Stuart Robertson, the ECB marketing man who devised Twenty20, speaks to Andrew McGlashan

Andrew McGlashan13-Sep-2007

The first ICC World Twenty20 is a satisfying time for Stuart Robertson. Back in 2000, as the head marketing man at the ECB, Robertson was set the daunting task of trying to bring more people through the gates to watch English domestic cricket. Test matches and one-day internationals were routinely sold out, even when England weren’t winning, but county matches really were for one man and his dog.The idea he came up with is what we now know as the Twenty20 game. Seven years and 9000 km later, the Wanderers, Newlands and Kingsmead are guaranteed sell-outs to watch some of the biggest names in cricket at the first world championship in the new format.”The key is, it’s such a simple format,” Robertson, who now works for Hampshire, told Cricinfo. “It’s not rocket science and that’s the beauty of it. I wasn’t surprised how quickly the game took off in England, but the international growth was a bit more unexpected, especially the pace at which other countries introduced it into their fixtures.”Twenty20 made its debut in the 2003 English season, and that winter South Africa introduced Pro20. Two years later Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka all made room in their domestic calendars for a competition. Since then, New Zealand have also joined in, while Stanford 20/20 sparked popular interest in the Caribbean and has now been incorporated into the official WICB season. Even India, who have a stubborn love-affair with the 50-over game, yielded to pressure and played a domestic Twenty20 tournament last year, although the reception was lukewarm. Cracking that market remains the game’s major challenge.”The data we had was fairly black and white,” said Robertson. “Across the board, attendances were down 20 per cent over five years when the project began in 2000-01. My job was to put together a report, looking in detail at how to bring people back through the gates, but importantly, doing it from a consumer perspective. There had been plenty of committees set up to look at the issue in the past, but they’d involved former players and county chairmen whose findings were not always in the spectators’ interests.

“We looked at why people weren’t coming to the games and there was a key theme: accessibility. This was a physical reason – the timings of the matches; people at work couldn’t get to the games during the day. But there was a cultural, social aspect as well. A lot of people said: ‘I thought you had to be a member to go a game.'”Robertson and his team identified key groups of people who were barely registering in the county game; women, the 16-35 age group, and young families with children. “We needed a product that would be attractive to them, and asked if there was a game that took less than three hours, would they come to that? The overwhelming response was that they would, so we went back to the counties and in 2001 it went to a vote of the First Class Forum. It was passed 11-7 in favour and that was the start of Twenty20.”It wasn’t a faultless progression from idea to inception. As the voting suggests, the format didn’t gain wholehearted support, although Robertson was confident from the outset that the early misgivings could be overcome. “There was scepticism before and after the start of the tournament, but the great thing was that once it got off the ground, everyone got behind it. Even those who voted against the proposal initially didn’t stand back and say they wouldn’t embrace it.”The advantage was that virtually all the commercial and marketing men
could see the potential that Twenty20 had, but it was the chairmen – brought up in slightly different eras – who offered the early obstacles. Once Twenty20 was voted in, the marketing men could hardly wait to get working on it.”

It wasn’t only off the field that Twenty20 found itself struggling for recognition. During its first season, players didn’t quite know what to make of it, having been brought up on a diet of 50-over and four-day cricket. “From the playing side there was certainly a feeling in the first year that it was a bit of hit-and-giggle, and a few teams didn’t take it seriously,” said Robertson. “I spent a lot of time speaking and giving presentations on it through the PCA [Professional Cricketers’ Association] and slowly the mood changed.”Sometimes the early misgivings actually came from the international players who were used to playing in front of full houses and weren’t sure it could be replicated on the domestic level. But for the young, upcoming players performing in front of six or seven thousand people it was a totally new experience. It’s what being a professional sportsman was all about.”The question now is, how far can Twenty20 go? The ICC has put a limit on the number of international matches in a year and Robertson agrees the current level “is just about right” with a match or two against each touring side, and the World Cup. But he doesn’t support the view that there’s a danger of overload, especially at domestic level. “It’s been such a success. Why shouldn’t there be more of it? In England I certainly think there is scope for a tournament to run throughout the season, maybe on Friday nights, rather than just the two-week period in midsummer.”One enticing prospect is the idea of a Champions League-style Twenty20 league where the top domestic teams from each country play each other. “It certainly would be interesting,” said Robertson. It might sound slightly far-fetched at the moment, but so did the ICC World Twenty20 five years ago.

Before going away to work on the latest phase of his rehabilitation, Sachin Tendulkar spoke about the realities of aging, combating injury and coming back with desire for the game undimmed

Dileep Premachandran01-Jun-2006

Despite his best efforts, Tendulkar couldn’t be ready for a Caribbean swansong © Getty Images
Despite his best efforts, Sachin Tendulkar couldn’t make the tour of the Caribbean. The recovery from shoulder surgery has taken slightly longer than expected and Tendulkar now hopes to be in fighting trim for the start of the new season in August. Before going away to work on the latest phase of his rehabilitation, he spoke to Cricinfo Magazine about the realities of aging, combating injury and coming back with desire for the game undimmed.The last two seasons have seen gremlins creep into the machine. A tennis elbow problem and the shoulder tear haven’t helped – “It’s not like a fracture where you know it’ll heal in four weeks,” he says – and doubt, the performer’s greatest enemy, has crept in. “It’s not easy to forget the injuries,” he says. “There are times when you spend some time in the middle and the body complains. That’s when you need to hold back a bit and take it easy for a couple of practice sessions.”A rigorous training regime wasn’t enough to convince the physicians, or himself, that he was ready for the West Indies. Such disappointments have recently become commonplace, and Tendulkar is the first to admit so: “Your thought process changes. When you have a fit body, you think differently, but when you’re not 100% fit, or you’ve just overcome an injury, then your mind works differently. Thinking is everything in this game. It’s hard to express what it’s like, but there have been sleepless nights, there have been days full of frustration where you just want to get back in action but the body doesn’t cooperate even if your mind is ready to go out there and do it. You have to be sharp enough to pick up those signals.”On the matter of thinking, he has the right man by his side. “Greg Chappell was a top cricketer, one of the best to have played this game,” he says, when asked whether the coach has helped him through the lean times. “He understands the game very well. It’s important to have someone around who’s played a lot of cricket at the highest level. Technically, to a certain extent, one can progress, but mentally you can get better each time you go out into the middle. That’s where Greg chips in. It’s the thinking of someone who’s played and seen this game for over 40 years now. He understands the highs and the lows and he himself has experienced it.”Tendulkar smiles when asked how the ravages of time have changed both the man and his game. “I’ve never understood that aspect of the criticism,” he says quietly. “Change is part of our lives, and as you get older, you try to reach your destination in safer ways. “Let me give you a small example. Earlier when I used to hit the ball in the air and get out, people used to say, `Why can’t you play all along the ground? It’s simple. You don’t need to hit the ball in the air.’ Now, when I play all along the ground, people say: `Why don’t you hit the ball in the air nowadays?’ Basically, people are not satisfied with what one does.”He insists, however, that when body and mind are in perfect sync, he’s still capable of innings like the 114 in Perth [January 1992] that evoked so much awe all those years ago. “See the innings I played against Pakistan at the [2003] World Cup, and also Lahore [third one-day international, February 2006]. At Lahore, the first few overs, when the ball was doing a lot, I had to occasionally hold myself back – wait for an opportunity, or sometimes create chances. You’re obviously working on the bowler’s mind when you counter-attack. I have played a few innings like that.”It’s hard to express what it’s like, but there have been sleepless nights, there have been days full of frustration where you just want to get back in action but the body doesn’t cooperate even if your mind is ready to go out there and do itBefore injury ruled him out of the one-day series against England, he had played his part in India’s remarkable revival in the one-day game, and he has nothing but praise for the new faces, and the established ones that have taken their game to another level. “It’s a good blend,” he says. “It has worked wonderfully and the balance is just about right.”The newer crop is talented, and they’re match-winners. Even the bowlers – Munaf [Patel] has done well; Sreesanth has been quite consistent; and Irfan’s been around now for three years. He’s been delivering quite consistently with both bat and ball. When the batting hasn’t been up to expectations, the bowlers have made it a point to bowl some wonderful spells, and vice versa. We’ve got players who are fit and raring to go, with brilliant attitudes. With Chappell around, it’s a perfect combination.”And though he refuses to look too far ahead, nothing would please him more than World-Cup redemption after the disasters that were the 2003 final and the 1996 semi-final. “In retrospect, you feel that we could have done things differently,” he says. “But at that moment, you go out there to do what you feel is the right thing to do then.”I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself thinking about the next World Cup. It would be a dream come true if we can pull it off, but there are plenty of steps on the ladder and we can’t get carried away by emotion.”

Tamil Nadu’s relatively inexperienced line-up was out-thought by Mumbai’s bowlers and out-batted by their batsmen

Kanishkaa Balachandran in Chennai17-Nov-2007

Tamil Nadu’s batsmen could have learnt from Abhishek Nayar’s counter-attacking 105 on Friday © Cricinfo Ltd
The result, an eight-wicket win, was predictable. Mumbai, the defending champions, were searching for their opening victory of the season; a young Tamil Nadu side was trying to establish an identity for themselves after an exodus of senior players. It wasn’t much of a contest: Mumbai spotted a weakness – the batting – within the first session and chipped away at that, inducing mistakes rather than walking away with gimmes.It was a good toss to win for captain S Badrinath but, as he and the coach, WV Raman, later admitted, the game was all but lost after the first hour. The first ball after the first drinks break saw a wicket fall and two more followed in quick succession. One of those was Badrinath, the team’s most consistent batsman and one on the fringes of national selection, who chopped one onto his stumps without opening his account.Despite chanceless half centuries from Dinesh Karthik and R Srinivasan, Tamil Nadu were shot out for 206 before stumps on day one. It’s easy to blame devils – real or otherwise – in the pitch and it was two-paced but, refreshingly, Badrinath and Raman didn’t go down that road. “We simply didn’t take advantage of the toss,” Raman told Cricinfo after the match. “It was the same pitch for both sides. Mumbai just made fewer mistakes.”What, then, caused Tamil Nadu to fold up for 206 and 214? One observation was that the batsmen at times failed to cover the line of the ball quickly enough, not knowing when the ball would suddenly shoot low. When sound technique was needed, Mumbai’s batsmen rose to the task on more occasions, covering the line and defending off the meat of the bat, the sound of leather hitting willow reverberating across the ground. Even defensive strokes were met with cheers and claps from the players’ tent, and it clearly wasn’t meant for fun.Of the 20 Tamil Nadu wickets that fell, seven were out bowled, and five of those were in the second innings, with the side under pressure to wipe out the deficit and build a substantial lead. Ajit Agarkar got one to sneak between bat and pad on the second ball of the third morning, and Aavishkar Salvi hit the timber in all his three dismissals in the second innings. Badrinath dragged one onto his stumps playing away from his body, R Srinivasan didn’t get his foot across to cover the inswing while K Vasudevadas paid the price for not knowing where his off stump was. Mumbai, by contrast, lost just two wickets in the same manner.The chief wrecker in both innings was Powar with match figures of 9 for 123 and it was clear the home team’s batsmen had problems tackling his slow and canny offspinners. Too rarely did the batsmen get adventurous and use their feet against him. Srinivasan survived a few nervy moments and close shouts for leg-before, attempting back-foot strokes. They could have followed the example of the young R Ashwin, whose willingness to get a good stride forward helped counter Powar’s spin. Abhishek Nayar’s aggressive 105 was the best example of how to counter-attack the conditions. His unusually wide stance helped him get to the pitch of the ball and cart it over the infield.Perhaps it’s hard to expect too much out of a young side, with a few pushed into the big league earlier than expected. Raman spoke of the happy dressing-room atmosphere and a few younger players, in turn, spoke about his positive influence. As Raman put it, with a young side, the only way, is up.

A calm dressing room environment is making the finisher play better

Hemant Brar18-Jun-20224:29

Steyn: Karthik will be among the first names in India’s T20 World Cup squad

Certain statistics in cricket feel straight out of , and Friday produced not one but two of those. First, England posted nearly 500 in a 50-over game in Amstelveen. Then, in Rajkot, Dinesh Karthik scored his maiden T20I half-century – more than 15 years after making his debut in the format.When Karthik made his debut, in what was also India’s first T20I outing, he was playing with a different generation of players. For instance, Graeme Smith, who was the opposition captain in that match, was one of the commentators for Friday’s game. Charl Langeveldt, who picked up 2 for 20 then, is now South Africa’s bowling coach.But Karthik got to play only 34 T20Is in the intervening years, and there was a seven-year period from 2010 to 2017 when he didn’t play a single T20I for India. That’s because he was a second-choice wicketkeeper behind MS Dhoni during this time, and wasn’t always deemed good enough to play as a pure batter.But over the years, the format has evolved so much that there are opportunities for super-specialists. And in the last few months, Karthik has emerged as one in closing a T20 innings. He has taken his finishing skills to such a level, as he showed during IPL 2022, that India’s team management had to make space for him in the playing XI.India probably plan to use him mainly in the last five overs of the innings. Therefore, in the second T20I of this series, when they lost their fourth wicket in the 13th over, Axar Patel walked in ahead of Karthik. The move, though, didn’t prove as successful, with Axar consuming 11 balls for his ten runs.In Rajkot too India’s fourth wicket fell in the 13th over. But the pitch was playing a few tricks. It was slightly on the slower side, because of which the ball was not coming onto the bat easily. Then there was uneven bounce to deal with. Anrich Nortje’s first ball in the ninth over scooted underneath Hardik Pandya’s bat; the fifth stung Rishabh Pant on the gloves.Perhaps considering all that, India decided to send Karthik, and not Axar, at No. 6. Hardik told him straightway to take his time as it was much easier to score once set. He took four balls to open his account, and was on 6 off 8 at one point. But that allowed him to assess the conditions and settle down.Dinesh Karthik infused the much-needed impetus to India’s innings•BCCIWith five overs left in the innings, Temba Bavuma brought Nortje back into the attack. By this time, the game had entered Karthik’s territory. He skipped down the track and smashed him over mid-off. Two balls later, he cut him in front of point for another four.From the other end, he swept, drove and reverse-pulled Keshav Maharaj for three more boundaries. “He scores in very unorthodox areas, which makes him difficult to bowl to,” the left-arm spinner would say later.Dwaine Pretorius had conceded only nine off his first two overs. But now he was up against a rampaging Karthik, who stood deep inside his crease and shuffled across to hit 6, 4, 4 off the seamer in successive deliveries. With another six off Pretorius on the first ball of the 20th over, Karthik raised his half-century.When Pant had got out, leaving India 81 for 4 in 12.5 overs, ESPNcricinfo’s Forecaster predicted a total of 149. But Karthik’s 27-ball 55 lifted them to 169 for 6, which turned out to be almost double of what South Africa could manage.Since the start of IPL 2022, on more than one occasion Karthik has spoken about how he has worked hard with his coach behind the scenes. All that work, he says, has allowed him to assess situations better and play accordingly. But after Friday’s game, he also talked about how the atmosphere in India’s dressing room has been of great help.”I am feeling very secure in this set-up,” he said at the post-match presentation. “In the last game, things didn’t go exactly according to the plan for me [Karthik was out for 6 off 8], but the way I felt in the dressing room post the game was very comforting. Right now, the dressing room is a very safe, secure place. It feels warm, it feels fuzzy when things go well, and it feels the same when they don’t go as well. There is a certain sense of calmness.”Rahul [Dravid, India’s coach] has been very clear about how we should approach the series. I don’t think he has been saying we should beat South Africa. What he has been saying is what he expects batters and bowlers to do. I think that clarity is very, very important.”After his IPL exploits, Karthik forced his way into the Indian side. Now, he is strengthening his case for inclusion in the T20 World Cup squad as well.

Tasmania have demolished Western Australia by an innings in two-and-a-half days to boost their chances of making the Sheffield Shield final

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Feb-2018Tasmania 9 for 431 (Wade 139, Milenko 78, Guthrie 3-103) beat Western Australia 67 (Rogers 4-9) & 277 (Turner 81, Philippe 74, Rogers 3-46) by an innings and 87 runs
ScorecardAlastair Cook was dismissed for 32 by Simon Milenko•Getty Images

Tasmania have demolished Western Australia by an innings in two-and-a-half days to boost their chances of making the Sheffield Shield final.The Tigers needed just five more wickets on day three and took just 21.1 overs to complete the rout. Simon Milenko and Thomas Rogers cleaned up the tail to finish with three wickets each after Ashton Turner (81 off 94 balls) and Josh Inglis (30 off 64) provided some resistance with a brisk 109-run partnership.Both men fell to Milenko in the space of nine balls as the fast bowler completed a fine match taking four wickets across two innings to go with his vital 78 with the bat.Rogers finished with seven wickets for the match and contributed 48 in the Tigers first innings. But Matthew Wade was a worthy Man of the Match. He added six catches behind the stumps to his first-innings century.

This season’s eliminator and second qualifier will be played at the MCA Stadium in Pune on May 23 and 25

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Mar-2018

The IPL governing council has decided to allot two of this season’s playoff matches – the Eliminator and second Qualifier – to the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) in Pune. The games will be played at the MCA stadium in Gahunje on May 23 and 25.”For the play-off, there was a suggestion that since Rising Pune Supergiant (now defunct) were the runners-up last time, we should give first priority to Pune,” IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla said after a governing council meeting on Friday. “If the stadium and the wicket is ready, the first priority would be given to Pune, if not, then we will consider Kolkata for the playoffs.”The eliminator and the second qualifier are usually held at the home venue of the previous-season’s runners-up, and by this logic Pune would have got the two games anyway. However, Rising Pune Supergiant, who lost last season’s final to Mumbai Indians, are no longer part of the tournament. Other state associations, including those of Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, had been pushing to host the games, and in a move to eliminate rival states from staking claim, MCA president Abhay Apte had sent an email to Shukla, stressing the “unwritten rule” that the previous year’s runners-up host the playoff games.

Captain Shoaib Malik plays the finishers’ role to perfection as defending champions Peshawar left to rue lack of runs in tournament opener

The Report by Danyal Rasool22-Feb-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
In a nutshell
The absence of enough power hitters may have been a concern for Multan Sultans, but they kicked off their campaign with a chase ideally suited to their line-up.The 152-run target was clinically chased down courtesy a typically composed half-century by Kumar Sangakkara and an unbeaten 42 from the captain Shoaib Malik. Defending champions Peshawar Zalmi didn’t bowl badly, but they simply didn’t have enough runs on a greener, faster strip than is not commonly associated with the UAE.Darren Sammy’s men began shakily, thanks to a brilliant opening spell by Sohail Tanvir, who swung the ball in sharply. He was expertly backed up by Mohammad Irfan.Irfan’s extra bounce proved particularly troubling for last year’s leading run-scorer Kamran Akmal, who fell for a duck attempting to pull cross the line. A half-century from Mohammad Hafeez kept the innings together, while supporting roles from Dwayne Smith and Haris Sohail helped Zalmi regroup even though their run rate was always a concern. Sammy’s 29 off 11 balls helped them get past 150, but in the end, it was the early sluggishness that they were left to bemoan.Where the match was won
With Sultans needing 38 off four overs, the game was in the balance. Wahab Riaz had one over left while specialist death bowler Chris Jordan had two. This meant at least one over would be bowled by someone who Sammy ideally didn’t want at the end. The scenario placed even more pressure on Wahab and Jordan to nail their three overs to give the other bowler enough runs to play with. But Jordan’s over went 12, thanks to some sloppy fielding and a fortuitous outside edge off Pollard’s bat. Wahab too ended up conceding 11 in his subsequent over, thanks again to some poor fielding at the boundary. By the time it came to final over, Hammad Azam had just six runs to defend. Malik put paid to any thoughts he might have harboured of being an unlikely hero by smashing the first ball for six to seal the deal.The men that won it
The headlines may go to the batsmen but Sultans’ task had been made significantly easier by their savvy quick bowlers in the first half. Every one of Tanvir, Irfan, Junaid Khan and Hardus Viljoen were in complete control. Barring one big Tanvir over at the death, the batsmen struggled to spot a weak link in this quartet, reduced instead to slogging away at Imran Tahir, never an ideal prospect. They complemented each other’s strengths like a proper bowling unit, Tanvir’s and Junaid’s swing, Irfan’s bounce and Viljoen’s accuracy combining to suffocate the opposition. It was the bowling, not the surface, that was responsible for Zalmi managing only 151, which, as Sultans were later able to demonstrate, was somewhat below par. Sammy suggested at the presentation that they were “about ten runs short”.Acing the reviews
We all saw Sammy take a selfie without a smartphone last year, and it appears his side’s invisible digital skills extend to mastering HawkEye, too. The DRS, new to the PSL this year, was thrust into the spotlight as early as the second over when Tamim Iqbal was given out caught behind. The Bangladesh opener reviewed instantly, with the replays showing the ball had missed the bat by some margin. A few overs later, Dwayne Smith was given lbw off an Imran Tahir wrong ‘un, and though it looked out at full speed, the batsman called for a second eye again. The ball was found to be sailing well over the stumps. The DRS had been given an early workout, and first blood had gone to the players.Where they stand
Sultans are table toppers, understandably, but will need to show the same intensity less than 24 hours later as they come back to play the second game on Friday evening. Zalmi have a day to recover.

South Africa will be buoyed by the availability of No. 1 Test bowler Kagiso Rabada while Australia hope to have Mitchells Starc and Marsh fit

The Preview by Brydon Coverdale21-Mar-2018Big PictureTwo pieces of news regarding Kagiso Rabada have emerged since the Port Elizabeth Test. One is that he is free to play in Cape Town, courtesy of a partially successful appeal against his Code of Conduct charge for brushing his shoulder against Steven Smith. If you’re reading this preview then it’s safe to assume there is no possible way you have missed that news.The other tit-bit, though, may have passed you by. And that is that Rabada has regained the No. 1 Test bowling ranking from James Anderson, thanks to his 11 wickets at St George’s Park. Rabada has been the stand-out bowler in the series so far, and it is possible that his successful appeal will be the deciding factor in the campaign. It is premature to say that he is free to play the remainder of the series – he remains perched on seven demerit points, so even a minor charge in Cape Town could see him suspended for the final Test – but it is notable that he has 19 wickets at 21.00 from his three previous Tests at Newlands. One more good Test there could be enough for South Africa to take an unbeatable 2-1 lead.But of course this Test is not all about Rabada. Several other factors are at play in Cape Town, and few of them favour Australia. Even if Rabada doesn’t fire at Newlands, there is still the small matter of Vernon Philander, whose record there is even more imposing. Philander has piled up 47 Test wickets at 16.34 in Cape Town, where the conditions suit his seaming and swinging style. Australia know this all too well, because when they were humiliated and bowled out for 47 at the venue, Philander took 5 for 15. They must also find a way past the defences of AB de Villiers, whose hundred in Port Elizabeth was one of his best. By contrast, Australia’s batsmen have so far failed to score a single century in this series, and unless they can turn that trend around it is difficult to see them halting South Africa’s momentum. They can at least take heart from the fact that when they last played a Test at Newlands, David Warner scored a hundred in each innings.Whatever happens in Cape Town, this has already been a compelling series, and not always for the right reasons. There has been an undeniable tension between the two sides, from send-offs to sledges to shoulder bumps to stairwell argy-bargy. Don’t expect a nine-day break between Tests to have cooled things down at all.Faf du Plessis and Kagiso Rabada at a training session•Getty Images

Form guideSouth Africa WLLWW (last five matches, most recent first)
Australia LWWDWIn the spotlightAB de Villiers was unlucky not to be named Man of the Match in Port Elizabeth. Rabada’s 11-wicket haul was unquestionably outstanding, but in a Test where nobody else seemed to find batting easy, de Villiers looked as if he was playing another game entirely. His unbeaten 126 from 146 balls in the first innings changed the match. It was his first Test hundred in more than three years, and if there was any question as to how he would return after missing most of 2016 and 2017, that innings alone was an emphatic answer.After taking nine wickets in the first Test in Durban, Mitchell Starc could only manage match figures of 1 for 125 in Port Elizabeth, and the possibility of extra grass on the pitch at Newlands could make it challenging for him to find reverse swing. Starc struggled with a calf problem after the second Test but is expected to take his place in Cape Town, and Australia desperately need him back to his best if they are to prevent South Africa getting away.Team newsTemba Bavuma has recovered from injury and is likely to replace Theunis de Bruyn, while there is also a question surrounding Lungi Ngidi and a possible toe injury, which could bring Morne Morkel back into the mix.South Africa: (possible) 1 Dean Elgar, 2 Aiden Markram, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 AB de Villiers, 5 Faf du Plessis (capt), 6 Temba Bavuma, 7 Quinton de Kock (wk), 8 Vernon Philander, 9 Keshav Maharaj, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Morne Morkel/Lungi Ngidi.Starc and Mitchell Marsh both had injury niggles after the second Test, but the long break between matches is believed to have allowed them sufficient recovery time, and an unchanged line-up appears likely.Australia: (possible) 1 Cameron Bancroft, 2 David Warner, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 Steven Smith (capt), 5 Shaun Marsh, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Tim Paine (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Pat Cummins, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Nathan Lyon.Pitch and conditionsThere is expected to be some grass on the Cape Town pitch, which may play slow and low. The forecast for the match is mostly fine.Stats and trivia Australia’s two most recent Cape Town Tests could hardly have been any more different: in 2011, they were bowled out for 47 and beaten comfortably, but in 2014 they piled up 494 and 303, and emerged victorious. Steven Smith has now gone three Tests without a hundred, a significant drought by his lofty standards. Last time he played three consecutive Tests without making a century was against South Africa in 2016. Rabada is currently sitting on 902 ratings points on the ICC Test bowling rankings, the 20th highest rating by any bowler in Test history. The highest rating of all time was the 932 retrospectively calculated for England’s Sydney Barnes in 1914.Quotes”It’s important for me to make runs. Forget the captaincy, I always say you need to score runs – that’s the most important job for any player or any captain or leader.”
“I feel really good. My hit today was the best for six months.”

A victory in the opening match of the Championship season will inevitably have supporters quietly asking themselves if this could be the year

George Dobell at Taunton22-Apr-20182:57

Defending champions Essex off the mark

ScorecardExperience should have taught Somerset supporters better. Years of near misses have tempered expectations at Taunton and they remain, painfully, one of just three of the first-class counties never to have won the County Championship title. Northamptonshire and Gloucestershire are the other two.They’ve been second a few times. Including, in 2010, when they finished on the same number of points as the winners (Nottinghamshire) but missed out on the basis of having won fewer games. A period in which they were second so often in so many different competitions that it led to a sense of fatalistic acceptance. Such experiences tend to leave scars.And yet… somehow, at this time of year, the hope like the sap rises. A victory in the opening match of the Championship season – the first time they have managed that since 2012 – will inevitably have supporters quietly asking themselves – in weak moments and against their better judgement – if this could be the year. Not many, not even the most fervent supporters of other clubs, would begrudge them.There were encouraging signs here, certainly. It must have been some time since Somerset won a home again without their spinners taking a wicket. Or, indeed, bowling until 39 wickets had already fallen in the match. They have several skilful seamers who, in this second innings in particular, harnessed the conditions very well. Matt Renshaw, too, settled in quickly and may prove to be an astute overseas signing. They have now won three in a row at home.But Somerset will know that life is going to get much harder. Worcestershire, for all the all-round excellence of Ed Barnard, produced two flimsy displays with the bat – Tom Fell has not scored a half-century in any form of the game since September 2016, Brett D’Oliveira has scored 10 in four Championship innings so far this season and George Rhodes has two runs in his last three innings – and dropped several chances. Crucially, James Hildreth was put down twice in each innings.And Somerset will know that, against more resolute opposition, their own frailties may be exploited. Their batting, to some extent masked in this match by Renshaw’s resilience and Hildreth taking his chances so well, remains a concern, while Marcus Trescothick is starting to become a bit of a worry at slip. He put down two chances in Worcestershire’s second innings and might have been a touch slow to go for a couple that might be termed half-chances. When you’re aged 42, people will start to ask questions though it is true that slip fielders of all ages drop chances.There was just a touch of controversy at the end of the match. Steve Magoffin, clearly struggling with a hamstring injury, failed to make his ground when attempting a second run and was beaten by Renshaw’s throw from the cover boundary in front of the Caddick Pavilion. Those close to that boundary – and the dressing rooms of both sides overlook it – insisted that one foot was over the rope when he intercepted the ball leaving Joe Leach, the Worcestershire captain, to politely but clearly remonstrate with the umpires.To be fair to Renshaw, who as a replacement for Cameron Bancroft must be desperate to avoid any negative publicity, he might not have known his foot had crossed the rope. There was no way the umpires or most of those in the crowd could tell, though those close to the incident seemed pretty certain. As a local wag put it: “He was so far over, he was in bloody Dorset.”Leach was pretty philosophical about it. He accepted Worcestershire’s fielding was more relevant to this result than Renshaw’s but frustrated that, for all the glimpses of quality his side have shown in their first two games, they have lost two from two and find themselves already a little off the pace”As we lost by more than 80 runs, the run-out probably wouldn’t have made any difference,” he admitted. “But there have been big last-wicket partnerships and you never know.”In the end our fielding has cost us the game. We’ve let ourselves down. I don’t know how many catches we dropped, but it was too many, and if you drop six or seven chances you’re going to struggle. In both our opening games we have had periods of control and I have no doubts about our ability to compete in the First Division as the season progresses.”Not for a moment did it appear Worcestershire would chase down their target of 279. Lewis Gregory claimed two wickets in his opening spell, Travis Head flashed at one off the back foot and, while Barnard added 74 for the last two wickets, it always looked likely to be too little, too late.Gregory bowled beautifully in that first spell. Having sneaked one through the gap between Daryl Mitchell’s bat and pad to knock out both off and middle stumps, he set up Joe Clarke with a series of outswingers and trapped him with one that tailed back just a little.He later denied any knowledge of an approach from another club, though Jason Kerr – Somerset’s head coach – admitted it was “inevitable” and confirmed Gregory had been offered a new contract at Somerset. “He wants some time to think about it and that’s okay,” Kerr said. “We’re in discussions.”Somerset, meanwhile, are awaiting news of scans on Jamie Overton and Eddie Byrom, who dislocated his shoulder while fielding.It will be no consolation to Worcestershire, but this match was, in many ways, the perfect antidote to news from elsewhere in the game over recent days. To see two teams stuffed with home-grown players – there were nine in the Worcestershire side and six in Somerset’s – contesting an entertaining match in front of a good number of spectators (more than 5,000 over the three days) was heartening.For those of us who aren’t entirely sure what a Kardashian is, don’t recognise who the ‘celebrities’ entering the jungle are and don’t much care whether they leave it or not, it was a reminder that this great game doesn’t need too many gimmicks to retain its charm or value. If only those that run our sport believed in it as much as those that watch it.

The fast bowler has recovered from the heel injury that has kept him out since the New Year’s Test against India, but will not get any chance to prove his fitness in a first-class game with the Titans leaving him out of their squad for the final fixture o

Firdose Moonda21-Mar-2018Dale Steyn’s chances of playing any part in the ongoing series against Australia have all but disappeared after he was not named in the Titans’ squad for the final fixture of the season, which starts on Thursday. Steyn, who has not played any cricket since injuring his heel in the New Year’s Test against India, has resumed bowling but needed to prove his fitness by playing in a first-class match. He was not ready to play in last week’s round of matches, and has been left out of the Titans squad.Before the series, selection convener Linda Zondi made clear that Steyn, who has suffered significant injuries in the last three years, needed to come through some domestic cricket before bidding for an international return. Faf du Plessis echoed those thoughts when discussing how quickly players should return to action after time on the sidelines.”With a bowler you’ve got to look at the individual,” du Plessis said. “Dale is obviously on the side and we have to be a little bit more cautious. He has been injured, so for him it’s probably a little bit more important to get back and play a game to see that he can bowl quite a few overs. When he gets through that he will obviously be back in the mix.”Should Steyn continue to be sidelined for this series, his next chance of playing international cricket will come in July-August when South Africa tour Sri Lanka. Before then, Steyn may look for a county stint after going unsold at the IPL auction. But there is still hope to see Steyn in action – he was given a new national contract, which will run until April 2019 – and he has expressed a desire to return to the highest level. Steyn is three wickets from overtaking Shaun Pollock as South Africa’s leading wicket-taker in Tests.