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New structure diminishes representation and power of Members’ Council, body made of provincial presidents who had resisted a majority independent board for almost a decade

Firdose Moonda17-Jun-2021CSA has ushered in a new, majority independent board to bring an end to the tenure of the ministerially appointed interim board, which has been in charge since November last year. The new board comprises eight independent directors and five non-independents – who were chosen from the provincial presidents that sit on the members’ council – but a chair has yet to be confirmed.The other independent directors are former CSA president Norman Arendse, former convener of selectors Andrew Hudson, advocate Steven Budlender SC, Lawson Naidoo, the executive secretary of the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution, Dugmore Lushaba, who has experience on several boards, marketing and communications expert Andisa Ntsubane, former Multichoice (sub-Saharan African video entertainment company) CEO Mark Rayner, and Muditambi Ravele, a sports administrator previously involved in boxing, netball and tennis. Daniel Govender of Kwa-Zulu Natal, John Mogodi of Limpopo Province, Craig Nel of the Mpumalanga Cricket Union, Tebogo Siko of Northerns and Simphiwe Ndzundzu of Border make up the non-independent directors. CSA’s acting CEO Pholetsi Moseki and acting CFO Christelle Janse van Rensburg make up the last two positions on the 14-member board, which will serve till September, when CSA is due to hold its scheduled AGM.The new structure diminishes the representation and power of the members’ council, the 14-member body made of provincial presidents who had resisted a majority independent board for almost a decade. However, the CSA president and vice-president, largely ceremonial roles and individuals who will not sit on the new board, were chosen from the members’ council. Rihan Richards, who has been acting president of the council throughout the interim board’s tenure, was elected president and Donovan May, from Eastern Province, his deputy.CSA also reported a loss of Rand 250 million (US$ 17.8 million) in the 2020-2021 financial year as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and tour cancellations. England left South Africa last December after playing three T20Is but the three ODIs did not go ahead as scheduled after breaches of the bio-secure environment. Australia, who were scheduled to play two Tests in South Africa in March, did not tour at all. South Africa were also hopeful of hosting India for three T20Is last August, which did not happen. Those matches are due to take place in India in September this year, ahead of the T20 World Cup, but that might depend on the schedule for the resumption of the IPL. However, CSA is hopeful of a full summer schedule this year, which should see India visit for three Tests over the festive period.Perhaps more importantly, CSA can look forward to a more stable period of governance with the new board adopting a memorandum of incorporation, which guarantees the independent component of the board and chair.”It is highly appropriate that we have reached this historic moment in the transformation of our governance model as we prepared to celebrate the 30th birthday of Cricket South Africa (CSA) or the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA) as it was originally known in just over two weeks’ time,” outgoing interim board chair Stavros Nicolaou said. “Our new Memorandum of Incorporation is a document we can all embrace with pride as it puts us in a position to execute the best governance practices that will make CSA able to stand comparison with any other sporting organisation around the globe. It is a world-class document.”Among the new board’s most pressing tasks will be to oversee the conclusion of former acting CEO Kugandrie Govender’s disciplinary proceedings and to advertise for and appoint a permanent CEO. CSA have not had a permanent CEO since Thabang Moroe was suspended in December 2019. They are on their third acting CEO since.

“Maybe in the coming years it might also lead to a World Test Championship [for women]. You never know.”

Annesha Ghosh15-Jun-20212:29

Mithali Raj: I would have liked to play more Test matches earlier in my career

Mithali Raj believes India Women’s return to Test cricket after a gap of nearly seven years could pave the way for multi-format, points-based bilateral series becoming a regular feature on the women’s cricket calendar. This, she said, could even begin the pathway towards a multi-team global tournament for women’s teams fashioned after the men’s World Test Championship.”I feel this Test match and even the pink-ball Test, which is in Australia in the coming months, it’s just the beginning of having a three-format bilateral series,” Raj, India’s Test and ODI captain, said on the eve of the one-off Test against England in Bristol. “It probably opens up the channel to have another format added in a bilateral series and that will clearly help the overall standard of women’s cricket.”Also, the players – I mean, you ask any modern-day cricketer, they still want to play the longer format because they eventually know that the format tests the skill of a player.”The last time India played two or more Tests in a year was in 2014, which was also the last time they appeared in the format. The Bristol Test, which marks their return to red-ball cricket after a break of 2401 days, carries four points for a win under the multi-format system for the tour, which also includes three ODIs and three T20Is.A draw will fetch the teams two points apiece and one point will be awarded for a no-result. Wins in the white-ball games will be worth two points each. The Ashes, which has been the only occasion that has involved Test matches in women’s cricket since 2014, follows the same grading system.Related

• Saba Karim calls for 'strong foundation' to speed up the growth of women's cricket in India

• 'We may not have much practice, but mentally we're prepared' – Harmanpreet Kaur

• Stats – India in sight of most consecutive wins in women's Tests

• 'Mental make-up will make huge difference' – Ramesh Powar on lack of practice

“It’s good to have the Test match in a series,” Raj said. ‘We [already] had the one-dayers and the T20Is. Maybe in the coming years it might also lead to a World Test Championship [for women]. You never know. This is just the beginning. I hope we continue to have bilateral series where all three formats are there.”While a Women’s WTC may seem a distant prospect at the moment, there is a chance that more teams might play Test cricket regularly over the coming years, with the ICC awarding Test status to all Full Member women’s teams in April.The announcement of both the Test against England and the pink-ball game against Australia, scheduled for September-October, was an unexpected development in Indian women’s cricket. On the international circuit, the ODI World Cup and the Commonwealth Games, to be played in the T20 format, both scheduled for next year, and the 2023 T20 World Cup remain the focal points of India’s long-term preparations. In domestic cricket, no red-ball tournaments for women’s cricketers have been held in India since the 2017-2018 season.Longest gaps for India Women in Tests•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Head coach Ramesh Powar and Test vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur identified the dearth of adequate preparedness as a challenge going into the Test in Bristol. Raj echoed her colleagues, but said efforts had been made by senior players like herself and premier fast bowler Jhulan Goswami, as well as Powar, to help the inexperienced members of the 18-member Test and ODI squad to hit the ground running.”There were a few sessions that we tried to have in the whites so that the girls don’t get [intimidated] when they walk into the ground tomorrow because for most of them it’s their first time getting into the ground in the whites,” Raj said. “That is one thing [Powar] tried to get into the sessions. There were four-five sessions where we trained together as a team in the whites, so we get a feel of it in the nets sessions and it doesn’t feel alien for the girls when they get onto the ground.”He also got the seniors to speak to the other players who are less experienced about the format about the last time we played a Test match, so there was a lot of communication with Jhulan talking to the fast bowlers and I’m talking to the batters. So, I think when you have this communication going, it sort of gets the team get collectively prepared for the Test match.”India have won each of their last three Test matches – played over an eight-year span from August 2006 to November 2014 – which puts them level with Australia in terms of most consecutive wins in the format. Raj said the squad hadn’t been thinking about the record, but hoped the players would put in a strong performance, particularly since the Test match will be broadcast live.”In terms of marketing the sport, I think it is great to have a Test match live on television because clearly, a lot of people will follow, now with the pandemic [on] and there’s partial restrictions everywhere [because of lockdowns], so a lot of people will be watching the game,” she said. “As far as the players are concerned, it is equally important [to play well in this Test match]. Seven years back, the scenario was very different for women’s cricket.”Having said that, that team never really thought whether the match is [covered] live or not; it never really crosses a players mind as long as we get in there and we put forward our best performance. Whether it is covered live or not, that’s [not] the players’ lookout. We are there to get there and give our best standard, and if it’s covered live, nothing like it because that’s how the sport will grow being viable.”

Joe Root has been withdrawn from England’s T20 squad in Australia and New Zealand next month, as he prepares to enter the IPL auction

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jan-2018Joe Root has been withdrawn from England’s T20 squad to play in the inaugural tri-series against Australia and New Zealand next month, as he prepares to make his IPL bow after being entered in the auction that takes place in Bangalore on January 27 and 28.Root, who had initially declined the opportunity to sit out the tournament after a draining winter of international cricket, including captaining England to a 4-0 defeat in the Ashes, will instead return home for a break before resuming his place in the squad for the ODI series against New Zealand that gets underway on February 25.Root, who is an automatic pick for England across all three formats, admitted his unease at missing out on international duty, especially given that his stated intention is to make his first foray into the IPL in April and May, at a time when he could instead be taking a break.The financial allure of the IPL is a significant factor in Root’s choice. However, with England fully focussed on the 2019 World Cup, the opportunity for the team’s integral members to broaden their experience by taking part in the world’s foremost T20 league is now considered a vital part of their development, and Root’s decision was made in consultation with the head coach, Trevor Bayliss.”I hate missing games of cricket for England,” Root said. “It is something that doesn’t really sit well with me either. It was a long, hard decision that me and Trevor had to come to.”You look at the amount of cricket that we have got coming up and the opportunity that the IPL brings and you almost have to look at it as more of an investment for my game and for all the England team moving forward.”If being involved in that block of cricket, with everything that tournament brings, is going to add more to my game for the next four or five years then missing a few games here might be worthwhile.”Root has entered the IPL auction at the highest reserve price of £170,000, and could be one of a raft of prominent England players to be picked up by franchises for the first time this year.However, he has never before played in an overseas league, and due to his England commitments, he has featured in just five T20 Blast matches since 2012. Part of his reasoning for wanting to remain a part of the England T20 squad was that he feared the shortest form of the game was evolving without him, but he admitted the monetary side of the IPL is a significant draw too.”Of course, there is a money side to it, there is no point lying about it,” he said. “That is obviously a benefit of playing in the IPL but that is not why I went into the auction. I really believe playing a block of Twenty20 cricket with that scrutiny, being under pressure for long periods of time against the world’s players in that format would be a great opportunity to develop and learn my white-ball game.”With the two major tournaments in white-ball cricket around the corner that is what going there is all about, to gain experience in the short form and work with other players around the world who have had a huge amount of exposure to Twenty20 cricket, and see some different coaches.”

Karun Nair’s unbeaten 59-ball 83 single-handedly helped Delhi Daredevils beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets in a last-ball thriller in Raipur to keep their playoff ambitions burning bright.

The Report by Shashank Kishore20-May-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKarun Nair’s third half-century in a winning cause this season kept Delhi Daredevils alive•BCCI

Karun Nair showed there was place for finesse and street-smart cricket amid the big-hitting in T20s. His unbeaten 59-ball 83 single-handedly helped Delhi Daredevils beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets in a last-ball thriller in Raipur to keep their playoff ambitions burning bright. The side must now win their final match against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Raipur on Sunday.With Daredevils needing six off two deliveries, Nair, who had walked in to bat at No. 3, muscled successive boundaries off Bhuvneshwar Kumar to pull off a win that may have not been possible had Sunrisers fielded better than they did. Nair was lucky to survive a caught-behind appeal on 23 in the ninth over, with Daredevils needing 105 off 69. David Warner then put down a sitter when the batsman was on 51. As it turned out, those two moments had a significant bearing on the outcome and Sunrisers, with 16 points, may yet have to win their final league game against Kolkata Knight Riders in Kolkata to control their fate.While Rishabh Pant was the aggressor in the 73-run second-wicket stand, Nair was happy to farm strike and play himself in before the stroke of luck with the caught-behind appeal brought about a change in mindset. By the time Pant was run out for 32, courtesy Bhuvneshwar’s direct hit from deep cover, Nair had switched gears. It meant Warner’s wonderfully crafted 56-ball 73 was consigned to being second-best.The game started off as a battle of wits. Sunrisers were watchful upfront against Zaheer Khan after being sent in to bat, but the pressure built up at one end was released by offspinner Jayant Yadav and Nathan Coulter-Nile, who leaked runs. Sunrisers motored to 42 without loss in five overs, before the brakes were applied through two run-outs.Shikhar Dhawan, far from his fluent best, was the first to go. Carlos Brathwaite, who replaced the injured Chris Morris, stopped a drive by diving to his left and then hurled a throw back at the striker’s end with Dhawan well short of the crease. Four balls later, Amit Mishra’s half-stop off his own bowling resulted in confusion between Warner and Deepak Hooda, and a direct hit at the bowler’s end found Hooda short. With the score at 48 for 2 in the seventh over, the need of the hour was consolidation.Yuvraj Singh hung around for 10 deliveries, one of which was sent screaming behind point off a fierce cut, before Brathwaite had him chop one onto the stumps, the two-paced nature of the pitch surfacing as the ball kept low to take the inside-edge. Even as wickets tumbled, Warner was a picture of supreme confidence, flaying pacers with flat-batted pulls and slaps through the off side.His technique against the spinners – Mishra and Yadav – was equally effective as he used the depth of the crease to make room and bring his bottom hand into play. Once the off side field opened up, he kept carving boundaries to make batting look ridiculously easy. Warner brought up his half-century off 40 balls and his 32nd IPL fifty helped notch up a record for most fifty-plus scores by a batsman in the tournament.He found able support from Moises Henriques, who milked the singles, and a 13-run over seemed to indicate that Sunrisers were ready to switch to attack. However, an attempt to hit with the spin towards deep midwicket off JP Duminy in the 14th over resulted in Henriques’ wicket, and ended a sprightly 39-run stand.Eoin Morgan’s wicket drained more momentum and it took an enterprising partnership between Naman Ojha and Bhuvneshwar Kumar – the pair added 26 off 15 balls in the last three overs – to take them close to the 160-mark.Daredevils lost Quinton de Kock early, but Nair and Pant kept pace with the asking rate through tactful strike-rotation and the odd boundary. Apart from swatting away full tosses, Nair’s use of the sweep shot to negate Karn Sharma’s legspin was impressive.With Daredevils needing 52 off 30, Sunrisers had a ray of hope in the two potential overs from Mustafizur Rahman. When Duminy, put down on 17 by Bhuvneshwar, holed out to Warner off the first ball bowled by Barinder Sran in the 17th over, the game was wide open. But Nair muscled two sixes in the over to allay fears of a meltdown.Mustafizur’s tight last over – he gave away five runs – left Daredevils needing 11 off the last six balls, but Nair was not to be denied as his third half-century in a winning cause this season kept Daredevils alive.

Justin Langer, the former Australia assistant coach, has urged the national selectors to retain Phillip Hughes for the third Test against India in Mohali

Brydon Coverdale11-Mar-2013Justin Langer, the former Australia assistant coach, has urged the national selectors to retain Phillip Hughes for the third Test against India in Mohali, despite his awful results against spin in the first two Tests. David Warner also called for patience, saying he had not seen Hughes face much spin bowling before and that it would be only a matter of time before he worked out the best way to handle quality slow bowling.Hughes is in danger of being dropped when the third Test begins on Thursday after having failed in the tour match in Chennai and then in the first two Tests. His work against spin has been especially disappointing and he has barely looked like being able to score unless the fast men are on; the 51 balls of spin Hughes faced in the two first two Tests brought him six runs and cost him his wicket four times.But Hughes is far from the only Australian batsman to have struggled in India. Ricky Ponting did not score a century in India until his ninth Test there across five tours and finished with a record of 662 Test runs in India at 26.48. Hughes has not played Test cricket in India until the past three weeks and already he is in a precarious position, having only just regained his Test place for the home series against Sri Lanka following Ponting’s retirement.Already his batting coach Neil d’Costa has attacked Cricket Australia for refusing to allow him to give Hughes a crash course in how to handle Indian conditions before the tour, when Hughes was piling up runs in the ODI side. And Langer, who until late last year was the Australia assistant coach, said patience was required when young batsmen were exposed to new conditions.”I would be so disappointed if he didn’t play the next Test. He has been brilliant again all summer,” Langer said in Adelaide. “He is our most exciting and best performed young player and I hope they stick with him. Phil is a young kid who is playing Test cricket in India for the first time and you can’t just keep chopping and changing all the time. He has missed out but has shown over time he has the capacity to know how to score runs and work out strategies to score runs.”There is no question that Hughes has been in form this summer. Until the last round of matches he was on top of the Sheffield Shield run tally with 673 runs at 56.08. At the age of 24, Hughes has already compiled 21 first-class hundreds. But he is generally at his best when the ball is coming on to the bat, which is not the case in India. Warner, until last season a New South Wales team-mate of Hughes, said he should be given time to adjust.”I haven’t really seen a lot of spin bowling against Hughesy, so I just think it’s more of a time thing and being patient,” Warner said. “We all have to score runs and have a job to do. Phil is in a patch at the moment where he isn’t scoring as many runs as he would like, but I’m sure if the selectors stick by him he will come good. He is the type of player who always puts runs on the board, especially when he scores a hundred he scores a big hundred.”One of the problems that has afflicted Hughes and the rest of the batsmen on this trip has been a lack of quality spin bowling at Sheffield Shield level, meaning a majority of their experience is against fast men. The Shield pitches in recent years have often been green seamers and matches can be over quickly, with spinners either hardly required or asked to bowl in conditions that are more suitable for the fast bowlers.This summer in the Sheffield Shield, the top 15 wicket takers are all fast bowlers and the pitches are at their most favourable for the seamers early in the season, when the Test batsmen are more likely to be playing for their states. Warner said to help young batsmen become more accustomed to spin bowling the state teams should consider setting up centre-wicket training sessions when matches finish early, as the Test squad has done over the past two matches in India.”If you’re playing a four day game and the game finishes on day three, why not go out and practice on day four?” Warner said. “You’re a professional athlete, you’ve got the whole thing there for you on day four to practice as much as you want. It’s like us having a net out in the middle of the wicket [in India]. You very rarely get that opportunity in Australia. They will be watering the wicket straight away preparing for the next Shield game. It’s fantastic to get that opportunity.”

Mominul Haque has been brought into Bangladesh’s squad for the first two ODIs against West Indies as a replacement for the injured Shakib Al Hasan

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Nov-2012Mominul Haque, a left-hand batsman, has been brought into Bangladesh’s squad for the first two ODIs against West Indies as a replacement for the injured Shakib Al Hasan. The Bangladesh board announced their decision after the completion of the warm-up match between BCB XI and the West Indians in Khulna, where Mominul made 43.Shakib was ruled out of the first two ODIs because of a stress reaction in his right tibia that caused a shin injury. He has another scan scheduled for December 1 and that will determine the length of his layoff.”The team management had asked for a batsman to replace Shakib for the first two ODIs, so we picked Mominul,” Bangladesh’s chief selector Akram Khan said. “He has been batting well for the last one and a half years but I feel it will be wise not to have too many expectations of him because he is new. We will only want him to do things that a batsman does.”We picked him from among the form batsman. He has been consistent for the A team, scoring runs in West Indies, and also has runs in first-class cricket at home.”Mominul is a middle-order batsman who has been a regular in the Bangladesh A team over the last two years after he graduated through age-group tournaments and spent a year at the National Cricket Academy. He made a pair of forties in the two practice matches for BCB XI against Bangladesh and the West Indians. He scored two centuries for Chittagong in this season’s National Cricket League.

England made it three from three in the group stage of the Women’s World T20 as Pakistan bowed out the tournament with a consolatory win over India

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Oct-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMeg Lanning top scored for Australia Women but once again England were up to the chase•ICC/Getty

England Women completed a sweep of the group stage with a seven-wicket win over Australia. They were given their sternest challenge of the competition, asked to chase 145, but again showed their excellence in all departments by winning with 11 balls to spare.Sarah Taylor made the highest individual score of the tournament, 65 not out, to guide her side’s chase. She shared a stand of 63 at more than 11 runs per over with Danni Wyatt to reach the target comfortably. Wyatt arrived at the crease with 62 required from 44 balls but played a breezy innings with six boundaries that took the game away from Australia. She finished with 33 in 17 balls, winning the match with a boundary.Australia had played well after choosing to bat first. Opener Meg Lanning led the way with 39 from 31 balls and Lisa Sthalekar’s 28-ball 38 boosted the total. Both batsman fell to Anya Shrubsole but she and the usually dependable Laura Marsh and Holly Colvin went at eight-an-over. Dannielle Hazell was the most economical in holding Australia to a total they could eclipse.Australia captain Jodie Fields said her team’s batting performance was a positive but was disappointed at not finishing the game well.”It felt like we were right in the match right up until the last couple of overs. Our batting innings went the way we wanted it to do, we aimed for 140 and we got that target.”Her team would take on West Indies in the second semi-final of the tournament on October 5. “West Indies are a strong team and we were lucky enough to play them in a warm-up match which gave us an idea about how we can play against them,” Fields said. England go on to play New Zealand in their semi-final.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThe other match of the day was a low-scoring thriller that brightened up the dead rubber, with Pakistan Women heading home with a victory by the smallest margin against India. With four required off the final delivery, Nagarajan Niranjana was run out attempting the tying third run.Pakistan chose to bat but only three players made double figures. Sana Mir with 26 and Nain Abidi’s 25 had laid a platform at the top of the order but their failure to go on exposed the rest of the order, of whom Asmavia Iqbal with 10 was the top score. Rasanara Parwin returned the best figures, going for just 15 in her fours overs and picking up the wickets of Mir and Bismah Maroof for 3.India also struggled for a significant contribution with the bat but Jhulan Goswami looked to be guiding them home. But when she fell for a 24-ball 21, 16 were needed from 10 balls which became 14 from the last over. Niranjana struck the first ball for four and worked a target of four off the final ball but it proved just beyond them.

Ian Bell’s comeback hundred set up England for a comprehensive victory in the first one-day international against West Indies

The Report by Andrew McGlashan16-Jun-2012England 288 for 6 (Bell 126) beat West Indies 172 (Smith 56, Bresnan 4-34) by 114 runs (D/L method)
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIan Bell’s first boundary was a straight six off Andre Russell•Getty Images

Ian Bell won the battle of the replacement openers in the first one-day international as he marked his return to England’s 50-over side with his second ODI hundred – nearly five years after his previous one – to earn the home side an early series advantage with a 114-run victory. Initially West Indies threatened in the chase with Dwayne Smith filling the void left by Chris Gayle’s late injury but England’s quicks burst through either side of a rain delay.In some neat symmetry this was the same ground (albeit with a different name) where Bell made his only other ODI hundred – against India in 2007 – and this time he reached three figures from a lively 95 balls to suggest that the hole left by Kevin Pietersen’s retirement will not be as vast as some had envisaged. A day after suffering a suspected fractured jaw, and needing 10 stitches after being hit in the nets, there was barely a false shot in the innings until he top-edged a slower ball from Dwayne Bravo when level with his career best having played gracefully to show, yet again, that one-day cricket is not all about brute force.The opening partnership did not flourish with Alastair Cook was caught behind third ball against Ravi Rampaul but Bell ensured that the team’s recent run of ODI hundreds continued; this was the fifth match in a row that one of the openers had reached three figures after the back-to-back efforts of Cook and Pietersen against Pakistan in the UAE.England’s final total of 288 for 6 was less than they may have hoped for after 30 overs when they were 163 for 3, but was still the second highest score batting first at this venue – and England’s highest – after Craig Kieswetter produced some late boundaries along with Stuart Broad in a useful 43-run stand off 34 balls.After the early loss of Lendl Simmons, Smith’s innings included three boundaries in four deliveries against Steven Finn, the second of which was a pick-up over deep square-leg, and went past fifty off 38 balls. Longevity, though, has never been Smith’s strength and and aiming another shot through the legs side got an edge off Bresnan. In one sense he had done his job, but it was also a missed opportunity to build a long innings. Bresnan struck again in his next over when he won an lbw against Denesh Ramdin – batting at No. 3 after Darren Bravo picked up a groin injury in the field – after the wicketkeeper had lurched to 22.West Indies continued to play their shots with both Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Bravo collecting early boundaries but as rain started to fall Finn struck in the first over of his second spell by squaring up Bravo with a full delivery. In that one moment West Indies went from being ahead of the D/L par score to being behind it. The margin became even greater when Eoin Morgan plucked out Kieran Pollard’s fierce cut at backward point. When Samuels clipped James Anderson to midwicket shortly after an hour’s delay for rain, West Indies’ last hope had gone. In total they lost 9 for 77 in 18 overs.

Smart stats

• England’s 114-run win is their largest ever against West Indies in ODIs. Their previous highest is the 89-run win in Adelaide in 1987.

• The win is also England’s second-largest in Southampton after the 121-run win over Pakistan in 2010. Since 2005, West Indies have lost by a margin of 100-plus runs ten times.

• England’s total of 288 is their fifth-highest against West Indies and their second-highest against West Indies at home. The total is the joint-highest for England in ODIs in Southampton.

• Ian Bell equalled his highest score in ODIs (126) with his century. He has now scored 3360 runs at an average of 35.00.

• Bell’s 126 is the fourth-highest score by an England player against West Indies and second-highest against West Indies in home ODIs. Marcus Trescothick is on top for his 130 in 2004.

• The 108-run stand between Bell and Jonathan Trott is the second century stand for the second wicket for England against West Indies. The highest is 144 between Graeme Hick and Michael Atherton in 1995.

• Tim Bresnan’s 4 for 34 is the fourth-best bowling performance for England against West Indies. The best is Andrew Flintoff’s 5 for 19 in 2009. It is also Bresnan’s third haul of four or more wickets.

The foundation of England’s total was laid by a second-wicket stand of 108 between Bell and Jonathan Trott, Warwickshire team-mates who used their understanding well to run hard between the wickets against some lacklustre West Indian fielding. The boundaries had been pushed right to edge of the playing area in anticipation of West Indies’ power-packed batting order.After the early loss of Cook, Bell gave England momentum when he took 18 off Andre Russell’s third over which began with a sublime straight six and continued with three further boundaries around the ground. Pietersen, who tweeted support to his former team-mates during the day, could not have done it any better.Bell had a nervous moment on 23 when Rampaul was convinced he had found the outside edge but umpire Richard Kettleborough said not out. Hot Spot did not show anything on replay although Snicko suggested at a thin edge. Two balls later Bell responded with a rasping square cut as Rampaul dropped short and wide.Bell’s timing and placement was effortless, but the going was tougher for Trott who had collected an early boundary through midwicket but had to wait until the 16th over for his second when Bravo drifted into the pads. As in the final Test, Sunil Narine did not overly trouble the top order – at one stage being reverse swept by Trott – but did break the partnership when Trott was caught behind cutting.It was spin (or rather slow bowling) that continued to keep West Indies in touch when Ravi Bopara edged a cut against Samuels to end his first international innings of the season following injury. Samuels also claimed the important wicket of Morgan who chopped into his stumps after a promising start to his innings and a stand of 51 in eight overs with Bell. After a debilitating winter in all formats and an IPL spent warming the bench Morgan looked in decent form and with a far less pronounced squat at the crease than on his previous appearance. After the success of Bell, significant runs for Bopara and Morgan are the next boxes England will be looking to tick.

Michael Hussey believes Australia will have the advantage in the first Test against a South African side whose key men have not played a first-class match in ten months

Brydon Coverdale in Cape Town07-Nov-2011Michael Hussey believes Australia will have the advantage in the first Test against a South African side whose key men have not played a first-class match in ten months. Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn and Mark Boucher have all had no first-class action since the New Year’s Test against India, one of the longest lay-offs possible in the modern game.You wouldn’t eat a braaied boerwoers that was that underdone. The Australians will be skewering them this week to see if they’re ready. The World Cup was South Africa’s focus during February and March, and then followed the IPL, the Champions League Twenty20 and the limited-overs games against Australia, preventing their players from turning out for their first-class franchises.In the same period, Australia won a three-Test series in Sri Lanka, before some players went home to play in the Sheffield Shield. The Australians also spent the past week in Potchefstroom, where they faced South Africa A in a challenging three-day encounter. On the other hand, South Africa’s stars have had to settle for domestic one-day cricket in the lead-up to the Test, which begins in Cape Town on Wednesday.It is far from ideal preparation, something Australia know all too well after they failed to ready themselves for the Ashes last summer and were thumped by a well-oiled England. Hussey was careful to avoid calling the South Africans underdone, but he said the solid base of first-class cricket Australia’s player had enjoyed recently was an advantage.”Definitely getting some first-class cricket is beneficial coming into a Test series, no question about that,” Hussey said. “For me personally I would love to have some first-class games coming into a Test series, so we can definitely have that as an advantage. But they have been playing some provincial cricket, some of their guys have only been playing Twenty20 which makes it tougher.”I look at it two ways, freshness is important as well, you can come in flying from the start, but the hard thing about Test cricket is maintaining that pressure and intensity the whole time. The more Test cricket you have as a base, you can maintain that pressure and intensity for longer periods. I’m not anticipating them being underdone, they will come out firing and they will be playing pretty hard cricket. Us having played quite a bit of cricket, hopefully we can maintain our intensity.”One of the key targets of Australia’s intensity will be the South Africa vice-captain de Villiers, who broke his hand six weeks ago while training in the Champions League. de Villiers has been ruled fit for the first Test and was hoping for a solid hit-out in Sunday’s one-day game for the Titans, only to be given out obstructing the field when the umpire adjudged he had got in the way of a run-out attempt.He will need to do plenty of work in the nets over the next two days to ensure he is comfortable for a Test against the likes of Mitchell Johnson, who broke both Graeme Smith’s hands in separate incidents nearly three years ago. Hussey said Australia’s aggressive fast men would give de Villiers a searching test.”I think we’ll have very specific plans for all their batsmen but that’s what Test cricket is all about – trying to put doubt in the opposition’s minds,” Hussey said. “We’ll be trying to test all their batsmen and it’s nice to have the personnel to be able to do it, they’re all pretty aggressive bowlers, apart from Copes [Trent Copeland].”It will be a tough challenge for [de Villiers] as well. Is the hand okay to start with, and he hasn’t played a lot of cricket. It is very difficult to come back one from a break and two from injury and play well straight away. He is a class player though and I would expect him, if he plays, to get better and better as the series goes on the more cricket he gets under his belt. He is a very important player for their team.Getting better and better as the series goes on isn’t that easy in a two-Test series, adding to the questions over South Africa’s preparation. If they fail to shed their rust in Cape Town, they have only one more opportunity. Hussey might not call them underdone, but the skewer will tell the story.

Sean Ervine will leave Hampshire to resume his international career with Zimbabwe.

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jan-2011Sean Ervine will leave Hampshire to resume his international career with Zimbabwe.Ervine, 28, is expected to receive a call-up to Zimbabwe’s World Cup squad later this month, after being named in their preliminary 20-man group, and will revert to overseas status in order to play.”International cricket is my ultimate goal,” Ervine told BBC Radio Solent. “It’s tough to leave Hampshire, which I hold as family. They’ve looked after me and I give them every praise possible.”Ervine, has played 42 ODIs for his country but was one of the rebel cricketers in dispute with the ZCU, and in May 2004 he left Zimbabwe to start a new life in Australia. After struggling to break into the Western Australia side he moved to England making his Hampshire debut in 2005.He will sign off his career with the county in the ongoing Caribbean T20 tournament. His return to the Zimbabwe set-up represents yet another step forward for cricket in the country, with a number of players returning either to the side of the coaching staff.Hampshire, meanwhile, still have an overseas player in legspinner Imran Tahir, but he was recently named in South Africa’s 14-man squad to play India in their five-match one-day international series. Although the call-up will not affect his overseas status at Hampshire, he could miss their pre-season if selected in South Africa’s World Cup squad in February. The 2011 World Cup is due to start on 19 February and the final 15-man national squad will be selected later this month.