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Charges against him bring into question his handling of the BLM campaign, his management of former assistant coach Nkwe, and his treatment of then team-mate Adams

Firdose Moonda21-Jan-2022Cricket South Africa will argue for Mark Boucher’s dismissal in a disciplinary hearing which will take place in the next few months. Boucher was served with a seven-page charge sheet on Monday, which accused him of gross misconduct and bringing CSA into disrepute through historical and current handling of racial issues.The most serious charges against Boucher relate to his role in singing the words “brown s***” to his then team-mate Paul Adams, which was revealed by Adams at the Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) hearings. Boucher admitted to singing the song, but said he did not compose the lyrics and in a written affidavit apologised for his conduct. He also said CSA did not appropriately educate players in the immediate post-Apartheid era. Boucher did not appear for oral testimony. CSA was not satisfied with Boucher’s response and the charge sheet claims he has conducted himself in “a racist or subliminally racist manner”.Related

• 'Not my job or desire to find Boucher guilty or not' – Adams to not testify against former team-mate

• Mark Boucher hearing – current South Africa players to testify on behalf of coach

• Bavuma outlines difficulties of leading South Africa amid off-field issues

• Twin series triumphs suggest South Africa turnaround despite off-field uncertainty

• CSA's SJN follow-up: Boucher charged with 'gross misconduct'

“Having had your racist and/or offensive and/or inappropriate utterances drawn to your attention,” points 21.2 and 21.3 of the charge sheet say, “you failed to adequately and/or sufficiently and/or appropriately apologise for these utterances and/or acknowledge the racist nature of these utterances and/or the hurt that they caused; and/or … you have conducted yourself in a racist or subliminally racist manner by failing to acknowledge the impact of your conduct towards Mr Adams thereby exacerbating the offence of racism, bearing in mind your current position as the coach of the national team, which places you in a position of leadership and responsibility.”Boucher has also been charged with improper conduct when dealing with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) campaign in sport. According to the charge sheet, “when dealing with the BlackLivesMatter issue and the question of ‘taking the knee’, you allegedly dealt with the white players’ concerns and requested that the team manager (who is black) deal with the black players’ concerns. This allegedly created or exacerbated division and alienated players and the team.”South Africa initially opted not to take a knee when the anti-racism movement resurged in sport in mid-2020 but U-turned on that at the 3TC event in July 2020 when all players and support staff took a knee. Boucher was not part of the tournament because he had Covid-19 at the time. The national team then also chose not to take a knee when they played England in November 2020 but raised fists against Sri Lanka in December that year. By the time they travelled to West Indies in June 2021, the players were given the option of taking a knee, raising a fist or standing to attention. Then, at the T20 World Cup in October last year, CSA mandated that the team must collectively take a knee before every game. They have since done that. The team have consistently said they are in agreement over their gestures – though Quinton de Kock refused to take a knee at first – and understand and respect each other’s positions, but CSA believes there has been some division.Mark Boucher was appointed head coach of the men’s team in December 2019, and Enoch Nkwe, who was team director, and had a stellar coaching record, was moved to the position of assistant coach•AFP

Boucher is also accused of poor man management of his former assistant coach Enoch Nkwe, who resigned in August. Nkwe cited concerns with team culture and insiders confirmed he had a difficult working relationship with Boucher. The charge sheet claims Boucher did not provide clear “roles and responsibilities” or “meaningful key-performance indicators” for Nkwe, did not define his role or any development plans for him and, thus, “allegedly treated Mr Nkwe in a manner unbecoming of a leader in your position”.In totality, this trio of accusations has brought CSA to the conclusion that Boucher’s “conduct has resulted in an irretrievable breakdown in the trust relationship between you and CSA”. “In the circumstances, the sanction of dismissal will be sought before the Chairperson of the disciplinary enquiry,” point 23 of the charge sheet reads.Boucher, appointed in December 2019, is contracted until the 2023 World Cup. During his tenure, South Africa have won three of the five Test series they’ve played, including their most recent triumph over India, one out of five completed ODI series, and three out of eight T20 series. They also narrowly missed out on a semi-final spot at the T20 World Cup.CSA and Boucher will meet next Wednesday to outline a timeframe for the disciplinary hearing. Several sources have told ESPNcricinfo that the hearing is unlikely to start before South Africa return from their two-Test tour of New Zealand at the end of February as Boucher’s legal team needs time with him to prepare their responses. As things stand, Boucher remains in his job and will continue working with the team, despite initial plans to suspend him.CSA’s first communication on Boucher’s disciplinary hearing was titled “CSA suspends Boucher and Smith” but that was quickly retracted and replaced with the same statement headlined “CSA appoints highly respected advocate Terry Motau (SC) chairperson of disciplinary hearing into allegations against Mark Boucher”. CSA also apologised for the error.ESPNcricinfo understands that CSA had done various scenario planning in the lead up to charging Boucher and was considering suspending both him and Smith and had designed a template to communicate this. After legal consultation, the organisation concluded there was no basis to suspend them and they will continue in their roles.No disciplinary action has been instituted against Smith, who was also tentatively found to have engaged in prejudicial conduct but CSA is in the process of conducting arbitration agreements with him. That means Smith is unlikely to face a hearing in the same way Boucher will, but will still have to answer to the questions raised from the SJN report.

England, Australia players to isolate themselves for a period between one and six days after landing in the UAE

Nagraj Gollapudi17-Sep-2020The 21 players travelling from the England-Australia limited-overs series into IPL will need to isolate themselves for a varying period ranging between one and six days once they land in the UAE on Thursday evening.For the group travelling to Dubai, comprising 18 players from six teams, the quarantine period would be one day while the remaining three – Pat Cummins, Eoin Morgan and Tom Banton – who all are part of Kolkata Knight Riders, will need to the undergo six-day quarantine before they are available for selection.ALSO READ: IPL-bound England players counselled to be on guard against burnoutThe development means all the players are likely to be available for their franchises’ first match as the tournament gets underway on Saturday. This also means the pair of Josh Hazlewood and Sam Curran would be available for selection for Chennai Super Kings, who will play the tournament opener against defending champions Mumbai Indians in Abu Dhabi, subject to them clearing the one mandatory test on Friday.ESPNcricinfo understands that the IPL has prepared set of exclusive standard operating procedures for the group which makes it mandatory that the players are dressed in a Personal protective equipment (PPE) kit once they disembark in the UAE late on Thursday. The group of players that will be based in Dubai would need to head to their room in the team hotel and get tested in their room on Friday. If the result comes out negative, the player can then start training.As for the three Knight Riders players, it is understood they would need to be in their rooms for the first six days and once they clear the required testing process, they can join rest of the squad on the seventh day. Cummins, Morgan and Banton would be available for selection for the Knight Riders’ first match, which is on September 23 against Mumbai in Abu Dhabi, where both teams are based.All the 21 players were part of the limited-overs series between England and Australia, which concluded on Wednesday in Manchester. This group is scheduled to land in the UAE on Thursday night after the respective franchises they are part of had arranged for a charter flight from Manchester.Considering they players would be commuting between the biosecure bubble in England to that in the UAE, franchises had asked the IPL to relax the quarantine norms in order for players to be available for selection and training immediately.However the IPL was constrained by the protocol imposed by the local government authorities which is different for the two emirates of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. While there is no mandatory quarantine period for anyone flying into Dubai (barring if a person tests positive), Abu Dhabi government has imposed 14-day quarantine for anyone entering the Emirate from outside the country. A special concession has been made in the case of the IPL to bring that down to six days quarantine, keeping in mind the teams are operating within a bubble.

Whirlwind knocks from Buttler, Woakes keep England alive till the end before they fall short

Ankur Dhawan25-May-2019Something about England seems to inspire Steven Smith into producing his absolute best. The warm-up at Southampton, where he was greeted with hostility from a sizable crowd, was no different.He brought up his fourth fifty-plus score since returning from his year-long ban, converting this one into a hundred, which formed the backbone of Australia’s 297 for nine. England may have fancied chasing it down, but on a two-paced surface, it proved just out of reach despite stand-in captain Jos Buttler’s brilliance.England were down to only 11 fit players at the start, instead of the permitted 15. In a space of three balls in the seventh over, injury scares took a pandemic turn with Mark Wood jogging off having halted in his run-up, and his substitute Jofra Archer went off two balls later as he lost his footing while sliding at the deep midwicket boundary.Later, left-arm spinner Liam Dawson split the skin on the finger of his right hand and was out of batting contention. Substitutes, including assistant coach Paul Collingwood who turns 43 in a day, came in and went off through the revolving door. Wood also went for a precautionary scan, which James Vince confirmed “wasn’t too serious.”Australia were unperturbed by the chaos as David Warner and Shaun Marsh batted steadily, adding 63 after the early loss of captain Aaron Finch. Then Warner holed out off a short one from Liam Plunkett to mark Smith’s arrival.Steven Smith acknowledges his century•Getty Images

Smith batted fluently without ever looking in a hurry, placing good balls into empty pockets and dealing with the bad ones more severely. He had support through the innings, without a major contribution from anyone. Marsh departed for 30 and Usman Khawaja made 31 before being stumped off a wide one from Dawson as he revealed his intention too early.Had this been an ODI, Australia may have been irked by the starts squandered but in a warm-up it worked just fine that everyone had a hit. Marcus Stoinis was another one who got in and couldn’t go on, run-out as Smith called him for what should have been an easy second had the allrounder not been ball-watching. That brought in Alex Carey and through him Australia found late impetus.He struck a 14-ball 30 before being brilliantly caught by a diving Tom Curran. At the other end Smith opened up with a six over extra cover and one over the keeper’s head, bringing up his hundred with a nudge to square leg in between.The Australia innings ended amid controversy and confusion as Smith was given out caught and bowled off what seemed like a bump ball. Curiously, he was willing to walk off till he saw the replay and felt differently. The third umpire, however, thought the evidence was conclusive to rule Smith out.England began their chase nervously but luck was on their side. Jason Roy was struck on the helmet, dropped at slip by Smith and nearly dragged one on. Those moments of uncertainty seemed to stir him into action as he suddenly discovered the middle of his bat, but the surface was already showing signs of variable bounce as some reared up from a length and some scooted through to the keeper from similar areas.Wickets came soon after as Jonny Bairstow spliced Jason Behrendorff to mid-on and Roy jabbed at one that held in the surface and bounced higher than he expected to be caught at short cover. Ben Stokes struggled for timing during the course of his stay, which was curtailed by Nathan Lyon, as he threw one wide seeing Stokes advance and had him stumped.That brought Buttler to the crease and with him out there, nothing seemed impossible. He looked in imperious form from the get-go, dismissing any theories about the need to get one’s eye in. But even at that stage he seemed to be batting within himself. That became apparent when he tore into Nathan Coulter-Nile, smoking three fours and two sixes off an over.A walloping like that would have forced Finch’s hand in an ODI but here he could afford to persist with the pacer and was rewarded next over as he induced an error from Buttler off a well disguised knuckle ball.The onslaught brought parity to the contest despite the fall of James Vince for 64 which left England needing 101 off 97 with five wickets in hand. Chris Woakes, playing purely as a batsman enhanced his reputation with a composed 44-ball 40 that kept England in the hunt, but his run-out in search of a quick single that would have brought him back on strike in the 48th over left England with too much to do.

As Karachi gears up for its first international match in nine years, the mood around the game is not so much about the revival of big cricket in Pakistan as much as its normalisation

The Preview by Umar Farooq in Karachi31-Mar-2018

Big Picture

The series between the top-ranked team playing at home and a West Indian team without its key players doesn’t have much by way of intrigue in it. Since the PSL final, the hype, the excitement, clamour for tickets, mayhem on the streets, overwhelming security and crazy marketing campaigns have all been toned down. It’s not about the revival of international cricket so much as its normalisation now.Pakistan have the upper hand, what with the West Indies featuring an inexperienced, depleted side. The series may end up being a one-sided affair after Cricket West Indies had to scramble to assemble a squad of 13 players ready to visit Pakistan. Many automatic selections including Chris Gayle, Jason Holder and Evin Lewis along with the T20 captain Carlos Brathwaite pulled out. The series will see West Indies vice-captain Jason Mohammed step up to lead the side in the absence of regular captain Brathwaite in the three-match series.Although Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur somewhat patronisingly termed West Indies a “dangerous” side that had “nothing to lose”, the biggest challenge for the visitors is to keep the series competitive. They have to recover from the jetlag, having to turn up to play just hours after landing in Karachi from the Caribbean. Pakistan, on the other hand, have been in the city for several days, and been training well ahead of the three back-to-back-to-back games.Pakistan’s 15-man squad has plenty of young, in-form players raring to go in the international games. The batting is centred around Fakhar Zaman, Shoaib Malik and Babar Azam, while the bowling is led by Mohammad Amir and Hasan Ali, with a new sensation in the 17-year-old fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi likely to make his debut.Pakistan are presently atop the world T20I rankings and the three-match series will give them the opportunity to widen the gap between themselves and Australia at No. 2. A 3-0 victory will see Pakistan consolidate their position, while in the unlikely event of them suffering a 3-0 reverse, they will slip to fourth.

Form guide

Pakistan WWLWWWest Indies LLWWW

In the spotlight

Given his indifferent form in the PSL, Ahmed Shehzad‘s selection for the home series raised a lot of eyebrows. The opening batsman had a poor PSL season with the bat, scoring 173 runs at 19.22 with a strike rate of 85.22, but selectors have decided to stick with him given his decent T20I form. A propensity to play out far too many dot balls for the modern game often sees him come under fierce criticism, but he is the second-highest run-getter for Pakistan in T20Is since the start of 2017, behind only Babar Azam, with 367 at 33.36. He will look to improve his numbers further against West Indies’ short-of-big-names side.There is no denying West Indies’ inexperience, but it is the one side you wouldn’t bet against in this format. One man Pakistan wouldn’t want to write off in particular is Marlon Samuels. Twice a World T20 winner – not to mention Man of the Match in both finals he’s played, Samuels will be the major driving force for the Caribbean side, and is expected to provide much-needed support for captain Jason Mohammed. When West Indies visited Pakistan last 12 years ago, a memorable unbeaten 100 from Samuels in Multan saw West Indies rout Pakistan. Shoaib Malik – the only Pakistan survivor from that game – will be sure not to let his side underestimate him.

Team news

Pakistan will open with Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam, and not play Ahmed Shehzad most likely. Hussain Talat is set to make his debut at No. 3 and Asif Ali will likely get his international cap too, but Shaheen Afridi will have to wait.Pakistan (likely XI): 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Babar Azam, 3 Hussain Talat, 4 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Faheem Ashraf, 7 Asif Ali, 8 Shadab Khan, 9 Mohammad Amir, 10 Hasan Ali, 11 Mohammad NawazIt’s difficult to predict West Indies’ combination, but there is no news of injury. With two uncapped players of their own, the first game could see several players from each side taking their first steps in international cricket.West Indies (likely XI): 1 Andre Fletcher, 2 Chadwick Walton, 3 Marlon Samuels, 4 Jason Mohammed (capt), 5 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Keemo Paul, 8 Rayad Emrit, 9 Veerasammy Permaul, 10 Samuel Badree, 11 Kesrick Williams

Pitch and conditions

The temperature in Karachi has risen drastically since the PSL final last week, touching 40 degrees Celsius, but the sea breeze in the evening should make the weather more pleasant. The pitch is expected to be hard with the sun baking it all day, and a run-fest could be on the cards.

Stats and trivia

• Pakistan have a 6-1 win-loss record at home in seven T20Is. Their only defeat was to World XI last year.
• Since the start of 2017, Pakistan have been the best T20I side in terms of results, with a 10-3 win-loss record.
• In the last 15 months, Babar Azam has been Pakistan’s highest run-getter (461 at 41.90) and Shadab Khan their highest wicket-taker (19 at 16.15).

Quotes

“This series provides opportunities for new players to stake their claim for a regular place in the team, plus gain vital experience in different conditions. We expect the series to be highly competitive.”

Yuvraj Singh, who struck his first ODI hundred since the 2011 World Cup, savoured his emotional knock against England in Cuttack

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jan-20171:59

Yuvraj admits he had doubts about his international career

Yuvraj Singh, who spent three years out of India’s ODI side, marked his return with his career-best score – 150 off 127 balls – in his 295th ODI, against England in Cuttack. Once he reached his century – his first since the 2011 World Cup in India, where he was Man of the Tournament – Yuvraj thumped his chest and grew emotional. The 35-year-old pressed on to make 150, before edging behind in the 43rd over. His knock was instrumental in launching India from 25 for 3 to 381 for 6, and Yuvraj rated it as probably one of his best.”Probably, one of my best – my highest score in ODIs,” Yuvraj told Star Sports. “The last time I got a hundred was the 2011 World Cup; I am pretty happy that I played a good innings.”I just tried to get a partnership. They [England] bowled really well upfront and we just wanted to rotate the strike and get into the rhythm, and take our time. There was a lot of time. I just wanted to play down the ground and not take many risks.”Yuvraj saw off Chris Woakes’ threatening opening burst (5-3-14-3) and rebuilt the innings with MS Dhoni before unfurling a gallery of shots, including the lofted drive over long-off and the pick-up flick over midwicket. Yuvraj credited his touch to a prolific run in the Ranji Trophy: he scored 672 runs in eight innings at 84, including a career-best 260 for Punjab against Baroda at Feroz Shah Kotla in October last year.”I think [in] the whole domestic season I had been batting well,” Yuvraj said. “I have been hitting the ball well. I have worked hard on my fitness and my batting. Even in the last game I was hitting the ball well. I knew if it’s my day… I just told Sanjay Bangar the way I’m hitting the ball I think I am going to score big. Whatever the stage is, we try to be positive, that’s the reason why me and Mahi were able to get the rhythm going.”Yuvraj Singh wound the clock back with a stylish century•Associated Press

Yuvraj lauded his former captain Dhoni with whom he added 256 in 38.2 overs for the fourth wicket. Ahead of the series, Yuvraj had said he was looking forward to “batting fearlessly” with a freed-up Dhoni, and on Thursday he reiterated that Dhoni was still a key cog in the middle order, despite relinquishing the limited-overs captaincy.”He [Dhoni] played a great innings,” Yuvraj said. “He is the most experienced middle-order batsman in the team. He is also a sensational captain. He was more free today, the way he was batting. I have always said when Mahi is not captaining he is more free and you saw the result today.”Later, at the post-match press conference, Yuvraj elaborated on how the pair had gone about building the partnership: “We two were the most experienced players in the team. He realised that I was getting boundaries. He was just there rotating the strike and our first target was to make a 50-run partnership. After that we wanted to take our partnership further to 100 runs.”Yuvraj also admitted there was a time after his battle with cancer where he thought “whether he should continue or not”.”I came back after recovering from cancer, the first two-three years were very hard,” he said. “I had to work hard on my fitness and I was in and out of the team. I was not able to get a permanent spot. There was a time when I was wondering whether to continue or not to continue. Never giving up is my theory. I knew time will change.”I don’t think about who’s reacting to what nor do I read newspapers. I don’t watch TV too. I try to focus on my game and prove a point to myself that I’m still good enough for international cricket.”

Five years after completing a very successful career as an international cricketer for South Africa, he has a chance to nurture young talent and bring them to the big stage having signed on as Zimbabwe’s bowling coach

Firdose Moonda24-Jan-2016Five years after completing a very successful career as an international cricketer for South Africa, Makhaya Ntini has a chance to nurture young talent and bring them to the big stage, having signed on as Zimbabwe’s bowling coach. His two-year run will begin with an important first step – the World T20 in India in March.Since his retirement in 2011, Ntini has been active on the South African cricket scene as a commentator. He has long wanted to open a cricket academy in the Eastern Cape, a hotbed of black African talent, but has struggled for funding. While he continues efforts towards that, Ntini hopes he can also put his expertise – the benefit of 101 Tests, 173 ODIs and 10 T20Is – to good use for Zimbabwe.”I’m looking forward to working with my neighbouring country. I think there is a lot of talent there that we need to find and nurture. This is also about following my dreams of coaching and bringing guys through,” he told ESPNcricinfo.The top eight teams have direct entry into the main draw of the World T20, but Zimbabwe, who are ranked 14th, will have to go through a qualifying round. They have been grouped with Scotland, Afghanistan and Hong Kong and will play one match with each team. Only if they finish on top will they move on to the main tournament.”The most important thing is that the team qualifies for the main draw,” Ntini said.Since the end of the last World T20, Zimbabwe have played 17 matches and won only four of them. They go into this year’s edition having leveled a four-match series with Bangladesh, but will be wary of Afghanistan, to whom they have lost back-to-back series.

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews has underscored the spunk in Sri Lanka’s Champions Trophy campaign, and marked their spirit a vital asset as they attempt to topple India, who have been the form team of the competition

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Cardiff19-Jun-2013Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews has underscored the spunk in Sri Lanka’s Champions Trophy campaign, and marked their spirit a vital asset as they attempt to topple India, who have been the form team of the competition. Sri Lanka did not arrive in England as one of the favourites, but are now set to play their sixth semi-final in the last eight global tournaments.Their two victories, over England and Australia, have ultimately been comfortable, but there were tense moments in both matches, where things might have easily gone awry for Sri Lanka. England set Sri Lanka 294 at The Oval, thanks in part to a 28-run final over. Sri Lanka rode down their target in the 48th over, thanks largely to an unbeaten 134 from Kumar Sangakkara, but also to Nuwan Kulasekara’s 58 from 38, which made light work of a challenging required run rate.The victory against Australia was no less dramatic. Mahela Jayawardene’s 81-ball 84 first saw the side overcome the loss of two wickets inside the first four overs, and later, it took a stunning Tillakaratne Dilshan return take to end a 41-run last wicket stand that had brought substantial anxiety in a must-win match. The closest game of the lot was the one-wicket loss against New Zealand, which might have turned Sri Lanka’s way if all the umpiring decisions late in the match had been correct.”Especially after the New Zealand game, we had to do it the hard way,” Mathews said. “We had to beat England in English conditions and also the Australians, who have played well recently. All three games went down to the wire, and we had to fight really hard to win. The team confidence is very high. We know that we are a fighting team, and we fight to the last moment. Hopefully we can once again have a good performance.”Sri Lanka have relied on their three experienced batsmen so far in the tournament, with Sangakkara, Dilshan and Jayawardene topping the run-scoring lists for the side. Only Lahiru Thirimanne among the other batsmen has a half-century to his name, but Mathews was confident Sri Lanka’s batting order was not top-heavy.”I would say Mahela and Sanga are the backbone of the batting line-up, but we’ve got a few youngsters in Dinesh Chandimal, Thirimanne who can take the bowling apart,” he said. “We are not just depending on certain people in the team because all seven are good batters. Whoever gets set on that day has to continue for a long spell and try and get the team into a good total.”Sri Lanka have faced India regularly in ODIs in the last three years, but have not fared well in comparison to their exploits against other teams. Since 2010, Sri Lanka have lost 12 matches and won only eight, with one game having ended in a tie. Part of the reason for that record has been spearhead Lasith Malinga’s poor form against India, which some Indian batsmen have credited to their familiarity with his bowling in the IPL. Malinga has not trained with the team on days immediately preceding matches during the tournament, but ahead of the semi-final, he sent down several overs in the nets as well as doing specialised work with bowling coach Chaminda Vaas. Mathews said the extra effort was due to desire on Malinga’s part to overcome an average of 40.88 – his worst against any team.”Lasith takes every game seriously, but it’s just that he wants to do a little bit more for tomorrow,” Mathews said. “We play against India a lot, as well, not only in the IPL. Whoever is playing against anyone all the time gets used to them. Lasith is a very good bowler and he’s an experienced bowler and I’m sure he will come into those situations and have a few different ideas for tomorrow.”

Ravi Bopara’s unbeaten half-century rescued a difficult situation for Essex at Northampton

06-Jun-2012
ScorecardRavi Bopara battled Essex out of a difficult position•Getty Images

Ravi Bopara’s unbeaten half-century allowed Essex to recover from a shaky start on a rain-affected first day of their County Championship Division Two clash at Northamptonshire.Essex were reduced to 57 for 4 just before lunch but England international Bopara’s 65 not out off 129 balls, including 12 fours, helped the visitors to move on to 138 for 4 before rain brought about an early close at Wantage Road.Northants paceman David Willey took 2 for 23 as the hosts’ attack dominated early on with former Sri Lanka seamer Chaminda Vaas also claiming a wicket.Essex won the toss and chose to bat but they lost Tom Westley for 12 in the fourth over when he edged Vaas to James Middlebrook, who took a simple catch at second slip. Former England batsman Owais Shah then faced just one ball before he was run out by a direct hit at the stumps by Ben Howgego from point after he tried to run a quick single off Vaas.The visitors’ morning then took another turn for the worse when Mark Pettini was judged to have edged Willey to Northants wicketkeeper David Murphy after making 32. Willey struck again in the penultimate over of the morning when his delivery crashed into Ben Foakes’ off stump to dismiss the youngster for a seven-ball duck.Essex struggled to 62 for 4 at lunch, during which the heavens opened meaning the start of the afternoon session was delayed by an hour and a half and 16 overs were lost.In the second over after play restarted, Essex captain James Foster was given a scare before he opened his account when he edged Jack Brooks but Kyle Coetzer put down a difficult chance at third slipBopara, who had originally taken 67 balls just to reach double figures, went on to complete a half-century off 112 deliveries with a straight four off Lee Daggett. But he was also given a second chance after being dropped on 60 by Murphy off the same bowler before rain forced the players off again.Umpires Trevor Jesty and Tim Robinson came onto the field half an hour later for an inspection but the skies began to darken again and a heavy downpour meant play was officially called off at 5.20pm.Bopara will be looking to complete his second century of the week when play resumes tomorrow, with Foster striving to add to his unbeaten 25 off 71 deliveries.

Alex Wakely came within a whisker of a century on the second day of Northamptonshire’s finely-poised County Championship match against Leicestershire at Wantage Road

25-May-2011
Scorecard
Alex Wakely came within a whisker of a century on the second day of Northamptonshire’s finely-poised County Championship match against Leicestershire at Wantage Road. After the league leaders slumped to 70 for 5, Wakely made 98 off 165 balls as his side were bowled out for 312 – one run short of their opponents’ first innings total.Wayne White and Australia international Andrew McDonald took three wickets each before Leicestershire closed on 52 for 0 with the match very much in the balance.Northants began the day 281 runs behind their opponents, with their openers, Stephen Peters and Ben Howgego, resuming on 26 and 6 respectively. But Peters was to last just two balls before he was well caught at third slip by Matthew Boyce off the bowling of Leicestershire captain Matthew Hoggard.And Howgego was removed on 10 when he edged White (3 for 92) to wicketkeeper Paul Dixey and Rob White soon followed when he nudged Nadeem Malik to the same player. McDonald (3 for 51) then took the wicket of David Sales (15) with his first over of the day when he was slashed to Will Jefferson at second slip.Northants captain Andrew Hall made just five before going cheaply by nudging McDonald’s wide delivery to Dixey to leave the hosts reeling. James Middlebrook survived a huge scare when he was dropped at mid-off by Malik off White, but went two balls later after cracking 42 off 48 balls by edging the same bowler to Dixey.But Wakely stuck around to complete his half-century off 92 balls as he and Chaminda Vaas stabilised their side’s innings with a seventh-wicket stand of 96. Wakely was to agonisingly fall two runs short of a deserved century when McDonald’s delivery went through his defences and took out his leg stump in the third over before tea.Hoggard took the second new ball as soon as it became available and with the second delivery, he forced Northants wicketkeeper David Murphy (22) to edge to Jefferson at second slip. Vaas was to depart on 46 in the next over when he launched White to Hoggard at midwicket before Malik ended the innings by taking out David Lucas’ (24) off stump.Leicestershire managed to get off to a better start in their second innings than they did with their first, where they were reduced to 15 for 3. Their openers, Jefferson and Boyce, comfortably survived 18 overs and will resume on 15 and 36 respectively.

It’s fair to say that Bangladesh have not enjoyed the ideal build-up to the first Test at Lord’s

Andrew Miller at Lord's26-May-2010It’s fair to say that Bangladesh have not enjoyed the ideal build-up to the first Test at Lord’s. For all that they competed above expectations in their recent home series against England, the prospect of negotiating England’s lively early-season surfaces is one that, when they last toured the country in 2005, was cited by the then-captain Habibul Bashar as the toughest assignment of his 50-Test career.To have any real hope of putting up a fight, therefore, the Bangladeshis would surely, at the bare minimum, require their star players to be at the peak of their form and fitness. Alas, the two men most likely to provide the inspiration for an upset have spent large swathes of the tour to date on the sidelines. Tamim Iqbal has been labouring with a wrist injury that may yet require surgery, while the captain, Shakib Al Hasan, has only just emerged from quarantine after contracting chicken pox.Shakib’s style since assuming the captaincy in the Caribbean last year has been to lead from the front in every respect, both on and off the field. So the enforced isolation, with only the occasional visit from those team members who were sure that they had contracted the illness in the past and were therefore immune, was far from the best preparation for such a daunting contest.”I’ve been kept away almost for two weeks,” said Shakib. “It was very hard, staying a whole day in your room. It was weird, and a bit frustrating when you’re not going with your team-mates for dinner or a practice session. You’re missing everything. It was very hard. But I’ve been talking and going out with all the guys since, and we’re feeling much better.”After two days of practice, Shakib is certain that he’s now over the worse, and can instead concentrate on the build-up to one of the undoubted highlights of a cricketer’s career. Only three members of the Bangladesh squad have previously played a Test at Lord’s – Mohammad Ashraful, Shadahat Hossain and the wicketkeeper, Mushfiqur Rahim – and Shakib can’t wait to lead his team through the Long Room and onto the field on Thursday.”It’s exciting for most of the guys, because only a couple of the guys have played here before,” he said. “If we take 20 wickets and our batsmen do their job, we have a fair chance [of winning]. But we need to stick to our basics and be very disciplined. England know the conditions much better than us. But we’ve been here for 15 days, so we’ve got very good experience of the conditions.”Though Shakib habitually talks a good game, he’s fooling no-one as to the scale of the challenge that awaits Bangladesh. As was the case back in 2005, they are running the misfortune of encountering an England side on the up, and once again, there’s the prospect of an Ashes series on the horizon to galvanise their mindsets. It may still be some six months in the distance, but the ambitious selections of Steven Finn and Eoin Morgan are evidence that the planning for the Gabba starts right here.On their own wickets, Bangladesh were able to keep England’s ambitions in check with a spin-heavy bowling attack, but that’s not a viable option this time around, especially with the need to incorporate an extra batsman to guard against the sort of batting meltdown that has undermined all too many of their 57 Test defeats.”The practice wickets have turned a bit, so we hope it will in the middle too, but we’ll have to change our tactics,” said Shakib, who implied that there would be a Test debut for the seamer Robiul Islam, who impressed with 3 for 72 in the nine-wicket defeat against England Lions in Derby last week. “We have got some very good fast bowlers, and we have a newcomer, who will be perfect for the future of Bangladesh cricket.”The Lord’s Test will also mark the return to action of an old-stager, Ashraful, who missed England’s recent visit due to a loss of form, but is sure to slot into the middle-order at a venue that he remembers from his last Test tour back in 2005. “Being at Lord’s is a very different feeling,” he said. “We don’t have any tour to the UK until 2020, so we are not sure whether we will get another chance to play here. Everyone is excited.”Ashraful’s career has been undermined by uncertainty, with too much advice and expectation constraining the natural ability that he demonstrated both on debut as a 16-year-old in 2001, but also back in 2005, when his memorable century was responsible for the humbling of Australia in a never-to-be-forgotten one-day victory at Cardiff. Now, however, he says he intends to jettison the angst, and just get back to striking the ball with all the confidence he can muster.”An England tour is challenging for most teams that come here, and even Australia lost two Ashes Tests last summer,” he said. “But I just hope to play a big innings to cement my place, and to do that, I have gone back to my old style. I used to be a strokemaker but over the last few months I tried to check my strokes. But it did not bring any benefit, so I’ve decided to go back to my natural game.”