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Captain does “not blame the young players one bit” and expected the senior batters to do the scoring

Andrew McGlashan09-Aug-2021Australia captain Matthew Wade called his side’s capitulation in the final T20I against Bangladesh “not good enough for an Australian cricket team” and said it was down to the batters to find ways to score runs in tough conditions.The series concluded with Australia bowled out for 62, their lowest T20I total, having made a high score of 121 across the five matches.While echoing Dan Christian’s remarks that the surfaces were unlike any he had played T20 cricket on, and did not expect them to be replicated at the T20 World Cup, Wade noted how Bangladesh had been able to wrangle their way to enough runs in four out of the five matches and that spin had also caused problems in the West Indies where Australia also lost 4-1.Related

• Dismal show leaves Australia with several problems to ponder on ahead of T20 World Cup

• Christian: Conditions 'don't get more difficult' than Bangladesh series

“There’s not a lot of positives to take out of it, to get beaten in the fashion we did, especially tonight, was not good enough from an Australian cricket team regardless of the personnel we’ve got here,” Wade said. “The reality is we need to get better at spin, myself included. There’s a lot of players in this team who need to find a way to score runs in these conditions.”[Bangladesh] are a terrific team in their own conditions, their spinners bowled really well, and they still found a way to find the extra runs and that’s something we can definitely get better at doing. Whether they came a little harder at the front and that is something we maybe needed to do earlier.”Wade was confident the less experienced batters among the group would not carry baggage away from this tour and laid the blame for the run-scoring woes to the more senior figures.”I do not blame the young players one bit,” he said. “Myself, Moises [Henriques], Dan Christian, we are all experienced players and we needed to do better. Those [younger] guys got the opportunity to experience these conditions and if they take it as a learning opportunity to become better players, as we all should, then at least we’ve learnt something.”I’ve played a lot of cricket and they are certainly the most challenging T20 international pitches I’ve ever played on. What they’ve seen out here will be very valuable going forward but it’s on the senior batting group, we needed to get more runs. If the batters can go back and find a way to get those extra runs in challenging conditions that will hold us in good stead.”The final lead-in to the World Cup for Australia remains to be confirmed with talk of a potential series against Afghanistan and West Indies in Sri Lanka which would overlap with the resumption of the IPL. Wade said he expected all the players who opted out of this tour due to bubble fatigue to be available for selection. Steven Smith was kept out with an elbow injury and how someone of his skill was missed in Bangladesh.

Starc’s father passed away from cancer on Tuesday

Alex Malcolm24-Feb-2021Mitchell Starc and Steven Smith have withdrawn from the New South Wales squad to face Victoria in the Sheffield Shield at Bankstown Oval starting on Thursday.Starc will miss the game following the passing of his father Paul on Tuesday after a battle with cancer. Starc’s wife Alyssa Healy also withdrew from New South Wales’ next two WNCL fixtures.Earlier in the season Starc left Australia’s hub during the limited-overs matches against India to spend time with his family but returned to feature in all four Tests.”All our thoughts and prayers are going out to Mitch and his family,” said team-mate Nathn Lyon said. “It’s a tough time for Mitch but he knows he has all our love and support from, just not me, but from everyone here at New South Wales Cricket and the cricket community as well.”Smith will miss the clash, which was relocated from Melbourne to Sydney, due to an elbow issue that has flared up.Related

• Perry makes his mark by removing Smith as Victoria dominate

• Handscomb's delight as Victoria's youngsters overturn their idols

• Cummins and Carey return to Sheffield Shield action

“I have had some pain in my elbow that’s gradually worsened since the Test against India at the SCG and it requires some rest and rehab,” Smith said. “I am hoping I will be right to travel with the Blues to Adelaide for our games down there next week but we will have to see how it responds to treatment.”Lyon said Smith had been struggling to hold the bat at training. “He tried to have a hit yesterday. He was just in discomfort, pain. All I know is it mustn’t be great if he’s missing a game of cricket, especially for New South Wales.”David Warner is still unavailable due to his groin injury but he stated on Tuesday that he was aiming to return for the Blues Marsh Cup clash with South Australia on March 4 in Adelaide.Pat Cummins will make his first Shield appearance of the season after missing the game against Victoria last week. Josh Hazlewood is being rested. Liam Hatcher and Jason Sangha have been included in the 13-man squad as replacements for Smith and Starc.New South Wales Shield squad: Peter Nevill (capt), Sean Abbott, Harry Conway, Trent Copeland, Pat Cummins, Moises Henriques, Daniel Hughes, Nick Larkin, Nathan Lyon, Kurtis Patterson, Jason Sangha, Daniel Solway, Liam Hatcher

In a chat with R Ashwin, Kohli said the process was one of ‘earning trust’ over several years

ESPNcricinfo staff30-May-20202:08

‘I was always in Dhoni’s ear’ – Kohli

Virat Kohli has credited MS Dhoni with playing a significant role in anointing him as his successor as India captain.Kohli took over as the full-time Test captain when Dhoni retired from the format midway through India’s tour of Australia in 2014-15, and later became captain across formats when Dhoni quit his limited-overs post in early 2017.Kohli said the process was a gradual one of “earning trust” over several years.”I was always inclined towards taking responsibility,” Kohli said of his early days in the India dressing room, while speaking to his team-mate R Ashwin on his Instagram Live show . “After that it was all about just wanting to play, wanting to be in the XI regularly. I didn’t play all the games, but I wanted to be discussed, that ‘whether this guy is good enough to play or not.’ That is a transition that slowly happens.”Then with your interest in the game you start talking to the captain regularly. I was always in MS’s ear, standing next to him, saying, ‘We can do this, we can do that.’ He would deny a lot of things but he would discuss a lot of things as well. I think he got a lot of confidence that I can do this after him.”A large portion of me becoming captain was also to do with him observing me for a long period of time. It can’t just happen that he goes and the selectors say, ‘Okay you become captain.’ Obviously the guy who is there takes responsibility and says, ‘Okay I think this is the next guy. I will tell you how it is going.’ And then slowly that transition is formed. He played a big role in that, and that trust you have to build over six-seven years. It doesn’t happen overnight, it’s a process.”Kohli was first appointed vice-captain for the 2012 Asia Cup, which followed India’s tour of Australia for a Test series and a tri-series in 2011-12. In a tour that otherwise went poorly for India, who were blanked 4-0 in the Tests and failed to reach the tri-series final, Kohli emerged with distinction. He scored his maiden Test century in the fourth match in Adelaide, becoming the only India batsman to reach three figures in that series. In the ODIs, he made his then highest score in the format , smashing 133* off just 86 balls as India chased down a target of 321 in 36.4 overs to keep their hopes of making the final alive.The relationship between Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni solidified over time•Associated Press

Kohli said that tour helped him become aware of his game and hone it significantly. “I remember that whole season,” he said. “It was from that Test hundred in Adelaide to continuously stringing scores. That was a phase of six to eight months where I really realised a lot about my own game and came into my own as far as my skills were concerned.”I was very competitive but I wasn’t very sure or in control of what I wanted to do before. When you come in new, you’re still figuring out how to go about it. At the international stage you want to be feared, you want to be respected. You don’t want to walk in and hear, ‘He’s one of the youngsters, we’ll just knock him over.’ We all play for that. That was a phase where I started to realise this.”In the Asia Cup that followed, Kohli made 183 in another tall chase, against Pakistan. He revealed that during this knock, he had negated the threat posed by Saeed Ajmal by treating the offspinner as if he were a legspinner.”I told myself I’m going to start playing him like a legspinner,” Kohli said. “Because his was quite difficult to face and his offspinner was not that lethal. So I said I’m going to try and hit him over cover consistently, and it just paid off. As soon as I negated his , the potency of his threat became lesser and lesser.”In that game I scored most of my runs against him through the off side [29 runs on the off side and 7 on the leg side]. My only aim was I’m going to make him unsettled with his . He should fear bowling the doosra to me, then I’m on top of my game.”

Pucovski, the captain of the Cricket Australia XI, was facing the England Lions on the Gold Coast and was later subbed out of the match

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Feb-2020Will Pucovski has suffered another concussion after stumbling while taking a run playing for the Cricket Australia XI against England Lions at Metricon Stadium.The incident, which took place on Pucovski’s 22nd birthday, occurred when his bat got stuck in the turf as he went for a quick single. He was helped from the ground and retired hurt, later failing a concussion test, and was subbed out of the match. Medical staff will continue to monitor Pucovski, who was named captain for the three one-day matches, over the coming days.Pucovski’s career has been impacted by a number of concussion issues, stemming from a blow he took while playing football at school, which led to him needing to take six months away from sport. He has been struck in a variety of ways including from a wild throw, while batting at training, and from hitting his head on a door at home.One of the concussions he suffered also came on his 19th birthday in 2017 when he was making his first-class debut for Victoria and was struck on the head in the field when a delivery jumped off the outfield. He missed the rest of the season and at the start of the following summer was again struck, this time while batting in the one-day competition, and suffered delayed symptoms then in March 2018 was hit during another Sheffield Shield match.Earlier this season, Pucovski was close to making his Test debut against Pakistan before withdrawing from contention during the Australia A match in Perth for mental health reasons. He returned to play for Victoria in late November and during the Big Bash has been turning out in club cricket and leading the Victoria 2nd XI.The opening one-day match went the way of England Lions as Sam Hain struck an unbeaten 122 and added 154 for the fourth wicket with Laurie Evans (94) after the Lions had slipped to 3 for 32 in their chase. Dan Lawrence helped seal the win with an unbeaten 50 off 40 balls.Earlier, the Queensland and Brisbane Heat batsman Max Bryant had slammed 102 off 60 balls in a power-packed start to the match as he dominated the Lions attack. The score was 127 when Bryant fell to legspinner Mason Crane in the 18th over and a short while later Pucovski was forced to retire hurt. The Lions hauled the innings back impressively to restrict the CA XI to 8 for 281 as the spinners, Crane and Lawerence, went for just 79 in their 20 overs

Daniel Hughes’ unbeaten 59 took New South Wales closer to the 309-run target set by Victoria on the third day

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Mar-2018
ScorecardAn unbeaten half-century from Daniel Hughes put New South Wales in a strong position at stumps on day three as the Blues pursued a target of 309 against Victoria at the Junction Oval in Melbourne.The Blues made an outstanding start to the run chase with Hughes and Nick Larkin putting on 83 for the first wicket in less than 22 overs before Fawad Ahmed broke through.He had Ed Cowan stumped to put the Blues under pressure but Kurtis Patterson and Hughes built steadily towards stumps.Earlier, Travis Dean made his second hundred in successive matches to help the Bushrangers set a substantial target. He scored 106 from 270 balls and got good lower-order support from Peter Siddle (28) and Dan Christian (22). Trent Copeland picked up Chris Tremain to secure his 15th five-wicket haul in first-class cricket.Victoria batsman Will Pucovski, who had been substituted out of the match with concussion, indicated he would return to action once he feels better. The 20-year old was struck on the helmet by a Sean Abbott bouncer on the second day after which he was taken off the ground for medical assistance. “It was unfortunate but that’s cricket,” Pucovski said in a statement. “I’m under the supervision of Cricket Victoria’s medical team and we’ll look at my return to play options once I have fully recovered.”

There are still hopes of a positive result at Southport despite a day lost to rain

Paul Edwards at Southport11-Jun-2017
ScorecardJohn Simpson admitted Lancashire held a slight advantage•Getty Images

There was no possibility of playing cricket on the second day of this match at Southport. The overnight rain relented quite early in the morning but it was replaced a couple of hours later by another front which drenched the outfield that the Lancashire and Southport groundstaff had worked so hard to dry. At three o’clock Peter Hartley and Steve O’Shaughnessy called things off for the day and the only surprise was that they had not taken that decision an hour earlier.Food tended to dominate proceedings thereafter. The rain may have prevented cricket being played but it softened the ground at Trafalgar Road and made it all the easier for the young crows to forage for worms; in the tents and marquees the corporate hospitality guests tucked in as heartily as they had every right to do, especially given that they had been denied their cricket. The players drifted back to their hotels in town with plans to watch the football or go out to eat in one of Southport’s many restaurants. Another day in another season.The good news from the point of view of those attending on Sunday and Monday, when the weather forecast is considerably better, is that this looks like a three-day pitch. A par score is reckoned to be about 240 and much will therefore rest on whether Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Dane Vilas can be parted on the third morning. It would be difficult to fancy Middlesex’s chances on a pitch showing variable bounce at the Grosvenor Road End if they conceded a lead of anything over 70 or so, and the need for points is not lost on the champions’ wicketkeeper-batsman, John Simpson, whose unbeaten 53 held his side together on the first afternoon.”I’d say Lancs probably edged the first day,” he said. “It nipped around early and it was a strange day, as much as anything because there were four guys caught down the leg side, which I’ve never seen before. It was a case of applying myself when I got the opportunity to bat.”When you’re coming at four down with about 70 on the board you have to get your head down but capitalise on any loose deliveries and try to put the bowler under pressure. It was a good old fashioned grafting knock. We got a couple of quick wickets and then the pitch settled down a bit. Then it started swinging a little and I’m not sure whether that’s got anything to do with the tide coming in or going out. But it was an intriguing day.”Simpson is in his ninth season at Lord’s and is one of the best uncapped cricketers in England. Time and again people reading their morning papers at county matches see that he has scored runs and wonder what his prospects might be without Bairstow, Buttler and Billings in the England set-up. Across the river the same is said of Ben Foakes, whose time should surely come. Simpson, himself, is more concerned with helping Middlesex defend the title they won so gloriously at Lord’s last September. Four successive draws hardly help but there is a long way to go yet.”Apart from the Hampshire game where we had to dig in and fight really hard to come away from with a draw, I think we’ve played some really good cricket,” said Simpson “We dominated all four days against Essex without getting over the line but the weather curtailed that game. Against Surrey we had to cope with Sangakkara but he’s a world-class player and churning out runs and hundreds is what world class players do.”It’s now a case of getting it all together and putting in a total team performance, which we haven’t done so far. But Lord’s has been a tough place to get results – I think we only won two games there last season – so I think it’s going to be a case of trying to force wins at home and win games on the road. You have to remember that we’re a couple of games behind some teams and a couple of good wins will put us back in the mix.”

Australia’s inexperienced bowlers face yet another challenge at Wanderers against South Africa, a side brimming with confidence after recent home victories

The Preview by David Hopps01-Oct-2016

Match facts

Sunday, October 2, 2016, Johannesburg
Start time 1000 local (0800 GMT)

Big Picture

Australia were always going to be vulnerable at the start of this stand-alone ODI series in South Africa. Their priority is to restate their Test pedigree during their home summer against South Africa and Pakistan, a need that has grown stronger because of their recent trouncing in a Test series in Sri Lanka.That much became clear from the moment Cricket Australia chose to rest Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc for the battles to come. Whatever the logic of that, Steve Smith could be forgiven for looking around for them in desperation in the opening ODI at SuperSport Park as Quinton de Kock, destroying good balls and bad, pulverised an Australian attack also missing James Faulkner.De Kock’s 178 from 113 balls – the highest ODI score ever made in South Africa and many more records besides – was an immediate indication of the challenge facing Australia. With the absence of AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla – the latter presumably only briefly – from South Africa’s batting line-up, they might have perceived a gentle introduction, but few opening batsmen these days possess the destructive threat of de Kock, and it was not long before sixes were raining down on the leg-side boundary.A few miles down the road in Johannesburg, Daniel Worrall, Scott Boland and John Hastings will hope for a second outing, although South Australia’s Joe Mennie and Victoria’s Chris Tremain are also in the squad and are likely to get an airing at some point in the series. They have all received a warning from Australia’s bowling coach Ryan Harris about the challenge. “National cricket is brutal and if you don’t get it right you get eaten up pretty quick,” he said.

Form guide

South Africa: WWLWL
(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Australia: LWWWW

Players to watch

Andile Phehlukwayo‘s second ODI came against a backdrop of new transformation targets which require the selection of a minimum average of 54% black players – of which 18% must be Black African – across the three formats over the season. He showed good command of length at SuperSport Park and took 4 for 44 off his 10 overs, a sound start for a powerfully-built allrounder.South Australian Daniel Worrall was the second leading wicket-taker in last season’s Sheffield Shield. After a comfortable debut against Ireland in Benoni, South Africa asked tougher questions and it will be interesting to see how he responds in Johannesburg.

Team news

South Africa are monitoring the fitness of Dale Steyn. Although he completed his full allocation in his first ODI since he suffered a shoulder injury while bowling against England last December, he was below his best, left the field twice and on several occasions looked concerned about the shoulder. It was a far cry from his triumphant Test return against New Zealand on the same ground in August. Hashim Amla, who only joined the squad on Wednesday following the birth of his third child, missed Friday’s match due to illness but he could return.South Africa (probable) 1 Quinton de Kock, 2 Hashim Amla/Rilee Rossouw, 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 JP Duminy, 5 David Miller, 6 Farhaan Behardien, 7 Andile Phehlukwayo, 8 Wayne Parnell, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Imran Tahir.Australia’s captain Steve Smith gave no indication that there might be changes to Australia’s line-up after Friday’s defeat. Even considering the pummelling that Australia’s weakened attack received at the hands of Quinton de Kock, or the failure of the batsmen to take advantage of a run-friendly surface, a 48-hour turnaround between matches leaves little time for reassessment.Australia (probable) 1 David Warner, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 George Bailey, 5 Mitchell Marsh, 6 Travis Head, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 John Hastings, 9 Adam Zampa, 10 Daniel Worrall, 11 Scott Boland.

Pitch and conditions

There have been water restrictions in Johannesburg, leaving groundstaff hoping for some early spring rain to assist with grass growth. It remains to be seen whether this has a detrimental effect on the pitch or, indeed, the outfield. The weekend has been sunny, with 23C forecast for Sunday.

Stats and trivia

• Quinton de Kock’s 178 in the first match at SuperSport Park on Friday was South Africa’s second highest individual score in ODIs
• South Africa achieved their third highest successful chase in that game
  .

Quotes

“Hopefully there will be a couple more wickets like that in the series. Then we can have some more fun.”
“We got a nice wicket to bat on and we gave some opportunities away… so going forward it’s the responsibility of one of our top four to post a big total, and if we do that then the team total is going to be big as well.”
does the math.

At one stage in this match, it looked as if Sussex were disappearing off into the distance over the South Downs. Building on a second significant score from opener Chris Nash, the lead at tea was 210 with seven wickets standing

Alan Gardner at Hove19-Apr-2016
ScorecardRyan ten Doeschate was brilliantly caught by Danny Briggs•Getty Images

At one stage in this match, it looked as if Sussex were disappearing off into the distance over the South Downs. Building on a second significant score from opener Chris Nash, the lead at tea was 210 with seven wickets standing. That they were left relying on the last-wicket pair of Ajmal Shahzad and Steve Magoffin to chivvy and poke their way to the close, during an unbroken stand worth 40, tells you much about how competitive this game has been.Essex will still have to chase more than the 320 they made in their first innings but they would have been left huffing and puffing in the face of a much steeper incline were it not for their two new-ball bowlers, Jamie Porter and Graham Napier, who claimed nine wickets between them while delivering more than two-thirds of the 68 overs that Sussex’s second innings has so far lasted.Porter and Napier are at opposite ends of their careers but, with Matt Dixon struggling to adjust to the slope and Essex’s plethora of medium-pacers offering up a glut of bad balls, they shouldered the burden uncomplainingly.Porter, in particular, looks a slip of a fast bowler but he showed a work ethic that would have made Alexey Stakhanov beam with pride, sending down an 18-over spell either side of tea. Napier, 36 and in his final season before retirement, managed 13 in a row and it looked as if Essex’s pair of dray horses might be yoked together for the entire session until the niggling resistance put on by Shahzad and Magoffin forced Ryan ten Doeschate to give them a rest.Sussex had been 165 for 2 and scoring at more than five runs an over before Ross Taylor became Porter’s first victim, steering to second slip. On a pitch that still looked good for batting, Sussex then slipped to 242 for 9, the next six dismissals all bowled or lbw as Porter and Napier utilised a hint of reverse swing and targeted the stumps.Porter, who once bowled a 22-over spell in club cricket for Fives & Heronians, kept charging in up the hill from the Sea End, still searching for a maiden five-wicket haul despite having taken 79 first-class wickets since making his Essex debut at the end of 2014. Ten Doeschate did not have to do much persuading. “It was me saying to him, ‘I dare you to try and get the ball out of my hand’,” Porter said, blinking slightly deliriously afterwards.The final day is neatly poised but if Sussex are able to secure a first win of the season, then some credit will have to go to the south-coast sunshine. Not the south coast of England – although Hove has basked under clear skies for most of this match – but rather the southern cape of Africa, where Nash spent five weeks earlier this year soaking up the rays, along with a few batting tips from former South Africa opener Gary Kirsten.Nash, still wearing Matthew Hobden’s No. 19 short, fell eight runs short of matching his efforts on day one but he kept his side in what has been a fiercely contested match. It was another chanceless innings, a bang on the head from a Porter bouncer the closest Essex came to upsetting him until Napier pinned him in front after nearly four hours at the crease.Nash’s entry in says that if he wasn’t playing cricket he would be sunbathing and he surely had the opportunity to work on his tan as well as his game while at Kirsten’s academy in Cape Town. Having tallied 211 runs in his first appearance of the season, he already has a pretty decent excuse to return there next winter.Talk about helmets and player protection has swirled in recent days but there was a reminder of the important job they do when Nash was felled by Porter. Nash was hit on the peak of a new-style helmet but was able to continue after some treatment and he credited the fixed grille for saving him from greater injury.Essex had resumed in the morning still trailing by more than 100 runs and only a gritty stand of 89 between ten Doeschate and Napier for the eighth wicket prevented Sussex from taking a much stronger grip on proceedings. It took a brilliant catch from Danny Briggs at first slip – a new addition to the cordon – to remove ten Doeschate but the captain’s half-century helped Essex to recover from 219 for 7 on the second evening and get to within 40 runs of Sussex’s first-innings 360.Napier may be a little more crinkly around the eyes and a little more stocky in stature but he still ably fills the “local legend” brief in county cricket. His batting was more watchful foil than wrecking ball – though a top-edged hook at Magoffin did sail for six – as he hung around for an hour and 40 minutes before becoming Essex’s ninth man out. But his work for the day was far from over.

Kieron Pollard muscled his way to his highest IPL score and propelled Mumbai Indians to the highest total of this IPL season so far

The Report by Abhishek Purohit11-Apr-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsOwais Shah’s 76 was in vain•AFP

The scoreboard might not tell you that but Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals gave IPL 2012 its first close high-scoring game as Wankhede Stadium cheered. The 27-run margin did not do justice to Rajasthan Royals for the way they went after an asking-rate of nearly ten an over against a quality bowling attack. This after Kieron Pollard had muscled his way to his highest IPL score and propelled Mumbai Indians to the highest total of this IPL season so far.Pollard’s all-round performance, 64 off 33 deliveries and 4 for 44, left in the shade a dazzling innings of 76 off 42 from Owais Shah, which had rudely threatened to gatecrash what had shaped up to be Pollard’s night. Till the end of the 14th over, as Shah kept peppering the on-side rope with boundaries, Royals had an almost even chance. But in a game where no bowler apart from him went for less than seven an over, Lasith Malinga uprooted Shah’s off stump with a yorker off the first ball of the 15th.While Munaf Patel and Pollard ended with four wickets each, it was Malinga’s over that turned the game in Mumbai Indians’ favour. While Malinga stood out with figures of 4-0-13-2 in a match where 367 runs were scored, it was Pollard who towered above everyone with his all-round performance.Pollard’s assault with the bat helped Mumbai Indians pull away from Rajasthan Royals after the visitors had clawed back with Brad Hogg’s two wickets in four balls. Pollard’s power also left an important innings from Ambati Rayudu in the shade.Pollard came in after Hogg, on IPL debut, had dismissed Rohit Sharma and Richard Levi with fizzing left-arm legbreaks. By the time he was dismissed, Pollard had carted Royals’ attack with 64, and Mumbai Indians had rocketed from 68 to 164 in the space of 52 balls.Pollard had no role to play in his first boundary, Hogg’s googly beating the batsman on the forward push and going between the wicketkeeper and first slip. It was Rayudu who took on Hogg in the 11th over, slog-sweeping for six over midwicket.Kevon Cooper’s meeting with his Trinidad & Tobago team-mate was much awaited, but Pollard lofted his first ball from his fellow allrounder for six over long-on. Still, Royals had somehow managed to keep the expected torrent of runs down and Mumbai Indians were going around eight an over after 13.Johan Botha came on in the 14th, and Pollard dispatched his first four balls for boundaries. Botha dragged the first delivery short, tossed the second one up and went wide of Pollard with the third. It made scarce difference to Pollard as he swung all three deliveries between deep midwicket and long-on. His power showed off the fourth ball as even a leading edge beat the sweeper to the deep extra cover rope.Twenty-three runs came off that Botha over, and the pressure on Royals had increased significantly. Pollard threatened to do an encore of the Botha over in the 17th against Ankeet Chavan, hitting his first delivery so hard that it deflected off the non-striker’s stumps to the straight boundary even as umpire Aleem Dar barely got out of the way. The next two balls also disappeared for boundaries but Pollard found long-on off the last ball.Harbhajan Singh ensured Mumbai Indians did not falter after Pollard’s departure and left Royals with a mountain to climb. Munaf removed Rahul Dravid and Shreevats Goswami off consecutive deliveries in the second over to make the ascent appear steeper.Shah and Ajinkya Rahane, though, almost did a Pollard-and-Rayudu with an 82-run stand off 57. Rahane signalled the start of the fightback with a chipped four over mid-off and a six over deep midwicket in Munaf’s next over.Shah put up a display of sustained calculated hitting, moving around in his crease and using the angle of the deliveries into him to swing for boundaries on the on side. Rahane’s fall off Pollard in the 12th over hardly mattered to Shah. Thirty-five runs came off the next two overs, bowled by Harbhajan and Pollard, the latter pulled and slogged for consecutive boundaries.The equation came down to 64 needed off 36. Harbhajan had saved two overs of Malinga for the death. He was forced to bring him on slightly earlier, but Malinga delivered immediately, Shah backing away too far outside leg to a yorker, which was right on off stump.Botha followed in the same over, and though Cooper and Ashok Menaria tried, Pollard struck thrice in the 18th over to ensure the night would be only his.

The decision means he is now eligible to lead Sydney Thunder in the BBL

Alex Malcolm and Andrew McGlashan24-Oct-2024David Warner’s lifetime leadership ban has been overturned after six-and-a-half years following a review by Cricket Australia’s Conduct Commission. It means he is now eligible to captain Sydney Thunder in the upcoming BBL having not been allowed to lead any team in Australia after the ban was imposed following the sandpaper incident in Cape Town in 2018.CA released the findings from the independent Conduct Commission review on Friday with the three-person panel unanimously deciding that Warner had met the necessary criteria to have ban lifted following changes to the code of conduct in 2022.”In its decision the panel noted ‘the respectful and contrite tone of his [Warner’s] responses, as well as the content impressed the Review Panel and led it to the unanimous view that he was sincere and genuine in acknowledging responsibility for the conduct and in his statement that he had extreme remorse for his conduct’,” CA’s statement said.”The panel also considered references citing ‘the contribution that Mr Warner has made, and can make in the future, towards the development of young cricketers in Australia if they were given the opportunity to be led by Mr Warner, his important continuing role in fostering interest in cricket especially with the South Asian community in Australia and generally’.”In his submission to the panel Warner acknowledged that he had “let every single person down” in 2018 and said that he “100 percent regretted the actions that were taken and am extremely remorseful.”Pat Cummins, Andrew McDonald, Greg Chappell, Lisa Sthalekar and Kane Williamson all provided character references for the hearing.In Cummins’ submission, he said: “Since 2018, he has acknowledged his responsibility to the game and future generations and stepped up his engagement with communities who play cricket. David was instrumental in supporting the Australian Cricket Team undertaking the most recent tours to Pakistan and Sri Lanka. During these tours his upholding of the spirit of cricket and his respect for the opposition as did his
understanding of the importance of those tours for the game. These higher considerations transcended the matches we played in and were felt by the cricket-loving public in those nations.”Warner is now firmly in the conversation to be the Thunder captain for the BBL where he will be available for an entire season for the first time.”The fact he can be on the table as a captaincy option is definitely going to be spoken about,” Trent Copeland, the Thunder general manager, said. “Internally, the chats have already happened in terms of assessing if that will be a good decision. I think that’s a no-brainer. Everyone who knows Davey and has watched him over the years has seen him be a great captain and leader, particularly with the bat in hand.”However, Copeland, who was involved closely with the process which concluded with a hearing last Thursday, said that it was about more than purely whether he could lead a side again.”This is far bigger than a cricket captaincy role,” he said. “It’s leadership in a lifelong context. This was about him, his daughters in particular, the legacy he wants to leave for his family. This is about Davey, his family and ultimately in our belief what is right at this point in time.”If that’s a lifelong ban, it’s still over him when he’s 50, 60. It just would never go away. It [what happened in 2018] may not ever go away, but I think at least this gives it a shot.”On whether the ruling provided closure for Warner, New South Wales chief executive Lee Germon said: “You’d need to ask David that question…but through that process David has expressed great regret and remorse and think his actions since that ban has shown that he does regret that, so I imagine it does provide some closure for him in that regard.”Warner had previously angrily withdrawn from the an attempt to have his ban overturned in 2022. Copeland termed that process a “train wreck” and said that part of the latest outcome being a success had been keeping the process out of the spotlight until the verdict was delivered.It had long been a source of frustration for Warner that he had been banned from leading any team in Australia while Steven Smith, who was the captain in the Cape Town Test and was also banned from playing for a year for his involvement in the scandal, has since returned to captain both the Australian Test and ODI team and remains the current Test vice-captain.Warner had been allowed to captain teams around the world since his playing ban, having led Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Delhi Capitals (DC) in the IPL. He had also hoped to get the chance to captain Australia’s T20 side late in his international career, before retiring from all formats following the T20 World Cup in June.CA chief executive Nick Hockley said he was pleased Warner’s ban had been overturned.”In 2022 we updated the Code of Conduct to ensure there was a fair and rigorous process in place for all players and player support personnel to have long-term sanctions reviewed,” Hockley said. “I am pleased David has chosen to have his sanction reviewed and that he will be eligible to take up leadership positions in Australian Cricket this summer.”