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However, the head coach cautions against knee-jerk reactions following the 1-3 T20I series defeat against Pakistan

Firdose Moonda17-Apr-2021Head coach Mark Boucher has accepted “a massive amount of responsibility,” for South Africa losing eight out of their 11 series in his time in charge so far but believes the national men’s team is “on the right path.”Speaking after their 1-3 defeat to Pakistan in the recently concluded T20I series, their second against this opposition in this format this year, Boucher cautioned against knee-jerk reactions to South Africa’s poor form, which has seen them win only one trophy out of a possible six this summer.”I take a massive amount of responsibility and I should. I don’t shy away from it,” Boucher said. “I am hurt, I am extremely hurt at the moment, as is the rest of the management and coaching staff. We put a lot of hard work and effort into this. But there’s no panic from me yet because I do understand that we have been given some trying circumstances over the last period of time and we will continue to put in hard work.”Related

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South Africa were without a core group of players for both T20I series against Pakistan for reasons beyond Boucher or anyone else in the support staff’s control. In Pakistan, South Africa had to send home members of their Test squad before the T20Is in anticipation of home Tests against Australia, which did not happen. Then, against Pakistan at home, South Africa were without five players who departed for the IPL, based on an agreement between CSA and the BCCI, and captain Temba Bavuma missed the entire series with a hamstring injury. “I am not going to make excuses,” Boucher said. “We’ve still got to try and win with whichever players we put on the park but it has been tough.”Despite that, Boucher was able to see a silver lining. “There have been a lot of positives. With the opportunities that have been given, a couple of guys have come through with flying colours,” he said. “It’s given us a better view of what our depth is like, so I’ve got a fair idea of a larger squad we can look at.”Key South Africa players were not available because of the IPL•BCCI

Now, Boucher hopes to use the winter – which will include a yet-to-be-confirmed tour to the West Indies consisting of two Tests and five T20Is (rescheduled from last year), a white-ball visit to Ireland and a possible trip to Sri Lanka ahead of the T20 World Cup – to distill the bigger group into its strongest components with a focus on major tournaments.”We have to get our squad back together, get all of our players fit and available to play. We always earmarked the West Indian trip as being when our full squad needs to be together,” Boucher said. “Going forward now we need to start looking at the World Cups and start building on a formula we want to play. It’s a matter of getting all the guys together and getting them used to each other and hopefully used to winning a couple of games together.”He acknowledged that South Africa’s results have not been good enough: “I am a guy who wants to win and we haven’t won series which is frustrating for me, the coaching staff and no doubt the public,” he said.Asked if he feels pressure from the mounting scrutiny of his time in charge, which now stands at 18 months with more than two years still to go, Boucher said he trusts in the plans he has put in place.”We’ve stuck to our guns with what we believe is the right way to go about the set-up. We’ve spoken to the players. The players were the ones who originally actually came up with the way that they want to play which is a very nice position for us to be in and we are just going to try and guide them in that direction,” he said. “As I said from the start, there’s a lot of hard work to be done and we are still working very hard in all aspects of our game as well. The pressure is going to be there no matter what. When you get to this level in international sport, you must expect the pressure. If you can’t handle it, then you need to get out of the kitchen. We understand that the public wants to win. We are sticking to our guns.”For now, that means that South Africa are not seeing the next two months as an off season, but a period in which they have to properly prepare themselves for the challenges of the season to come. “I don’t see this little break that we have as any sort of off season. It’s another opportunity for us to get stuck in and really upskill ourselves and get to where we need to be,” Boucher said.

The South Africa batsman has been sidelined from the rest of the MSL with injury

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Nov-2019Nelson Mandela Bay Giants’ Farhaan Behardien has been sidelined from the rest of the Mzansi Super League with injury. Thirty-nine-year-old Port Elizabeth-born Netherlands allrounder Ryan ten Doeschate has been signed as Behardien’s replacement.Behardien brings a wealth of short-format experience, having played more then 350 T20s, including stints in the IPL, Big Bash League, Pakistan Super League, Bangladesh Premier League and more recently the T10 league in the UAE.Giants have set the early pace this season, claiming four wins in five games to top the points table.”I spent so much time watching cricket in the 1980s in Port Elizabeth,” Ten doeschate said of his South African homecoming. “It’s now an utter privilege that I get to play with a team that is doing so well in this tournament. I think it’s going to be absolutely fantastic and I am really looking forward to it.”Giants’ coach and former South Africa pacer Eric Simons welcomed the value ten Doeschate would add to the side.”When we lost Farhaan we obviously lost a specific talent and we thus needed to find someone who could bring that to the game,” Simons said. “We needed someone who can access the boundaries and perform much like the way we’ve seen with Heino Kuhn. “Ryan brings with him significant experience, calmness and he’s a leader.”Giants will next face Paarl Rocks in a top-of-the-table clash at St George’s Park on November 27.

Shaun Marsh struck his second century in eight days early in the morning session and helped consign South Australia to a five-wicket loss well before tea on the final day

The Report by Alex Malcolm19-Nov-2018Bromance: Mitchell Marsh and Shaun Marsh shake hands•Getty Images

Any doubts about Shaun Marsh’s place in Australia’s Test side have been erased after his masterful 163 not-out helped Western Australia successfully chase down 313 against South Australia at Adelaide Oval.Marsh began the day on 72 not-out with the Warriors still needing 167 with six wickets in hand. Marsh cruised to his second century in eight days early in the morning session.He was savage on any width offered from the Redbacks quicks while he destroyed the legspin of Lloyd Pope, who simply could not find his length.Marsh got ample support from William Bosisto, who stonewalled the Redbacks in the fifth-wicket partnership of 164. Bosisto made 58 from 189 balls with three fours and a six, blunting everything the home side threw at him while Marsh flourished at the other end.Marsh gave the Redbacks one opening when Daniel Worrall took the second new ball. He edged an outswinger that fell inches short of Callum Ferguson at first slip.Bosisto was dismissed by Joe Mennie with 36 runs still needed but Josh Ingles joined Marsh who went past 150. He struck 22 fours and two sixes during his 264-ball innings.The Warriors got home with five wickets to spare well before tea on the final day.

Alex Hales and Jos Buttler will find out next week whether they will be needed for Ashes tour or will be taking up their T20 franchise deals

Andrew McGlashan22-Sep-2017England’s white-ball captain Eoin Morgan has said that he would prefer those players on the fringes of the Test side, but also with T20 deals in leagues around the world, to earn a place on the Ashes tour rather than take up their franchise roles.The Ashes squad will be named next Wednesday and a handful of players in the one-day squad currently on duty against West Indies could be in the mix to fill vacant slots. Heading the list are Alex Hales and Jos Buttler who both have Test experience but have since drifted down the pecking order since their initial runs in the team.Hales and Buttler have T20 contracts secured for November and December – Hales in South Africa’s Global T20 and Buttler in the BPL – but while there has been a push, led by director of England cricket Andrew Strauss, for England’s white-ball cricketers to play more T20 around the world, Morgan could only see one choice as the route they should aim for.”I’d like to see them play in an Ashes series,” he said. “Ashes and World Cups are the pinnacle of our careers so to see guys playing in that format and doing well would boost confidence massively. They have a huge amount of ability in all three formats and if an opportunity presented itself in an Ashes series as opposed to a T20 league, I’d say take the Ashes every time.”If Buttler was to travel to Australia it would be in the back-up keeper role to Jonny Bairstow – although Surrey’s Ben Foakes is currently favoured for that position – while Hales’ name has been floated among those who could push for a spare batting role since his move into the middle order in Nottinghamshire’s Championship team. Steven Finn, who has signed for Pretoria Mavericks in the GLT20, also made a late bid for an Ashes call with 8 for 79 against Lancashire this week. He could come into contention after the injury to Toby Roland-Jones.Hales’ previous spell in the Test team was as an opener in 2016 and it ended after the Pakistan series last summer when he opted out of the tour of Bangladesh, although was likely to be dropped anyway. He scored a double-century in the Championship against Derbyshire last month which, allied to a stellar white-ball season, prompted debate about a Test recall. However, such a move would still come based on a small sample size of seven four-day matches and, besides his 218, he has made 206 runs in eight Championship innings.If performances in one-day cricket are going to be noted in the selection debate then Hales (and Buttler) have one more match, at Bristol on Sunday, to make a statement before the selectors meet to finalise the Ashes party.”I think if I was in Alex’s position I’d just do as much as I can and see if I was selected,” Morgan said. “I think it’s nice he has an alternative plan so it’s not the be-all and end-all for him to be selected for the Ashes. It takes a little bit of the weight off his shoulders. But certainly in the form he’s shown throughout this summer he’s got to be one of the most in-form batsmen in county cricket at the moment.”However, while Morgan is hoping for the best for his team-mates when it comes to Ashes selection, the proximity will have no bearing on the sides selected for the remainder of the one-day series against West Indies, with the captain ruling out standing down the likes of Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Joe Root or Bairstow.”We want to play the best team to win a particular game,” he said. “We feel, given that they will have the whole of October off, we’ve planned for this from the lead-in to the Champions Trophy when they were rested for the South Africa T20 series. We feel the back-end of the Australia tour, the T20 tri-series, could be the opportunity when we’ll look at guys being rested.”

Net sessions in Antigua indicate that India had narrowed their squad down to 13 for the first Test with Rohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shardul Thakur possibly missing out

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Antigua19-Jul-20163:25

‘If you are used to getting 100 in 150 balls, maybe here you will have to get 100 in 200 balls’ – Rahane

Towards the end of India’s practice session at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Monday, Rohit Sharma ignored a teasing legbreak outside his off stump. Cheteshwar Pujara, the deliverer of that legbreak, grinned. Someone behind him – possibly R Ashwin – yelled out: “Bowled, Yasir!”In the first half of 2015, Pujara versus Rohit was a batsman-against-batsman contest, a selection headache for India’s Test-match team management. Now, things were a little different. Pujara was bowling to Rohit. No matter what Rohit did, Pujara was yelping excitedly, whether it was a defensive push into the off side – “caught at silly point!” – or a leg-side slog – “caught at midwicket!”Pujara had already finished a long batting stint, as had M Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane. In pairs, they had rotated through three different nets – seamers, spinners and throwdowns.Rohit had not batted with that group. He was now batting against Pujara, Ashwin – who continued bowling despite a long spell against the first set of batsmen – and a pair of net bowlers. At the other two nets were Wriddhiman Saha and Stuart Binny.Binny, by then, had bowled a lengthy spell, and had looked particularly sharp against Dhawan, swerving the ball past the left-hander’s outside edge on a couple of occasions. Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami had bowled alongside Binny at the seamers’ net, and had both looked to hit fullish lengths, with Ishant sending down the odd bouncer for variety.Concurrently, Ashwin, Jadeja and Amit Mishra had been in operation at the spinners’ net. When the first set of batsmen had completed their sessions, Mishra had bowled to an empty net with head coach Anil Kumble keeping close watch. With the toe of his shoe, Kumble had drawn a line extending down the pitch from leg stump, and seemed to instruct his legspinner to try and pitch the ball within the stumps, perhaps in order to keep the lbw and the outside edge in play.Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shardul Thakur only came out when the core batting group had finished its session, and bowled solely to Rohit, Saha, the allrounders, and the lower order.Watching the first half – or three-quarters, in terms of time – of the net session, it seemed as though India had narrowed their squad down to 13 for the first Test in Antigua. Rohit, Umesh, Bhuvneshwar and Thakur did not seem to be among the 13.It also looked like India were planning to play five bowlers – or four specialists and an allrounder – leaving them two major calls to make on the eve of the match: whether to pick Dhawan or Rahul to partner Vijay at the top of the order; and whether to pick a seam-bowling allrounder in Binny, a spin-bowling allrounder in Jadeja, or to pick both and leave out Mishra.With three days to go for the Test match, not too much could be gleaned from looking at the pitch, straw-coloured and glowing in the afternoon sun, except that there was hardly any grass on it. The pitches in St. Kitts, where India played their two warm-up matches, were on the slow side, and Ashwin had reckoned his team would need to be patient in order to take 20 wickets given similar conditions in the Test series. “I’m sure I’ll have to be as boring as possible in terms of trying to plug away all day long,” he had said.On Monday, Rahane reinforced that point, from both batting and bowling perspectives.”Patience will be the key as a batting unit but once you get set it is important to [make] each and every session [count] because we will have to give time for our bowlers,” he said. “It is not easy to take 20 wickets on this kind of pitches, especially on the slower tracks. As a batting unit, we will have to take responsibility and I think one or two batsmen will have to get set and score big here.”And that, he said, might mean a guarded approach from the batsmen.”You cut out certain shots because, technically, I don’t think we will have to change anything really. But we will have to cut out some shots initially, in the first or second session, and after that when you get used to the conditions you will play your shots. But initially, it is important to take time for yourself. If you are used to getting 100 in 150 balls, maybe here you will have to get 100 in 200 balls. So as a batsman it is important to play at least 200-plus balls here.”It will be even more vital for India’s specialist batsmen to spend time at the crease if there are only five of them. The trade-off, of course, is an extra bowler, another body to share the workload of taking 20 wickets in sluggish conditions.

Australia’s captain Michael Clarke has emphatically denied ever instructing David Warner to sledge opponents, and stated that the coach Darren Lehmann has never done so either

Daniel Brettig21-Jun-20151:45

‘We respect there’s a line you can’t cross’ – Clarke

Australia’s captain Michael Clarke has emphatically denied ever instructing David Warner to sledge opponents, and stated that the coach Darren Lehmann has never done so either.Clarke was responding to Warner’s words in an interview with ESPNcricinfo on the recent Australian tour of the Caribbean, where Warner indicated a desire to pull back from being the central on-field “instigator” of confrontations with opposing players. Much of Australia’s recent success has been attributed to using a snarling, unsociable style to unsettle their competitors.Warner had said that “in the past I’ve been someone who’s been told to go out there and do this and do that”, but Clarke wanted to make it clear he had never instructed players to sledge. Instead, he said he advocated a team environment where players were free to choose their own path, whether it be loud or quiet.”That was the last article I’ve read actually. I probably won’t read too much while I’m in the UK. It was quite an interesting read to be honest,” Clarke said at the official opening press conference of Australia’s Ashes tour. “I didn’t hear what Davey said, but as captain of Davey I can guarantee I have certainly never asked him to go and sledge somebody, and I think I can speak for the coach as well, that he certainly has never done that.”The environment I try to create around this group is I want players to try to play the way they feel they play their best cricket. So for me, being sledged or sledging somebody else has never really impacted me. It’s never really affected me if I’ve copped it and it’s never really helped me if I’ve opened my big mouth. If that’s how I play my best cricket that’s what I want to do, if someone like Shane Warne, Matthew Hayden or Steve Waugh feel they get benefit out of talking to a batter when they’re fielding, or Warney when he’s bowling, that’s for them as well.”Warner’s intention to change his methods on the field and off it was made plain in the West Indies, and by the end of the tour he had gotten around to talking with team-mates about it also. Clarke said that if Warner wanted to change his approach as his best chance of maintaining the blistering form of the past two years, the captain would be fully supporting of his opening batsman.”Davey’s his own man, he’s a 28-year-old grown man, he’ll make his own choices – I want to see him perform as good as he possibly can,” Clarke said. “He’s a big part of this team, he’s in tremendous form, he’s batted beautifully in all formats of the game over the last 12 months, and we need him to be successful here. If he feels like he has said a lot through his career and he wants to say less, if that helps his game, I’m all for it.”Speaking more generally about the spirit in which he expected the Ashes series to be played, Clarke admitted both sides would probably “head-butt” the line of appropriate behaviour, but would do their best not to cross it outright. “I think that’s how we play our best,” he said. “I think it’s a big part of the Australian way, but I think you also need to keep in mind there’s a line and not overstep that.”As captain I’ll make sure I lead the way on that front and I’m sure the boys will certainly follow. I probably say this every series but we respect there’s a line you can’t cross. Both teams might head-butt that line, but I’m confident we won’t overstep the mark.”In a day-long training session at the Merchant Taylors’ School north of London, the sight of Chris Rogers striking the ball crisply after recovering from the concussion that kept him out of the West Indies series was a significant positive for the tourists. Rogers regained much of his old poise with a fluent 70 in an invitational match on the Isle of Wight, alongside Ryan Harris, Mitchell Marsh and Peter Nevill.”I think mentally as much as anything, for him to have the confidence to walk back out on that field and play with freedom,” Clarke said of Rogers. “I watched him bat today, he looked really good. Chris is a really experienced player, he’s had a lot of success in the UK and he’s going to play a big part throughout this series.”

Sussex have announced that Zac Toumazi, the former Hampshire commercial director, will succeed Dave Brooks as chief executive in January

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Dec-2012Sussex have announced that Zac Toumazi, the former Hampshire commercial director, will succeed Dave Brooks as chief executive in January.Toumazi has extensive experience in the financial sector, working for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, before switching to cricket firstly with Surrey for six years and then with Hampshire from 2011.He will attempt to continue to move Sussex forward and build on the work of Brooks whose four years at Sussex saw the club win a one-day double In 2009 and Division Two of the County Championship in 2010.Since announcing he was leaving Sussex at the end of the year, Brooks has been appointed to the Guernsey Cricket Board.His successor at Sussex, Toumazi, will take over a financially healthy club, largely thanks to inheritance from former club president Spen Cama, and a recently development ground.”We are very pleased to appoint Zac,” Jim May, Sussex chairman, said. “We believe his commercial experience, cultural fit and passion for cricket give him the credentials to ensure that Sussex continues to lead the way both on and off the pitch.”Dave Brooks leaves us in great shape this month after four outstanding years. We had a very strong group of candidates who applied to succeed him.Toumazi said, “I am very excited. I look forward to working with the entire team taking Sussex forward whilst preserving the values that make it so special.”

R Ashwin, the India offspinner, has been given the Dilip Sardesai award for being the best performer in the home Test series against West Indies

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Nov-2011R Ashwin, the India offspinner, will be given the Dilip Sardesai award for being the best performer in the home Test series against West Indies.Ashwin was the Man of the Series in his debut series, which India won 2-0, taking 22 wickets at an average of 22.90. He claimed nine wickets on debut in Delhi, won two Man-of-the-Match awards, and also scored 121 runs at an average of 40.33. He made his maiden century in the third Test in Mumbai, where he steered India to a tense draw in the fourth innings.He will be given the award at the BCCI awards ceremony in Chennai in December.The BCCI instituted the Dilip Sardesai Award in 2007 for the player who performs best in bilateral series between India and West Indies. Ishant Sharma was given the award for India’s tour of the Caribbean earlier this year.

Bloemfontein likes to claim Colin Ingram as its own. He was born in, schooled in and discovered cricket in the Eastern Cape but he actually became a cricketer in the City of Roses. Ingram moved up country to the Free State academy when he was starting uni

Firdose Moonda at Bloemfontein15-Oct-2010Bloemfontein likes to claim Colin Ingram as its own. He was born in, schooled in and discovered cricket in the Eastern Cape but he actually became a cricketer in the City of Roses. Ingram moved up country to the Free State academy when he was starting university, six years ago. He stayed in Bloemfontein to complete his studies and blossomed as a young cricketer.”It’s my second home,” said Ingram with a nostalgic smile. Many cricket-lovers in this part of the world were wishing he would make it his permanent home after the abundant promise he showcased in his academy days, but Ingram returned to his roots. After graduating, he went back to Port Elizabeth to play for the Warriors.He knew that there would always be the occasional trip back to the Free State. One of those visits was Ingram’s twenty-over debut. He was out for a third-ball duck. Subsequent journeys have been more successful, such as the 80 not out he hammered off 65 balls in the MTN40 in January this year. In fact, the whole of the 2009-10 season was a success for Ingram, who was the highest run-scorer in the MTN40 with 600 runs at 60.00 and the Standard Bank Pro20 with 282 at 47.16.Ingram is not a numbers man though and admits he “wasn’t aware of any of the statistics” involved in his performance in the opening ODI of the series against Zimbabwe. His eyes grew wider as he was told of the landmarks he had passed in this match. First, he surpassed Shaun Pollock’s 66 as the highest ODI score by a South African on debut, then, he became just the sixth player in history to score a century on ODI debut and the only South African.What he was concerned about was making an impression. “I haven’t does as well as I would have liked in the recent months, especially coming off the back of the Champions League,” he said. Ingram scored 122 runs in six matches in that competition. He started off trying to rectify that scratchily and only 16 runs came from his first 28 balls. “I was actually a bit nervous when I was on about 20 and started thinking that I should score quicker.”Who better than to help him get his confidence back than a man who is overflowing with it? “Batting with Hashim Amla was absolutely wonderful. He is one of the guys that I have basically grown my game around. He told me to just bat with him, get my feet moving and enjoy my time at the crease.” While following the instructions of a man who had raced to his third ODI century of the year, Ingram found that he got his groove back and was able to maintain it even after Amla departed.He shared a 76-run fifth-wicket stand with David Miller, a sign that the new-look South African middle order is developing into a formidable force and answering the captain’s calls for the younger team members to take on major roles. Graeme Smith said he hoped performances like these would allow the players to “answer the question themselves” about who will be picked in the next year’s World Cup squad.Ingram will face an enormous challenge for the No. 3 spot from Jacques Kallis but he is happy for it to remain that way for now. “I am still a relative junior and if the situation demands that Jacques comes straight back in, I am happy with that. I am here to learn, grow my game and take any opportunities I get with both hands.”In this match, he grabbed full hold of that opportunity and throttled it for all it was worth. “He remained calm and stuck to his game plan throughout, he had a good training week and a lot of belief in himself,” said Smith. There won’t be the luxury of that much time for preparation before Sunday’s match in Potchefstroom. But he’ll have happy memories of the place having made an unbeaten 125 in the MTN40 the last time he was there.

While acknowledging the opportunity to shut out Pakistan had passed, fast bowler Chris Martin felt New Zealand’s 244-run lead was nearly enough

Cricinfo staff27-Nov-2009.Chris Martin said Peter Fulton was “unsure” whether he had hit the ball when he was given lbw•Getty Images

New Zealand’s plan at the start of the fourth day in Dunedin would have been to dismiss the tailenders as soon as possible, take a sizeable lead, and then bat Pakistan out of the Test. They achieved their first objective by capturing a 97-run advantage but their quest to accomplish the second was ambushed by Pakistan’s seamers and they limped to 147 for 8 before bad light ended play.However, while acknowledging the missed opportunity to shut out Pakistan, fast bowler Chris Martin felt New Zealand’s 244-run lead was nearly enough. “It wasn’t a direction we wanted the game to head in but the opportunity is there tomorrow,” Martin said. “We may have let an opportunity slip today by not batting them out of the game but, with the lead that we have and the runs that we’ve got now, the game is poised and is definitely there for us to take tomorrow.”Anything over 250 on a wearing wicket with variable bounce is going to be a big ask for them, especially if we do everything in a disciplined manner. In the past, our bowling has given us more opportunity to win games and I think that’s going to be the case tomorrow.”New Zealand’s troubles on Friday were caused by Pakistan’s fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer. They swung the ball conventionally, and reverse, cut it, seamed it and thoroughly examined the batsmen’s technique. And Martin said he and the other New Zealand bowlers had learnt “quite a lot” by watching the carnage from the dressing room.”They put us under pressure by bowling straight, making us make a lot of decisions and giving us very few opportunities to score,” Martin said. “They got some nip by hitting the wicket hard and got it to wobble around a bit to make it do a little. If we are a thoughtful side, our bowling line-up in particular, we’ll be able to take a lot from that and take it into tomorrow.”Martin also offered insight into a baffling moment during New Zealand’s innings. Peter Fulton, making his comeback to the Test team, appeared to get an inside edge on to his pad against Umar Gul but he was given out lbw, reducing New Zealand to 91 for 4. Curiously, he didn’t ask for a review and made his way off the University Oval.”He was unsure whether he’d hit the ball,” Martin explained. “It was a very fine edge and sometimes you think you hit your pad or your boot or the ground, it’s hard to know. It’s a new format and such a new part of the game that, like most things, it’s going to take a while to get used to it and to get better at it. I think next time if you’ve got a hunch you’ll pretty much go for it [the review].” New Zealand will want to make better use of the system on the final day.