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Dean Elgar, South Africa’s Test captain, has stood up for the team’s coaches and management, whom he believes have not received the backing they deserve. Elgar’s comments come in the wake of the decision by CSA to launch a formal inquiry into the conduct of Graeme Smith, South Africa’s director of cricket, and Mark Boucher, their head coach, after a report by the Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) commission implicated both – and others including former captain AB de Villiers – of unfairly discriminating against players on the basis of race.The independent inquiry is set to take place in early 2022. Smith and Boucher will remain in their roles for now, and will carry out their duties during the home series against India, which begins with the first Test in Centurion on Boxing Day.Related

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While addressing a pre-series press conference, Elgar made mention of the difficult period South African cricket has endured over recent months. Asked what the toughest thing about this period had been, from a players’ perspective, Elgar responded with his comment about the coaches not being adequately backed.”It’s a tough one,” Elgar said. “We’ve had so many different administrators that we don’t even know who’s there now. I think maybe backing has been something that’s been pretty tough, especially backing with regards to our coaches and our team management. I don’t think we’ve received a lot of good stuff around that.”From a players’ point of view, we maybe have to say, you know what, we back our coaches, we back our management, we need to give them a lot of love. I think sometimes they put in so much work, it gets unnoticed, and it gets watered down by media, and it gets watered down by articles, and I think that’s the biggest thing, because I know what they do behind the scenes, and for me that speaks volumes when it comes to our environment.”One of the biggest things is that we haven’t had a lot of stability from an administrative point of view, and hopefully sooner than later there’s a lot more stability that comes within Cricket South Africa. But yeah, it’s not nice to see our coaches get lambasted for things, and I know the work they’re putting in behind the scenes, which no one else sees. Only us as the players group – we notice that and we see that and we’re extremely grateful for the hard work that they put in.”Elgar did not get a chance to elaborate on what specific criticisms of the coaches he was referring to.The most serious charges against Boucher date back to his playing days, and the use of a racist nickname by him and other players for Paul Adams, a team-mate of colour. While Boucher apologised for this in a submission to the SJN, the report suggested that his response revealed a “lack of sensitivity and understanding of the racist undertones” of his comments, and that he is “apathetic towards diversity and transformation.”Smith, meanwhile, was South Africa’s captain when Thami Tsolekile – who had been selected as Boucher’s long-term replacement as wicketkeeper – was overlooked in favour of de Villiers taking on the role. According to the SJN report, “CSA, Mr Graeme Smith and some selectors at the time really failed Mr Tsolekile and many black players of this time in many ways.”Apart from the charges of prejudicial conduct, another major talking point of the SJN hearing was the appointments of Smith and Boucher during the tenure of Jacques Faul as interim CEO following the suspension of Thabang Moroe. Faul conceded in his testimony at the hearing that the optics of a white CEO appointing a slew of high-profile white men to senior positions “were totally wrong”, and that he did not anticipate that “we would be viewed as a white takeover”.The inquiry aside, South African cricket has also had to deal with the cricketing fallout of the Omicron strain of Covid-19 – with the first-class domestic tournament stalled, the Mzansi Super League cancelled, and the upcoming Test series forced behind closed doors. Elgar said the team’s on-field performances wouldn’t be affected by any of this.”What happens off the field, for me, is irrelevant now,” he said. “Us as a players’ unit, we’ve been through such crappy times that we’ve actually formulated such a good bond within our group, and for me it’s not an excuse for us to use.”If we were in the first month of all these bad kind of scenarios, then it might be that, but we’ve been there, and I think we’ve formulated something that works for us. I referred to us as the players’ group – we’re extremely strong, our culture’s been tested and pushed to levels that I didn’t think it would be pushed to in my short term of being captain, and I think we’ve come out on top of it.”It’s all about the learning processes behind all that. We must always be mindful that even if things are bad off the field, we can’t use it as a cop-out for us. We’re a professional team, we’re professional players, we want to strive to areas still with regards to where we want to go as a team. We want to go up the rankings system still, and that’s our process going forward. We focus on cricket, and hopefully cricket will look after us.”

Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan spent around 36 hours in the ICU of Medeor Hospital in Dubai, recovering from a chest infection, before taking part in the T20 World Cup semi-final against Australia on Thursday, the team doctor has said. Rizwan made 67 to propel Pakistan to 176, but the effort went in vain as Australia won by five wickets to enter the final.

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“Mohammad Rizwan developed a severe chest infection on the 9th of November following which he was admitted to the hospital,” Najeebullah Soomro, the Pakistan team doctor, told the media after the game. “He spent two nights in the ICU recovering. He made an incredible recovery and was deemed fit before the match.”The decision regarding his health was made by the whole team management. And this was about the morale of the whole team. And therefore, we kept it within the team. We can see his great determination and tenacity that shows his spirit of performing for the country. And we can see how he performed today [Thursday].”The news about the severity of Rizwan’s health condition wasn’t shared with the public until batting consultant Matthew Hayden revealed it while speaking with the official broadcaster during the semi-final.”Mohammad Rizwan was in the hospital a night ago suffering from some sort of lung condition,” Hayden said. “This is a warrior. He’s been brilliant throughout the campaign, and he has great courage.”During the 13th over of Pakistan’s innings, Rizwan also took a blow to the helmet while looking to hook Mitchell Starc. The ball hit the grille of his helmet, which pressed into his face and left a bruise in his right cheek. The Pakistan physio performed a concussion check on the field, and Rizwan was deemed fit to continue batting.Both Rizwan and Shoaib Malik had missed Pakistan’s training session on Wednesday with mild flu and were initially advised to delay training. The duo had returned negative tests for Covid-19. Rizwan was, however, hospitalised on November 9 and was discharged the next day but kept under observation in the hotel. Pakistan were not overly concerned as they believed he would recover in time to play.Rizwan has been a key batter for Pakistan at the top of the order, and an important part of Pakistan’s on-field leadership. He is the second-highest run-getter in the World Cup with 281 runs from six matches, just behind his opening partner and captain Babar Azam. During his innings against Australia, he became the first batter to score 1000 T20I runs in a calendar year: he currently has 1033 runs in 20 innings this year, at an average of 86.08 and a strike rate of 136.45.Pakistan will start their journey later on Friday for Bangladesh from Dubai. The three-match T20I series will be followed by two Tests in Chattogram (November 26-30) and Dhaka (December 4-8). The squad for the Test series will be announced by November 15.

Gloucestershire have apologised “unreservedly” to David “Syd” Lawrence after he recounted experiencing racism from a team-mate during his time at the club.Lawrence, who played five Tests for England between 1988 and 1992 before a horrific injury nearly ended his career, was one of a number of black cricketers to open up about racist abuse and prejudice within the English game during Sky Sports’ documentary “You Guys Are History”, which aired during the fourth Test against India at The Oval.”I remember my first away game with Gloucestershire,” Lawrence said. “Somebody knocks on my door in the evening. I look, and one of my team-mates has left a banana skin there.”And then subsequently that person, I have to play with for the next 13-14 years. When I was in that room and that happened to me, I said ‘I’m going to be harder, tougher than ever – nobody is ever going to push me around’.”Related

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Gloucestershire said in a club statement that the club had contacted Lawrence “immediately after the transmission of the programme” and that he had met both David Jones, the club chair, and Will Brown, the chief executive, to “discuss the incident in detail”.The statement added that Lawrence had also discussed “another historical incident where he was racially abused by the crowd at an away fixture, but this was never investigated by the club”.”The behaviour and attitudes David experienced were as unacceptable then as they are today,” the statement said. “The club therefore wishes to apologise unreservedly to David for all the hurt he has experienced, both as a Gloucestershire player and as part of the wider cricketing network.”The club would also like to apologise to any player or employee of the club who may have experienced similar prejudices during their time at Gloucestershire. We are determined that no one should have to experience such behaviours and we will continue to welcome feedback, from players past and present, in developing a welcoming and inclusive environment.”We would like to thank David for his openness, honesty and courage in coming forward and speaking up.”

Melbourne Stars have signed recent England debutant batter Maia Bouchier for the upcoming WBBL season.The 22-year-old made her T20I debut in England’s recent series against New Zealand following some promising performances for Southern Brave in the women’s Hundred. She has also had a steady season for Southern Vipers in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, helping the Vipers reach the final.The Stars have lost experienced South Africa middle-order batter Mignon du Preez to Hobart Hurricanes and Bouchier joins a relatively inexperienced middle-order behind the star-studded top-order duo of Meg Lanning and Elyse Villani.”I’ve watched the WBBL over recent seasons from the UK and we know what a quality tournament it is to be a part of,” Bouchier said. “I’m really excited to make my debut in the competition and I’d like to thank the Melbourne Stars for the opportunity to be involved.”The Stars have some fantastic players and I know how close they went to winning the title last year, so hopefully I can make a contribution to a successful season.”Bouchier will have to do 14-day mandatory hotel quarantine when entering Australia ahead of the tournament starting on October 14. The Stars’ Melbourne-based players will also have to serve a 14-day quarantine in Hobart after the first 20 matches of the WBBL were shifted to Tasmania due to Covid-19 outbreaks and lockdowns in Victoria and New South Wales. But the Stars and Melbourne Renegades will be allowed to train while completing quarantine however, the two Sydney-based sides will not be given training exemptions while in quarantine due to the severity of Sydney’s outbreak.

Shafali Verma fired for the first time in the Hundred with a brilliant unbeaten 76 as Birmingham Phoenix ended a run of three straight defeats with a thumping 10-wicket over Welsh Fire, keeping their hopes of qualifying for the latter stages just about alive.The precociously talented 17-year-old, who made 96 and 63 on her Test debut against England in June, was so much in control that she was able to hand centre stage to partner Eve Jones towards the end of the chase, allowing the Jones to claim her first half-century of the competition, before stepping up to hit the winning boundary herself as Phoenix cantered home with 24 balls to spare.Bryony Smith led from the front for Fire after Phoenix had chosen to bowl, registering her competition best score with 38 from 36 balls, including five fours and a six over wide long-on off Abtaha Maqsood, but Fire’s next best score was 19 and their 127 for for 9 always looked a little under-par on a good pitch, the result leaving them level on four points with Phoenix going into the last two fixtures.Smith might have made more but was run out after a mix-up with Georgia Redmayne, who declined a single to point off Emily Arlott, leaving Smith stranded halfway down the pitch as Phoebe Franklin threw in to the bowler’s end.Then again, she was dropped on 4 as Erin Burns shelled a low return catch.Otherwise, Fire’s effort with the bat was disappointing. Batting trump card Hayley Matthews, averaging 45.75 going in, mistimed to mid-off for 13, Redmayne offered a return catch that Burns did hold for 17, and skipper Sophie Luff was lbw on review for 7, sparking a disappointing end to the innings that saw the last seven wickets fall for 33.These included a brilliant piece of work by Phoenix captain and wicketkeeper Amy Jones to stump Sarah Taylor off an Eve Jones full toss that just about dipped below waist height and three wickets in four deliveries in Kirstie Gordon’s last set of five.Phoenix raced to 47 from the 25-ball Powerplay, of which Verma hit 37, taking 12 off Smith’s opening over including a six to midwicket, and finishing with four-four-six in consecutive balls off Matthews’s offspin. After that, the opening pair never took their foot off the pedal.Verma passed fifty off 22 balls and thereafter was content to play second fiddle to Eve Jones, with completed her half-century from 30 balls with her ninth boundary. Verma should have been run out on 70 when trying to get her partner on strike but that was her only mistake and it was only a few balls later that she walloped her ninth boundary over midwicket to seal victory with time to spare.

It was a nightmarish end to a tough tour for Australia. As if losing the series wasn’t enough, in the final T20I, they lost 8 for 24 to collapse to 62 all out in a chase of 123. This was their lowest total across limited-overs cricket. It meant Bangladesh took the series 4-1 in Dhaka.Shakib Al Hasan, who nabbed his 100th T20I wicket on the way, led with a haul of 4 for 9, with Mohammad Saifuddin grabbing 3 for 12 as Bangladesh choked Australia, not for the first time, with spin.Bangladesh’s robust start
Bangladesh decided to open with Mahedi Hasan in place of regular opener Soumya Sarkar, and the move paid off. Along with Mohammad Naim, he ensured the hosts walloped 33 off the first three overs, all bowled by the spinners. Matthew Wade first went to Ashton Turner’s part-time offspin, then to Ashton Agar and finally to Adam Zampa, before introducing pace in the fourth over through Nathan Ellis. Ellis, Christian apply the brakes
Ellis and Dan Christian pulled things back as Bangladesh managed only 32 off the next eight. Crucially, they lost three wickets in that passage to be placed at 65 for 3 at the end of 11 overs.Australia perhaps picked three frontline spinners in the hope that the slowness off the surface and the turn would help apply the brakes, but Ellis reaped the rewards for tight lines, delivering four dots amid a heap of slower deliveries.Christian was then introduced immediately after the powerplay, and he used the angle from wide of the crease to good effect, stifling both Naim and Shakib with his slower variations. These two were instrumental in sapping Bangladesh of any momentum towards the end, they managed just 20 off the last five as Christian and Ellis finished with a combined 4 for 33.Saifuddin, Nasum dismantle Australia’s top order
Left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed’s twin blows within the first four overs meant Australia were on the back foot straightaway. Christian, promoted to open after clobbering Shakib for five sixes in an over two nights ago, was foxed by Nasum’s skidder. In the fourth over, in-form Mitchell Marsh was trapped plumb in front trying to sweep.Saifuddin then killed the chase when he arrived in the middle overs to first fox Alex Carey off a slower ball. As if that was not enough, two balls later, Moises Henriques tickled one behind to the wicketkeeper while trying to run one down to third man. And after Shakib delivered his maiden, Saifuddin got Agar, who was castled after trying to step down and slog one away.Shakib gets to a century of wickets
On his way to those magical figures, Shakib became just the second bowler to reach a hundred wickets in T20Is after Lasith Malinga. He wasn’t introduced until the seventh over, but struck off his second ball when he dismissed Wade with an arm ball that knocked back his off pole.At that stage, Australia were 54 for 6 after 11 overs with the game all but decided, which is when Shakib dismissed Turner to complete three figures. He got one to turn away from the right-hander, as the batter cut straight to cover. Shakib then had Ellis in the 14th over. When Adam Zampa pushed one to cover to finish off the innings three balls later, Australia had been skittled out for their lowest T20I total.

Hayley Matthews’ all-round brilliance and Anisa Mohammed’s four-for helped West Indies Women comprehensively beat Pakistan Women in the second ODI and take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series in Antigua. Matthews and Mohammed combined to pick up six wickets between them to restrict Pakistan to a paltry 120, after which the former made 49 as West Indies hunted down the target within 32 overs.Spinners cemented their dominance as Mohammed, Matthews and Karishma Ramharack wrecked Pakistan’s line-up. A 47-run partnership between Muneeba Ali and Omaima Sohail briefly stopped the slide, after Pakistan lost Ayesha Zafar and Javeria Khan within the first five overs. But once Ramharack dismissed Sohail, the trio combined to wipe out the remaining batters as the visitors collapsed from 60 for 2 to 120 all out.Mohammed, who holds the record for taking the most four-fors in women’s ODIs, added one more to take her tally to 13, as she claimed 4 for 27 in 9.4 overs.West Indies then got off to a strong start in the chase as Matthews and Kyshona Knight added 65 for the opening stand. Matthews struck nine fours during her 49 off 58 balls. Although both Matthews and Kycia Knight were both run-out, Kyshona Knight and Deandra Dottin completed the job for the hosts, with eight wickets and 113 balls to spare.”I’m really happy to be able to contribute to a team win,” Matthews told after the win. “Going out there we had a goal of restricting them for under 180 or so and I think we did a fantastic job.”I just wanted to spend some time, obviously we know it was a low sore we were chasing and as batters it was probably the best time to get our confidence up and just spend some time at the crease. I fell one short of a half-century but still happy with the performance and the win.”

Jayden 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

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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.”

There is no room for Hardik Pandya or Kuldeep Yadav in India’s squad of 20 players, including two players – KL Rahul and Wriddhiman Saha – subject to “fitness clearance”, for the final of the World Test Championship against New Zealand and the subsequent five-Test series against England. Pandya and Kuldeep aren’t among the four standby players either.India will play the WTC final from June 18 to 22 in Southampton and the Test series against England from August 4, starting in Nottingham, to September 14, with the last Test scheduled for Manchester.Virat Kohli’s side is expected to leave for England on June 2, and keeping in mind the length of the tour as well as possible contingencies because of the Covid-19 pandemic, India are carrying a total of 24 players, their reserves’ list containing Abhimanyu Easwaran, the opening batter, and three fast bowlers: Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan and Arzan Nagwaswalla.Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja and Hanuma Vihari returned to the squad after missing the recent home Tests against England because of their respective injuries.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Rahul underwent surgery for appendicitis in early May after he complained of “severe abdomen pain” during the IPL. At the time, the doctors were understood to have told the Punjab Kings that Rahul would be able to resume all activity in a week’s time.Saha, the other player who has to prove his fitness in time for the tour, tested positive for Covid-19 on May 4, the same day the IPL was postponed indefinitely. Saha, who was a part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad squad, is still in Delhi, where he returned the positive test. It is understood that he will have to undergo 14 days in isolation and be able to move out only after a negative test.Of the players dropped from the squad that played against England at home earlier this year, Pandya did have a question mark over him since he has not bowled regularly for some time now, with Kohli saying he wanted to preserve Pandya the bowler for the Tests in England. He had a shoulder niggle during the IPL, and didn’t bowl at all in the seven matches he played for the Mumbai Indians. He did, however, bowl a nine-over burst in the third and final ODI against England.As for Kuldeep, while he has been a part of the India squad recently, he has not had many games. Of his seven Tests, he has played only one in the last two years – the second Test against England in February this year – in which he got to bowl just 12.2 overs overall, returning 0 for 16 and 2 for 25 as India won by 317 runs. He could have also been left out because the two spinners picked ahead of him – Axar Patel and Washington Sundar – provide better batting options and shorten India’s tail.With Patel making a big splash on Test debut in the England series with a haul of 27 wickets from three games and India mostly preferring one or both of R Ashwin and Jadeja, depending on conditions, Kuldeep’s chances of making the cut took a hit.Among the opening batters, India have the options of Mayank Agarwal and Rahul, who can also double up as middle-order batters should the need arise, apart from the first-choice pair of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. Vihari returned after the hamstring injury he sustained in Sydney and is currently representing Warwickshire in the County Championship in England.For fast-bowling options, the selectors included Shardul Thakur and Umesh Yadav ahead of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has been facing injury issues recently, apart from the more obvious names of Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Shami and Mohammed Siraj.Before the latest Covid-19 surge in India which led to the UK government putting India on the red list in April, the BCCI was looking at picking two separate squads with the first batch meant for the WTC final and the second leaving closer to the England tour. That had to change once the circumstances changed.In April, the ECB had announced that the Indians would be arriving with an inflated squad and would play two intra-squad practice matches in July. Those two matches replaced the original warm-up schedule of four-day fixtures between the Indians and India A in July. The ECB, in agreement with BCCI, had postponed the India A tour because of the pandemic.Squad: Virat Kohli (capt), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-capt), Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul (subject to fitness clearance), Wriddhiman Saha (wk; subject to fitness clearance). Standby players: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Arzan Nagwaswalla

Harmanpreet Kaur has tested positive for Covid-19, the update coming after she had experienced mild symptoms and was tested. ESPNcricinfo understands that the India T20I captain experienced a fever for four days before testing positive on Monday. She is currently self-isolating at home.Kaur did not play any part in the recent T20Is at home against South Africa as a result of a hip-flexor injury, which she picked up during the fifth ODI in the longer-format series preceding the T20Is. In Kaur’s absence, Smriti Mandhana led India to a 2-1 series defeat. Earlier, Mithali Raj had led India to a 4-1 loss in the ODIs, in which Kaur hit 160 runs in four innings at an average of 53.33, including a 54 in the fourth ODI.Kaur is the second high-profile India Women cricketer to have tested positive for Covid-19 after pace bowler Mansi Joshi tested positive last October. As a result of that, Joshi had to miss the Women’s T20 Challenge in the UAE, where she was to represent the Velocity side, led by Raj.Separately, a number of former Indian cricketers, who were part of the Road Safety Series in Raipur, have tested positive for Covid-19: Sachin Tendulkar, Yusuf Pathan, S Badrinath and Irfan Pathan have returned positive tests.