Cricket South Africa members’ council – the highest-decision making body within the organisation, which consists of the 14 provincial affiliate presidents – will not appoint the interim board imposed on them by sports minister Nathi Mthethwa, leaving the game in administrative limbo. The Members’ Council and the interim board, the two bodies that were due to work together to clean up CSA’s governance structures are now, effectively, at an impasse.In a statement issued on Thursday afternoon, the members’ council revealed that they have written to Mthethwa to raise “material concerns,” over the interim board and stressed that they “are not prepared” to let the interim board do its work. This decision goes squarely against Mthethwa’s directive and may result in the minister intervening in CSA, as he threatened to last month. Mthethwa has the power to withdraw funding from CSA and to strip them of their status as the governing body of cricket in South Africa.The interim board responded shortly after with a statement of their own, confirming that they have received a letter from the members’ council, which raised concerns about how the interim board was constituted and over conflicts of interests in relation to one member, Haroon Lorgat. While the statement from the interim board did not detail Lorgat’s conflicts, as former CEO of Cricket South Africa, Lorgat would have been in charge during the period under review in the forensic report, which was used to fire his successor Thabang Moroe.The interim board have already begun work and indicated their intention to continue, calling the members’ council position “obstructionist.” In a statement the interim board said, “The current situation is untenable and we are thus dismayed to be in receipt of what we can only describe as an obstructionist, legalistic letter from the Members’ Council while we have tried to put structures in place and hold individuals within CSA to account. We are of the view that the conduct of the Members’ Council is an attempt to stymie the work of our Board.”As a result, a saga that began with Moroe’s suspension in December last year (and subsequent dismissal for financial misconduct in August) and came to a head when the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) asked CSA’s board and executive to stand down in September has entered a new stage of standoff. Now, the members’ council and the minister-appointed interim board are in disagreement over who should clean up the mess in South African cricket, with the members’ council insisting they will “take the necessary steps to ensure that the concerns, which Minister Mthethwa and SASCOC have previously raised, are addressed efficiently and professionally.”The members’ council pointed to their role in convincing the previous CSA board to resign en masse following repeated calls from stakeholders including SASCOC and the South African Cricketers’ Association for them to stand down as evidence that they have the game at heart.”The Members Council embarked on a process last month to facilitate the resignation of the then-incumbent board members of CSA, with the intention of appointing an Interim Board that would work collaboratively with all stakeholders,” the members’ council statement read. “The main objective of the new Interim Board was to work closely with the Members Council and CSA executives, to achieve necessary change within the organisation and to take cricket forward until a new board is elected at the annual general meeting.”However, the members’ council and interim board were unable to form a constructive alliance with the members’ council concerned with |unresolved matters including a “conflict of interest relating to a proposed member of the Interim Board; opposition to outlined roles, responsibilities and reporting lines as outlined in the Memorandum of Incorporation; unprofessional conduct; non-cooperation; and misalignment.” The members’ council believe that if they had continued to work with the interim board they would have “failed to ensure that it acts in the public interest at all times.”The interim board disputes this assertion and said the members’ council have been “unwilling to cooperate,” and have “acted in bad faith and contrary to the consensus it reached with Mthethwa.” The interim board said it is “determined to continue our work in the public interest and in the best interests of cricket in South Africa.”
The Melbourne Renegades remained at the bottom of the BBL table as a strong performance from the Sydney Thunder top order took them to a rain-curtailed seven-run victory on the Gold Coast, their fifth in a row to put them at the top of the ladder, on an evening interrupted and ultimately ended by rain.A power-packed start by Alex Hales put the Thunder well ahead of the rate in what looked a demanding chase of 173 after Shaun Marsh’s 87 had anchored the Renegades’ innings either side of the first rain interruption. He fell to one of the catches of the tournament – and certainly the catch of the year so far – from MacKenzie Harvey, but the innings was then kept on course by the cool head of Usman Khawaja.Alex Hales and Usman Khawaja’s attacking knocks secured a win for the Sydney Thunder•Getty Images
Both sides were hampered by a wet ball at stages, but the Renegades needed the game to go the distance having fallen behind on the DLS due to Hales’ onslaught. Despite narrowing the gap somewhat, they were unable to take the wicket that could have made the difference. Captain Aaron Finch gambled by holding his senior seamer Kane Richardson back, as the rain fell with a view to using him in the Power Surge over and the death.Khawaja guiding hand
Khawaja was impressive both on the field and during the rain break. Having been content to watch Hales do his stuff at the other end – he made 5 off 7 balls in their 52-run opening stand that came in four overs – he was then taking charge of the latter part of the chase when the asking rate had nudged back above ten an over following some good work by the spinners. He took consecutive boundaries off Imad Wasim in the tenth over to give the Thunder even more breathing space on the DLS and dispatched Will Sutherland over mid-on moments before the rain got too heavy.Meanwhile, during the first break for rain, Khawaja had given an illuminating interview to the host broadcaster about dealing with the pressures of professional cricket and lessons he has learnt during his lengthy career. There is a long future for him around the game when he does finally put the bat away,Perry’s debut over, Harvey’s worldie
It was a daunting prospect for 20-year-old Mitchell Perry to start his BBL career bowling to an already-set Hales. Sending down a length perfectly in Hales’ arc, he was treated with disdain for five deliveries including two sixes over long-on. Aiming for a wide yorker with the last delivery, he sent down a big full toss outside off stump which again flew off Hales’ bat, but a split second later it was intercepted by a flying Harvey – nephew of former Australia allrounder Ian Harvey – another of the Renegades’ youngsters who is lauded as one of the best fielders in the game.There was a look of giddy astonishment on everyone’s face, not least Perry. On the first day of 2021, it certainly set a high bar in the catch-of-the-year race. However, there were suggestions the delivery should have been checked for a front-foot no-ball.Marsh’s efforts in vain again
For the second game running, a well-constructed innings from Marsh ended on the losing side. His 87 off 48 balls included five sixes – his half-century coming from 29 deliveries – and he was able to find his stride again after the rain break as the Renegades added 67 off the final five overs of the innings. Finch said the team’s plan was to come out very aggressively and he set that tone himself, but at 3 for 58 in the seventh over, it could have gone wrong.Marsh and Mohammad Nabi added 90 in nine overs to propel the innings forward, Nabi overcoming a sluggish start where he was 4 off 14 balls to finish on 33 off 24, but the Renegades’ season is still threatening to go the same way as the last one.
Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah are among the Indian players to have complained to match officials about alleged racist abuse and foul language directed at them from sections of the crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground during the ongoing third Test against Australia.ESPNcricinfo understands that up to four Indian players were at the receiving end of the abuse, which was reported by the Indian team to the on-field umpires and the match referee at the end of third day’s play. The incident further dampened the mood in the visitors’ dressing room after India endured a difficult Saturday, as Australia ended a dominant day taking a 197-run lead with eight second-innings wickets in hand.It could not be confirmed whether India have lodged an official written complaint with the match officials yet. Not much detail, too, has emerged about the alleged abuse, which is understood to have been taken place more than once.The fact a problem had arisen emerged at stumps when a group of senior India players, including captain Ajinkya Rahane, had a lengthy conversation with umpires Paul Wilson and Paul Reiffel before the discussions were taken to the dressing room. It is understood that match referee David Boon visited the Indian dressing room after that and there were further conversations between India officials and security staff outside. Fingers were pointed towards an area at the Randwick End where Siraj had been stationed when fielding at fine leg. Siraj was then spoken to by officials shortly before the team left the ground.Last year, New Zealand Cricket banned a fan from entering all their venues after being found guilty of racially abusing England fast bowler Jofra Archer in 2019. The 28-year-old fan had pleaded guilty of using insulting language against Archer. Cricket Australia, not ICC, to probe ‘inappropriate conduct’ Although the match officials are appointed by the ICC, Cricket Australia, the hosts, will be the adjudicating authority in this case. Incidents such as these are classified as ‘inappropriate conduct’ in ICC’s anti-discrimination policy that was updated in August 2019. This policy is followed by ICC and all member countries in tournaments – both international and domestic – they conduct.Any incident(s) need to be filed with the ICC within two weeks after the match by the anti-discrimination administrator. Under the policy, the ICC has recommended boards need to remind spectators at all times before and during a match about about inappropriate conduct.”It shall be a breach of the terms and conditions of entry to the venue for any ticket-holder to engage in any conduct (whether through the use of language, gestures or otherwise) which is likely to offend, insult, humiliate, intimidate, threaten, disparage or vilify any other person (including players, match officials or spectators) on the basis of their race, religion, culture, colour, descent, nationality, ethnic origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability, marital status and/or maternity status,” the policy states.”Such action will not be tolerated and is likely to result in ejection from the venue, the imposition of other sanctions, such as being banned from the venue in the future and possible further action including criminal prosecution.”
Danny Briggs has moved a step closer to an international recall more than seven years after he last represented England.Briggs, the left-arm spinner, is the highest wicket-taker in the history of English domestic T20 cricket but played the last of his seven T20I in Australia in January 2014. He also played one ODI against Pakistan in the UAE in 2012.But on the back of a decent BBL season – he was part of the Adelaide Strikers side which made it to the Eliminator phase – he has been named as a non-travelling reserve for the limited-overs section of England’s tour of India. He was part of the England Lions tours to the UAE and India in the 2018-19 winter, and has recently signed a three-year contract with Warwickshire after leaving Sussex.Related
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With Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid the two frontline spinners in the T20I squad and Matt Parkinson the only one among the travelling reserves, the naming of Briggs as a standby player suggests he is not far from a return.It currently appears England will include only two spinners in their T20I side but, if pitches prove helpful to that style of bowling, they may well be inclined to include an extra spinner or two when they return to India for the T20 World Cup later in the year.ESPNcricinfo understands that Tom Helm, the Middlesex seamer, and Will Jacks, the Surrey batsman, have also been put on standby as non-travelling reserves.Helm was also a reserve for the limited-overs series in South Africa, while Jacks, although aged only 22, has long been seen as one of the most exciting young batsmen in the English game. Both players are uncapped.Although encouraging news for the trio, it appears that the ECB have attempted not to name reserves who might have otherwise been in action in the PSL, which starts this weekend.
England will have some unusual support in their final Test against India with Australia, perhaps through gritted teeth, hoping their arch rivals can secure victory to give them a place in the World Test Championship final.Australia have needed favours from England throughout the series since their tour of South Africa was postponed due to Covid-19, taking it out of their hands whether they will qualify to play New Zealand in the late-June encounter.There were a variety of series outcomes that would have put Australia through, but the only one left is for England to level the scoreline at 2-2 in Ahmedabad. England’s two-day defeat in the third Test put England themselves out of the running for the final.Related
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“[There’s a] bit of self-interest there for us. We’ll be hoping they can do the job there,” Andrew McDonald, Australia’s assistant coach who is in charge of the team in New Zealand, said.”It’s going to be difficult for them, no doubt, some of the surfaces have been conducive to spin bowling and probably India’s strengths in their ability to play spin as well. We wish them well. See what unfolds, it’s out of our hands but we’ll be watching along with interest.”Think most people have been watching that series with some great interest in terms of the conditions and the short nature of the Tests has been very interesting to watch from afar.”However, David Warner won’t be able to bring himself to support England although would gladly take a spot in the final. “I won’t be barracking for England,” he said. “From a cricket perspective we’d like to see a draw [in the series]. It would be ideal for us to make the World Test Championship final and if that happens it’s a great result for us.”If it had not been for points docked for a slow over-rate against India in Melbourne, Australia would have qualified for the final once their South Africa tour was called off. If they do not sneak through with England’s help it will mean their next Test cricket will not be until late this year with the Ashes or potentially a one-off match against Afghanistan beforehand.For his part, Joe Root, the England captain, said he wouldn’t see beating India as doing Australia a favour.”I would see it as us ending the series as a drawn series and us doing something special here in India,” Root said. “Unfortunately we can’t qualify for that final, but it would be a fantastic achievement for us to have drawn this series and as an England captain that is about as much as I can say.”New Zealand, meanwhile, can watch it all unfold having booked their spot in the final weeks ago, and they weren’t stating a preference of opponent. “It’s out of my hands,” coach Gary Stead said. “I know it’s either going to be India or Australia, we’ve put England to side, but it doesn’t really worry me.”
Eoin Morgan has warned that no timeframe should be put on Jofra Archer’s recovery from a long-standing elbow injury, after it was confirmed that he would miss the three-match ODI series in India, starting on Tuesday, as well as the opening rounds of next month’s IPL.Archer was one of England’s stand-out performers in the 3-2 T20I series defeat against India last week, claiming seven wickets at 22.14 in the five-match series, at an economy rate of 7.75.However, his condition reportedly worsened as the matches progressed, with his four wicketless overs going for 43 in the final match, his least impactful contribution of the series.”I can’t give a medical opinion,” Morgan, England’s white-ball captain, said. “We know the situation with his elbow, which got progressively worse, and we know it needs investigation. So only time will tell.”The duty of care is towards the player. He’s given his heart and soul to us since he’s been involved, so all the care and attention will be given to him in order to get the best result possible.”Chris Silverwood, England’s head coach, confirmed on Sunday that the decision to rest Archer had been a “mutual” one between the ECB and Rajasthan Royals, for whom he was an outstanding performer in 2020, earning the tournament’s MVP award for his 20 wickets at 18.25.”Obviously I want Jofra at the World Cup and the Ashes,” Silverwood said. “Both parties have put England first, basically. He needs to get this right. He needs some time to do that so we’ve made space to make sure that we gave him the best chance of being successful for England.”Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer celebrate at the IPL•BCCI
As to whether he will be able to feature at all for the Royals this season, with the tournament’s final set to take place on May 30, Morgan said the decision would rest with the team’s medical staff.”It all depends on the outcome of the investigative stuff, the best rehabilitation programme coming back and we’ll go from there,” he said. “We fully trust our medical team, they’ve been outstanding in regards to player welfare and rehabilitation.”Though Archer will be missing the ODI series, one player who is set to return to the format is his England and Royals team-mate Ben Stokes, who has not played a 50-over match since his starring role in the World Cup final at Lord’s in July 2019.Related
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Although he is an integral part of England’s plans across all three formats, and played in each of the four Tests and five T20Is against India in recent weeks, Morgan said that Stokes’ willingness to be involved, and the short turnaround between this campaign and the start of the IPL on April 9, had persuaded the management not to rest him further.”We have looked at various periods of rest for Ben,” Morgan said. “There’s potential [for more rest] when we get home in the summer, with the circumstances of bio-bubbles and when he can see his family. Here, we play three games in five days and Ben is staying on for the IPL, it would have meant he would have sat in his room, so he was keen to play.”It is great to have him back,” he added. “Any opportunity we have to get him in a white-ball game is brilliant. He really enjoys his white-ball cricket and it is important to keep him engaged in that.”If you don’t play a format for a long time, it can show neglect in certain parts of the game. We know how demanding the other formats are on his body and mind, so it is great to have him around.”
The Kolkata Knight Riders managed the first successful defence in the 2021 IPL despite a blip towards the end of their innings. They managed just 42 in their last five overs, but the 145 for 1 in the first 15 proved to be good enough on a dry pitch, which their bowlers exploited.Eighty-or-nothing Nitish Rana had that eighty night on a track that didn’t support his weakness: short and fast bowling. The selfless Rahul Tripathi scored an attacking fifty despite not batting at the position suited to him, opening the batting.Defending about 20 fewer than what they looked good for, the Knight Riders’ fast bowlers produced the big wickets and their spinners stifled the Sunrisers Hyderabad batsmen to seal the game. After Prasidh Krishna got David Warner early, Jonny Bairstow revived the Sunrisers chase with a 40-ball 55, but Pat Cummins got him out in the 13th over to leave Manish Pandey with a tall ask of getting 86 off the last seven. Pandey couldn’t despite an Abdul Samad cameo at the end.Sunrisers err, Rana cashes in
Dry pitches are what Sunrisers have built their successful model on. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Sandeep Sharma remain accurate before Rashid Khan drives home the advantage, but on this occasion both Kumar and Sharma got off to an error-filled start. While Shubhman Gill’s struggle to bat at T20 pace continued from 2020, Rana made full use of the width provided by both the new-ball bowlers. By the time Gill was out despite seemingly having picked a Khan wrong’un, the Knight Riders still had 53 on the board in seven overs.Rahul Tripathi congratulates Nitish Rana after the latter reached his fifty•BCCI/IPL
Tripathi, Rana punish Sunrisers
As often, Tripathi came out oozing intent. The second ball he faced, he went against the turn to hit Mohammad Nabi for a six over long-off. While Khan kept things quiet at his end, Rana and Tripathi kept attacking the others. They batted together for eight overs; only one of them didn’t feature a boundary, and two of them went for more than one. At 145 for 1 in 15 overs, with Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik and Eoin Morgan still in the shed, the Knight Riders looked set to bat the Sunrisers out of the game.Sunrisers fight back
In the 16th over, Tripathi fell trying to hit his third six of the night, but it seemed like the perfect time for Russell to walk in. He announced himself with a four first ball, but Khan got him out in his customary one over at the death. The slowness of the pitch proved difficult for the batsmen coming in, with both Rana and Morgan falling to the offspin of Nabi in the 18th over. Karthik, though, arrested the slide with a nine-ball 22 to give the Knight Riders 28 more than what Mumbai Indians came close to defending in the first match in Chennai.Prasidh dents the chase
Harbhajan Singh, playing his first IPL match since the 2019 final, almost had Warner the first ball he bowled to him but Cummins dropped him at point. However, in the next over, Krishna produced a beauty angling across Warner, getting the edge through to Karthik. With the left-hand batsman gone, the Knight Riders switched immediately to the left-arm spin of Shakib Al Hasan with immediate results, getting rid of Wriddhiman Saha first ball of the third over. The Sunrisers were 10 for 2 in the third over.Bairstow keeps Sunrisers alive
With Pandey playing more of an anchor role in the chase, it was down to Bairstow to prevent being choked out by the Knight Riders’ spinners; Singh, Shakib and Varun Chakravarthy. He brought up his 50 in 32 balls, taking the Sunrisers to 100 for 2 at the end of the 12th over. Pandey was 34 off 27 at the other end.Cummins starts the final slide
Morgan went to his strike bowler in the 13th, and while the ball to get Bairstow wasn’t flash, sometimes the short and wide ball does it just fine in T20s. Three metres either side of the man at backward point, and Bairstow would have got four more, but he found the man to perfection. The squeeze was on after that, and in Cummins, Chakravarthy, Shakib and Krishna, the Knight Riders had too much quality at the end for a suspect Sunrisers middle order.
Lewis Goldsworthy completed a memorable first-class debut as Somerset clinched a four-wicket LV=County Championship victory over Middlesex at Taunton.Having contributed an invaluable 39 to his side’s first innings, the 20-year-old Cornishman shared an unbroken match-winning stand of 86 with Steve Davies to take the Cidermen to their target of 207 soon after lunch.Goldsworthy finished 41 not out and Davies unbeaten on 44, while Tim Murtagh had figures of 4 for 53 at the end of an absorbing contest, sadly played out in front of empty stands at the Cooper Associates County Ground.Somerset took 21 points from their third group win in four games, while Middlesex, who had bossed much of the game, had to be content with seven.The home side began the final morning on 104 for 4, needing a further 103 to win. Tom Abell, unbeaten on 43 overnight, got the run-chase underway with a two through midwicket off Murtagh.George Bartlett launched his innings with a sweetly-struck off-side boundary in Tom Helm’s opening over. On 47, Abell survived a confident shout from Murtagh for lbw, umpire Ian Gould remaining unmoved. Bartlett’s second boundary was another well-timed stroke, this time pulling Helm through mid-wicket.Abell edged Murtagh just short of second slip before Gould upheld a second lbw appeal from the same bowler, with the Somerset skipper one short of a half-century and 89 runs still needed.Murtagh’s next over saw Bartlett depart in the same fashion for 12, playing across the line, and at 123 for 6 Somerset looked in serious trouble.It was another major test for the temperament of diminutive debutant Goldsworthy as he was joined by the experienced Davies. As in the first innings when coming in at 98 for 4, the youngster passed with flying colours, getting into line with solid defensive technique against some probing seam bowling.Murtagh completed a fine eight-over spell from the River End before Davies lifted some of the pressure with two cover-driven fours in the same Martin Andersson over.Goldsworthy produced the shot of the day, savagely pulling Steve Finn to the mid-wicket boundary for four, with the sound of a pistol crack as bat met ball.Both batters demonstrated the patience to await a loose delivery and, while each played and missed occasionally, they gradually sucked the life out of the Middlesex seam attack.Goldsworthy brought up the fifty stand with a boundary to thirdman off the returning Murtagh.By lunch the partnership was worth 65 and Somerset were within 19 runs of what for more than two days had seemed a highly unlikely victory.After the break, Middlesex turned to legspinner Luke Hollman in a last throw of the dice.But Davies and Goldsworthy remained unperturbed and the latter sparked loud celebrations on the home dressing room balcony when striking the winning boundary off a Hollman full-toss.
South Africa set West Indies 324 to win the second Test and square the two-match series in St Lucia, and the hosts knocked off 15 of those runs without losing a wicket by the end of the third day. West Indies have successfully chased a score over 300 seven times before, second only to Australia, and twice in the last four years but are yet to cross 200 in this series.South Africa managed 33 more runs than their lowest total against West Indies, 141, a record in danger of being rewritten, when they teetered on 73 for 7. Rassie van der Dussen scored the sixth half-century of his Test career and shared in a 70-run eighth-wicket stand with Kagiso Rabada to save South Africa’s blushes. Rabada finished with a career-best 40, the second-highest score on the South African card.Kemar Roach and Kyle Mayers shared seven wickets between them and asked tough questions of South Africa’s line-up. Despite a heavy morning downpour and high humidity, there was not much swing through the air but the West Indian attack generated movement off the seam and challenged South Africa’s top and middle order.
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The day’s action got underway two hours and forty minutes late, with no play possible in the first session because of a wet outfield. Play was interrupted a couple of times more and only 59 overs were possible in the day. West Indies bowled 53 of them and their attack appeared to tire as the day wore on. Shannon Gabriel, who came into this match having recovered from a hamstring injury, was a particular concern. He bowled just six overs, in spells of three each, and went wicketless. Both Roach and Roston Chase also left the field for periods of time and Chase, who suffered a quad injury while fielding, did not bowl at all.Roach though struck with his third ball when Aiden Markram was forced to play at a delivery that moved away from him only to edge it to Jason Holder at second slip. He troubled Keegan Petersen and then changed ends to remove Dean Elgar, who pushed at a ball that seamed away from him and gave Holder a second catch.Petersen saw off Roach but bottom-edged Mayers onto his stumps as he tried to cut a short and wide delivery. He finished his debut series with a top score of 19.Mayers could have had Kyle Verreynne caught in the cordon when he edged a full delivery between third slip and gully, and then did have him when he was caught behind in the next over. West Indies snared the biggest fish four balls later when Quinton de Kock edged a Holder delivery to Joshua Da Silva. After a hundred in the first Test and 96 in the first innings of this Test, de Kock was dismissed for a duck.Wiaan Mulder attempted to drive a Mayers’ delivery that was pitched on fourth stump he edged it and was caught at gully. With South Africa losing five wickets for 21 runs, the questions about their batting inconsistencies resurfaced. van der Dussen and Keshav Maharaj took South Africa to tea but Maharaj was dismissed 14 balls after the break to what may be remembered as the catch of the series. Holder dived full stretch to his right to hang on one-handed as Maharaj edged off Jayden Seales.West Indies would have wanted to finish off South Africa’s tail quickly from there but Rabada denied them with a display that may earn him a promotion. He drove Gabriel through cover-point for four, hit Mayers over mid-off to take South Africa’s lead over 250, but the shot of his innings was a swing off Roach that went over long-on for the first six of the innings.van der Dussen brought up his fifty three balls later, off 103 balls. His was a demonstration of control, occasionally peppered with an aggressive shot through the covers or with a flick through the leg side. He may have had thoughts of a first Test century but Rabada’s dismissal, when he top-edged a Roach slower ball to the point fielder, would have ended those hopes. Anrich Nortje took South Africa’s lead past 300 and then nicked off before Lungi Ngidi became Da Silva’s first Test stumping when he went down the wicket to hit Kraigg Brathwaite over the top but missed.West Indies had to negotiate a little period of batting before the close and saw off Rabada, Ngidi and Maharaj to finish the day unscathed. A massive job remains for them over the next two days, made more difficult by a potential shuffle to their line-up because of Chase’s injury.