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Dale Steyn could still make an appearance in South Africa’s ongoing Test series against England, which he is currently sitting out of with a shoulder injury. Steyn posted a picture on Twitter of himself in a hyperbaric chamber, which he is using to speed up his recovery.”Boring, but healing,” Steyn posted, along with a collage of photographs including Scar Tissue, the autobiography of vocalist Anthony Kiedis, which he is reading during sessions.Steyn initially posted that he would spend a fortnight in the chamber, which would rule him out of the fourth Test, but then corrected himself and confirmed he would only need a week of treatment. That period ends on the eve of the Centurion game, which begins on January 22. Steyn will not have much time to get overs in the legs before the game, but he should be bowling fit by the time the ODIs start, on February 3.Should Steyn not recover in time for the SuperSport Park Test, he would have missed six of South Africa’s eight Tests this season. In the two he played, Steyn broke down both times, first with a groin injury in Mohali, which kept him out of the remaining three Tests in India, and then with a shoulder injury in Durban which forced him out of the New Year’s Test and the ongoing Wanderers Test.South Africa have had to search their reserves in Steyn’s absence and have given two debuts to two bowlers in their last two games. Chris Morris was capped at Newlands and Hardus Viljoen at the Wanderers.

If anyone has a doubt about what is going wrong with cricket in India, all you have to do is to take a look at the last day’s play between South Zone and England Under-19s played at Guru Nanak College Ground, Chennai, on Wednesday. Let alone positive thinking, one wonders whether there was any thinking at all in the South Zone camp.Having bowled out English colts for 183 on Tuesday and going into the last day with a lead of 135 runs, one hoped that South would really go after the English bowling and set a target. TS Suman and Arjun Yadav started the day for South Zone on 43/1.Suman as always was in an attacking mood, playing shots with gay abandon. Make no mistake; he is not a slogger by any means. He just hits the ball so hard and is blessed with a good timing too. He raced to reach his fifty without much ado. He was on 53 when the tall English bowler Tremlett got one ball to move a little away from the batsman and take a faint edge. Wicket keeper Mark Wallace was too happy to dive to his right and take a good catch. Monty Panesar who had removed Shashank Nag the previous evening was brought into the attack and produced a good spell.Panesar with his orthodox left arm bowling, tied up the batsmen. He later bowled ASK Varma who had scratched around for just nine runs. 90/3 in the 31st over brought in the first innings batting hero, Deepak Chougule. He too got bogged down a little and was eventually dismissed lbw to Panesar for just four runs.106/4 in the 35th over was not too bad at all. The batsmen were in a negative frame of mind, pushing and prodding at the ball. The new batsmen ASK Varma and captain Arjun Yadav were no exceptions either, never looking for quick runs. At lunch South Zone was 155/4 with Yadav unbeaten on 67 made off 149 balls in 150 minutes. A declaration was on the cards as South lead by 247 runs.Giving themselves the option of bowling for two sessions would have been ideal. Moreover the visiting boys would have had an opportunity to get some valuable batting practice ahead of the ‘Test’ that starts on Saturday. Defying all logic and positive thinking, Yadav continued batting for some more time and declared the innings closed at 201/4 as soon as he got to his personal hundred. The Visitors were clearly irked by this attitude, considering this to be a warm up match.England was set a ridiculous target of 294 in a minimum of 35 overs. Opening batsman Nicky Peng struck three consecutive boundaries off the left arm seamer, Steve Lazarus. Peng lost his concentration and was trapped LBW by L Balaji for 13 by a ball that kept very low. Lazarus had a nervous looking Kadeer Ali caught behind for just two runs. The other Opener John Sadler and the new batsman Gordon Muchall put on a 63 runs third wicket partnership.Sadler who looked compact and in fine touch was well caught and bowled by the left arm spinner, Shankara Rao. Ian Pattison who came in next did not survive long enough either, caught by the substitute fielder Ahmed Quadri off Rao for 5. In the meantime more farce was to follow. The South Zone management wanted to finish the match a bit early that some of their players could catch the train back home. English team declined and played on till the end of the match. At close English colts were 110/4 in 41 overs. Gordon Muchall played a patient and valuable innings of an unbeaten 48, which included five strokes past the boundary ropes.The Visitors had some positive things to take from this match. Ferley as a bowler looked in very good touch. Panesar picked up 3/40 in the second innings, the batting of Tremlett in the first and Muchall in the second were heartening indeed. Things might have been so different if South Zone had declared earlier and made a match of it. Mr. Yadav, there is no shine to your hundred!

Durham have signed Shaun Pollock for the Twenty20 Cup in June. He will play alongside his former South African team-mate Albie Morkel and has joined the county as a Kolpak.Pollock retired from international cricket in February following the series against West Indies and is currently involved in the Indian Premier League for the Mumbai Indians.”When I got the offer from Durham I really jumped at the chance to get on board, they are determined to do well in the Twenty20 Cup and I want to contribute to that success,” said Pollock. “They proved themselves to be a force in the four-day and one-day game last year and I’m keen to help them replicate that success in the Twenty20 Cup.”David Harker, Durham’s chief executive, added: “Shaun is one of the biggest talents in world cricket and we’re delighted that he’s decided to join us. He’s got great experience in all formats of the game and we think he’ll bring a great presence to the team, both on and off the field. We’ve got big aspirations for success in the Twenty20 Cup this season and along with Albie [Morkel] I’m sure that we have recruited players with enough Twenty20 experience to help us progress in the competition.”Pollock has previously played for Warwickshire, where he made a stunning debut back in 1996 by claiming four wickets in four balls against Leicestershire in the Benson and Hedges Cup.

New Zealand (Browne 52, Martin 41, Satterthwaite 36) beat England 138 (Edwards 70*, McNeill 6-32) by 123 runs
ScorecardBeth McNeill’s career-best six wickets got New Zealand’s one-day summer off to a flyer with a thumping 123-run win to bring the Ashes winners England crashing back down to earth. Solid contributions with the bat from a depleted New Zealand, shorn of Suzie Bates and the injured Louise Milliken, lifted the home side to 261.Nicola Browne was the only batsman to reach fifty, but received useful support from her colleagues despite openers Aimee Mason and Ros Kember falling cheaply to Isa Guha. Haidee Tiffen became Guha’s third victim and when Jenny Gunn, back from a shoulder injury which forced her to miss the Ashes, removed Sara McGlashan they were in trouble at 56 for 4.Amy Satterthwaite’s 36 inspired the turnaround and then in came Browne who posted only her fourth fifty in 69 ODIs, then again she is primarily a pace bowler. Katey Martin added 41 on her return to international cricket.England’s reply was largely a shambles: apart from Charlotte Edwards’ unbeaten 70 and Claire Taylor’s 27, nobody reached double figures. Sarah Burke removed the openers Beth Morgan and Sarah Taylor quickly and from then on it was the McNeill show, with her first five-wicket haul in ODIs.She removed a big gun in Claire Taylor to spark the slide, picking up Lydia Greenway for a duck, Jenny Gunn for a 19-ball 1, Nicky Shaw for 5 and was on a hat-trick removing Rosalie Birch next ball. She finished with Katherine Brunt, who hasn’t played any outdoor cricket for months.Brunt opened the bowling, her ten overs going for a respectable 37 so that is one positive England can take from the opener.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsLegspinner Wanidu Hasaranga was Sri Lanka Under-19s’ best bowler with returns of 3 for 34•ICC

A fine performance by Sri Lanka’s spinners was capped by a stroke-filled 95 from opener Avishka Fernando as they brushed England aside by six wickets to move into the semi-final of the Under-19 World Cup.England had won the toss and opted to bat, a decision their captain Brad Taylor defended quite strongly at the presentation. “We didn’t think it did an awful lot early,” he said and thought 250 could have been within their reach had the middle overs gone better. As such they were all out for 184 without facing their full quota of overs.Not that the first few overs went England’s way either. Opener Dan Lawrence dragged one onto his stumps for 9, his partner Max Holden was caught at slip for 8 and the tournament’s top scorer Jack Burnham could only manage 11 at No. 3. Callum Taylor tried to resurrect the innings with 42 off 57 balls, but his wicket triggered a middle-order collapse. What would rankle England more was the ball that got Taylor lbw had pitched outside leg stump while he was playing a shot. England fell from 120 for 4 in the 35th over to 136 for 7 in the 40th as Sri Lanka strangled the innings with spin. Legbreak bowler Wanidu Hasaranga picked up 3 for 34.Out walked the Sri Lanka openers and cashed in 51 runs in eight overs before the lunch break. Avishka battered left-arm seamer Sam Curran for four successive fours in the third over and never looked back. He got to his 50 off 44 balls and looked set for a hundred until he chose to swipe at a bouncer he had originally seemed to duck under and was caught behind for 95. It was only a minor roadblock for Sri Lanka though, who coasted to victory with six wickets and 86 balls to spare.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsA four-for from pacer Rory Anders skittled Canada Under-19s out for a paltry 139, paving the way for Ireland Under-19s’ six-wicket win in their semi-final playoff for the 13th place.Anders, with help from Gary McClintock (2-26) and Fiachra Tucker (2-21), ran through the Canada side, reducing them to 73 for 8 in the 26th over, vindicating Ireland’s decision to bowl in Cox’s Bazar. The little resistance that Canada put up came through partnerships for the last two wickets, guided by batsman Arslan Khan and tail-enders Shlok Patel and Prushoth Wijayaraj. Arslan, who top-scored with 47, shared a 29-run stand for the ninth wicket which pushed Canada’s score past 100, before the side’s No. 10 and No. 11 batsmen stitched together 37 runs for the last wicket, the highest partnership of the innings.A 75-run opening stand between Jack Tector and Stephen Doheny eased Ireland in their chase and the low target meant that a brief stutter, which reduced them to 103 for 4, was easily negated. McClintock played a role with the bat, too, guiding the side home with an unbeaten 45-ball 31.

“This is a greater victory than the World Twenty20,” was captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s reaction after India won their first tri-series in Australia, succeeding at the formidable task of beating the top-ranked side in their own den twice.Dhoni, who has now led India to victory in two prestigious events in the last seven months, attributed the results to a team effort. “The role of the captain was not the only one. The captain is one guy who gathers the pressure and then channels it to the individual player and then it depends on how that individual reacts,” he said. “We didn’t start that well but we improved as the tournament went on and the credit should go to every player.”India’s batting, which has been their biggest weakness throughout the tournament, came into its own during the finals with Sachin Tendulkar hitting top form. Tendulkar followed up his stellar performance at the SCG on Sunday with a vital 91 in Brisbane. Despite ordinary performances early in the tournament, Dhoni never doubted his senior-most batsman. “Performance is one thing, but performing back-to-back is something else. He is the best.”Dhoni was relieved India had wrapped up the series at the Gabba thereby avoiding the trip to Adelaide. Was he desperate that they complete the job in Brisbane? “Yes, because I have not ridden my motorbike for quite a long time,” Dhoni joked but added that a third game would have been taxing for his players, some of whom have been away from home for about three months.After a resounding victory in the first final, India’s decision to bat first in Brisbane paid off with Tendulkar and Robin Uthappa giving them a solid opening stand of 94. While India have shuffled their batting order during the series, Dhoni said Uthappa’s promotion to the opening slot had given the batting a settled look. “Robin changed his game a little bit and reacted to the situation and curbed his aggressive instincts.”Throughout the tournament, like in the ICC World Twenty20, Dhoni surprised many with his team selections and his on-field strategies. For the crucial final over in the World Twenty20 final, he threw the ball to the inexperienced Joginder Sharma, in the first final here he asked Praveen Kumar, another rookie, to take the new ball. That move paid off; Praveen got crucial top-order scalps and did an encore at the Gabba.The other surprise was to play the legspinner Piyush Chawla, who was overlooked during the league phase, in the finals. “We wanted to play Piyush, and wanted him to use as a surprise. He mixed it up really well was consistent in his line and length.”When the squad was picked Dhoni had strongly recommended the presence of youngsters. While that gamble has now proved successful, he said he never doubted that it was the only way ahead. “Even if we had lost this tournament, we should have stuck with the young boys. This will be the team’s core.”

New Zealand’s coach Mike Hesson has expressed his disappointment that the Basin Reserve pitch offered little seam movement for the fast men after the first session of the match. In the lead-up to the Test it was at times hard to determine which strip on the pitch square was to be used, such was the consistent grass cover, but Hesson said he would have liked it “much greener than it was” on match morning.The toss proved significant as Steven Smith called correctly, sent New Zealand in and Australia rolled them for 183 before tea. Although New Zealand picked up a couple of early wickets in Australia’s first innings the pitch flattened out much quicker than many of the players expected, and the Australians were able to go on and post 562 in their only innings.”I would’ve liked this to be much greener than it was,” Hesson said on Tuesday. “It certainly only seamed for two hours and I think that meant that both sides weren’t able to be exposed in those conditions. It’s a bit different when it seams for two hours, it makes the toss a little bit more important.””Ideally you want both sides to have a bit of a crack at it if it does seam. You look at the wickets we lost in the first session they were all from good length deliveries and they were able to get the ball to move off the straight and expose some of our techniques. That’s something we’d like to think if we were in a similar situation we’d be able to do something similar.”We had four guys out defending in the first hour. I don’t think that’s mental error; there are times that you have to accept that they put the ball in good areas, the ball seams you’re going to nick it. When the ball seams you do end up playing a little bit wider than you’d like to. We certainly did that in the first hour or so.”However, Hesson acknowledged that it was up to the batsmen to work out a way of coping in the seaming conditions, given the likelihood of a similar pitch in Christchurch on Saturday for the second Test. Although the New Zealand top order performed better in the second innings in Wellington, including with an 81-run opening stand, by then Australia were too far ahead in the match.”We faced different conditions throughout the match,” Hesson said. “We were challenged in the first session and if we were able to get through three down instead of five, possibly things could have been a little bit different. That’s something we’re going to have to get right in the next Test because likely we’ll face conditions that will seam as well.”The other notable factor in the second innings was the reverse swing that Australia’s fast bowlers managed to master early in the innings. The uncertainty that it created in the minds of the New Zealand batsmen contributed to the downfall of Kane Williamson, who was so productive in the recent Test series in Australia but made only 16 and 22 in the Wellington Test.”When you’re getting it to swing both ways that’s a challenge,” Hesson said. “Batsmen were talking about it a lot yesterday afternoon in terms of different ways to combat it. Kane’s better than most in terms of being able to adjust his game but when the ball reverses both ways it’s challenging and you need to think about what is the most challenging delivery – the ball that’s attacking your stumps or the one going away.”Every player has a slightly different technique on that. To be fair in New Zealand you don’t get a lot of reverse swing 18 overs into a game on day three. It’s something we face a heck of a lot more on the subcontinent than something we do here.”

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Charl Langeveldt produced the second-best bowling figures in the history of Standard Bank Pro20 cricket as the Cobras made sure of a home semi-final with a nail-biting one-wicket victory over Diamond Eagles in their table- topping clash at Newlands on Friday.Langeveldt finished with 5 for 16 as he helped the Cobras to restrict the Eagles to 127 for 7. He was also at the non- striker’s end as the last man in as Ryan Canning smashed a four and single off the first two balls of the final over of the match from Roger Telemachus to give the Cobras a one-wicket win with four balls remaining.They would have been the competition’s best bowling figures but for the fact that Elton Chigumbura took 5 for 13 for Zimbabwe against the Titans at the same time.Langeveldt turned the game in the Cobras’ favour in the 19th over after his team had asked the Eagles to bat. Top scorers Morné van Wyk (43) and Dean Elgar (33) had blasted Vernon Philander for 20 in the previous over when Langeveldt was brought back into the attack.The pair fell in successive balls as Elgar top-edged to mid-on and Van Wyk edged to the keeper. Roger Telemachus’s attempt to restart the innings ended following a single when he lost his off-stump to the unstoppable Langeveldt who dismissed Adrian McLaren lbw with his very next ball.Dillon du Preez smashed 15 in the final over to lift the Eagles to a semi-respectable total but Langeveldt’s four wickets – to add to the wicket of Riley Rossouw at the top of the innings – prevented the Eagles soaring towards the 150 mark.A 53-run third-wicket partnership between Herschelle Gibbs (21) and the top-scorer Stiaan van Zyl (30) put the Cobras in sight of victory at 75 for 2 before the spinner Thandi Tshabalala introduced a serious mid- innings wobble. He took three wickets in the space of 11 balls to plunge the Cobras into crisis at 100 for 5, dismissing both Gibbs and van Wyk as well as the dangerous Tyron Henderson (21).Henderson fell as he went for a third six off Tshabalala over long-on but the impetus he gave the innings allowed the tail to nudge and scamper their way to the 28 they needed off the final six overs.The Cobras’ thrilling victory – their fifth in six matches with one game rained out – means they have the inside straight or the play- offs and of grabbing one of the two South African places in an international Pro20 shoot-out for a US$1 million prize.
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Dolphins seamer Johann Louw has the look of an accountant rather than a demon bowler, but he gave the Lions nightmares in Johannesburg on Friday with figures of 4 for 28. Louw claimed all his scalps in the space of eight deliveries to send the Lions limping to a total of 104 for 9.The Dolphins might have coasted to victory with their eyes closed and their minds in neutral. Instead, they wobbled to a five-wicket win, which was achieved with 17 balls to spare. A late flurry of three wickets for two runs in six balls meant they weren’t able to claim the bonus point.Louw did his damage when he removed Alviro Petersen (2), Dumisa Makalima (0), Blake Snijman (18) and Justin Ontong (4) to reduce the Lions to 27 for 5 in the sixth over.Grant Rowley (46) and Imraan Khan (28) put the Dolphins securely on track for victory with their second-wicket stand of 57.
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Elton Chigumbura’s medium-pace ran through the Titans as Zimbabwe registered a surprise 12-run win in Centurion. Chigumbura took 5 for 13 as the Titans, chasing 152, crashed to 5 for 10 in the first five overs. Chigumbura’s astonishing performance set a new record for the best bowling figures in Standard Bank Pro20 history. Charl Langeveldt, who took 5 for 16 for the Cobras against the Diamond Eagles, barely had his feet up in the Newlands change room for an hour when the record was snatched away from him.After such a rampant start, it should have been a cruise for Zimbabwe, but young Roelof van der Merwe nearly ruined the party for them. In a performance almost as amazing as Chigumbura’s, he refused to believe the Titans were dead and buried and smashed an unbeaten 70 off 49 balls.But van der Merwe’s performance did mask the fact that the Titans top order is in terrible shape and the MTN Domestic Championships winners are in real danger of missing out on the semi-finals of the Pro20. Their match against the Highveld Lions at SuperSport Park on Sunday is now a local derby and a knockout encounter.van der Merwe also had a good outing with the ball as he took 3 for 18 in his four overs, including two wickets in the final over of the innings, as Zimbabwe scored 151 for 6 after winning the toss. Stuart Matsikenyeri provided the showpiece innings for Zimbabwe with his 51 off 30 balls, a sparkling knock of some class. The opener Brendan Taylor played a valuable role as a foundation for the innings with his 38 off 35 balls, while Keith Dabengwa scored 25, including one knockout punch, heaving a massive six off Ethy Mbhalati over the chalets and into the practice nets.Chamu Chibhabha provided some urgency at the death with his 22 off 18 balls.Andre Nel and the more languid Albie Morkel also shone with the ball for the Titans, but with no reward. The real damage was done a little later when a far less fiery bowler got hold of the new ball, with Chigumbura writing himself into the record books.

Dimitri Mascarenhas is the only English representative to have signed up for the Indian Premier League (IPL) but he feels other centrally contracted players will “definitely” feature in the lucrative Twenty20 tournament in the future. The IPL has announced that its second edition will run from April 10 to May 29 of 2009 and Mascarenhas felt the ECB could rest certain players to allow them participate if it conflicts with the English season.”A clash with the English season would make it harder for them,” he told the . “The ECB can tell them to rest or play for their counties. For the others, it is up to the counties and they may help their players because it is such a good opportunity. I know that the IPL want more English players. I think non-contracted players will go, like Owais Shah and Ravi Bopara. Luke Wright is a good hitter and, perhaps, Chris Tremlett.”The IPL has divided opinions – the likes of Kevin Pietersen have snubbed it for pride of country – and Mascarenhas, who was bought for US$100,000 by the Rajasthan Royals, was a bit overwhelmed. “I do not know what to expect,” he said. “But if you look at the players and the companies involved, I do not see how it can fail.”Really, it is the experience of being there that grabs me. If I do well, there is the opportunity to earn more next year. Being in New Zealand around the first auction was funny because we heard that their players were listening as things happened. Brendon McCullum went for $700,000, Jacob Oram for $675,000, Dan Vettori for $625,000 and then Scott Styris for only $175,000.”Mascarenhas will spend May 12 to 26 in Jaipur this year, but will play throughout the 2009 and 2010 tournaments. His three-year deal with Jaipur came about after Shane Warne, who he replaced as Hampshire captain, made contact with Mascarenhas following the first round of auctions.Though he didn’t make his international debut till he was 29, Mascarenhas said he was raring to go. “I think I was ready two or three years ago. I was as good then as I am now. My bowling has been consistent pretty much through my career, but my batting really took shape around 2005. Warney told me I had to give myself a chance, not just go out and hit every ball. I know exactly what I am doing now and that is half the battle in one-day cricket.”

Yorkshire’s domination of the County Championship continued at the Groundsman of the Year Awards in Derby, as Andy Fogarty’s pitches at Headingley earned him the main prize for four-day cricket.Pitches are under more scrutiny than ever after ECB frustration over some groundsmen producing damp green surfaces to prop up their seam attacks leading to changes to the toss in 2016 to try to combat the practice.Fogarty, a Lancastrian who had worked under Peter Marron at Old Trafford before crossing the Pennines in 1996, won the same award in 2011.He was also commended in the category for one-day pitches, which was won by Somerset’s Simon Lee – who was runner-up in the four-day category.Yorkshire’s instructions to Fogarty are simple. Prepare a good pitch – but just give me pace and carry, is the gist of the information from the director of cricket Jason Gillespie.There was yet more recognition for Yorkshire in the outgrounds category as Scarborough’s John Dodds was runner-up to Bill Clutterbuck of Guildford, the venue for Surrey’s Championship match against Glamorgan. Stuart Kerrison (Colchester) and David Summersell (Uxbridge) were also commended.Every pitch is rated at the end of the match by each of the umpires with these ratings used as the basis for making the awards.Before the awards dinner a minute’s silence was held in memory of Harry Brind and Peter Marron, former winners with Surrey and Lancashire respectively who passed away in 2015.Awards:Four-day: Winner: Andy Fogarty (Headingley). Runner-up: Simon Lee (Taunton). Commended: Neil Godrich (Derby); Simon Williamson (Canterbury).One-day: Winner: Simon Lee (Taunton). Runner-up: Nigel Gray (Ageas Bowl). Commended: Steve Birks (Trent Bridge), Andy Mackay (Hove), Andy Fogarty (Headingley).Outgrounds: Winner: Bill Clutterbuck (Guildford). Runner-up: John Dodds (Scarborough). Commended: Stuart Kerrison (Colchester), David Summersell (Uxbridge).MCC Universities. Winner: Paul Derrick (Durham Racecourse). Runner-up: John Moden (Fenner’s).