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There are three crucial positions to be decided for the hosts: the additional seamer, the spinner and the No.6 batsman

Firdose Moonda30-Nov-2010South Africa have 16 days to prepare for the three-Test series against India that will be the hallmark of their summer. They came back from a drawn series in the UAE against Pakistan with some answers and a trio of questions regarding their squad, which will be picked on Wednesday. There are three crucial positions to be decided for the hosts: the additional seamer, the spinner and the No.6 batsman.Lonwabo Tsotosbe and Wayne Parnell were both included in South Africa’s Test squad against Pakistan but neither played a match. The position for the fourth seamer is likely to be a straight shootout between the two left-armers, with Tsotsobe inching ahead. He had more game time in the UAE, playing both T20s and four of the five ODIs. He topped the charts in the ODI series, taking seven wickets.Parnell played just one match, bowled 8.5 overs and went wicketless. He was making his comeback from a six month lay-off because of a groin injury. It’s for that reason that South Africa’s assistant coach Vincent Barnes thinks Tsotsobe will get the nod ahead of Parnell. “I don’t think Wayne is match fit so I think it would be risky playing him,” Barnes told ESPNcricinfo. “He is a very talented youngster and will definitely be considered in the future but there has been no situation to judge him when he’s been tired, as he will be in a Test, in the last few months.”There was talk of Parnell returning home during the tour to the UAE but when his domestic team, the Warriors, were eliminated from the MTN40 those thoughts were scrapped. The national team management thought he would benefit from more time with Barnes, particularly with making small adjustments to his action. “I’ve tried to get him to be a bit more upright,” Barnes said. “The angle of his run-up has changed, his delivery stride has changed and he is getting late swing. He has a similar action to Mitchell Johnson and he sometimes falls away.”Parnell did not pull off the new moves as expected and from what Barnes saw in the one game Parnell played, he may need more work. “He went back to his old action and started looking the way he did when he just arrived back on the scene. It is difficult to change an action during the game, so obviously we couldn’t work on it that game. He is learning about consistency with pace and swinging the ball.”On Barnes’ evidence it seems Tsotsobe is a shoe-in for the role. “He bowled very well, in a high pressured environment in the UAE and the only reason he wasn’t used in the Tests is because we thought the conditions weren’t suited to using four pacemen. There’s no reason why he shouldn’t be included in the squad for India,” Barnes said. Tsotsobe played as the fourth seamer during the June tour of the West Indies. However, he only took two wickets in the two matches he played. Tsotsobe has also not had much time in the domestic first-class competition. He has played one match with figures of 1 for 104.A scan of the domestic scene shows that the Titans’ Ethy Mbhalati has been the most successful this season. He lies second on the rankings, with 25 wickets. “Names like Vernon Philander, Ryan McLaren and Quinton Friend also pop up as guys who have been bowling well,” said Barnes. The three are the third, fourth and fifth-highest first-class wicket-takers this season.The top wicket-taker in the longest version of the game in the domestic season has been Imran Tahir, with 30 wickets, but with his eligibility to play for South Africa still not confirmed, the spinner role will be contested between Paul Harris and Johan Botha. “Harris has bowled in the set up before and he has done a good job, especially in a holding role and with applying pressure on one end,” Barnes said. Both spinners played in Abu Dhabi because of the conditions there, but traditionally South Africa only use one spinner in a Test. Harris seems destined for that role.Ashwell Prince and JP Duminy will contest the No.6 spot. Prince reclaimed the role against England earlier this year, after Duminy made it his own on the Australia tour in the 2008-09 season. Since then, Duminy suffered a loss of form and Prince was restored to his position in the line-up. So far, he has failed to make a strong enough statement to lay permanent claim to the position. Prince managed just 80 runs in the two Tests in the UAE and must be feeling the pressure from Duminy nipping at his heels. “It’s a difficult situation because at the moment one of them is missing out. They are both in good form,” Kepler Wessels, the former South Africa batting consultant, said. Duminy did not play in the Tests but performed well in the ODI series. He scored 185 runs in the five match-series at an average of 61.66.The first Test gets underway in Centurion on December 16.

A Pakistani MP has called for the sacking of PCB chairman Ijaz Butt, calling him “physically unfit” and questioning his handling of the aftermath of the Lahore attack

Cricinfo staff09-Jan-2010The head of Pakistan’s parliamentary committee on sports has called for the sacking of PCB chairman Ijaz Butt, calling him “physically unfit” and questioning his handling of the aftermath of the Lahore attack on the Sri Lankan team’s bus last March.Jamshed Dasti urged Pakistan’s president Asif Ali Zardari to dismiss the 71-year-old Butt. “He (Butt) has gone too old,” Dasti said. “Mr Butt is physically unfit, he can’t even walk properly, he can’t even see properly.” Zardari, who is also patron of the PCB, had appointed Butt in October 2008 in place of Nasim Ashraf.”Mr. Butt has also done nothing to help in finding what went wrong when gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan team in Lahore last year,” Dasti said. Several Sri Lanka players were injured and six policemen were killed when gunmen opened fire at the visitors’ team bus and security convoy last March.In October, Dasti had also levelled match-fixing allegations and called for changes in the PCB after Pakistan crashed out of the Champions Trophy. He had called then-captain Younis Khan for a meeting seeking an explanation about the team’s loss to Australia in a close league match; Younis resigned after the meeting but was later reinstated.Pakistan’s Test series loss in Australia is also a cause of concern for Dasti. He said the team manager Abdul Raqueeb, coach Intikhab Alam, PCB chief operating officer Wasim Bari and Butt will be summoned in the near future to discuss the national team’s performance.”I hope by the time next meeting is convened Mr Butt will be replaced by some other responsible man as the chairman of the PCB,” Dasti said.The PCB responded by calling Dasti’s remarks “unworthy for a member of parliament and not befitting to his stature.” In a statement, the board said: “Such personal remarks cannot and will not do anything good for the game of cricket in Pakistan as we have already witnessed the impact of such remarks that put the career of a very refined cricketer Younis Khan in turmoil.”Butt is currently in Bangladesh for the launching ceremony of the 2011 World Cup.

Glamorgan squander promising position at 199 for 3 as offspinner finds life in Old Trafford deck

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay29-Jul-2025Glamorgan 260 for 8 (Tribe 61) vs Lancashire Australian spinner Chris Green managed to take six wickets on the much-criticised Emirates Old Trafford pitch as Lancashire had the better of the first day of their Rothesay County Championship Division Two clash with Glamorgan.After just four wickets fell during the last day-and-a-half of the recent Test match between England and India, the home side’s bowlers looked to be facing another uphill task in Manchester until the introduction of Green turned the proceedings the Red Rose’s way with the Welsh outfit 260 for 8 at the close of play.For Glamorgan, half-centuries from opener Asa Tribe (61) and Kiran Carlson (77) had put them in a relatively good place and from a position of 199 for 3 after winning the toss and electing to bat they will be rueing their inability to cope with Green’s off spin which claimed 6 for 82 off 34 overs.Earlier and under leaden skies, the decision to bat looked a brave one, but opening bowlers James Anderson and Tom Bailey failed to make much headway against a resolute first wicket pair of Zain-ul-Hassan and Tribe.George Balderson, who received his county cap before play from legendary Pakistani allrounder Wasim Akram, also sent down five fruitless overs and it took until the introduction of Green for Lancashire to threaten the Glamorgan openers. Zain was the first to fall, caught behind by Phil Salt for 31, ending a partnership of 76 runs for the first wicket.Green was suddenly threatening the wickets with every ball, extracting turn and bounce and inducing a number of false shots from Tribe and skipper Sam Northeast, who became the Australian’s second victim when he was trapped in front for 10.Tribe fell 22 balls later soon after completing a well-made half century which should really have been more but for the Channel Islander picking out Bailey perfectly on the leg-side boundary with a sweep.With Tom Hartley tying down the other end, Glamorgan looked in peril but Carlson and Colin Ingram took the opportunity to counter attack with 86 runs coming from the fourth-wicket pair either side of tea until Green raised hopes of taking all 10 for by snaring the latter lbw for 33.Bailey returned to dash that dream when he clean bowled Ben Kellaway for a duck to leave the lower middle order exposed and Green needed no further invitation to complete his third career five-for when Carlson’s innings ended with an edge to Luke Wells.The visitors were subsiding quickly and Chris Cooke was the next to walk after he was stumped by Salt to hand Green his sixth wicket with Glamorgan having suddenly lost four wickets for 30 runs and in danger of undoing their day’s work.With 10 overs of the day left James Harris was dropped by Salt off Bailey while on 8 as he and Mason Crane painstakingly looked to eke out some runs after Lancashire took the second new ball. But after surviving one chance Harris played across the line to Hartley and lost his off stick to the England spinner who is fresh from taking 10 wickets in his last outing for Lancashire.Crane and Ned Leonard managed to see out the remaining overs but Lancashire will be hoping to begin their reply sooner rather than later come the second morning.

After conceding a first-innings lead of 232, Tamil Nadu collapsed once again to lose inside three days

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Mar-2024Mumbai made it to their 48th Ranji Trophy final after thrashing Tamil Nadu by an innings and 70 runs on the third day of their semi-final at the Bandra Kurla Complex. The final will be played at the Wankhede Stadium from March 10.Resuming the day on 353 for 9, Mumbai ended their first innings at 378, with a healthy lead of 232. Tanush Kotian, who was unbeaten on 74 overnight, stretched the last-wicket partnership with Tushar Deshpande to 88. At one point, it looked like Kotian, No. 10, would complete his second hundred in as many matches. But Washington Sundar dismissed Deshpande to leave him stranded on 89.In response, Tamil Nadu once again had a nightmarish start. Shardul Thakur, who had scored a blazing hundred on Sunday, dismissed N Jagadeesan and Sai Sudharsan cheaply. From the other end, Mohit Avasthi had Washington caught behind to make it 10 for 3.Baba Indrajith put up a fight with the help of the middle order. He hit nine fours in his 70 before Avasthi sent him back, but no other TN batter crossed 25.When Kotian bowled R Sai Kishore at the stroke of tea, TN were 153 for 6. After the break, left-arm spinner Shams Mulani ran through the lower order to pick up the remaining four wickets.Thakur was named the Player of the Match for his hundred and four wickets in the match.

Bowler glad to have repaid Warwickshire’s faith after injury-wrecked season

Vithushan Ehantharajah29-Sep-2022It says a lot about Liam Norwell’s drive that he hopes his 9 for 62, which dragged Warwickshire to safety with a five-run victory over Hampshire, will allow his team-mates and fans to forgive him for his absences this season.Norwell’s figures – the 12th best in first-class cricket for Warwickshire – saw a fourth-innings target of 133 defended on a remarkable final day of the 2022 County Championship season. It brought just a second win of the season for Warwickshire but one that lifted them above Yorkshire, who will play Division Two cricket next season after defeat to Gloucestershire on Wednesday opened the door for their relegation rivals.Warwickshire were spared the ignominy of going down as defending champions, a success Norwell was very much a part of, with 49 dismissals at an average of 18.26 in 2021. This season, however, back issues, a concussion sustained in the second match of the season against Essex and a right elbow injury restricted him to three Championships appearances coming into this last round. Such ailments are an occupational hazard for bowlers but Norwell seems to have taken them to heart.Related

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That he was even available to play here was a surprise to many. Following consultation with doctors, his prospects of playing again this summer were rated at “10%”. After getting through all eight games in the Royal London Cup, the club felt the best course of action was to sit out the remainder of the season to avoid pushing it too far.However, with the bowling stocks low, especially after Jayant Yadav and Mohammed Siraj returned to India, Norwell put himself forward to head coach Mark Robinson as a possible solution. And how. Even with little preparation and lacking full match fitness, he dug deep to bowl all but three of the 23.5 overs sent down from Edgbaston’s Pavilion End, and was relentless throughout.”I feel like I’ve let the lads and the management down quite a bit this year,” an exhausted Norwell said afterwards.”Personally, I’m as frustrated as anyone about how the season has gone. Back issues, concussion, tearing my elbow – I’m as frustrated as anyone. I believe, without trying to sound arrogant, if I played more this season, we wouldn’t be in this position… I just have that confidence in myself. And I hope I proved that today.”Of that, there can be no question. His performance, which began with 4 for 36 in the first innings, will go down as one of the most remarkable in the club’s history. Indeed England have closely monitored Norwell, as someone with both the frame and skills to challenge batters of the highest quality. This display simply confirmed what they saw in the former Gloucestershire man.Back in March, he was the first bowling reserve for the tour of West Indies, and was close to a full call-up as Mark Wood struggled with an elbow injury of his own in the first of the three Tests. Norwell, however, revealed he would not have taken the call, let alone the opportunity. A couple of weeks after he was told to wait on standby, his newborn contracted meningitis and nearly lost his life.Thankfully, his son – their second child – is healthy now. And after such a finish, the attention of selectors will be piqued once more. Test captain Ben Stokes was clearly impressed, championing the spell on social media. Norwell, however, feels his time has passed.”I’ll be honest, now I’m 30 and there are younger lads come in like [Matthew] Potts, I don’t think I have got a chance. But I will keep putting in performances and you never know.”After not wishing to be arrogant by rightly claiming greater availability would have prevented Warwickshire being involved in a dog fight at the end, dismissing his own England prospects is perhaps a dip too far into modesty. Understandably, his focus is on resting up, getting fitter over the winter and playing all of next season. But the skills on show, whether unerring accuracy or clever use of the knuckleball, were sure signs of a bowler with a strong command of his craft.The mindset, evidently, is already there. Not just coming back from injuries, or the character showcased in the two match-deciding spells but even at the tea break when he took himself to one side to maintain his focus. “I sat by myself, to be honest with you,” he said.”I felt quite emotional at tea and I wanted to make sure I was the man to drive us over the line. I got our physio to get me some food and I just sat in the table in front of the viewing area and just looked out onto the pitch. It’s what I did last year when we won the Championship, just to try and keep myself focused. I thought if it worked last year it might work this year. Luckily it did.”He did admit to one moment of weakness. Upon taking the wicket of Keith Barker, bowling the left-hander to make it 91 for 7, his left hamstring began cramping, causing more discomfort than the right elbow which was sore but manageable. At the end of the over – Norwell’s 14th – he asked his captain Will Rhodes if he could come off. The reply could not be misinterpreted.”I have to give Will credit. I tried to take myself off after the Keith Barker wicket. I was cramping. I won’t use the language he used but he basically said ‘you’re bowling until the end of the game’. Him and Dom Sibley just kept getting around me and they kept pumping me up and getting me going.”Along with encouragement from his team-mates, he had Warwickshire’s physio for company down at fine leg. At the start of his last over, defending just five, he produced a beauty to uproot James Fuller’s middle stump when the bowling allrounder looked set to win Hampshire the game. Four balls on, a full, inswinging delivery wrapped Mohammad Abbas on the pads to confirm the win and survival.”I just went a bit mad,” Norwell said of the final celebration. “All the emotions came out, I was nearly in tears. It means a lot to me – I feel like I’ve let everyone down this year by not playing.”Helping us stay up and put in that performance I hope is repaid the lads and supporters for not playing.” It is safe to say it has.

BCCI awaiting exemption for family members of squad

Nagraj Gollapudi17-May-2021The Indian contingent that will head to the UK for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand and the five-match Test series against England this summer will undergo a hard quarantine, spanning two weeks, starting May 19. Also part of this plan will be the Indian women’s squad, which is scheduled to play a one-off Test followed by three ODIs and three T20Is. Both the Indian squads will assemble in Mumbai and are likely to fly out together on a charter flight to London on June 2.As per the BCCI’s plan, the 20 players in the men’s Test squad, excluding those residing in Mumbai, will start their quarantine at the team hotel from Wednesday. The BCCI has arranged charter flights that will pick up all the players, coaches and support staff from different parts of India and bring them to Mumbai.From May 24 onwards the rest of the squad and members of the team management residing in Mumbai, including Indian captain Virat Kohli, his deputy Ajinkya Rahane, senior batsman Rohit Sharma along with head coach Ravi Shastri, will enter the bio-secure bubble at the Mumbai team hotel. The Mumbai group will also serve a strict home quarantine starting on May 19.To ensure the bubble is completely secure, the BCCI has arranged for all members – both the men’s and women’s squads – to get three negative tests before they board the flights to Mumbai. There will be further testing done at the team hotel in Mumbai before they embark on the London flight.Saha to join Mumbai bubble later
Wriddhiman Saha, who is one of the two wicketkeepers along with Rishabh Pant for the WTC final and the England series, will join the Mumbai bubble in the week leading to the England departure. Saha had tested positive for Covid-19 during his stay in the Delhi leg of the IPL where he plays for Sunrisers Hyderabad. ESPNcricinfo has learned that Saha, who has been in quarantine for two weeks, has got the BCCI permission to visit his family in Kolkata before he heads to Mumbai to join the Indian Test squad.Related

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Saha was one of the three players, along with KL Rahul and Prasidh Krishna, whose availability, the BCCI had said while naming the squad, was subject to fitness. Rahul had undergone surgery to treat appendicitis during the IPL where he is captain of Punjab Kings. Krishna, who plays for the Kolkata Knight Riders, had tested positive for Covid-19 a day after returning from the IPL to his home town Bengaluru recently.Ten-day quarantine in Southampton
The men’s squad will head directly to Southampton where India will play New Zealand in the inaugural WTC final between June 18-22. ESPNcricinfo understands that as per the permission sought from the British government by the ECB, which will coordinate with the ICC in hosting the WTC final, the Indian Test squad will undergo a 10-day quarantine at the team hotel which is located within the ground premises in Southampton. However unlike the hard quarantine in Mumbai, the Indian squad would be allowed to train in a controlled fashion within the Southampton bubble, which will comprise the team hotel and the ground and training facilities.BCCI awaits exemption for family members
One significant question still facing the BCCI is getting exemptions for the family members of the Indian contingent. It is learnt that the ECB is working with the UK government on seeking these exemptions.With the number of Covid cases nearing 25 million overall, India is only behind the US globally and also has the third-largest death count since the pandemic hit. Recently the UK government had put India on the red list of countries for travel – both outbound and inbound.
Despite most of its adult population having received at least one shot of the vaccine, the UK government has been cautious about incoming travellers from India mainly due to concern over the growing number of cases related to the coronavirus variant, B.1.617.2, which originated in India. On Monday, Matt Hancock, the British Health Secretary said there were about 2,323 cases of the Indian variant.At present, the BCCI has allowed family members to be part of the Mumbai bubble. The family members will undergo the same bio-safety protocols meant for the team while living in the bubble.

Captain backs fast bowler to bounce back from tough New Zealand tour as thoughts turn to South Africa

Andrew Miller03-Dec-2019Joe Root, England’s captain, has backed Jofra Archer to learn his lessons quickly after a chastening first taste of overseas Test cricket, and believes that England will travel to South Africa for next month’s four-Test series all the better prepared for the challenge after two hard-fought Tests in New Zealand.Archer endured a frustrating series, in what was his first experience of first-class cricket outside of England, let alone at the highest level. With his speeds noticeably down as he struggled to get to grips with the Kookaburra ball, he picked up two wickets across 82 overs in the two matches. His fortunes were epitomised on the final day in Hamilton, where Joe Denly dropped a sitter at midwicket to deny him the prize scalp of New Zealand’s captain, Kane Williamson.Off the field he was distracted too, following an incident of racial abuse at Mount Maunganui that has led NZC to lodge an official complaint with the police. But speaking at the end of the series, Root reiterated that Archer, 24, is still very new to international cricket, and will continue to be an incredible asset to England if he carries on developing as he has done so far this year.”I think he’s found that Test cricket is hard, and you’ve got to keep backing up those performances over and over again,” Root told Sky Sports. “You can sometimes bowl extremely well and get no reward.”And he’s young,” Root added. “He’s right at the start of his career, and as I said at the start of the trip, there are big expectations on him. He’s still got a lot of learning to do, but one thing I know for sure is that he’s a fantastic talent and there’s no doubt he’s going to contribute massively for England in Test cricket.”But he has to keep wanting to learn, and to stay nice and resilient mentally and physically as well, because these conditions can wear you down. I expect him to bounce back quite strongly from something like this, because he’s a fast learner. He’s proven that when he’s played domestic cricket around the world, in all these big franchise tournaments. Hopefully we’ll see see him back at his best soon.”ALSO READ: Taylor, Williamson secure New Zealand series winEngland’s selectors will name their squad for the South Africa tour over the weekend, and Root said that in spite of the series scoreline in New Zealand, they could take heart from the manner in which the side bounced back from their innings defeat in the first Test, and from the lessons they took from New Zealand’s star peformers – not least the Man of the Series, Neil Wagner, who claimed back-to-back five-fors on the unresponsive decks.”I think we learned a lot about the group,” said Root. “Obviously the ideal scenario is perform extremely well, and come away with a 2-0 series win, so it’s not worked out how we would have liked, but [for South Africa] we’ve now seen what it can be like if the surfaces do get like this with the Kookaburra ball. And like we did at Mount Maunganui, we have to learn very quickly and take that forward into those four games.”You’ve got to learn from the opposition as well,” he added. “You look at someone like Neil Wagner – he’s got a big heart, a big engine, and keeps running. And that’s what you want, you want guys who, time and time again, want to be putting themselves in that position, to keep wanting to create chances and keep trying to change the game.”Wholesale changes for the tour of South Africa are unlikely, although James Anderson will doubtless return to the fray if he can prove his fitness after missing the bulk of the Ashes with a long-term calf injury. He is currently on a training camp in Potchefstroom with other potential selections, including Mark Wood and Jonny Bairstow, whose omission from the New Zealand tour left Ollie Pope with the wicketkeeping duties at Hamilton after Jos Buttler suffered a back strain on the eve of the match.Pope performed creditably in difficult circumstances, making a career-best 75 in England’s only innings, although he did drop a straightforward chance off Williamson on the final morning of the Test.”Look, we didn’t expect Jos to go down as late as he did, but it does happen,” said Root. “And we knew that that could happen when we picked the squad. And, bar one mistake today, Ollie made a very good account of himself. He showed great maturity with the way he batted throughout his innings and proved why he got given that opportunity.””Jonny is out in South Africa practising,” Root added. “He’s obviously not played red-ball cricket or been given an opportunity to prove himself, in terms of match time, so he’s doing some work with a couple of coaches and facing those [bowlers], and make sure he’s match-hardened if he’s to be selected.”One key decision will be the availability of Moeen Ali, who requested time away from red-ball cricket after a tough home summer, and who hinted to ESPNcricinfo last week that he is not yet sure he’s ready for a return to the Test arena. But, with England opting for an all-seam attack in Hamilton amid doubts about Jack Leach’s penetration with the ball, his prowess as a spin-bowling allrounder is still highly valued by his captain.”I need to sit down and speak to Ed [Smith, selector], and to Moeen, and find out exactly what the situation is with Mo,” said Root. “One thing is for sure, we know how talented he is. We know what he has produced in Test cricket over his career. It’s very easy to look at small sample sizes that have happened more recently, but he’s a he’s a fine, fine player and I’m sure at some point, he’ll be back in and raring to go. But once those conversations have happened, I’ll give you a little bit more.”