Category Uncategorized

South Africa captain backs calls for minimum wage as he concedes Kolpak and T20 deals remain “dangling carrots”

George Dobell05-Jul-2019South Africa captain Faf du Plessis believes it would be “amazing” if the ICC was to act on Jason Holder’s suggestion of introducing a minimum wage into international cricket. However, du Plessis also conceded it was “a long way from happening”, and said that he would be taking time after the World Cup to weigh up his own future as a South Africa player.Holder, the West Indies captain, made the suggestion in February following Duanne Olivier’s decision to sign a Kolpak deal with Yorkshire. He warned that unless “something is properly done to keep players a bit more grounded financially” it could become hard to maintain the quality of international cricket, and he revealed he had held discussions with the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) on the subject.Du Plessis was positive about the possibility of such an initiative, with the issue of losing players to the T20 circuit or Kolpak deals remaining an “area of big concern” for CSA. But in accepting that South Africa could lose more players once the tournament has ended, he admitted he had not yet come to a decision about his own career. JP Duminy and Imran Tahir have already announced plans to retire from international cricket following South Africa’s final World Cup game on Saturday.”There are almost two groups of players when it comes to South African cricketers,” he said. “There’s your Test players – and for them the Kolpak option is the dangling carrot – and there are your white-ball specialists, where the T20 circuit around the world [is the carrot]. Both of those areas are a big concern for cricketers in South Africa.”Looking at the one-day side, your players that will move on from the Proteas would potentially move on to the T20 circuit, maybe bar one or two, but that is generally where the opportunities lie for the white-ball players. I think, naturally, with some of the guys finishing, they’ll do that. That will become the biggest issue for us to try and stay away from for all players. And that’s including myself.”My plan was to commit fully to the World Cup and not even think of anything else further than the World Cup because I didn’t want my mind to start drifting into the future. I wanted to be completely present in this World Cup.”Right now is possibly not the best time to be making decisions because you are disappointed – I won’t say emotional – but you don’t want to be in this mode when you are making career decisions. So, for me, it will be a case of taking some time off and reflecting on what the future looks like for me; what’s my purpose going forward; is it still playing all three formats for South Africa? Those are the things that I would need to consider.Faf Du Plessis drives it through the offside•Getty Images

“I feel in terms of my own game, the last year is certainly the best I have ever played. I still believe I’m on top of my own game, so performance-wise there is no question marks there.”It’s just making sure that there’s a lot of purpose to what I’m doing. I’ve had a huge belief the last year and it’s been very easy for me to not even consider anything else because my purpose in captaining this team has been so strong. I didn’t even think of anything else.”So, in the two or three weeks after this tournament, I will have a real look and see what the future holds for me.”The route of South Africa’s problems are economic. The cricket board is simply unable to match the money on offer in T20 leagues or county cricket and has seen a steady stream of departures in recent years. And while du Plessis acknowledged that South Africa are not alone in suffering with such issues – he referred to all nations other than England, India and Australia as “second-tier nations” – he did not feel any further distribution of wealth is likely.”It would be great for the rest of the teams if you could do that,” du Plessis replied when asked if he would welcome the ICC subsidising international salaries where appropriate. “If I had that much power to say that to the ICC I think I would have said it a long time ago. That is the perfect world, but we don’t live in a perfect world.”Sri Lanka, New Zealand, West Indies and Pakistan: I think all of us fall into the same category, like maybe your second-tier nations and then you get your top tier which is a little bit different. West Indies are a great example. They probably are the worst off and that is why they have lost so many players to the circuit.”I think England, Australia, India will always be the higher-paid nations. It is easier for the guys who are playing for England or Australia or India to remain in their countries and just play their cricket there. Obviously the currency is very strong but also the packages that they get paid are obviously a lot different to your smaller nations.”If that changes, it will be amazing for the rest of the world, but I think it’s a long, long way from happening.”

The franchise is pressing for a stake in CSA’s new T20 tournament since – contractually – it still holds the rights to a T20 franchise based out of Durban

Umar Farooq and Firdose Moonda21-Jun-2018The owner of the Durban Qalandars franchise is weighing up legal options against Cricket South Africa (CSA), accusing the board of abusing a franchise rights agreement.The Qalandars were in line to own a team in the inaugural Global T20 League last year, but CSA at first postponed and then scrapped the tournament altogether. Numerous logistical challenges and serious financial concerns, not least the lack of a broadcast deal and title sponsor, led to the board launching a replacement league that it co-owns with the broadcaster SuperSport.None of the eight team owners from the GLT20 will be involved in CSA’s new competition, which is essentially a South African product, but the Qalandars are pressing for a stake since, contractually, they still hold the rights to a T20 franchise based out of Durban.”We have had a successful experience with Lahore Qalandars in PSL and wanted to grow globally,” the Qalandars CEO Sameen Rana told ESPNcricinfo. “We couldn’t resist investing in South Africa, a country which has a big cricketing history and with the talent around I felt it was an excellent opportunity for us expand our venture. We were particularly keen to invest in cricket development in the Kwa-Zulu Natal province.”We also set up our office, invested a lot on recruitment to bring people to run the cricket operations in South Africa. It all came after we were awarded the rights for Durban franchise with Kingsmead Cricket Ground as our home venue. But unfortunately after [former CSA CEO] Haroon [Lorgat] departed things started to fall apart and CSA stopped interacting with us. Reportedly there were a lot of discussions within CSA board without even taking us into confidence, despite us being a stakeholder for the entire project.”CSA’s efforts are now concentrated on making sure the new T20 tournament goes off without a hitch, and the board has begun giving back the deposits paid by the GLT20 team owners – USD 250,000 along with an interest of 3.5%.And, in a letter from CSA to a GLT20 owner seen by ESPNcricinfo, the board offered to pay an additional USD 180,000 to each franchise to reimburse them for the expenses incurred in planning for the tournament, a figure some owners are reportedly unhappy with.The Qalandars aren’t satisfied with how everything has panned out.”To our surprise we now read that CSA and SuperSport have signed a deal for yet another T20 venture and we were asked to take the refundable USD 250,000 back without any explanation,” Rana said. “This is a serious breach of trust and contract with us. We do not want our refundable money back, but we require CSA to fulfill the agreement they have signed with us. They also offered us 3.5% interest on the refund along with the reimbursement of expenses incurred. But this is again something we did not demand. We simply need CSA to respect the agreements around the awarding of the franchise to us, which they themselves have given to us in perpetuity. I do not agree to this refund as condition to give up my rights so we will challenge CSA via legal [proceedings].”All of these reimbursements will cost CSA a further R 19.6 million (USD 1.44 million) adding to their already depleted stocks. That will bring losses incurred by the board, which were reported at USD 14.1 million last year, to USD 15.6 million (R 212 million).However, even though it appears CSA have cut ties with the people who had initially invested in the concept a T20 league in South Africa, an insider told ESPNcricinfo otherwise. “CSA’s view is that we were in a partnership and would ideally like to retain the relationship in case there’s an opportunity in selling equity in teams.”

Carlos Brathwaite has said he has learnt to deal with the expectations that have arisen since the World T20 triumph

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Mar-2017Carlos Brathwaite. Remember the name?By the time West Indies’ upcoming T20I series against Pakistan is done, it will be a year since that evening in Kolkata, when Brathwaite slammed four sixes in the final over to snatch the World T20 title from England. Since then he has been named T20I captain, and the expectations have hardly died down. Brathwaite said he had learnt how to deal with that pressure.”Family and friends have been sticking close, but the pressure has increased from outside. But it’s just a matter of understanding it won’t happen every day,” Brathwaite said, on the eve of the first of four T20Is against Pakistan. “You’ll fail more times than you perform, I think I’ve come to grips with that. I’ve begun to level my own expectations, which probably were more than the expectations of others.”Pakistan’s tour of West Indies, which has three ODIs and three Tests after the T20Is, begins less than six months since the two teams met in the UAE. In that series, West Indies were swept 6-0 in the limited-overs formats, and could not put together a win till the final game on tour, a dead-rubber Test in Sharjah. But Twenty20 is West Indies’ best format, and Brathwaite is confident they have the right combination of youth and experience to challenge Pakistan in home conditions.”Not having Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell and still being able to put together the team we’ve selected is massive for any international team. One thing we’ve always been able to boast of is power hitters, and we have four or five one after the other. And we have that perfect mix of experience and youth as well.”We have Rovman Powell; Jonathan Carter just came into the fold … Then there’s the elder statesmen, though he’s only 28 [29], Kieron Pollard, he’s a T20 veteran. We have Marlon Samuels and Lendl Simmons, who’ve been touring all over the world and playing with success. So take that blend of youth and experience and as well as powerful hitters coming on at the backend of the T20 innings, capitalising on the last 10 overs anywhere in the world against any team in the world [and you know we can challenge any team].”One thing he is counting on, Brathwaite said, is having some of his players offer inside information on the Pakistan team, after their time at the Pakistan Super League; Pollard, Samuels, Sunil Narine and Samuel Badree featured in the PSL, which ended earlier this month.”In the series in the UAE, Imad Wasim obviously had some homework done, because he played in the Caribbean Premier League,” Brathwaite said. “So hopefully our guys can bring back their homework and assess their learnings in PSL, and use it hopefully as well as Imad did against us in the UAE. We’ll see if it translates onto the field.”

Brendon McCullum has insisted that he was not aware of breaking the record for the fastest Test century until it had been announced over the Hagley Oval loudspeaker and flashed up on the big screen

Brydon Coverdale in Christchurch20-Feb-2016For nearly 30 years, Viv Richards has sat on top of the list of fastest Test centuries. Few men have come seriously close to usurping King Viv, like Adam Gilchrist did at the WACA in 2006-07. His 57-ball effort was one short of Richards’ 56-ball hundred, scored against England in Antigua in 1985-86. Misbah-ul-Haq then equalled Richards’ record in Abu Dhabi in 2014-15. But it took Brendon McCullum to break it.McCullum’s 54-ball century against Australia at the Hagley Oval came with a boundary slapped over extra cover off Josh Hazlewood, and viewers around the world knew that a world record had been broken. But McCullum himself insisted that he was unaware of the milestone until it had been announced over the Hagley Oval loudspeaker and flashed up on the big screen.”No idea,” McCullum said after play on the first day. “I was trying to hit every ball for four or six. I wasn’t aware of the record but very respectful of all those who’ve held it before. It’d be nice to win the Test match, that’d be the most important thing.”[Viv Richards] was my idol growing up. It’s nice to be able to go past him but jeez, he was a cracking player, an incredible cricketer. I’m almost a bit embarrassed to go past him, to be honest. Hopefully he enjoyed a bit of the ‘stroke-making’, we’ll call it.”McCullum had some good fortune along the way, most notably when he slashed a delivery from James Pattinson and was brilliantly caught by a diving Mitchell Marsh at gully. However, the umpires checked the replays and confirmed that Pattinson had delivered a no-ball, the third time this summer that he had cost himself a wicket in that way, after his no-balls twice reprieved West Indies’ Carlos Brathwaite at the MCG.”I thought it was four as soon as I hit it, then I turned around and it was their third great catch of the day,” McCullum said. “Steve Smith’s catches were phenomenal as well. We talked about that they do push the front line a little bit. You’re always hopeful but you don’t anticipate it actually being a no-ball so it was quite a nice reprieve. It probably loosens you up a little bit and relaxes you a bit more. You know you’re probably not meant to be out there so you might as well play with even more freedom.”Brendon McCullum benefited from a slice of luck and smashed his way to the fastest Test century•Getty Images

Initially, it did not seem that this would be McCullum’s day, after he again lost the toss on a green pitch and Steven Smith sent the hosts in. But more or less as soon as McCullum walked out to bat with the score on 32 for 3, his fortune turned. Asked when he got the impression this might be his day, McCullum was honest.”Probably second ball when I had an almighty, filthy slog and it went over the slips cordon for four,” he said. “When you’re confronted with wickets like that you know you’re going to have to be pretty aggressive and need some luck, and we got quite a bit of luck. That partnership between Corey [Anderson] and I was great fun but also instrumental for us to hopefully set the Test match up.””I’ve been on the other side many times and you walk off and think ‘jeez if I’d reined it in a little bit who knows what would have happened’. On that wicket the feedback from the boys was that at any stage the ball could have your name on it. I tried to be as positive as I possibly could and hoped things would roll our way.”When Corey came out he played aggressively and we started to get some momentum. We were able to knock them off that difficult length at the top of off stump. If you’re just trying to hang in there on that wicket, around the top of off stump, you’re in big trouble. It’s nice when things come off.”The partnership of 179 between Anderson and McCullum set New Zealand on the path to a first-innings total of 370 from just 65.4 overs, which was a remarkable performance given the helpful conditions for Australia’s fast men. McCullum joked that “about 120” seemed like it might be an acceptable score on that pitch, before refining his comments and declaring that “anything over 200, we thought, you’re in the game”.”We saw at the Basin as well that that wicket actually dried out a little bit quicker than what we hoped for,” he said. “For us it was a matter of trying to score our runs as quick as we could so the pitch didn’t have the opportunity to dry out too much.
“In the end, we faced 60-odd overs and the ball still went around in that last session as well. I think tomorrow morning’s really important. It seems to do a lot more in the morning session here so we’ve got to be on our lengths. If we bowl well, we’ll get some opportunities. Then it’s a matter of whether we take them or not.”

Sri Lanka’s players might have often heard that the sport they play is a great leveller, but they might not have thought the highs and lows could come in such quick succession

The Preview by Andrew Fidel Fernando05-Aug-2013

Match facts

Tuesday, August 06, 2013

Start time 1900 local (1330 GMT)Thisara Perera’s form hasn’t quite continued in the T20 series•Associated Press

Big Picture

Sri Lanka’s players might have often heard that the sport they play is a great leveller, but they might not have thought the highs and lows could come in such quick succession. Four nights after Sri Lanka had embarrassed South Africa 4-1, they are pondering their own humiliation. The world’s top-ranked Twenty20 side is one game away from being whitewashed at home. If they fail on Tuesday, they will lose that ranking and slip to third, behind Pakistan and South Africa, who will rise from fifth.
The scripts for both games so far were remarkably similar, and make Sri Lanka’s problem clear. South Africa batted first, stumbled early, then surged late. Sri Lanka also lost early wickets, but were kept in the hunt by Kumar Sangakkara. In the end he could not compensate for his team-mates’ impotence and South Africa won handily. Sri Lanka’s young batsmen have been under pressure throughout the tour, and have largely misfired. If they cannot muster a performance worthy of the faith afforded in them by the selectors, the team will have cause to embark on some soul searching.Their opponents, meanwhile, have finally come to terms with the pace of the pitches in Sri Lanka and seem to also have managed to get a grip on Ajantha Mendis’ variations. South Africa have been rejuvenated in the field under Faf du Plessis, who has had a knack for using his bowlers cleverly, and Imran Tahir’s insertion has also given the attack a dimension that it lacked in the ODIs.Though the word “revenge” has grown unfashionable in sport, South Africa will be out to make their tour’s outlook a little more even, with a third commanding performance. The toss will be important again, but for the first time since arriving in Sri Lanka, they might even be favourites to win the match.

Form guide

(most recent first, last five completed matches)
Sri Lanka: LLWWW
South Africa: WWLWL

Players to watch

Thisara Perera was effective with both bat and ball in the ODI series, but has only bowled one over in the Twenty20 series, and has not been at his explosive best with the bat. There is talk that he is the most underutilised player in the Sri Lanka team, batting as low as he does, but if he is to move further up, he will have to play match-winning cameos with more consistency than he manages now.
David Miller has been among South Africa’s more comfortable batsmen in Sri Lanka’s conditions throughout the tour, and has not been too shy to attack the same spinners who wreaked havoc on the men around him. His 36 off 21 in the last match lifted South Africa to their first challenging total of the tour, and he may be key to their hopes again, if the misfiring top order falls cheaply.

Pitch and conditions

The Hambantota Stadium’s evening gusts had a major effect on Sunday, with batsmen picking certain areas of the ground to hit to, and swing bowlers benefiting from some extra assistance. The wind has been a feature of the ground since its debut, as has the pitch that has proven difficult for batsmen.

The weather is expected to be fine for the match.

Team news

It is difficult to predict whether Sri Lanka will stick with their plan to play only three senior batsmen. The prospect of being whitewashed might spur them to play their best XI, but Kusal Perera also showed signs of reclaiming some form in his 21 in the last match, when he was given wrongly given out. There is also a chance Lahiru Thirimanne is the man to make way.
Sri Lanka (probable): 1. Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2. Mahela Jayawardene/Kusal Perera, 3. Dinesh Chandimal (c), 4. Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 5. Angelo Mathews, 6. Lahiru Thirimanne, 7. Thisara Perera, 8. Nuwan Kulasekara, 9. Sachithra Senanayake, 10. Lasith Malinga, 11. Ajantha MendisSouth Africa will not want to meddle with their attack, and though Henry Davids and Quinton de Kock have not scored runs at the top of the order, they are likely to remain in the side as well.South Africa (probable): 1. Quinton de Kock (wk), 2. Henry Davids, 3. Faf du Plessis (c), 4. JP Duminy, 5. AB de Villiers, 6. David Miller, 7. David Wiese, 8. Wayne Parnell, 9. Morne Morkel, 10. Lonwabo Tsotsobe, 11. Imran Tahir

Stats and trivia

• Kumar Sangakkara is the leading run-scorer (98 runs) in this series, just as in the last one. Sri Lanka also have the leading wicket-taker, in Sachithra Senanayake (five wickets)
• In six Twenty20s in Hambantota, the side batting first has lost only once – when South Africa played Zimbabwe in the last WorldTwenty20
  

  Quotes

  “The plan against their spinners was to be confident and try and unsettle them. Even though they might get wickets, we still tried to unsettle them. I think it’s working. We played Mendis really well in the last two games.”
  


  “That they didn’t do well against the spinners in the ODI and Ajantha is a very good bowler in T20 cricket. That’s why he bowled his full quota.”

The veteran opener Chris Rogers has been offered a new contract with Victoria, a month after he spoke of his concerns at potentially being delisted by the state

Brydon Coverdale06-Jul-2012The veteran opener Chris Rogers has been offered a new contract with Victoria, a month after he spoke of his concerns at potentially being delisted by the state. Victoria’s coach Greg Shipperd said that Rogers’ position on the contract list had been carefully considered, but it was decided that he still had plenty to offer the Bushrangers this summer.Rogers, who turns 35 next month, remains a prolific scorer for Middlesex in county cricket and is fourth on the division one run tally this year, and last season he was sixth on the Sheffield Shield run list with 781 at 41.10. However, the Bushrangers are also keen to give greater opportunities to a younger batch of batsmen, including Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Ryan Carters, Michael Hill and Alex Keath, and Shipperd said selections this season would not necessarily be straightforward.”It is about finding that delicate balance between experience and youth, and opportunities for the younger players coming through,” Shipperd said. “We thought long and hard about that and ultimately Chris has been offered a contract and our understanding is he will take that. He has been a wonderful player for four years for us and put the icing on the cake of a group that was really going places some four seasons ago.”In his first two seasons with us [we had] Shield final wins, and he’s been a great contributor, he’s been a great mentor and coach around the group with his cricket knowledge. He’s one that opposition bowlers don’t like to bowl to and we’re happy to have him in our squad.”It is from our point of view about finding that balance of opportunity and Chris is aware of those challenges in our group. He’s got his sights on perhaps being an Australian player still and probably also transitioning in the last couple of years of his cricket career into a coaching role. He’s got an interest in that area and we have access all areas for him in terms of developing those skills.”The Bushrangers have named their squad for next summer and unlike most other states this year it is a group with few changes from last season, with no imports and no major defections. The only additions to the full contract list were Handscomb and the fast bowler Scott Boland, both of whom held rookie deals last season.The allrounder Meyrick Buchanan, who is in Australia’s squad for the Under-19 World Cup this year, has been handed a rookie contract, as has the legspinner James Muirhead, who played for the Adelaide Strikers last season. The squad will also feature Ian Holland, who earned a special rookie deal as the winner of the reality TV show .Brad Hodge and Mark Cleary are both gone from last year’s list, having retired, while the fast bowler Steven Gilmour and the rookie batsman Brett Forsyth were not offered new contracts. Victoria were able to maintain a consistent list as they were not hit as hard as some states by the reduction in Cricket Australia contracts, with four men on national deals, only one fewer than last year.Victoria squad Scott Boland, Ryan Carters, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, John Hastings, Jayde Herrick, Michael Hill, Jon Holland, David Hussey (Cricket Australia contract), Alex Keath, Glenn Maxwell, Andrew McDonald, Clint McKay, Darren Pattinson, James Pattinson (CA), Rob Quiney, Chris Rogers, Will Sheridan, Peter Siddle (CA), Matthew Wade (CA), Cameron White Rookies Meyrick Buchanan, James Muirhead, Steven Reid Cricket Australia rookie Ian Holland.

Martin van Jaarsveld’s 78-ball century put Kent on the way to an 86-run win against Worcestershire in a battle of the Clydesdale Bank 40 strugglers at New Road

31-Jul-2011 beat Worcestershire 205 by 86 runs
Scorecard
Martin van Jaarsveld’s 78-ball century put Kent on the way to an 86-run win against Worcestershire in a battle of the Clydesdale Bank 40 strugglers at New Road. The South African, continuing as captain in the absence of Rob Key, made 124 towards a total of 291 for 7, which proved to be way beyond Worcestershire’s capabilities as they were dismissed for 205 in the 35th over.Kent brought in four of their youngsters – including Daniel Bell-Drummond and Adam Ball from England’s Under-19 one-day series with South Africa – as director of cricket Paul Farbrace responded to a miserable run of results at first-team level. Farbrace spoke of a “horrible” period in which they lost to Holland and Derbyshire in CB40 group games and crashed to an innings defeat to Gloucestershire in a County Championship fixture at the Cheltenham Festival.Benefiting from a week off to regroup and consider options, they came out firing in the midlands and comfortably reversed an early-season defeat when the teams met at Canterbury. That was Worcestershire’s only win in the 40-over competition this season and any chance of making it a double was quickly extinguished by Van Jaarsveld’s high-quality ball-striking for a dozen fours and two sixes.Sam Billings, the 20-year-old wicketkeeper, launched the innings with five fours in reaching 26 and Van Jaarsveld initially had no need to rush while Bell-Drummond advanced to 42 from 30 balls with five fours and two sixes. Coming into the side after four fifties in seven England Under-19 innings this month, the young opener, who will be 18 on Thursday, looked comfortable on his List A debut until he was caught by Daryl Mitchell at slip off Saeed Ajmal.It was then that Van Jaarsveld stepped up the pace, putting on 59 with Darren Stevens and making 75 of the 107 added for the fourth wicket with Sam Northeast (30). Offspinner Ajmal was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 42 and Jack Shantry also took three wickets, although the seamer only salvaged an expensive return with two wickets in his final over. His dismissal of Van Jaarsveld owed much to Moeen Ali’s sprint around the boundary to take a catch at long on.Moeen then gave Worcestershire some hope with 55 in 35 balls – including 23 off a first over by 19-year-old off-spinner Adam Riley – but the challenge petered out when he fell to Simon Cook (3 for 40).Riley held Moeen’s mis-hit drive to wide mid-off and, to his credit, he later retrieved his bowling figures when coming back for five overs at a manageable cost of 22. On-loan paceman David Balcombe finished the innings with 4 for 38 and Gareth Andrew’s 33 was the best of the rest for Worcestershire.

England’s fast bowlers will start practising with the Kookaburra balls that will be used during the Ashes as soon as the Test campaign with Pakistan is over

Cricinfo staff01-Aug-2010England’s fast bowlers will start practising with the Kookaburra balls that will be used during the Ashes as soon as the Test campaign with Pakistan is over. David Saker, the England bowling coach, comes from Victoria and understands the differences between the countries and the conditions.”His knowledge not only about the Kookaburra ball but also about Australia and their venues and players is very important to us,” said England’s coach, Andy Flower, following the team’s first-Test victory over Pakistan. “We are not practising with Kookaburras at the moment because we are focussing on this series but we will have our preparation time in this country before we leave. The guys have quite a lot of experience with the Kookaburra ball and we will deal with one challenge at a time.”The Australians struggled with swing in the drawn series with Pakistan last month and Saker said his fast men would be working on shaping the Kookaburra balls before the trip Down Under. ”It definitely still swings,” Saker told the Sunday Age. “It obviously doesn’t swing as much as the Duke ball, but some of that’s got to do with the English conditions.”Saker believes swing is the best way to bring down a batting order and wants his bowlers to achieve the movement when they attempt to retain the Ashes they won at The Oval last year. ”We’ll be endeavouring to try to move the ball in the air for sure, but also we’ve got two pretty tall, strong pace bowlers [Stuart Broad and Steven Finn] who can get the ball through,” he said. “There’ll be different ways we’ll attack the Australians, for sure.”Finn, 21, was rested before the England-Pakistan series to build up his strength ahead of a busy period. ”We’ve done that with Stuart Broad and he’s come back bigger, stronger and bowling faster than he’s ever bowled,” Saker said.”There was a lot of criticism from a lot of people outside the English set-up, but the people that were involved in pulling him out of that and getting him stronger were all pretty adamant that he needed that. You mightn’t see the improvement straight up but there’s no doubt we, as a group, think it’s going to be beneficial down the track.”

Invincibles still in the hunt for top spot as Winfield-Hill and Kapp ease hosts to London Derby win

ECB Media11-Aug-2024Oval Invincibles 121 for 2 (Winfield-Hill 61, Kapp 30*) beat London Spirit 120 for 8 (Sharma 46*, Smale 2-25) by eight wicketsA half-century from Lauren Winfield-Hill took Oval Invincibles to a crucial win against London Spirit in front of 14,721 fans in The Hundred at The Kia Oval.Chasing 120, Invincibles captain Winfield-Hill made 61 from 40 balls – her first half-century this season – and combined effectively with Marizanne Kapp to make light work of a chase that could have been far more taxing.That Invincibles had anything to chase was down to the first-innings heroics of Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma, who guided the visitors to a total of 120 for 8 from the perilous position of 47 for 7.Sharma and Eva Gray rebuilt with a record eight-wicket partnership after Invincibles bowlers took a wicket apiece to get ahead of the game early on – Kapp winning the battle of overseas superstars with a third-ball dismissal of Meg Lanning.The game was in the balance at the interval but Winfield-Hill batted intelligently throughout, nullifying the threat of Spirit’s trio of spinners by manipulating the field and accessing behind square with ease. Chances were few and far between, though Spirit could have sent Winfield-Hill on her way had they opted to review a tight LBW call that went against the bowler Dani Gibson.Kapp came in after birthday girl Alice Capsey was bowled ramping, and added some impetus to the foundations laid by Winfield-Hill to see the chase ticked off with nine balls to go.Invincibles’ win confirmed Manchester Originals’ tournament is over, but more importantly for the home side leaves them in control of their own destiny with one game to go ahead of The Hundred Eliminator and The Hundred Final.For London Spirit, also with one game to play, they now need to win their last game and hope other results go their way to secure a place in the top three.Meerkat Match Hero Winfield-Hill said: “It’s a great feeling. I was due so it’s really nice to contribute, especially at the business end. I’m really pleased to get another good performance and another win.”There was a little bit of hold in the wicket. There wasn’t a lot of turn but it just seemed to hold and there was a little bit of bounce. To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever played that many reverse sweeps in my whole career but it was just one of those things where it was working and I just kept doing the things that were working.”I was really determined to put in a good performance today, and to be there at the end with Kappy is a really nice feeling.”[On hoping Southern Brave beat Welsh Fire to help Invincibles’ hopes of getting straight to The Hundred Final] “It’s always hard this time of the competition. You’re looking at other results a lot and willing other teams to do well, and I think sometimes you can take your eye off what you’re trying to do. The more we can focus on what we’re trying to do and play our best cricket, the better – but come on Danni Wyatt and co, that would be really useful!”