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While acknowledging areas of improvement still needed after the India series win, coach Boucher also said the players are “growing as cricketers and human beings”

Firdose Moonda24-Jan-2022South Africa were playing more than just the opposition over the last few summers with matters coming to a head this season after their coach, Mark Boucher, was charged with gross misconduct by Cricket South Africa (CSA). Boucher received his charge sheet – which confirmed CSA will seek his dismissal – on Monday, two days ahead of the ODI series against India that South Africa swept 3-nil.Boucher’s charges relate to historic and current handlings of race issues, which have always been part of South African cricket’s narrative but became even more topical since the Black Lives Matter movement’s resurgence in sport in 2020. Since then, South Africa have appointed their first black African ODI captain, Temba Bavuma, who now outlined the difficulties of being in charge of a team that continues to face issues off the field.Related

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• CSA will argue in favour of dismissing Boucher at disciplinary hearing

“I don’t think it’s easy (captaining the team). There are a lot of dynamics that you need to manage. For me, the biggest thing is trying to keep cricket the main focus amongst the guys,” Bavuma said. “I hate to bring this up but it’s been a challenging period for the team, for the players, for particular members of management. There’s been a lot of scrutiny surrounding the team and surrounding the organisation, so to manage the conversations happening around the change-room and to ensure our energy is 100% geared towards performing out there, for me, has been the biggest challenge. It has been a big responsibility but has also been a privilege. But it’s not easy.”Bavuma did not name Boucher specifically and when the man himself was asked about the difficulties of coaching a team that is constantly facing off-field pressures, Boucher said: “I can’t answer that. Not now in any case.”ESPNcricinfo understands that Boucher has been advised not to discuss matters related to his disciplinary hearing as it is part of the ongoing investigation. Boucher and his legal team will meet with CSA on Wednesday to outline a timeframe for the hearing, but it is unlikely to begin before South Africa return from their two-Test tour of New Zealand, which starts on February 17. Afrikaans newspaper reported on Sunday that Boucher’s defence will be bankrolled by a group of wealthy businessmen, and though it did not name any of them, billionaire Johann Rupert, an entrepreneur, issued a tweet in support of Boucher earlier in the week.Despite what could be a rocky few months ahead for Boucher personally, he was positive about the development the team has made under his watch to beat India in both the Test and ODI series this season. “The progression has been great,” Boucher said. “We turned the corner a while ago, from a team perspective. We tried a few things in Covid times when we had to get a deeper squad and we gave a lot of opportunities to a lot of players. We are starting to reap the rewards now. It’s all falling into place, which is nice.”While acknowledging areas for improvement, such as the fielding in particular, Boucher said the ingredients in the squad could make a recipe for future success, especially because internally there’s a sense of harmony. “There are always places we can improve. I don’t think our fielding was great. But I like the look of this batting team. I like the balance. We are getting hundreds, and that’s with one or two of those guys out of form. I believe we’ve got a classy top six,” Boucher said. “And now with allrounders, we’ve got a couple that we can look at. We have an environment which is very good. The change-room is a happy change-room and the players are growing as cricketers and human beings.”South Africa will celebrate their twin successes against India, but Boucher said their feet remain “firmly on the ground”, and Bavuma, speaking from both a captaincy and batting perspective, echoed that. “It means a lot as a player. Knowing I contributed to the winning cause makes it better,” he said. “You will always be judged on your record and to convincingly beat an Indian side speaks a lot to my captaincy. But things are still early from a leadership point of view. I will take the positives but I will try very hard not to get ahead of myself.”

Nervy three-wicket win over Phoenix concludes fourth-placed campaign

ECB Media27-Aug-2025Trent Rockets concluded their campaign with a third successive win, Nat Sciver-Brunt’s third half-century of the competition setting up a nervy three-wicket victory over Birmingham Phoenix to nudge her team up to fourth in the table.Sciver-Brunt finished as the leading run-scorer in last summer’s women’s competition and the England skipper’s thrilling innings of 52 from 29 balls at Trent Bridge moved her up to second place in this season’s batting charts, behind Meg Lanning of Oval Invincibles.After the Rockets had been set 124 for victory, Em Arlott clean bowled the dangerous Bryony Smith for 10 with a superb slower yorker but Sciver-Brunt was quickly into her stride, sharing a second-wicket stand of 46 with Grace Scrivens (16) before Scrivens holed out to Arlott off the impressive Phoebe Brett.Ash Gardner struck two quick boundaries before falling to Megan Schutt via a stunning catch in the deep by Ailsa Lister and the Rockets threatened to implode when Sciver-Brunt chipped to extra cover off Hannah Baker immediately after bringing up her fifty and Brett dismissed Heather Graham and Ellie Threlkeld in the space of four deliveries, the young left-arm spinner finishing with figures of 3-19 as the hosts slipped to 109-6.Alana King made a crucial 9 to settle the nerves a little and when she edged behind off Schutt (2-24), courtesy of a superb catch from Amy Jones, it was left to Jodi Grewcock to hit the winning boundary with three balls to spare, securing a first home win of the season for the Rockets.Earlier, Emma Lamb’s second half-century of the competition had steered the Phoenix to 123-6, the England opener batting through the innings to finish unbeaten on 56 from 42.It was tough work at times for Lamb, who struck five boundaries, but she played judiciously as the Rockets’ high-class spin triumvirate of Kirstie Gordon (2-24), King (1-21) and Gardner (1-18) served up very few loose deliveries.Ellyse Perry (14), Marie Kelly (14) and Lister (12 off 6) played useful cameos to help push the visitors up to a competitive target but ultimately it wasn’t enough to prevent them slipping to a sixth defeat in eight.Sciver-Brunt, the Meerkat Match Hero, said: “I would have liked to be there at the end and made it a bit calmer for everybody but it wasn’t to be. In the three games I have made runs that’s not been the case, so that’s something to think about in future.”As a batting group, we’ve always said if we can get ahead of the game, try and stay ahead of the game. That was the tempo I wanted to go at. Getting out at that point, had we not been ahead of the game as we were, it probably would have been even more stressful.”It’s always nice to win at your home ground in front of your home fans and we haven’t been able to do that until today. The wicket is quite specific, it’s quite slow, and we probably didn’t adapt to that as quickly as we wanted to.”

Saurashtra were consigned to a 175-run loss after being all out for 79 in their second innings

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Oct-2023Left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar ran through Saurashtra’s line-up to finish with a match haul of 10 for 108 and take Rest of India to an Irani Cup title.Saurashtra could add only two more runs to their overnight score of 212 for 9 in the first innings on the third day, with Saurabh wrapping up the proceedings with 4 for 65. Starting 94 runs ahead, Rest of India’s openers B Sai Sudharsan (43) and Mayank Agarwal (49) got off to a strong start as they put up an 85-run stand. Dharmendrasinh Jadeja made the breakthrough by having Agarwal caught behind in the 29th over.Sudharsan then lost his wicket to Parth Bhut, who removed Sarfaraz Khan for 13 soon after. Jadeja returned to dismiss Hanuma Vihari in the next over for 22. Bhut then orchestrated a collapse, as Rest of India lost their next six wickets for 22 runs to finish with a total of 160 and set Saurashtra a target of 255.Bhut ended with figures of 7 for 53 in the second innings, finishing with a career-best match haul of 12 for 147.In return, Saurabh removed Saurashtra opener Chirag Jani in the second over. He then bowled Samarth Vyas for 10, following which Mulani pinned Cheteshwar Pujara in front for 7. Saurashtra then lost four wickets for 18 runs and were reeling at 51 for 8. Jadeja and Prerak Mankad then provided a brief resistance with a 28-run stand but Saurabh returned to remove the last two batters to rout Saurashtra for 79. He bagged 6 for 43 in the second innings to give Rest of India a 175-run win.Sudharsan finished as the top run-getter of the match with 115 runs – he made 72 in the first innings – while Bhut topped the wicket-takers list.

Sussex show fight in reply but face a long haul to reach first-innings parity

ECB Reporters Network27-Sep-2022Chris Cooke and Shubman Gill both made impressive hundreds as Glamorgan put themselves into a strong position in their must-win game against Sussex.Gill scored 119 – his first LV= County Championship hundred – and Cooke 141 as they piled up 533 for eight declared on the second day at the 1st Central County Ground.Sussex responded positively and were 86 for one when bad light forced the players off with 13 overs still to be bowled at Hove after there had been two short rain delays earlier in the day.Glamorgan need to win to have any chance of overhauling Middlesex and claiming the second promotion place from Division Two and although Sussex bowled well in the morning session when they took three wickets, their bowlers suffered thereafter with Cooke leading the charge as he made his tenth first-class century.Earlier it had been Gill who went on the offensive. He quickly added the nine runs he’d needed overnight to lodge his seventh first-class hundred before greeting Jack Carson’s arrival by hitting the off-spinner for three boundaries in his first over.But Carson had his revenge in his next over when he tossed another one up and Gill picked out long-on, having faced 139 balls and hit 16 fours and two sixes.Left-armer Sean Hunt had already broken through when he yorked Billy Root and Carson picked up a second wicket when he gave the ball air again and Andrew Salter was also caught at long-on.When Sussex took the new ball Brad Currie soon had James Harris caught behind for 34, after Harris had added 77 with Cooke. Timm van der Gugten helped the South African put on 41 for the eighth wicket before van der Gugten was held at long leg off Tom Clark.Acceleration came either side of tea as Cooke and Ajaz Patel thrashed 96 in 13 overs with Patel hitting an undefeated 51 from 37 balls including three sixes, two of them hit over long-on in an over from Carson.Cooke hardly played a false shot before edging Hunt to wicketkeeper Oli Carter after making his second Championship century of the season. His 141 came off 165 balls with 14 fours and two sixes. Carter was one of two substitutes employed by Sussex after Charlie Tear and Fynn Hudson-Prentice went down with food poisoning overnight. The Glamorgan total was also swelled by 50 extras.Sussex began their reply needing 384 to avoid the follow-on and they made a positive start, Ali Orr and Tom Haines laying into some wayward new-ball bowling from Harris and Mick Hogan.They added 69 in 11.2 overs before Hogan’s nip-backer struck Orr on the back leg and he was lbw for 45. Haines and Tom Alsop saw their side through to the close but Glamorgan will still feel they can claim their first Championship win at Hove since 1975, even though the pitch shows little sign of deterioration.

Opener shares rapid stands with Cameron Delport and Dan Lawrence to put game out of reach

ECB Reporters Network02-Aug-2019Essex 206 for 3 (Westley 86*, Lawrence 56, Delport 51) beat Gloucestershire 181 for 5 (Higgins 77*, Zampa 2-31) by 25 runsTom Westley scored a brilliant unbeaten half-century as Essex defeated Gloucestershire by 25 runs at the Bristol County Ground to put their Vitality T20 Blast campaign back on track.Westley top-scored with 86 not out and shared in stands of 81 and 105 with Cameron Delport and Dan Lawrence for the first and third wickets respectively as Essex registered their highest score in matches against Gloucestershire, eclipsing the 204 for 4 they made in a winning cause at Chelmsford in 2011.Delport and Lawrence also contributed half-centuries to propel the visitors to an imposing 206 for 3 on a used pitch.Undone by the loss of early wickets, Gloucestershire left themselves with too much to do, their top-order shortcomings rendering a frenetic fifth-wicket stand of 93 in 42 balls between Jack Taylor and Ryan Higgins inconsequential as they came up short at 181 for 5.The decision to restore Westley to the top of the order following a spell at No. 3 paid dividends for Essex as their opening pair staged a boundary-laden stand of 81 inside nine overs.Hard-hitting South African Delport adopted the aerial route and took the eye initially, clubbing five sixes and two fours in harvesting 51 from 31 balls. Dropped at mid-off by Andrew Tye off the bowling of David Payne when on 23, Delport made good his escape as the visitors posted their highest opening partnership of the campaign.Thereafter, Westley took centre stage, striking the ball cleanly, finding the gaps with the aid of adept placement and running furiously between the wickets in raising a 36-ball half-century.Aided and abetted by Lawrence, who proved adept at rotating the strike, Westley launched a violent assault on Tom Smith’s slow left-arm spin as the 14th over yielded 24 runs. But he was denied what would have been a third T20 hundred by Lawrence, who dominated the strike in smashing a 27-ball 50.Promoted up the order for this match, Lawrence raised that landmark in the grand manner, hoisting Tye over long-on for six, one of three maximums in a high-octane innings. The third wicket realised 105 runs from 52 balls and effectively carried the game out of Gloucestershire’s reach.Having set his stall out to carry his bat, Westley finished on 86 not out from 54 balls, having accrued seven fours and three sixes.Under pressure to start fast, Gloucestershire lost Miles Hammond and the talismanic Michael Klinger inside five overs. When James Bracey holed out to long-on two overs later, the hosts were 43 for 3 and up against it.Making his T20 debut, Aaron Beard then accounted for Ian Cockbain, held at mid-off, as Gloucestershire’s top order crumbled under duress. Required to chase down 139 runs from 55 deliveries, Higgins and Taylor traded almost exclusively in boundaries to at least give home supporters something to cheer.Higgins raised a 28-ball 50 with a huge maximum over square leg, but when Taylor holed out in the deep for 42 in the 18th over with 46 stil needed, the game was all but up. Higgins finished on 77 not out from 43 balls, with three sixes and six fours.

A round-up of the third week of the Bangladesh Premier League

Mohammad Isam28-Jan-2023

Sylhet Strikers see both extremes

Winning a game despite losing three wickets in the second over against Fortune Barishal, but then losing their first home game. This was Sylhet’s week to forget (or remember). Mohammad Wasim’s three-wicket over should have seen Sylhet slide down the points table but Najmul Hossain Shanto and Rejaur Rahman Raja ensured that they won by two runs. But three days later, they crashed to 18 for 7 in their first game at home, against Rangpur Riders. Mashrafe Mortaza and Tanzim Hasan Sakib rescued them but 92 for 9 was never going to threaten Rangpur. Barishal’s win over Chattogram Challengers on Friday evening took them above Sylhet to the top of the points table.

Bowlers rule the week, feat. Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim

The week started with Haris Rauf bowling the fastest recorded delivery of the tournament, a 154kph thunderbolt at the chest of Darwish Rasooli against Chattogram. The batter fended it off to give a simple catch and Rauf took a three-wicket haul in the game. The following day, Wasim took his three-wicket over, before Nahidul Islam and Taskin Ahmed had their bowl-off in a clash between Dhaka Dominators and Khulna Tigers. Both took frugal four-wicket hauls but Taskin ended up winning the game for Dhaka. Afghanistan allrounder Azmatullah Omarzai and left-arm spinner Nihaduzzaman also had their bowling moments to cap off a fine week for bowlers in the BPL.

Batter of the week: Najmul Hossain Shanto

Shanto is now among the top three run-scorers in this season’s BPL. He has given Sylhet the top-order strength, while also getting a hang of anchoring in T20s. Shanto has a wide range of shots but like Litton Das he needs to know when to use those shots. So far in this season, he has looked like a batter who understands his game slightly better than 12 months ago.

Bowler of the week: Taskin Ahmed

With his on-field performance, Taskin is creating a gap between himself and the rest of the pace pack in terms of impact. He isn’t playing for the best team in the competition but ensured that Dhaka at least won a memorable low-scoring thriller with his four-wicket haul. Bowling short, full or length, Taskin’s drive towards becoming a better bowler is always evident in his energy on the field.

Glenn Maxwell was the standout player of the match, following up a barnstorming 70 off 33 balls with 1 for 45 in his ten overs

The Report by Danyal Rasool31-Mar-2019Once more, it was Pakistan who had the centurion, while Australia walked away with the victory. Haris Sohail’s career-best score of 130 went in vain as Australia secured what was in the end a fairly comfortable 20-run win, their eighth on the bounce. It was set up by the batsmen, the top four all registering half-centuries as Australia exploited Pakistan’s sloppy fielding and uninspired bowling performance to plunder 327, the biggest total of the series. Targets in excess of 300 have only ever been chased successfully once in 26 times in the UAE, and despite Pakistan’s valiant efforts, they would not be adding to that statistic today. From the moment Haris was dismissed, the result looked inevitable, with Pakistan eventually finishing up on 307.The chase began inauspiciously with Abid Ali, passed fit to open after a nasty shoulder injury had forced him off the field during Australia’s innings, nicked off for a first-ball duck. It was a sharp lesson that in Pakistan cricket, there’s very little space between extreme highs and crushing lows; in the fourth game, he had made Pakistan’s highest ever score on debut with 112.Shan Masood and Haris consolidated well, however, taking control of the innings during the Powerplay as they kept pace with Australia. It was only after Masood was trapped in front by Adam Zampa, breaking a superb 108-run partnership, that Pakistan struggled to find a reliable partner for Haris. Mohammad Rizwan fell early, thanks to a superb catch at mid-on from Nathan Lyon off Glenn Maxwell, who played nearly as important a role with the ball as he had with the bat.With Umar Akmal, Haris put on another century stand; this one tallied 102. Umar displayed a maturity that has been absent from his game for much of his career, rotating the strike and finding the odd boundary when the opportunity allowed. Haris appeared to be playing on another pitch altogether, so assured was his footwork and so extravagantly confident his strokes.Despite their pluck, however, it never looked sustainable, and the fact Pakistan have a long tail must have played heavy on the minds of the pair. Ultimately, Umar fell in predictable fashion, his patience finally deserting him. With the required rate approaching nine, he charged Nathan Lyon, who was experienced enough to drop the ball short. Nowhere near the pitch, he went for the heave anyway, sending it more up than away. Jason Behrendorff at long-on actually had to charge in from the boundary to complete the catch, and the clean sweep was looking ever more assured.Four balls later, Haris guided one from Kane Richardson straight into backward point’s hands, and from thereon it was just Imad Wasim thwacking a few to try and make it as tight as possible. It was an entertaining cameo, Pakistan’s stand-in captain scoring a breezy 34-ball 50 to keep Australia honest right to the end. But with support dwindling from the other side, the percentages were always in Australia’s favour, and all Pakistan could manage was the consolation of their highest total of the series.As has been a reliable pattern over the past four games, the tone of the game was set by Australia’s openers, a 134-run stand between Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja paving the way for the big total.Just like Maxwell had done in the last game, Khawaja fell two runs shy of yet another ODI hundred. Even so, it was his fifth score of 88 or more in his past seven innings, and the supporting cast of Finch, Shaun Marsh and Maxwell did their jobs; all got half-centuries.Pakistan won the toss for the fourth time in five games, and seeing how close they had come previously, Imad opted to field again. To restrict Australia, however, they would need early wickets, and with the form both Finch and Khawaja are in, that was no easy feat.Pakistan’s lackadaisical fielding efforts didn’t exactly help build pressure, and the incoming Mohammad Abbas – brought in to regain the control Mohammad Hasnain had lacked – had the opposite effect. Once Khawaja got him away for a pair of boundaries in the fifth over, Australia were away, and Finch’s lofted six off Abbas’ following over indicated their fearlessness against Pakistan’s bowling attack.Imad began with a maiden, but so poor was Pakistan’s ground fielding it was hard to see how it would complement the bowling. Turning ones into twos is a good skill to have, with the proviso that you need to be the batting side. In the field, Pakistan were continuously guilty of this magnanimity, with Umar Akmal and Yasir Shah just two of the more notable repeat offenders. There weren’t any catches grassed, but then again, Finch and Khawaja didn’t so much as allow Pakistan a sniff for the first half of the innings.With time to seal a World Cup slot running out, Usman Shinwari could not have made a better final impression this series. He allowed just 14 runs in his first five overs, taking the wicket of Finch through nothing more than raw pace and a hint of seam movement, rushing him into a shot which never made contact. He was also the man to remove the other opener, again using his tearaway pace as the ball climbed onto Khawaja, who had become noticeably edgy as he approached his hundred. Bowling at the death might not have helped Shinwari’s figures, but he still finished with 4 for 49 in his ten overs.Maxwell was predictably explosive, given a perfect platform by the top order. Once more, however, he could have walked back early. Off the first ball of his innings, he helped Shinwari to fine leg, where a horrible misjudgement from the fielder saw the ball sail over his head and for a boundary. He would make Pakistan pay for it again, something Pakistan caught wind of when he smashed Yasir Shah for three fours in the following over. In what seemed like minutes, he had had brought up a 26-ball fifty.There was still time for a four and a six off Haris before Junaid Khan finally knocked back his off stump for a barnstorming 70 off 33. With ball in hand, he would return figures of 1-45, to finish far and away the standout player of the match. Pakistan may walk away from this series with a few positives; they will wish they were walking away with at least one win too.

He was the fourth-highest run-getter in the Ranji Trophy last season, with 859 runs at an average of 95.44

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Aug-2023Dhruv Shorey joins Karun Nair as Vidarbha’s two professionals signings ahead of the 2023-24 domestic season. They also have a third in Ganesh Satish.Shorey, the 31-year-old top-order batter, played 42 games for Delhi in a 52-match first-class career that has brought him 3841 runs at an average of 54.87, including 11 hundreds. He also has 1945 List A runs at 36.01, and 866 T20 runs at a strike rate of 116.39. He was part of the Chennai Super Kings IPL squad in 2018 and 2019, but only got to play two matches, scoring 8 and 5. He has not been part of Delhi’s T20 plans in recent seasons – his last match in the format was in November 2021.Related

• Nitish Rana, Dhruv Shorey seek NOCs to move from Delhi

Earlier this month, Shorey – along with Nitish Rana – had requested a no-objection certificate from the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) to allow them to play elsewhere. On Thursday, Shorey announced his move to Vidarbha via an Instagram post. The Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) has confirmed the move to ESPNcricinfo.