England bowler to lead side in county curtain-raiser in Dubai on March 24

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Feb-2019Stuart Broad has been named as MCC’s captain for the annual Champion County Match, which will take place against Surrey in Dubai next month.Broad, who is currently in St Lucia with England’s Test team but is no longer a part of the one-day set-up, will use the match as part of his long-term preparations for a delayed first-class leg of England’s home summer.With the build-up to the World Cup dominating the early part of the season, Broad’s next international action is likely to come in the one-off Test against Ireland at Lord’s on July 24, ahead of the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston, starting on August 1.John Stephenson, MCC’s assistant secretary, said: “We are thrilled that Stuart has agreed to captain the side for the Champion County match against Surrey. He is not only a player of the very highest class, but his experience of over 100 Test matches will be invaluable to the younger players in the squad, and I am sure that they will be eager to learn from one of England’s greatest ever bowlers.”Surrey were undoubtedly the best side in last season’s County Championship and have an extremely strong squad, so it will be a tough challenge for Stuart and his side but one I am sure they will relish.”The rest of the MCC squad will be named in due course, with the four-day game scheduled to begin on March 24.Broad, 32, is one of only two Englishmen to have taken over 400 Test wickets, and has a special place in MCC’s history, as one of only a handful of players to have earned a place on three dressing-room honours boards, with inclusions on the Honours Board five-wicket and ten-wicket hauls in Test matches, as well as his 169 with the bat against Pakistan in 2010.He has had previous captaincy experience, having led England on 27 occasions in T20Is between 2011 and 2014, including the World T20 in Bangladesh in 2014, and a further three ODIs on the tour of the Caribbean in 2014.Last year’s Champion County match took place in Barbados, where MCC beat the 2017 County Champions Essex by an innings and 34 runs, thanks to centuries from Sam Hain and Dom Bess, who also claimed six wickets.

The teenaged fast bowler took 3 for 30 as Peshawar Zalmi lost to the Gladiators for the fourth time this season

The Report by Danyal Rasool17-Mar-2019The closing ceremony, understandably, was stripped to bare bones, shorn of all the dances that adorned the opening ceremony as a mark of respect for the victims of the terror attack in Christchurch last week.Unfortunately, the un-embellished nature of the festivities extended to the cricket itself, throwing up a final largely devoid of the usual drama, theatre, and excitement that enlivened so many games across the PSL this season. But that did not detract from Quetta Gladiators’ near-flawless performance, as the best team in the competition rose to the occasion on its most important day to inflict a heavy defeat on Peshawar Zalmi. It was the fourth time the two had met this season, with Quetta, under the savvy guidance of Sarfaraz Ahmed, prevailing each time. This one was perhaps the most comfortable, with Quetta easing to their first PSL crown with an emphatic eight-wicket win achieved in 17.5 overs.Peshawar’s heroes in the eliminator, Kamran Akmal and Imam-ul-Haq, both fell cheaply on Sunday, and that meant the middle order – which lacked Liam Dawson – had to consolidate for much of the innings. The run rate consequently took a hit and, in the final overs, left Kieron Pollard and Darren Sammy to provide the fireworks. Much like the rest of the Peshawar side, they failed to live up to the occasion. All five of Quetta’s bowlers had brought their A games to help them march to a title they hadn’t won before, and their hunger was evident in their game. Peshawar’s formidable fast bowling line-up may have felt they could defend almost anything, but Quetta are expert chasers, and the 138 for 8 that Peshawar put up never looked like challenging Quetta.Mohammad Hasnain celebrates Imam-ul-Haq’s dismissal•Pakistan Cricket Board

Mohammad Hasnain, who will turn 19 in three weeks and who is less than a week away from a likely Pakistan debut, showed why he is so highly rated with a sublime four-over spell in the biggest game of his young career. He tore chunks out of the Peshawar top and middle order, intense with his pace and stingy with the runs, hurrying on to batsmen and ushering them back to the pavilion in a hurry. The accuracy, too, for an inexperienced man with pace like his, was remarkably unerring and – though we’ve seen this movie many times before – here is another young Pakistani quick with the world at his feet.Imam was the first to go off Hasnain’s third delivery, the extra bounce beating him and taking a top edge. After Umar Amin had got a middle-order partnership going in the absence of heroics from the Peshawar openers, Hasnain was brought back into the attack and struck with his first delivery. He rushed on to Amin, who could only jab the ball to the square-leg fielder. The big fish was yet to come, and he toyed with Pollard for a full over, before coming back with a vengeance after being struck for four. It was another short, quick ball that did the damage, Pollard looking to pull but only managing an edge to the keeper.This was a real team chasing a real honour, no hit-and-giggle exhibition where the result didn’t matter. That was why Fawad Ahmed, still visibly uncomfortable following a nasty blow to the face that required stitches and surgery a few days ago, decided to take the field again, delivering his usual sublime spell of legspin bowling. He got the ball to spit and fizz, making Peshawar’s decision not to play Dawson all the more puzzling.Rilee Rossouw and Ahmed Shehzad walk off the field after winning PSL 2019•PCB

The only moment of doubt in the chase came when Shane Watson was run out after Ahmed Shehzad called him for a suicidal single. Amin completed a direct hit to run the Australian out, and Imam generously offered a verbal spray that Watson didn’t seem to particularly enjoy. Quetta, however, were enjoying the occasion, and Shehzad took control of the chase to ensure Peshawar were never allowed to get their hopes up.Not that Peshawar didn’t try. They used seven different bowlers, two of them spinners who ideally shouldn’t have been bowling in a game of this magnitude with the margin for error so small. Wahab Riaz and Hasan Ali put in typically spirited performances, Wahab in particular raising Peshawar’s hopes one final time after he dismissed Ahsan Ali, hoping to trigger a mini-collapse that would allow Peshawar to sneak back into the game. But in Shehzad and Rilee Rossouw, Quetta had too much experience to panic, and too much quality lower down the order to allow any real pressure to be felt.In the end, Rossouw struck the winning runs while Shehzad ended unbeaten on a 51-ball 58. A fixture in the Quetta side since he joined in 2017, Rossouw had been particularly sincere in his apologies when deciding not to come to Pakistan in 2017, citing security concerns. On that day, Quetta had fallen to the very same opponents in a game that they had never really been able to get into. Here, with Rossouw, Watson and all of Quetta’s overseas contingent present, they were able to pay Peshawar back in kind. It might not have been a final for the ages, but over the years, as Sarfaraz and his men wind down their careers, tonight will go down as one of the most prominent highlights.

Leicestershire need 267 on final day with 10 wickets in hand

ECB Reporters Network16-May-2019John Simpson’s first County Championship half-century for two years kept Middlesex in contention on a riveting third day against Leicestershire at Lord’s.It was 2017 the last time the doughty wicketkeeper reached such heights willow in hand, but here he was at his obdurate best, dragging his side from the mire of 114 for 8 in the wake of superb bowling from Seaxe old boy Chris Wright, who took 3 for 51, and Tom Taylor’s 3 for 74. His more than three-hour vigil saw him finish 59 not out and left Leicestershire a target of 305.However, the Foxes survived unscathed to the close, reaching 38 without loss and raising hopes of a first win for the county at Lord’s since 1980.Leicestershire began the day 257 for 9 in their first innings and added a further 11 before Tom Helm uprooted Wright’s off-stump with one which seamed in off the wicket. That gave the hosts a lead of 81, but they were soon in trouble second time around.Taylor, who only bowled six overs in the first innings because of a back niggle put that pain behind him to have Max Holden taken by Colin Ackermann at slip with just nine on the board.Sam Robson, who had come out on a king pair, played confidently for a while, but Taylor’s impressive spell accounted for him too, a little movement off the seam seeing the former England man edge to wicketkeeper Lewis Hill.Wright too was then in the action, grabbing the wicket of debutant Tom Lace before lunch, caught at slip.As in the first innings, Nick Gubbins played with increasing assurance, his cover drive, a thing of beauty, but he was undone during Wright’s impressive post-lunch burst, edging one which left him a fraction through to Hill. His departure was the first of three wickets for just three runs as Middlesex faltered.Skipper Stevie Eskinazi flashed at a loose one from Mohammad Abbas, though it needed a stunning one-handed catch at full stretch by Ackermann to send him on his way.It was 94 for 6 when Wright struck again, scattering George Scott’s stumps with a venomous Yorker.A brief lull in the procession ended when Taylor found the edge of James Harris’ bat to give Hill his sixth catch of the match. Ollie Rayner then prodded Ackermann into the hands of Hasan Azad at short-leg.At 114 for 8 Stuart Law’s men were on the ropes but, not for the first time in Middlesex colours, Simpson answered the call. His efforts relied on staunch support from Helm, who for the second time in the match produced shots belying his place at No. 10 in the order, one off-drive in particular a candidate for shot of the day on his way to 46.The pair added 85 for the ninth wicket before Helm fell lbw to Ben Mike, but last man Ethan Bamber stayed long enough to see Simpson to his long-awaited landmark and stretch the lead beyond 300.Hopes of a wicket before the close were thwarted however, with skipper Paul Horton in particular, on 28 not out, suggesting a successful final-day chase is more than possible.

Opening batsman faces scan on a left hamstring injury, while the captain has back spasms

George Dobell in Southampton14-Jun-2019Jason Roy and Eoin Morgan have emerged as serious doubts for England’s next World Cup fixture, against Afghanistan at Old Trafford on Tuesday, with the two men facing scans on their left hamstring and back respectively.Both injuries were sustained in the field during England’s otherwise comfortable eight-wicket win over West Indies in Southampton. Roy, the opener, would have been unable to bat until five wickets had fallen in the England innings, having gone off the field clutching his hamstring as early as in the eighth over.Morgan, who suffered back spasms, went off in the 40th over – the innings lasted 44.4 overs – and in accordance with the ICC’s regulations, wouldn’t have been able to bat for 28 minutes at the start of England’s chase.With a relatively short turnaround to England’s next match, Morgan said that he and Roy would be monitored for the next 48 hours, before a “risk assessment” to decide whether it is worth including them for a contest that England will be expecting to win, regardless of their injury concerns.”It is my back, it’s a little bit sore, and Roy tweaked his hammy as well,” said Morgan during the post-match presentations. “I have had a lot of back spasms as well in the past. It’s a matter of waiting 48 hours to let it settle down, sometimes it settles a lot quicker than expected and sometimes it lingers around, so we’ll just have to see how it goes.”WATCH on Hotstar (India only) – England’s bowling performanceAt the subsequent post-match press conference, Morgan chose to stand to address the media due to his discomfort, but insisted the fitness of both him and Roy was not “panic stations”.”We’ll do a risk assessment, see how risky it is going into that game, bearing in mind we have two games in quite a short space (of time).” England’s next match after Afghanistan is against Sri Lanka at Headingley on Friday.At this stage, the England management appear more concerned about the fitness of Roy, who pulled up sharply while chasing a ball in the covers and subsequently left the field with what the England management described as “tightness to his left hamstring”. He did not take any further part in the match and will undergo a scan on Saturday.”Again, it will be 24-48 hours,” said Morgan. “Everyone within our squad is so vital, so we obviously don’t want or need injuries throughout the tournament so hopefully they aren’t too serious.”The injury to Morgan looked worse at the time. He ran towards the stumps at the non-striker’s end as the batsmen, Nicholas Pooran and Carlos Brathwaite, took a quick run, but then doubled up in pain close to the stumps. He went off immediately, Jos Buttler taking over leadership duties, and the back spasm was confirmed a little while later.With England already going into the game one batsman short (Moeen Ali was omitted from the line-up) Joe Root stepped up to open the innings alongside Jonny Bairstow, and sealed the contest with an unbeaten century, while Chris Woakes was promoted to No.3 and contributed a fine 40 to a second-wicket stand of 104.”I think we had a really good day at the office today,” said Morgan. “The way the bowlers stuck to plans on that surface was outstanding, and we continued to create chances through the middle overs.”Joe [Root] has had an absolute day out. He’s the glue that keeps the team together. Our plans have remained the same throughout, even though the personnel have changed. The guys are executing the plans better, and you need players that can play a part through the tournament.”Importantly, keeping in mind the rest of the tournament, England are also without their first-choice reserve opener, Alex Hales, who was dropped from the squad after the furore following the news that he had failed a drugs test.Roy’s start to the season was delayed by a hamstring strain. It is currently unclear if the issues are related.

The trio were inducted in a ceremony in London on Thursday

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jul-2019Former India captain Sachin Tendulkar, former South Africa fast bowler Allan Donald and former Australia Women’s fast bowler Cathryn Fitzpatrick have become the newest additions to the ICC Hall of Fame. The trio were inducted in a ceremony in London on Thursday.Tendulkar, cricket’s most prolific run-getter, was inducted immediately after becoming eligible: the ICC rule requires that a player should have played his last international match at least five years before and Tendulkar had retired in November 2013. He is the sixth Indian to be part of the ICC’s Hall of Fame, following Sunil Gavaskar, Bishan Singh Bedi, Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid.The only player to feature in 200 Test matches, Tendulkar scored 15921 runs in the longest format and 18426 runs in ODIs, both run tallies standing as records. He is also the only player to have scored 100 centuries in international cricket (51 in Tests and 49 in ODIs) and was part of India’s World Cup winning side in 2011.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“It is an honour to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame, which cherishes the contribution of cricketers over generations,” Tendulkar said. “They have all contributed to the growth and popularity of the game and I am happy to have done my bit.”Donald, who retired from all formats in 2004, was one of South Africa’s greatest fast bowlers, and the first bowler from the side to take 300 Test wickets and 200 ODI wickets. Donald ended with a wickets tally of 602 wickets in an international career that spanned more than a decade.”The biggest shock when you open an e-mail like that – it says congratulations Allan Donald, you have been inducted in the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame! It hits you, it hits you quite hard because it is a prestigious award and something that you can’t take lightly. I thank the ICC for the huge honour.”Allan Donald was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame in London•IDI/Getty Images

Fitzpatrick, the eighth woman to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, was the fastest bowler in women’s cricket over the course of her 16-year international career. Her tally of 180 ODI wickets was the highest in women’s cricket, until it was surpassed by India seamer Jhulan Goswami in May 2017. Fitzpatrick helped Australia lift two Women’s World Cups – in 1997 and 2005 – and was coach of the side between May 2012 and May 2015, in which time Australia Women won a World Cup and two World T20 titles.”To gain recognition alongside many of the games’ giants is a huge honour. I look at the list of past inductees and what stands out most is not only their outstanding talent, but that they were game changers. They took the game on and changed the way it was played.”ICC’s chief executive Manu Sawhney said the three were among the finest players to have ever graced the game. “It is a great honour for us to announce the 2019 inductees into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. Sachin, Allan and Cathryn are three of the finest players to ever grace our game and are deserved additions to the Hall of Fame. On behalf of the ICC, I would like to congratulate all three players, who enrich the list of all-time greats already members of this select club.”

Sam Hain and Sam Curran drafted into squad after injuries to Ben Duckett and Saqib Mahmood

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jul-2019Lewis Gregory, the Somerset allrounder, will captain the England Lions in their four-day game against Australia A which starts at Canterbury this Sunday.Gregory, who was called into England’s first ODI squad after the 2015 World Cup but did not make the final XI in the one-off game against Ireland, is the leading wicket-taker among Division One seamers this year, with 44 wickets at 13.88 in his eight games.He has some captaincy experience, having skippered England’s under-19s back in 2011, and will again lead Somerset in their upcoming Vitality Blast campaign after taking over from Jim Allenby last year.Gregory is realistically an outside bet for Ashes selection given England’s catalogue of seam-bowling allrounders, but can hope to force his way into their T20I plans ahead of this winter’s tours to New Zealand and South Africa.There are also late call-ups for Sam Curran and Sam Hain.Curran, who has taken 18 wickets in his four Championship games for Surrey since returning from the IPL, replaces Saqib Mahmood, after the Lancashire fast bowler suffered an abdominal problem during their game at Northampton this week.Hain’s call-up comes immediately after his twin hundreds for Warwickshire secured a draw against Hampshire. He is included after Ben Duckett’s groin injury in Nottinghamshire’s defeat at Somerset.Jack Leach, Ben Foakes, and Curran are the three Test players in the squad, and all will look to press cases for Ashes selection.Australia A warmed up for this game with a ten-wicket thrashing of Sussex at Arundel, in which both openers – Marcus Harris and Joe Burns – made centuries. Both men are in contention to open the batting with David Warner this summer.England Lions: Lewis Gregory (captain), Jack Leach (both Somerset), Sam Hain, Dom Sibley (both Warwickshire), Sam Curran, Ben Foakes (both Surrey), Sam Northeast (Hampshire), Jamie Porter (Essex), Zak Crawley (Kent), James Bracey (Gloucestershire), Ollie Robinson (Sussex).

After their win over Pakistan in UAE, New Zealand have a chance to scale Test rankings’ summit if they topple Sri Lanka

The Preview by Madushka Balasuriya13-Aug-2019

Big Picture

Sri Lanka won their last Test assignment – it was a historic one too – in South Africa, but so much has happened since. New Zealand have had a different kind of high, and a heartbreak to boot, at the World Cup, but are determined to move on and make a fresh start in Sri Lanka, with the Tests part of the World Test Championship.What’s certain is they won’t underestimate the hosts, even though they are yet to emerge from their forever-rebuilding state, under another interim coach. In Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, and Henry Nicholls they have a middle order more than capable of batting Sri Lanka out of the game. To bolster their batting unit, they have also recruited former Sri Lanka batting coach Thilan Samaraweera for the duration of the series.Sri Lanka are coming into the series on the back of a comprehensive ODI series whitewash over Bangladesh. Prior to that, they finished a World Cup campaign that was nowhere near as bad as it could have been. All of it has taken place in the midst of constant backroom turmoil, culminating in head coach Chandika Hathurusingha being replaced in the interim by fast-bowling coach Rumesh Ratnayake.Yet, this Sri Lanka side under Dimuth Karunaratne has shown considerable mental resolve in recent months, especially with their batting, and while most teams would be unsettled by the loss of a coach days before a series, not many sides are as practiced at compartmentalising such chaos as Sri Lanka.All things considered, though, New Zealand certainly have the edge. Yes, Sri Lanka have beaten South Africa and Australia at home in recent years, but that was with the assistance of the now retired Rangana Herath, and the injured Dilruwan Perera. Sri Lanka’s spin-bowling future in Tests still has heavy question marks around it. New Zealand meanwhile are coming on the back of five consecutive series wins, and it would take brave man to bet against them making it six.

Form guide

Sri Lanka WWLDL (last five completed matches, most recent first)New Zealand WWWDW

In the spotlight

This will be Sri Lanka’s first Test at home since Rangana Herath’s retirement. There had been a succession plan in place in the shape of Dilruwan Perera, but with him also out injured, Sri Lanka have suddenly lost some 378 wickets worth of spin-bowling experience on home soil. This puts the pressure squarely on Akila Dananjaya to carry Sri Lanka’s spin attack on what should be a fairly accommodating Galle surface. While Dananjaya only has 27 Test wickets to his name, 17 of which have come at home, they have come in just five Tests. This will be his first outing in the longer format of the game since he remodelled his action earlier this year.Left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel was instrumental in New Zealand’s away series win against Pakistan last year, and despite having just the five Tests under his belt, he impressed in the warm-up game, where he walked away with a five-for on the only day play was possible. Visiting spinners have also had a fair bit of success in Sri Lanka recently, and Patel and co. will have studied closely.

Team news

Sri Lanka are set to welcome back Dinesh Chandimal, dropped for the series in South Africa because of poor form, and Angelo Mathews, who missed the South Africa tour because of an injury. New Zealand, meanwhile, could field three frontline spinners, with Todd Astle missing out.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), 2 Lahiru Thirimanne, 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Kusal Perera, 7 Dhananjaya De Silva, 8 Lasith Embuldeniya, 9 Akila Dananjaya 10 Lakshan Sandakan 11 Suranga LakmalNew Zealand (probable): 1 Jeet Raval, 2 Tom Latham, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Henry Nicholls, 6 BJ Watling, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Ajaz Patel, 9 Will Somerville, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Tim Southee

Pitch and conditions

Galle pitches usually favour spin, so expect the same this time too. Given rain is forecast right through the Test, there’s every chance of a five-day affair, unlike recent Tests that have finished early. If it does go there, both sides will want to be bowling on a deteriorating deck, so winning the toss and batting first would be the obvious choice.

Stats and trivia

• If New Zealand win this series 2-0 they will become No.1 ranked Test side in the world for the first time in their history
• Teams winning the toss have batted first in 27 of the 32 Tests played here
• Kane Williamson’s 968 runs against Sri Lanka at 80.66 is the most he has scored against a single opponent
• Galle is one of only four venues where a single bowler has more than 100 wickets (Lord’s the only non-Sri Lankan venue in the list).
• Tim Southee is six wickets from becoming the second-highest wicket taker in bilateral Tests between Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Muttiah Muralitharan is the highest.

Quotes

“We were too attacking perhaps in our last game here. We couldn’t for example stop the flow of runs. Now we have plans to move forward and all the spinners are in good shape.”
“The guys that are here were part of a fantastic series in the UAE where spin bowling was the dominant art. They are really looking forward to the opportunity in another country where the conditions will be slightly different again.”

Tshwane Spartans assistant coach admitted that the 17-year old new recruit from Afghanistan was a mystery to them as well

Liam Brickhill04-Sep-2019Not many South Africans would have heard of Waqar Salamkheil, the youngest new recruit for the second season of the Mzansi Super League. Indeed, Tshwane Spartans assistant coach Mandla Mashimbyi admitted that Salamkheil “is a mystery to us as well” after the 17-year-old left-arm wristspinner was signed up for R180 000 (US$12,000) at the MSL draft on Tuesday.He has played just 12 first-class matches, one of which was a Test match – against Ireland, earlier this year. Salamkheil picked up four wickets in the match as Afghanistan won by seven wickets. Besides that, he has played in eight T20 matches, seven of which were in the Afghanistan Premier League. Salamkheil played seven games for Kandahar Knights, claiming ten wickets, and a video featuring a few dismissals of those got the Spartans’ team management excited.”We saw a couple of videos, and we really liked what we saw,” Mashimbyi said. “He is similar to [Tabraiz] Shamsi. He is going to bamboozle a lot of guys. Hopefully, he can do his job properly. It’s nice to have that mystery factor. We don’t know what he will bring, but no one else knows either.”Head coach Mark Boucher called Salamkheil’s signing a “brave” decision, and one that was part of a broader strategy to cover all bases after Spartans’ poor showing in the inaugural MSL.While Salamkheil has no prior knowledge of South African conditions, many of his team-mates will know exactly what to expect from the SuperSport Park pitch. Nine members of the squad, including Morne Morkel and Roelof van der Merwe, are either still playing their cricket in local South African teams or have been part of teams that have been based in Tshwane.”Our squad this time has got cover for everything,” Boucher said. “It’s massive to have guys who’ve played there before. They are comfortable in the surroundings, have good memories and have won a lot of trophies. That will play to our advantage.”Boucher added that the Spartans would remain on the lookout for a new captain, with AB de Villiers vacating that role this season. “AB won’t be captain, we’ve discussed that. He’s a fantastic player but he must go out there and play and perform like he’s been performing in the last while.”We have a few leadership options, we’ll talk to them and see how they feel. I don’t think AB needs that burden, he’s in that stage of his life where he must enjoy his cricket and that’s probably when he plays his best.”

The South Africa opener proved he can not only play spin, but dominate it as he scored 160 runs in Vizag

Firdose Moonda04-Oct-2019Dean Elgar does not usually need a reason to be all determined, but he went into this series with a few very good ones. At 32 years of age, with a Test career in its seventh year, the South Africa opener is now a senior member and wanted to set the tone for his team’s innings and an example for his younger team-mates to follow. Especially on a tour as tough as India.

Watch cricket on ESPN+

India v South Africa is available in the US on Hotstar and ESPN+. Subscribe to ESPN+ and tune in to the three Tests.

Elgar said his 160 in Visakhapatnam was “maybe” his best for South Africa and it was easy to see why.”You are always up against it and they [India] are always coming at you,” he said at the end-of-day press conference. “But I felt with previous experiences of playing against them that if you apply yourself and give yourself opportunity you can get there. If you allow yourself time, you give yourself the best opportunity with your defensive game, your attacking game will come naturally.”The ability to grind out a score has always been a feature of Elgar’s game but here, he switched gears and took on the spinners. The proof lies in the numbers that are sometimes among the least looked-at in Test cricket: boundaries. Elgar struck 18 fours and four sixes in his 160, the most by a South African in a Test innings against India, including a slog sweep of R Ashwin to bring up his century.”It was me putting my stamp on my innings, not allowing them just to bowl to me which has happened in the past,” Elgar said.Dean Elgar drives through the off side•BCCI

History has to come up on this tour bus because of how poorly South Africa performed the last time they were in India. In 2015, they only totalled 200 once, as a team, and had no centuries between them. They left defeated, not just in the scoreline but also in morale, with the conclusion that they could not take on the turning ball more firmly entrenched. Though Elgar told he considered the pitches used in that series a “farce”, it was still important to him to show that the stereotype about South African batsmen and spin is not entirely true.”I’ve learnt over the last few years that I can play the spinning ball. I’ve played a lot of cricket around the world and developed my game in the county circuit and that’s why I ultimately go and play, to develop. It’s nice to see the results and all the hard work I have put in overseas pay off on days like today.”Since the 2015 tour, Elgar spent a season at Somerset and two at Surrey and credited the domestic scene in the UK with improving his skills, especially against spin. “In county cricket, you face a lot of spin. The ball actually spins in England now because it’s so dry, which is a good experience.”But he also learnt other, non-technical and even non-cricket-related things about himself. “You learn more as a person. You get to know yourself a little bit more when you have to do your own washing. Back home, we are fortunate, because we don’t have to do that. When you are in England, you have to do your own washing. As a person you learn; as a player, you grow.”Elgar’s personal development has also brought him to the realisation that South Africa need him for more than just runs. In their current “building phase”, the team is relying on him, captain Faf du Plessis and wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock to be mentors. And all three made significant contributions to South Africa’s first innings.Faf du Plessis acknowledges the applause on reaching fifty•BCCI

“We’ve lost quite a few senior heads and our side needs some leadership and a few old faces to stand up because we’ve got some young faces here.” Elgar said.Despite all this effort, South Africa still face the possibility of not being able to save the Test. They will have to bat last, on a surface that will deteriorate and will need the younger players, as well as the seniors, to stand up again. Whatever happens though, Elgar is hopeful that South Africa can be a world-beating force again and asked the fans to keep the faith.”We’ve got some experienced heads who have played a lot of domestic cricket back home and they know the environment and then you’ve got a lot of young guys who are immensely talented. They need time to grow and they are going to fail. That’s a foregone conclusion that young guys are going to fail but it’s how you as a senior group allow them to fail and allow them to grow.”I’d like to see things moving in the right direction. I’d like to see today particularly as having a huge influence within our structure and within our squad and I know the young guys will always feed off the energy that the older guys are giving off. I’d like to see today as being an inspirational day and hopefully, we can build on it.”

About six dozen balls will be supplied by SG to BCCI considering both India and Bangladesh would want to start training with the ball

Nagraj Gollapudi30-Oct-2019The SG pink ball is set to debut when India and Bangladesh play their maiden day-night Test at Eden Gardens in Kolkata in November. Immediately after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had accepted the BCCI’s request on Tuesday to play the second Test of the Bangladesh series under lights, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said that the SG pink ball would be used for the match, as the first Test of the series would be played with the SG red ball, in Indore.”Hopefully SG because the first match will be with SG so the second Test will also have to be with SG,” Ganguly told on Tuesday.Although majority of players from both India and Bangladesh have not played with the pink ball, both boards have said the Eden Test was a positive development, with Ganguly calling it the beginning of “something special” and a “huge step forward” for Indian cricket.Despite using the SG red ball in first-class cricket, the BCCI stuck to Kookaburra when it came to pink-ball cricket in the domestic circuit in the last few years. The first experiment with the pink ball was tried out by Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) when Ganguly was the president. In 2016 the Duleep Trophy was played with the Kookaburra pink ball too.Asked why the BCCI did not want to use the Kookaburra pink ball for the Test, Ganguly said two different makes in one series was not permitted. “No, it can’t be because the series has to be played with same ball. It can’t be two different balls in the same series.”ESPNcricinfo understands the BCCI has placed an order with SG for the pink balls to be sent over by November 6, with the Test set to begin on November 22. About six dozen balls will be supplied by SG to BCCI considering both India and Bangladesh would want to start training with the ball at the earliest opportunity.Paras Anand, marketing director at SG, confirmed the BCCI order. “We have to send the balls by November 6,” Anand told ESPNcricinfo. “They asked us if we were prepared to supply the pink balls on time. And whether we could get the pink ball as close to the red ball used in Test matches in India.”Anand admitted about being anxious, but he was confident about the SG pink ball withstanding the weather and ground conditions, after having tested it in-house extensively. “We have been working on the pink ball for almost three years now. And we have tested the ball for the longer format, if it can last 80 overs,” he said. “The ball has been put under a tremendous amount of stress and the results have been pretty good. We tried to simulate the match conditions to check on the colour, the shape, the seam, the core of the ball.”Suresh Raina tosses the pink ball to Ashok Dinda during the 2016-17 Duleep Trophy•AFP

Most of the Indian domestic players had given a thumbs down to the Kookaburra pink, which they said mostly favoured batsmen as the seam softened too quickly, with fast bowlers barely managing to impart swing – conventional or reverse.Even the SG ball drew flak last year during the home series against West Indies, when India captain Virat Kohli said the red ball gets scuffed up too early, barely after five overs. However, Anand said SG has since worked extensively on the ball after receiving first-hand feedback from Indian players.ALSO READ: Questions facing the first day-night Test in India Anand and his team has met the likes of R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Cheteshwar Pujara to understand the challenges they faced with the ball. “In the last 12 months, we have really worked hard on the seam of the ball. The players told us how the SG seam was a lot more prominent in the past. So our focus again for the pink ball has been on the seam. We are trying to ensure the seam is good enough even if it is, say, 75 overs old both spinners and seamers can grip.”One reason why Anand is confident the pink ball will swing is because the seam on the SG red ball in India’s home series against South Africa remained firm, aiding the fast bowlers, especially Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav. “You saw how good they were. It had to do with both the seam of the ball being good and how good they were at preparing at the ball. We are confident they will be able to extract more swing from SG pink.”The biggest challenge for the ball manufacturers in Indian conditions is the lacquer on the pink ball, which is lost swiftly. Jaydev Unadkat, the Saurashtra and India fast bowler who has played in the Duleep Trophy under lights for two years, said the pink Kookaburra lost its sheen quickly and the ball became greyish.Anand conceded that, in fact, was the challenge, but said the key for the ball to retain its polish is to have favourable ground conditions. By that, he meant a good grass cover – not just the pitch, but the outfield, too. “The processes have changed drastically. Previously the ball would get dark quickly. But now we are confident that the ball will keep its shine for a long time. But we need support from the ground conditions. If the conditions are good the top surface of the ball – the area which has the lacquer – will not be damaged.”Anand said that he would be present at Eden Gardens for the Test and will keep his fingers crossed over the dew factor, which he said remained the biggest challenge for a ball regardless of its colour. Although the match timings for the day-night Test in Kolkata are yet to be announced, it is likely the BCCI will advance it by at least an hour. Generally day-night matches have started in India at 1.30pm, but to counter the dew, the match might start earlier.Ganguly was confident the dew would be dealt with, while Anand was hopeful it would have the least impact. “We will make sure there’s no dew. After all, day-night one-dayers are played here. There’s this dew treatment spray and all. Nothing will happen,” Ganguly told .”The colour, the seam, the hardness of the ball as compared to the red ball is pretty much manageable,” Anand said. “It is just the dew because it will have an impact on the (pink ball’s) performance.”