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Mitchell Starc also dismissed Marcus Harris for 26 while Peter Handscomb and Campbell Kellaway made half-centuries

Alex Malcolm20-Oct-2024Sean Abbott put his name in the queue of back-up Test quicks with an outstanding spell while Mitchell Starc won a key battle over Marcus Harris that could shape Australia’s side as New South Wales took the ascendency against Victoria on the opening day at the MCG.In front of a lively Sunday crowd of around 1800, Abbott took four wickets and arguably deserved more on the back of some high-quality sustained fast bowling across the day, including an incredible spell after tea that yielded 3 for 0 in 15 balls and the swung the momentum NSW’s way.Related

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Peter Handscomb and Campbell Kellaway made fighting half-centuries in challenging conditions that favoured the seamers.Harris was unable to kick on after batting the entire first session for 26. Starc bowled impressively in the morning but went unrewarded despite finding swing and extra bounce while operating at high pace. Harris fought hard and played reasonably well without being able to score freely. Shortly before lunch, Starc pinned Harris on the underside of his left arm to leave a large egg-shaped bruise.The left-armer returned after the break to first beat Harris on the inside edge and nearly bowl him, before picking him up caught down the leg side. Harris bemoaned his misfortune but Starc’s extra pace and bounce meant he was not in control of the leg glance.NSW did not claim another wicket for the next 34 overs as Kellaway and Handscomb shared a century stand against some excellent bowling. Abbott and Starc in particular beat the bat regularly. Abbott had a number of half-shouts turned down while Starc broke Handscomb’s bat with a searing delivery that climbed from a length and cracked the splice of his blade.Kellaway and Handscomb defended against that duo and then expanded against Nathan Lyon. Kellaway launched him for a huge six over wide long-on while Handscomb played him with typical class.Jackson Bird broke the stand after tea, finding the outside edge with a superb off-cutter to dismiss Kellaway for 55 from 160 deliveries.Abbott then returned to wreak havoc. Handscomb, on 64, attempted a drive at a fuller length, but Abbott managed to get the ball to straighten a touch and Steven Smith held the edge at second slip.In Abbott’s next over he removed Sam Harper in similar fashion. Abbott went wide of the crease and dragged his length back as Harper shuffled forward. Again the ball straightened off the seam and caught the edge with Nic Maddinson claiming the chance sharply at third slip. Abbott should have had another two balls later but Maddinson grassed an easier catch that went straight to him off Will Sutherland’s outside edge.It cost nothing as Abbott nicked off Sutherland again to the safe gloves of Josh Phillippe. When Lyon had Sam Elliott caught at short leg, Victoria had slumped from 164 for 2 to 185 for 7.”I thought we bowled pretty well,” Abbott said after play. “But equally, I think the Vic boys batted very well on that wicket.”It felt a bit frustrating at times. We went past the bat a lot. It was just nice to get some reward late in the day after some hard toil all day.”Tom Rogers took 37 balls to get off the mark while watching three of his team-mates fall at the other end. But he and Fergus O’Neill mounted a rearguard against the second new ball with a 58-run stand before O’Neill fell late in the day for 28. Jack Nisbet picked up a second when he had Todd Murphy caught behind in the shadows of stumps.Handscomb was pleased with Victoria’s score given how much pace and seam movement there was in the surface and how well New South Wales bowled.”They bowled beautifully,” Handscomb said. “They’re always going to be there or thereabouts, and not really give you any loose balls.”We just kept telling each other just to try and fight and keep getting through. Because it’s tough for us out there but it’s also going to be tougher for the next bloke coming in.”I think it’s a really good day for us today. We’re really happy with that situation. I think when you get sent in here day one where, if we can get somewhere between 180 to 220, we tend to feel like we’re still in the game.”

Saini, Swepson also sign contracts as County Championship returns

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jun-2023Dan Moriarty has joined Yorkshire on loan for four County Championship games, after struggling for opportunities at Surrey.Moriarty, 24, is one of the most promising young spinners in English cricket but has found himself playing second-team cricket this summer. Surrey have relied heavily on their seamers in the Championship and have picked allrounder Will Jacks and Cameron Steel ahead of their specialists.Yorkshire have brought Moriarty in for their next four Championship fixtures, including Sunday’s home game against Gloucestershire, and their managing director Darren Gough said he was “a brilliant addition”.Gough added: “With Yorkshire’s focus shortly turning to Championship cricket again, alongside the busy Blast schedule, it was important to add another addition to our bowling resources.”Related

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It remains to be seen if he will play straightaway, though Yorkshire’s main spinner, Dom Bess, has struggled this season, taking 12 wickets at 51.33 in five appearances.Moriarty has only played two Championship games in the last 18 months, but Alec Stewart, Surrey’s director of cricket, said he could still play a role in the title run-in later this season.”This is a really good opportunity for Dan to play a number of first-class games over the next month or so,” Stewart said. “Hopefully he’ll put in some really good performances which will prepare him well should he get selected in the Championship run-in during September.”Elsewhere, Glamorgan have brought in Mitchell Swepson, the Australian legspinner, as overseas cover for his Queensland team-mate Michael Neser, who is with Australia’s Ashes squad. He is set to make his debut against Sussex on Sunday.Worcestershire also announced an overseas signing on Friday morning, but their four-match arrangement with Navdeep Saini will be limited by his inclusion in India’s Test squad to play West Indies next month. He is expected to play against Derbyshire on Sunday before leaving for the Caribbean.

LSG’s bowlers led a remarkable comeback after Prithvi Shaw ran away to 61 off 34 balls

Sidharth Monga07-Apr-20224:18

Did Rishabh Pant err in not bowling his spinners enough?

The Lucknow Super Giants spinners stifled Delhi Capitals, and their death bowlers maintained the chokehold to restrict them to the third-lowest 20-over total for the loss of three wickets or fewer in the IPL: 149. With dew around, it became an easy target to chase, but even LSG stumbled in the end and finished the chase only in the last over despite a 52-ball 80 from Quinton de Kock.It was a remarkable comeback from LSG after Prithvi Shaw ran away to 61 off 34 balls. However, the other Capitals batters – David Warner and Rishabh pant among them – couldn’t manage even a run a ball between them. It wasn’t for the want of trying: they all tried to hit out, but Ravi Bishnoi, K Gowtham and Krunal Pandya tied them down before Jason Holder and Avesh Khan finished off with just 19 runs in the last three overs, the second-lowest aggregate for an IPL side who had top-six batters at the wicket.

Capitals fined for slow over rate

Delhi Capitals have been fined for maintaining a slow over rate during the match against Lucknow Super Giants on Thursday. Since it was the team’s first offence of the season under the IPL’s code of conduct, captain Rishabh Pant was fined INR 12 lakhs.

Between them the LSG spinners bowled 10 overs for 57 runs and took all three wickets to fall. Gowtham also bowled the first maiden Pant has faced in the IPL.Shaw welcomes back Warner
This was a homecoming of sorts for Warner to the team he made his IPL debut for. Shaw was there to make him feel at home, giving him a right-hand impression of the batter he used to be before he began to set himself up for the long innings. The LSG fast bowlers tried to bowl hard lengths at Shaw, but kept getting cut or pulled. He alone scored 47 in the powerplay, letting Warner ease his way back in.Against the spinners Shaw remained aggressive and effective, going over cover with ease and punishing any error in length. In the eighth over, he stepped out to Gowtham to hit him for a straight six before going over cover for four.Prithvi Shaw hits Jason Holder over midwicket for a six•BCCI

Shaw gone, choke on
Gowtham responded by moving round the wicket and pushing one across Shaw. Shaw saw a third boundary in a row and went for the cut, but the angle and some extra bounce defeated him to take the top edge.Capitals then made a curious move to promote Rovman Powell to No. 3. Before today, Powell had struck at 150 against pace and 116 against spin. He was now being exposed to spin on a surface with grip.Bishnoi and Gowtham now sucked the life out of the innings. Warner went cutting a wide ball, which kept getting away from him, and managed just a top edge, the third time he has got out to Bishnoi in six balls. A desperate Powell saw a full ball and went for the slog, but it turned out to be the wrong’un, which took out off stump. Gowtham then proceeded to cramp Pant and bowl a maiden.When Sarfaraz Khan reverse-swept the last ball of the 11th over, it was the first boundary by a batter not named Shaw.Pant’s struggles
More than Warner or Powell, Pant’s struggle was stark. He managed just eight off the first 19 balls he faced, surviving a run-out chance in the process. It was with the last ball of the 15th over that he finally broke free, lofting a Bishnoi wrong’un over extra-cover. When Andrew Tye offered him a full-toss and two slot balls in the 16th, Pant finally went past a run a ball with a four and two sixes. Sarfaraz got stuck into Avesh in the 17th over, making it 130 for 3 and raising hopes for Capitals.Holder’s mix of cutters and yorkers, though, completely shut Pant and Sarfaraz out. He bowled the 18th and the 20th, but conceded no boundary. Avesh made a stellar comeback in the 19th, conceding just the one four. This 36-ball 39 was Pant’s third-slowest innings of 30 balls or more. To make matters worse, the bowlers were wiping the ball with a towel every ball, an ominous sign if you have only managed a low total.Rovman Powell is bowled by Ravi Bishnoi’s googly•BCCI

De Kock aces the chase
With Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav in the side and with Lalit Yadav becoming effective with part-time spin, Capitals still had an attack to fight in defence of the small total, but the wet ball tipped the scales in LSG’s favour.Mustafizur Rahman and Lalit kept things tight for the first four overs, but the floodgates opened when Anrich Nortje bowled for the first time in an IPL match in India. The fifth over was full of half-volleys, which de Kock dispatched for three fours, before pulling a short ball for a six.The target was so low that it took a string of tight overs to take the asking rate past 8.5 an over, but just one beamer from Nortje that went for a six in the 14th over for it to come crashing down to 7.5. Another beamer in the 16th sent Nortje off, and de Kock hit Kuldeep for two fours. When he finally fell, de Kock had left his side seven an over to get in the last four overs.Krunal, Badoni calm the nerves
Fourteen balls without a boundary, bowled by Mustafizur and Shardul Thakur, created nerves for LSG, making it 17 required off 10 balls. Krunal and Deepak Hooda tried their best to find the boundary, but the defensive bowling remained top-class. Eventually, though, Krunal picked a slower one and lofted it back over Mustafizur’s head, and then picked three straight braces to leave just five to get in the last over. They still needed Ayush Badoni to come out and hit a boundary when it came down to five off four.

The three-Test series might also be reduced to two keeping the players’ requirements in mind

Mohammad Isam22-Nov-2020Cricket West Indies president Ricky Skerritt has given Bangladesh hope that they will be touring the country in January 2021 with the “best available” West Indies team, also hinting that the three-Test series might be reduced to two keeping the players’ requirements in mind.According to the ICC’s Future Tours Programme, the tour was slotted for January 2021 featuring three Tests, three ODIs and two T20Is, with the Tests part of the World Test Championship. By the time this month ends, Bangladesh will be among the few Full Member teams to have not played international cricket since March.ALSO READ: ICC confirms altered points system for World Test Championship“There has been an option to reduce from three to two Tests but it is not finalised yet,” Skerritt told the Dhaka-based . “It will be finalised within the next few days. The problem is [that] we have to look at it from all perspectives, that of Covid-19, scheduling and cost. These days, the pressures that Covid has brought to world cricket are significant in terms of revenue. We want to come to Bangladesh because we respect the relationship and the bilateral agreements that we have.”I just want to assure you that we will always send the best available team to any tour that we undertake, including Bangladesh. We believe a tour to Bangladesh is always a challenging tour because it is an environment that’s very different to our own conditions. But we have always done well in Bangladesh. Our players enjoy playing against Bangladesh. At the moment we are fairly evenly matched and it is always a good series between West Indies and Bangladesh. We are doing everything we can to participate in tours abroad and at home. The Covid-19 pandemic is making it extremely difficult to implement our plans.”On Wednesday, the BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury said in a press briefing that CWI had requested one fewer Test due to the length of the bio-bubble in Bangladesh.”It is not final yet. The West Indies cricket board has requested us, as staying inside bio-bubble for a long time is tough for players,” Chowdhury had said. “They requested to consider if it is possible to shorten the duration of the series. In that case, one of the options is to reduce one Test match. We are still discussing the issues, nothing is finalised yet.”Skerritt also said they want to ensure that the BCB followed the recognised worldwide health protocols – that the West Indies team had experienced in England – after they became the first international cricket team to tour during the pandemic.”We want to be sure that the protocols established in Bangladesh meet the requirement that we have established so far in the various tours we have been on,” Skerritt said. “There are case studies to benchmark from. This is not going to be the first overseas tour. As you know, we did the first overseas tour to England.”Certain standards were set, certain learnings were achieved, and I think once Bangladesh can meet those standards, I don’t think there’s going to be any major problem. We just have to verify in our own way that the situation will be safe for all concerned.”The BCB has so far held one domestic tournament, the President’s Cup, in which they managed to keep three teams in a bio-bubble, allowing them only to commute between the hotel and the Shere Bangla National Stadium. From Tuesday, they will be hosting the five-team Bangabandhu T20 Cup, which will also have a BCB-sponsored bio-bubble.

Spinner available for two Championship games as well as remainder of Vitality Blast

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Aug-2019South Africa spinner Keshav Maharaj will return for Yorkshire’s next two Championship matches, as well as a spell in the Vitality Blast, having enjoyed success during his initial three-match spell in July.Maharaj will be available to play against Nottinghamshire at Scarborough later this month, and for the trip to Taunton beginning on September 10. He is set to make his Blast debut in the Roses match at Old Trafford next Friday, and could feature in seven fixtures; Yorkshire have been without the services of an overseas player since Nicholas Pooran completed a three-game spell last week.The slow left-armer claimed 20 Championship wickets at 19.95 in his first stint with the club, as well as adding a couple of fifties with the bat. Confirmation of his return comes after Adil Rashid was ruled out for an unknown period by his ongoing shoulder problem.”When I first arrived, I felt very welcomed by all the club officials and my fellow team-mates,” Maharaj said. “I managed to settle in really well on the cricketing front and I’m just glad that the opportunity has been afforded to me to be able to come back for the two four-day games and maybe a few T20s as well.”I’ve always wanted to play T20 cricket around the world, as regularly as I can and as often as I can. It’s my first T20 gig outside of South Africa so I’m really looking forward to it. Hopefully, I can have an impact and that the team can get through to finals day.”I would love to make this a regular feature with Yorkshire cricket. Being a pro cricketer, I’d love to ply my trade all over the world. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Yorkshire so it will be a pleasure to come back as much as possible.”I was really pleased to be able to contribute in two victories out of three; I would have loved to made it a third. Hopefully over the two remaining fixtures I can get another couple of victories and help put the team in a good position to win the Championship.”The spin-bowling department has been an issue for Yorkshire all season, with Somerset’s Dom Bess having been signed on loan spells for both Championship and T20 cricket. Bess, who has played four Blast games, is set to return to Somerset before the next round of the Championhip, while legspinner Josh Poysden was recently ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering a fractured skull in training.Yorkshire’s first-team coach Andrew Gale said of Maharaj: “He made a great impact in the three weeks he was with us. He’s a classy spin bowler and he contributed greatly to our wins over Surrey and Somerset.”He fitted in well with the dressing room and also contributed well with the bat down the order. We look forward to having him back with us next week and we hope he can continue to perform well for us at North Marine Road and Taunton too.”

The Major Associations set to contract 16 players each overall, one more than last season

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jun-2018Former New Zealand opener Jesse Ryder has found no takers among the six Major Associations in round one of contract distribution.The associations announced their first list of contracted players for the 2018-19 season on Friday, part of a two-step contracting process in domestic cricket. They will contract 16 players each overall, one up from last season.As per the rules, the associations are allowed to contract between ten and 15 players in round one, and will fill up their quota of 16 on June 30. Whether 33-year-old Ryder finds a new cricketing home then remains to be seen. For now, it seems like his team from the last three seasons, Central Districts, has moved on. quoted Central Districts chief executive Pete De Wet as saying: “Jesse began his professional career for us way back in 2002-03, when he was a promising youngster himself at just 18. Later, after nine seasons representing the Wellington Firebirds and two seasons with the Otago Volts, we were delighted when his career came full circle in 2015-16 when we welcomed Jesse back.”It was a very difficult decision not to offer Jesse a new contract, as we have appreciated his contribution to the team for the past three summers. However, ultimately, we have considered the balance of our squad and have elected to take a long-range view.”Ryder was one of only six batsmen to score over 600 runs last season in the first-class Plunket Shield. In seven matches for Central Districts, the eventual champions, Ryder scored 640 at 71.11 with two hundreds and three fifties. The highlight of his season was twin centuries from No. 5 in Nelson, to set up a 256-run drubbing of Auckland.Here is the full list of players handed contracts in round one.Auckland: Jamie Brown, Craig Cachopa, Mark Chapman, Danru Ferns, Michael Guptill-Bunce, Ben Horne, Ben Lister, Matt McEwan, Robbie O’Donnell, Glenn Phillips, Sean Solia, Will SomervilleCanterbury: Chad Bowes, Blake Coburn, Leo Carter, Andrew Ellis, Cameron Fletcher, Andrew Hazeldine, Kyle Jamieson, Ken McClure, Cole McConchie, Stephen Murdoch, Ed Nuttall, Henry Shipley, Will Williams, Theo van WoerkomCentral Districts: Doug Bracewell, Tom Bruce, Josh Clarkson, Dane Cleaver, Greg Hay, Christian Leopard, Willem Ludick, Ryan McCone, Ajaz Patel, Seth Rance, Bevan Small, Ben Smith, Blair Tickner, Ben Wheeler, Will YoungNorthern Districts: James Baker, Peter Bocock, Dean Brownlie, Henry Cooper, Anton Devcich, Daniel Flynn, Zak Gibson, Brett Hampton, Nick Kelly, Scott Kuggeleijn, Daryl Mitchell, Bharat Popli, Brett Randell, Tim Seifert, Joe WalkerOtago: Matt Bacon, Warren Barnes, Neil Broom, Mark Craig, Jacob Duffy, Josh Finnie, Shawn Hicks, Anaru Kitchen, Michael Rae, Mitch Renwick, Michael Rippon, Hamish Rutherford, Nathan Smith, Brad WilsonWellington: Hamish Bennett, Tom Blundell, Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway, Lauchie Johns, Iain McPeake, James Neesham, Ollie Newton, Malcolm Nofal, Jeetan Patel, Rachin Ravindra, Ben Sears, Logan van Beek, Luke Woodcock, Peter Younghusband

Chris Lynn has said he stuck to the basics and focused on putting the bad balls away during his unbeaten 93 off 41 balls in the record opening stand with Gautam Gambhir

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Apr-2017The prolific opening combination of Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa was one of the highlights of Kolkata Knight Riders’ 2016 season. Uthappa had lauded their “batting chemistry”; they had stacked up staggering numbers after all: 566 runs at an average of 37.73, with one century and four fifty stands.Why would they then change the combination in their opening match of the 2017 IPL? The answer is Chris Lynn. Knight Riders’ frail middle order was probably a cause of concern from last year and Friday night showed using Lynn’s strength against pace bowling early on was not a bad idea, even though he had opened only twice in his career of 85 T20s. It meant Uthappa would probably bat at No. 3, but he was not required to in their opening fixture against Gujarat Lions.Knight Riders’ Suryakumar Yadav revealed in the post-match conference that their strategy to open with Lynn was not an impromptu decision after Gujarat Lions had scored 183 for 4. “Since he [Lynn] came to Kolkata and we started the camp, we had one thing in mind – our captain backed him to open,” Suryakumar said. “It was the best thing and he [Gambhir] told Lynn straightaway that he’s going to open in the tournament so it was not instant, it was pre-planned.”Lynn was the dominant one in the opening partnership with Gambhir as he raced to a 19-ball fifty, hammering 23 runs against Dwayne Smith in the seventh over. He said he did not try anything unusual and only focused on getting the basics right by putting the bad balls away.”We knew we had to get off to a good start and we did that, we put them under pressure in the first six overs and then we took our momentum from there,” Lynn told after ending unbeaten on 93 off 41 balls.”I try and keep things very simple, it’s as simple as see ball, hit ball. If they bowl a good ball, you’ve got to respect that and try and get down at the other end and if they bowl a bad ball, you’ve to try and put it away. That’s as simple as I can put it. And if I’m not having fun, I’m not going to do well. That’s the main thing.”Chris Lynn was particularly unforgiving against Gujarat Lions’ seamers•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Opening the batting also meant Lynn did not have to make too many adjustments to his game to suit Indian conditions. “Probably just the [adjustment to the] bounce, and maybe as a batter you might put your stance a little bit lower and you’ve got to hold your shape a little bit more. As an opener the difference is minimal but batting in the middle order has a lot more changes – starting against spin is one thing. But upfront it’s generally the ball slotting on, and it’s a nice hard Kookaburra… as I said, have a bit of fun and you never know. I had a little bit of luck tonight but you make use of luck so it’s a positive thing.”It may not always be my night but fingers crossed I can always pick that momentum and ride that wave throughout that tournament now. So that’s the challenge and teams are going to watch the footage and work a plan out and I’m going to have to try and throw a punch back and go one better, that’s part of the game but it’s great fun while we’re doing it.”Knight Riders’ opening stand of 184 was the highest total chased down in the history of T20s, with Gambhir unbeaten on 76 off 48 balls. Lynn said he was “very comfortable” with Gambhir and there was hardly going to be a chance of scoring a century since the captain was also scoring at a quick rate.”I’m just really happy with the way we gelled, we did it so quickly,” Lynn said. “That’s probably the second time I’ve batted with GG now. We were very comfortable, we ran between the wickets well and that’s the best sign coming out of it. It’s good fun and to do it none down was even more special.”First I was happy to get off the mark, then get the fifty but the way Gauti was batting, he was never going to give me a chance to get to a hundred. But I’ll take 90 not out any day of the week over a hundred, as everyone says the team comes first.”

Surrey have announced Michael Di Venuto as their new head coach on a three-year deal to replace Graham Ford who has recently returned to work with Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Feb-2016Surrey have announced Michael Di Venuto as their new head coach on a three-year deal to replace Graham Ford who has recently returned to work with Sri Lanka.Di Venuto, who played nine ODIs, is currently Australia’s assistant and batting coach and recently took charge of the team when Darren Lehmann suffered DVT. His final Australia assignment will be the T20 tour of South Africa next month and he will join Surrey in early April ahead of the start of their Championship campaign against Nottinghamshire on April 10.Greg Blewett, who is currently Australia’s fielding coach, will take on the batting responsibilities with the national side.Di Venuto has extensive experience of the county game having played for Sussex, Derbyshire and latterly Durham with whom he won back-to-back County Championship titles in 2008 and 2009.”It has been a huge honour and privilege to have worked with the Australian team but the chance to come to a club of the size and potential of Surrey as head coach was too big an opportunity for me to turn down,” Di Venuto said.”As someone who has always enjoyed the county game, I have followed Surrey’s progress over the last couple of years and look forward to working with this talented squad of players.”Alec Stewart, the Surrey director of cricket, said: “Following the departure of Graham Ford it was vitally important that we found another high quality coach with a great work ethic and excellent knowledge of the English county game.”Michael is a good people person and his twelve years of county experience will be invaluable. He is highly regarded within the Australian setup for his ability to work with and get the best out of players both individually and collectively.”Being able to appoint a coach from a top quality International team can only serve to benefit the club and I would like to thank Cricket Australia for their professional dealings and understanding in enabling us to make this appointment in time for the start of the new season.”Pat Howard, Australia’s general manager, thanked Di Venuto for his work alongside Darren Lehmann over the last three years.”Michael has played a very important role supporting the Australian team over the last three years, including this past home summer when he stood in for Darren Lehmann as head coach,” Howard said.”He has brought a tremendous work ethic and commitment to the role and we have no doubt that this head coaching opportunity with Surrey will provide him with fantastic experience leading his own team, continuing his rapid development as an elite coach.”

Andrew Hudson has been reappointed as convener of the national selection committee of South Africa, which also includes Shafiek Abrahams and new members Linda Zondi and Hussein Manack

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jul-2013Andrew Hudson, former South Africa batsman, has been reappointed as convener of the national selection committee, which also includes the incumbent Shafiek Abrahams and new members Linda Zondi, a former KwaZulu-Natal wicketkeeper, and Hussein Manack, a former Gauteng allrounder. Russell Domingo, South Africa’s head coach, is an ex officio appointment on the panel that will serve until the 2015 World Cup.CSA high performance manager Vincent Barnes and transformation manager Max Jordaan will also serve on the committee in a non-voting capacity. Barnes and Corrie van Zyl were released from the panel to make way for Zondi and Manack.”The board felt the need for a stronger independent component to the selection committee,” CSA’s acting chief executive Naasei Appiah said. “The previous panel had a majority of members who were employed by CSA. The national coach is the only voting member of the new panel who is employed by CSA.”As part of their mandate, there will have to be a selector on duty at all franchise matches in all the different competitions. Linda Zondi is succeeding Shafiek Abrahams as convener of the national Under-19 panel and he will have a key role to play as the Under-19 group is a vital area of our talent catchment area.”Zondi, a former first-class wicketkeeper, has been involved with Kwa-Zulu Natal’s development program, and has worked with the national Under-19 side. He was among the three black African candidates who were in the running to be nominated to the panel.Maneck, the other appointee, played first-class cricket for Gauteng (formerly Transvaal) and was one of the non-playing members of South Arica’s inaugural post-readmission tour to India in 1992. He has served on the Gauteng Cricket Board and is a selector at the Lions – the franchise which won the domestic T20 cup, shared the one-day cup, and finished second in the first-class competition.Van Zyl, who was released from the panel, was appointed selector in 2010, when he was also the interim coach of the South Africa team. After Gary Kirsten took over as coach in 2011, van Zyl moved on to the high-performance program and stayed on as selector. Barnes, who will serve on the committee in a non-voting capacity, was appointed to the panel in June 2011.Hudson, who was first appointed convenor of selectors in 2010, will lead the new panel in their first assignment to pick the South Africa team for the series against Pakistan in October. The tour begins on October 14 in the UAE, and consists of two Tests, five ODIs and two T20s.

A controlled spell from Monty Panesar coupled with some aggressive fast bowling by the likes of Steve Magoffin and James Anyon, was too much for Worcestershire

Ivo Tennant at Hove03-Aug-2012
ScorecardMonty Panesar produce an impressive spell to trouble Worcestershire•Getty Images

A controlled spell from Monty Panesar, one in which he took 4 for 23, coupled with some aggressive fast bowling by the likes of Steve Magoffin and James Anyon, was altogether too much for Worcestershire. They succumbed in three days – or just about two given the time lost in this match – and had to contend without James Cameron, who was hit on the helmet, returning to the crease. The extra half hour was needed, but not for long.So what a triumph for Ed Joyce, the new Sussex captain: a century, the correct decision upon winning the toss, and a convincing victory. He knows, and we know, that leadership will not always be so straightforward and – yes – easy as this. All that inconvenienced him was a delayed start, in bizarre circumstances. And even the absence of play in the morning was ultimately of no concern.That play did not start until after an early lunch was understandable: it rained heavily shortly before the start and nothing was possible before 12.20 pm. At least that should have been the starting time. Yet when the umpires had come out, content that the drainage system had worked properly, and the opening bowlers were marking out their runs and the fielders were moving into position, the water table apparently was such that a damp patch roughly at the start of a medium-pacer’s run-up from the Sea End was too squidgy.So off they all went again, in bright sunshine, to the inevitable slow handclap. Understandable, yes, but not from a public relations perspective. When they did all re-appear at 1.10pm, Magoffin – who, incidentally, compared this bouncy pitch to ones he has experienced at the WACA in Perth – and James Anyon made plain their intention to score quick runs.And score them they did. Magoffin biffed 41 with five fours until he played on to the persevering Alan Richardson, whereupon Amjad Khan came out and batted in that flailing way which makes field settings an impossible task for the opposing captain. He and Anyon, who finished with an unbeaten 56 including eight fours, not far short of his career best score, added 60 runs before Joyce declared with a lead of 258. He could so easily have continued with the innings.Worcestershire fared no better than at the start of their first innings. Phil Hughes, undeterred by the steepling bounce, went for his shots in characteristic style, until, that was, he could not contend with lift outside leg stump generated by Anyon and deflected the ball to Ben Brown. Then Vikram Solanki lost his off stump to Magoffin, late on his defensive shot once again.Nothing seemed more likely at tea than that Worcestershire would be beaten in three days. After all, there were 42 overs still remaining and neither Daryl Mitchell nor Moeen Ali imbued their supporters with any confidence. Indeed, Moeen was dropped at second slip by Mike Yardy on 7 – a difficult attempt, this, for the ball was travelling – and he was to be held there, off Magoffin, after he had added a further 20 runs. This time the now former Sussex captain juggled the ball and caught it as he fell.Mitchell at least remained at the crease for 52 overs for his 48 runs. At the other end, though, wickets continued to fall, or, in the case of Cameron, a departure caused by having been struck by Magoffin, his eye off the ball. He was not to return. Panesar, bowling with loop and accuracy, had Matt Pardoe picked up at a wide second slip, bowled Gareth Andrew and had Ben Scott taken at silly point. As Joyce left the field, Hove was bathed in its fabled golden glow.