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Fast bowler fined after being found to have used an “audible obscenity” in Johannesburg Test

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jan-2020Stuart Broad has become the fifth player to be fined and handed a demerit point during the Test series between South Africa and England. Broad was found to have used an “audible obscenity” in an incident that saw Faf du Plessis and Jos Buttler briefly come together on the fourth afternoon in Johannesburg.Broad, who was fielding in the covers, appeared to become involved in a heated discussion with du Plessis, after the South Africa captain had been hit on the pads by a throw to the keeper. Du Plessis said after the match that he had been “trying to show fight as the leader”, as South Africa battled in the face of a hefty fourth-innings target. “It was just myself and Broady having a go,” he said.The match officials subsequently charged Broad with a Level 1 offence, under Article 2.3 of the ICC code of conduct. He was fined 15% of his match fee and now has two active demerit points on his record – following a reprimand for giving Rishabh Pant a send-off at Trent Bridge in 2018.Vernon Philander and Ben Stokes were both hit with Level 1 penalties during the Wanderers Test, a game that Kagiso Rabada sat out after collecting his fourth demerit point within a two-year period in the third Test at Port Elizabeth. Buttler was found guilty of a Level 1 offence in Cape Town, after being picked up by the stumps mics swearing at Philander.England won the Test series 3-1, following a 191-run victory in Johannesburg. The tour will also encompass six limited-overs internationals, starting with the first ODI at Newlands on February 4.

Coming together at 60 for 4, the duo added an unbeaten 212 to push New Zealand’s lead to 198

The Report by Danyal Rasool06-Dec-2018Stumps Where Kane Williamson began the morning simply trying to keep his side afloat, he will put his feet up this evening pondering the best way to press home an advantage that now decidedly belongs to his side in Abu Dhabi. A superlative second-innings century, his first in Asia in the second dig, took New Zealand within two runs of a 200-run lead. His partnership with Henry Nicholls, who looked unsettled in the morning, but is no longer jittery – had exceeded 200 by stumps as the visitors flipped over the advantage that had eluded them for the best part of three days. It took a Herculean partnership, unbeaten over 80 overs, and just a handful of balls away from being the longest-ever in the UAE.It is somewhat crazy to recall the situation this game was in just over 24 hours ago. A few minutes before tea on the third day, Pakistan stood – invincibly, purportedly – at 286 for 3, with Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq having brought up the 200-run stand, and pushing their side into the lead. But from thereon, they repeated the same mistakes that led to their downfall at this very venue in the first match of the series, even ending up eerily with exactly the same 74-run lead. The failure to press home a first-innings advantage for the second time in three Tests appeared then as if it might be costly, and Williamson and Nicholls saw to it that it is.Short of the most dramatic of collapses tomorrow morning, Pakistan will either hang on to a draw or succumb as they have done multiple times in the past on the final day. It is a damning indictment for a side that should have come out the other end with a 3-0 whitewash.There isn’t much to say about Williamson that won’t sound like an understatement. So good has the New Zealand skipper been over a number of years, it is a travesty he doesn’t get the attention leading lights such as Virat Kohli, Steven Smith and Joe Root do. Today, he was at his free-flowing best, the footwork impeccable, the drives mesmeric, and the composure hypnotic. The transfer of weight between the front and back foot never once let him down, and was especially evident when he was in his 90s.A cover drive off either foot to Hasan Ali took him first to 98, and then his 19th Test hundred. New Zealand have never lost a Test in which their talismanic captain has reached three figures in the second innings, and with the 28-year-old unbeaten on 139 at stumps, that looks unlikely to change tomorrow.Nicholls at the other end will have seen his stocks skyrocket this series. Every time he has been among the runs, they have come in the second innings with his side behind in the game, and fighting to stay alive. All three second innings have produced half-centuries, and just as the one in the first Test proved priceless, this one could achieve similarly gratifying results. It is a testament to a good player how they come through when their side is struggling, and by that yardstick, Nicholls cuts a very impressive figure, given the baptism of fire he was put through when he first came in. Standing ten runs from a Test match hundred, few batsmen will have deserved a ton more based on performances over a full series.In the final session, Pakistan surprisingly refused to take the new ball, persisting with the old one for 104 overs. It didn’t seem close to producing the results Pakistan looked for, but Sarfraz opted to stick with it for the spin it was generating. Frustratingly for him, though, New Zealand were more than a match for it, and the final session, one drop of Williamson aside, was perhaps the most controlled for the visitors. Moreover, Sarfraz continued to use Yasir Shah and Bilal Asif for much of the final two sessions, deciding against turning to Mohammad Hafeez but for one over before tea, and overlooking Haris Sohail altogether.Their catching is something Pakistan will reflect on. Yasir might have had a memorable day, breaking Clarrie Grimmett’s record for the fastest to 200 Test wickets early on with the lbw dismissal of William Somerville, but more importantly, he dropped two sharp chances Williamson provided. The first one was perhaps the easier challenge, coming at quick but not impossible speed at square leg when the right-hander was on 80. Nicholls, too, was reprieved once at short leg, and with the sort of commitment this pair showed, they weren’t in need of a helping hand from the opposition.The most curious passage of play, though, had come in the morning while Taylor was at the crease, entertaining and baffling in equal measure. His dash to get off the strike against Yasir was understandable – no batsman has fallen victim to Yasir more often, but he attacked Shaheen Afridi at the other end the way a pinch-hitter might. On a day when a Williamson-Taylor partnership might have caused the greatest damage to Pakistan, New Zealand’s most prolific scorer was on a devil-may-care mission for a cameo instead. It never amounted to more than that, though, with a well-laid plan by Pakistan seeing him find the deep-square-leg fielder, for a 14-ball 22.Tragically for Pakistan, the pair that followed had a more solemn approach to the task at hand. Nicholls and Williamson put on a masterclass for the ages and effectively batted Pakistan out of a game they controlled for over three days. There is a lot Pakistan could learn from them about how to press home an advantage when you have it, but the time for learning has long passed. Abu Dhabi 2018 looks set to have Part 2 after all.

Royal London, the title sponsors of English one-day cricket, have extended their deal with the ECB for a further two years

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Oct-2017Royal London, the title sponsors of English one-day cricket, have extended their deal with the ECB for a further two years.The partnership, which encompasses England men’s and women’s domestic and international one-day cricket, will now be extended until the end of the 2019 season.The marquee fixtures in that period will include a five-match one-day series against Australia and a three-match series against India next summer, as England’s men build towards the World Cup in 2019.The announcement is a boost for the ECB’s commercial department, who suffered a setback earlier this year when Investec, the title sponsors of English Test cricket, activated a break clause with four years remaining on their £40 million ten-year deal.”It’s exciting that Royal London want to extend their relationship with cricket still further – building on the successful partnership we’ve forged together over the past four years,” said Sanjay Patel, the ECB’s commercial director.”With the England’s men’s one-day team victorious in all three one-day series last summer, the England women’s team winning the ICC Women’s World Cup and the Royal London One-Day Cup serving up a memorable Lord’s final, the 50-Over format continues to enjoy a significant media profile and offer valuable brand exposure.Emma Hill, Group Head of Brand and Sponsorship, Royal London said: “Our initial partnership with the ECB began at an important time in the company’s history as we re-launched the Royal London brand.”Owing to a very successful four years of cricket sponsorship, we’re thrilled to be committing to the sport for another two years as we continue on our brand building journey. Like cricket, we’re a brand steeped in rich heritage and tradition and we’re excited about what we can achieve in partnership together over the next two years.”

Test cricket in winter could become a reality in South African cricket after the experiment to host New Zealand out-of-season was declared a success by players and administrators alike

Firdose Moonda01-Sep-2016Test cricket in winter could become a reality in South Africa after the experiment to host New Zealand out-of-season in August was declared a success by players and administrators alike. The Durban debacle aside, SuperSport Park in Centurion produced a good pitch and pristine outfield, and drew sizable crowds on all four days.”We want to play Test matches at home as much as possible so if that means we have to do it in the winter, we are all for it. Especially in Centurion,” Faf du Plessis, South Africa’s stand-in captain, said. “Everything about the field was really good. The weather was really good, the pitch played well and the outfield was beautiful.”The possibility of dead pitches was one of the reasons why cricket in winter hadn’t been mooted by Cricket South Africa previously. Dry winters everywhere except the Cape – where rain makes it difficult to play – leave surfaces barren. But at Centurion, a significant grass covering ensured assistance for seamers throughout.”This was a great Test wicket – you had all the different combinations and all the factors come into play,” du Plessis said. “Day one, your seamers must play a big role, the wicket must move around and you must be tight as a batting unit. Day two and three must be good batting conditions and then day four and five must bring its different challenges. Maybe the only thing we didn’t see in this match was spin on day four and five, and also, we didn’t see reverse swing. It didn’t happen because the outfield was beautiful, nice and lush, so those are the only things we didn’t see.”Kane Williamson, who regarded South Africa’s first innings total as being ” hugely influential” in the outcome, was a little more measured in his praise of the pitch, which thought may have deteriorated a little too quickly. Batting became progressively difficult as uneven bounce became a factor from the second day.What both captains agreed on was that the outfield was as pleasant to play on as it was to look at. The playing area was re-laid with winter grass for this Test after both South Africa and New Zealand complained of the outfield being too hard, during an ODI series in July-August 2015.The de-seeding process, which involved planting different grass to the usual summer carpet, took place in April. It was far different to the work done at Kingsmead in Durban, where the outfield was decompacted in June, making it hard to recover in time for the first Test.That doesn’t mean Durban is completely unsuitable for winter cricket. Had flash floods in July and unseasonal downpours on the second day of the first Test not taken place, more play may have been possible. Durban’s warm days could be factored in while drawing the winter schedule. However, it is likely that concentration of out-of-season activity is likely to be on the Highveld where clear skies and mild sunshine are a guarantee.One venue that is particularly keen to continue hosting winter cricket is the SuperSport Park. “It’s like asking a kid if they want ice-cream,” Jacques Faul, Titans CEO said. “We would definitely do it again. We considered it a huge success.”While the stadium did not see a sell-out crowd, the local association was happy with the numbers they got. Faul put down the response to proliferation of sporting activities at this time of year, which includes rugby. Attendance swelled to 9000 on days one and two – a Saturday and Sunday – and dropped to around 3500 on day three and 2000 on day four.”That’s what we budgeted for,” Faul said. “We would have liked to start on Friday but that was impossible because of the regulations about the number of days teams needs between Tests. Ideally, we would like to have it Friday to Tuesday.”

James Taylor compiled his highest first-class score of 291 to reaffirm his England credentials and give Nottinghamshire control at Horsham

David Lloyd20-Jul-2015
ScorecardJames Taylor fell nine short of a triple-century as Notts took charge at Horsham•Getty Images

There cannot be a bad day on which to score a huge double-hundred and rewrite a few records. But when the country you are desperate to represent once again has been hammered in an Ashes Test just 24 hours earlier, your timing looks absolutely spot-on.James Taylor is unlikely to be first cab off England’s rank – Jonny Bairstow surely deserves his place at the head of the batting queue – but a chanceless innings of 291 suggests quite strongly that the Nottinghamshire player’s engine is running sweetly again after a spluttering early summer.Three years have passed since Taylor made his only two Test appearances, against South Africa, but at 25 he remains a genuine candidate for further opportunities – and they could come sooner, rather than later, if this eight-hour, 385-ball knock proves to be the start of something big in the 2015 Championship programme.

Taylor credits Moores effect

James Taylor highlighted the help given to him by former England coach Peter Moores after scoring 291 at Horsham – the second double-hundred of his career against Sussex. Moores arrived at Trent Bridge recently to bolster the county’s coaching staff and will remain with until the end of the season
“Peter has been outstanding for me,” Taylor said. “It’s no coincidence that over the last three weeks since he joined us I have played some important innings in T20 and now I’ve got this 291. I worked closely with him with England and now for Notts, and he has been brilliant.
“I haven’t scored as many runs this season and haven’t got the big scores I want before now. But as far as England is concerned I’d like to think I’ll be talked about again after this innings.
“It’s three years since I played my last Test and a lot has happened. I feel I have matured as a player and I know my own game a lot better. I’ve got a lot more experience in terms of knowledge of the game too and I’m more mature. I feel in a really good place after that knock and it’s up to me to kick on now.

Splendidly though the little right-hander played while compiling the highest Championship score by a Nottinghamshire batsman for 76 years, and the fourth highest of all time, a couple of points need noting: this Sussex attack – the admirable Steve Magoffin apart – is neither experienced enough nor sufficiently threatening to maintain pressure on a so-far sound pitch while the parched outfield at Cricket Field Road turns even firm pushes into boundary strokes.But, that said, Notts were in a spot of bother at 186 for 5 on Sunday when Taylor and Chris Read joined forces. And, come Monday evening, Harry Gurney – another England possibility should the Ashes continue to go badly from a home perspective – extracted enough bounce from the surface during an impressive, back-bending spell to discomfort Sussex’s batsmen.Back to Taylor, though. Walking out to take guard on the first day, his Championship season had a distinctly underwhelming look about it: a top score of 61 from 16 innings and an average of 29.By the time he left the crease for the final time in this innings, having carved Magoffin to backward point while trying to race to 300, his previous first-class best, of 242, had been put in the shade – as had both the ground record score (262 not out by Ian Bell in 2004) and the biggest individual contribution by a Notts player (268 not out by JA Dixon in 1897) at any venue against Sussex.Much more important to Taylor than any of those statistics, one suspects, is the manner in which he played: careful when required and then supremely confident once in the groove. How much the recent arrival at Trent Bridge of former England coach Peter Moores has had to do with Taylor’s revival is hard for the outsider to gauge but the batsman himself was full of praise for the consultant’s assistance.Resuming on 163, Taylor underlined his determination to cash in by defending resolutely for half an hour while adding just a single and getting his eye in. Thereafter, though, Sussex had next to no answer to either Taylor or Read as a stand of 174 rose, in leaps and bounds, to 365 before the latter thin-edged a catch behind. Oh, and just to keep the statisticians busy, a Notts partnership record against Sussex that had stood for 128 years disappeared along the way.Read’s third Championship hundred of the season was inevitably overshadowed by Taylor’s near triple. But between them the pair had put Notts in a position to dominate – and three wickets for Gurney in a final session that lost eight overs to bad light and drizzle did nothing to help Sussex sleep easy.