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Zimbabwe Cricket have announced a Premier League, a forty-over competition involving eight clubs, which will be played as a conventional league, with no final, and a winner declared after seven rounds

Firdose Moonda21-Jul-2016In a bid to revive a club system that has become crippled with inactivity, Zimbabwe Cricket have announced a Premier League, but not of the twenty-over variety like many other countries. The Zimbabwe Premier League (ZPL) will be a forty-over competition involving eight clubs and will be played as a conventional league, with no final, and a winner declared after seven rounds.The bulk of the teams come from Zimbabwe’s two main cricketing centres, Harare and Bulawayo. Takashinga Cricket Club, famed for being the breeding ground of some of Zimbabwe’s most notable players, including Tatenda Taibu, Hamilton Masakadza and Vusi Sibanda, will have two teams called Patriots 1 and Patriots 2, while Rainbow are the club from the capital. Bulawayo’s metro and northern areas will be represented by the Amakhosi and Inkatha teams respectively, and Masvingo’s Southern Lions make up the other standalone side. Manicaland and Mashonaland East will have one team between them, the Eastern Lions, while Mashonaland West and Midlands will play as the Muzvezve Tigers.The league kicks off this Saturday and will continue through Zimbabwe’s Tests against New Zealand in Bulawayo and beyond, as a precursor to the summer. All players not featuring in the internationals but who are part of the national and domestic set-up in Zimbabwe are expected to take part in this competition, which ZC is hoping to use to increase the player pool and grow depth.”The ZPL is a very important competition involving Zimbabwe’s top clubs fighting it out for the national honours,” Givemore Makoni, ZC’s head of cricket affairs, said. “It’s top-notch cricket with all national team players not in the Test side expected to turn out for clubs in the league. This means youngsters will get the chance to play with and against experienced international players, which will quickly bring them through.”Apart from the ZPL, Zimbabwe’s domestic structures continue to include first-class, fifty-over and twenty-over competitions.

And so, after six months and 16 games, after memorable fightbacks and outstanding performances, it goes down to the last day of the season

George Dobell at Lord's22-Sep-2016
Scorecard1:34

A draw no good at Lord’s

And so, after six months and 16 games, after memorable fightbacks and outstanding performances, it goes down to the last day of the season.There were moments on the penultimate day when it seemed both Yorkshire and Middlesex were falling back into the pack. But while Yorkshire emerged just about on top – Nick Gubbins’ sustained excellence continues to keep his side’s head above water in this game – it is not impossible to envisage a scenario whereby Middlesex could still win.If they are able to bat until tea – and somehow score some runs against an unrelenting attack – and set a demanding target (perhaps 220 off 32 overs), Yorkshire will have little option other than to pursue it. Neither of these teams has come this far to be consoled by prize money and both these teams know that a draw is no use to either of them. It is all or nothing now.If Yorkshire do go on to clinch their third successive title – the first team to do so since the Yorkshire team of 1968 – they will owe a huge amount to Tim Bresnan. When he walked to the crease on the second afternoon, Yorkshire were 32 for 3 with their title hopes hanging by a thread. By the time he was done – seven-and-a-half hours later – he had not only helped his side to the vital fourth batting bonus point they required to ensure they could finish ahead of Somerset, but earned them a 120-run first innings lead.Bresnan is a pretty decent embodiment of Yorkshire Man. His batting is pragmatic rather than pretty; his bowling is relentless rather than flash. He could hardly be more no-nonsense, quietly reliable and undemonstratively excellent. In this game, when his side needed it most, he has bowled better than anyone – largely without reward – and produced the innings that could prove crucial.It was surely fitting that it was a partnership with Ryan Sidebottom, another man steeped in Yorkshire cricket, that took their side to the crucial fourth batting point that kept their hopes alive. By the time the ninth-wicket fell – Jack Brooks chipping to mid-on – there were still 16 runs required.But, single by single, scamper by nudge, they inched Yorkshire ever closer. There were many nervous moments. Twice Sidebottom jabbed his bat down to keep out well-directed yorkers from Tim Murtagh; twice he edged short of the cordon; twice he survived huge appeals for leg before. One of them, against Toby Roland-Jones, looked dead for all the world but replays vindicated umpire Rob Bailey’s decision by showing a thin edge.It was a brilliant, breathless passage of play. Even the rain that kept the teams off the pitch for around an hour with Yorkshire one run short of that bonus point only added to the drama: the cliff-hanger at the end of an engrossing serial.On the resumption, Ollie Rayner beat Bresnan twice in successive deliveries – once as he attempted to cut a long-hop and once when one left him down the hill – before Sidebottom (who had faced 51 balls for his 7 at the time) was finally given one on his legs which he tickled to the fine-leg boundary. The roars from the stands – this match has attracted around 15,000 spectators over its first three days – and punched fists in the middle told the story of how vital it could prove to be.”When we came off last night knowing exactly what we had to do, it kind of made it a bit easier,” Bresnan said. “We needed someone to do that and luckily enough it was me. 350 to keep the dream alive: getting there was a massive effort.”Might Middlesex have missed a trick, though? Had they allowed Yorkshire to race to 350 – very much against the grain of play might they not have allowed themselves more time to score the runs required to have an opportunity to bowl out Yorkshire in the fourth innings and ensured Yorkshire had an incentive to chase? The passage of play, though enthralling, probably benefited Somerset more than Yorkshire or Middlesex. If this match is drawn, Middlesex will be the first unbeaten (top division) side not to win the Championship since Lancashire (who were eighth) in 1974.With their primary target reached, Bresnan and Sidebottom allowed themselves some more aggressive options. By the time Sidebottom skipped down the pitch and was bowled, the Yorkshire lead was potentially match – and competition – defining. It was all a long way from 32 for 3 or even 53 for 4.Middlesex, however, will surely rue two more dropped chances. Having reprieved Andrew Hodd on the second day, Nick Compton then put down Azeem Rafiq on 33 before Rayner and Sam Robson combined to put him down again on 38. While neither chance was easy – Compton had to run in from short third man and dive in an attempt to take the upper-cut off Steven Finn, while Rayner deflected the ball out of Robson’s path off an edge from James Franklin – Middlesex would have expected both to be held.Rafiq, – who would probably have missed out had Adil Rashid felt able to play, finished with a priceless 65, surviving a hostile spell of short bowling from Steven Finn by a mix of pluck and good fortune and taking a blow on the helmet from Toby Roland-Jones. On such moments are Championship campaigns decided.”I was an absolute nervous wreck up there in the dressing room,” Sidebottom said afterwards. “I think I was averaging two this year so to go out and get those runs was really nice. We all stuck at it.”Bressie was absolutely brilliant. That was arguably his best innings. His batting has come on so much the last two years and that innings typified it.”It’s been such a long season and to go down to the wire on the last day is amazing. It’s great for the County Championship and for everyone watching.”When Middlesex subsided to 2 for 2 within the first four overs of their second innings, it seemed a three-day victory was possible. Robson, perhaps inconvenienced by the hand he hurt while dropping the Rafiq chance, hung his bat out at one he could have left before Compton was punished for some slow footwork by a peach of a ball that left him just a touch to hit the top of off stump.But Gubbins, not for the first time, stopped the rot. While progress was at time torturous – punctuated by a pull for six when Brooks dropped short – he has kept his side in with a chance of earning the title on the final day. “Even if it’s 200 off 10 overs we’ve still got to swing and get them,” Bresnan admitted. “So the ball’s in their court.””It was important that we got through two down,” Murtagh said afterwards. “But the catches we dropped were costly. That last-wicket partnership was frustrating having got ourselves in a good position. It’s been a draining three days.”We’re a little bit confused up there as to the options and what we want to do. We obviously want to win the game and try and win the title; that’s a massive thing. But we don’t want to just hand it to Yorkshire and set them something ridiculous. So who knows what might happen tomorrow?”Indeed. And while agony awaits for two clubs – all three of the sides still in contention would be worthy champions – it reflects well on this great competition that, going into the final day of the season, six teams are still fighting for either silverware or to avoid relegation.It is here the skills, the resolution, the experience is learned that has helped England to victory in five of the last seven Ashes series. It is here England’s Test team is forged. But it’s not just about being worthy: it’s also wonderful entertainment. Cricket, any form of cricket, doesn’t get much better than this.

South Africa coach lauds his team for playing “the pressure moments pretty well”

Firdose Moonda14-Jan-2022For Mark Boucher, the toughest thing about watching South Africa’s chase against India was that there was nothing he could do about it.”As a player, you feel like the buck can stop with you. As a coach, your hands are tied behind your back. You haven’t got the chance to go out there and change the state of the game,” he said afterwards. “From a nerves perspective, it was up there with one of my more nervous days.”Though South Africa have previously chased 236 at this ground (and it remains their highest successful here), that was a decade ago and Boucher was in that XI. He spent that innings while Graeme Smith, currently director of cricket, and Hashim Amla, who is now doing commentary, batted South Africa to a memorable win. This time, South Africa needed 24 fewer runs but did not have players of the experience of Smith and Amla in their line-up, so Boucher was careful with how much he believed.”When you’re in the batting change-room, the runs always seem a mile away. When you’re in the fielding change-room, you always feel like there is never quite enough. So it was trying to find a bit of a balance,” he said. “We knew the conditions were going to be really tough.”Related

• Stats – South Africa first team to win a three-match Test series without scoring 250

• Elgar on DRS drama: 'India forgot about the game and that played into our hands'

• South Africa seal come-from-behind series win as India fall apart

• Elgar: We were thrown under the sword and responded brilliantly

• Petersen the hero of South Africa's iconic home victory

South Africa’s inexperienced line-up were against the best Indian pace attack that has ever visited these shores on a surface with uneven bounce, but their hope was that the weather and the opposition bowlers’ workload in the series so far would help cause them to wilt. “It was really hot outside. We knew that the amount they bowled in the first innings (76.3 overs) would eventually play it’s part so getting through the first hour unscathed was very important. It just settles the change-room,” Boucher said.Keegan Petersen and Rassie van der Dussen put on 47 runs in the first hour and though they looked like they might be dismissed at any moment, they weren’t. “I liked the intensity the guys batted with. We went out saying we’ve got to look to score,” Boucher said.He was particularly impressed with Petersen’s performance, which ended with a career-best 82 and earned him the Player of the Match and Player of the Series awards. “Keegan probably didn’t start off as well as what he would have liked in West Indies. He didn’t start too well at SuperSport Park but he has always shown signs of the player we’re seeing right now,” Boucher said. “He just stuck to his guns.”He is in a good position to have a guy like Dean [Elgar] next to him, who really does back him and he is a tough nut. Batting at No. 3, you’ve got to be tough, you’ve got to know your game, you’ve got to be technically sound. It’s a very tough position to play in, in South Africa, in our conditions, batting at No. 3. The way he has come through in this series, I am lost for words. In a big series like this, against big players, to be man of the series is fully deserved.”Petersen did not bat South Africa over the line, though. That was left to van der Dussen and Temba Bavuma, who finished on 41 and 32 not out respectively. Bavuma was also at the crease when South Africa completed their chase at the Wanderers and even though he has still not added to his century-count, he has proved himself to have the temperament to take responsibility when its needed and is one-half of the leadership duo that is shaping the new-look South Africa.”We’ve got Dean who led from the front. We’ve got Temba as the vice-captain, who is the same sort of fighter with the same spirit. When you’ve got two leaders like that, the guys are going to follow,” Boucher said. “Both of them stood up with regards to their own games. If you’ve got the fighters as leaders and they are prepared to show it with bat or ball, it’s probably going to be the character of the team.”Asked if this series win represents a turning in the very long corner of losses, Boucher left it for all of us to decide. “It’s up to you guys to make that call whether we’ve turned the corner. I believe we turned a corner quite a while ago. Our results have been pretty solid over the last six months to a year,” he said. “We are in a good space at the moment. Our feet are firmly on the ground.”We are by no means the finished product, but we’ll enjoy this win. This team is on their own mission. If people want to jump on the back of that, that’s great and that will be much appreciated. We’ve been through some tough times of late. The team is driven in a way that is pretty special. It’s a special change-room to be in. I am incredibly proud of where they’ve come from over a short period of time and the results are starting to come through, which is fantastic for everyone.”Specifically, the way South Africa are approaching big moments has Boucher feeling as though he may not get the urge to go out there and change the state of the game himself again. “We played the pressure moments pretty well. We are not winning all of them but when we were losing a session, we were not losing it badly and that keeps us in the game. When we lost that first session in the first Test, we lost it so badly, we couldn’t get back into the game. Although we did try very hard, we probably lost too much in one session. Now, our guys are playing good pressure cricket at the moment.”

The BCCI has to hold elections for the Apex Council, which is set to replace the board’s highest-decision making body, its working committee, and conduct its AGM by December 15

Nagraj Gollapudi01-Sep-2016The BCCI has to hold elections for the Apex Council, which is set to replace the board’s highest-decision making body, its working committee, and conduct its AGM by December 15.According to a second set of deadlines finalised by the Lodha committee at a meeting in Delhi last Sunday, the BCCI also has to form a fresh IPL governing council by December 30. Within the same time frame, and as advocated by the Lodha reforms upheld by the Supreme Court, the board has to select new committees and appoint a new management.The various state associations have to wrap up their own elections by November 15.

Deadlines, part 2

By November 15, 2016
Elections for State Associations
Elections to the Executive Committee of the Players’ Cricket Association
By December 15
Elections to the Apex Council of BCCI, BCCI AGM and Appointment of Ethics Officer and Ombudsman
By December 30
Creation of BCCI Committees, IPL Governing Council and Appointment of the Management under the new Rules

The BCCI had already decided to convene its AGM on September 21, but these deadlines were put up to make sure the board concentrated on the reforms before moving on to new business in 2017.”It was decided to direct the BCCI that the AGM to be called on 21.9.2016 be limited only to routine business concerning the past year (2015-16), and deal with any business or matters relating to the next year (2016-17) only after the adoption of the MoA and Rules as per the recommendations of the Committee in accordance with the same,” the Lodha committee said according to the minutes of its Sunday meeting.The committee released minutes of all its meetings in the last month from which it was learnt that on August 25, BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke had submitted a “First Compliance Report”, detailing the extent to which the board and the state associations had implemented the Lodha reforms.It was also understood the Lodha committee was not updated on the tenders and contracts the BCCI had approved while conducting the two-match T20I series against West Indies in Florida and did not want a similar situation to happen when the board would invite bids for the next set of IPL broadcast and digital rights.Consequently it was decided that Gopal Sankaranarayanan, the Committee’s secretary, would liaise with BCCI CEO Rahul Johri to ascertain “transparency requirements” of bids, tenders and contracts involving the BCCI.During its meeting with Shirke, the Lodha Committee also rejected the report prepared by former Supreme court judge Markandey Katju, which had called the Supreme Court’s judgment to accept a majority of the Lodha reforms as “illegal and unconstitutional.” The Committee also noted that although the BCCI called it the Katju Report, it was an “opinion”.Upon Katju’s advice, the BCCI had filed a review petition against the Lodha reforms before a larger bench of the Supreme Court. But the committee, on August 9, had “impressed” upon Shirke that the “time schedule had to be maintained in accordance with the Supreme Court Order.”

A round-up of the Group C matches of the Vijay Hazare Trophy played on March 6, 2017

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Mar-2017Mumbai crashed out of the Vijay Hazare Trophy despite chasing down 96 against Goa in 5.4 overs in Chennai. After allrounder Abhishek Nayar’s 4 for 23 skittled Goa for 95, Suryakumar Yadav and Aditya Tare shared an unbroken 76-run stand off 20 balls to mow down the target and seal an eight-wicket win.Mumbai, chasing the second quarter-final spot from Group C, won with 266 balls to spare – the second biggest (in terms of balls remaining) in List A history in India – but it was not enough. Gujarat pipped Mumbai on net run rate and qualified along with Bengal.Earlier, Goa’s innings lasted only 35 overs with only captain Sagun Kamat and Darshan Misal passing 20. Nayar did the bulk of the damage and was assisted by Dhawal Kukarni and Shardul Thakur who took five wickets between them.Bengal suffered their first loss of this season’s Vijay Hazare Trophy, against Gujarat at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Captain Parthiv Patel struck an 82-ball 88 in Gujarat’s seven-wicket win; Bengal were also through to the quarter-finals. Mohammed Shami, playing his first competitive match after four months, conceded 36 runs in seven overs without picking up a wicket.Jasprit Bumrah, though, had sparkled with 3 for 27 to help bowl Bengal out for 168. Ashav Panchal and Rujul Bhatt, meanwhile, shared four wickets between them. Abhimanyu Easwaran (37), Aamir Gani (37), and Ashok Dinda (33) flickered briefly before Bengal were dismissed in 49.1 overs.Parthiv and Priyank Panchal then laid the foundation for the chase with a 69-run opening stand. Parthiv then fell with his team two runs away from the target, but Bhargav Merai and Bhatt completed the victory.Hanuma Vihari’s career-best 135 not out helped Andhra ace their chase of 236 against Rajasthan in Chennai. He added 146 with Prasanth Kumar, who scored 62 off 84 balls before falling to Salman Khan. Vihari, however, stayed till the end to give Hyderabad a consolation win.Having been sent in, Rajasthan were quickly reduced to 49 for 4 with Manender Singh, Salman, and Puneet Yadav bagging ducks. However, 17-year-old Mahipal Lomror’s second successive fifty and Tajinder Singh’s first List A fifty revived Rajasthan to 235 for 7. Seamer P Vijaykumar was the pick of the bowlers for Andhra, finishing with 3 for 17 in 10 overs.

Chase goes down to the final over but New Zealander keeps Gloucestershire at bay

David Hopps01-Jul-2021Gloucestershire’s 161 for 7 represented a workable total on a nibbly pitch in the West Country derby at Bristol, but in Devon Conway they came up against a batter who relishes the chance to put in a serious shift. Conway’s unbeaten 81 from 65 balls would not make much of a gaudy highlights reel, but his sensible shot selection and judicious tempo never wavered as he guided Somerset home with four balls to spare.An eight-wicket margin it might have been, but Somerset’s first T20 win at Bristol since 2015 did not come easily. After Lewis Gregory’s career-best 5-24 in limited-overs cricket had prepared the groundwork, a controlled chase could easily have run awry, only for Gloucestershire to miss one or two opportunities to turn the tide.Regrettably, because he is having a tough time of late, the most glaring miss befell James Bracey, who palmed an edge from Conway, on 8, around the post during an eventful first over against Dan Worrall.Conway, who first came to prominence for many English viewers with his double-century for New Zealand in this summer’s Test against England at Lord’s, now has three successive half-centuries in the Blast. This one was sorely needed considering the withdrawal of Tom Banton, whose first flash of form was enough for him to be called up to the England squad to cover for someone who is covering for someone, which the counties have long learned to shrug off as just another example of England’s hegemony, but which could occasionally be imposed with more sensitivity towards the bigger picture.Somerset now join Gloucestershire in the top four and, although they are depleted, the force is with them, especially as Sussex are fast losing impetus after a series of washed-out matches destroyed their early-season momentum.Conway committed himself to a high-risk start and, although Banton’s stand-in, George Bartlett fell for nought, chasing David Payne’s wide half-volley, Will Smeed again underlined his potential with 36 from 23 balls, never better highlighted than by his fast-handed whip off Benny Howell’s length ball over deep square for six.But Tom Smith, who had come close to defeating Conway on the sweep, had Smeed lbw instead and Somerset were still 60 short with seven overs left as Lewis Goldsworthy, although admirably unwavering for someone at the start of his career, struggled to get his innings above a run a ball for a considerable time. Conway’s ability to manoeuvre the ball into the gaps kept Somerset just ahead of the game, although one sneaked single to regain the strike might have resulted in Bracey running him out at the keeper’s end.Lewis Gregory punches the air in celebration•Harry Trump/Getty Images

Ryan Higgins’ did not appear until the 18th over with 24 still needed and Goldsworthy was fortunate to under-edge his yorker for four. That moment of luck eased the chase and when Goldsworthy rounded off the win with successive boundaries against Higgins, he finished with 43 not out from 28 balls, misleading stats which suggested there had been nothing to worry about.Gregory has not had the most productive Blast campaign – only seven wickets and an economy rate of 10.63 – but he chose the West Country derby to address that, ensuring that Gloucestershire’s innings never quite broke the shackles despite Howell’s out-of-character, cautious half-century and a best-of-season 44 up top from Miles Hammond.Hammond was assisted by a collision in the opening over when he top-edged Craig Overton to fine leg where Jack Brooks and Conway, fulfilling the wicketkeeping role, tanked off in pursuit only to smash into each other in their efforts to take the catch.Conway helped him along again on 35, a relatively easy stumping eschewed as Goldsworthy drew Hammond down the pitch. Somerset regard their best keeper, Steve Davies, as a Championship specialist these days, preferring to set loose their exciting array of youthful young batting talent, but such is their injury list he appears to have been disposed off too readily.Gregory’s first victim was Chris Dent, who cut to short third in his second over. He returned in mid-innings after Hammond was beaten for pace by a full-length delivery from Marchant de Lange, who had come close to yorking him leg stump when he had made room to the previous delivery.That 13th over proved decisive. Gloucestershire supporters have become used to the destructive qualities in their middle order of Glenn Phillips, but he fell to a wonderful delivery which left him slightly to strike his off stump. Two balls later, Bracey followed, a botched pull flying vertically for Conway to pouch the catch. Since his 0, 0 and 8, in his first two Tests, and the fierce attention that understandably followed to his batting and keeping alike, he has made 1 and 2 in the Blast and needs a slice of fortune.That Gloucestershire reached a competitive score was due primarily to some rustic leg-side scythes from their skipper, Jack Taylor. Howell, who had much less than half the strike, found room for three sixes in his 41-ball 52, but they were rare moments of domination, and Gregory’s low full toss dismissed him at long-off before Smith’s first-baller completed his five-for.

ESPNcricinfo previews the first Test between New Zealand and South Africa in Dunedin

The Preview by Andrew McGlashan07-Mar-2017

Match Facts

March 8-12 2017
Start time 11.00am local (2200GMT)1:37

Moonda: South Africa’s quicks could heat up Dunedin

The Big Picture

This match-up has a one-sided history. New Zealand have only won four Tests against South Africa and two of those came in 1962 when they shared a rare five-Test series 2-2. Since then, they won the first meeting after readmission, at Johannesburg in 1994, and their only home victory was inspired by Chris Martin at Eden Park in 2004.South Africa also plunged New Zealand towards their most recent nadir. At Newlands in early 2013, they were bowled out before lunch on the opening day. Nothing so one-sided is expected this time. Since South Africa last visited for a Test in 2012, New Zealand have only lost one series on home soil, against Australia last year.For their part, South Africa have been one of finest touring sides in the last decade with last year’s defeat in India being their first overseas since Sri Lanka in 2006. They overcame Australia late last year (although given subsequent events that feels a lifetime ago) and despite New Zealand’s strength on home soil, start the series as favourites.The key will be whether New Zealand can put enough runs on the board because in Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner they have the bowlers to put pressure on South Africa. It should be a series of quality pace bowling with Kagiso Rabada and Vernon Philander leading the opposite line.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)
New Zealand WWWWL

South Africa WWWLW

In the spotlight

Tom Latham and Jeet Raval will face one of their toughest challenges: seeing off Rabada, Philander and Morne Morkel. Latham’s confidence has to have taken a knock after his horror run in ODIs which saw him lose his place. Raval has played just four Tests, although showed impressive composure against Pakistan before giving away a few starts against Bangladesh. Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor are the key to New Zealand’s batting, but they have a better chance if not exposed to the new ball too soon.Two of South Africa’s batting engine room, JP Duminy and Temba Bavuma come into the series under a little scrutiny but for different reasons. Duminy regressed during the one-day series, scratching around and wasting starts when he made them, but elevated his Test game against Australia and Sri Lanka. Bavuma, meanwhile, made just 21 runs in five innings against Sri Lanka so he could do with reviving memories of England at Cape Town and Australia in Hobart. The latter, given likely conditions, could be relevant.

Team news

Williamson kept the door open for two spinners, but it is also Colin de Grandhomme verses James Neesham so it would be a major surprise if they omitted one of the three frontline quicks.New Zealand (probable): 1 Tom Latham, 2 Jeet Raval, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Henry Nicholls, 6 BJ Watling (wk), 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Colin de Grandhomme/James Neesham, 9 Neil Wagner, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Trent BoultFaf du Plessis confirmed that Morne Morkel will play his first Test in more than a year, being preferred ahead of Duanne Olivier. They will also play a specialist spinner in Keshav Maharaj.South Africa (probable): 1 Stephen Cook, 2 Dean Elgar, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Faf du Plessis (capt), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Temba Bavuma, 7 Quinton de Kock (wk), 8 Vernon Philander, 9 Keshav Maharaj, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Kagiso Rabada

Pitch and conditions

This is the first Test surface for a new University Oval groundsman, but New Zealand don’t expect much different to normal. Dean Elgar termed the pitch “juicy” two days out but local knowledge from Neil Wagner indicated that the temperature was as important to the amount of movement on offer. The forecast for the first three days is good, but the weekend isn’t too promising at the moment.

Stats and trivia

• Excluding series involving Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, the New Zealand win-loss ratio against South Africa is the joint lowest in history alongside West Indies against South Africa.
• University Oval is New Zealand’s only unbeaten home venue. They have won three and drawn four at the ground. The final day of the 2012 Test against South Africa was washed out.
• Williamson’s average as captain of 55 is the best by a New Zealand skipper, fractionally ahead of Martin Crowe.
• The captain winning the toss has bowled first in New Zealand on 22 consecutive occasions. The last time a captain batted first was Daniel Vettori against Pakistan, at the Basin Reserve, in 2011.

Quotes

“I don’t get ahead of myself with silly ideas like that. We want to have a look at the surface, it can change. We don’t want to delve into that before we have any outrageous thoughts.”
Kane Williamson isn’t getting ahead of himself about what to do at the toss“With slower conditions here, our strongest team is the balance of three seamers and a spinner. If the wicket is slow, your spinner does become important.”

Nic Maddinson started brightly but his dismissal was the first of four Victoria wickets to fall quickly

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Mar-2021Queensland made good use of the limited time available on a rain-reduced opening day against Victoria by taking four wickets at Allan Border Field.A delayed start and further stoppages meant just 21.4 overs in the day but Jack Wildermuth continued his impressive form with two wickets in an over while Michael Neser and Brendan Doggett claimed one each.Nic Maddinson had been quickly out of the blocks after Victoria had been put in, the first runs off the bat coming from a hooked six in the opening over and he followed that by flicking a full delivery from outside off over the midwicket fence in the 10th over. However, the ball after that second six he drove hard at Wildermuth and was held at third slip.Two balls later Wildermuth struck again when he pinned the in-form Peter Handscomb lbw by one which nipped back.Victoria’s batsmen aided in their demise as Matt Short played well away from his body to give a catch to Joe Burns at first slip and provide Neser with a wicket on his Sheffield Shield comeback. The same could be said of Jake Fraser-McGurk who was also snapped up by Burns to leave Victoria in trouble at 4 for 75.Rain arrived an over later and this time there was no further breaks leaving Marcus Harris and Seb Gotch needing to do a repair job on the second day.

Pat Cummins has been withdrawn from the Australia A squad for a series of winter games in Queensland, with Cricket Australia taking a cautious approach to his recovery from a stress fracture of the back

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jun-2016Pat Cummins has been withdrawn from the Australia A squad for a series of winter games in Queensland, with Cricket Australia taking a cautious approach to his recovery from a stress fracture of the back.Cummins will instead target the Matador Cup at the start of the 2016-17 season for his return, which would make it more than a year between matches for Cummins after he suffered the injury during Australia’s ODI tour of England last September.At the time Cummins was announced in the squad for Australia A’s matches in July-August, national selector Rod Marsh said that while he was hopeful Cummins would be available, it would depend on the advice of medical staff.”Pat is going really well with his rehabilitation but is unlikely be ready to play at full match intensity during the Australia A tour,” Marsh said on Wednesday. “After discussions with Pat and the medical staff, we have decided to wait an extra month and look for him to return for New South Wales in the Matador Cup.”A long series of injuries have afflicted Cummins, now 23, since he was Man of the Match on his Test debut in Johannesburg in late 2011, and he has not played a Sheffield Shield game in the past five seasons.

Australia’s wicketkeeper says the team won’t be lulled into trying to match England shot for shot

Andrew McGlashan04-May-20235:28

Moody: It’s going to be a challenge for Warner, others to deal with the Duke ball

Stuart Broad would like nothing more than to have Steven Smith caught at mid-off, but Alex Carey does not believe that Australia will be drawn into trying match England’s aggressive style when the Ashes commences next month.Broad’s recent comments kicked-up the traditional pre-Ashes chat a few levels and will be followed this week by Smith beginning his short stint with Sussex. Meanwhile, Ben Stokes has called for “flat, fast” pitches to aid England’s scoring rate while there was a report that the boundaries could also be pulled in.Related

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There are still six weeks to go before the opening match at Edgbaston and before then Australia have the small matter of trying to topple India in the World Test Championship final, but Bazball will continue to dominate the lead-up.”We’ve heard some stuff in the media what the wickets might be like, the boundaries etc, [and] the way [England] are playing at the moment it is eye-catching,” Carey told radio. “I’d like to think we aren’t surprised now [with] the way they’ll come out and play.”The tactical stuff will start to take place over the next couple of weeks but I don’t see us falling into our batters going out and trying to score the same rate. We’ll do it differently, we’ve had some serious success in the last 18-24 months playing the style we want to play in different conditions and lucky enough to be rewarded with a spot in the World Test Championship [final]. So we are excited to come over to their backyard and take on a team that’s playing some really eye-catching cricket. As a player it’s going to be hot contest and I’m smiling just thinking about that first Test.”Alex Carey made a County Championship appearance for Sussex during the 2019 season•Getty Images

Carey is one of ten members of the Ashes squad who are currently in Australia with the others spread across the IPL and county cricket. Training will ramp up this month for those at home with a camp in Brisbane before they depart for the UK in late May, leaving around 10 days to prepare for the WTC final at The Oval on June 7.”We’ll all come together before that World Test Championship and have our focus solely on that game but with an eye to the first [Ashes] Test match,” Carey said.On a personal level, the tour will be Carey’s first experience of Test cricket in England having taken the Australia role at short notice ahead of the 2021-22 Ashes although he was very impressive during the 2019 ODI World Cup and scored his first one-day hundred there in 2020. He has a small amount of first-class experience in the country having played one match for Sussex in 2019 where he made 56 and 69 not out then was drafted into the Ashes squad to keep wicket in a tour match against Derbyshire.Carey, who scored a maiden Test century against South Africa at the MCG last season, is confident of being able to adjust his game to conditions as required but admitted that the wicketkeeping could provide some challenges with the ‘wobble’ that can often happen to the red Dukes ball when it passes the batter.”It’s hard to train [for] the wobble that we as keepers know comes down and we make it look a bit silly at times if we don’t get a hand on it,” he said. “For me, just staying really open-minded knowing there’ll be days when it doesn’t look pretty…you see some of the techniques of the English keepers and it’s completely different to the Aussies.”I think adapting as quickly as I can when I get over there, hopefully will have some centre-wickets and catch a few balls from our bowlers, then from there hopefully just react well enough that if one does wobble that I move to that, see it and catch it. But it’s a really good point and probably something as cricket fans you expect the wicketkeepers to make it look easy at times, but it wobbles down and you are like ‘what are you doing’ but it’s all part of the fun.”