnics of Bristol is also open to speculation.Yorkshire were happy to rotate their bowlers, and indeed used seven in total during a day’s play which must have been frustrating for the handful of spectators, who at least had the chance to witness Jonny Bairstow’s maiden Test innings from the Long Room as a result of the delayed start.Once play did resume, Michael Carberry set the tone by taking 35 minutes to hit his first runs of the day and batting for nearly three hours to finish unbeaten on 61, when both sides accepted the draw with Hampshire 219 runs ahead on 191 for 2.At least those present got their first chance to see Mitchell Starc, the Australia left-arm fast bowler, in a Yorkshire sweater for the first time. Denied the opportunity to make his debut earlier through a visa irregularity, he made his first appearance on 12th-man duties having been discounted from making his debut in this match after a gruelling spell of 14 flights in 12 days.”Mitchell has been training and we just thought it was too much of an ask to play him against Hampshire after all the issues and the amount of travel he’s done,” Jason Gillespie, Yorkshire’s head coach, said. “It wouldn’t have been fair to the lad to come in when you want to try and impress for a new team. I don’t think picking him for this match would have given him the best chance to succeed.”He’s a great lad who works incredibly hard and brings that X-factor. He has genuine pace and he can bowl 90mph and swing the ball and anyone who bowls that pace and swings it is going to be a dangerous customer.”Instead, 22-year-old Starc will make his debut in Sunday’s CB40 match against Derbyshire Falcons at Headingley – the first of three such matches in the next week – before making his first Championship start at home to Northamptonshire in a fortnight.Yorkshire are still to determine how long Starc will be at their disposal following his call-up to the Australia A squad to tour England later this summer. Assuming he is not also required for a pre-tour training camp, Starc will definitely miss three Championship matches, up to four CB40 games and a T20 quarter-final, should Yorkshire qualify, so he is keen to maximise his involvement with Yorkshire while he can.”It’s been a bit of back and forth but I’m glad to be here now,” Starc said. “I’ve had a few sessions with the seconds and hopefully I can get out there and play a bit of cricket tomorrow. When I finally got here and got settled the sleeping patterns weren’t too bad. I’m a little bit fatigued but sleeping wise I’m pretty good. I’m just glad to be here, running around and I’m raring to go.”