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The cricket “was borderline impossible to play at certain stages” with the pink ball under lights in the third Test, he says

Andrew McGlashan17-Jul-2025

Sam Konstas ended the series averaging 8.33•Associated Press

Australia coach Andrew McDonald believes it is difficult to draw too many long-term conclusions around the team’s batting from the West Indies tour given the often hazardous conditions they faced, particularly at Sabina Park which he termed at times “didn’t even look like cricket”.McDonald, who questioned the future of the pink Dukes ball in Test cricket, was confident Sam Konstas wouldn’t suffer negatively from the experience of the tour as he slips back into the pack of opening contenders ahead of the Ashes. He also does not expect Marnus Labuschagne to be out of the side for long having already seen encouraging signs during his training since being dropped in Barbados.”It’s really difficult to make accurate judgments on both batting units based upon the surfaces that we played on,” McDonald told on SEN Radio. “And you take that into the third Test, which is a pink-ball Dukes on that surface, that game just moved way too fast and at times, it didn’t even look like cricket.Related

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“…That cricket was borderline impossible to play at certain stages. Some of those deliveries from Mitchell Starc, the way that ball behaved under lights. So it’s a bigger question for what the pink Dukes looks like for Test match cricket, really.”He conceded, though, that the series had left questions rather than answering them. “It feels as though we’ll still be a little bit unsettled in terms of what our combinations look like at the top of the order with the way that the performances have gone here,” he said. “In saying that, there’s a lot of cricket still to come to be able to gather that information.”Konstas ended the series averaging 8.33 having only once made it past 20 and he cut a forlorn figure in the closing days of the series, dropping a couple of catches during West Indies’ 27 all out and misfielding to allow them to escape equaling the lowest Test total.There remains a chance he could still open against England in Perth when the Ashes starts in late November, but that will likely require a surge of runs in the early part of the Sheffield Shield season which shapes as a bat-off to open alongside Usman Khawaja, who retains the selectors’ backing for the home summer.It has been questioned whether Konstas’ series did him more harm than good, but McDonald did not buy into that perception.McDonald on Marnus Labuschagne: “We feel as though this wasn’t going to be a huge gap before he does return because of the quality, but the start of the Shield season will really shape that”•Getty Images

“I don’t think anyone’s damaged by being exposed to Test cricket because I think what it does do is it gives you a taste of what that level is like,” he said. “All the things that come around being a Test cricketer, not just purely going out there, marking centre and going about your business.”There’s no doubt he’s got some things to work on, like all our players do, and they continually work on. He’s clear on what they are. We feel as though across the journey, he’s a highly talented player, and I hate to use that word talent, but his skillsets over time, I think we’ll see the real Sam Konstas.”At the moment he’s juggling his aggressive nature, he’s juggling his technique and the way he really wants to go about playing it. But when you’ve got up-and-down seaming wickets, it can force you into those corners a lot quicker than some surfaces that potentially are batter friendly, which we were expecting to get here.”Konstas replaced Labuschagne at the top of the order after the latter had been given a chance to open in the World Test Championship final. Labuschagne was then dropped for the first time since 2019 but there is a sense the selectors are already looking at how they can get him back in the side.Opening would appear Labuschagne’s likely route to return given Cameron Green’s strong finish in the Caribbean at No. 3 although there is also a scenario where Green slips back to the middle order. McDonald reiterated that there wouldn’t be a need for Labuschagne to open for Queensland to be considered for the Test role.”I think towards the end there [before being left out], and Marnus won’t mind me saying this, that there was a little bit of going backward and forward on plans and at certain stages he wasn’t clear,” he said. “He’s got great clarity leaving here, which is a successful tour, albeit he hasn’t played a game…and [we] look forward to what he does coming into the early Shield rounds and then putting his hand up for selection for Perth.”But he’s a quality player. He averages 46 in Test match cricket. We feel as though this wasn’t going to be a huge gap before he does return because of the quality, but the start of the Shield season will really shape that.”Meanwhile, McDonald confirmed that Starc will join Pat Cummins in sitting out the white-ball matches against South Africa in the Top End during August.

Cricket to follow tennis lead and offer collective-bargaining opportunities for player deals

Matt Roller10-Jan-2024Cricket’s global union has followed the lead of its tennis counterpart, signing a commercial deal that aims to resolve the long-standing issues around players’ name, image and likeness rights which have lingered for more than two decades.The Federation of International Cricketers’ Association (FICA) announced on Wednesday a long-term partnership with Winners Alliance, which formed in 2022 as an affiliate of the Novak Djokovic-backed Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA). Pat Cummins, Australia’s captain, described the deal as “an amazing opportunity” for men’s and women’s players.FICA instigated legal action against the ICC in 2020, alleging unauthorised use of players’ image rights by the ICC and its commercial partners, though the matter never reached court. The exploitation of commercial and intellectual property rights has been a long-running source of tension between players and administrators, briefly threatening India’s participation in the 2003 World Cup.Winners Alliance will negotiate commercial deals on behalf of cricketers who are members of FICA-affiliated players’ associations. “Most of the best players in the world are part of our global program which we have built with players, their associations and agents,” Tom Moffat, FICA’s CEO, told ESPNcricinfo.”The program is focused on opening up new global group licensing opportunities to enable players to optimise certain collective name image-likeness rights, and to add new value for the game and commercial partners through opportunities that have previously been almost impossible because of the fragmented rights landscape in cricket.”The deal will see Tim Cruickshank, who briefly played professionally for New South Wales, leave his role with the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) and join Winners Alliance as their vice-president of commercial partnerships in the Asia-Pacific Region. “It’s a dream opportunity for me,” Cruickshank told ESPNcricinfo.Djokovic and Canadian tennis player Vasek Pospisil launched PTPA in 2020 and raised a reported $26 million to form Winners Alliance two years later. One source raised the possibility of cricketers being involved in cross-sport promotion opportunities as a result of the deal, featuring in advertisements alongside their tennis counterparts.”I hope this really simplifies everything for potential partners: we want to make this as easy as possible for companies wanting to invest in cricket,” Cruickshank said. “Cricket has been a complicated player-rights market but collectivising them creates additional opportunities and is best practice for all athletes across global sport. We want to solve the pain-point that cricket has had for quite some time.”Cruickshank used the example of video games, and the potential to sell collectivised name, image and likeness rights for the majority of international players. “If you want to be an officially licensed product, you’ll need to work with us,” he explained. “That obviously gives you great leverage in what is a pretty flooded market.”FICA will also receive direct funding from Winners Alliance, which Moffat said will help the organisation continue to support players “on issues like their right to form and join players’ associations, to move freely in pursuit of employment, non-payment issues and global scheduling.”The ICC are understood to be aware of the agreement, though declined to comment.

Regular wickets meant Sri Lanka never got close in their chase of 151

S Sudarshanan01-Oct-2022It was a welcome return for Jemimah Rodrigues to the national side as her T20I career best 76, including a 92-run partnership with captain Harmanpreet Kaur, followed by a stifling show by the bowlers helped India begin their Women’s T20 Asia Cup campaign with a 41-run win over Sri Lanka at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.India were scoring at under a run-a-ball before Rodrigues and Harmanpreet got together and helped India add 83 in the ten overs after the powerplay. However, with Harmanpreet’s fall, India only managed to score 35 runs for the loss of four wickets, bringing back the theme that saw them narrowly miss the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year.But India’s spinners kept the pressure on, especially on the face of an attacking start, to help the runners-up of the 2018 edition come up triumphs.Rodrigues, Harmanpreet steady the ship
Opting to field, Sri Lanka started with the left-arm-right-arm spin duo of Sugandika Kumari and Oshadi Ranasinghe, much like they did during the home series against India in June. Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana’s attempt to break free did not bear fruit as both of them fell holing out inside four overs.Rodrigues and Harmanpreet took time to get their eye in, with Achini Kulasuriya’s first over – the penultimate of the powerplay – going for just one. But Rodrigues began the assault, driving Kumari for two fours in the final over of the fielding restrictions. She then meted out a similar treatment to Kulasuriya in her next before taking two more fours off offspinner Malsha Shehani.Spinners trigger steady fall
Soon, Rodrigues brought up her eighth half-century in the format following which the pair began shifting gears. However, with the temperature in Sylhet soaring, it got to Harmanpreet, who had to be tended to by the physio – and she was off the field during the chase with Mandhana calling the shots in the middle – and then was stumped off Ranasinghe a ball after she was dropped and parried over for six.Rodrigues then managed a few hits, including a switch hit off Inoka Ranaweera before a swipe across the line ended her stay in the middle. After that, India’s end fizzled away as they added only 16 off the last 14 balls.Samarawickrama’s fluent start
Chasing 151, Harshitha Samawickrama was off to a quick start, taking three fours off the opening over bowled by Renuka Singh, player of the match in India’s last ODI at Lord’s. She then used her feet well to belt Sneh Rana’s offspin back over her head.Even though Deepti Sharma had managed to work Chamari Athapaththu out and dismiss her, Samarawickrama found an ally in Shehani, who came out all guns blazing. Sri Lanka had raced to 39 for 1 in five overs.Two run-outs turn the tide
Shehani then tried to steal a quick single by playing the ball with soft hands towards the off side, only for Deepti to swoop in quickly from backward point and fire a direct hit at the bowler’s end to catch the batter short. A couple of overs later, Samarawickrama’s ball-watching led to a horrible mix-up and resulted in her dismissal.From 48 for 3, Sri Lanka were reduced to 61 for 5 with Pooja Vastrakar striking twice. Radha then trapped Anushka Sanjeewani lbw before Dayalan Hemalatha picked three quick wickets to hasten the end.

Over the past three years, Afghanistan have gone through a very public struggle to find the right man to lead them

Umar Farooq03-Jun-2021Rashid Khan has declined the Afghanistan T20I captaincy, stating that he believes he is more valuable as a player than as a leader.”I am very much clear in my mind that I am better off as a player,” the 22-year old legspinner told ESPNcricinfo. “I am good in the role as vice-captain and help the captain wherever I am needed. It’s better for me that I stay away from this position.”I want to do well for the team as a player and my performance is a bit more crucial for the team rather than me thinking about different things being a captain. Also, it takes time, and right now the most important thing is the World Cup which is quite near and I feel it is too much for me to have. I am afraid it might affect my performance for the team which is a key so I am very happy as a player and whatever the decision board and selection committee make I am fully behind it and will appreciate it.”If you have a year or two, you manage yourself and understand things only then it’s easier to deal with the role. I was the captain once and they[board] know my mindset and which is why they kept the spot empty looking for someone else while I stay as a vice-captain.”Over the past three years, Afghanistan have gone through a very public struggle to find the right man to lead them.Two months before the 2019 World Cup, their board wrested the captaincy from Asghar Afghan and split it between Khan (T20Is), Gulbadin Naib (ODIs) and Rahmat Shah (Tests).But, after Afghanistan ended the World Cup without a single win, Naib was stripped of the role and Khan was named captain across formats.In December 2019, Afghan was brought back, but 15 months into his stint, he was sacked again. Hashmatullah Shahidi, the senior middle-order batter, took over as the new ODI and Test captain but the man who will lead them in T20 cricket continues to remain a mystery even though a World Cup is coming in five months’ time.Khan isn’t too worried though. “Asghar did a wonderful job for the last four-five years for the team and it was like he was the best option and he did really well,” he said. “So when an experienced captain goes then you tend to struggle to bring the right captain in and that is what’s happening with us and we are trying our best to give a chance to a player who can give his best for the team, for the country, and lead the team in a right way.”As a team, it doesn’t really affect us a lot as we all know our roles. We know someone will be named captain at some time but at the same time we all know what our job is and what our responsibility is to the team. We never thought a lot about the captaincy because it’s all about us as a team and what we are putting in at the ground. The mindset is all about how to contribute and whoever comes in as captain, we as players will support him and make him comfortable so that he doesn’t have to take the kind of pressure that may affect his own performance. Eventually, it’s about togetherness.”Khan is presently in Abu Dhabi, set to play for the Lahore Qalandars in Pakistan Super League, which resumes on June 9. Initially, when the tournament was supposed to take place in February-March, he only had a two-match deal, after which he would depart for international duty and then pop over to England to play the T20 Blast. Considering his contract with the Sussex county cricket club, he was never expected to be available for this second leg of the PSL, but things quickly changed.”It was tough to make this happen but the relationship I had developed with both Sussex and Lahore Qalandars made it easy to sort this out,” Khan said. “Sussex is like a family and we have a great understanding. I really appreciate them for allowing me to stay here and play the PSL and helping me to make this possible. They gave me tremendous support and the thing I love the most is them saying that, ‘we are going to support you whatever you do’. Their understanding, their love is what makes my job easier to decide where to go and where to play.”With Qalandars I feel the same. It all comes down to me in the end and it was my call to rejoin the Lahore Qalandars. All the fans I earned from just two games and the respect I got from the franchise is what made me come back.”

There are still ten months until the tournament in New Zealand, but it may yet be impacted by the fallout from the current pandemic

Andrew McGlashan15-Apr-2020Following the heady heights of the T20 World Cup triumph last month, Australia Women’s thoughts were set to shift to how to reclaim the 50-over title which escaped them in 2017 when they exited in the semi-final against India. But while the tournament in New Zealand is still ten months away, like the rest of the sporting world there are now a host of unknowns to deal with.With the global response to the coronavirus still in relatively early days, the timescale for a return to substantial international travel remains uncertain with the potential for borders to remain shut – or heavily restricted – for a considerable amount of time while there is also the question of when crowds could return to sports events.From Australia’s perspective, their end-of-season tour to South Africa was scrubbed last month and for the players, it is uncertain what their pre-season will look like once their current period of leave is over. While there remains some optimism within Cricket Australia that next season may be able to start largely as scheduled, significant doubts remain over the viability of international tours. The qualifying event for the women’s World Cup also looks highly likely to be affected with it currently scheduled for July in Sri Lanka.Next season in Australia would include the Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) and WBBL on a domestic level while there are scheduled visits by New Zealand and India ahead of the World Cup.”It’s quite a way away, beginning of next year, so hopefully we can get some sort of season domestically and internationally as well,” Australia allrounder Nicola Carey said. “I’d imagine if we can’t get international teams out here at the back end of the season, the World Cup may be difficult to have but I’m not really sure what’s happening with all the travel restrictions. But it’s a fair way away, so hopefully things improve and we can get some games in before then.”We’d like to be playing as many games as we can leading into a tournament like a World Cup and this is no different but it’s a bit of the unknown, not really sure what will happen even when we go back for pre-season… but we also understand there are bigger things at play here and we’ll just have to wait and see.”The 2017 World Cup in England – which was won by the hosts – was a rare occasion of Australia not making a global final when they were turned over by Harmanpreet Kaur’s magnificent 171 at Derby. However, since that match Australia have lost just one ODI and over the last two years have strung together a world record 18 wins in a row. With the focus of the recent season very much on the T20 World Cup, the last ODIs were in early October, but the emphasis was due to change with an eye on next year.”Being a T20 World Cup year there was a lot of emphasis on the T20 stuff,” Carey said. “We still played 50-over cricket so when we were in 50-over mode we were really focused on that. Naturally, if we are going into a 50-over World Cup that becomes quite important and there will be a massive focus, especially in training camps when you do the scenario-based things, [but] what that looks like I’m not sure.”Carey played five of Australia’s six matches at the T20 World Cup and is signed up for the new Hundred tournament in England which now faces the prospect of being pushed back a year. But the last few weeks for her have been more about getting the new house in Tasmania sorted alongside housemates and Hobart Hurricanes team-mates Maisy Gibson and Belinda Vakarewa. The next few months, at least, look likely to consist of a much more independent pre-season that usual.”It’s really nice to have the leave period but by the end of it you are chomping at the bit to get back into training and playing games,” she said. “You missing being around the girls, you get sick of them on tour but when you are apart you miss them. No doubt everyone will be hoping the season can go ahead.”

Left-arm spinner has been fielded only thrice by Melbourne Stars in the ongoing BBL season

Alex Malcolm08-Feb-2019Former Australia Test spinner and Melbourne Stars veteran Michael Beer has announced his retirement from Big Bash League cricket.Beer, 34, played in all eight seasons of the BBL, turning out in 60 matches overall. He played the first three seasons with Perth Scorchers, where he was part of two final losses, and was also part of the team in the Champions League.He then moved home to Melbourne to join the Stars in the 2014-15 season. Beer played in a final with the Stars in 2016, and was very successful as a bowler in the Powerplays, not always an easy task for a spinner.Beer, however, only managed three games this season.”When I first came to the Stars I probably wasn’t enjoying my cricket as much, but the Stars made cricket fun for me again,” Beer said. “I’d really like to thank the players and coaches I’ve been fortunate to work with over the years at the Stars, as well as the club staff and the board for all the support and opportunities they’ve given me and my career both on and off the field.ALSO READ: Brendon McCullum calls time on his Big Bash career“I’d also like to thank the WACA [Western Australia Cricket Association], Perth Scorchers and Cricket Victoria for my time with them, I’ve been lucky to learn so much from each team I’ve played with.”I’m very excited about the next phase of my life, spending time with my family and putting more focus into my coaching. I still really enjoy being around the game and look forward to building on some of the coaching opportunities I’ve had this year.”Beer finished with 42 BBL wickets at an excellent economy rate of 6.70 and strike rate of 29.50.Stars coach Stephen Fleming called Beer an integral part of the Stars set-up since moving over from the Scorchers.”Michael Beer has played a pivotal role at the Stars, contributing consistently with the ball and a key to our spin strategy for many years,” Fleming said. “We want to thank him, not just for the brilliant job he’s done on-field, but his all-round service to the club.”Over the past 12 months he has developed as a mentor for our younger players, and particularly our bowlers, in both the men’s and women’s teams and I can see great potential for him to continue with that in the future.”Beer has also played two Test matches for Australia, one against England during the 2010-11 Ashes and then in Port of Spain in 2012, for three wickets.

Delhi won by an innings, as none of Maharashtra’s batsmen could offer much resistance except Rahul Triphati

Sidharth Monga in Delhi19-Nov-2017
ScorecardRahul Tripathi skies one over midwicket•BCCI

Second-innings centuries in Ranji Trophy – especially in four-day matches where first-innings leads are rarely overturned – usually don’t count for much. Not when your team has been bowled out for 99 in the first innings and you have almost two days to bat out for the reward of one point and the pleasure of denying your opponents full points from that match. Pressure, as you might imagine, is usually off when you are batting the second time around because the stakes for you are not high.So a second-innings hundred has to be suitably special for it to be given credit. Rahul Tripathi’s blitz at Airforce Sports Complex in Palam in Delhi was one such even though it couldn’t prevent the dominant Delhi side from claiming an innings win and full seven points against Maharashtra. The win ensured Delhi’s progress to the next round with one match to spare. But Tripathi, who shot to fame with his T20 exploits with Rising Pune Supergiant, came in at 56 for 3 and attacked every Delhi bowler to reach his fifty off 28 balls and the hundred off 67.The innings bothered Delhi, make no mistake about it. After Tripathi had bounded off to 82 off 44 balls, they were forced to ask their main spinner – left-arm bowler Vikas Mishra – to go over the wicket and keep bowling well outside leg. The other end was given to Lalit Yadav to bowl flat darts from. By the time Tripathi was done, lbw while trying to sweep Mishra, he had bothered Delhi enough for their captain Ishant Sharma to give him a send-off. Tripathi kept looking back with displeasure as he walked back to applause from the Maharashtra camp.The applause six runs earlier – when he had reached his hundred – came belatedly as the scoreboard at the ground showed him to be one run short. Tripathi skipped down the track to drive Lalit wide of long-on for a couple that everyone believed took him to 99. Ishant then called the field up. Lalit didn’t bowl a loose ball in the rest of the over. When the fielders were changing ends, the official scorers asked those in charge of the big scoreboard to correct the score. The Maharashtra dressing room noticed the change, began to applaud, and in this anti-climactic fashion did Tripathi realise he had brought up his fifth first-class hundred.Such was the frenetic pace of Tripathi’s innings that the scorers could be forgiven for missing a run here or there. He came out in a mood to attack, which was the only way really on the third day with the pitch offering uneven bounce. Maharashtra couldn’t have hoped to bat five sessions out. Tripathi hit four sixes, two of them straight into the sight screens and two with the slog sweep. His 12 fours were crisply hit, mostly on the up and square through cover and point.Tripathi admitted that having the choice of approach taken out of his hand helped him. He made an interesting observation that when you are attacking and looking to score runs, you pick the length sooner than when you have been forced to defend. As it turned out Tripathi took every bowler on and – as he felt – made them think about the runs too as opposed to just wickets. The fielders went out of his face, which allowed him to work easy singles as he showed in the latter half of his innings.One of the bowlers Tripathi hit for a six, Navdeep Saini, continued his impressive match as he came back to take three quick wickets, which ensured Delhi didn’t have to come back on the fourth day. Four says short of turning 25, Saini is known for running in all day; his evening spells are said to be as intense as the ones in the morning. He credited this endurance to his stints with the A team – he played against South Africa A and New Zealand A this year. He said he now understood his body and the training it needs, and the gameplans required to take wickets, better.Saini said he knew they would have to stay patient as Maharashtra were not likely to roll over twice in a row. He bowled 18 overs in the day, was the second-most economical bowler, behind Ishant, keeping the batsmen honest. He was rewarded with three late wickets to go with opener Ruturaj Gaikwad’s in his second spell. He only earned himself an extra day’s rest before he might be asked to carry the Delhi bowling next Saturday, possibly without the services of Ishant, whose presence he said made a big difference.

Fully recovered from the back troubles that have kept him out of international cricket for ten months, James Neesham wants to return to his original carefree ways with the bat

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Sep-2016James Neesham’s last Test match, in Brisbane last November, wasn’t the happiest of experiences. Having just come back into the New Zealand side after being deemed to have recovered fully from a stress fracture, he continued experiencing discomfort in his back while bowling, and was ruled out of the remainder of the series. Now, close to a year later, Neesham is back in the Test squad, and says he is back to full fitness, after a summer spent in England, playing limited-overs cricket for Derbyshire.”The main result for me [from the Derbyshire stint] was I got through the whole season uninjured and basically had no issues with the back at all,” Neesham said, after New Zealand’s squad arrived in India. “So I suppose the aim now is to get the loading up again and make them good enough for Test cricket.”Neesham said he had worked specifically, while in England, on getting back to cricket-fitness.”It was more tweaking little things,” he said. “We did a lot of work on the rehab prior to the Australian series last year, and were pretty comprehensive on that side of things, but I think over in Derby it was more about, I suppose, finding what works and what doesn’t, and changing up especially the gym programme a little bit – basically making cricket the number-one priority as opposed to regaining the strength base and fitness base, which it was before Australia.”Since the start of his international career, Neesham felt his game, particularly his batting, had become less carefree, and ahead of the Tests against India, he hoped to return to playing his natural game.”I’m basically looking to go back to how I played when I first came in to international cricket,” he said. “I think I was a bit more carefree and a bit more, I suppose, , especially with batting, and then once you start feeling the pressure of international cricket and wanting results and wanting runs, it can curb your game a little bit, which I think is one of the traps I fell into.”So I’m just looking to go back to playing my natural game. It’s a bit of a cliché, but hopefully runs and wickets will flow from there.”Though he has visited India previously, Neesham is touring the country with the Test side for the first time. He hoped he could feed off some of the more experienced members of the squad such as Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson.”I’ve had an A tour, Champions League, and then IPL, so I’ve had three tours over here now, and you learn something new every time you come over,” he said. “And there are obviously guys in the team that have come over here a lot more times than I have, so I’ve been looking to glean some knowledge off guys like Ross and Kane, especially about playing spin and playing their spinners in particular, but I think, as I said before, if you play your natural game and have some clear plans about how you’re going to go about scoring runs, then that should hold you in good stead.”

India fast bowler Ishant Sharma has been fined 65% of his match fees for his send-offs to Lahiru Thirimanne and Dinesh Chandimal

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Aug-2015India fast bowler Ishant Sharma has been fined 65% of his match fees for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct.Ishant had given send-offs to Lahiru Thirimanne and Dinesh Chandimal in the Colombo Test, which is against Article 2.1.7 relating to “using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batsman upon his/her dismissal during an International Match.”The on-field umpires Bruce Oxenford and Rod Tucker brought the charges to match referee Andy Pycroft, who ruled that Ishant would lose 15% of his match fees for the Thirimanne send-off and a further 50% for the Chandimal one.An ICC press release explained that Pycroft chose a more severe punishment for the second send-off because “circumstances surrounding the second incident, including the more aggressive nature of the conduct, warranted a higher sanction than the first of the two offences”If Ishant commits a similar breach a third time in the next 12 months, he will face will face a sanction of between two and eight suspension points.

Starting a series with a total of 49 leaves a low base for improvement, but Pakistan’s second innings showed them in a far better light as they ensured the Test would enter a fourth day

The Report by Andrew McGlashan03-Feb-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAzhar Ali was lbw to Jacques Kallis and used up one of Pakistan’s reviews•Getty Images

Starting a series with a total of 49 leaves a low base for improvement, but Pakistan’s second innings showed them in a far better light as they ensured the Test would enter a fourth day. At 82 for 4, chasing a huge 480, a swift conclusion was still on the cards before Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq combined in an unbroken century stand including a wicketless final sessionThere will be no concern over the scoreline from Graeme Smith, but maybe just the odd glimpse towards weather forecasts. They are unpredictable, especially for Johannesburg, although do suggest a greater threat of rain over the last two days. Having not enforced the follow-on with Pakistan on the ropes yesterday he will not want any hiccups.South Africa could have been closer to victory, and perhaps savouring a celebratory drink already, if it had not been for two spurned chances in the final session. Firstly Shafiq, on 40, edged Vernon Philander to first slip only for replays to show a clear no-ball. In the next over Misbah cut Jacques Kallis to backward point but Robin Peterson dropped a relatively straightforward chance. Smith started chewing on his gum just that little bit harder.The chances should not remove the fact that Misbah and Shafiq provided an important lesson for the remainder of this series. Pakistan will, weather permitting, still lose here but it was vital that the aura around South Africa’s attack was at least pierced a fraction. The surface had lost some of its spite, and the ball grew softer, but the principles they showed of sound judgement and solid concentration will serve batsmen well in any conditions.It was a proper rearguard from the pair as they dug in either side of tea. The hard work brought rewards, particularly against the slightly erratic Morne Morkel, although both batsmen nearly lost concentration against Robin Peterson when their eyes lit up at something slower.Shafiq is an impressive young batsman, already with an average over forty, had enjoyed a solid 2012 with runs against England and Sri Lanka. He does not mind soaking up the dot balls, but also has a range of shots to take advantage of loose deliveries. His ninth boundary, a square cut, took him to his half-century from 117 balls.He was partnered by a player who adores the chance to drop anchor. Misbah was tested by Dale Steyn in a spell after tea but he left the ball well and drove strongly through the off side. He was less convincing on the pull and, ten minutes before the close, nearly top-edged to deep square-leg. It would have been a horrid waste of his diligence.There was another encouraging performance in the shape of Nasir Jamshed who dominated the early scoring after losing Mohammad Hafeez, caught down the leg side, in the fourth over. He was strong on the drive and through the leg side but had some uncomfortable moments against Morkel before, sensing another boundary for a maiden fifty, pulled Steyn to mid-on.Kallis’ productive match with the ball continued when he trapped Azhar Ali lbw, the batsman wasting a review which bordered on the selfish. The ball was full, nipped back, and struck him in front of middle.Younis Khan could only contribute 15 – and he already survived a mighty close review for lbw on 11 – when he tried to leave Morkel and provided a very thin edge to the keeper. Younis walked and Hot Spot showed a small white mark, but this time the focus was on Morkel’s front foot which was close to a no-ball.South Africa’s innings had lasted for a further nine overs during the morning as Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers added 68 more. De Villiers was at his expansive best, taking balls from outside off through the leg side and also reverse sweeping Saeed Ajmal. The concerns about his workload have certainly been helped by the ability of South Africa’s quicks to skittle a team at least once in a Test.His 11th boundary, slotted through the covers, took him to his hundred from 117 balls. The applause had just died down when Smith stood in the dressing room and waved his batsmen in to begin searching for a quick finish. It did not quite work out that way.