Nathi Mthethwa has given CSA until October 27 to make a case to keep him out of their affairs

Firdose Moonda14-Oct-2020The ICC has been given notice that South Africa’s minister of sport, Nathi Mthethwa, intends to intervene in Cricket South Africa (CSA) after failing to see progress in the organisation’s attempts to stabilise its governance.Mthethwa can act according to the country’s National Sport and Recreation Act, which gives him the power to intervene “in any dispute, alleged mismanagement or other related matter that is likely to bring a sport into disrepute.” Besides, if the federation does not comply with the ministerial directive, he has the power to take away funding and to no longer recognise them as a national federation. The minister has given CSA until October 27 to make a case to keep him out of their affairs.Mthethwa’s action comes after CSA ignored the instruction by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), the umbrella-body under which all the country’s sports federations operate, for their board and executive to step aside while an investigation into CSA’s financial and governance affairs took place. CSA also did not allow SASCOC unrestricted access to their forensic report, which was used to fire former CEO Thabang Moroe, and wanted SASCOC board members to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) which they refused to do.CSA has made the full report available to the minister and the parliamentary portfolio committee, who questioned CSA over the report on Tuesday. The session yielded “negative outcomes”, according to a statement by Mthethwa, who has seen no alternative but to take matters into his own hands.”Having evaluated the discussions as well as the subsequent reporting on this matter, I have now reached a point where I see no value in any further engagement with CSA,” Mthethwa said, in a statement issued on Wednesday morning.ALSO READ: South Africa opens borders but international sport remains locked downHowever, Mthethwa’s statement stressed that he would prefer not to get involved and wants to provide CSA with the chance to sort their problems out themselves. “Minister Mthethwa strongly believes that there is great merit in creating an environment where sports problems are handled within the sports movement and accordingly wishes to offer them every possible opportunity to demonstrate their stated commitment to cooperate on a way forward for cricket,” the statement read.That is important, especially when dealing with the ICC, which forbids government interference in its members. Last month, SASCOC wrote to the ICC explaining that their action did not constitute government interference because they are an independent – albeit legislatively-created body – and were not acting under ministerial directive even though they had passed a resolution indicating that they were.The National Sports and Recreation Act requires that SASCOC is the first port of call in a dispute or alleged mismanagement in any sports federation and the minister may only step-in if SASCOC fails to resolve the issue. Two weeks back, SASCOC indicated they were not making progress and asked the minister to step-in.”When the SASCOC initiative yielded no positive results, the Minister personally held several meetings with the CSA Board and also met with the Members Council,” the statement read. The most recent meeting between the minister and CSA took place on Monday. CSA were hopeful they would obtain permission from the minister to host England for a “critically important” white-ball series in November-December but appear to only have angered Mthethwa while the tour remains uncertain.The United Kingdom is on South Africa’s list of high-risk countries and travellers from there need to apply for permission to enter South Africa, whose borders opened in limited capacity only on October 1.

New South Wales were able to declare in mid-afternoon after a dominant batting display

Andrew McGlashan20-Oct-2020Sean Abbott added his name to the list of allrounders to make a mark early in the Sheffield Shield as he scored an unbeaten half-century then claimed two wickets, but a positive innings from opener Sam Whiteman kept Western Australia in touch.Abbott and New South Wales captain Peter Nevill added an unbroken 118 for the sixth wicket to set up the declaration, building on the mammoth partnership of 244 between Moises Henriques and Daniel Solway.Following a solid start, Western Australia were wobbling a touch at 2 for 71 when Abbott struck in consecutive overs but Whiteman responded with a flurry of attractive shots and alongside Cameron Green their third-wicket stand was worth 81 at stumps.New South Wales resumed on 3 for 262 and after ensuring against an early losses Henriques looked keen to try and increase the tempo although for a little while it did not go entirely to planHenriques took his magnificent innings beyond 150 before his partnership with Solway eventually ended after 87 overs when the latter was bowled sweeping at Ashton Agar having faced 273 balls for his 86Henriques soon followed when he failed to clear mid-on against Matthew Kelly then in the next over Jason Sangha clubbed to the same position when trying to go down the ground off Agar.However, any hope Western Australia had of bringing the innings to a swift conclusion was stymied by Nevill and Abbott as the pair played with increasing freedom towards a mid-afternoon declaration.Whiteman and Cameron Bancroft started confidently in reply and had a half-century stand by the time they strode off for tea, but after the break Abbott produced a terrific spell. Firstly he had Bancroft caught behind with a delivery that just nipped away outside off then Shaun Marsh, who scored a century last week, flashed a drive which was well held at third slip by Kurtis Patterson. Abbott’s second spell finished at 5-1-12-2.But Whiteman held firm, and flourished, in another compact and confident innings which included four boundaries in an over off Harry Conway. Green was more circumspect but also very solid as Nathan Lyon settled into what could be a heavy workload on a surface still very much in favour of the batsmen.

Lapses in the field a reason why India couldn’t capitalise on any kind of momentum, Virat Kohli says

Sidharth Monga27-Nov-20201:37

Pandya: ‘We lost wickets when we were getting the rhythm’

Hardik Pandya’s lower-back injury, which has taken away his bowling, for the time being, has affected India’s team balance in a big way, but there was good news for India’s fans after the first of the three ODIs in Australia. Not only did Pandya give a good account of himself as a batsman, top-scoring with 90 off 76 from 101 for 4, he also dropped a hint he might be ready to bowl come the World Cups. There are three of those in the next three years: for T20Is in 2021 and 2022, and the ODI variety in 2023. He said he was bowling already but still not confident physically or skills-wise he could do it in games.”It is a process,” Pandya said when asked where he was with respect to a return to the bowling crease. “I am looking at a long-term goal where I want to be 100% of my bowling capacity for the most important games. The World Cups are coming. More crucial series are coming. Whenever it is required.”I am thinking as a long-term plan, not short term where I exhaust myself and maybe have something else [injury] which is not there. So it is going to be a process, which I am following. I can’t tell you exactly when I am going to bowl but the process is on. In the nets, I am bowling. It is just that I am not game-ready but I am bowling. It is all about confidence and the skill has to be at an international level.”ALSO READ: Monga – India’s one-dimensional batsmen hurting their five-bowler strategyThe absence of Pandya the bowler hurts India all the more because they have no part-timer to hold the fort for the time being. Ravindra Jadeja is the only two-dimensional player in the ODI squad in Australia, but he plays as the fifth bowler, leaving no allowance for any of the bowlers to have an off day. At least three of them had it in the series opener, which resulted in a humongous target of 375.Pandya said India needed to groom someone promising even if there was no natural allrounder coming through. “That has been the question always, right?” Pandya said of the missing link in the side. “We have to find and maybe make… I have always believed that… even when I came into the circuit, I was not always the allrounder which I wanted to be. But with time I groomed myself and became that bowling option. I worked on my bowling.Hardik Pandya launches one down the ground•Getty Images

“Yeah, it is always going to be difficult when you go with five bowlers. When someone is having an off day you don’t have someone to fulfil the quota. More than injury, the sixth bowler’s role is when someone among the five bowlers is having a bad day. I think it is going to be… maybe we will have to make, maybe we will have to find someone who has already played India, and groom them and find a way to make them play.”Pandya went on to make a cheeky suggestion: “Maybe we should look in the Pandya family only. There is one sitting at home.”Brother Krunal has been tried in T20Is by India, but not in the ODIs. It is probably because they already have one fingerspinner in Jadeja, and they need either a seam-bowling allrounder or a batsman who can turn his arm over.India’s captain Virat Kohli admitted they didn’t have such an option in the touring party in Australia. Asked if he would have a bowl himself, Kohli joked he might bowl if Aaron Finch were batting. He called for his specialist bowlers to pick up wickets to make up for the absence of that cushion of a sixth bowler and asked for a better body language.”The key to winning games is picking up wickets,” Kohli pointed out. “That is something we were not able to do. Also, lapses in the field were also a reason why we couldn’t capitalise on any kind of momentum, the pressure that we created in the early part of the innings.”Everyone needs to show the intent for the entire 50 overs. Probably we played 50 overs after a long time. That could have an effect, but having said that we have played so much ODI cricket that it is not something we don’t know how to do. I think the body language in the field wasn’t great after around 25 overs. It was a disappointing part. If you don’t take your chances against a top-quality opposition they’ll hurt you and that is what happened today.”

“Kane is a freak, isn’t he? He’s amazing and will go down easily as New Zealand’s greatest.”

Umar Farooq05-Jan-2021Daryl Mitchell has described getting his maiden Test century as “surreal”, after he stroked 102 at his adopted hometown in Christchurch. New Zealand were 599 for 6 at tea and had a lead of 302, but the captain Kane Williamson allowed the team to keep batting, something Mitchell was grateful for.Mitchell, who was unbeaten on 69 at the time, made the most of the extra time, as he and Kyle Jamieson smacked 60 in 4.5 overs to increase New Zealand’s total to 659.Related

• Find of the season Kyle Jamieson has 'a real strong desire to improve' – Kane Williamson

• The records Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls broke

• No. 1 in sight for New Zealand after Kane Williamson 237, Henry Nicholls 157, Daryl Mitchell 102*

“It probably hasn’t sunk in yet, to be fair, it’s pretty surreal at the moment,” Mitchell said. “I was given two overs to start after tea, so I thought after two overs we were off but obviously very grateful for Kane and the coaching staff to allow me to get that milestone. I was swinging pretty hard there at points to try and get there and very grateful for that to happen. I was just happy to go out there and try and be busy and contribute to trying to put a total on for us to try and get 10 wickets.”With two days still left in the Test, New Zealand hold all the cards, having already dismissed Pakistan’s opener Shan Masood for a duck in the second innings, ensuring they lead by 354 runs. Mitchell credited Williamson’s sublime double-century for putting the hosts in such a commanding position.

Watch cricket on ESPN+

New Zealand vs Pakistan is available in the US on ESPN+. Subscribe to ESPN+ and tune in to the series

“Obviously Kane’s 238 .. that’s pretty amazing and he has set us up for a chance to win this Test match,” Mitchell said. “He is a freak, isn’t he? He’s amazing. He makes the game look so easy at the moment and the way he’s going about things, it’s cool to see him doing so well. For me I’ve played against Kane when I was about 14 years old and now to be playing test cricket with him as well. He’s a very special player and probably will easily go down as New Zealand’s greatest.”Pakistan were dismissed for 297 on the opening day, and they did not help themselves with their poor fielding either, as New Zealand capitalised on several dropped catches. Williamson and Henry Nicholls went on to stitch a partnership of 369 runs for the fourth wicket, the best ever at the Hagley Oval. Among the bowlers, Naseem Shah (0-141) and debutant Zafar Gohar (0-159), had particularly forgettable outings, bowling a combined 58 overs without a single wicket.”As a fast bowler there isn’t any excuse,” Shah said on a day when he also bowled nine no-balls. “The wicket was good as it had bounce and I was getting the seam out of it but then there were mistakes which I shouldn’t have done. I was pushing hard to bowl fast hence over stepping. As a fast bowler with no balls, it really shatters your confidence and I am trying to get back on track. During games you can’t really help it out but can learn from your mistake. Test cricket isn’t easy, you have to bowl in one area consistently for a lot more time and you can’t afford to change the line. These are world class players and you can’t give them enough room.”A lot of damage has been done with no balls and those dropped catches. It makes you disappointed, but then you can’t do much about it because it’s part of the game. You can’t stop bowling if anyone dropped your catch but you come in hard and create more chances. It happens in cricket and that is what the learning curve is for us. We have to regroup and come hard with the ball next time.”

Fast bowler realises that both he and his team needs to take more responsibility with the bat

Mohammad Isam21-Jan-2021West Indies can no longer think about their lack of experience if they are to beat Bangladesh at home. Fast bowler Alzarri Joseph, one of the few members of this squad to have ODI caps prior to this tour, said that they now have enough information about the opposition and conditions to mount a comeback in the second game on Friday.West Indies went down by six wickets after being bowled out for 122. Joseph gave them a steady start, before left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein showed that their bowling has the bite that their batting lacked.Joseph, who went wicketless in his eight overs but was highly economical, said that the West Indies camp is very motivated to bounce back in the second game, knowing full well that another defeat would be the end of the series for them.”It probably might have boiled down to not having the experience playing against a team that is well experienced,” Joseph said. “Probably a bit of (lack of) application as well. But, that being said, we have already seen what is there to come at us, so we have no excuses in the second ODI. We have seen their bowling attack and somewhat of their batting. So we should be well prepared to give a better showing in the second ODI.”Everyone is aware of what’s at stake. Everyone is pumped up to give a better showing in the second ODI. It is really important for us to come in. This game is even more important than the last one. If we lose this game, it’s the series. Everyone knows exactly what they need to do. We have to play harder, dig deeper and push the Bangladeshis all the way. From ball one to ball 300.”Joseph admitted that had there been a hundred more runs on the board in the first game, they could have made a good fist of it. He said that the pace bowlers have to show patience in order to get the best of out pitches that are generally spin-friendly.”Maybe 220 would have been a more challenging total based on what the bowlers put up yesterday. A few more early wickets, and you don’t know what could have happened.”It wasn’t the best (pitch) to bat on, if I was to be honest. As a fast bowling group, we have to more consistent, hit good areas. Also play the patient game. I know its 50 overs, not necessarily the longest format. But being patient in the good areas is what is needed for the fast bowlers to be successful in this wicket,” he said.West Indies could have made a bigger score on Wednesday, particularly after Kyle Mayers and Rovman Powell added 59 runs for the sixth wicket. But from 115 for 5, they slipped to 122 all out.Joseph said that the lower order must take a bit more responsibility, and he himself has ambitions to become an allrounder, although his first priority being bowling.”We all have our roles to play, weight to pull. If the top half got skittled out earlier, the bottom half has to pull that weight. It is a team. We all need to look within ourselves and realise that this is international cricket, and we have to do better.”Personally I am aiming to become an allrounder myself. But as of now, I am just taking everything step by step. I am looking to, firstly, do my main attribute which is contribute what I can with the ball, and then I will give my best in batting.Joseph however ruled out the notion that bowling first is the best way to go with their fragile batting and somewhat better bowling attack. “A toss could go either way. We all have to be prepared for what we have to do first, or second. I think it all boils down to cricket.”We shouldn’t focus on the toss. We have to be better than Bangladesh in all three aspects if we want to win games,” he said.

The seam bowler is part of Australia’s T20I squad in New Zealand having fully recovered from a minor injury

Andrew McGlashan17-Feb-2021Kane Richardson believes the Power Surge fielding restrictions, which were introduced in the BBL this season, could have a place at the T20I level, but from a selfish point of view will be happy if that moment waits until he retires.The Surge regulations modified the traditional six-over powerplay into a two-over block that could be taken by the batting side any time from the 11th over onwards, leaving just four at the beginning of the innings. It was generally viewed as the most successful of the three innovations tried in the BBL and did bring a new dynamic with innings both losing and gaining momentum in the two overs.Richardson was the third-most expensive bowler in the Surge (bowlers who operated during it in at least five innings), going at 12.11 – 109 runs off 54 balls – and picked up just two wickets, and admitted he enjoyed it more as a spectator, but could see the value it brought to the game.Related

• Good, bad or too early to tell: how have the new BBL rules worked?

• Finch: New Zealand T20Is a fact-finding mission

• Mitchell Marsh is hoping to bowl if selected against NZ

• McDermott realistic about opportunities among 'pretty stacked' top order

“It’s a good discussion. I enjoyed watching it as a fan,” he said. “There was games I didn’t particularly enjoy bowling in it, but as a fan it made games interesting where you thought the game was decided, especially in the second innings then teams would catch up.”Think Trent [Woodhill] and the BBL did a really good job with that, whether or not it goes to international cricket I’m not sure. It probably has a place to be fair, I think it was successful this year and guys who found a niche in the team in the middle-order, who can play that role really well and vice-versa with the ball, were almost first picks.”It’s interesting, it’s tactical, it’s good to watch, so there’s nothing but positives for that. But as a bowler, if we could probably steer clear of it at international and IPL level until I’m maybe too old to be playing I’ll happily sit back in my old rocking chair and watch.”It has been a while between Australia outings for Kane Richardson•Getty Images

Richardson won’t have to concern himself with the Surge over the next few weeks in New Zealand where he will be one of the more experienced members of an Australia attack without some key names, who were due to be in South Africa for the now-postponed Test series.Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins are certain starters in Australia’s first-choice T20I side with Josh Hazlewood also in the mix, while Sean Abbott would be another option and Richardson believes there are others outside of the two squads who would be worthy of selection.”You look at a pool of ten or so bowlers, it does seem like there is a big group of players who could play in that World Cup,” he said. “There’s guys back home who could easily have been picked in this team – Wes Agar had a great Big Bash, Nathan Ellis was impressive again – so there’s almost a group of 20 bowlers to pick from.”It’s great for Australian cricket because in T20 cricket if you have a good bowling attack you are a very good chance of winning. Even yesterday at training, bowling alongside some of these guys, we all do it a bit differently, there’s a separate indemnity to each person so it’s great to be around. If I was an Australian selector I’d be pretty excited about what lies ahead.”Richardson missed the tail-end of the BBL with the Melbourne Renegades because of a quad injury but is now fully recovered. He did not face India in the white-ball matches during the summer having opted to stay at home with his new-born son.

Dawson leaves after six years at Bristol during which club won Royal London Cup and Championship promotion

Matt Roller01-Mar-2021Ian Harvey will become Gloucestershire’s interim head coach at the end of the month, when Richard Dawson leaves the club following his appointment as the ECB’s elite performance pathway coach.Harvey, the former Australia allrounder, played 168 times for Gloucestershire across formats between 1999 and 2006, and has been the club’s assistant coach since Dawson’s appointment as head coach ahead of the 2015 season.Dawson has worked regularly with England squads over the past two years, leading the England Lions’ tour to Australia in early 2020 and working with England’s spinners on a camp in Mumbai in late 2019 and during the Test series against West Indies last summer.During his tenure at Gloucestershire, Dawson oversaw the club’s triumph in the 2015 Royal London Cup, when they beat Surrey at Lord’s, and their promotion to Division One of the County Championship in 2019. While they have never gone past the semi-final stage, they have also been among the most consistent counties in the T20 Blast: only Nottinghamshire have won more games than them over the last six seasons.”It has been a huge privilege to have been the head coach of Gloucestershire since 2015,” Dawson said. “There were highs and lows on the pitch but winning the Royal London One-Day Cup in 2015 and gaining promotion to Division One of the County Championship in 2019 were highlights on the pitch, as was seeing a Gloucestershire player [James Bracey] breaking into the England set-up last year.”As a playing and coaching unit, we have faced a lot of challenges off the field, and I’m proud of the togetherness of this squad, who have been incredibly supportive of one another through good and bad times. I’m confident the group is in a strong place with a healthy mix of experience and youth to compete in all formats of the game.”Will Brown, the club’s chief executive, said: “Richard has been a fantastic coach to work with from the outset engendering a belief and excitement that has filtered into all areas of the club. His dedication to building a positive and winning culture has been evident throughout his time in Bristol and the impact he made will be felt long after he is gone.”Richard has taken huge pride in his role as head coach, working tirelessly to get the best out of himself and the players. His likeable easy-going personality, coupled with his commitment to Gloucestershire, garnered respect from the playing squad and meant he had a great rapport with the wider club staff.”Dawson will continue to oversee pre-season preparations until the end of the month, when Harvey will take over with the support of the club’s existing coaching staff, as well as Matt Windows (chairman of cricket) and David Graveney (an executive board member).A Gloucestershire statement said: “The club will now begin a review of its cricketing requirements in order to continue and grow ahead of a formal recruitment process later in the year.”The raft of coaching appointments announced by the ECB on Monday also had ramifications further down the M5, with Marcus Trescothick’s association with Somerset coming to an end after nearly three decades.Trescothick, who made his Somerset debut in 1993, retired at the end of the 2019 season to become Somerset’s assistant coach, and has now been appointed as the ECB’s elite batting coach. In a Somerset press release, he set his sights on returning as head coach in the future.”Although I’m leaving, I’m still going to be around the place to come in and see some of the batters that Somerset have,” Trescothick said. “Not being around the ground as much as I normally am is certainly going to be a bit different.”I want to further my career so that I can eventually become a head coach at a domestic county with the hope of moving into international cricket somewhere down the line. To do that I need to branch out and look at different environments in order to get a better understanding of certain things, and this will certainly give me the opportunity to do that. Hopefully, this might be the stepping stone for me to one day come back and look after the team here.”

Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza to oversee process as ombudsman of Social Justice and Nation-Building committee

Firdose Moonda08-Apr-2021Cricket South Africa’s Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) committee will hold public hearings as the country seeks to address issues of racial discrimination in the game, with the discussion around the national team not taking a knee still ripe.The SJN, formed in response to a letter from more than 30 former players and current coaches of colour during last year’s Black Lives Matter (BLM) resurgence, had yet to begin its work until now. On Thursday, CSA unveiled advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza as the SJN ombudsman tasked with adjudicating the testimonies of various cricket stakeholders to understand the history of exclusion and make recommendations to CSA on mediation. The body has, so far, not committed to reparations as was the case last year under the old board.CSA is currently operating under a ministerially imposed interim board, which, through its member Andre Odendaal, confirmed that there has “never been a formal budget for such a [reparations] fund, neither have we created a budget for one.”Odendaal reiterated the interim board’s stance over the national team’s response to BLM, specifically to them not taking a knee. “We are little disappointed that our team did not take the knee, which we explained to them at the time,” Odendaal said. “We supported the taking of the knee as the interim board and the chairperson wrote to the team and to the director of cricket (Graeme Smith) and the answer was that while the team supported the stand against racism and it had been through a pre-season course of bonding and discussing these matters, they decided on a slightly different approach which the group as a whole had bought into.”While England, West Indies, New Zealand and Bangladesh have all taken a knee, Australia formed a barefoot circle to acknowledge the Aboriginal ownership of land and South Africa opted for a banner against both racism and gender-based violence when they played England in November. They subsequently raised their fists ahead of the Boxing Day Test against Sri Lanka, but have yet to take a knee as a national team (all those involved in the experimental 3-Team Cricket [3TC] match last July took a knee), and this is something the board continues to be concerned about. “The board, while maintaining its own position, given the strength of the BLM and take-the-knee action throughout the world, we felt in a country with our history that would be most appropriate, [but] it was not something for us a board to decree should happen,” Odendaal said. “It brought across to us that CSA should have a broad policy that all components buy into and that we would continue to talk this through with the players and the team going forward.”With the interim board and the players on different sides about the ways in which South African cricket should show support for anti-racism, developing a centralised policy on anti-racism will be one of Ntsebeza’s tasks. He will only be able to do that once he has heard from those who have faced discrimination, those who have perpetrated it and even those who don’t understand why it is part of the cricket conversation. He indicated that the hearings would take place on a platform like Zoom to give members of the public access to testimony. So far, several former players of colour, including Makhaya Ntini, Ashwell Prince, and Thami Tsolekile, have told their stories on media platforms.”I want to meet with all cricket stakeholders – former players, current players, the player representative body, administrators, employees, educators, sponsors, the whole gamut. I also want to meet with government, the sports ministry, non-governmental organisations and business. All of these entities are critically important because at the root of it all, the aim which is intended, is to unite this nation behind this sporting code,” Ntsebeza said. “Once people are given an opportunity to say in their own words the things that hurt them, that process has the magic of restoring to them their dignity.”Ntsebeza has six months to conclude both the hearings and a report with recommendations, and he hopes by the middle of that period, in July, CSA will be ready to host a transformation conference, which will inform his recommendations. “We hope to have a whole range of cricket stakeholders together, who will seek to discuss the main issues that will have been raised in the hearings and what remedial action is required going forward.”

The Delhi Capitals allrounder said Avesh Khan was initially supposed to deliver the Super Over

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Apr-20211:57

Axar Patel – I suggested Rishabh Pant I should bowl the Super Over against Sunrisers

Axar Patel, playing his first IPL 2021 game after recovering from Covid-19, revealed following Delhi Capitals’ Super Over win against the Sunrisers Hyderabad that it was he who told the team management that he should bowl in the one-over shootout. Bowling at David Warner and Kane Williamson, Patel conceded only seven runs in six balls, which the Capitals chased down.Patel said in the post-match press conference that the Capitals were planning on having Avesh Khan – who took 3 for 34 in his four-over quota – deliver the Super Over. But at the end of regulation play, Patel approached the Capitals captain RIshabh Pant and suggested that a spinner would be much harder to put away on the sluggish Chepauk surface. The assessment proved correct eventually as Patel bowled two dots, two singles, one leg bye, and one four.”When I was in the dressing room, I was thinking that on this wicket, a spinner would be pretty effective,” Patel said. “When I came out of the dressing room, the coach and everyone were talking. The initial thought was to go with a fast bowler – Avesh Khan – because they would send a left-right combination.Related

• R Ashwin leaves IPL 2021 to 'support family' amid the pandemic

• David Warner: 'Harsh call by selectors' to drop Manish Pandey

“After that, when we were just stepping onto the ground, I thought a spinner would be more effective. So I told Rishabh that I could also bowl the over. Then he spoke to Ricky [Ponting], and it was decided at the last moment that I would bowl.”Patel also said that the Capitals’ decision to not send both their openers – Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan – in the Super Over chase of eight and instead of going for two left-handers in Dhawan and Pant was based on the dimensions of the ground, which were bigger on one side and, therefore, would allow more twos to be taken. That decision worked out against Rashid Khan, whom the Sunrisers fielded to bowl the Super Over.Patel, who took 2 for 26 in his regulation four overs, said that he was match-ready ever since he came out of the medical facility in Mumbai where he spent nearly three weeks recovering from Covid-19. With the Chepauk surface assisting spinners, and Patel having rejoined the Capitals camp in Chennai on Thursday, he was asked by the management ahead of Sunday’s game if he felt fit enough to play, to which he said yes. The management told Patel that if he was ready, they he would slot into the XI right away. Patel said his confidence was boosted by his stellar returns against England in the recent home series.”Even before Covid I was bowling well, in Test matches, and then I bowled in the T20Is too. So, I was carrying the same confidence,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking much that I have had Covid. After recovering from Covid, if I still keep thinking about it that I lost 20 days…obviously it was frustrating but I wasn’t thinking much about it.”When I was in quarantine, the team-mates used to have a chat with me over calls, so I was thinking only the positive stuff that I would regain my rhythm and won’t think much about how I would do, or if my bowling or batting would be affected. So, I followed the basics, spent some time in the nets, and found the rhythm I wanted in those four days. After that, I was both mentally and physically ready.”

Tight home-Test schedule of six games in eight weeks lies ahead, with questions over red-ball preparation to boot

Daniel Brettig19-May-2021Australia are set to play six matches in fewer than eight weeks next summer, after a gap of 312 days since their last assignment against India in January, meaning an idling Test team will have to re-learn the fundamentals of the longest form of the game in an almighty hurry.A one-off Test against Afghanistan at Bellerive Oval in November-December – Hobart’s first Test match since November 2016 – will be followed by an Ashes series that will take in matches at the Gabba, Adelaide Oval (day-night), the MCG, the SCG and concluding at Perth Stadium in mid-January. It’s the first time Sydney has not hosted the conclusion of an Ashes series since 1995, when the WACA Ground was the scene of the final match in early February.The women’s international calendar is also heavily stocked, with a series against India in September that ESPNcricinfo has reported will include a Test match, before the multi-format Ashes series against England that will take place after the conclusion of the WBBL. The men’s and women’s international fixtures have been devised with virtually no clashes between the two.Covid-19 risk management, combined with a concentration by Cricket Australia on the home fixtures that bring in the vast majority of the governing body’s revenue through broadcast-rights deals, has left the team led by Tim Paine and his deputy Pat Cummins to play just 10 Test matches over the course of more than two years, after going 345 days between Tests in 2020. None will take place away from home between September 2019 and (at least) February 2022 when a tour of Pakistan is very lightly etched into the calendar.Getty Images

The home series defeat to India last summer, in spite of a raft of injuries and withdrawals from the touring team, was put down partly to the difficulties of adapting from cricket’s short formats to its longest without much in the way of preparation in between. CA is looking at re-filling the position of batting coach that sat vacant last summer, in order to give the top six – which underperformed badly against India – greater one-on-one assistance this time around.Equally, the selection chairman Trevor Hohns has spoken firmly of the need to return to a system of squad rotation for the fast bowlers in particular, after the gains made in the 2019 Ashes were abandoned over the past two home summers, much to Australia’s cost against India.”Particularly now, when most Test matches are programmed pretty closely on the heels of each other. We can’t ask them to continually back up, day after day after day,” Hohns said when naming the central contracts list in April. “It’s only natural they are going to get tired. Sure, they might feel okay within themselves, but we’ve really got to monitor that a bit harder.”But the challenge will be all the greater with another year devoid of Test or first-class matches for many of the players, namely those who will also be involved in Australia’s Twenty20 World Cup campaign in the second half of the year. Among established members of the Test team, only Paine, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood and perhaps Marnus Labuschagne can expect to play much Sheffield Shield cricket prior to the Afghanistan Test, which will be left to serve as a sort of Ashes preparation game for the rest.Related

• Nick Hockley: Australia players' IPL availability yet to be discussed

• Nick Hockley awaits CA chief verdict after 11-month interview

• India Women to play their first day-night Test during Australia tour

“Certainly the home summer preparation and particularly the preparation for the home Ashes is front of mind for us so we’re working through our planning for that at a team level but also at an individual level, and exploring a number of different options for the winter,” the head of national teams Ben Oliver said this week. “Fortunately, a number of our players will have competitive cricket either internationally or domestically here and overseas.”So we feel across the players that are likely to feature in that, in the home Test series, that they’ll all be well prepared. Obviously we’ll have a significant amount of Sheffield Shield cricket to assist in that preparation for those that don’t have the opportunity to be part of a World Cup or other overseas competitions.”Paine said that the Hobart match would be critical to Australia’s chances of putting together a cohesive and settled unit for the Ashes matches that would follow so closely afterwards.”We haven’t got any red-ball cricket in the lead-up to the Ashes except that Test match,” Paine said in Hobart. “So from a preparation point of view it’s going to be a really important Test match to set us up for the Ashes and Afghanistan have got some highly talented spinners in particular, which will create a real challenge. Any Test match we play, we want a full-strength side, and it’s not always possible these days, but fingers crossed we can make it happen.”Last summer wasn’t our best in key moments, but I think over the last couple of years we’ve played some pretty consistent cricket. We’re now talking about going from being a good team to a great team, and that Afghanistan Test and the Ashes this year is a really important part of that.”Other men’s fixtures announced on Wednesday include three ODIs and a T20I against New Zealand in late January and early February, and five T20Is against Sri Lanka, who have stepped in for South Africa.