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Clive Lloyd has said the World Twenty20 winning West Indies team should now aim for the “next level” by targeting the No.1 ranking in ODIs

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Oct-2012Clive Lloyd, the former West Indies captain, has said the World Twenty20 winning West Indies team should now aim for the “next level” by targeting the No.1 ranking in ODIs. “The win suggests that we can be a good ODI outfit. This is the start, the impetus that we needed to excel in the longer version,” he told .Lloyd, who led West Indies to World Cup wins in 1975 and 1979, said he expected the team to do well in Sri Lanka, as it had explosive batsmen and decent bowlers who are capable of performing the same way in longer formats.”Out of the 15 big hitters in the world, six belong to our team. They are all phenomenal strikers,” he said. “It gives them impetus on the field. They know they can go out there and dominate. That’s what they must do in the longer version too. Apart from Chris Gayle, we have [Marlon] Samuels who’s growing in confidence in both Tests and ODIs. We have a couple of good spinners and decent fast bowlers, basically an attack that can dislodge any opponent. We’re close to being quite a balanced side.”Lloyd added the team needed to identify its players for different formats. “Someone like Kieron Pollard can do the kind of job Andrew Symonds did for Australia. Pollard is explosive and can be a handful down the order. We have enough bowlers to choose from – both pace and spin.”At least we have two spinners who are able to confuse the batters,” Lloyd spoke of Sunil Narine and Samuel Badree, both of whom played important roles in Sri Lanka. “In the longer format, we’ll know how good they are. In the one-day game, I don’t think too many people will attack them and be successful.”West Indies’ T20 title was their first major international success since the 2004 Champions Trophy, but Lloyd said the current team appeared stronger than the 2004 winners. “They are gelling together. They seem to be quite happy when they go out there. Nothing seems to faze them. And they’re showing purpose. You have got to give credit to the captain.”Lloyd said he was happy to see Gayle back in the team, as he was a “decent fellow” to work with. “Chris just wanted to be back. He looks a really happy soul. Once he is happy, I’m happy. He creates that force and sort of generates the warmth needed for team spirit. I don’t think he’s giving the establishment any problems. They had one little spat.”

The relationship between the PCB and the BCB is likely to suffer if Bangladesh do not go ahead with the proposed tour to Pakistan in April because of security concerns, ESPNcricinfo has learnt

Umar Farooq19-Mar-2012The relationship between the PCB and the BCB is likely to suffer if Bangladesh do not go ahead with the proposed tour to Pakistan in April because of security concerns, ESPNcricinfo has learnt. An implicit deal had been reached by the two boards, according to which the PCB backed BCB president Mustafa Kamal as the nominee for the ICC vice-presidency and Bangladesh would tour Pakistan in 2012.”Ultimately, its Bangladesh’s loss if they don’t send their team,” Zaka Ashraf told ESPNcricinfo. “We are helping them and want to have a positive relationship not only with Bangladesh, but all the nations. We want to strengthen our relationship. We have been sending our players to feature in their leagues and we expect them to respect our positive approach, after all everything is on reciprocal basis.”The ICC executive board is set to consider Kamal’s nomination as its next vice-president, and president in 2014 after Alan Isaac’s term. And though there have been constant doubts over whether Bangladesh will tour Pakistan, the PCB is optimistic that the drought of international cricket in the country since the terror attacks on the Sri Lankan team in March 2009 will come to an end.ESPNcricinfo understands that the BCB, despite being satisfied by the proposed security arrangements for the tour to Pakistan, is seeking some support from other countries, but none has been forthcoming. A nine-member delegation, headed by Kamal, had been sent on a two-day visit to Pakistan to observe a demonstration of the security plan for the series, and Kamal had said he was positive about the tour going ahead.The ICC, however, introduced a special dispensation to be made in exceptional circumstances in order to ensure bilateral series take place even if the ruling body determined it unsafe to appoint its officials for such series. It would allow such series to be manned by “non-neutral match officials.”Kamal then put the future of the tour in doubt by saying, “We won’t go if everything doesn’t happen within the standard practice, which is the allocation of match-referees, umpires and all things by the ICC.”While the PCB did not respond to Kamal’s comments, a board official said the BCB was being leaned on by another country. “We are informed of a third-country pressure on BCB,” a PCB official told ESPNcricinfo. “We understand most of the member boards aren’t keen to support our move, but we are very much clear of what would be required to give Bangladesh the confidence to come to Pakistan. And we did exactly what we have to do – we have engaged the government at the superior level to satisfy Bangladesh with the security arrangements.”Since the attacks, Pakistan have played their home bilateral series at offshore venues such as New Zealand, England and the UAE but the PCB saw no commercial advantage in hosting Bangladesh at such venues. The PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf, who will be in Dhaka for the end of the Asia Cup, will make a final attempt to allay any doubts Bangladesh might have. The PCB also ruled out the possibility of talks with the BCCI. “There’s no use of asking India any further,” Ashraf said. “Their board doesn’t want to play us and that’s clearly understood.”Edited by George Binoy

Matthew Maynard, the former England assistant coach, said the chief reason for England’s rise to World No.1 in Tests is the unselfishness of their players

Firdose Moonda13-Sep-2011Matthew Maynard, the former England assistant coach, said the chief reason for England’s rise to World No.1 in Tests is the unselfishness of their players. Maynard, who captained and coached Glamorgan, worked under Duncan Fletcher in the England setup from 2004 to 2007 and grew close to many of the current England players.”The big thing is that they really and truly enjoy each other’s success,” he told ESPNcricinfo in Centurion, where he has started his new job as head coach of the Titans franchise. “It was like that to an extent when I was there but not collectively like it is now. There were one or two players then who still had that little bit of jealousy when someone else did well, but those guys are gone now.”Rather than go into detail about the players whose influence was less than favourable, Maynard preferred to reflect on the members of the team who have excelled and blossomed since his time with the squad.”Ian Bell has really stood out for me. He has proven what a quality player he is. He has got much tougher as he has matured. Batsmen at the age of about 29, as he is now, start to play their best cricket and understand how much hard work is required of them.” Bell was England’s second-highest run-scorer in the recent home series against India, with 504 runs including a double-century in the fourth Test.Maynard heaped praise on England’s bowlers, singling out Graeme Swann as a major factor in the team’s success. “James Anderson really leads that attack and Tim Bresnan is an important component as well, but the player that has really changed them is Graeme Swann. If you look at all the best international sides in history, barring West Indies when they had that great pace attack, they have had a world-class spinner, not just a good one.”The 2005 Ashes triumph was the highlight of Maynard’s tenure, and he said while that was an important turning point for them there were lessons to be learned from the slump that followed that series win. Seven of the next 13 series were lost, two drawn and just four were won.Maynard said part of the reason they failed to establish continuity after that Ashes victory was because they genuinely did not know how to. “It was the pinnacle for us and we hadn’t really looked beyond that series at what we were going to do after that. It was as if we had reached the top of the world.”The real summit was only mounted this summer when a 4-0 whitewash of India allowed England to be crowned the best in the world. It was a process that Maynard believes was possible because of the way Andy Flower has crafted the England squad, which is substantially different to the squad that Maynard worked with, under Fletcher.”After that Ashes win, we had a few injuries. We lost Marcus Trescothick, Ashley Giles and Steve Harmison. What Andy Flower has done is tried to develop cover for everybody so that if something happens to anyone, someone else can step in. Instead of having just a top XI, he has a squad of 18 or 19 players. The only position he does not have cover for is that spinner’s spot.”

Trent Copeland produced a stunning debut with seven wickets, but Queensland were boosted by Lee Carseldine’s century as they reached 9 for 335

Cricinfo staff29-Jan-2010Queensland 9 for 335 (Carseldine 109, Swan 55*, Copeland 7-92) v New South Wales

ScorecardTrent Copeland was in outstanding form on debut as he knocked over seven Queenslanders•Getty Images

Trent Copeland produced a stunning debut with seven wickets, but Queensland were boosted by Lee Carseldine’s century as they reached 9 for 335 on the first day. Copeland, a 23-year-old fast bowler, got his chance due to the state’s injury-hit stocks – and Josh Hazlewood being at the Under-19 World Cup – and he showed the same form that he displays for his grade side St George.He struck in batches, taking two wickets early in the day and another two shortly before tea, and came back in the third session to add three more. Copeland walked off with 7 for 92 in 28 overs, currently the third best return for the Blues on debut, and was the first to grab a five-wicket haul in his opening game since Glenn McGrath in 1992-93.Carseldine, the No. 4, was the main problem for the Blues as he registered his third first-class hundred, moving to 109 with 15 fours when he was Copeland’s sixth victim. The seventh came with Luke Feldman’s exit shortly before the end and he will chase an eighth on the second morning. He will have Chris Swan, who is unbeaten on 55, and Scott Walter (0) to aim at.Carseldine and Chris Hartley revived Queensland from 4 for 89 with a 108-run stand before Copeland intervened. He picked up Hartley for 38 and followed up with Chris Simpson before tea and Ben Cutting after the interval.Queensland started well after being sent in on a green surface, with Nick Kruger (32) and Ryan Broad (28) taking the score to 69 before they went in consecutive balls. Broad gave Copeland his first wicket when he was lbw and Kruger was taken at second slip off Grant Lambert, who quickly backed up by having Wade Townsend caught behind. The Bulls had lost 4 for 20 when Glen Batticciotto was taken by the wicketkeeper Daniel Smith, one of four catches to him, as Copeland continued his outstanding entry.

Former India captain feels Rodrigues could be the right person to lead in T20Is

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Oct-2024If India are looking at moving on from Harmanpreet Kaur as their captain, the time is now. That’s the opinion of Mithali Raj, following India’s group-stage exit from the women’s T20 World Cup. Harmanpreet has been in charge since replacing Raj in 2016 and has led the team at four T20 World Cups, but the latest one has been the poorest in terms of results – they made at least the semi-finals in the three previous editions.”If the selectors decide to change, I would go for a young captain,” Raj told . “This is the time [to change]; if you delay more then we have another [ODI] World Cup on the horizon [October 2025]. If you are not doing it now, then don’t do it later. Then it is too close to the World Cup.”Smriti [Mandhana, the vice-captain since 2016] is there but I think someone like Jemimah [Rodrigues], she’s 24, she’s young, she will serve you more. And [she] is someone who I feel on the field gets that energy. She speaks to everybody. I was very impressed by her in this tournament.Related

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“Despite playing those cameo roles, she never could convert her starts, but [she is] someone who really made an effort to build a momentum if there was no momentum; and if there was momentum, she tried to carry that momentum [forward].”Raj highlighted India’s inability to adapt quickly as the main reason for their poor show. India came into this tournament on the back of two months of camps and match simulation in Bengaluru, unlike Australia or New Zealand, who played each other, or South Africa, who scheduled a late tour to Pakistan.”Surprisingly, we took time to adjust to the slowness of the wicket,” Raj said. “Unlike an ODI World Cup, it is a short tournament, you don’t have a lot of time to adjust to the conditions. Someone like [New Zealand captain] Sophie Devine was able to score that many runs [57 not out] against us and she is not used to playing on slow tracks. We were not quick enough to adjust.”Looking at the bigger picture, Raj lamented the India team’s lack of “growth” over the past three years. She felt India had been “content” beating the lower-ranked teams and were “saturated” when it came to tackling big teams like Australia.”I feel that in the last two-three years, I’ve not really seen any growth in this team,” Raj said. “In the sense, like, I mean, beating the best side is what you always prepare for, but it seems like we are saturated in the sense we are beating other teams, and we are pretty happy in that. Every other team has shown growth despite limited depth, a case in point being South Africa. We have not.”Raj questioned some of the team management’s tactics in the lead-up to the World Cup too. Like at the Asia Cup, where India chose to field the regulars and did not give opportunities to fringe players.”I was doing commentary in the Asia Cup. To be very honest, I didn’t know what was happening,” she said. “I’m sure they were aware that Asia Cup is the last series of matches that they’re going to play before the World Cup. When you know that this is the last game time that you’re going to have before you enter the big tournament, you do at least 70% of your planning or 80% of your planning. Like who your No. 5 or No. 6 is, these are people who would walk in a particular situation. But there it seemed they were playing only for that tournament.Mithali Raj wants to see Jemimah Rodrigues given the reins of the T20I team•ICC/Getty Images

“It didn’t seem like it was anywhere closer to… what we got to see in the World Cup. We could have given more opportunities to the bench against lower-ranked teams in Asia Cup, but we didn’t. Why does the men’s team do well? Immediately after a big series or a big tournament, they try others. If we are talking about depth, then when are we giving them chances?”Raj was also critical of the fitness levels of some of the players, which she felt contributed to them dropping catches. Against Australia, India dropped three catches and could have possibly converted two more half-chances.”Against Australia, I was very disappointed to see, other than Radha Yadav and Jemi to some extent, I don’t think there was anybody,” she said. “So we cannot have just two players out of 11 being good.”In terms of fitness, we need to have a benchmark. Honestly, how much can you work in a month? It’s something that you do around the year. It’s not like just before the tournament, you have a camp and it’s just going to really show the difference on the field.”

Two people were arrested with fake accreditations; on a different day, one man came in the garb of a cleaner

PTI05-May-2021Potential corruptors were spotted at the Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi on different days of the IPL 2021 season, including during the May 2 match between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad, BCCI’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) chief Shabir Hussein Shekhadam Khandwawala told PTI. Two people with fake IPL accreditations were arrested by the Delhi Police on the day of that Royals-Sunrisers match.In another incident – on a different match day, at the same venue – one man “in the garb of a cleaner” fled after ACU officials had caught him having a telephone conversation. He is currently being traced by Delhi police after the ACU managed to retrieved two mobile phones from him.Related

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It was suspected that he could have been engaging in ‘pitch-siding’, which is the act of relaying information from the ground to a remote location to beat the delay in the TV feed. It can be used to get an advantage while betting on passages in play before the live computerised odds shift.”One of my ACU officers caught a person and handed over the details to Delhi Police. While that particular offender managed to flee leaving behind his two mobile phones, ACU lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police,” Hussein told PTI on Wednesday.”We are thankful to Delhi Police that in a separate incident they caught two other persons from the Kotla on ACU tip-off.”So on two separate days, these people managed to get access to Kotla. The one who fled came in the garb of a cleaner. However, we have all his details as he was employed for the tournament. His Aadhar Card details have been handed over to Delhi Police,” Hussein said. “I am confident that he will be nabbed in a day or two. He is a small fry working for a couple of hundred or some thousand bucks may be.”The man who fled came under suspicion when he was spotted on the phone, by himself, in a secluded area.”He was standing (inside Feroz Shah Kotla premises) in a secluded area all by himself and so one of our officers approached and asked him: ‘What are you doing here?’ He said: “” [I am talking to my girlfriend].”My officer then asked him to dial the number he was talking to and then asked him to hand over the phones. Just when he was going through the contents of his phone, the guy fled from the spot,” Hussein said, without divulging which match-day this incident took place on.”It was one of the evening matches in Delhi. He was wearing an ID card. Also what raised suspicion was he had two mobiles,” he said.”The information he may be supplying could be to someone more influential among bookmakers, and so we needed to inform the Delhi Police. Delhi Police has responded positively and thus next instance two people were arrested.”Hussain also confirmed that the ACU didn’t receive any complaint of corrupt approaches being made to players or support staff involved in IPL during the 29 games that were held before the tournament was postponed.”Obviously with bio-bubble and no crowd around, it certainly becomes a bit easier to manage as there is no physical proximity of questionable characters. When there is a crowd, it becomes difficult to check anyone and everyone,” Hussein said.He also said that during the Mumbai leg, the hotel in which the Sunrisers team was staying had three people with questionable records, and whose names were in the ACU database. However, they couldn’t come in contact with any of the players.”The moment we had information, we got in touch with Mumbai Police. The Police Commissioner of Mumbai took immediate cognisance and the Mumbai Police got hold of those three,” he added.

David Warner and Will Pucovski will both miss the first Test while Joe Burns has struggled for form

Andrew McGlashan13-Dec-2020It is not beyond the realms that Australia go into the first Test in Adelaide with one opener who wasn’t in the squad two days ago and another who has never done it in Test cricket.As far as the top of the order goes, it has been a chaotic week or so. David Warner and the uncapped Will Pucovski are both ruled out – the latter perhaps more likely to feature on Boxing Day than the former – and the other incumbent Joe Burns has barely been able to score a run. He has been dusted up by the attack he would face on Thursday, and the man who appears most likely to play, Marcus Harris, is returning to the side after a gap of 16 months.Moments after Burns walked off the field on Sunday, pinned lbw by Mohammed Shami, following the dismissal of Harris, cameras panned to national selector Trevor Hohns on the phone. He has been a busy man and the toughest call may be yet to come. Justin Langer and Tim Paine will hope a sense of order emerges over the next few days in Adelaide, which involves a day off on Monday, an intense training session on Tuesday and lighter work on Wednesday before Paine and Virat Kohli (in his last assignment of the tour) head out for the toss on Thursday afternoon.”There is some pressure on him, no doubt,” Chris Rogers, part of the Australia A coaching staff, said of Burns before his second innings at the SCG. “He’s not stupid. So he has to make the most of this opportunity, that’s pretty important, and then it’s up to the selectors.”There has been some good news for Australia with Mitchell Starc rejoining the squad on Monday following his compassionate leave due to a family illness – he is a formidable threat with the pink ball – and Cameron Green, the uncapped allrounder, will travel to Adelaide having made promising progress after the blow on the head in his follow through at the SCG which left him with a mild concussion.However, given the tight time frame, it is far from certain that Green will be ready to be in contention. Before these Australia A matches it felt unlikely he would make his debut early in the series, but such have been the issues at the top of the order that one of the options gaining traction is a promotion to open for Marnus Labuschagne (or even Matthew Wade) which then creates a natural vacancy for Green at No. 6.He made a very fine 125 against the Indians at Drummoyne Oval, and while he is still restricted to four-over spells, he is chipping out wickets. However, under lights, it’s unlikely Australia’s big three quicks (alongside Nathan Lyon who has an impressive record with the pink ball) would need too much support. Green would have earned selection as a batsman.That, though, relies on him clearing the various concussion protocols and a return to full training. Former Australia doctor Peter Brukner suggested on Saturday that the turnaround would probably be too tight.Where that leaves Australia remains unclear. As yet they have not pressed the full panic button and summoned someone from outside the A-team that has been in Sydney. But the call will have to be taken if Burns remains unselectable.”That’s where Joe Burns is at with his technique at the moment – he is just shot. It’s a sad sight, isn’t it, seeing a bloke really struggling to find any sort of form,” former Australia captain Allan Border told Fox Cricket after the dismissal against Shami.”My gut feel is just no [for Burns]. He has been given these little windows of opportunity because of injury, concussion, circumstances with other guys without nailing down a spot,” Border said. “If he had just shown something, even if he had 20-odd today and batted okay and got a good ball to get out – you might think: ‘Okay, we’ll stick with the incumbent’.”The members of the Test squad already in Adelaide have been having centre-wicket practice at the ground with a handful of them – including Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood – having played no long-form cricket since the first week of January.”It’s been an unusual one, a different lead-in for everyone, guys playing Shield, IPL then we’ve started with one-day cricket and T20,” Hazlewood said. “Every international cricketer is prepared for that, they know the things they have to tick off and we’ve had a really good leading up here, a few days out on Adelaide Oval, and we’ve still got a number of sessions to go before the game.”Whether those sessions are enough for Burns, or if a decision has already been made, is the big question.

Shreyas Gopal and Prasidh Krishna had limited South Africa A to 231 before Manish Pandey posted an unbeaten 95 to take India to a comfortable victory

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Aug-2018An unbeaten 95 from Manish Pandey powered India B to a 30-run win against South Africa A at the KSCA Cricket Ground in Alur. Chasing 220 in 45 overs in a rain-affected game, India B were just six runs short of a win with 4.3 overs left before rain ended play, and they were adjudged to be well ahead via the Duckworth/Lewis method.India B’s pacers mowed down South Africa A’s top order after sending them in to bat. With the visitors reduced to 57 for 4, the No. 5 Farhaan Beherdien struck a 104-run partnership with Senuran Muthuswamy to save South Africa A from a collapse. But legspinner Shreyas Gopal came in to cause more damage in the middle, picking up three wickets – including that of Behardien and Muthuswamy – in the space of eight balls to leave South Africa reeling at 164 for 7. Medium pacer Prasidh Krishna came back to dismiss the tailenders and finished with figures of 4 for 49.In their chase, India B lost Mayank Agarwal and Deepak Hooda within six overs to Dane Paterson, but an 88-run stand between Pandey and opener Shubman Gill ensured they kept the scoring well above the asking rate. Following a brief rain stoppage which called for a shortening of the match, Pandey stitched partnerships together with the middle order to set India B up for a comfortable win.

Eoin Morgan largely exonerated his batsmen despite a record-breaking collapse at the start of the third ODI against South Africa

George Dobell at Lord's29-May-2017Eoin Morgan largely exonerated his batsmen despite a record-breaking collapse at the start of the third ODI against South Africa.England were 20 for 6 after 30 deliveries – the first time in history a side has lost six wickets in the first five overs of an ODI – as they struggled against a fine attack in conditions offering assistance to bowlers. While Jonny Bairstow engineered a partial recovery, he could not prevent England slipping to their first defeat in nine ODIs.But Morgan, the England captain, felt the wicket was more to blame than the batsmen and praised South Africa’s seamers – Kagiso Rabada and Wayne Parnell – for harnessing conditions expertly.Suggesting the pitch was not suitable for ODI cricket, Morgan hinted that the toss – which was won by South Africa’s captain, AB de Villiers – was disproportionately important and went a long way towards deciding the game.”I’d be disappointed if we did come across surfaces like that in the ICC Champions Trophy,” Morgan said. “To win or lose the game on the toss in a major tournament is hard to take. Any side batting first has the potential to lose the game.”I don’t think it was an ODI wicket. It makes it one-sided which I don’t think is good for anybody. There was a lot of live, green grass on the wicket.”We saw the shots they played when they batted. We couldn’t play shots like that early this morning.”But South Africa bowled beautifully. They did not give us anything to hit and if they did we managed to nick it. Credit goes to South Africa, they came back really well.”While Morgan did accept that England might do well to reflect on the platform they built at the start of their innings in the second ODI in Southampton – they were 42 for 1 at the end of the first 10-over Powerplay- he did not think his batsmen had taken an overly aggressive approach in conditions that might have necessitated a more calculated game plan.”You earn the right to play positive cricket,” he said. “And we do need to keep our feet on the ground. But we didn’t play too aggressively. A lot of our shots were defensive shots. When it moves around like that, you nick the half-volleys.”The good news for England is that they can expect much more batting-friendly conditions on the grounds used for their Champions Trophy game. But there may be some disquiet in the camp if they find themselves inserted on an overcast morning on a pitch showing any sign of moisture.Still, Morgan is unlikely to admit any such fears at this stage – his team has been built on a commitment to attacking cricket that will only be inhibited by doubts – and will instead hope his batsmen can put this reverse out of their mind and continue to play the fearless cricket that has served them so well in recent months.Morgan also hinted that England will keep faith with Jason Roy in their Champions Trophy side.Roy endured a miserable series against South Africa, scoring just 13 runs in three innings. And with Bairstow continuing his fine run of form with another half-century – his third in his four most recent ODI innings – there might be a temptation to bring him into the side in place of Roy.But despite admitting telling Bairstow he was not selected was “the hardest thing,” Morgan remains committed to selecting Roy for the start of the Champions Trophy and agreed that last minute changes to the side – something of a characteristic of England going into global tournaments in recent times – might send out an unhelpful message.”It’s the hardest thing telling Jonny he’s not playing when he’s done nothing wrong and he scores a huge amount of runs,” Morgan said. “I’m very, very impressed by him. He never lets us down. Whenever he comes in he scores runs and he continues to bang on the door.”But as regards selection, Jason is the No.1 pick at the moment. Him and Alex Hales have been our 1 and 2 for quite a long time. They have had ups and downs but ultimately they have played in the fashion that we have played as a team and they have been very important to that.”England remain confident that all the first choice players who missed this match will be fit for Thursday’s opening Champions Trophy encounter against Bangladesh. Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes could, according to Morgan, have played on Monday if required, while the seamers, Mark Wood and Liam Plunkett, were just rested to ensure they remain fresh. Chris Woakes, too, was said to have “pulled up really well” with Morgan anticipating he will be “fully fit for Thursday.”Whether, in the case of Stokes, that means as an allrounder or a specialist batsman remains to be seen. Such is his long-term importance to England, they will be loathe to risk his fitness.”He can run around in the field like a mad man,” the coach, Trevor Bayliss, told Sky Sports. “And when he got his hundred over the weekend, he didn’t even feel it. I’s just when he’s bowling at full tilt. Hopefully that means it’s not much and hopefully an extra day or two and it’ll come good.He’s a very important part of the team. He brings energy to the team. And, as we saw, he can hold his position in the team as a batter as well, so I’m sure he’ll be there on Thursday.”

South Africa face a dilemma over the workload on Kagiso Rabada early in a year crammed with commitments for the young fast bowler

Andrew McGlashan in Wellington24-Feb-2017South Africa face a dilemma over the workload on Kagiso Rabada early in a year crammed with commitments for the young fast bowler.Rabada, who took 2 for 31 in Hamilton, missed the match in Christchurch due to a slight problem with his left knee, but had an extensive bowl at the Basin Reserve on Friday with the knee taped. He has been carefully managed in the early days of this tour, also sitting out the T20 at Eden Park, having played all five matches the preceding one-day series against Sri Lanka.There will be a significant number of overs for Rabada in the months ahead. After this one-day series there are three Tests against New Zealand, followed a by the IPL for which Rabada landed a INR 5 crore (USD 750,000 approx) deal with Delhi Daredevils. Then comes the Champions Trophy and a marquee four-Test series against England. Throwing further ahead, South Africa’s 2017-18 home season will their busiest ever.If South Africa had managed to haul themselves over the line at Hagley Oval there is a decent chance Rabada would have been wrapped in cotton wool for the remainder of the one-day series. That could still be the case, with South Africa keen to assess their other bowling options before the Champions Trophy, but his cutting edge would be missed.”He has been stalwart for us for a while now,” JP Duminy said. “He has been our main strike bowler in most formats and it’s always a great strength for us to have him in our attack. It will be good to see him back.”In 2016, Rabada sent down almost two hundred overs more than any other South Africa bowler across all formats – 431.3 overs, with Kyle Abbott next on 239.1 – and made the joint-most appearances with 32 alongside Quinton de Kock and Faf du Plessis.South Africa also have to meet quota targets over a season which includes an average of two Black African players in an XI. Rabada and Andile Phehlukwayo are part of the one-day squad, while Temba Bavuma will be alongside Rabada in the Test side.Although Rabada’s return would strengthen South Africa’s attack, they have pinpointed the batting – and a failure of anyone to play a major innings – as the reason they could not chase down 290 in Christchurch. The top six all reached double figures, but de Kock’s 57 was the top score and he fell to an ill-judged leg-side heave.Dwaine Pretorius, at No. 7, almost turned the game with his 27-ball 50 and with Phehlukwayo down at No. 10 there was enviable depth to the order, but Duminy said that does not always translate into success.”It can sometimes be a bad thing. Even though we bat deep it doesn’t mean the top order shouldn’t take responsibility. It’s a great thing to have but there’s still a lot of responsibility from the top six or seven to make sure we put in those performances for the team.”However, he was not overly concerned about South Africa’s first reversal in 13 ODIs and suggested it was a timely reminder of the level of performance they need to achieve.”It was kind of inevitable at some point we’d lose a game. It’s something we have spoken about, that it doesn’t put us in any different situation in terms of where we’re trying to go as a team, our preparation and our goals. We’re trying to work towards the Champions Trophy and it’s probably a good thing to go through a few losses along the way to bring us back down to earth and understand there are certain things we still have to improve on.”