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For a moment, Paul Collingwood thought he’d made a fatal decision that would cost England the first Test at Centurion

Andrew McGlashan at Centurion20-Dec-2009For a moment, Paul Collingwood thought he’d made a fatal decision that would cost England the first Test at Centurion Park. Off the fourth ball of the penultimate over of the match, he called Graham Onions, the No. 11, through for a single then couldn’t regain the strike for the last over.It left Onions, who holds a first-class batting average of 12.32, to face the final over of the match from Makhaya Ntini and all Collingwood could do was offer advice from the non-striker’s end. Onions responded with excellent judgment and a straight bat, even managing to jab down on a typically scuttling delivery that had done for several more senior batsmen in the course of the match.Throughout the nail-biting final over, Collingwood had visions of a one-day international at Melbourne in 2002-03 where he left the tail on strike and the last two wickets were blown away by Brett Lee to secure a dramatic and traumatic victory.”As Straussy said, ‘all’s well that ends well’,” Collingwood said with relief. “I was hoping I was going to get a single off the last two balls. I was thinking I must face as many balls as I can. But I couldn’t get back to the other end.”When he was stuck down there I was saying: ‘Please, don’t get out, don’t get out – it will be my fault again’. But he was exceptional – very relaxed for a guy who probably hasn’t been in a situation like that. I thought he played that last over excellently.”Paul Collingwood and Graham Onions saw England through to the draw•PA Photos

Despite being county team-mates for Durham, Collingwood admitted he hadn’t seen much of Onions’ batting talents, so he probably didn’t know that his first-class batting average is almost four runs higher than that of Monty Panesar (8.58) who helped England save the opening Ashes Test at Cardiff.”He keeps bragging that he’s got the best bat in the dressing room,” Collingwood said. “So I kept shouting down ‘Remember you’ve got the best bat, just keep using it’. I was trying to keep him as relaxed as possible, and he was happy with that.”Sometimes you can over-complicate things and the nervousness can overtake you. There was one that scuttled along the floor, and he watched it really well and got the bat on it. Once he’d done that I thought he’s going to see through this over. It was a great effort.”Andrew Strauss, whose face grew glummer with every wicket that fell, didn’t sound quite so convinced about Onions’ batting pedigree. “I think hopeful would be the right word,” he said. “I know he’s got a reasonable technique. But in those circumstances, you don’t want the ball that scuttles along the ground or nips back at you.”You need a little bit of fortune on your side – and you need the player himself to stay composed, switched on and on the ball and aware of what the situation is calling for. I think he did that all exceptionally well.”Graeme Smith also expressed his surprise that Collingwood took a single so late in the penultimate over, but was left to rue not being able to dislodge Onions over the 12 deliveries he faced. “In those pressure moments batters choose to do things. He must have had his reasons,” he said. “It offered us six balls at Onions but he was dogged and stood his ground.”

Javeria says she will be available to play in T20 leagues if offers come her way

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Mar-2024Former Pakistan captain Javeria Khan has retired from international cricket, bringing the curtain down on a career of just under 16 years at the highest level. She bows out after playing 228 white-ball matches for Pakistan and scoring 4903 runs across the two formats.”There was joy and sorrow, but above all a sense of great pride that kept me going for 15 years,” Javeria, 35, wrote in a social media post. “The privilege of wearing Pakistan’s jersey was way bigger than the odds that struck through my cricketing journey. I am blessed to have lived my life doing what I loved doing the most and will continue to do so.”Now when I look back, it gives me great satisfaction to see that the path that my friends and I chose to walk on was least trodden when I started playing professionally but is now open for so many girls in Pakistan.”Related

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Javeria made her ODI debut in 2008 and played the ODI World Cups in 2009, 2013 and 2017. She also played just the one game – against India in Mount Maunganui – in the 2022 edition after going through a low phase form-wise. She was also out of Pakistan’s T20I side for 15 months before making a comeback in November 2022, and then played the T20 World Cup in 2023, her last outing for Pakistan. She played all the previous editions of the competition, too.”Things change, scripts change and new paths beckon,” Javeria wrote. “There is a time for everything, and now I believe is the best time to call it a day and announce my retirement. However, I’ll be available to play league cricket. I will always be grateful to Pakistan for letting me hold Pakistan’s flag globally.”Javeria led Pakistan in 16 T20Is – including at the T20 World Cup in 2018 and two matches of the 2020 edition when Bismah Maroof was injured. She also captained 17 times in ODIs and finished second in the list of highest run-scorers for Pakistan in both the white-ball formats.”On behalf of the PCB and all cricket fans, I extend heartfelt gratitude to Javeria Khan for her invaluable contributions to women’s cricket in Pakistan,” Tania Mallick, PCB’s head of women’s cricket, said in a statement. “Her glittering records with the bat speak for themselves and I am confident that her illustrious career will inspire many girls in the country to not just take up this sport but also excel at it across many years.”

The Zimbabwe captain picked up two demerit points following an altercation with Josh Little and Curtis Campher during the first T20I

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Dec-2023Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza will miss the second and third T20Is against Ireland after picking up a two-match ban following a code-of-conduct breach in the first match of the series on Thursday.Raza, who was Player of the Match for his all-round display (65, and 3 for 28) in a one-wicket win in Harare, was involved in an altercation with two Ireland players during the 14th over of Zimbabwe’s chase. The incident followed a tight single off the bowling of Josh Little, which involved Raza having to run around the bowler in his follow-through.Raza had a heated exchange with Little and Curtis Campher, “charging towards” the duo – according to a Zimbabwe Cricket press release – while “pointing his bat and breaking away from the umpire who had tried to calm the situation”.Raza received two demerit points for the offence, which took his total to four in the last 24 months, leading to his two-match ban. He was also fined 50% of his match fee. Campher and Little picked up one demerit point each, their first in the last 24 months, and were fined 15% of their match fees.Sean Williams will stand in as Zimbabwe captain for the remaining two matches of the T20I series, on Saturday and Sunday.

Stoinis reveals text saying: “I’ll be home for a little bit and then I’m coming back to win this World Cup”

Alex Malcolm02-Nov-2023Australia’s World Cup campaign has hit another hurdle with star allrounder Mitchell Marsh ruled out of the England clash after flying home for personal reasons.Marsh has flown home to Perth and will not play in Saturday’s clash with England in Ahmedabad. This comes on the back of Glenn Maxwell being ruled out of the clash after suffering a concussion during a golf day on Monday.Cricket Australia confirmed in a statement on Thursday that Marsh had flown home on Wednesday night. “Australian allrounder Mitchell Marsh has returned home from the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 late last night for personal reasons,” the statement said. “A timeline on his return to the squad is to be confirmed. No further detail will be offered at this time.”Marcus Stoinis is likely to be fit to come into the side having recovered from a minor calf problem that has kept him out of the last two matches against the Netherlands and New Zealand but Cameron Green will also be set for a recall while Marnus Labuschagne is likely to remain in the middle order. Australia will be down to only 13 fit players for the clash with England with Sean Abbott and Alex Carey the only others available in the squad.”He’s flown home late last night: he’s got a family issue going on,” Stoinis said on Thursday morning. “And, like we all know, family is very important. He’s doing the right thing and he’s getting home and he’s seeing the people he needs to see and then I don’t think there’s a timeline on when he’s coming back but I’m sure he’ll do what he needs to do at home and then and then get back. He sent me a message last night saying, ‘I’ll be home for a little bit and then I’m coming back to win this World Cup’ so that makes me smile.”You miss him off the field or in terms of his energy and his personality around the team as much as we’re going to miss him on the field. But you can pretty much see how the team’s going to line up anyway, and there’s bases covered. I joked with him that he just passes the overs back to me now – and thanks for that… We will miss him and yeah, he’ll be back soon. And the train keeps rolling.”Marcus Stoinis is set to return from a calf niggle against England•AFP/Getty Images

Marsh’s absence will also likely mean that Steven Smith will return to his preferred position at No.3. But it is a huge blow to Australia’s balance with two of their most explosive and destructive players in Marsh and Maxwell missing for the match against England as they look to shore up a semi-final spot.Stoinis confirmed that he is hoping to be fit enough to bowl 10 overs – if required – following his calf issue. “I’ll have a big training session today [Thursday], go through my paces. But I think I’m ready to go, touch wood,” he said. He attempted to convince coach Andrew McDonald and selector George Bailey that he was available to face New Zealand in Dharamsala last week, but they decided to delay his return by a week.”There’s been moving parts… it hasn’t been the smoothest campaign and we’ve gone from losing the first couple to now sitting in the top four,” Stoinis said. “There is a silver lining there. It always feels good when you walk towards the finals and boys starting coming back into the team and that sort of thing. We saw it with Heady [Travis Head] last game so it could be our secret weapon.”

Glamorgan total overhauled with room to spare as opener helps break chase

ECB Reporters Network16-Jun-2023Essex 177 for 6 (Khushi 61, McIlroy 4-36) beat Glamorgan 175 for 6 (Carlson 43, Harmer 2-43) by four wicketsFeroze Khushi sent off his audition to be Dan Lawrence’s successor as Essex made it four wins in a row by beating Glamorgan by four wickets in the Vitality Blast.Academy graduate Khushi crashed a 37-ball 61 as Essex comfortably chased down 175, despite losing three early wickets thanks to Jamie McIlroy’s four for 36. Khushi is in prime position to push for a regular first-team spot after Lawrence announced he was to join Surrey from next season and showed his promise with an innings that included four huge sixes.Paul Walter continued his fine form against Glamorgan with 43, before Matt Critchley and Daniel Sams saw off most the remaining runs with 24 balls to spare.Having been stuck in on a fresh pitch, Kiran Carlson got the visitors off to a flyer with 43 off 25 balls, which included a straight six off Sams and a swatted pull maximum off Sam Cook.Sam Northeast, who had earlier been meekly dropped, was the first of three catches for Walter at long-on – with Colin Ingram and Chris Cooke also picking out the tallest man on the field – as Glamorgan reached 55 for 1 in the powerplay.Glamorgan’s good start was dented by Ingram and Carlson falling in successive overs as Essex claimed control of the middle overs to have Glamorgan 122 for 4 after 15 – with Cooke falling to Harmer.Critchley lured Billy Root to swing to wide long-on but Timm van der Gugten smashed Harmer for two sixes in an 18 run over to push Glamorgan closer towards par. Van der Gugten was eventually run out in the final over after a brutal 14-ball 33 as Glamorgan ended up on 175 for 6 – with Sams and Critchley both boasting economical figures of 1 for 20 to keep the total narrowly in the Eagles’ favour.Essex take an aggressive approach to their batting – the results coming in two forms. On one side you have two wickets in the first over and three in the powerplay, leaving them 35 for 3: Robin Das slogged his first ball to deep square leg and Michael Pepper ramped the next ball behind. Jamie McIlroy couldn’t get a hat-trick but Josh Rymell chipped to mid-on in the left-armer’s following over.On the other, you had Khushi pinging three sixes in the first three overs as he moved to 33 off his first 11 balls, although he took fewer risks to reach his third half-century in 29 balls.Walter joined Khushi and the pair found a nice rhythm in a 80-run stand in 47 balls. Walter had scored 58 and 78 in his previous two innings against Glamorgan, he struck 42 before his fourth attempt at a six top-edged to short third.Khushi was sensationally caught and bowled by van der Gugten five balls later to leave 59 needed off 51 balls. But Sams and Critchley made sure the result wasn’t in danger, with the former boshing 41 off 16 – Essex scoring 57 off the last 24 balls they faced.

SA’s side has undergone a shake-up with Bavuma taking over as captain and van der Dussen among those who have been dropped

Firdose Moonda27-Feb-2023The party is over. After two months of high-octane cricket thanks to the SA20 and the Women’s T20 World Cup, South African cricket now has to get on with the serious business of a Test series and you can expect it to be heavy going.Although the series takes place following sell-out crowds around the country, the Tests start on Tuesday this week and Wednesday next week, leaving little room for big weekend crowds and there’s no buzz to speak of.That’s understandable for a contest whose context was ripped away when South Africa were confirmed to be out of contention for the World Test Championship final and against an opposition that have not properly competed here since their Test win at St George’s Park in 2007. Since then, West Indies have only toured South Africa once in 2014 and have not won a Test.Temba Bavuma made his debut in that series and though it was unremarkable, it marked a full circle moment for someone who saw cricketers from the Caribbean as role-models. “Growing up, West Indies was the team that I supported,” Bavuma said ahead of the first Test. “They were always on the TV at home and my uncles supported them. I guess there’s always been that [special] sentiment when it comes to West Indies. When I made my debut, I got 10 runs, so that wasn’t a thing to make a big noise about. Hopefully this can go better.”As far as leadership debuts go, Bavuma probably could not have wished for a lower-profile assignment. At the same time as his Test captaincy reign begins, Australia play India, England are in New Zealand and the Women’s Premier League is beginning. It’s safe to say the majority of cricket fans’ eyeballs will be occupied, especially as the outcome of this series has no bearing on the current WTC cycle.Related

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For South Africa it is simply an opportunity to begin again, though their next Test will be in December. By then, it’s likely that former captain Dean Elgar will have retired. He was planning this series as a swansong in both captaincy and playing terms and after he had no choice in the former, he will want to make sure he controls the latter. Elgar’s tenure lasted less than two years and began a brief revival for the Test side, but he was replaced with Bavuma by new coach Shukri Conrad, who has been tasked with turning around a team that was completely outplayed in their last five Tests.South Africa lost series in both England and Australia and were bowled out for under 200 runs in seven out of 11 Test innings. That has necessitated a shake-up of the top six which has seen Sarel Erwee, Rassie van der Dussen, Khaya Zondo and Kyle Verreynne dropped and Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton recalled. Also included are Keegan Petersen, who is back from a torn hamstring, and Heinrich Klaasen, who has been picked as first-choice wicketkeeper-batter. The overall make-up of the line-up suggests that South Africa are looking for a more proactive, Bazball-style approach, but with their usual amount of caution. Bavball maybe?”In my experience, the last two series, we know are always tough tours,” Bavuma said. “They separate the good guys from the really good guys and [it] comes with challenges. We didn’t meet up to those challenges. We know we need to score runs to give the bowlers to do what they need to do. We shouldn’t forget the fact we have guys here who played against India last summer when people didn’t back us to do it and we won. And there was no guy who scored 150 or something like that. Hopefully [the series against] West Indies will be another showing of guys going out and doing what they need to do from a team point of view.”To that end, South Africa are also hoping for slightly less hostile pitches than usual, even though the series will be played entirely on the Highveld and there has been heavy rain for several weeks in that area. While Bavuma and Conrad have not specifically requested a particular kind of surface, pitches have been more batter-friendly across the country on the domestic four-day circuit and that is set to continue into the internationals. Whether that will make for more exciting cricket remains to be seen but Bavuma certainly wasn’t selling it that way.Bavuma on South Africa’s Women’s T20 World Cup campaign: ‘We always look for areas everywhere to draw inspiration and energy from and we will be using that in our game’•ICC via Getty Images

Asked what he thought of West Indies, he said, “They play old-fashioned cricket. Batters grind it out. Bowlers are looking to hit their areas outside offstump.” And he’s not wrong. Over the last year, West Indies have the lowest run-rate in Tests among all teams – 2.71. South Africa have the second-lowest – 2.95. Both of them are well behind the format leaders, England, who score at 4.36 to the over and have the best win-loss record in Tests over the last 12 months. For teams like South Africa and West Indies, who are playing catch up, England’s high-risk, high-reward strategy could be an inspiration but its seems Bavuma and co are getting their motivation elsewhere.”All the guys were watching the T20 World Cup final and supporting the ladies. We always look for areas everywhere to draw inspiration and energy from and we will be using that in our game,” Bavuma said, referring to the the South African Women’s team who made history by becoming the country’s first senior side to qualify for a World Cup final.Given that the men were booted out of the last two T20 World Cups in the group stage and are yet to qualify for this year’s 50-over World Cup, it’s fitting that they were taking notes on how their counterparts have exceeded expectation and even echoed the call for more money to be spent on the women’s game.”It’s been big – what the women’s team has been able to achieve over the last while, with the limited resources they have,” Bavuma said. “With performances like this, I hope there will be a lot more support, a lot more care and a lot more invested into the women’s team.”

Thirty-eight Sri Lanka players have signed a statement refusing to sign the tour contracts offered by SLC

Andrew Fidel Fernando05-Jun-2021Sri Lanka’s tour of England has been cast into serious jeopardy after the players expected to be selected refused to sign the tour contracts offered by Sri Lanka Cricket.This is as part of the men’s cricketers’ larger resistance to SLC’s new annual contracts scheme, which they believe lacks transparency and does not adequately compensate senior players. Although players have not been centrally contracted since last October when the previous round of contracts expired, series since then have been played under a succession of temporary tour contracts. But the players have now dug their heels in and are headed for a serious confrontation with SLC over the next 72 hours. The team is due to leave for England at 12.05am on Wednesday (June 9).Thirty-eight players have signed a statement refusing to sign the tour contracts – an increase from the 24 players who had previously made their resistance to the new scheme official. Primarily, the players’ contention is that the workings of the grading system devised by SLC to assign contracts of varying value to players have not been sufficiently made clear to them.”Because of the problems with the transparency of the ratings system devised by SLC, the players will not sign the [tour contract],” the release signed by 38 top players said.Their lawyer, Nishan Premathiratne, told ESPNcricinfo that in addition to refusing the tour contracts on principle, there was also a legal objection to these contracts.”The tour contract also refers to matters of the annual [main] contract for 2021, which is yet unsigned,” he said. “In the event, the annual contract is not settled and a dispute is pending, the validity of the tour contract referring to an unsigned contract is also an issue.”Related

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In addition to taking issue with transparency, the players have also stated they would prefer the only criteria for drawing up contracts lists should be player performance and fitness. SLC’s new scheme, however, also takes into account leadership, professionalism and future performance/adaptability.And while the annual contracts were offered to 24 players – a reduction from the 30 who were offered central contracts in the last round – players are also now suggesting that some compensation be given to a wider group of players. As 14 further players have joined the original 24 in resisting the new contracts scheme, this new request follows.”In addition, the players have decided they will not sign the contracts until players who have performed well in past years are looked after fairly,” the statement said.The new contracts scheme had been drawn up primarily by the technical committee headed by Aravinda de Silva and SLC’s new director of cricket Tom Moody. There will now need to be serious negotiations over the next few days if Sri Lanka are to fulfil their tour obligations.Players who have refused to sign the tour contract: Kusal Perera, Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews, Dananjaya de Silva, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella, Suranga Lakmal, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lasith Embuldeniya, Pathum Nissanka, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dushmantha Chameera, Kasun Rajitha, Lakshan Sandakan, Vishwa Fernando, Isuru Udana, Oshada Fernando, Ramesh Mendis, Lahiru Kumara, Danushka Gunathilaka, Ashen Bandara, Akila Dananjaya, Chamika Karunaratne, Asitha Fernando, Binura Fernando, Shiran Fernando, Avishka Fernando, Ishan Jayaratne, Charith Asalanka, Dananjaya Lakshan, Nuwan Pradeep, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Kamil Mishara, Praveen Jayawickrama, Roshen Silva, Minod Bhanuka

At 23, Pant will become the fifth-youngest captain in the IPL

Nagraj Gollapudi30-Mar-2021Rishabh Pant has been appointed the Delhi Capitals captain for the 2021 IPL. The development comes in the wake of the Capitals’ regular captain Shreyas Iyer being ruled of the season after he dislocated his left shoulder during the ODI series against England. This is the first captaincy assignment for Pant in the IPL, who was bought by the Capitals before the 2016 IPL and then became the first player to be retained ahead of the 2018 mega auction.At 23, Pant will become the fifth-youngest captain in the IPL after Virat Kohli, Steven Smith, Suresh Raina and Iyer. While Kohli and Smith assumed leadership at 22, Raina and Iyer were 23 too but younger in terms of days than Pant.Despite his inexperience, Pant was one of the frontrunners in the captaincy race to replace Iyer along with the senior Indian pair of R Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane, who had long leadership stints at Kings XI Punjab and the Rajasthan Royals, respectively. Pant had only led Delhi in domestic cricket, but he has been in phenomenal form as a match-winner for India recently, starting with the historic Test series win in Australia followed by the series win across the three formats against England at home.Related

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Pant was “humbled” to take on the captaincy, which, he admitted, was a “dream” from the time he started playing for the Capitals.”Delhi is where I grew up, and where my IPL journey began six years ago,” Pant said in a Capitals media release. “To lead this team one day is a dream I’ve always harboured. And today, as that dream comes true, I feel humbled.”Iyer, who is awaiting surgery on his hand, said Pant was the “best man” to take charge at the Capitals in his absence. “I had no doubt that Rishabh would be the best man for the job,” Iyer said in the media release.The decision to appoint Pant was taken collectively by the franchise co-owners Kiran Kumar Grandhi and Parth Jindal along with the Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting.In the 2016 auction, the Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils) bought Pant for INR 1.9 crore and in 2018, he got INR 15 crore (USD 2 million approx). In 2022, the IPL will host a mega auction where teams will overhaul squads while being able to retain a few players. Pant will once again be expected to be the first retention on the Capitals’ auction sheet. Along with Iyer, he is expected to be among the core group of players.The development marks a turnaround of sorts for Pant since the 2020 IPL. Pant had entered last IPL, which was played in the UAE, on the back of some strong words from the Indian team management, with his shot selection coming under the scanner.Although the Capitals reached the IPL final last season, Pant’s batting remained under par by his standards. Overall, he made 342 runs in 14 innings at a strike rate of just 114 and an average of 31, with just one half-century. The Indian selectors wanted Pant to work on his fitness and did not include him in the squads for India’s limited-overs segments on the Australia tour. Despite the snub, Pant ended the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as India’s best batsman, including setting up the historic win on the final day of the Brisbane Test, where several of India’s frontline players were absent.Pant then dominated England both in the Test series as well as the white-ball segments, with some adventurous and dominant strokeplay including the memorable reverse scoop against James Anderson in the Test series against England.Ponting said Pant now had a “tremendous opportunity” to bring that form in the IPL. “The previous two seasons under Shreyas’ leadership have been incredible, and the results speak for themselves,” Ponting said in the media release. “This is a tremendous opportunity for young Rishabh, who is coming off successful stints against Australia and England which will no doubt give him the confidence needed to take on a new role that comes with a lot more responsibility.”According to Jindal, Pant with his brand of cricket “embodied” the ethos of the Capitals. “Delhi Capitals as a team plays a passionate and fearless brand of cricket, and Rishabh Pant embodies that best. The Delhi team has played an important role in his growth as a cricketer, just like he has played an equally important role in the growth of the Delhi team.”

The side will instead demonstrate their commitment to the eradication of gender-based violence

Annesha Ghosh17-Jan-2021The South Africa women’s team is unlikely to take a knee or do anything else in terms of a gesture in support of the global movement against racial intolerance when they take on Pakistan for six limited-overs matches in Durban from Wednesday. They will, however, be expressing their protest against gender-based violence.When asked if there have been discussions within the team about showing solidarity towards the fight against racial injustice in the upcoming home series, their first international assignment since March last year, senior batter and former captain Mignon du Preez instead focused on what the team is planning to do.”Something that we’re definitely going to talk about in this series is gender-based violence. I think that’s also something that’s close to our hearts and is a big issue in South Africa,” du Preez told ESPNcricinfo. “We, actually, will have a ‘Black Day’, where we will be playing in black, standing together.Related

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“For us that’s going to be the focus this time around. There’s been a lot of talk around other racial issues, and we know it’s a big issue around the globe. But, for us, this is one that really touches home, and we’re going to focus on that during this series.”In the WBBL in October-November, where eight South Africans, including du Preez, made up the largest single-nation overseas contingent and were spread across seven of the eight squads, all teams performed the Indigenous Barefoot Circle ceremony to “reaffirm their commitment to reconciliation and taking a stand against racism”. Several teams even took a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.As far as international cricket goes, the South Africa men’s team had made a belated decision to adopt the “raised fist” gesture ahead of the start of their two-Test series against Sri Lanka on December 26, in protest against racial injustice. On December 21, the interim CSA board chairman Judge Zak Yacoob wrote to director of cricket Graeme Smith and men’s national head coach Mark Boucher noting individuals’ right to freedom of expression, but stating that he felt South Africans should show “the world that all of us are together in opposing racism at every turn”.This came as a reaction to the team not taking a knee – or making any other gesture – on its return to international cricket, against England on November 27, the first time they played together since March. They did, however, wear black armbands to mourn the lives lost in the Covid-19 pandemic.When South Africa staged its first live cricket match following the resumption of the sport after the pandemic-induced break – the 3TC on July 18 – the country’s elite male cricketers showed a united face against racism by taking a knee at Centurion’s SuperSport Park.As for the campaign against gender-based violence, originally launched in February last year, Cricket South Africa had at the time said in a statement that the “focus point” of the drive would be South Africa’s ODI match at Kingsmead against Australia that was scheduled for March 22. However, the Covid-19 pandemic-enforced cancellation of the tour put paid to those plans.

Derbyshire stay on course for knock-out stages with five-wicket win

ECB Reporters Network30-Apr-2019An unbeaten 119 from Wayne Madsen steered Derbyshire to a five-wicket victory over Warwickshire to keep them on course for the knock-out stages of the Royal London One-Day Cup.Warwickshire had to win to have any chance of emerging from the North Group and half-centuries from Alex Thomson and Alex Mellor took them to a competitive 288 for 7 with Mark Watt taking 2 for 32.But Madsen was dominant and, although Thomson followed his unbeaten 68 with 3 for 57, Alex Hughes made 69 as Derbyshire won with 21 balls to spare to eliminate Warwickshire.Warwickshire had to win to stay in contention but they were struggling when they lost three wickets for 15 runs to slump to 113 for 5 in the 22nd over.Ed Pollock top-edged a return catch to Logan van Beek and Dominic Sibley edged the last ball of the first Powerplay before Luis Reece took the key wicket of Sam Hain.Hain had scored an unbeaten 161 in the previous game and looked set for another significant innings until he tried to cut Reece and was caught behind for 34 in the 17th over.With Watt’s accurate and disciplined spell accounting for Will Rhodes and Liam Banks, the innings stalled until Thomson struck the first boundary for 10 overs.He pulled Ravi Rampaul for a six and two fours in an over to give Warwickshire renewed momentum which increased when Mellor twice drove Critchley for six in an over which cost 19.Mellor top-edged a pull but Thomson and George Panayi added 58 before Henry Brookes drove van Beek for six in the last over to give Warwickshire a challenging total.Billy Godleman drove and cut Brookes for three consecutive fours but was bowled by Thomson for 40 and Reece was caught at slip when he cut the spinner onto the wicketkeeper’s thigh.Tom Lace miscued a pull at Jetan Patel’s first ball but Warwickshire’s bowling was too inconsistent to apply any sustained pressure and Madsen played with authority from the start.He drove Patel for two consecutive fours to reach 50 from 43 balls and, with Hughes, took the game away from Warwickshire.Hughes drove Thomson for six and repeated the shot in his next over before he drove Patel back over his head in the 33rd to take the target below a hundred.Patel was Warwickshire’s best hope but Madsen never allowed him to settle, driving him for six and the stand was worth 134 in 22 overs when Hughes was well caught at mid on off Thomson.Madsen completed his fifth List A 100 from 92 balls and sealed Derbyshire’s third victory with his fourth six in the 47th over.