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Dawid Malan says team have “hell of a lot to play for” in remaining group games

Matt Roller31-Oct-2023England have arrived in Ahmedabad knowing that they must win at least one of their next three games – not only to restore pride but to ensure that they are spared the ignominy of missing the cut for the next global men’s 50-over event in 2025. Failing to mount a challenge for the World Cup is one thing; failing to qualify for the Champions Trophy would be quite another.The England set-up were blindsided when the ICC confirmed on Sunday that a change in the qualification process had been ratified – but not announced publicly – in November 2021. Pakistan, the hosts, will be joined by the other seven highest finishers at the World Cup, with England dead last after five defeats in six matches.There has been significant institutional change at the ECB in the two years since, with a new chief executive, chair and managing director in place. But realistically, after a seven-year era of unprecedented white-ball success since 2015, the prospect of finishing outside the top eight would not have registered with England’s management.Related

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• Australia talking points: Starc, middle-order tempo and allrounders

England play Australia on Saturday before fixtures against Netherlands and Pakistan on November 8 and 11 respectively, and the Netherlands game in Pune already looks like a potential qualification decider. The Dutch have a proud history against England, beating them in the 2009 and 2014 World T20s, and will be desperate to turn them over once more.It is not lost on England’s players that they need to finish this World Cup strongly – even if, with 11 out of 15 squad members aged 30-plus, many of them will not be involved in two years’ time. “People’s jobs are being scrutinised and players’ careers are being scrutinised,” Dawid Malan said on Tuesday. “We have a hell of a lot to play for in the last three.”The last thing you want – if the decision gets made to move on from players – is that we haven’t done well enough to give other players the opportunity in future to play in big tournaments. That’s what you play the game for: you want to be in the Champions Trophy and the World Cup, things like that.”Dawid Malan is England’s leading run-scorer at the World Cup•Getty Images

England are not mathematically out of the World Cup, but their players are realistic about their semi-final prospects. “It’s definitely not going to be a situation where we just go through the motions because we’re potentially out of this World Cup,” Malan said. “We have a lot at stake and a lot of pride for England to be in that Champions Trophy in two years’ time.”Malan told the BBC that, at 36, he is “pretty sure I’ll be done” as an England player before the 2025 Champions Trophy. “It feels a long way away,” he said. “Two years feels a long way away. I am playing as well as I’ve played, but whether that decision is mine or someone else’s, we’ll find out.”Criticism of England has grown with every defeat and Malan found himself playing down various perceived issues: he denied that central contracts had been a major distraction, said that it was “fair” for Eoin Morgan to lay into their underperformance, and suggested it was up to the players to take the heat off head coach Matthew Mott.Malan is England’s leading run-scorer at this tournament with 236 at 39.33, 140 of which came in their only win, against Bangladesh in Dharamshala. “I feel like I am playing well, but just finding ways of getting out,” he said. “We just can’t get anything going with the bat and get a score on the board. I can’t put my finger on it.”He also confirmed recent reports that he will not play in the County Championship for Yorkshire next year. “I’ll probably try and play as much white-ball cricket as I can for the rest of my career,” Malan said. “It’s prioritising spending a bit more time at home because my winters are so busy with internationals or franchise tournaments.”

Georgia Voll has been included for the ODIs and T20Is while Grace Harris will be part of the latter

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Dec-2024Allrounder Sophie Molineux has been ruled out of the multiformat Ashes series due to a knee injury that will require surgery while captain Alyssa Healy remains unsure whether she will keep wicket due to her ongoing knee problem.Molineux, a left-arm spinner, managed a knee issue through the WBBL, where she captained Melbourne Renegades to a maiden title, and the problem flared again after the ODI series against India. Molineux was ruled out of the recent trip to New Zealand and now faces a further spell on the sidelines.”Sophie Molineux will undergo left knee surgery next month, following that we will provide further updates on an anticipated return date,” team physiotherapist Kate Beerworth said.Related

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One of the key issues for Australia to resolve ahead of the Ashes will be whether Healy is able to keep wicket having handed the gloves to Beth Mooney in New Zealand. Healy has been included in the Governor-General’s XI squad for a 50-over warm-up game against England on January 9 at North Sydney Oval which she said would be good test for her knee.”That’ll be a great opportunity for me to take the gloves for a little bit and see how everything’s progressing,” Healy told reporters at the MCG. “I can’t really give you any more information than that. It’s kind of play it by ear at the moment to see how everything pulls up.”But I did thoroughly enjoy running around the field in New Zealand. So if that’s the option and is less disruptive to our side, then that could be the way moving forward. But the aim is to take the gloves and hopefully I can do that.”Having an angry joint in there and flaring that up, and knowing the really tight schedule with the Ashes as well, probably managing that and not wanting to blow it up too much that it’s going to affect my ability to play at all. So that’ll be the real test, I think, in the next 10 days, moving into the series as to how that pulls up, how it responds to keeping again, and we’ll just assess as we go.”Georgia Voll, who made a stunning start to her international career against India, with 173 runs in three ODIs including a century, has been included for the one-day and T20I series which form the first two parts of the Ashes. Grace Harris will join for the T20Is at the SCG, Canberra and Adelaide.”It was pleasing to see Alyssa Healy return to action against New Zealand and looked in good touch, along with a number of batters continuing their strong form on from the recent series against India,” national selector Shawn Flegler said.”Whilst Georgia Voll didn’t play against New Zealand, she’s made a brilliant start to her international career and will be a strong option with the bat if required in her debut Ashes series. The bowling group provides plenty of variety which will be important against a strong England batting line up.”A squad for the day-night Test at the MCG in late January will be named in the coming weeks.”I think you look at the way we’ve probably shaped up in Test cricket over the last couple of seasons, it’s looked a little bit different to what we’ve done in the white-ball format,” Healy said. “So there is some reasoning as to why that Test squad hasn’t been announced, and we’ll probably look at that over the next few weeks, just to see where all the bowlers in the domestic cricket are at and their loads and how they’re going to prepare for a Test match.”Knowing it’s pink ball, knowing it swings a little bit more, and what the conditions are going to be like, I think there’s a few players around the country at the moment that could stick their hand up for a baggy green which I think is really exciting.”The Ashes starts with the first ODI at North Sydney on January 12 followed by matches at Junction Oval in Melbourne and Hobart.Meanwhile, legspinner Georgia Wareham has also been called into the Governor-General’s XI squad in place of fast bowler Darcie Brown to give Wareham more game time ahead of the Ashes having only featured in one of Australia’s last six ODIs where she wasn’t required to bat or bowl.

Australia ODI and T20I squad for Women’s Ashes

Alyssa Healy (capt), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris (T20s only), Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

Sunrisers Eastern Cape’s Roelof van der Merwe, the joint-leading wicket-taker of the last season, makes himself unavailable

Hemant Brar03-Aug-2023The SA20 mini-auction ahead of the 2024 season will take place in Johannesburg on September 27. On the day of the auction, a total of 21 slots are to be filled, six of those reserved for rookie players. A rookie player is someone who is a South African under the age of 22 and has not played in the SA20 previously.Overall, in a squad of 19, each team is required to have a minimum of ten South African players, a maximum of seven overseas players and a rookie player. The teams will have an additional R5.1 million (USD 274,000 approx) added to last time’s purse of R39.1 million (USD 2.1 million approx).Defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape will be without Roelof van der Merwe this time as he has made himself unavailable. Van der Merwe was the joint-highest wicket-taker last season with 20 scalps.Related

• SA20 2024 starts on January 10, will clash with Test series in NZ

• Moeen Ali moves to SA20 as teams announce retentions, fresh signings

• SA20 teams given R39.1 million salary purse to build squads

In another update, Paarl Royals have contracted Kwena Maphaka. At 17, the left-arm seamer from Johannesburg becomes the youngest player to be signed in the league.Most teams have retained their core from the inaugural season. Durban’s Super Giants have the fewest slots to fill, two, and they have R1.675 million for that.Runners-up Pretoria Capitals have to sign the most number of players – five, out of which four could be overseas – and also the biggest purse available (R9.737 million).In addition to 21 picks on the auction day, four teams – Super Giants, Capitals, Royals and Joburg Super Kings – need to pick their wild-card players as well, as they either incorporated their season 1 wild cards into the main squad or, in the case of Super Giants, released them. The last date to do so is December 30. The wild-card players’ salaries are over and above the team purse.Here is how the squads line up before the mini-auction.

Durban’s Super Giants

Squad: Prenelan Subrayen, Quinton de Kock, Dwaine Pretorius, Keshav Maharaj, Kyle Abbott, Heinrich Klaasen, JJ Smuts, Wiaan Mulder, Matthew Breetzke, Junior Dala, Keemo Paul, Naveen-ul-Haq, Kyle Mayers, Reece Topley, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dilshan MadushankaSquad size: 16 (10 South Africans, 6 overseas)
Slots to be filled: 2
Purse available: R1.675 million (USD 90,000 approx)

Joburg Super Kings

Squad: Gerald Coetzee, Faf du Plessis, Reeza Hendricks, Lizaad Williams, Nandre Burger, Moeen Ali, David Wiese, Zahir Khan, Sam Cook, Leus du Plooy, Donovan Ferreira, Aaron Phangiso, Sibonelo Makhanya, Kyle SimmondsSquad size: 14 (9 South Africans, 5 overseas)
Slots to be filled: 4
Purse available: R6.1 million (USD 327,000 approx)

MI Cape Town

Squad: Dewald Brevis, Kagiso Rabada, Rassie van der Dussen, Delano Potgieter, Ryan Rickelton, George Linde, Beuran Hendricks, Duan Jansen, Grant Roelofsen, Jofra Archer (wild card), Rashid Khan, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Tom Banton, Olly StoneSquad size: 15 (9 South Africans, 6 overseas)
Slots to be filled: 4
Purse available: R5.05 million (USD 271,000 approx)

Paarl Royals

Squad: Kwena Maphaka, David Miller, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dane Vilas, Bjorn Fortuin, Mitchell Van Buuren, Wihan Lubbe, Ferisco Adams, Codi Yusuf, Evan Jones, Jos Buttler, Obed McCoy, Jason RoySquad size: 15 (12 South Africans, 3 overseas)
Slots to be filled: 3
Purse available: R8.865 million (USD 475,000 approx)

Pretoria Capitals

Squad: Migael Pretorius, Anrich Nortje, Rilee Rossouw, Colin Ingram, Senuran Muthusamy, Wayne Parnell, Theunis de Bruyn, Eathan Bosch, Shane Dadswell, Corbin Bosch, Jimmy Neesham, Adil Rashid, William JacksSquad size: 13 (10 South Africans, 3 overseas)
Slots to be filled: 5
Purse available: R9.737 million (USD 522,000 approx)

Sunrisers Eastern Cape

Squad: Ottniel Baartman, Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen, Tristan Stubbs, Sisanda Magala, Simon Harmer, Temba Bavuma, Sarel Erwee, Jordan Hermann, Aya Gqamane, Liam Dawson, Brydon Carse, Dawid Malan, Adam Rossington, Tom Abell, Craig Overton (wild card)Squad size: 16 (10 South Africans, 6 overseas)
Slots to be filled: 3
Purse available: R1.865 million (USD 100,000 approx)

Gujarat will have to achieve the highest successful fourth-innings chase in Ranji Trophy history to beat Mumbai in Indore

The Report by Shashank Kishore in Indore13-Jan-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:45

Kishore: A test of nerves for Gujarat

With one day to go in the Ranji Trophy 2016-17 final, this much is clear: Mumbai’s lead is big enough that Gujarat have to achieve the highest successful fourth-innings chase in Ranji Trophy finals history for their first title. Gujarat had a quick start to their chase of 312, ending a long day in the field positively. However, batting out the whole of Saturday could also give them the title by virtue of a first-innings lead.By spreading the fields, bowling wide and saving runs – all within the rules, even if debatable, in the second session after taking four wickets – Gujarat allowed the game to meander until Mumbai had no option but to go for broke and set up a target.What Gujarat did not do within the rules was bowl their overs in time – they bowled 70.1 overs in six full hours, the time which constitutes a full day of 90 overs – which could result in a third over-rate breach for Parthiv Patel, the captain, and his team.Gujarat’s openers, Priyank Panchal and Samit Gohel, played a lot more freely, compared to the first innings, in the 13.2 overs that were possible on the fourth evening before bad light ended play more than an hour after the scheduled close. They overcame a few nervy moments, but drove the side to 47 for no loss at stumps on a surface that didn’t show signs of deteriorating too much.With the cold not lifting until noon despite the presence of bright sunshine on each of the four days, the red soil surface hasn’t broken up as much as Mumbai would have liked. While this could hurt Mumbai considering they have two left-arm spinners, they would believe an incisive burst upfront with the new ball on the final day come boost their quest for a 42nd title.The lead was built largely because of Abhishek Nayar’s industry. On the one hand, he had to farm the strike and ensure he didn’t expose the tail-enders. On the other, he had to also keep an eye on the lead and time remaining to give his side the best possible chance of pulling off a coup. He battled hard for 146 deliveries to make 91 as Mumbai, resuming on 208 for 3 were bowled out for 411 in the final session.Fifty-five of those runs came courtesy five sixes and a four in the final session, a far cry from the post-lunch session that yielded just 67 runs in 30 overs. After the interval, Nayar risked his wicket by taking on the fielders in the deep repeatedly, but the power in his hits was unmistakeable. Vishal Dabholkar helped Nayar put on 44 for the ninth wicket, while Vijay Gohil, who was unbeaten on 0 from seven balls, added 41 for the last wicket before Nayar fell lbw to RP Singh.Chintan Gaja, presented an opportunity only because Jasprit Bumrah was unavailable, walked back with figures of 8 for 167, his first five-wicket haul in first-class cricket in third match. The rest of Gujarat’s bowlers largely played supporting roles cast on a day where wicket-taking, for large parts, wasn’t even on their mind.The only time they genuinely came close to making things happen was early in the day. Setting attacking fields worked immediately as Aditya Tare was caught at gully, attempting a cut. Replays suggested it was a tight call, which was eventually deemed no-ball. He was given another reprieve when Panchal put down a regulation catch at gully on 38. Tare’s luck ran out soon after lunch, when he was trapped lbw by left-arm spinner Hardik Patel, but not before he made 69.Suryakumar Yadav ploughed along for 40 deliveries to add four to his overnight score of 45 before being strangled down leg side. With Mumbai’s lead on 226, a lower-order collapse seemed on the cards when Balwinder Sandhu and Shardul Thakur fell trying to hit out. That is when Nayar took charge. He mistimed a few, slogged others, and picked out fielders. But none of it frustrated him, until it got to a point where he simply swung his way out of trouble, ensuring, in the process, that the title could possibly be decided on the final session of the final day.

Defending a mere 99, New Zealand’s bowlers stretched the game to its penultimate ball

Hemant Brar29-Jan-2023In a low-scoring thriller in Lucknow, New Zealand almost defended 99, but with three needed from two balls, Suryakumar Yadav swatted Blair Tickner over mid-off to help India level the series 1-1 with one match to go.Before Sunday, the Ekana Stadium had hosted five T20Is, with the team batting first winning on all five occasions. Keeping that in mind, Mitchell Santner opted to bat after winning the toss. With the red-soil pitch at the Ekana Stadium expected to help spinners, India brought in Yuzvendra Chahal for Umran Malik. That gave them four spin-bowling options, including Deepak Hooda.All of them troubled New Zealand and restricted them to a mere 99 for 8. It was New Zealand’s lowest total against India in a full-length T20I. Still, it was far from a cruise for India.New Zealand used five spinners – and eight bowlers in all – and they were as effective as their India counterparts in strangling the scoring rate. India, though, had the advantage of knowing their target. They took the game deep and crossed the line with one ball to spare.In all, spinners bowled 30 overs in the match – the second-most in any T20I, and the most in a game involving Full Member teams.

New Zealand lose three to reverse-sweep

Finn Allen looked to take the attack to the opposition straightaway. He was lucky to collect streaky, back-to-back boundaries off Hardik Pandya but was at sea against spin.Introduced in the fourth over, Chahal found turn straightaway. His first delivery pitched on the leg stump, beat Allen’s outside edge, and missed off stump. Allen tried to counter him with the reverse sweep, only to be bowled via a deflection off his right leg.After Chahal’s wicket maiden, Devon Conway attempted a reverse sweep against Washington Sundar in the next over. The ball, though, brushed his wrist and lobbed to Ishan Kishan. Glenn Phillips too found it difficult to score against spin and resorted to the reverse sweep. In the process, he ended up exposing nearly all three stumps to an innocuous Hooda delivery and was bowled, leaving New Zealand 35 for 3 in the seventh over.Yuzvendra Chahal set the tone for India with a wicket maiden inside the powerplay•BCCI

Kuldeep dents New Zealand further

If New Zealand had any hopes of a recovery with Daryl Mitchell, the Player of the Match in the previous game, and Mark Chapman in the middle, Kuldeep Yadav shattered them. The wristspinner got one to turn back in sharply from outside off to breach Mitchell’s defence and hit the off stump.Chapman and Michael Bracewell tried to revive the innings. Their stand was worth 20 when Bracewell reverse-swept Hooda uppishly towards short third. Kuldeep slipped and couldn’t go for the catch but his quick throw to Kishan meant Chapman, who had taken off for a single, couldn’t retrace his steps in time.Till the 17th over, Hardik was the only seamer India had used. In the death overs, he and Arshdeep Singh used the bouncer to good effect to pick up three wickets between them. The New Zealand innings featured only six fours and no six. There would be no six in India’s innings either.

India hobble to the target

It was never going to be a cakewalk for India. Jacob Duffy bowled the first over of the chase but from there till the 18th over, New Zealand bowled only spin from both ends.Shubman Gill fell for 11, top-edging Bracewell to deep square leg. Ishan Kishan struggled and was run out for 19 off 32 balls by an excellent piece of fielding. Kishan got an inside edge towards midwicket against Phillips and looked to collect two. The bowler sprinted towards the ball, put in a slide and fired the throw to the non-striker’s end. In the meantime, Rahul Tripathi had sent Kishan back and his bat was on the crease when Santner broke the stumps.Ish Sodhi dismissed Tripathi soon after, reducing India to 50 for 3 in the 11th over. Suryakumar and Washington, promoted to No. 5, calmed the Indian dugout somewhat. The pair largely dealt in ones and twos to take the side to within 30 runs of the target before a mix-up resulted in Washington sacrificing his wicket.In the end, it came down to 13 required from 12 balls. Lockie Ferguson conceded only seven off the 19th over despite Hardik finding a boundary. Suryakumar, though, ensured Washington’s sacrifice didn’t go in vain.

“Workload management and the core strength in the body are going to be the key – but do not overbowl him”

ESPNcricinfo staff16-May-20234:28

Bishop: My heart goes out to Archer, but he will have to be carefully managed

Jofra Archer has been ruled out of the English summer, including the Ashes, after the ECB confirmed a recurrence of the stress fracture in his right elbow.Concerns about Archer’s fitness were raised earlier this month when he flew home early from his IPL stint with Mumbai Indians, having already taken time out of the tournament to visit a specialist in Belgium. Prior to his comeback for England in South Africa earlier this year, he had not played for the country in almost two years, following a succession of elbow and back problems.And now, it has been confirmed that he will miss out on the entirety of this summer’s Ashes campaign, which begins at Edgbaston on June 16, and concludes six weeks later at the Kia Oval. England still harbour hopes, however, that he could yet be fit to help defend their 50-over World Cup title, when the tournament begins in India in October.Related

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• Stump Mic podcast: Royals' rumble, Archer's injury and the Mumbai method

“It has been a frustrating and upsetting period for Jofra Archer,” Rob Key, England’s managing director of men’s cricket said. “He was making good progress until a recurrence of the elbow injury, which kept him out for an extended period previously. We wish him the best of luck with his recovery. I’m sure we will see Jofra back to his best and winning games for England, whatever the format. Hopefully, sooner rather than later.”At the moment, all cricket’s been too much for his body to cope with and we need to get past that,” Key added. “I do think you see these times when someone like Jofra, he’s like a Formula One car almost, and he goes through the period he’s been through which has been really tough and then you think you’re getting to the point where he can come back and be able to play, and there’s another setback.”But you just hope that down the line he will overcome this, that body will get robust enough to be able to deal with the rigours of everything. And I wouldn’t sit here now and rule anything out. And as you then get through and start solving this problem for Jofra, then you can start making those decisions. But I don’t see the point in doing that at the moment.”Archer played five games for Mumbai this season, bowling his full quota in each game, picking up a couple of wickets and conceding 9.5 runs per over. Key defended the decision to let him play in the IPL, saying he wouldn’t have changed anything in the way Archer’s return has been managed.”When something like this happens, you look at every single thing,” Key said. “You look at the whole thing we had in place right before Christmas, when we had everything mapped out for how we wanted him back to get ready to play in the Ashes and the World Cup. When you get to this point and he can’t do it, you start to look at that.”But the fact is, he’s not been able to bowl more than four overs without feeling any sort of pain. Regardless of the way that we’ve gone, whether it has been right or wrong, I don’t think I’d change anything because you’re getting to the point where he’s actually had an issue that we need to just solve now.”We’re going to look at every single thing we’ve done. Everything we’ve done has been what we thought was the right thing for the player first, not actually for anyone else. Just what was the best way for him to have the best career he could possibly have. And that’s not worked out.”Key remains confident that Archer will return to England colours, despite this latest setback now meaning that he will have missed the last three English summers. He’s played four ODIs and three T20Is in 2023 and though he played his last Test for England in February 2021 Key hasn’t ruled Test cricket in the future.”People like Pat Cummins missed a lot of cricket at the early stage of his career. Now Australia have seen the benefit – he’s been able to put season after season together. I’m hoping at some point Jofra, who deserves a bit of luck to be honest, because the poor lad, who is pretty distraught with what’s happened, you just hope that luck turns for him at some point.”The one thing I’ll say about Jofra. You sometimes read and you sometimes get the feeling that people think he’s going to go down a white-ball road, that he’s not interested in Test cricket, that there are other things on his mind that come first. That’s absolutely not the case. He is desperate to play all forms of cricket. He’s desperate to play Test cricket as well. And I hope that he gets the chance to do that.”It’s going to be a fairly taxing road to go down to get this fixed and get this sorted, but I’m sure we’ll see him back at some point.”A return to red-ball cricket is not, however, what Ian Bishop thinks Archer needs. Speaking on ESPNcricinfo’s podcast” a little while before Archer was officially ruled out, Bishop looked back to the Ashes of 2019 – the only time Archer has played the marquee series – when he bowled 156 overs across four Tests. With James Anderson out after the first Test and Chris Woakes, the third quick, not bowling too much, Stuart Broad had the second-largest workload among the England quicks in those four Tests, bowling 130.3 overs.”There was a period when Jofra was overbowled. I sat there watching it, and I’m thinking: what madness is this, that you are going to give this guy over after over,” Bishop said. “You almost – I’m sorry to use this statement, I don’t know how else to say it – you are killing the goose that lays the golden egg for you.”It [Jofra’s] is a good action. I wake up in the morning – and I’ve said this to ESPNcricinfo before – if I hear Jofra Archer’s bowling, I snap out of my sleep, because I love the athleticism of the run-up, the high action, it’s poetry in motion. But once he got overbowled and sustained from stress workload, those little injuries, it’s always going to be hard no matter how good the action is.”Any fast bowler is, with all these formats that we have now, going to pick it [injuries] up somewhere along the line,” Bishop said. “So workload management – as much as we hate it – and strengthening the core strength in the body is going to be the key. But do not overbowl them.”I personally feel that I would not allow Jofra to think about red-ball cricket, at least for a while in the next couple of seasons. It’s too much.”

He is the team’s third coach in as many seasons, and will take over from JP Duminy

Firdose Moonda14-Jun-2023Justin Ontong, the former South Africa batter and most recently national men’s team fielding coach, has been named as the new coach of the Paarl Rocks provincial side.Ontong succeeds JP Duminy, who was in charge for a season and is now the South African men’s white-ball batting coach. This is Ontong’s first position as a head coach.”I am honoured to be given this opportunity to lead the Rocks team. I have worked with several different teams and understand what it takes to build a winning team,” Ontong said. “My focus will be to ensure that all the players are working towards the same goal and remain motivated.”Related

• SA20 teams given R39.1 million salary purse to build their squads

Ontong is the third Paarl Rocks head coach in as many seasons. Adrian Birrell headed up the province in the 2021-22 summer, when the Paarl Rocks won the T20 Challenge, before Duminy got the job. Duminy was in charge in the 2022-23 season during which time he also held the position of Paarl Royals coach in the SA20. It is not known whether he will continue in that role in the coming season. Paarl are yet to add to their sole trophy but have maintained their position in the top-tier of South Africa’s domestic structure.CSA revamped the domestic cricket system three summers ago in which they did away with the six franchises and introduced two divisions, with eight teams in tier one and seven in tier two, and a promotion-relegation system. The first movements from that came after two complete seasons, and saw Bloemfontein’s Knights drop down to division two, while the Pietermaritzburg-based Tuskers earned promotion. Paarl, who did not have its own franchise in the previous system, achieved a respectable fourth-place finish on the combined log.Paarl Rocks have proven themselves to be strong contenders in white-ball tournaments, but have only won one red-ball match in the new era, something they would like to change. “Having Justin Ontong on board as the head coach of the Rocks is an immense addition to our organisation,” James Fortuin, Paarl Rocks CEO, said.While Ontong is mostly known for his white-ball numbers – he played 42 white-ball internationals for South Africa – he was capped twice in Tests and finished his career with a first-class average of 41.87 which makes him the ideal candidate to turn Paarl’s red-ball form around.When his playing days ended in late 2017, Ontong moved straight into coaching. He was appointed South Africa’s fielding coach under Ottis Gibson in the 2017-8 season and remained in that role when Mark Boucher took over in December 2019. Boucher resigned the post after last year’s T20 World Cup and has been succeeded by Shukri Conrad in Tests and Rob Walter in ODIs and T20Is, each of who has their own support staff. The white-ball fielding job has been given to Lions’ coach Wandile Gwavu.

Alan Gardner02-Apr-2019Ben Foakes has admitted he was surprised to be dropped by England for their final Test of the winter, just a few months after being named Man of the Series in Sri Lanka, but is willing to contemplate whatever potential avenues are open to him in an attempt to remain in contention for the Ashes.Foakes was left out in St Lucia, despite a fine start to his Test career that included making a century on debut, as England returned Jonny Bairstow to No. 7 in the batting order and his coveted role of wicketkeeper. Having rebalanced the side, England claimed a small-consolation victory in the third Test against West Indies, and left Foakes with a few questions about where to go next.Widely regarded as the best gloveman in the country, Foakes may now find his best route back into the team is as a specialist batsman – even discussing with Trevor Bayliss, England’s head coach, about the possibility of pitching himself as a candidate for the Test team’s troublesome No. 3 slot.It is a measure of his understated nature that Foakes was seemingly readying himself to be dropped from the outset, after replacing the injured Bairstow in Galle and then playing an instrumental role in England’s 3-0 whitewash of Sri Lanka. His debut series was “a dream come true” but a couple of unfortunate dismissals in the Caribbean – caught at short leg and playing on while pulling – contributed to him losing his place after just five Tests.”I didn’t think I’d be getting dropped that game,” he said, reflecting on his experience at Surrey’s pre-season media day. “From what you hear within [the squad] I was quite surprised to be dropped. It was a case where, without making excuses, a couple of the dismissals were quite freak dismissals.”I didn’t feel like I had had an absolute stinker. It was one of those phases. I didn’t feel like I was horribly out of form and you get dropped. I just didn’t get runs, a little bit of bad luck, and it’s over before you know it – that sort of tour. It’s obviously quite difficult to deal with that brief period.”From what I was told they wanted to get Jonny back down to No. 7 and didn’t like that balance [of Foakes keeping at No. 8]. In a county season I’ve been through many stages where I haven’t got runs and you get a long stretch. But I guess that’s the first learning of international cricket, that you don’t have that luxury. You do get dropped, you do get back in at certain stages.”Foakes had initially been planning to take some time off, after several winters of involvement with England and the Lions, so his surprise elevation to the Test side after Bairstow rolled his ankle during the ODIs in Sri Lanka was the start of an unexpected journey.”I think it was a rollercoaster, but a dream come true,” he said, “an amazing winter where I guess I didn’t think it would come about and then things went better than I could ever expect. And obviously you’ve got the other end of the spectrum, so with international cricket I guess that’s the way it is. But it was an amazing winter.”As for whether he could force his way in as a batsman – he averages 40.70 in first-class cricket, usually while playing as a keeper – Foakes is uncertain. England’s lower-middle order is the Test team’s batting stronghold, with most of the question marks around the top three, but Surrey are well-stocked with options in that area – including Foakes’ team-mate Jason Roy, who is hoping to make an Ashes case himself.But while he is a markedly different player, Foakes can perhaps look to the example of Jos Buttler, another wicketkeeper-batsman in the Test XI, for inspiration. Buttler’s return, sparked in part by his form in the IPL, was one of a number of selectorial dice rolls that paid off for England last year.”I’d play for England wherever I could get in,” Foakes said. “I’m speaking to Ed Smith next week and I’ll ask him a few questions about routes back into the team, how I can get back in.”The way the Test team is now, it’s a versatile team and there are some left-field selections and that sort of thing. I’ve never thought I could play as a batter only, I always thought I’d have to get in as a keeper but I guess the way it’s going, if I could push my case and get a lot of runs then you never know.”Obviously I’d love to bat three but I’ve never done it with keeping. There are certain steps up but I’d love to give it a go. Technically I’m quite happy, it’s obviously a more challenging place to bat but as with all new challenges you evolve, you learn. I’m not the most attacking player so am probably suited to batting up a little bit.”Whatever questions he may have for the England management, Foakes has no doubts about his desire to get back into the side. “It was something that I have worked my whole career for. To get there you will get highs and lows, but especially in Sri Lanka, the feeling out on the pitch with the guys was the best feeling I’ve ever had in cricket. So I want that again.”

Following his early success with the ODI team, South Africa have included chinaman bowler Tabraiz Shamsi in their squad for the Tests in Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Oct-20160:51

Quick facts: Keshav Maharaj

SA squad for Australia Tests

Faf du Plessis (capt), Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Stephen Cook, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Dean Elgar, Keshav Maharaj, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dale Steyn, Dane Vilas
IN: Morne Morkel, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rilee Rossouw, Dane Vilas
OUT: Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Dane Piedt, Stiaan van Zyl

Two uncapped spinners will form part of South Africa’s attack on their three Test tour to Australia in November. Chinaman bowler Tabraiz Shamsi, who has enjoyed early success in ODIs, and left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj have been included in the 16-man squad. They come in at the expense of offspinner Dane Piedt, who had played both home Tests against New Zealand and three of the four Tests against England last summer, and seemed to be establishing himself as first choice.The pace pack has fewer surprises with Morne Morkel returning, subject to coming through a first-class match starting on Tuesday. Morkel sat out the New Zealand Tests and Australia ODIs with a back problem and has since made a come back in club cricket. He forms part of a five-man seam attack with Kyle Abbott, Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada and Vernon Philander.Faf du Plessis will captain in place of the injured AB de Villiers while in-form Rilee Rossouw – who is yet to win a Test cap – has been added as batting cover in place of Stiaan van Zyl. Dane Vilas will travel as the reserve gloveman. Dean Elgar, who sustained an ankle injury ahead of the second Test against New Zealand, has been in action for the Titans and will take his place at the top of the order. With allrounders Chris Morris and Wayne Parnell nursing knee and rib injuries respectively, South Africa are without an allrounder apart from JP Duminy, who has been earmarked to play a role with the ball as well.”Basically, we are following a horses for courses policy as we feel that spinners who turn the ball away from the right-hander are going to be particularly useful in Australian conditions and against the Test batsmen we are likely to face,” Linda Zondi, South Africa’s convener of selectors, said. “I am excited about the cover we have in this area with a wrist spinner and a left-arm orthodox spinner, with JP Duminy able to offer the right-arm variety as well.”Still, the inclusion of two rookie spinners is a bold move from South Africa, and seems to come as a consequence of Piedt’s wickets costing too much. He was South Africa’s third-highest wicket-taker in the England series, with 10 scalps at 45.50, and he was South Africa A’s joint-highest wicket-taker in their two unofficial Tests against Australia A but his six wickets came at an average of 43.66. Piedt had a good first-class run last summer, finishing third on the overall wicket-takers’ list, behind Shamsi and in front of Maharaj.Shamsi was joint-second with 41 wickets at 16.07 while Maharaj was joint-fifth, with 36 wickets at 32.00. While Shamsi has not played a first-class match since April, and his time with the South African ODI squad means he will not feature for the Titans before the Australia tour, Maharaj has started this season with great success. He took a career-best 13 for 157 to bowl the Dolphins to victory over the Warriors in the opening round of the first-class competition.Half of South Africa’s Test squad will not have had long-format game time ahead of the tour as they finish the ODI series but Cook, Elgar, Temba Bavuma, Vernon Philander, Vilas, Dean Elgar, Morkel and Maharaj will all have at least one domestic match under their belts before the squad travels. Cook and Bavuma scored an unbeaten 97 and 76 respectively for the Lions in their win over the Cobras. Vilas and Philander played in the same match, without much success. Elgar scored 33 and 1 for the Titans against the Knights and Morkel will play for the Titans in their fixture this week.South Africa will also have two warm-up matches in Australia – one ahead of the series and another between the second and third Tests. The final fixture is a day-night match at the Adelaide Oval, in which de Villiers is holding out faint hope of being able to participate in.

The seven-ODI series at home against New Zealand, starting October 8, is set to be Dane van Niekerk’s first as South Africa Women’s captain

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Oct-20161:11

‘We are competing against the best’ – van Niekerk

The seven-ODI series at home against New Zealand, starting October 8, is set to be Dane van Niekerk’s first as South Africa Women’s captain.Van Niekerk was announced captain in June, after Mignon du Preez stepped down from the role to focus on her batting.”It’s definitely not going to be an easy task taking on New Zealand, but I’m sure that we have the team to do the job,” Van Niekerk said. “It’s just a question of us doing the right things and sticking to the basics and I’m sure we’ll do well. We want to seal our place in next year’s World Cup and this series is just another step towards that goal.”Neither wicketkeeper Trisha Chetty nor seamer Shabnim Ismail figure in the 15-member squad, as they are currently subject to a CSA disciplinary hearing. CSA is to make an announcement on the matter once the disciplinary process is complete.Seamer Marcia Letsoalo is the other member of the squad from the home ODIs against West Indies Women in February to miss out. In place of the three omitted players, the squad includes batsman Lara Goodall, left-arm seamer Moseline Daniels and wicketkeeper Sinalo Jafta. Jafta, 21, has not played any international cricket so far.The first three ODIs of the series form part of the ICC Women’s Championship, and therefore count towards qualification for the 2017 Women’s World Cup in England next year. South Africa are currently fifth on the points table, behind New Zealand at fourth.South Africa Women squad: Dané van Niekerk (capt.), Laura Wolvaardt, Mignon du Preez, Marizanne Kapp, Lizelle Lee, Suné Luus, Chloe Tryon, Dinesha Devnarain, Odine Kirsten, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Lara Goodall, Sinalo Jafta, Moseline Daniels, Andrie Steyn