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Justice (retired) AP Shah, the BCCI ombudsman, has asked the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) vice-president Dilip Vengsarkar and managing committee member Pravin Amre to respond to allegations of conflict of interest relating to their coaching assignment

Arun Venugopal21-May-2016Justice (retired) AP Shah, the BCCI ombudsman, has asked the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) vice-president Dilip Vengsarkar and managing committee member Pravin Amre to respond to allegations of conflict of interest relating to their coaching assignments. While Vengsarkar and Amre have been asked to respond by June 1, the BCCI has been asked to reply by May 24.The complaint has been filed by Nadeem Memon, a former curator of the Wankhede Stadium and a former managing committee member of the MCA. In Memon’s complaint, accessed by ESPNcricinfo, he has contended that Vengsarkar and Amre were in conflict by virtue of their roles as National Cricket Academy (NCA) director and Delhi Daredevils assistant coach respectively. He also pointed out that Vengsarkar ran a private academy.”I would like to bring to your notice that Vengsarkar runs a cricket academy for junior cricketers in Mumbai and Pune,” Memon wrote. “It baffles me that how it is not a conflict of interest despite Vengsarkar not making any financial gains from his post as NCA director.”Although Vengsarkar has agreed to do the NCA job honorary, it would dangerous to ignore the conflict of interest. The former India skipper can very well favour boys from his academy at the NCA. There is no guarantee that Vengsarkar wouldn’t be tilted towards Mumbai players.”Vengsarkar was appointed as NCA director last November, while Amre joined Daredevils ahead of the 2015 IPL season.It is understood the BCCI has asked the MCA’s officials, members and coaches to submit declarations relating to any possible conflict of interest relating to their roles.

A round-up of the fifth round of Ranji Trophy’s Group B matches on December 8, 2012

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Dec-2012
Scorecard
Baroda left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt took six wickets to run through Odisha’s middle order on the first day in Vadodara. Odisha’s Govind Podder made a battling 82 but he had very little support from the rest of the batsmen, with five of the top seven making single-digit scores. Around lunch time, Odisha were at a reasonably comfortable 82 for 2, before a Bhatt double-strike, including the wicket of the in-form Biplab Samantary, pulled them back. Bhatt struck twice in an over soon after leaving Odisha at 105 for 6, and it took a brisk unbeaten 37 from the No. 9 Saurabh Sehgal to take the score to 181. Baroda lost the wicket of opener Saurabh Wakaskar as they reached 34 for 1 by stumps.
Scorecard
Suresh Raina fluffed another chance to press for a place in the Test middle order by falling for 8, but Uttar Pradesh still finished the day on a solid 248 for 4 thanks to a long partnership between Mohammad Kaif and opener Mukul Dagar. Vidarbha removed Tanmay Srivastava in the third over, before Kaif and Dagar put on 195 patient runs for the second wicket. Dagar went on to complete his third century in five matches, while for the third time this Ranji season Kaif failed to reach his hundred despite crossing 80. Vidarbha got some respite towards the end of the day as Sandeep Singh removed both Kaif and Raina, before Shrikant Wagh had Dagar bowled for 116.
Scorecard
Haryana’s batting has been notoriously fragile this season, and they seemed headed for another low total after slipping to 63 for 4 against Maharashtra, but substantial contributions from the lower-middle order lifted them to a middling score. Opener Rahul Dewan was the only one in the top order to resist as Maharashtra’s quicks struck several times early. Yatharth Tomar, playing only his second first-class match and his first since 2010, hit 48 to steady the innings before Amit Mishra, who made a crucial half-century in their win over Delhi earlier this week, chipped in with 35. The top scorer of the innings was Jayant Yadav, with 63, his second first-class half-century.
Scorecard
On a pitch that resembled a lawn, with the only patches of white near the rough on either side, Karnataka captain Vinay Kumar chose to give his batsmen first use of the pitch, despite their batting struggles all season. While it might be perceived as a brave decision, it backfired on the hosts. Karnataka were still searching for their first outright win, and they were presented with what looked like a result-oriented wicket. Delhi weren’t complaining though. Their seamers, led by Parvinder Awana, bundled out the hosts for 192 and ended the day in front despite losing two wickets as the shadows lengthened in Bangalore. A full match report is here.

The tournament director of the 2012 World Twenty20 to be held in Sri Lanka has denied that there were any security threats to the event

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jun-2012The tournament director of the 2012 World Twenty20 to be held in Sri Lanka has denied that there were any security threats to the event. In a statement released by the ICC, tournament director Upekha Nell said, “there is absolutely no security threat to the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012, as no files were lost as alleged.”Two weeks ago, it been reported that documents belonging to World Twenty20 2012 security consultant Shane Dullewa had been stolen from the board’s headquarters. Dullewa was appointed to the post by Sri Lanka Cricket.On Friday, Nell said, “a comprehensive security plan” was going to be discussed by the organisers for the tournament, which runs from September 18 to October 7. She said the Sri Lankan government and Sri Lanka Cricket “have assured the ICC of providing a similar level of security” as was available during the 2011 World Cup. While there was no reason for concern, security, she said, was a top priority for the ICC and it would “continue to assist and guide the local authorities”.Following the reports of Dullewa’s allegedly missing documents, he has been relieved of his position and the matter has ended up in litigation. Dullewa, a former secretary of the Sri Lankan rugby football union, had his contract with SLC terminated on May 30. He appealed to a Colombo District Court seeking interim relief and on Wednesday the court issued an order preventing SLC from appointing a replacement for Dullewa.On Wednesday, the Sri Lankan parliament was told by sports minister Mahindanda Aluthgamage that the SLC staff count had been cut by 60%, and that most of those who had been released were contract workers. The minister said SLC had an employee strength of 251 with 25 permanent employees.

England will have expected to encounter problems removing a Jayawardene during this series, but that was likely to be Mahela not Prasanna

The Bulletin by Andrew McGlashan27-May-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsPrasanna Jayawardene struck his third Test hundred to put Sri Lanka on top•Getty Images

England will have expected to encounter problems removing a Jayawardene during this series, but that was likely to be Mahela not Prasanna. Sri Lanka’s wicketkeeper, batting in the elevated position of No. 6, hit his third Test hundred to lift the visitors to an impressive 400 on the second day in Cardiff. Thilan Samaraweera and the lower order also played vital hands to ensure a frustrating time for England who lost Andrew Strauss in the final over of the day to finish on 47 for 1.Right from the beginning of this Test Sri Lanka have impressed with their mindset. They were flexible enough to adjust the balance of their side – and the choice of two spinners could yet prove a masterstroke – while Tillakaratne Dilshan opted to bat when many visiting captains may have hidden behind bowling first. Then the top order took on the responsibility of setting up a platform with a stubborn and committed display. To remove Strauss, who was well caught at second slip off Suranga Lakmal with five balls remaining, capped off a day that couldn’t have gone much better for them.Having opted for a five-man attack it put pressure on Prasanna to perform the role of a frontline batsman. A Test average of 30 showed he was capable but, as Matt Prior has occasionally found, there is a different onus on a wicketkeeper when they walk in at four down rather than five. Prasanna, though, handled his task with aplomb and, although he was dropped at slip on 89 by Strauss off Graeme Swann, it took nothing away from his achievement as he reached a hundred from 147 balls.What made it even more commendable was that England were in the middle of one of their best periods with the ball as James Anderson, who would later worryingly leave the field with a back strain but return as nightwatchman, found swing in the first session. Sri Lanka hadn’t added a run when Prasanna’s namesake, Mahela, edged a beauty to first slip which shaped back into him after a series of deliveries moved away. He tried to drop his hands but it was too late and the catch was superbly taken by Strauss diving behind second slip.It was tough work for the batsmen against Anderson and Chris Tremlett – the combination of swing and bounce – but all Sri Lanka’s batsmen knuckled down. When Tharanga Paranavitana’s 191-ball stay was ended by an inside edge into his stumps against Tremlett – shortly after being struck in a very painful area – it brought Prasanna to the middle at 159 for 4 and a tipping point of the innings. England will have believed they could break the back of Sri Lanka’s resistance but, not for the last time, came up against a stubborn obstacle in a fifth-wicket stand of 84 between Samaraweera and Prasanna.

Smart Stats

• This was Sri Lanka’s fifth score of 400 or higher in Tests in England. Their highest is the 591 at The Oval in 1998.

• The four fifty-plus scores in Sri Lanka’s first innings is level second on the list of most fifty-plus scores in single innings for Sri Lanka in Tests in England. The record is seven in the Lord’s Test in 2006.

• The 93-run opening stand is Sri Lanka’s highest in Tests in England, surpassing the previous best of 59 between Russell Arnold and Kumar Sangakkara.

• Thilan Samaraweera scored his first fifty in Tests in England. Overall though, his average in Tests outside Asia is under 33 and much lower than his career average of 54.30.

• Prasanna Jayawardene scored his third Test century and his first outside the subcontinent. He now has 1284 runs at an average slightly over 32.

• The 68-run stand between Prasanna and Thisara Perera is the fourth-highest for the seventh wicket for Sri Lanka in Tests against England and their second-highest in Tests in England.

• Since the beginning of 2009, James Anderson has picked up 107 wickets at an average of 26.70 with five five-wicket hauls and one ten-wicket haul. Prior to that, he picked up 108 wickets at an average over 35.

Samaraweera took a hard blow on the arm from Tremlett and kept the slips and gully interested by playing away from his body, but also collected some confident boundaries. Whenever the England bowlers strayed onto his pads he was quick to pick them off although he wasn’t far off edging to third slip when the ball just eluded a diving Alastair Cook.Still, it was comfortably Samaraweera’s best effort on British soil having failed to reach double figures in his previous four Test innings. He went to fifty from 72 balls as the game drifted with England waiting for the new ball before he was squared up by Anderson and edged to second slip. Again, the hosts sensed an opening but it wasn’t to be.Prasanna had started his innings as a useful understudy for Samaraweera then became the senior partner. He twice gained boundaries to third man through the slip cordon but batsmen deserve some fortune when the ball moves around and he took advantage of Swann’s introduction to collect two leg-side fours. It was a perfectly paced innings and after tea he became more aggressive by back-cutting Stuart Broad and elegantly drove Swann through cover having been given his life at slip.Sri Lanka’s lower order also played a crucial role in keeping Prasanna company. Farveez Maharoof, who has been in good form for Lancashire, twice faced the DRS system in consecutive overs. The first was a waste after Broad seemingly convinced Strauss to use a review when Maharoof was clearly struck outside off stump. The second was more understandable when Anderson swung one back into Maharoof’s pads, but the batsman again survived as the on-field decision remained.Broad was the least convincing of England’s pace bowlers and Strauss was further hampered by Anderson’s injury. It meant Jonathan Trott was given a ball just 12 overs old, although a stroke of luck went England’s way when Trott deflected a straight drive into the non-striker’s stumps to remove Maharoof.Thisara Perera showed few nerves on his Test debut in a stand of 68 for the seventh wicket including a lofted straight drive against Tremlett. Broad broke through to claim his 100th Test scalp, having taken number 99 at Adelaide in December before injury struck, when Perera spooned another drive to mid-on.Rangana Herath then helped Prasanna add 51 for the eighth wicket before the last three wickets fell in three overs to give England a 90-minute session with the bat. They were within touching distance of surviving unscathed, but it was Sri Lanka who left the field with a spring in their step.

Welsh Fire fall short in chase as defending champions leap from bottom of table to third

ECB Reporters Network14-Aug-2023Trent Rockets climbed off the bottom of the table with a nail-biting win over Welsh Fire, as bowler John Turner held his nerve with 14 required from the final five balls.He finished with superb figures of 1 for 22, while Rockets were able to set a competitive total thanks to New Zealander Colin Munro who smashed 66 off 35 balls after his team had been reduced to 40 for 4 early on. In the end they reached 152 for 6.The defeat is a blow to Fire’s hopes of a top three finish, as they let Rockets off the hook with the ball and never really got going with the bat. It came down to the last ball with Roelof van der Merwe needing to hit a six to win, but he could only manage a single as Fire finished on 148 for 6, Joe Clarke top scoring with 54 off 34.This was billed as Trent Rockets international top order batting against the equally international class of the Welsh Fire bowling attack, and the home side opted to bowl first to unleash that threat.It went the way of the bowlers early on, England’s David Willey dismissing both openers. Alex Hales got a thin edge through to wicketkeeper Clarke, who took a fine diving catch, while Dawid Malan was out lbw trying to guide the ball down to fine leg, a review showing it would have clipped leg stump.Joe Root started in typically busy fashion and also unfurled the ramp shot he has used so often this summer, but it was to get him out from a Jake Ball slower ball as the lack of pace saw the ball just spoon up to Clarke.When van der Merwe got his first ball to turn and dismiss Tom Kohler-Cadmore, playing down the wrong line, the Rockets were in serious trouble at 40 for 4 after 41 balls.Samit Patel hit van der Merwe for a 94-metre six, but then perished next ball trying to repeat the shot, this time top edging into the covers to be caught by Stephen Eskinazi.Munro should have been run out after a brilliant piece of boundary fielding by Harris Rauf, but Shaheen Shah Afridi tried to throw the stumps down when a simple throw through to keeper Clarke would have been enough.Munro then hit van der Merwe for two big sixes, with another six off Rauf taking him to his half-century off 27 balls. Despite that Pakistan ace Rauf conceded only 19 off his 20 balls, while Munro finished on 66 off 35 as he steered his side to a competitive total.Stephen Eskinazi was dropped by Daniel Sams off Turner on 5, however the bowler was not to be denied when he hit the off stump of Jonny Bairstow, the England man’s second low score in a row since returning for Welsh Fire as he departed for 3.Fire fell behind the required rate early on, struggling particularly against the swing of Luke Wood. The acceleration needed to come, but Eskinazi perished trying to hit Sams over the top, caught by Joe Root coming in from long-on.Luke Wells was dropped by Munro at deep square off Lewis Gregory on 3, but departed for 8 after Sams made no mistake on another skied effort off Ish Sodhi.Clarke and Tom Abell did not find things easy, but managed to keep the scoreboard ticking over without ever getting ahead of the rate, with Fire needing 34 from the final 15 balls. The first five of those went for no runs, with Abell run out and Clarke given out off the fifth. However it turned out to be a no-ball and a free hit, which Clarke hit for six to keep Fire alive needing 26 off the final 10.Glen Phillips hit 12 of those off Sams before being caught at long-off, leaving Clarke and David Willey 14 to get from the final set. But Rockets, and Turner, held their nerve.

The deal is initially only for the ODI leg of Bangladesh’s tour of South Africa

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Mar-2022Albie Morkel has joined the Bangladesh men’s national team as the power-hitting coach for the ODI leg of their tour of South Africa. On Tuesday, Morkel linked up with the Bangladesh touring party at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, where they are playing an intra-squad practice match.The BCB had expressed the desire to add a power-hitting coach to the support staff line-up soon after Bangladesh’s poor performance at the T20 World Cup last year.”He [Morkel] will be with the ODI team for a week or so. He will help the batters,” Jalal Yunus, the BCB’s cricket operations chairman, said. “We will see how it goes, and then decide what happens afterwards.”This is the second turn as a coach for 40-year-old Morkel, who played one Test, 58 ODIs and 50 T20Is for South Africa between 2004 and 2015, after playing the role of assistant coach for the Namibia men’s national team soon after retiring from the game in January 2019.BCB has been in the process of revamping the coaching staff of the senior men’s team. Currently, Khaled Mahmud is the team director while Russell Domingo is the head coach. Batting coach Jamie Siddons is working with the specialist Test batters in a separate camp in Cape Town, while Domingo and the rest – including Allan Donald, the new fast-bowling coach, and Morkel – are in Johannesburg with the ODI squad. Apart from them, spin-bowling coach Rangana Herath and fielding coach Shane McDermott are also with the squad.Bangladesh will play three ODIs against South Africa, as part of the ODI Super League, on March 18, 20 and 23. They will also play two World Test Championship matches from March 31.

Completing chases and walking off the field a winner something the youngster needed to experience, the India captain said

Aishwarya Kumar in Guyana07-Aug-20195:16

Dasgupta: The unbeaten 65 could change Pant’s career

Rishabh Pant came good in the third T20I against West Indies, his unbeaten 65 off 42 helping India negotiate a potentially tricky chase to sweep the series. He top-scored for India and hit the match-winning six, prompting his captain Virat Kohli
to say “we are looking at Rishabh Pant as the future”.Kohli said all the youngster needed after two poor outings on the bounce was one innings to settle in and show the world what he could do. The message was for him to finish the game – there’s a lot of confidence that comes with hitting the winning runs and walking off the field with bat raised, and Pant needed to experience that, Kohli said.”For the first two games, he was disappointed that he didn’t get any runs,” Kohli said. “He was playing really well, hitting the ball really well, but that’s how T20 cricket goes. Sometimes you don’t have the rub of the green. But today he made sure he applied himself and batted to his skills and backed himself to hit the big shots when required and really played with the tempo of the innings.Rishabh Pant whips one into the leg side•AFP

“He’s got a lot of skill and talent. [But] it’s about winning and finishing games like these and gaining confidence, which he wants to do as well. It’s about giving him a bit more space to ease himself into international cricket and not putting too much pressure because of the way he’s played in the IPL.”At the international level, you need to tackle pressure differently and play yourself into the whole set-up. He has come a long way since he started. If he plays like this more regularly, we will see his potential shine for India.”With the focus now shifting to the ODI series, starting on August 8 at the same venue – Providence Stadium – Kohli said he was glad the team got a full game despite the early rain, and got the chance to have a proper hit. All the while, with an eye on the bigger picture: the priority is to make sure India play consistent cricket, with young players like Pant and Rahul Chahar – the debutant legspinner – helping strengthen the team’s resources.”I think the priority is to keep Indian cricket at the top, go out there and win games and find ways to win games for your team,” Kohli said. “That’s the reason we have been one of the top teams in the world for a while now.”The players are going to take the day off on Wednesday to rest and recover ahead of the 50-over games, Kohli said, as the humidity and the high temperatures would be tricky to deal with over a whole day.And when the ODI action begins, the teams would know that the weather – the forecast isn’t ideal for cricket – might not deny them 100 overs of action, based on the evidence on Tuesday. The drainage at Providence is excellent: a downpour earlier in the morning had resulted in a one-hour delay to the start, and at one point it was coming down so hard that there were concerns over whether a single ball would be bowled. But, as Kohli said, one could hardly tell it had rained as much as it had.

Parkinson claims 6-23 as Maxwell bounces back from World Cup exit with 4-41 to bowl Sussex out for 127

Paul Edwards13-Jul-2019People long in thrall to cricket sometimes watch two games. The first is the one before them; the second comprises moments from past matches, fragments of idolatry, to borrow the title of David Foot’s wonderful book. As the Sussex openers began their side’s innings this high-clouded morning at Old Trafford there was every reason for Lancashire supporters to succumb to illusion. Before them, Phil Salt was cracking boundaries through midwicket off Richard Gleeson and Graham Onions; yet in a heartbeat it was a warm Sunday afternoon in the late 1960s and Lancashire were winning one of those new-fangled 40-over games, their efforts directed by this diminutive bloke who didn’t bowl and only batted around seven in the order.Jack Bond died on Thursday evening. He was mourned by every Lancashire player under whom he had played and his passing was marked by a minute’s silence before our cricket got under way at Old Trafford. Less than an hour and a half hour later Sussex would collapse to Lancashire’s spinners, losing five wickets for 11 runs before lunch, all ten for fifty and being bowled out for 127 forty minutes after lunch. Matt Parkinson, a leg-spinner of great ability and remarkable potential, took a career-best 6 for 23 and Glenn Maxwell, as if assuaging World Cup woe, 4 for 41. Yet the members who stood to applaud Parkinson had also stood in perfect quiet over three-and-a-half earlier in the red-bricked pavilion when they might have been remembering two other slow bowlers, Jack Simmons and David Hughes, throttling the life out of batting orders on distant afternoons from dreamy childhood summers. “Lancasheer, la la-la laaa, Lancasheer, la la-la laaa.”Parkinson has more natural ability than either Simmons or Hughes. Presented with a used pitch offering only a little turn, he puzzled most of Sussex’s batsmen and dismissed half a dozen half of them. The googly which David Wiese let hit his pad was a highlight and the efficiency with which Parkinson removed Sussex’s tail was Rashidesque. That said, Sussex hardly helped themselves. Too many balls requiring commitment, either on the front or back foot were met with indecision. Varun Chopra, having made 32, played for turn but didn’t get to the pitch and the ball went straight on. By then Salt had fallen to Maxwell for 40 when sweeping the off-spinner straight to Josh Bohannon at deep square leg. Sussex were 77 without loss the moment before that wicket fell. They were bowled out less than 30 overs later. Their players must be tired of hearing their coach, Jason Gillespie, use the word “unacceptable” but the solution is in their hands.Dane Vilas needed to do little more than bring on Parkinson and Maxwell and keep them on. Bond would still have enjoyed watching it all, partly because he was the proudest of Lancastrians and partly because he probably reckoned skippers should have a few easy days to make up for those when they have to think non-stop for six hours and make literally thousands of decisions.Bond knew what the hard years and tough days were like. He had learned his cricket in the 1950s when at least one Lancashire captain was effortlessly malevolent and the committee were reminiscent of barons administering Henry II’s feudal estates. The offer of the captaincy, when it came in February 1968, was less than effusive. “We’ve just had a committee meeting and they want you to take the captaincy on a caretaker basis while they look for somebody else,” the new skipper was told by the secretary, Jack Wood.Ben Brown is as loyal to Sussex as Bond was to Lancashire and he might have appreciated some advice this afternoon. A first innings of 127 poses its own problems but things got worse for Sussex when Luke Wells dropped Alex Davies at third slip on 4 and Chris Jordan was forced to limp off with a leg injury after eight overs. The rest of this Saturday saw Lancashire build a position from which they should win the matchHome supporters watched it all and luxuriated in their side’s complete dominance. The flags, all of them flying at half-mast, unfurled themselves in the brisk breeze. We played with the thought that these spectators might be recalling other Saturdays of greater glory, early Septembers at Lord’s, for example, when Bond led Lancashire to three successive Gillette Cups. He skippered a side filled with players of international class but he was the man who held everything together and who reminded any potential Billy Bigbollocks that no cricketer could win a game by himself. His Lancashire teams won five trophies in four yearsBond was a great captain because he had been shown how not to do it and because he was a good, generous man who understood men in all weathers. A devout Methodist, he always preached the value of community and pitched his team on the side of the supporters and against the hierarchy. “We had an unbelievable never-say-die attitude and it was born of dissatisfaction,” recalled David Lloyd. “Jack got us together and it was almost us against them but the ‘them’ were the committee. We were such a tight unit and we all had the red rose on our blazer and, crikey, did that mean something.”The six martlets mean just as much to players like Luke Wells, Ben Brown and Will Beer. Sussex are in a desperate run of form at the moment and they will do well to wrench themselves out if it sufficiently to win promotion. Lancashire’s openers, displaying proper professional ruthlessness, displayed no pity at all. Davies’ two thumping drives off Abi Sakande took Lancashire into a lead on first innings but next over Sussex received blessed relief for their woes when he was caught behind for 72 when trying to cut a short ball from Delray Rawlins. But a Wagner opera could not have set the tone of this day more strongly and Keaton Jennings collected his fifty just before the closeBond was a small man but, as Neil Fairbrother pointed out, he was a giant of Lancashire cricket. His players loved him but they might not have put it those terms. Then again, they didn’t need to. The current Lancashire team, none of whom were near to being born when Bond last played, also stood this morning. They know the former skipper, partly because his words are on the dressing room wall: “The future of this great club is in your hands.”But maybe the most touching sight was that of David Lloyd, standing silent with his memories. And crikey, that meant something.

ICC announces penalty half an hour after Shoaib Malik comes out to the toss for Pakistan in Johannesburg

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jan-2019Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed has been suspended for four matches after he admitted to making a racist comment at South Africa’s Andile Phehlukwayo during the Durban ODI.Sarfraz will be forced to miss the final two ODIs against South Africa, and then two of the three T20s that follow. The PCB said he will not play the third T20 either, but return home “immediately”. Shoaib Malik will captain in his absence.The ICC release said that Sarfraz will also have to attend “an education programme to promote the understanding and awareness of issues directly relevant to the offence that he has committed”.Remarkably that ICC release was made public half an hour after the world realised that Sarfraz wasn’t playing in the fourth ODI at the Wanderers because Malik turned up for the toss in his place.”We wanted him [Sarfraz], but the incident… we all know what has happened,” Malik said. “I don’t want to comment about it. But they’ve given me this opportunity, and I want to do my best.”Malik later said he only found out he would be captaining the team on the morning of the match. “When we got to the ground, that’s when I came to know I’m captaining the side. It’s a great honour to represent your country as a captain or a player, and whenever the opportunity comes to you should give your best shot. And that’s what I did.”It was actually South Africa captain Faf du Plessis who first indicated that Sarfraz had been handed a four-match ban. “We’ve heard that he’s out for four games,” he said during his toss interview.In Durban, during the second ODI, during Phehlukwayo’s innings, as he got South Africa’s wobbling chase back on track, Sarfraz was heard on the broadcast stump mics saying in Urdu: Translated literally that is: “Hey black guy, where’s your mother sitting today? What [prayer] have you got her to say for you today?”Since then, Sarfraz has apologised twice, the first an apology in the general direction of nobody, but then backed up by a personal one to Phehlukwayo. The day after the match, Sarfraz tweeted that his comments were “not directed towards anyone in particular”. Then, two days ago, Sarfraz tweeted a picture of himself shaking hands with Phehlukwayo, with this caption: “This morning I apologised to Andile Phehlukwayo and he was gracious enough to accept my apology and I hope the people of South Africa also accept my apology.”The punishment came five days after the incident, allowing Sarfraz to play the third ODI in Cape Town. Ahead of that game, du Plessis said his team had forgiven Sarfraz for the comments.ICC CEO David Richardson said Sarfraz’s apology was taken into account when deciding on his penalty. “The ICC has a zero-tolerance policy towards conduct of this nature,” he said. “Sarfraz has promptly admitted the offence, was regretful of his actions and has issued a public apology, so these factors were taken into account when determining an appropriate sanction.”Pakistan do not have a back-up wicketkeeper in their T20 squad, so Mohammad Rizwan, who took the gloves in Johannesburg, will stay on for the T20s.

Steve O’Keefe produced his second-best first-class figures, of 6 for 35, in a fine spell of spin bowling after lunch to lead Australia’s charge, and put his own career back on track

Brydon Coverdale24-Feb-2017Steve O’Keefe knew this Test was his big chance. He had played four Tests before, but never more than one in a series. One in Dubai, one in Sydney, one in Pallekele, another in Sydney. So when he saw a pitch that threatened to be a raging turner, he knew the pressure was on to perform. And, having been given the new ball to share with Mitchell Starc, O’Keefe went to lunch on day two with 0 for 23 from seven overs.He was disappointed with how he had bowled. He was not leaking runs, but nor was he threatening much either. So, O’Keefe spent some of his lunch break training with Sridharan Sriram, the former India allrounder serving as Australia’s spin consultant on this trip. And when O’Keefe was handed the ball for his first spell upon the resumption, he took three wickets in his first over to turn the match in Australia’s favour, and finished with 6 for 35 from 13.1 overs.”When I first started to bowl, my first six overs, I went probably back to my comfort zone, which is what I bowl in Australia,” O’Keefe said after play. “You probably won’t see it on camera, but I know how it feels. I was probably just going a bit over the top and whenever I tried to bowl quick it was too full, and it was ordinary bowling the first six overs.”I’d been working in the nets on some other variations, just changing the seam angle and arm angle and you probably don’t notice it, but for me it made all the difference. Sree was like ‘let’s go out and bowl it so you feel comfortable with it’.”It’s amazing how things can quickly change over here. I probably didn’t bowl very well at all in my first six overs. And then it all just happened really quickly. I guess that’s the sort of wicket it is. We played and missed at a lot of balls, and fortunately for us they nicked them and we caught them. It was a good day to be a part of and well finished off by the batters.”O’Keefe’s success should guarantee that, unless he suffers an injury like he did during last year’s Sri Lanka tour, he will play multiple Tests in a series for the first time in his career. At 32, he knew this tour was make or break for his international career, after the disappointment of being forced home from Sri Lanka, which had been followed by a drunken incident at a Sydney hotel that led to a fine from Cricket Australia.Steve O’Keefe returned the third-best figures by a visiting left-arm spinner in India•AFP

“Going to Sri Lanka, I thought that was my big opportunity, and I sort of messed that one up,” he said. “To be honest, I always thought an India tour was there but that it was almost unreachable. To be given this opportunity – I’ve tried to make the most of it and I’ve prepared for it back home by giving away some of the Big Bash cricket to prepare solely for red-ball cricket … It means a lot to do well, but we’re day two in a four-Test series, so we’re not getting ahead of ourselves.”O’Keefe was well backed up by the fielders on day two in Pune – Peter Handscomb’s take at second slip to get rid of Ajinkya Rahane was particularly special, but also by his captain. Steven Smith trusted O’Keefe to take the new ball and then went to him again soon after lunch, despite his struggle for impact in his opening spell.”I think the important thing is I’ve been well backed up by Steve Smith, who I think is a brilliant captain,” O’Keefe said. “When you play under a captain who shows a lot of belief in you, it’s amazing what can happen.”O’Keefe’s final analysis of 6 for 35 was the third best by a visiting left-arm spinner in India, behind Hedley Verity’s 7 for 49 in 1934 and Michael Clarke’s 6 for 9 in 2004, and they were also the second-best figures of O’Keefe’s first-class career. And while he was still coming to terms with his triumphant performance shortly after play on day two, he knew it would count for little if Australia let India off the hook in the second innings.”It hasn’t really sunk in yet,” he said. “I think it will if that contributes to a win. Right now we’ll enjoy it, we had a good day, but that’s all it is. It’s just a good day’s cricket. We know this Indian team, how well they can bat, and even in spinning conditions they’re exceptional players. They’re all match-winners, all their top seven batters, you’d even argue the top eight. We’ve got our work cut out for us. We’re 300 ahead – let’s get more and let’s create 10 chances tomorrow and hold on to them.”