Their nine-wicket win in a rain-hit clash all but knocked Sydney Thunder out of contention

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu02-Feb-2019Sydney Sixers 1 of 85 (Vince 43*, Hughes 41*) beat Sydney Thunder 6 for 128 (Green 34*, Abbott 2-23, T Curran 2-32) by nine wickets with nine balls to spare (via DLS method)
A cohesive bowling effort, led by seamers Sean Abbott and Tom Curran, secured Sixers’ spot in the semi-finals and all but knocked out the Thunder in the Sydney Smash at a packed SCG. After the bowlers cleverly exploited a two-paced pitch to limit the Thunder to 6 for 128, rain interrupted Sixers’ chase multiple times and the target was ultimately revised to 84 in 12 overs. Sixers’ England recruit James Vince peeled off this third 40-plus score in four innings, in an unbroken 85-run stand with Daniel Hughes, to overcome the rain and steal the Thunder.While the Sixers can enjoy more than a week off before they head to the MCG to face the Melbourne Stars in the last league match this season, the Thunder will have to beat table leaders Hobart Hurricanes in their final league match on next Saturday and hope that the Stars lose their last three games, to sneak into the semi-finals.Hit the deck
Left-arm seamer Ben Dwarshuis fed Thunder captain Shane Watson with a brace of full balls on the pads, which were nonchalantly picked away over the square-leg boundary. Abbott also fed Watson with a leg-stump full-toss, and watched it disappear to the square-leg boundary. He then shortened his length in the same over and had 19-year-old Jason Sangha ramping a catch to Steve O’Keefe at third man.Curran also hit similar hard lengths – neither driveable nor pullable – and shackled both Watson and Callum Ferguson, restricting the Thunder to 1 for 38 in the Powerplay. Left-arm spinner O’Keefe then got a full ball to grip, turn, and bounce past the outside edge of Watson in a two-run over. Something had to give, and that something was Watson nicking Curran behind for 28 off 24 balls.Spin to win
O’Keefe then combined with teenage legspinner Lloyd Pope and ran rings around the Thunder middle order. Ferguson could have been dismissed on 20, when he weakly slog-swept O’Keefe against the break and skied it into the Sydney sky, but wicketkeeper Josh Phillipe dropped the swirling ball near the square-leg region. Ferguson added only six runs to his tally before O’Keefe dangled one up wide of off stump and had Ferguson holing out to deep midwicket.Sean Abbott celebrates the wicket of D’Arcy Short•Getty Images

New Zealand allrounder Anton Devcich held on, limpet-like, but struggled to find the boundary. Against O’Keefe and Pope, he mustered only 15 off 16 balls. It was Abbott who made the incision when he returned and made Devcich miscue a scoop to short fine leg. At 4 for 90 at the start of the 16th over, Thunder’s innings desperately needed a finishing kick, and Chris Green provided that with a 22-ball 34. No other batsman in the match had a greater strike rate than Green’s 154.54. He struck three fours but it was his six hard-run twos that stood out. Curran later closed out the innings with his crafty variations, including the yorker and the back-of-the-hand slower ball.Vince, Hughes, rain… No Thunder
The Sixers got off to the worst possible start in the chase, Josh Phillipe falling to a hare-brained mix-up off the first ball. Green followed it with four successive dots in the second over to give his side hope. However, Vince dashed them with two monster sixes off legspinner Jonathan Cook and seamer Gurinder Sandhu. Rain then appeared and reappeared as Ferguson hoped that it would break the Sixers’ momentum. No way. While Vince continued to tee off against pace, Hughes attacked Thunder’s gun bowler Fawad Ahmed to coolly finish off the game, with nine wickets and nine balls to spare.

The consortium will take over from IMG-Reliance, which pulled out of its deal following the suicide bomb attack in Kashmir that has strained relations between India and Pakistan

Danyal Rasool19-Feb-2019Two days after IMG-Reliance pulled out of its deal to produce television coverage of the fourth season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), a replacement for the remainder of the tournament has been found. The PCB has declared that a consortium of Blitz and Trans Group will produce TV coverage throughout the course of this season’s PSL from now on.”The Pakistan Cricket Board today announced the consortium of Blitz and Trans Group as the new live production partner for the HBL Pakistan Super League 2019,” the PCB said in a press release. “Blitz are the PCB’s broadcast partners in Pakistan, while Trans Group are the event management partners.”Blitz and Trans Group will start their coverage when the matches resume on Wednesday, 20 February, and will continue to provide the same high quality coverage which the followers experienced in the earlier games of the event.”The announcement by IMG-Reliance, an Indian company, that they would not be producing TV coverage of the PSL came on Sunday, three days after a suicide bomb attack in Kashmir killed 44 Indian paramilitary troops, severely straining relations between India and Pakistan. The acrimony spilled over into cricket, not just with IMG-Reliance’s decision, but with TV channel DSports ceasing broadcasting of the PSL in India. Cricketgateway’s website, which has provided online coverage of the PSL for the past two seasons, has also stopped providing its coverage in India.IMG-Reliance’s decision left the PCB scrambling to find a replacement within the two days that the PSL was on a break for before games resume in Sharjah on Wednesday, The deal with Blitz and Trans Group goes some way to assuaging fears that the PSL would be left without a production partner, a major concern given TV revenue was overwhelmingly the largest source of income for the tournament.There was also speculation that the India-Pakistan clash at the World Cup on June 16 in Manchester may be in jeopardy. It led to outgoing ICC CEO David Richardson to say that “no indications” had been sent from either board that the match would not take place but that the ICC was “monitoring” the situation.

Barring the possibility of a draw, one of these teams will become the joint-quickest to their first Test win besides Australia back in 1877

The Preview by Danyal Rasool14-Mar-2019

Big Picture

This is the first time these two sides play each other in Tests, but in many ways, this could become the most likely fixture going forward in the format. When, in an act of surprising munificence for a governing body that famously prefers its club as exclusive as possible, the ICC-accorded Full Member – and as a result Test – status, to Afghanistan and Ireland in June 2017, the only worry was whether the two would actually get to play five-day cricket.Thus far, that concern remains naggingly pertinent. Both Afghanistan and Ireland are due to play just their second Test match in the 21 months since that approval. Ireland were the first to open their account when Pakistan played a one-off Test in May last year, before India hosted Afghanistan for their first game the following month.This may become the new Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh. In an ever more condensed FTP (Future Tours Programme), not to mention the explosion of T20 leagues across the globe, it is unlikely too many of the traditional Full Members will be allocating much time in their calendars to take on one of these two in the longest format. It simply isn’t lucrative enough, or – some of the bigger boys may believe – challenging enough to make it worth their while.But let there be no doubt about it, this is a huge fixture in the context of Test cricket. Barring the possibility of a draw, one of these teams will become the first new Test match winners since 2005, and the joint-quickest to their first Test win besides Australia in the first ever Test in 1877.Playing at “home” in Dehradun, India, Afghanistan will feel it must surely be their time. The squad comprises a young team – six players in the squad are under 21 – but some of the stalwarts of the first global generation of Afghan cricket are still around. Asghar Afghan is captain, while Mohammad Shahzad and Mohammad Nabi are also part of the side.Ireland ran Pakistan uncomfortably close in their first Test, and but for a few moments on the final day, they may already have come into this fixture with a Test win under their belt. This tour, however, didn’t begin nearly as auspiciously as to suggest it would end with a Test win, but following on from a record-breaking demolition in the T20I series, they have begun to get into this tour just as the all-important final fixture of the tour rolls around. They came from behind twice to level the ODI series 2-2, and will feel they have enough momentum and confidence to not simply be the stepping stone for an Afghan celebration.

Form guide

Afghanistan L
Ireland L

In the spotlight

There is a particular moment when a Test nation must finally undo its safety harness and move on. For Afghanistan, that moment may arrive after Mohammad Nabi decides to hang up his gloves. The 34-year old has been ever-present in Afghanistan’s side since the 2010 World T20 that first allowed the country an international cricketing forum, and the two-day Test match against India was hardly any introduction a cricketer of his commitment deserved. With a more realistic shot at salvation approaching, Nabi’s form is timed especially well. No Afghan player will have envisioned this game in their mind more often than him, or put in the work to help ensure it even happens. If there is any justice in world cricket (and you’d be brave to argue for the motion), then expect Nabi to play a starring role in the Test starting Friday.Rashid Khan celebrates Ajinkya Rahane’s wicket•BCCI

The lush green fields of Malahide and the dark grey skies above in the place where Pakistan were given such an almighty scare is a world removed from the challenges they will need to neuter in Dehradun. Fast bowlers Tim Murtagh Boyd Rankin, and Stuart Thompson took every Pakistan wicket that fell to a bowler in Malahide, but here, the spinners will have a far more important role to play.But where Afghanistan have arguably the world’s hottest young spinner among their ranks in Rashid Khan, there simply isn’t enough evidence Ireland have the spin threat to provide appropriate competition in that department. It may mean the quicker bowlers have a daunting few days of work ahead of them, and whether they have the fitness and the heart to put their bodies on the line may go a long way to deciding the ultimate outcome of the Test.

Team news

Afghanistan’s 14-member squad has several members who played the Test against India. Mujeeb ur Rehman, however, is a notable absentee. Left-arm wristspinner Zahir Khan and left-arm seam bowler Sayed Shirzad have been added to the squad. Their ace spinner Rashid Khan is nursing an injured right middle-finger, but will play despite it. On Thursday, he batted and then went to the physio and only had a short stint with the ball, all the while being cautious. Even when he went off, he walked off with the finger in ice.Afghanistan (squad): Asghar Afghan (capt), Mohammad Shahzad, Ihsanullah Janat, Javed Ahmadi, Rahmat Shah, Nasir Jamal, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Ikram Alikhail, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Wafadar Momand, Yamin Ahmadzai, Sharafudin Ashraf, Waqar Salamkhail, Zahir Khan, Sayed Shirzad.The sense that the first rebuild of the squad is already here for Ireland after their first Test is palpable. Ed Joyce and Niall O’Brien have retired, while Gary Wilson is still out of the side with a condition that affects his vision.Ireland (squad): William Porterfield (capt), Andy Balbirnie, James Cameron Dow, George Dockrell, Andy McBrine, Barry McCarthy, James Mccollum, Tim Murtagh, Kevin O’Brien, Stuart Poynter (wk), Boyd Rankin, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Lorcan Tucker

Pitch and conditions

The conditions over the next five days seem ideal for Test cricket, with plenty of sunshine. Inclement weather should not interrupt this match.

Stats and trivia

• Once this Test gets underway, all 12 Test nations will have played at least one home and away Test. Afghanistan, however, will play this “home” Test in the same country as the one where they played their only away Test: India
• Londonderry-born Boyd Rankin has played as many Tests for England as he has for his native country – one. While with Ireland, he ran Pakistan close in the most recent one, his debut with England was more of a lopsided contest, with Australia bowling England away by 281 runs to complete a 5-0 Ashes clean sweep in 2014

Quotes

“It is a moment of pride that Afghanistan hosts its first Test match and it carries a lot of meaning for us. Although, we lost our inaugural Test match to India last year, we will aim to play in the upcoming Test match with full strength.”
“First and foremost, it will be completely different conditions [in the Test match] – our first Test match against Pakistan was a home game in Malahide in May whereas we are in Dehradun here in India in March. We will see how the pitch is in the next couple of days and expect it not to be very different.”

Ottis Gibson put in a request with CSA to withdraw ‘key players’ early, but ESPNcricinfo understands that the board did not bring up the issue with the BCCI

ESPNcricinfo staff10-May-2019South Africa coach Ottis Gibson put in a request to withdraw “key players” from the IPL in early May to prepare for the World Cup. But Cricket South Africa (CSA) chief executive Thabang Moroe did not bring up the issue with the BCCI, ESPNcricinfo understands, worried of the consequences of doing so.A report by has suggested that the status of India’s scheduled tour to South Africa in 2021-22 may have prompted Moroe’s action – or rather inaction. A tour by India would provide a major financial boost to an organisation that has forecast losses of R 654 million over the next four years, with any change to the scheduling of such a lucrative tour likely to worsen those losses.Captain Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Quinton de Kock and Chris Morris – who replaced the injured Anrich Nortje in South Africa’s World Cup squad earlier this week – are all still in India, with du Plessis and Tahir both part of the Chennai Super Kings squad that will play in Sunday’s final against Mumbai Indians – for whom de Kock plays – after their six-wicket win over Delhi Capitals on Friday night.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Before the tournament started, CSA had confirmed to the BCCI that its players would be available for the full duration of the IPL. Gibson, however, had requested to CSA that key South Africa players part of the World Cup squad return in the first week of May, which would have likely ruled them out of the IPL playoffs.Kagiso Rabada was also part of Delhi Capitals’ squad until just over a week ago, when he returned to South Africa under something of an injury cloud, having complained of a stiff back and been sent for scans that prompted CSA to call him home. But it is also understood that the return of Rabada from the IPL was not a smooth process. The IPL is understood to have not thought his back issue serious enough to merit an early exit, but CSA’s medical team insisted he return to South Africa after Proteas physio Craig Govender, who happened – by chance – to be travelling through Delhi at the time, saw the scans.For his own part, Rabada said via social media channels that his return was purely “precautionary”.”Ipl was really fun!,” Rabada said on Instagram. “Extremely glad for the opportunity! Sad to leave but good to be home! Bittersweet. Regarding my back, I’m good – precautionary is all.”Imran Tahir is a photographer’s dream•BCCI

At the time of writing, CSA had not responded to ESPNcricinfo’s request for comment on the issue of Gibson’s request to have his players back early, though quoted a spokesperson as saying: “We are not aware of such a request made to the executive.””Our understanding is that, as is the case with New Zealand, the Windies, etcetera, we as CSA do our best to assist our players in maximising their IPL income,” the spokesperson added. “It is only Australia and England who can afford to pull their players out.”The members of the England squad who had been active in the IPL – including Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Sam Billings and Jonny Bairstow – were all directed by the ECB to return to England on or before April 26. The four members of Australia’s World Cup squad who had been part of the league returned by April 30.But, given that the IPL pays national boards a fee for each foreign player taking part in the league, and CSA’s precarious financial position, it was not in a position to risk ruffling any feathers by calling South Africa’s World Cup players back early. CSA said that “discussions” around the departure date of its players from the IPL were still happening in March, and by the middle of April, CSA told ESPNcricinfo, the plan was “for guys who make the final to join us on the 13th.”South Africa’s pre-World Cup camp begins on Sunday, May 12, the day of the IPL final that du Plessis and Tahir will be part of. South Africa will then depart for England on May 19.

Khawaja’s scans clear after he was hit on the helmet by an Andre Russell bouncer that forced him to retire hurt

ESPNcricinfo staff22-May-2019Steven Smith maintained a promising run of scores ahead of the World Cup by guiding Australia to a comfortable warm-up match victory over the West Indies in Southampton. This was after Usman Khawaja sent a scare through the camp when he was struck on the helmet by Andre Russell.On his way to 76 batting at No. 4, Smith added 53 with his captain Aaron Finch and 109 with Shaun Marsh, who then formed a union with Glenn Maxwell to glide the Australians past their target of 230 with 11.3 overs to spare.It was Smith’s third half-century in as many practice games, having also batted effectively against New Zealand XI in Brisbane before the team’s departure for England, via Gallipoli.”It’s certainly the best seat in the house, he’s going fantastically since he’s come back in and it’s great to see him come in, score some runs and no doubt he’s ready for a big tournament,” Marsh said of Smith. “I don’t really speak too much out there but he’s obviously got a great understanding of the game and you try to feed off that, so he’s been fantastic to bat out there today and I’ve always enjoyed batting with him so it’s good fun.”He’s come back in and done what he usually does, score runs, so it’s fantastic to have them both back in the team and they’re both really valuable players for us. [Smith] has been fantastic since our camp for New Zealand and the way he batted up there, and to come out and bat like he did today was fantastic for us.”Andre Russell checks on Usman Khawaja after hitting him on the head with a bouncer during a World Cup warm-up match•PA Images via Getty Images

Khawaja had earlier gone to hospital for scans on his jaw after suffering a nasty blow from Russell’s bouncer. The opener retired hurt and looked to be in some discomfort, indicating an area on the right side of his head as he walked off the field accompanied by Australian team doctor Richard Saw. He did not take any further part in the match, but was later cleared of any structural damage. Khawaja was expected to take part in a light training session on Thursday.”It was very scary actually, it copped him on the side of the cheekbone I think,” Marsh said. “I think he’s okay so that’s the main thing and hopefully he’ll bounce back pretty quickly. Obviously he’s a little bit shaken, when you do get hit in the head you do get shaken by it, but Uzzy’s a tough cookie and he’ll be fine and ready to go.”Khawaja’s presence at the top of the order had meant David Warner moved down to No. 3. Khawaja was on 5 when he retired hurt and Warner made 12 before he was dismissed by Oshane Thomas.West Indies were bowled out for 229 on the small out ground, as the Australian pacemen Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Nathan Coulter-Nile made frequent use of the bouncer, well supported by the wrist spin of Adam Zampa. Among the bowlers, only Jason Behrendorff (1 for 65 from nine overs) was got at by the West Indies, who were missing Chris Gayle.Marsh’s unbeaten 55 batting at No. 5 gave him a head start in the race for batting berths once the tournament begins on May 30, also recalling his runs against England in the bilateral series the two team played a year ago. Australia’s next warm-up fixture is against the tournament hosts on Saturday.”I’d like to think I’m nice and flexible, I’ve batted from one to six throughout my career,” Marsh said. “So I’m just going to enjoy the next two practice games, spend some time in the middle and see what happens. It certainly does give you confidence knowing you’ve scored runs over here in the past and it was nice to spend some time out in the middle and get my feet moving. Good fun.”Importantly we played well as a team today, I think the bowlers did fantastically well on that wicket and I thought he way Zampa bowled on a smallish ground was fantastic and it was nice to spend some time out there and bat with Smithy as well.”

The sanction is in relation to their conduct in Japan, where they were favourites to win a qualifying tournament for the Under-19 World Cup; however, 10 players missed a crucial game against Japan

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jun-2019The Papua New Guinea cricket board has suspended 10 of its Under-19 players for a year for bringing the game into disrepute. The sanction is in relation to their conduct in Japan, where they were favourites to win a qualifying tournament for the Under-19 World Cup in 2020; however, 10 players missed a crucial game against Japan and the team had to forfeit the game because they didn’t have enough players to field an XI.Cricket PNG chief executive Greg Campbell said: “The behaviour of our players is not what we would expect from international cricketers of any age. The players have expressed sincere regret at their actions and in addition to their suspension from cricket, they will undertake a comprehensive rehabilitation programme over the next 12 months.”ICC General Counsel and COO Iain Higgins added: “This has been a highly unusual incident by a group of young players and I would like to thank Cricket PNG for acting swiftly and decisively. It sends out a clear message that the sport will not tolerate this sort of behaviour at ICC events.”We are obviously extremely disappointed with the behavior of the players, but we are satisfied that Cricket PNG has delivered a suitable and proportionate sanction and programme for rehabilitation. Therefore, the ICC will not take any further action against any of the players.”In addition to being suspended, the 10 players will take part in 60 hours of community service and also attend a counselling programme.

Uncapped Anthony Bramble has been handed a call-up while Andre Russell is included but faces a fitness test

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jul-2019Sunil Narine and Kieron Pollard have been recalled to the West Indies T20I squad for the opening two matches against India, with uncapped wicketkeeper-batsman Anthony Bramble also earning a call-up.Allrounder Andre Russell has been included subject to passing a fitness test following the knee injury which forced him out of the World Cup. John Campbell, the opening batsman, takes the spot vacated by Chris Gayle who is unavailable due to playing in the Canada GT20.Narine, who last played T20Is nearly two years ago, is joined in the spin attack by left-armer Khary Pierre. Narine was in the frame to be part of the World Cup, but did not feel confident getting through 50-over cricket after a finger injury. The selectors are casting their eye forward to next year’s men’s T20 World Cup in Australia, where West Indies will defend their title, with the captaincy reverting to Carlos Brathwaite after Jason Holder took charge for the series against England earlier this year to try and bring some continuity ahead of the World Cup.”We felt that players like Narine and Pollard, who have played well in T20 leagues around the world, once they are fit and mentally ready to play, we must give them the opportunity to represent the West Indies again,” Robert Haynes, the intern chairman of selection, said.”It’s not just about the present – the India tour of the West Indies – but we are also looking at the T20 World Cup coming up next year and it is important that we find the right combination of players and the right formula for defending our title.”We have to make sure that we put certain things in place now, so that when it comes to picking the squad for the T20 World Cup, it becomes easier, so we are giving more players the opportunity to play and get the exposure.”Bramble, 28, will provide wicketkeeping back-up to Nicholas Pooran despite not having played an official T20 in close to three years. He did, however, captain West Indies B at last year’s Canada GLT20 and was picked up by Guyana Amazon Warriors in the CPL draft in May.”He is young and has a lot of ambition, and we saw his character come out in the way he batted whenever Guyana Jaguars were in problems in the West Indies Championship and Super50 Cup, so we know he is capable of getting the job done,” Haynes said.The selectors could make changes to the squad for third T20I in Guyana. India’s tour also includes three ODIs and two Tests.Squad Carlos Brathwaite (capt), Anthony Bramble (wk), John Campbell, Sheldon Cottrell, Shimron Hetmyer, Evin Lewis, Sunil Narine, Keemo Paul, Khary Pierre, Kieron Pollard, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Rovman Powell, Andre Russell, Oshane Thomas

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Aug-2019Gloucestershire 172 for 7 (Salter 4-12) tied with Glamorgan 172 for 5 (Fakhar 58)Glamorgan’s Andrew Salter returned the superb figures of 4 for 12 in three overs, including a first-ball wicket and three more in the space of seven deliveries, but AJ Tye battled back for Gloucestershire to seal a thilling tie in the Vitality Blast clash at Cardiff.Gloucestershire, set a daunting 173 for victory following a brisk half-century from Fakhar Zaman and a turbo-charged 42 from 21 balls from Chris Cooke, suffered a terrible start when Miles Hammond was deceived by Salter’s offspin, knocking a simple catch back to the bowler off the first ball of the innings.Two overs later, the visitors lost their second wicket, when James Bracey was caught off Marchant De Lange on the midwicket boundary.Gloucestershire were 46 for 2 after six overs, but in the next over Michael Klinger edged Dan Douthwaite’s fifth ball to the wicketkeeper, and with Graham Wagg conceding just three runs from his first over, Glamorgan’s bowlers held the upper hand.After ten overs Gloucestershire required a further 100 runs, but Cockbain raised their spirits by taking 14 runs from Wagg’s third over before Salter burst back into the action, ending his stay for an aggressive 40.With five overs left, the visitors required 57, but Salter struck twice more in three balls to dismiss Higgins and Jack Taylor. Billy Root held on to a low catch at mid-wicket to dismiss Higgins before Taylor drove to long-on.Tye, however, was not done yet, and hauled Gloucestershire back into contention with a violent innings of 38 from 19 balls, including three fours and a six.He struck De Lange’s penultimate over for 19, though he was also dropped by Colin Ingram in the process, a simple chance at mid-off.
With 14 needed in the final over, Benny Howell smashed Lukas Carey for six to keep his side in the hunt, only to fall the next ball, but Tye scrambled Gloucestershire to parity with a brace of twos off the final two balls of the innings, and deny Glamorgan their first win of the Blast campaign.

On their arrival in India, new team director Enoch Nkwe said they have ‘to start building for the future’

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Sep-20191:53

‘We strongly believe in Quinton’ – Enoch Nkwe

South Africa have hinted at the possibility of Quinton de Kock being a captaincy candidate keeping in mind next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia. De Kock will lead a fairly young side in the three T20Is against India in regular captain Faf du Plessis’ absence, as their new team director Enoch Nkwe wants to “start building for the future”.”I strongly believe that we have a good enough squad. We have a good leader here,” Nkwe said at South Africa’s arrival press conference in Dharamsala, ahead of the series opener on Sunday. “It’s also an opportunity to start building for the future. We know where Faf stands, as a captain and as a player. He’s done great things for South African cricket. We also need to look at what the future looks like. We believe in Quinton, who’s going to be leading the team in this series.”South Africa’s post World Cup shake-up and du Plessis’ age (35) could be among the reasons for them looking at new candidates. De Kock is just 26 and has featured in 191 internationals across formats since his debut in 2012. In India, he will lead a squad of 14 that features several newcomers. Nkwe, however, believes the players have got “good enough experience”.”If you look at the group of guys, we’ve got good enough experience,” Nkwe said. “The captain himself has played a lot of cricket here in India. We’ve got fresh blood that is coming into the squad and that’s very exciting. We’ll be competitive. We want to walk away with a series win. The entire squad is very determined. We’re here to win. We understand that the opposition is strong in their backyard, but that’s something we’re going to leave on the park. We’re going to give 100%.”At the end of the day, as a professional team, we’re entertainers. We hope that the kind of cricket we’ll be playing out there, people will be able to read and understand the brand of cricket we want to play. It’s a new chapter, and there are some new characters in the group. We’re still in the process of defining ourselves, but I know for sure that the guys want to get out there and play some exciting cricket.”De Kock said he was “looking forward” to the young team competing and fighting under him. “Coming into this series, we’ve got a lot of new players. Win or lose, I just want the guys to keep competing, keep fighting. As long as they keep doing that, I’m sure we’ll be in good hands. We’ve got quite a young team, so there will be a lot of energy. Looking forward to that.”The tour of India will be South Africa’s first assignment since their disastrous World Cup campaign but they are now looking ahead to the next global event as they have close to 20 games in hand before the T20 World Cup in October next year.”The focus for now is this coming series against India,” Nkwe said. “We’re looking to invest in a good foundation going into the T20 World Cup next year in Australia. But we still have a lot of games. We have about 20 games. So we’ll reassess the situation after these three games against India and see where we’re at, and how we build into the England series and so on. But for now the focus is the Indian series.”South African can draw inspiration from their T20I (2-0) and ODI (3-2) series wins when they last toured India, in 2015. De Kock had not featured in the T20 series then but he troubled the hosts in the ODIs, finishing as the third-highest scorer, behind team-mates du Plessis and AB de Villiers, with a tally of 318 runs and an impressive average of 63.60, with two centuries.”I haven’t played here (Dharamsala) myself, I’ve been here before but I haven’t played here,” de Kock recalled the opening T20 of the 2015 series in which South Africa had chased down 200 with seven wickets in hand. “The last time we were here, the wicket did play very well. I think Rohit [Sharma] got a hundred here, but we ended up chasing it down. So in the one game I’ve experienced here, it could be a good wicket. But we’re coming into the unknown, so we’ll have to assess quickly, and then just adapt.”

The ICC also penalised their team-mate Haseeb Amjad for spot-fixing and he is out for five years

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Aug-2019Hong Kong cricketers Irfan Ahmed and Nadeem Ahmed have been banned from the game for life after the ICC found the two brothers guilty of trying to corrupt several matches, including those played during the 2016 World T20.Their team-mate Haseeb Amjad was penalised for spot-fixing and is serving a five-year ban. Seeing that all three of them were provisionally suspended on October 8, 2018, Amjad can potentially return in 2023.Irfan, 29, was an opening batsman. Nadeem, 31, was a left-arm spinner. And Amjad, 31, is a seam bowler. They were all charged by the ICC two years ago for “fixing” or trying to “influence” the result or progress of a match. Since they were all “experienced” cricketers, who had attended anti-corruption briefings and still chose to engage in these activities, the ICC came down hard on them.”This has been a long and complex investigation which has uncovered systematic attempts to influence moments in matches by experienced international cricketers over a period of time,” Alex Marshall, ICC general manager (Anti-Corruption Unit), said. “Their conduct was premeditated and sophisticated and each of the Ahmed brothers sought to corrupt others.”The main offences relate to the Hong Kong matches against Scotland and Canada [during the World Cup qualifiers in 2014] where the players fixed specific overs. These matches were won by Hong Kong, so it did not materially affect the results of the tournament, however I cannot reiterate strongly enough to any player considering this that we treat any form of fixing – spot or match – with the upmost seriousness.”Irfan was charged with nine breaches of the ICC’s anti-corruption code, including seeking, offering, accepting or agreeing to a bribe or reward to influence Hong Kong’s match against Zimbabwe in the 2014 World T20. Nadeem and he were charged for a similar offence in the 2016 World T20 as well.The ICC’s order, signed by Michael Beloff QC, read, “Both brothers appear to have made significant sums from their corrupt conduct. For example, the WhatsApp messages suggest that Irfan Ahmed was to be paid ’20k’ for a session, and that a windfall would arise from Hong Kong’s qualification for the ICC World Twenty20.” The tribunal also found evidence that the brothers “seemed to be living beyond their means… they are both paid around HK$11,000 per month by the Cricket board'” and concluded that “neither has to date shown any remorse for their conduct”.Amjad was found guilty of a “spot-fix he carried out” against Canada in 2014. The order said “it involved him conceding a very significant number of runs, early in the match, and therefore the outcome of the match could foreseeably have turned on the spot-fix.”The tribunal could not find any mitigating factors in the case of Irfan, who had previously been suspended for two-and-a-half years after he admitted to the ICC that he had breached the anti-corruption code. And although it noted that it knew of no prior offences committed by the other two, “in respect of Nadeem Ahmed in particular, the ICC submits, and the Tribunal further accepts, that that mitigating factor should be given no weight, or no effective weight, given the overall seriousness of his offending”.