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In the most unbelievable turnaround Ricky Ponting’s men up-ended Pakistan on a swinging day to wrap up the series at the SCG

Peter English at the SCG06-Jan-2010All the Australian team talk was right and the doubters were wrong. In the most unbelievable turnaround Ricky Ponting’s men up-ended Pakistan on a swinging day to wrap up the series at the SCG and earn smug smiles and wild celebrations.Under Ponting the Australians have secured a handful of unthinkable wins, but Ponting rated this at the top, given the self-inflicted circumstances and the huge amount they were behind. There were many reasons why they shouldn’t have won by 36 runs: Ponting shouldn’t have won the toss and batted; Pakistan shouldn’t have given up a 206-run first-innings advantage; Kamran Akmal shouldn’t have dropped Michael Hussey three times; and Australia shouldn’t have been able to escape from eight-down on the final morning with a lead of 80. They don’t matter now.Ponting believes in his team at every position and on days like today everyone can see why. “What we have read over the last couple of days and what we have seen on the news has probably just steeled us all a little bit,” Ponting said. “It’s just made us want to fight the game out as much as we can and prove that we are never out of the contest.”They did this sort of thing in Adelaide in 2006-07, when the second Ashes Test was drifting to a draw before Shane Warne intervened. A year later it was Michael Clarke’s three wickets in the last over that did for India at the SCG, and on the same ground 12 months ago Mitchell Johnson bowled the injured Graeme Smith just before time ran out. In those games Australia were in charge, racing to seal the victory they deserved.This time they stole it from Pakistan by completing an outrageous comeback on a ground the local players now believe they can do anything on. “I think this is the most satisfying one [of the SCG wins] because I don’t think anyone in the world apart from all the blokes inside our dressing room thought we could win,” Ponting said.Australia’s current unit is not jammed full of world-beating talent, but it is crammed with desire, and will suffer for their captain. Nathan Hauritz picked up a bleeding finger and a bruised chest from his caught-and-bowled off Mohammad Yousuf’s stinging straight drive, the key wicket of the final innings, and walked off with his second five-for in two Tests.Peter Siddle carries a sore shoulder from his career-best 38, an innings as important to the victory as Michael Hussey’s 134, which pulled Australia from depression. Shane Watson’s smooth 97 was also invaluable and Mitchell Johnson slid through on his captain’s backing with two wickets in his opening over before tea. That reduced Pakistan to 3 for 51 in their previously comfortable chase of 176, but they were quickly being tortured. Ecstasy was soon the only emotion for the locals who were jigging, jumping and dancing on and off the field.Results like these can change the course of history. In 1992 in Colombo, Australia were faced with a similar situation, surging back from a 291-run first-innings deficit to dismiss Sri Lanka for 164, 17 short of victory. Warne was the hero in the final stages of that game and was soon drenched in match-winning aura as the team shot to the top of the world. In this one Hauritz got in the road of Pakistan to leave with 5 for 53, the best return of his 12 Tests.Ponting was heavily criticised from the first day for his decision to bat on a juicy surface that set up Australia’s fall for 127. By the end his logic was satisfyingly sound. “I backed us at the start of the game to make more runs in the first innings than what I thought Pakistan could make in the last innings,” he said. “As it turns out we got 120-odd and bowled them out for 139 in the last innings of the game.”At one stage during his post-mortem a relaxed Ponting teasingly asked all those in the press conference who had doubted his decision to raise their hands. All the Australian journalists’ arms went up. “I feel better now,” he said. He smiled, knowing that when it comes to Australia’s Test team he knows best. “It comes down to results and we’ve got a great result here,” he said. “So I look like a genius where I didn’t a couple of days ago.”

Earlier, Jansen picked up 6 for 52 to restrict Pakistan but a late burst has ensured South Africa do not rest easy overnight

Danyal Rasool28-Dec-2024The first Test match at Centurion is tantalisingly poised after Pakistan took three wickets in nine overs to leave South Africa wobbling at 27 for 3, still 121 runs away from the 147-run target that seals a win, as well as a place in the 2023-25 World Test Championship [WTC] final.After South Africa had bowled Pakistan out for 237, they needed a fairly comfortable 148 to secure victory, but an unerring spell of accurate medium-fast bowling from Mohammad Abbas and Khurram Shahzad was well rewarded. Aside from Aiden Markram, the South Africa batters were somewhat timid in their approach to the last few overs of the day, while Abbas and Shahzad targeted the pads. Abbas brought one to jag back in sharply into Tony de Zorzi for the first breakthrough.Pakistan’s reviewing was chalk and cheese from the previous innings, successfully overturning two lbw calls. Shahzad found similar seam movement from around the wicket to strike Ryan Rickleton on the front pad, viciously enough that it hit him in line despite the batter having moved well across.Having successfully overturned that one, Pakistan repeated the formula, with Abbas finding the right line and adequate sideways movement, which has seen him find bouts of high success. Tristan Stubbs took a step out of his crease but was beaten on the outside edge, and yet again Pakistan went up collectively for the umpire to turn them down. But Shan Masood signalled to go upstairs once more and was proven right again.One of Marco Jansen’s six wickets included Mohammad Rizwan•AFP/Getty Images

Earlier in the day, Marco Jansen’s six-wicket haul had helped South Africa tighten their control over the game. He picked five wickets in the afternoon as Pakistan squandered a promising start following a rain delay that wiped out the morning session. He picked one more in the final session as the hosts returned to polish off the Pakistan tail after stubborn resistance from Saud Shakeel.Babar Azam and Shakeel put on 79 for the fourth wicket, with Babar reaching his first Test half-century in nearly two years, but holed out to deep point immediately after. Mohammad Rizwan was squeezed down leg as Pakistan crumbled around Shakeel.Persistent rain saw the game start an hour after the lunch break concluded, and Pakistan began by taking advantage of a bowling effort that was nowhere near its best. Shakeel and Babar each worked Kagiso Rabada away for four in the third over, and the runs flowed for the next half an hour. Twenty-three runs came off the next three, and though Babar still found himself beaten a few times, he was also finding the timing that in the past was so often a precursor to a big score.Corbin Bosch found that out when he missed his line twice and Babar helped himself to two fours, before a clip into the covers brought up his long-awaited half-century, his first in 20 innings. But he threw it away disappointingly, failing to get on top of a short and wide one from Jansen, Bosch barely having to move to send a devastated Babar on his way.Saud Shakeel’s struck an important 84•AFP/Getty Images

Jansen was finding the wickets that eluded him in the first innings, with Rizwan and Salman Agha falling cheaply. A brief stand between Shakeel and Aamer Jamal once more gave the impression Pakistan would go into tea six down, before Jamal lobbed a tame Dane Paterson bouncer straight to deep midwicket, and Naseem Shah helpfully nicking Rabada into the slips.Shakeel attempted to farm the strike post-tea and would enjoy some success as wayward bowling allowed for the odd boundary and comfortable late-over singles. A regal pick-up for six over midwicket was the highlight, but Pakistan’s penchant for gifting wickets to deliveries that did not merit them struck again when a knee-high full toss rapped into Shakeel’s front pad and effectively concluded Pakistan’s batting effort.It appeared to be the final nail in the coffin, but Pakistan’s bowlers have seen to it that South Africa do not rest easy overnight.

However, Zimbabwe will be without seamer Brad Evans, who has not yet fully recovered from shin splits

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Nov-2023Sikandar Raza will begin his first assignment as Zimbabwe’s full-time T20I captain by leading a near-full-strength squad in the upcoming T20 World Cup men’s Africa Qualifier, to be held in Namibia from November 22. Zimbabwe, who made a number of major changes to their set-up following a 3-2 T20I series defeat to Namibia last month, will be boosted by the return to full fitness of pace bowler Blessing Muzarabani who has recovered from a right-hand fracture.Zimbabwe will be without seamer Brad Evans, who has not yet fully recovered from shin splits.Overall, the team made four changes to the side that featured at the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, with opening batters Innocent Kaia, Nicholas Welch and Tadiwanashe Marumani, and fast bowler Carl Mumba all finding a place in the 15-member squad. Raza will also be hoping to count on the experience of Craig Ervine, Sean Williams and Tendai Chatara, as well as others like Richard Ngarava, Ryan Burl and Wellington Masakadza.Zimbabwe are one of seven teams taking part in the Africa Qualifier, as they look to book their spot in next year’s T20 World Cup, to be held in the USA and the Caribbean.Zimbabwe did not participate in the 2021 T20 World Cup because Zimbabwe Cricket was suspended by the ICC because of government interference in its administration. At the 2022 edition, they topped their group in the first round but finished last – sixth – in their Super 12 grouping, and failed to automatically qualify for 2024. Two teams from the qualifiers will complete the 20-team line-up for the main edition in 2024.Last month, ZC, placing importance on Zimbabwe’s pursuit of a spot at the upcoming T20 World Cup, named Raza as the permanent captain in T20Is, while also retaining Dave Houghton as the head coach in an attempt to maintain continuity.

600th first-class wicket the highlight as high-scoring contest peters out in third innings

ECB Reporters Network28-Jul-2022Durham and Middlesex played out a draw in their LV= Insurance County Championship Division Two clash as the hosts batted out the majority of day four after Chris Rushworth claimed yet another milestone earning his 600th first-class wicket.Rushworth struck three balls into the day to dismiss John Simpson for a brilliant 132, earning a warm reception from the sparse crowd in Seat Unique Riverside. The visitors added quick runs to secure a lead of 34 with Ben Raine wrapping up the tail.Although Durham had a slight wobble with the bat and lost David Bedingham to a hand injury, the North-East outfit worked their way to a draw despite receiving a barrage of short-pitch bowling, earning their third on the bounce on home soil. Durham ended the contest with 14 points, while Middlesex claimed 13 for their exploits over the four days.The hosts and Rushworth enjoyed the perfect start to the day notching his 600th first-class wicket after finding Simpson’s outside edge, adding another milestone to his distinguished career. Tom Helm steered Middlesex past Durham’s first-innings total with his third first-class fifty, but he could not beat his best score of 52, falling short after being pinned lbw by Raine.Umesh Yadav added a quick-fire 29 from 19 balls, but Middlesex could only extend their lead to 34 before Raine claimed his third wicket by removing Ethan Bamber.Durham eradicated the Middlesex lead before lunch with a steady partnership between Alex Lees and Michael Jones. Bamber responded after lunch by hitting Jones on the arm, which unsettled the opener enough to force a mistake in the following over. Helm then turned up the pressure on the home side with two wickets in two balls. Lees played a loose pull shot that took his top edge and was claimed by Pieter Malan at fine leg before Nic Maddinson nicked off for a golden duck.Scott Borthwick and David Bedingham steadied the Durham innings, forcing a change in approach from the visitors. Yadav charged in with a spell of short-pitched bowling and struck Bedingham on the hand, which resulted in the South African retiring hurt with an apparent dislocated finger.Yadav remained hostile in the evening session as Borthwick and Jonathan Bushnell were forced to weather a storm, taking several blows to the body in the process. However, the two players came through the spell before the teams agreed to shake hands on a draw.

The hosts will have to iron out their inconsistencies at the top if they are to level the series

Danyal Rasool03-Apr-2021

Big picture

The first ODI painted a broad enough picture of both sides’ strengths and weaknesses in a way whole series often fail to do. Across exactly 100 overs of two mid-table sides jostling for position in the World Cup Super League, South Africa’s inconsistency at the top was laid bare, as were Pakistan’s struggles with their death bowling and a relatively lightweight middle order.Equally, the home side’s resilience lower down, as well as the purple patches Anrich Nortje and Rassie van der Dussen currently enjoy, took them within inches of an unlikely win, while the brilliance of Babar Azam and the assuredness of Imam-ul-Haq came in handy in a below-par chase of 274. Nothing that happened at SuperSport Park will convince anyone these teams will compete for the biggest prizes just yet, but the first ODI showed they’re still capable of offering up absorbing contests.

South Africa fined 20% of their match fees for slow over-rate

A nail-biting opening match of the series that went down to the last ball – and slipped out of South Africa grasp – has left the hosts with another wound to nurse.
Match referee Andy Pycroft found them to be one over short their target resulting in a monetary fine for each player from the XI.
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma accepted the sanction, which meant there was no need for a formal hearing. He and his players will now be short 20% of their match fees from Friday

Pakistan have a chance of wrapping up the series at the earliest opportunity in Johannesburg, which, regardless of the state of South African cricket, would be a major feather in the touring party’s cap. Series in South Africa have historically been a struggle for Pakistan, and the inflation of ODI scores notwithstanding, Pakistan’s chase on Friday was the joint third-highest outside of Asia in their history. They took wickets up top, and just about killed the game off with one partnership. In many ways, it was a dominant performance, large parts of which they merely need to replicate to put themselves 2-0 up.South Africa will draw positives not just from intangibles like the spirited fightback and a never-say-die attitude, but the knowledge of significant room for improvement. The game might have gone down to the last ball, but they might believe they lost it in the first 15 overs; the loss of four early wickets meant they were always swimming against the current. That they almost got to the shoreline suggests a less disastrous start up top would place much greater pressure on Pakistan, and as we all saw on Friday, Pakistan under pressure always look like they might have a collapse in them.The hosts will play in a different kit to mark the annual pink ODI, which raises money for breast cancer awareness and treatment.Related

• Pakistan overcome the panic: 'We thought we'd entertain people a little'

• Babar quickest to 13 ODI tons, van der Dussen oldest South African to maiden ODI century

• van der Dussen: '100 overs can come down to one moment'

• Babar century trumps van der Dussen's as Pakistan win thriller

Form guide

Pakistan WWWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa LWWWL

In the spotlight

Tabraiz Shamsi didn’t get any wickets, but the scorecard doesn’t quite tell the tale of his contribution to the late drama in Centurion. Even while Azam and Imam racked up the runs, Shamsi was a leash on the visitors’ otherwise incessant scoring, conceding just three boundaries; the fewest among his team-mates. His wrong’uns spun prodigiously and appeared to trouble most batsmen, and his consistency of line and variable turn gave off the impression any over he bowled could be eventful. It was telling that Temba Bavuma persisted with him at the other end while Nortje was picking off wickets at the other. In the T20I series in Pakistan, he coupled control with wicket-taking, and he doesn’t look too far away from doing that here, either.For an opener with an average over 50, it’s odd Imam-ul-Haq‘s place in the Pakistan side is subjected to as much forensic criticism as it is. Once more, he appeared to deal with it with aplomb, serving as the perfect foil as Azam helped him take the game away from South Africa in the first half. While Fakhar Zaman continues to misfire at the other end, Imam offers a level of poise to a top order that historically possessed little, but that may well be the stick that’s used to beat him with in the long-term. His strike rate is, by modern standards, somewhat pedestrian, and if Pakistan were to need runs at a faster clip than they did in a middling chase on Friday, Imam might have to show a more dynamic side to his game. With the confidence he appears to possess in his abilities, you wouldn’t be surprised if he pulled that out of his locker.

Team news

South Africa will suffer absences once the IPL begins, but for now, they have their full squad at their disposal, and should field an unchanged side.South Africa (probable): 1 Aiden Markram 2 Quinton de Kock 3 Temba Bavuma (capt) 4 Rassie van der Dussen 5 David Miller 6 Heinrich Klaasen (wk) 7 Andile Phehlukwayo 8 Kagiso Rabada 9 Anrich Nortje 10 Lungi Ngidi 11 Tabraiz ShamsiPakistan might want to shore up the middle order with another batsman, with Asif Ali’s place under increasing pressure. Haider Ali could be in line for the nod, with everyone below Babar subsequently dropping a slot down.Pakistan: 1 Imam-ul-Haq 2 Fakhar Zaman 3 Babar Azam (capt) 4 Haider Ali 5 Mohammad Rizwan (wk) 6 Danish Aziz 7 Shadab Khan 8 Faheem Ashraf 9 Shaheen Afridi 8. Mohammad Hasnain 11 Haris Rauf

Pitch and conditions

This should be a high-scoring game, in line with The Wanderers’ reputation. Inclement weather is unlikely to make its presence felt.

Stats and trivia

• Friday’s ODI was the first time in 16 years that Pakistan won an ODI off the last ball. On that occasion, in 2005, Inzamam-ul-Haq got the winning runs off Sachin Tendulkar in Ahmedabad.
• Pakistan have just won two of the ten ODIs they have played at the Wanderers. However, it does include their most recent contest, an eight-wicket win over the hosts.
• Among players with at least five ODI innings, no one averages higher than Rassie van der Dussen’s 83.

Chahar felt mild pain in his lower back after the second ODI in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Dec-2019Navdeep Saini is in line to make his ODI debut after replacing the injured Deepak Chahar for the decider of the three-match ODI series in Cuttack on December 22.Chahar “felt mild pain in his lower back” after the second ODI in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday, according to the BCCI. “The BCCI medical team examined him and has suggested that the fast bowler needs some rest in order to fully recover,” a release said.Chahar went wicketless for 44 runs in seven overs in the second ODI, which India won by 107 runs to level the series 1-1. In the first ODI, he finished with 1 for 48 from ten overs but West Indies chased down the target of 288 with ease.Saini has played five T20Is so far and could make his ODI debut on Sunday unless India change their combination and don’t field three quicks.

West Indies’ hopes of a home final to do an encore of Kolkata 2016 went up in flames less than halfway through their chase

The Report by Shashank Kishore22-Nov-2018Meg Lanning’s side is on a mission to ensure Australia’s 2018 isn’t just remembered for ‘Elite Honesty’ or the Newlands ball-tampering scandal.They vaulted into their fifth final, giving themselves a shot at a fourth title with a performance of a side with a demonstrated history of rising at crunch moments. West Indies’ hopes of a home final to do an encore of Kolkata 2016 went up in flames less than halfway into their chase of 143 on a sluggish surface where taking pace off the ball was vital.Stafanie Taylor’s 16 was the highest score in a sorry batting performance, with the hosts crumbling in the face of sustained pressure exerted with the new ball by Ellyse Perry, who now sits on 99 T20I wickets. Her two wickets in two overs pretty much sealed the game for Australia even before the Powerplay finished.Deandra Dottin was done in by Perry’s sharp inducker that had her chop on to flatten the leg stump, while the second strike of Shemaine Campbelle, who pulled a short delivery straight to Sophie Molineux at square leg in the fifth over, left West Indies trembling at 25 for 3. After that, it all went downhill rather quickly; West Indies paying the price for misreading the pitch and bowling first.That Australia were able to take advantage of this debatable tactical call was down to Alyssa Healy’s brilliance again. Having missed the final group game against India after a concussion scare, she slotted back in at the top of the order and offset any threat West Indies may have posed with her typically robust approach.Her 38-ball 46 gave Australia not just the legs for a big total, but also exhibited a lesson for the other batsmen to emulate. Her batting towered over the rest on the night, and she walked away with her fourth Player-of-the-Match award in the tournament.Healy was superbly complemented by Lanning, a fierce ball-striker herself, with a slightly contrasting approach, but one that worked nonetheless. Where Healy was gung-ho and fearless, Lanning was calculative and industrious. Both batsmen made a conscious effort to score runs off the seam bowlers, perhaps knowing well targeting spin later could prove challenging.West Indies conceded just four boundaries in the first 10 overs, and even manufactured two opportunities off Lanning, who first survived a close stumping chance followed by a run-out – only to be saved by an inch – in the ninth over. Healy’s back-to-back boundaries off legspinner Afy Fletcher in the 12th over marked the start of Australia’s acceleration.This tactic didn’t backfire even though they lost a couple of wickets, and it was largely down to Taylor’s miscalculation. Where spin was key, she persisted with her seamers and paid the price. Dottin, who was seen hobbling, conceded 23 runs in two overs. This included a 17-run penultimate over, where Rachel Haynes picked her for three boundaries, to swing momentum in Australia’s favour.West Indies needed to get themselves ahead of the asking rate in the Powerplay to have any chance, but that was nipped in the bud by Healy, who wasn’t done just yet. Hayley Matthews wandered outside the crease in trying to defend a ball in the second over only to see Healy collect the ball and break the bails to catch her well short.Five balls later, Perry dismissed Dottin to trigger the procession. On a surface where the spinners thrived, Perry delivered two pressure-inducing overs and struck twice. It was all down to Taylor from there on to pull off a coup with a lower order that has been far too inconsistent this tournament. This was a task too steep against a determined side keen to shake-off a minor blip.

By 1959, at the end of a sorry decade for Indian cricket, not only
were there no bowlers in the country who could bowl anything
above military medium, but the batsmen also were getting bombarded
by pacemen from other countries

Partab Ramchand05-Sep-2017By 1959, at the end of a sorry decade for Indian cricket, not only
were there no bowlers in the country who could bowl anything
above military medium, but the batsmen also were getting bombarded
by pacemen from other countries. Through the decade, bowlers
like Ramchand and Phadkar gamely had carried on the Indian new
ball attack but their effectiveness had gradually declined. The
days when the Indian opening attack included names like Pataudi, Kunderan, Gavaskar, Wadekar and Subramanyam were still ahead but
the scenario was pretty desperate by the end of the fifties.It was at this stage that Ramakant Desai burst upon the scene. Not
yet 20, only around 5 feet, 6 inches in height and slightly built,
he seemed an unlikely prospect. But somehow from that comparatively tiny frame, he was able to unleash pace and bounce that disconcerted the best of Indian batsmen. A series of wicket taking performances
in his maiden season in first class cricket in 1958-59 saw him pitchforked into the Indian side to play West Indies in the final
Test of the series. The visitors had already wrapped up the series
by winning three successive Tests and it was taken for granted
that they would record a fourth straight triumph at the Kotla
ground in New Delhi.The selectors had cast the net around in trying to build a team
for the tour of England in 1959 and Desai got the nod for the
last Test. The heartless Kotla ground is not exactly the best
pitch for a fast bowler to be making his debut. But even as the
West Indies piled up the runs, Desai was the only bowler who was
not collared. Not only that, he surprised the much vaunted batting
line up – Holt, Hunte, Sobers, Kanhai, Butcher, Solomon, Smith –
with his pace and lift and even was bold enough to bounce the ball
at them. And at the end of the West Indies innings which lasted
two days and realised a total of 644 for eight declared, Desai
could walk back to the pavilion with his head high for he had
taken four wickets for 169 off 49 overs. His victims were Holt,
Kanhai, Smith and Sobers – a dream bag especially on one’s debut.
To put Desai’s feat in proper perspective, it must be pointed out
that the two great spinners Mankad and Gupte finished wicketless
after bowling 55 and 60 overs and conceding 167 and 144 runs respectively.So Desai had arrived and it did seem that Indian cricket had
discovered a medium fast bowler of quality. He finished with 50
wickets in his first Ranji Trophy season, a record that stood
till 1972-73 and embarked on his first tour with confidence. He
played in all five Tests in England in 1959 but his inexperience
showed and he was quite expensive. But he did enjoy a golden moment
in the second Test at Lord’s when he took five wickets for 89 runs
in the first innings. He fared better against Australia in 1959-60 taking four wickets in the first innings of the fourth Test at
Madras and repeated the feat in the final Test at Calcutta.By the time Pakistan came over the next season, Desai was at his
peak. He had even the great Hanif Mohammed hopping at times and
the legendary opening batsman was generally all at sea as Desai troubled him with his pace and bounce. He finished the series with
21 wickets. But he had a less happy time against England the
following season as also in the West Indies in 1962.By the early sixties, the Indian pitches had become so spin
oriented that pacemen were used for just a few overs. It was sad
to see a bowler like Desai reduced to this state and indeed he was
more out than in the team for some time. Still whenever he was
given a chance, he showed he still had a lot of fire in him as
proved by his four for 128 in New Zealand’s first innings at
Calcutta in 1965 and his six for 56 against the same opponents
in the next Test at Bombay. But by now, the Indian pitches were
heavily loaded against pacemen and he missed many matches – the
entire series against Australia in 1964-65, the entire series
against West Indies in 1966-67 and the tour of England in 1967.
He was however recalled for the tour of Australia and New Zealand
in 1967-68 but by now, he was no more the force he had once been.
The continued neglect by the selectors and the benign nature of
the pitches had discouraged him and with his own slight frame not
being able to take the load further, his effectiveness had been
greatly reduced and it was a matter of time before he called it
a day. Desai’s tale is one of the tragic episodes in Indian
cricket.Desai was no rabbit with the bat. He was good enough to get a
century in the Ranji Trophy final against Rajasthan in 1962-63.
And against Pakistan at Bombay two years before, he hit a brisk
85 dominating a ninth wicket partnership of 149 with PG Joshi,
which still stands as the Indian record. A popular team man,
Desai’s premature retirement was still a loss to Indian cricket.
Many years after his playing days were over, he emerged as the
chairman of the national selection committee. But it was a far
from happy tenure. By this time he had health problems and died following a heart attack shortly before his 59th birthday. Today
on his 61st birth anniversary, it is worth recalling the deeds
of `Tiny’ Desai who strove manfully in uphill conditions.

Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha’s contract has been extended until the 2019 World Cup

Mohammad Isam19-Jun-2016Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha’s contract has been extended until the 2019 World Cup. The decision was approved at a BCB board meeting on Sunday.Assistant coach Ruwan Kalpage, fielding coach Richard Halsall and fitness and conditioning coach Mario Villavarayan were also retained for another three years.Hathurusingha, who was appointed head coach in July 2014, will also hold a place on the six-man selection committee, along with Bangladesh team manager Khaled Mahmud, who is also a BCB director, and the cricket operations committee chairman Akram Khan.The proposal to expand the selection committee was put forward last month and ratified by the BCB on Sunday. This means Bangladesh’s national squads will be picked by a six-member panel, which would include three selectors, two board officials and the head coach.”We have only legalised the current process,” Hassan said of the change. “The cricket operations committee chairman will call the meeting with the selectors, coach and manager. The coach will give his strategic input, if he has any. The manager will give his and the captain’s input.”Former Bangladesh batsman and junior selector Sajjad Ahmed was promoted to the three-man panel under Faruque. He replaced former Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar, who has been put in charge of picking Bangladesh’s women’s teams. Minhajul Abedin retained his place as senior selector on the panel.Former Bangladesh players Hannan Sarkar and Hasibul Hossain have also been made junior selectors.Another outcome of Sunday’s board meeting was the reinstatement of Bangladesh fast bowler Rubel Hossain’s central contract. He had been omitted from the National Player Contract list in February 2016 due to a disciplinary breach. Simon Helmot, who was named BCB’s High Performance coach a week ago, has been retained until 2019.The BCB are also in the midst of preparing a response to the two-tier Test proposal, although discussion on that matter was not entertained at Sunday’s meeting.”I stopped the CEO when he was giving a presentation on the two-tier system because the discussion itself is now at an early stage,” BCB president Hassan said. “It was only discussed at the CEC [Cricket Executives Commitee] level in the ICC.”

Chennai could lose out on hosting matches of next year’s World Twenty, to be staged in India, if the issue of its three locked stands remains unresolved

Nagraj Gollapudi15-Jun-2015Chennai could lose out on hosting matches of next year’s World Twenty20, to be staged in India, if the issue of its three locked stands remains unresolved. That was one of the important points of discussion during a meeting in Mumbai on Sunday between the ICC and BCCI officials, who are also yet to agree on the total number of venues for the tournament. While the ICC has recommended five venues, the BCCI is in favour of eight. A final decision is likely to be taken at the ICC Board meeting in Barbados in the last week of June.Although no venues were shortlisted, it is understood that the ICC team was specifically concerned about MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai. Keeping in mind that the three stands (I, J, K) that have been locked during the matches in Chepauk in the last three years, the ICC made it clear that matches could not be played in front of empty stands. The BCCI itself is wary of the venue as ESPNcricinfo has learned that Chepauk does not feature in its shortlist of eight venues. Although the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association is trying hard to get the requisite approvals to throw open the three stands, officials have conceded that Chepauk is likely to miss out.The three stands, which were opened in 2011, were locked and sealed by the Chennai corporation during the 2012 and 2013 editions of the IPL. With the issue unresolved, in the 2014 IPL, Chennai Super Kings played all their home matches in Ranchi. This IPL, too, the three stands remained shut and was one of the main reasons behind the play-off match involving Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore being shifted to Ranchi in May.At the meeting, the BCCI was represented by an eight-man team lead by secretary Anuraj Thakur along with Sundar Raman, Ratnakar Shetty, MV Sridhar, RP Shah, Amrit Mathur and Hemang Amin. The ICC team comprised Campbell Jamieson, Chris Tetley and Dhiraj Malhotra.The BCCI informed that the main reason for insisting on eight venues was the volume of matches involved. A total of 35 matches will be played between March 11 and April 3, 2016 to be contested by 16 teams. The BCCI reasoned that if they stuck to five grounds, each venue would end up hosting seven matches per venue which would only make it difficult to fill up the stadium.An official privy to the discussions said the ICC was happy with the reasons. The twin concerns the ICC had was tackling cost and travel. It is understood the BCCI has given an undertaking to take care of the travel of the teams. The official said the ICC team would now report back to the board to discuss the costs.