Category Uncategorized

His 6 for 49 hands Essex a 47-run win as Jack White’s six-for goes in vain

ECB Reporters Network29-Sep-2022Simon Harmer claimed six wickets for 49 to spin Essex to a 47-run victory over Northamptonshire at Wantage Road and finish as leading wicket-taker in this year’s LV= County Championship Division One.Harmer extracted prodigious turn to run through Northamptonshire’s middle and lower order after Sam Cook set up the win with three wickets in two overs to shatter Northamptonshire’s hopes of chasing 211.A breezy 30 from Ricardo Vascconcelos boosted the hopes of the home fans before six wickets fell for 29 runs. Despite a belligerent 39 from Gareth Berg, Northamptonshire’s highest individual score in the match, the hosts were bowled out for 163, meaning they finish in sixth place in the Championship – their highest in 27 years.Harmer finished with 58 wickets for the season, one ahead of Kyle Abbott of Hampshire while Cook passed 50 for the season at an average of just 16.1.The result meant Jack White’s career-best bowling figures were in vain. White took 6 for 38 to skittle Essex for 110 as the visitors lost their last five wickets for 47 runs in the morning session and set up a tantalising run chase.Essex had resumed on 63 for 5 in the morning, in perfect overcast bowling conditions with White taking full advantage and obtaining plenty of movement outside off-stump.He struck early when Michael Pepper edged a low catch to Emilio Gay at second slip and Gay was in action again when Harmer (16), who had played a few lusty blows, played a wild slash and edged White into the cordon.White claimed his second career five-fer when he trapped Shane Snater lbw and then recorded his best figures when the ball flew once more to Gay who took a tumbling catch to dismiss Matt Critchley (20). White’s figures eclipsed his previous best of 5 for 14 achieved against Lancashire in July. Tom Taylor then wrapped things up when he nipped in to claim the wicket of Cook.In the run chase, Snater and Cook bowled a probing spell with the new ball before lunch, making an early breakthrough when Gay prodded at one outside off-stump from Snater and edged behind.Vasconcelos got off the mark with a streaky four down to third but found the boundary off consecutive balls from Snater in the over before lunch including a glorious drive through the covers.Northamptonshire began the afternoon session with a flurry of boundaries with Vasconcelos crunching the ball through extra cover and finding the ropes three times in one expensive over from Cook.Will Young was soon into his work and greeted Harmer by hitting him over his head for another boundary. Harmer had his revenge later in the over though when he got one to turn sharply out of the rough. Young shaped to pad it up only for the ball to spin past his legs and smash into leg stump.That wicket sparked a Steelbacks collapse. Vasconcelos attempted to pull Cook but the ball did not bounce as much as he expected and hit the top of his off-stump. Rob Keogh left Cook’s next delivery which nipped back and trapped him lbw. Northamptonshire had lost three wickets in four balls.Wickets continued to fall with Cook striking again in his next over when Luke Procter edged behind to leave Northamptonshire’s hopes in tatters.James Sales was the next to go, adjudged lbw to Harmer to a ball which looked like it would have gone over the stumps. Saif Zaib struck three boundaries before he was next to go, leaving a ball from Harmer which spun back and hit the stumps with the Steelbacks reeling on 93 for 7.Berg took the offensive approach, clubbing Harmer through the covers for two boundaries and hitting a six all off one over and he continued to take the attack to the spinner as he was joined in a partnership of 49 with Taylor who also looked to be positive during his 26. Taylor eventually departed after coming down the wicket to Harmer and giving Nick Browne an easy catch at short-leg.Berg then fell in similar fashion with Browne taking an excellent diving catch before White was the last batter to go, trapped lbw by Harmer.

The 19-year-old Trinidad & Tobago quick could make his Test debut despite having played just one first-class match

Sruthi Ravindranath09-Jun-2021Jayden Seales has played just one first-class match, but the 19-year-old quick has impressed the West Indies selectors enough to be drafted into the 13-man shortlist for the first Test against South Africa. It’s already “a dream come true” for Seales, and he is hoping for more.”Firstly, it’s a dream come true being in the set-up. Being in the final 13 obviously was a goal of mine,” he said in a press interaction. “Just a matter of me now hoping that I get to play the first Test match and do my best for the team.”The Trinidad & Tobago bowler made his first-class debut last December, turning out for West Indies A in New Zealand, where he picked up one wicket.Related

• Clash of pace attacks in favourable conditions under new leaders

• Jason Holder on losing Test captaincy: 'It has been a strange transition'

• Keegan Petersen ready for Test debut

• In Rabada's dip is the story of SA's decline in Tests

More recently, he took 4 for 40 playing for Team Hamilton in a four-day intra-squad game against Team Blackwood. He had also picked three wickets in the first innings during an intra-squad tour match ahead of the series against Sri Lanka in March.In all, he has played only ten games at the senior level across formats.”I didn’t play much first-class cricket but I think being in the set-up and training with the team from New Zealand to now I think I’ve put in a lot of hard work and my body is ready,” he said. “Now I’ve to go out there and perform for the team.”As far as chief selector Roger Harper is concerned, the lack of experience at the senior level should not be a hindrance for Seales.”I saw a young bowler perform in games where Test players and the best of our best of our regional first-class players were playing and he performed exceedingly well,” Harper said. “Better than a number of players who have been playing first-class cricket for a number of years. The thing is the match wasn’t classified as first-class match but those were played by the best of our first-class players.”I would like to think that if he can perform well in those games against those players, he has the potential to transfer that onto the Test scene.”Seales had attracted attention at the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa last year, taking ten wickets in six matches with an average of 18.30 and an economy rate of 3.89. That helped him secure a CPL deal with the Trinbago Knight Riders for the 2020 season, and he picked up eight wickets in six matches then. He has been retained by the franchise for the new season, and while he isn’t looking for idols he is learning from watching his team-mates closely.”Honestly, I never really try to adapt from any other bowlers,” he said. “It just came naturally. I’ve been told I have an action similar to [Kagiso] Rabada. In terms of internationals, I look at old West Indian bowlers and now in the set-up I look at Jason [Holder], Roachy [Kemar Roach] and Shannon [Gabriel] closely. I try to hear as much from them, learn as much from them and take it under my game.”With Gabriel missing out on selection because of an injury, Seales is happy to take his cues from Roach. “There has been no conversation whether I would take the new ball,” he said. “For me, if selected, if given a new ball, follow Roachy. If Roachy is bowling good areas it’s just my job to do the same and try and get the early wicket for the team.”

Allrounder says he “wants to be part” of next winter’s Test tour of India

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-2020Moeen Ali has restated his desire to return to Test cricket in the future, saying he has “huge ambitions” to prove himself in the format. Moeen did not make himself available for next month’s tour of Sri Lanka but said he was keen to be involved in next winter’s five-match World Test Championship trip to India.Moeen’s last Test appearance was in August, for the opening encounter of the 2019 Ashes. He subsequently took time away from the game to deal with burnout, making his England return in the third ODI against South Africa last week.He was named Player of the Match in Durban on Friday as England levelled the T20I series, and spoke afterwards about his plans for a Test return.ALSO READ: Tom Curran holds nerve as England level series“I do want to be part of that [tour to India] for sure,” Moeen told the BBC. “I still have huge ambitions for Test cricket. It is still the best form of the game and the hardest. I want prove to myself and to other people that I am not a bad Test player.”England play two Tests in Sri Lanka in March, before taking on West Indies and Pakistan during their home summer.Moeen, who lost his central contract in October but could have been obliged by the ECB to make himself available for Sri Lanka as part of his white-ball deal, will next head to the Pakistan Super League, where he has been signed by Multan Sultans.”I am going to give myself a bit more time,” he said of his break from Test cricket. “I want to make sure when I come back I am ready and fresh.”I want to keep enjoying my cricket and get that hunger back because I feel I lost that completely. I had no interest in my batting and bowling and when you are in that situation there is no point playing.”I definitely feel like I am getting there and not far [away]. I want to give myself extra time and know when I come back I will have to fight for my place.”Moeen played once during the ODI series against South Africa, taking 1 for 41 and then hitting the winning runs in Johannesburg. He showed signs of getting back to his free-scoring best in the second T20I, cracking a whirlwind 39 off 11 balls to fire England to a score they narrowly managed to defend in a dramatic final-over finish.”It was amazing to contribute and finally feel like I am back for England,” he said. “I will not take it for granted.”

Mark Robinson, England women’s coach, admitted too many of their batsmen had struggled for rhythm after rain affected the start of the tournament

Alan Gardner25-Nov-2018Mark Robinson, England women’s coach, admitted the team felt they had been “playing catch-up” throughout the Women’s World T20, due to rain affecting the early part of their tournament, as a rusty batting line-up failed to fire in the final against Australia. Despite an eight-wicket defeat ending their hopes of adding the 20-over title to the 50-over World Cup they lifted last year, Robinson was pleased with the squad’s overall development.England first warm-up game – also against Australia in Antigua – was abandoned, as was their opening Group-A fixture, against Sri Lanka in St Lucia. Two victories followed, chasing targets of 78 against Bangladesh and 86 South Africa, but the only time the whole of the top order got to bat came in the defeat to West Indies, when No. 7 Sophia Dunkley, in her third match, top-scored.Although Amy Jones and Nat Sciver found some form with unbeaten fifties in the semi-final win over India, England came unstuck on a slow pitch at the Sir Viv Richards Stadium, dismissed by Australia for 105 in 19.4 overs. Tammy Beaumont, Player of the Tournament during last year’s World Cup, managed just 54 runs at 10.80 in the Caribbean, while Lauren Winfield, England’s No. 6, only batted twice, making six runs.”There were a lot of girls who hadn’t quite got into rhythm,” Robinson told Sky Sports. “We felt we’d got Nats away the other night, and Amy… We felt all this tournament we’ve been playing catch-up, we started okay and then we hit the rains in the last warm-up game and then St Lucia.”But that’s sport, that happens – there was a Champions Trophy [in 2017] when the Aussie men only played one game and went home. It’s just sometimes you’ve got to cope, and overall we’ve coped really, really well but it cost us today. There were just too many mistakes, from the umpires, from us, from the fielders, and it was quite a strange first half, but you’re not going to win defending 105.”There’s some really disappointed, upset girls [in the dressing room]. We’d have liked to perform a bit better especially in that first half of the game. Look, 105 you’re not going to win a game like that, especially when you’re going to have to bowl with a wet ball on a wicket that’s actually quite good. It did grip a bit but with all the dew it skidded on.”We were just 30 runs too light, it was a shame because the Aussies were jittery, they made quite a lot of mistakes in the field but we just couldn’t capitalise and were a bit careless. But it’s not for lack of effort, lack of preparation, sometimes those things happen on the day.”One clear positive for England through the tournament was the performances of the new players to the set-up. Kirstie Gordon, one of three to debut during the group stage, finished as England’s leading wicket-taker, while Dunkley and Linsey Smith also made encouraging starts to their international careers, having been called upon the strength of performances in the Kia Super League.Robinson, who has given T20I caps to six players in 2018 – more than in the previous four years combined – said that increasing competition within the women’s set-up was key to making further improvements.Sophie Ecclestone is mobbed by her team-mates•ICC/Getty

“I think we’ve done it since we’ve come in, under Heather, we don’t want things to stand still,” he said. “We’ve got to get competition for places and we’ve got to keep moving forward. We thought we caught Australia cold in 2017 but they’ve moved their game on now, so we’ve got to keep doing that – even if you can’t do it in the short term, you’ve got to be looking for the long term.”People like Sophia Dunkley are going to have long futures, she’s not the finished article by any stretch of the imagination, she’s an academy player but she’s come in here and didn’t impact today, but that innings against West Indies showed she has a chance.”All the bowlers have done well, we hope that was a breakthrough for Amy Jones in T20 cricket, Kirstie Gordon’s done really well on some helpful wickets. Sophie Ecclestone was outstanding tonight. Our bowling’s made a move but we haven’t had enough batters into form when we need it.”As for the success of the tournament as a whole, Robinson suggested improving the surfaces for women’s cricket should be a priority – although he praised the groundsmen in St Lucia and Antigua for their efforts to produce good pitches in spite of heavy recent rainfall on the islands – and called for greater efforts to develop the playing pool in countries other than England and Australia, who have now contested three of the last four Women’s World T20 finals.”Probably some of the cricket hasn’t been what you want due to the surfaces, but the people of the West Indies have got behind it, been absolutely fantastic,” Robinson said. “You’ve probably helped grow women’s cricket in the West Indies, due to how it’s caught the imagination and the home team doing quite well. Surfaces weren’t what we want but it wasn’t through lack of effort, the groundsmen did their best but sometimes through rain or circumstance you can’t do it. This game’s on the way up but it does need the best surfaces to play on.”It’s going in the right direction. You always want more, you always want to be impatient. It needs the respect, from everybody, from the groundsmen. It’s getting there, the amount of publicity, worldwide we need all the counties to support the girls. We need lots of good domestic leagues, infrastructure, we need the whole stage to be growing not just England-Australia.”

The latest developments in the Ben Stokes case don’t necessarily mean he will take part in the Ashes

David Hopps28-Oct-2017I see witnesses have come forward to defend Ben Stokes. That’s great. So he can play in the Ashes then?Well hold on a minute. Somerset and Avon Police are still investigating the incident and the ECB has suspended him indefinitely as it awaits developments.The guy’s a hero. If Stokes had saved me from a beating, I’d have been down the nick in no time. What took these guys so long?Cricket’s not their thing apparently and they had no idea who he was until a policeman knocked on the door. But according to the they regard Stokes as “a real gentleman”.That’s good. So now Stokes has an alibi, why not just get the first taxi to Heathrow?It’s not an alibi. The footage still shows someone who looks very much like him throwing punches. As far as that goes, nothing has changed.It was self-defence, we all know that.An argument of self-defence would certainly help his case. But a court might still be asked to decide whether the level of force used was reasonable based on the circumstances as Stokes genuinely believed them.So if he is going to be charged, get on with it and find him not guilty. The first Test in Brisbane is less than a month away…“Slow but sure moves the might of the Gods,” as Euripides had it.Eh?The wheels of justice turn slowly.How slowly?Government figures suggest it takes an average of 24 weeks between the offence and the case being concludedBut that’s the end of the Ashes. And some.The middle of March. And the same figures indicate Bristol Crown Court can take twice as longSurely sometimes famous people deserve special treatment? This affects the enjoyment of millions of people.All right, you’ve convinced me. Get him on the plane.

Sri Lanka’s transitioning limited-overs squad face yet another stern test in Pallekele against Australia, who cracked the dusty pitches as their batsmen steadily developed a taste for spin

The Preview by Andrew Fidel Fernando05-Sep-2016

Match facts

September 6, 2016
Start time 1900 local (1330 GMT)

Big Picture

Sri Lanka may have the beginnings of a future-proof Test team, but in the shorter formats, the juggernaut that is their transition rolls relentlessly on. So long has it reigned now, it probably deserves to be capitalised: Transition. Perhaps in years to come, Sri Lankan historians will see fit to add a prefix, and it will become “The Great Transition”. Whatever the case, it continues to guzzle up players and spit out empty husks of international careers, chewing up those husks and spitting them up even emptier, fans wailing by the roadside in rags, a terrible limited-overs drought afflicting their once-lush land.Back together in this current squad are players like Chamara Kapugedara, Sachithra Senanayake and Thisara Perera, many of whom had been part of Sri Lanka’s T20 boom years, from 2009-2014, but their presence does not seem a guarantee the boom years will come again. The more experienced hands are as much on trial as the likes of Kasun Rajitha or Dasun Shanaka. A big, limited-overs breakthrough continues to evade them.Australia are without Aaron Finch and Chris Lynn, but through the ODI series, their bowlers cracked Sri Lanka’s dusty pitches, and the batsmen steadily developed a taste for spin. David Warner’s scored his first Asian limited-overs ton playing a more measured brand of cricket than he would have liked, but now that he is in the runs, the T20 format may bring the violence out of him. George Bailey seems the most assured batsman playing in this series. Even Mathew Wade and Travis Head look well-set to contribute.Like Sri Lanka, Australia had also exited this year’s World T20 at the end of the group stage, but during that campaign, had beaten Bangladesh and Pakistan, both of whom Sri Lanka had lost to in the preceding Asia Cup.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)


Australia: LWWLW
Sri Lanka: LLLLW

In the spotlight

Tillakaratne Dilshan has had an eventful week since playing his last ODI. He made veiled accusations about Angelo Mathews in the press conference after that match, and neither Mahela Jayawardene nor Kumar Sangakkara came off well in Dilshan’s verbal memoirs either. In addition to suggesting he did not have these players’ support during his captaincy, Dilshan has also taken umbrage at some team-mates “trying to rename the dilscoop by saying it is a shot a cricketer with no brain plays”. The comments have divided opinion, but Dilshan remains a draw card for one final series. He will want to give evidence to his claim that he could easily have played two more years.Adam Zampa‘s T20 career began in South Africa, where he went wicketless in two games, but Asia has been kinder to him. He took five wickets across two games in the World T20, and has generally been economical, if a shade under-bowled. Having now imposed himself in Sri Lanka in the ODIs, claiming nine wickets at 20.77, the opposition will turn out on Tuesday with a plan to neutralise him. If Zampa can get through that trial, however, he will have made further headway in what is becoming a good limited-overs career.

Teams news

There are so many injuries and so many permutations with the Sri Lanka squad that pinning down an XI is difficult. Kusal Perera is likely to return to the top of the order. In the past, Sri Lanka have liked to stack their team with allrounders.Sri Lanka (possible): 1. Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Kusal Perera (wk), 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Dinesh Chandimal (capt.), 5 Chamara Kapugedara, 6 Milinda Siriwardana, 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Sachith Pathirana, 9 Seekkuge Prasanna, 10 Sachithra Senanayake, 11 Kasun RajithaThe visitors’ XI is no less difficult to predict, as they have not played T20s since March. On current form, Mitchell Starc, James Faulkner, John Hastings and Zampa should make up the bulk of the attack.Australia(possible): 1 David Warner (capt.), 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 George Bailey, 4 Travis Head, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Matthew Wade, 7 James Faulkner, 8 Peter Nevill (wk), 9 John Hastings, 10 Mitchell Starc, 11 Adam Zampa

Pitch and conditions

The Pallekele surface aids both quicks and spinners under lights, so the match is unlikely to be a high scorer. There is a small chance light showers could interrupt play. The game is already sold out.

Stats and trivia

• Pallekele is the scene of Tillakaratne Dilshan’s lone T20 hundred, also against Australia, in 2011.
• In eight T20s between these sides, Sri Lanka have won six and lost two.
• George Bailey needs 30 runs to complete 500 in the format.

Mitchell Johnson is hoping to return to the aggression that saw him bounce out Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes at Edgbaston

Daniel Brettig04-Aug-2015For a few tantalising minutes, Mitchell Johnson once again had England by the unmentionables. Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes had been bounced out in the space of three balls, and the hosts’ tail-enders quaked in their Edgbaston rooms as they scurried around, out of sight of the cameras, for protective gear. England led on the scoreboard, but not between the ears.Had this been 2013-14, the unbridled aggression briefly glimpsed would have been allowed to bloom. Johnson would have continued sending down his bombs, the English tail would have been razed, and doubtless Brad Haddin would have done his merry batting dance once more. But it is now 2015, and at the other end to Johnson are Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazewood rather than Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle.Johnson cannot quite put his finger on why he did not follow up with further hostile short stuff, but the matter of runs leaking at the other end has crossed his mind. So too does the fact that in a Test series that has already spanned the length of most encounters between nations, it is those two balls to Bairstow and Stokes that have generated most discussion. Next time around, he is unlikely to hold anything back.”I don’t know. I guess from my point of view I was just trying to really dry up the runs and I probably just lost that bit of aggression,” Johnson said. “I don’t read into it too much to be honest. But I think because the ball has been swinging over here a lot more, I feel like I’m trying to get the ball up there a lot more often anyway. I feel like I’ve bowled a lot fuller this trip. I’ve been really happy with the way I’ve bowled, generally.

Johnson reveals off-field heckling

Mitchell Johnson says he quite enjoys the taunts of England supporters on the field these days – but does not want a repeat of one instance away from cricket where he was confronted while walking with his family. Johnson was confronted during the Cardiff Test, and expressed a hope that there would be no repeats.
“I have got it walking down the street in the past and in Cardiff as well it’s happened,” he said. “I’m all for it when it’s in a game but I think when you’re walking with your family in the street I think it’s a bit overboard.
“People are pretty passionate about their cricket and when they’re doing well so I guess you’ve got to understand it from that point of view, but I’d prefer when it’s out in the middle that the crowd are right behind their team and giving it to me on the field. I think that’s fair game.”

“There’s been a few spells here and there. I probably didn’t start too well last Test match. You probably try a bit too hard when there’s a small total there to defend. Generally I feel like I’ve bowled quite well throughout this tour. I’ve swung the ball consistently. At Lord’s I felt like I used the short ball when it was time to use it. I feel like I’ve become a much smarter bowler and I feel like I’ve found a bit more consistency.”Lord’s is the only ground where I’ve had a real crack at it, and those two short balls. I actually had a few high-school friends Facebook message me about it, saying they’ve been replicating it at club training. So they were pretty excited about it. It’s something I need to have a look at throughout this Test match and just keep that aggression. That’s how I’ve been bowling and it’s been working.”Johnson was certainly building up to an aggressive spell on the third and final day of the Birmingham Test. Granted only 120 runs to defend, he paced through his warm-ups with an intensity that suggested he was exceptionally eager to take the new ball for the first time in this series. Yet by the time Michael Clarke deigned to throw Johnson the ball, England needed only 74 more runs.”I thought to myself I was really keen to get the new ball, but whatever is best for the team in those situation I’m happy with,” Johnson said. “It’s something that I’ve become better at is not to become frustrated in those situations where sometimes I feel like I might be better suited in a situation like that. But I have full trust in those guys, Starcy and Hazlewood, to do the job but I’m always prepared to bowl in any position, I think that’s something that I’ve adapted very well to in my Test cricket now.”The equanimity with which Johnson waited for the ball was matched later on when he responded in good humour to the most sustained and intense baiting of the series thus far. Thousands as Edgbaston sang their mocking tune as he bowled, and as the game sailed beyond Australians’ reach, he responded by jokingly stopping his run-up for one delivery, and then next time around delivering a ball to Joe Root from parallel to the umpire.”I get amongst it a bit more now,” he said. “I definitely take it as a bit of a compliment now and when the whole crowd is cheering my name at the end of a game when they’ve just won you have to take that as a compliment. It’s a pretty special crowd, they were really loud there and I expected that from past experiences, they really do get vocal and they really enjoy their cricket.”That over where I did stop in my run-up was deliberate to try and have a bit of fun with the crowd and apparently it had a fair bit of appreciation when I went down to fine leg with people clapping and saying a few choice words. But it was all in good fun. I was just playing it up a bit with the crowd as well, but at the same time respecting the game.”Playing up to the crowd is less likely to be on Johnson’s agenda this week, as he charges at England’s batsmen in what is most likely the last chance more than half this squad will get to win an Ashes series on these shores. The tourists are not wallowing in the problems exposed at Edgbaston, knowing that self-recriminating thoughts do no-one any good right now. But they know they have to get things right this time.”Cardiff, the way we played, then we played so well at Lord’s then we played in Birmingham and did what we did there. I just think our consistency as a whole has just been off,” Johnson said. “I didn’t think we bowled particularly well up front in Birmingham, I think we could have done a lot better with the newer ball. It was a bit like Cardiff, we didn’t play our cricket in partnerships, batting and bowling.”The way we’ve been playing Test cricket for the last 12-18 months has been really good. It has been that consistent cricket. But we are over in these conditions, it’s an Ashes series and we’ve got some guys that are probably feeling the pressure a little bit. I know what it’s like when you first come over and experience it, so I think the guys have handled it really well.”Especially a loss like we had in the last Test, I think we’ve all handed it really well. We were disappointed as a team and a group, but we were able to move on and the guys are – we left a day early to get here and train, get used to the conditions. I think that’s what we have done really well, we’ve been able to move on from losses like that. Hopefully learn from them and hopefully we can come out here and win this Test match, because if we don’t we are in big trouble.”More trouble, even, than Bairstow and Stokes.

ESPNcricinfo previews the second Test between South Africa and New Zealand in Port Elizabeth

The preview by Alex Winter10-Jan-2013

Match facts

January 11-15, 2013

Start time 1030 local (0830 GMT)

Big Picture

Brendon McCullum has the ability to turn his side around quickly•AFP

Having been advised to stay at home by some commentators, New Zealand did little in the first Test to rubbish that suggestion. They have another chance to prove their presence in South Africa was better for international cricket than not.To give South Africa a game, New Zealand have to find some runs. Many teams would have been bowled out for 150 on the opening day in Cape Town, but being dismantled for 45 was an injustice to the ability that remains in the New Zealand order, even with all their absentees. Dean Brownlie showed the way in the second innings, and Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson can build similar innings.And if they can put a score on the board, they have the bowling to create problems for their opponents. Trent Boult and Doug Bracewell have won Tests in Hobart – when New Zealand only scored 150 in the first innings – and Colombo in recent times. And just over 12 months ago, South Africa were being rolled over by Sri Lanka in Durban. They will also be adjusting to a venue they have not played at for six years, and the fact that New Zealand are considering playing two spinners suggests conditions are different to Cape Town.It has been five years since South Africa swept a major nation at home, when they won both Tests of the two-match series against New Zealand, and they will be keen to dismiss the same opponents 2-0 and avoid any disturbance to their preparation for the Pakistan series.The task has become a little more challenging with the withdrawal of Vernon Philander, but his absence gives Rory Kleinveldt his third Test. Developing depth in their bowling attack will be important if South Africa are to enjoy a long stint at No. 1.

Form guide

(Most recent first)
New Zealand LWLLL
South Africa WWDDW

In the spotlight

Brendon McCullum is the last man standing from the older crop of players. But he has not made a Test century since 2010. Thrust into captaincy, he desperately needs to supply his side with a bright start. A player of his ability and experience needs to deliver if his side are going to be competitive. In the manner of Virender Sehwag, he can quickly change the mood of his team and New Zealand need a boost badly at the moment.Robin Petersen finds himself back as the No. 1 spinner after Imran Tahir’s decline in Australia. South Africa saw Tahir as the attacking spinner to finally complete their attack but have sent him away to regain his form. Petersen will hope to prove he is more than a stop-gap solution to the spinner’s void, and that his ability with the bat and left-arm spin can be the best permanent fit in the side.

Team news

One change is confirmed for South Africa. Rory Kleinveldt replaces Vernon Philander because of an injury to his left hamstring. The rest of the XI stays the same.South Africa: 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Alviro Petersen, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 AB de Villiers (wk), 6 Dean Elgar, 7 Faf du Plessis, 8 Robin Peterson, 9 Rory Kleinveldt, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Morne MorkelNew Zealand have no room for manoeuvring their batting line up so the only changes they have made are in the bowling attack. James Franklin has a hamstring injury, so Colin Munro will make his debut. Neil Wagner replaces Chris Martin for his third Test and first since the West Indies tour. They may also play two spinners with Bruce Martin, an experienced slow left-armer, in the 12.New Zealand: 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Brendon McCullum (capt), 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Dean Brownlie, 5 Daniel Flynn, 6 BJ Watling (wk), 7 Colin Munro, 8 Doug Bracewell, 9 Trent Boult, 10 Jeetan Patel, 11 Neil Wagner/Bruce Martin

Pitch and conditions

The pitch in Port Elizabeth should be slow and low as usual. No rain is forecast, but serious winds, and if it’s the South Easter, it will come off the sea and will increase moisture around the ground. That’s expected on the second day.

Stats and trivia

• This will be the 24th Test played at St George’s Park but the first since December 2007 when West Indies won by 128 runs.
• South Africa have lost their last three Tests on the ground. Their last victory came in 2000 with a seven wicket win over New Zealand.
• That was one of three Tests New Zealand have played at St George’s, they also lost on their first visit in 1950 but won by 40 runs in 1962.

Quotes

“At home, it’s easy to slip into the mould of this is what we do in South Africa but Port Elizabeth is slightly different and we need to be able to shift the mindset.” “We’ve learnt some lessons from what happened to us in the first Test, and we want to improve on that performance.”.

Andrew Flintoff, the former England captain and allrounder, has revealed that he went through a phase of depression during the 2006-07 Ashes in Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jan-2012Andrew Flintoff, the former England captain and allrounder, has revealed he went through a phase of depression during the 2006-07 Ashes in Australia, where, as captain, he was at the receiving end of a 5-0 whitewash. Flintoff admitted he wasn’t aware then of what exactly he was suffering from, but the illness drove him to drink and lose his love for the game.A year earlier, Flintoff was the toast of the nation for helping England regain the Ashes after 18 years.Flintoff is now among several high-profile cricketers, particularly from England, who’ve been plagued by the illness during their playing careers. Flintoff, who quit the game in 2009, will explore the problems suffered in private by sportsmen in a BBC 1 documentary: .”I was having a quiet drink with my dad Colin on Christmas Eve 2006 and as we made our way home I started crying my eyes out,” Flintoff told the . “I told him I’d tried my best but that I couldn’t do it any more, I couldn’t keep playing. We talked and, of course, I dusted myself down and carried on. But I was never the same player again.”I was captain of England and financially successful. Yet instead of walking out confidently to face Australia in one of the world’s biggest sporting events, I didn’t want to get out of bed, never mind face people.”Flintoff took over the captaincy from the injured Michael Vaughan after the 2005 Ashes win and enjoyed mixed results. He helped England square the Test series in India in 2006 and the expectations grew when England landed in Australia at the end of the year. It was also the same series in which his team-mate Marcus Trescothick suffered a breakdown at the start of the tour due to depression and separation anxiety and never played for England again after that.After leading England to a come-from-behind win in the one-day tri-series in Australia, Flintoff handed the captaincy back to Vaughan before the World Cup. Flintoff was stripped of the vice-captaincy after a drunken night out following England’s defeat against New Zealand in a World Cup match in St Lucia, which culminated in falling off a pedalo.”The whole time I was on the field and throughout that World Cup all I could think about was that I wanted to retire,” Flintoff said. “I didn’t understand what was happening to me. I knew when I got back to my room I couldn’t shut off, which is why I started having a drink. It got to the stage where I was probably drinking more than I should.”All I wanted was for the doctor to tell me what was wrong but no one suggested it was depression.”He said his condition was so serious that even victory meant nothing. “There’s a certain sense of shame when I remember sitting in the dressing room after winning a one-day international in the West Indies,” he said. “The lads were celebrating and I didn’t want to be a part of it, I didn’t want to do anything but sit on my own in the corner.’Cases of depression in modern sport aren’t uncommon and Flintoff admitted that he wasn’t as aware of the problem as he should have been. “Because sporting stars earn high salaries and have a privileged life compared to the majority of people, there’s a perception that they can’t possibly suffer from mental health issues. They don’t want to seem ungrateful or whingeing and may be hiding their suffering rather than getting help for it.”Besides Trescothick, other England players who’ve admitted suffering from depression include Flintoff’s close friend Steve Harmison, Michael Yardy and Matthew Hoggard. New Zealand players Iain O’Brien and Lou Vincent have also suffered similar problems.

Clint McKay, the right-arm bowler, is out of contention for the World Cup after being diagnosed with a stress fracture in his left foot

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jan-2011Clint McKay, the right-arm bowler, is out of contention for the World Cup after being diagnosed with a stress fracture in his left foot. McKay, who grabbed 27 wickets at 19.59 for Australia in 2010, requires an operation and faces a 10-week recovery.The news is another blow for Australia, who still hold the No.1 ranking in ODIs and are aiming for their fourth World Cup in a row at the tournament starting next month. Australia’s final 15-man squad for the event will be named next week.McKay, 27, was Man of the Match in Australia’s last one-day international, taking 5 for 33 against Sri Lanka in November, and he collected three wickets in the Big Bash game for Victoria in which he felt pain in his foot.”Obviously his workload over the past two years has been a lot higher – he’s played for Australia, he’s played some cricket in England as well – but he’s been good considering the workload he’s had,” Victoria’s physiotherapist Thihan Chandramohan said in The Age. “It’s the first major injury that’s put him out for a long period … and it’s one that’s hard to prevent because it’s just related to the bone not handling the load that’s going into it.”McKay is hoping he can be fit for the start of the IPL in April, although that might be a little too ambitious. He was signed to Mumbai Indians for $US111,000.