As part of their financial strategy overhaul, Zimbabwe Cricket has decided to not renew the contracts of “almost all” staff when it expires on August 31, 2018. The board has been going through a rough phase following a cash-crunch, and as a result, the players and staff haven’t been paid for a while.
With the ICC now helping them out by releasing funds, the player contracts will be reviewed and agreed upon next week, according to the board. “This strategic planning process is under way and needs to incorporate plans to ensure that the competitiveness and strength of domestic cricket and the high performance cricket pathway is at least maintained,” the board said in a statement.
“The domestic season will start in November and the staff complement required will by that time have been defined and agreed to suit the ZC cricket strategic direction,” they further added.
The board will now be hoping to have a full strength squad for their next series in South Africa, where they are scheduled to play three T20Is and as many ODIs. In the recently concluded ODI series against Pakistan and the T20I tri-series also involving Australia – both at home – Zimbabwe were without the services of some of their top players due to the non-payment of their salaries and match fees.
Australia’s talented top-order batsman Usman Khawaja has put in the hard yards, lost weight and raised his fitness levels ahead of Australia’s first Test assignment under new head coach Justin Langer – against Pakistan in October. Khawaja, who made his debut back in 2011 as an impressive 24-year-old, has endured an injury-riddled start-stop career worth just 33 Tests so far. Yet, in the current climate where Steve Smith and David Warner are unavailable due to suspensions, there’s an opportunity for the left-hander to further stamp his authority and retain his place in the top-order.
On his part, he’s making all the right moves and noises – including installing a gym inside his house. “I’ve dropped seven kilos since South Africa – I’m down to 77kg,” Khawaja told the Cricket Australia website in an interview. “I got just about 7:30 in my 2km time trial, which is a PB [personal-best]. I did jump testing the other day and I jumped higher than I have before. So all the markers have been better than I’ve had for at least the last five years.”
“I did it all on my own pretty much,” he said. “I had a month-and-a-half on my own (after South Africa) just doing fitness stuff, going to the gym. I had a space downstairs where I’ve set up my own gym now, I invested some money in that and it’s great. I can just walk downstairs now, do what I want to do.”
“I wanted to get fitter, lose a bit of weight and keep my strength. I’d found it a bit difficult in the past few years, especially after coming back from my (knee reconstruction), to get in the work. It’s always hard coming back from a major injury and it’s only the last 12 months I’ve felt in a good place again, ready to go a bit harder,” he said.
It is still early days to decipher what the new head coach thinks of Khawaja the all-format cricketer. The left-hander wasn’t happy to be left out of the ODI series against England – Langer’s first series on the job – and was quite publicly vocal about it.
“We [Langer and Khawaja] had long conversations. He knew I was disappointed. We had some really good chats. I know the expectations, and I know where I stand,” Khawaja reckoned.
Khawaja is also now part of the Australia A squad that will feature in two four-day games against India A – despite having played in each of Australia’s last eight Tests. He and Mitchell Marsh – who has featured in the last seven of Australia’s Test matches – are the only two senior side regulars partaking in the A tour.
“I’m not going into any game thinking ‘I have to score runs’ – I want to score runs in any game I play. For me, the main thing is if I’m still enjoying it, and at the moment I am. That’s been my mindset the last five, six years. ‘JL’ (Langer) is my fifth coach of Australia now. I’ve been through it all, I’ve seen a lot of different coaches, and I’ve been in and out of the team a lot – especially in my younger years. I’ve learnt to just realise there are some things you can’t control.
“Hopefully I can go out there and do really well in the ‘A’ stuff and the rest will take care of itself. But if I don’t, I know it’s not the end of the world.”
The weather-affected second unofficial Test between India A and South Africa A at Alur ended in a much expected draw, meaning India A won the two-match series 1-0 courtesy that thrilling penultimate-over victory at the Chinnaswamy Stadium last week.Starting the fourth day on 294 for 7 and threatening to sneak past India A’s first-innings total, South Africa A ended up conceding a narrow 26-run lead, thanks to the firepower of Mohammed Siraj, who ended up picking two of the three wickets to fall today (Monday August 13, 2018). Siraj, as a result, finished with four wickets in the innings, taking his series tally to 14 wickets across three innings. Ankit Rajpoot, coming in for Rajneesh Gurbani ended up with three in the innings.Batting for the second time, India A opener Prithvi Shaw fell early to Duanne Olivier, this time bowled, whereas the first-innings centurion Hanuma Vihari registered a duck, leg-before to the same bowler. Senuran Muthusamy bowled Mayank Agarwal to leave India A three down for 54 before an 86-run stand for the fourth wicket between Shreyas Iyer (65) and Ankit Bawne (64) stabilize the side. Bawne, who struck 80 in the first innings, impressed again, this time remaining unbeaten before bad weather forced early end of the match.Brief scores: India AÂ 345 (Hanuma Vihari 148, Ankit Bawne 80; Duanne Olivier 6-63) & 181/4 (Shreyas Iyer 65, Ankit Bawne 64*)Â drew with South Africa AÂ 319 (Zubayr Hamza 93, Sarel Erwee 58; Mohammad Siraj 4-72, Ankit Rajpoot 3-52).
Quinton de Kock, South Africa’s stand-in skipper, admitted that the visiting team’s batting line up didn’t pick Sri Lanka spinner Akila Dananjaya, who registered career-best figures of 6 for 29 to star in Sri Lanka’s win in the final ODI on Sunday (August 12). Crediting the 24-year-old spinner for ‘bamboozling’ the South African batsmen, de Kock also said the scorecard pressure got the better of the visitors.
“Dananjaya bowled really well. We have played him well in the whole series before coming up to this game. But I think tonight it was very difficult to pick him initially. He bowled really well. A guy with his skill is obviously looking to get his skills better. He performed really well and somehow just bamboozled us,” de Kock said in the post-match press conference.
South Africa weren’t under any pressure in the first two ODIs, with targets of 194 and 245 being achieved relatively comfortably, before they posted a massive 363 in the third ODI which set up their series-clinching win. However, Sri Lanka came back well in the last two games. The hosts scored 306 in the fourth ODI in which South Africa lost by a narrow margin, followed by a target of 300 in the fifth game which proved to be well beyond South Africa’s reach as Dananjaya weaved his magic to star in his team’s 178-run victory.
With the series already decided at the conclusion of the third ODI, de Kock said the Sri Lankan batsmen had a lot of freedom going into the last two matches, and hence were able to set challenging targets. “The first two games we didn’t really have the biggest targets to chase. In the last two games especially, the Sri Lankan batting line-up had a lot of freedom. So they put a lot of pressure on us. They set up big, challenging totals. We tried our best, especially the fourth ODI, I thought we batted really well but we just didn’t finish it at the end. But in tonight’s (Sunday’s game) Dananjaya bowled really well,” de Kock said.
Despite losses in the last two ODIs, de Kock said winning the series after being overwhelmed in the Test series earlier came as a big positive for South Africa. “To come to Sri Lanka and the sub-continent, it is always difficult to win series here. We saw in the Test matches, it was never easy for us. We came into the ODIs down, and winning the first few matches and the series is pleasing for us as a team. To do it in the first few matches is a big plus, it was never easy initially but we did it.”
South Africa also decided to rotate between Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi, with both being rested for a game apiece, which de Kock said was done with a view to try out the less experienced bowlers.
“Those two are high-class bowlers. They have been around for a while in Test matches and T20s as well. They are always looking to take wickets, they naturally take wickets and they strike upfront in all formats. That is why we have given some of the new guys like Junior (Dala) and the other seam bowlers a chance to learn how to take wickets and how to bowl in certain situations,” he said. “That is one positive we will take from the two matches. When you play the young guys there will always be mistakes made. As long as you learn from it going forward, that is all that matters.”
De Kock was also lavish in his praise of JP Duminy, who scored 227 runs at an average of 56.75 to walk away with the Man of the Series award. “JP has come into the series with a free mindset, it has worked well for him. He is also offloading that mindset onto the team, he is leading the boys well from a batting, bowling and fielding perspective, he is an all-round unit. It is great to have him with us in the mood that he is, he will be a big part of our team going forward,” de Kock concluded.
England have named an unchanged squad for the third Test against India at Trent Bridge, meaning Ben Stokes is likely to miss out even if he is found not guilty of affray at Bristol Crown Court this week. In a statement released alongside the squad announcement for the third Test, which begins on Saturday (August 18), the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) say an assessment will be made on Stokes’s availability once the trial has concluded.
Squad:Â Joe Root (c), Moeen Ali, Jimmy Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Sam Curran, Keaton Jennings, Ollie Pope, Jamie Porter, Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes
The national selectors met on Monday (August 13) after England wrapped up a comprehensive innings and 159-run win at Lord’s to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. Stokes, who played a key role in the first win at Edgbaston with figures of 4 for 40 in the second innings, was unavailable for the second Test because of the commencement of the case relating to the incident that took place in Bristol last September.After the closing speeches on Monday morning, the jury are expected to go out on Monday evening with a view to giving a verdict. A decision may only come later in the week. Once their decision is reached and the trial finishes, the Cricket Discipline Commission, independent of the ECB, will conduct their own hearing on Stokes and Alex Hales, who was also present that night in Bristol. This would further delay Stokes’s return, even if found innocent of the charges.Stokes’s absence did not hamper England at Lord’s as Chris Woakes stepped up into the all-rounder’s role and put in a man-of-the-match performance. He registered a maiden Test century, scoring 137 not out, along with match figures of 4 for 43
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