While the BCB release didn’t specify the nature of the breach, ESPNcricinfo understands that the incidents took place during the Chittagong leg of the ongoing season

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Nov-20161:25

Isam: Fine amounts unprecedented

Sabbir Rahman and Al-Amin Hossain have been handed heavy fines for “serious off-field disciplinary breaches” during the Bangladesh Premier League.While the BCB release didn’t specify the nature of the breach, ESPNcricinfo understands that the incidents took place during the Chittagong leg of the ongoing season.”A Governing Council investigation has found both players guilty of serious off-field disciplinary breaches during the current tournament,” a BCB press release read. “As a consequence, Al Amin has been penalised 50% of his BPL contract fees while Shabbir has been fined 30% of his BPL contract amount.Sabbir, placed in Grade A+ in the BPL player draft, was acquired by Rajshahi Kings for Tk 40 lakh (approximately USD 50,000), while Al Amin in Grade A was retained by Barisal Bulls for Tk 25 lakh (approximately USD 31,000).”The players have been reminded of their responsibility as national cricketers and have been warned that any repeat of similar acts of indiscretion in the future will result in harsher penalty,” the statement said.

Suzie Bates made a 46-ball 64 and put on 100 quick runs for the first wicket with Sam Curtis (55*) as New Zealand women beat Pakistan women by eight wickets in the first ODI

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Nov-2016
Scorecard
Suzie Bates’ dominant 64 took her side to a comfortable victory in the first ODI•Getty Images

Captain Suzie Bates made a 46-ball 64, and put on 100 quick runs for the first wicket with Sam Curtis (55*), as New Zealand women beat Pakistan women by eight wickets, with 27 overs to spare, in the first ODI in Lincoln.Bates’ decision to put Pakistan in was vindicated when the visitors were reduced to 27 for 3 in the ninth over. Nain Abidi (49) put on a 62 with Nida Dar (19) for the fourth wicket to begin a recovery, but Pakistan collapsed after Abidi’s dismissal. They went from 89 for 3 to 90 for 6, with medium-pacer Lea Tahuhu (3-37) removing Abidi and Dar, while captain Sana Mir was caught and bowled to 16-year old debutant legspinner Amelia Kerr (1-21).Allrounder Asmavia Iqbal scored an unbeaten 49, but was one of only three batsmen to reach double figures as Pakistan folded for 156 in 49 overs.Bates and Curtis knocked 100 off the target in just 13.3 overs, before the New Zealand captain was caught behind off Sana Mir. Amy Satterthwaite fell four overs later. But the wickets only marginally slowed down New Zealand’s scoring rate, as Curtis took them home with her first ODI fifty.The second ODI in the five-match series will be played in the same venue on November 11.

Jack Leach was shocked when England raised doubts about the legality of his action

George Dobell20-Dec-20162:24

Trott: Never noticed anything odd about Leach’s action

Jack Leach, the Somerset left-arm spinner, says he was “shocked” not to be considered for a call-up to England’s tour of India due to concerns over the legality of his bowling action.The ECB confirmed on Tuesday that the problem was raised during routine testing at the national academy in Loughborough following the end of the season in which Leach had taken 65 wickets at 21 in the County Championship. Leach has never been reported for a suspect action by the umpires.While Somerset – Leach’s club – insist the issue was minor, it is likely it convinced the England selectors not to consider him as a replacement for Zafar Ansari when he was forced home from India due to injury. Hampshire’s Liam Dawson was called up in Ansari’s place.Instead, Leach took his place on the England Lions tour of the UAE, where we underwent remedial work on his bowling action while also continuing to play. He claimed 3 for 7 in a one-day match against UAE and 2 for 25 in the four-day encounter against Afghanistan, then was named in the squad for the tour of Sri Lanka in February.Leach has admitted he was “shocked” when ECB tests showed he had an illegal bowling action.”When I did the test and they told me I was as shocked as anyone,” said Leach. “It was only a very small thing in terms of my body position – and it wasn’t helping me bowl a doosra or anything like that.”After that I just worked my nuts off to be honest, with Peter Such from the Lions and Jason Kerr back at Somerset, in terms of making the changes I needed to. I’ve made a hell of a lot of progress, and I was pleased with the way it went out in the UAE.”The important thing is I’ve come to terms with it, and I feel like I’m going to be a better bowler in the future for sorting it out.”The news – and timing of the news – is intriguing. In contrast to most illegal bowling action reports, there had hardly been a whisper of protest about Leach’s action throughout the county season. Quite the contrary: it appeared orthodox and strong and it is understood that no umpires reported any concerns with it. Coming just as England slipped to a 4-0 defeat, it might be seen to deflect attention from some surprising selections and suggest the selectors were powerless to offer alternatives to India’s spin attack.”Jack really has worked like a Trojan since the initial assessment,” Such, the ECB’s lead spin-bowling coach, said. “He’s only made slight modifications but they make a big difference, and we’ve seen really significant progress.””Jack had a tremendous season for Somerset and is an outstanding player and team member,” Matthew Maynard, Somerset’s director of cricket, said. “Whilst he was picked up for a minor abnormality in his bowling action during routine testing at the end of the season, this was quickly addressed with remedial work, allowing him to play for England Lions over the last few weeks. I have every confidence that he will be playing for England in the future and that there is no major issue with his bowling action.”Towards the end of the 2016 season, as Leach spearheaded Somerset’s push for a maiden Championship title, his captain Chris Rogers suggested he was not yet ready for Test cricket.”I am still a big believer that you need more than one good season to play for England,” Rogers said after Leach had taken 6 for 64 at Headingley. “With Jack, I think his game’s in order, I think emotionally he still has a bit of a way to go and I don’t think he’s be upset with me saying that.”He is still a young guy, he has only ever been in Somerset and the challenges in international cricket are a lot more difficult.”

The Melbourne Renegades kept their chances alive in the BBL with a six-run win that knocked the Adelaide Strikers out

The Report by Geoff Lemon16-Jan-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMarcus Harris reached his fifty off 29 balls•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Strikers struck off, Renegades surviveThe Melbourne Renegades stayed alive in the sixth edition of the Big Bash League, finally closing out a contest after a couple of thrilling losses, and knocking out the struggling Adelaide Strikers with a six-run win.Asked to bat at the Adelaide Oval, the Renegades set a decent total of 171 for the loss of nine wickets, built around Marcus Harris’ dominant innings of 85. No other batsman really got going, Callum Ferguson the next best with 26, though all of the top five got starts.Ben Laughlin bowled an exceptional spell of 2 for 15 from his four overs, while Michael Neser returned 2 for 14 from three, but the Renegades made up for it by punishing Kieron Pollard, Liam O’Connor, Ish Sodhi and Wes Agar.The final result looked closer on paper than it was in the flesh, the chase effectively extinguished when captain Brad Hodge was out 37 runs short of victory with 20 balls to spare, after little substantial support from the top order. Jono Dean clubbed the Strikers to within some hope of a comeback win, but Thisara Perera finished off with the ball after so famously failing to do so in last week’s record chase against the Hobart Hurricanes.We’ll always have HarrisThe Renegades opener was the difference, and proved his value as a recruit from Western Australia, belting his 85 from 53 deliveries. Six of his shots went to the fence and four cleared it, his moderate start dropping into gear with three consecutive fours off Agar in the third over.He flew past a half-century thanks to a couple of sixes off Pollard in the eighth. Cameron White and Tom Cooper fell around him, but Harris pushed on to within reach of a maiden T20 century in his 20th game.When he fell with the score on 149 and four overs to go, a possible Renegades score of over 200 went begging, as the last six batsmen kept to single figures. In the end, though, Harris alone had been enough.Strikers waste another good chancePeter Nevill is accompanied off the field after being struck in the face by Brad Hodge’s bat•Getty Images

Tim Ludeman and Ben Dunk got the start that should have enabled the Strikers to chase comfortably, with 53 runs from the first six overs. But not for the first time this season, the rest of the innings lost its way. Ludeman holed out, Dunk missed a straight ball from part-time offspinner and part-time Dutchman Cooper, and the slide began.”I’ll just look to be super positive against Perera. Pollard is great against spin, so hopefully that takes some pressure off him.” That was Hodge’s offering to the commentary team during the chase. “We know Perera will be bowling a lot of slower balls, so hopefully we get onto a few.”It was Pollard rather than Hodge who got onto one, a ball that dropped short and sat up. Pollard hammered it out to deep square leg, flying for a flat six. Or that’s what everyone thought had happened, except that a screamer from Callum Ferguson at the boundary intercepted it.Once again it was poor Hodge trying to herd a bunch of kittens across the finish line. That paved the way, though, for a fluke accident that took the shine off the win for the Renegades. As Hodge looked to lift the rate, his bat flew out of his hands after a particularly violent slog sweep, and flew behind the pitch where Peter Nevill stood a few paces back.With the wicketkeeper’s eye on the ball at deep backward square, he didn’t see the bat that then hit him in the side of his face, forcing him to come off with a massive swelling on the right side of his jaw. Perera knocked over Hodge later the same over, while opposing captain Aaron Finch deputised with the gloves.Be the crowd favouriteThe competition for bringing the crowd into the game was split between Harris and Neser. Aside from Neser’s bowling providing a couple of deep catches, he put on a show himself by the fence.First he hung on to one at deep midwicket to dismiss White. Then he dropped Ferguson at long-on, held Perera at long-off, and snared James Pattinson at deep midwicket towards the end of the innings.Harris brought onlookers into the game literally via the last of his sixes from a gorgeous straight hit off New Zealand legspinner Sodhi. A security guard on a camp chair at the boundary wasn’t watching play, and only just responded to the crowd’s calls to yank his head out of the way. Harris tried to send him the next ball as well, but the pull shot hung just inside the rope for Dean to claim.The late season wash-upVery simple. This was a knockout match, even as the second-last of the season for both teams. The Strikers and Renegades went into the game at the bottom of the ladder on four points each, needing to win their last two to match the eight points of the teams currently occupying the finals positions.The Renegades had certainly had the better season on the field, losing twice from the last ball of matches, while the Strikers had struggled. In the end, things went to form, and Red Melbourne stayed in contention.

Kamran Akmal’s 104, the first century of the 2017 Pakistan Super League, to propel Peshawar Zalmi past Karachi Kings by 24 runs and into the final on Sunday in Lahore

The Report by Danyal Rasool03-Mar-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIn a nutshellA clinical all-round showing by Peshawar Zalmi ensured they would avoid last season’s heartbreak, seeing off Karachi Kings to qualify for the PSL final. In a resounding performance at the Dubai International Stadium – spearheaded by a superlative hundred from Kamran Akmal – Peshawar never really let Karachi within touching distance of the target of 182, starving them of runs in the first six overs, and ensuring not even a stirring Chris Gayle and an explosive Kieron Pollard could rob them of a spot in Lahore.Peshawar looked ready for the occasion from ball one – which Akmal smashed for four – with the openers making up for the horror start in the first playoff loss to Quetta Gladiators. Kamran and Dawid Malan put on a classy 97-run stand to set a solid foundation to push toward a 200 total. Akmal seemed to get better as the innings wore on, no bowler able to subdue the diminutive keeper’s power hitting as sixes flew off his blade and he roared towards the PSL’s first century of 2017 and second in the two-year history of the competition. Accurate death bowling, particularly from Mohammad Amir, meant only 21 runs came off the last three overs, but the 181 that Peshawar put up was more than enough to handle for Karachi.Where the match was wonA chase of 182 on a pitch friendly to the batsmen wasn’t impossible, but a hopeless start for the Kings surely made it so. Leading scorer Babar Azam falling for 1 wasn’t ideal, but Gayle’s mystifying approach would have maddened Karachi fans more than anything else. He scored 2 off his first 15 balls in what could only be called a solipsistic performance: one man’s quest to get his eye in oblivious to the demands of the asking rate.It placed pressure on batsmen at the other end; Kumar Sangakarra and Shoaib Malik fell in the Powerplay attempting to kick on, and by the time Pollard arrived, Karachi found themselves at 34 for 4 in the ninth over. It was a deep hole, and in the end, too deep even for Gayle and Pollard to dig their team out of.The men that won itKamran seems to have found a new lease of life at 35 years of age, and Peshawar have benefitted richly from it this PSL campaign. His form was obvious from the very start, the wicketkeeper batsman guiding the first two balls for two elegant offside boundaries. He picked the bowler’s lengths exceptionally early, and was particularly devastating against the spinners, taking on any full-length deliveries and launching them straight down the ground. He seemed unplayable towards the latter stages of the innings, Ravi Bopara’s medium-pacers coming in for particular punishment.When he ended his innings, Kamran had become the highest scorer of the PSL, and his century in the biggest game of the tournament so far, coupled with the form leading up to it, has made him harder and harder to ignore for the national side. For Peshawar, at the moment, he is simply indispensable.Who’s playing the final?The struggles the PSL has faced in trying to organise the final in Lahore have been well-documented, particularly with regards to the availability of foreign players for the showpiece occasion. Peshawar, however, experienced an ill-timed injury today to one of their biggest domestic stars. On the first ball of the tenth over, Pollard smashed a ball to cover. As Shahid Afridi attempted an improbable catch, it burst through his fingers, splitting the webbing on his right hand.Blood streamed down his index finger as he rushed off the field, and though Peshawar have plenty of reasons to celebrate today, the last thing the PSL needs is the absence of its biggest local superstar and unfortunately that is the case. Afridi was pictured after the match with his hand heavily bandaged and has been ruled out of the final.Moment of the matchIf any player deserved to carry his bat through a T20 innings, it was Kamran today. But what he perhaps deserved more was the overwhelming adulation he received when he was run out in the final over of the innings.A packed Dubai crowd rose as one, his trudge back to the pavilion met with thunderous applause. Even the Karachi players joined in the ovation, most coming up to the Peshawar opener to shake his hand as he made his way off. Kamran, never one as comfortable with stardom as some of his Pakistani teammates, looked genuinely humbled at the respect he got, even if it was no more than he had earned.Where they standThis was a virtual semi-final, and Karachi’s loss eliminates Sangakkara’s men. Peshawar go through to the final, to be played against Quetta Gladiators at the Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday.

Australia and their three debutants fought to the finish against the visitors in front of a raucous crowd at the MCG, but a win offered Sri Lanka the chance to wrap up the series at Kardinia Park on Sunday

The Report by Daniel Brettig17-Feb-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAsela Gunaratne continued his good form in international cricket•Getty Images

Australia’s “best of the Big Bash League” took Sri Lanka to the final ball. The hosts and their three debutants fought to the finish against the visitors in front of a raucous crowd at the MCG, but a win offered Sri Lanka the chance to wrap up the series at Kardinia Park on Sunday.The Perth Scorchers’ Andrew Tye was left with six runs to defend from the final over, and one from the final ball. Chamara Kapugedara surveyed the ring field then punched the winning boundary through the covers to secure the result. His composure ensured Sri Lanka finished in the ascendant after looking the more likely victors throughout their chase, largely due to a boundary count that outstripped the hosts, 21 to 13.None of Australia’s batsmen were able to go on to substantial scores after Upul Tharanga sent them in to bat, as a spongy pitch and disciplined Sri Lankan bowling denied them the ability to find a domineering rhythm. Sri Lanka’s pursuit was then given the desired fast start by Dilshan Munaweera after Tharanga was dismissed in the first over, and Asela Gunaratne’s nimble half-century guided the tourists to within sight of victory in front of 42,511 spectators, many of them barracking for Sri Lanka.Gunaratne also made a brief but notable contribution with the ball, goading the captain Aaron Finch into a skier after he had appeared the man most likely to produce a truly damaging tally for Australia. The dismissal came two balls after Finch had hammered the biggest six of the night, and 10 runs after Michael Klinger’s long delayed international debut was ended.Lasith Malinga, making his own return from a long absence, bowled tidily and scooped a couple of late wickets, while Seekkuge Prasanna gave up a mere 23 runs from four overs that featured 10 dot balls and should have been rewarded with the wicket of Travis Head – dropped badly by Tharanga at point.Tharanga’s night did not improve when he opened the batting, as he received a perfectly pitched ball going across him from Pat Cummins in the first over and offered a thin edge through to Tim Paine behind the stumps. While the Australians celebrated this wicket with some gusto, they were soon haring about the MCG outfield as Munaweera and Niroshan Dickwella went to work.Their partnership ensured the run rate was not going to be much of an issue, compelling Finch and his bowlers to chase wickets and consequentially offer more scoring opportunities. Adam Zampa delivered his usual handy spell and deserved his two wickets, but oddly Finch did not try his other spin options until introducing Ashton Turner with only a modest equation required.Dilshan Munaweera’s six fours in his quick innings rallied Sri Lanka till the halfway mark•Cricket Australia

Turner’s offbreaks were rewarded by a smart Paine stumping to end Gunaratne’s innings just when he appeared to be coasting home, before a debatable lbw verdict against Milinda Siriwardana closed the gap between the teams. In the end, Kapugedara was left needing a single from the final delivery, an assignment he made light work of with a steely drive for four.Klinger, Turner and Billy Stanlake were all named for their first T20 appearances for Australia but there was no room for Ben Dunk and only three specialist batsmen selected – Finch, Head and Klinger. The visitors included the left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan, who was so effective against Australia in the Test series in Sri Lanka last year.Malinga kicked off the evening with his first ball in a full international since February last year, and also bowled the first ball faced by Klinger in an international match no fewer than 19 years after his state debut. The pitch was a little on the sluggish side, but Klinger and the acting captain Finch made a decent start with a smattering of boundaries and hustling between the wickets.They had 76 on the board by the time Klinger tried to tug a Sandakan googly to the leg side and was pouched by Malinga via the resultant top edge. Finch had his eye on a big score as leader, but after depositing Gunaratne’s first ball well into the Great Southern Stand he tried to repeat the trick two balls later against an offcutter and popped another high catch.From there the innings was a sequence of fits and starts, as Head, Moises Henriques, Turner and James Faulkner all offered cameo contributions. However, Prasanna’s spell was particularly tidy, Sri Lanka did well to keep the boundary count down – only seven fours and four sixes in total – and two wickets in successive balls for Malinga in his final over also served to aid the tourists’ ultimately winning cause.

UAE captain Rohan Mustafa became the third player in ODI history to score a century and take five wickets in the same innings as PNG crumbled to a 103-run loss in the series decider in Abu Dhabi

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Apr-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsUAE captain Rohan Mustafa became the third player to score a century and take five wickets in the same ODI•Chris Whiteoak

Rohan Mustafa’s all-round show, a century coupled with a five-for, handed Papua New Guinea a 103-run drubbing in the three-match series decider at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, to give United Arab Emirates a 2-1 series victory.Mustafa, joined the ranks of Viv Richards and Paul Collingwood, by making 109 before running through the visitors’ line-up with returns of five for 25 to clinch the bilateral series for his side.Coming off the back of a loss triggered by a middle-order collapse, Mustafa, the UAE captain, anchored the hosts’ innings with a well-constructed 125-ball knock – studded with seven fours and one six – while laying a solid platform with an opening-wicket partnership of 101 runs with Mohammed Qasim (33). However, the inability of the other batsmen, barring Qasim and Rameez Shahzad (37), to notch up a score in excess of 20, decelerated UAE’s innings.The combined returns of five for 82 from PNG’s Assad Vala and John Reva subsequently accounted for a middle-order collapse – starkly reminiscent of the one in the second ODI – as UAE slumped from 208 for 3 to 226 for 8 in less than five overs, before finishing on 251 for 9.In reply, the openers Tony Ura (40) and Vani Morea (36) got PNG off to a positive start, adding 76 runs for the first wicket. However, following Ura’s dismissal in the 15th over, Mustafa’s offbreaks stifled the opposition’s run-chase, as only two other PNG batsmen managed to get into double figures. Imran Haider, Mohammed Qasim, Ahmed Raza, picked up four wickets between them, before Mustafa completed his maiden five-wicket haul to bowl PNG out for 148 and seal the series for the hosts.

He is not part of Australia’s squad for next month’s Champions Trophy, but Peter Handscomb could hardly be doing any more to ensure he is the first man called upon if Australia need a replacement player

ESPNcricinfo staff10-May-2017He is not part of Australia’s squad for next month’s Champions Trophy, but Peter Handscomb could hardly be doing any more to ensure he is the first man called upon if Australia need a replacement player. On Sunday at Headingley, Handscomb plundered 140 off 112 deliveries for Yorkshire, his maiden one-day century, and in doing so jumped to the top of the Royal London Cup run list.In five innings during the tournament, Handscomb has made 46, 86, 47*, 88 and 140, the kind of form that will appeal to Australia’s selectors should any of their batsman be ruled out of the Champions Trophy, to be held in England, due to injury. Handscomb played the first five ODIs of his career during the southern summer, but after 82 on debut did not reach double figures again.”Any time you get dropped from a team there’s going to be some disappointment, but I was able to see where the selectors were coming from,” Handscomb told radio network . “I only got my opportunity because Chris Lynn got injured during the summer and I was able to come in for him. He’s now fit and ready to go for Champions Trophy, so it makes sense to bring him back in and I completely understand that selection.”Just being in the country, I’m here and ready to go if anything does happen. But the Champions Trophy squad is unbelievably strong. Hopefully for the boys nothing does happen and they can have a great Champions Trophy.”Handscomb has enjoyed a remarkable start to his Test career: it took until his eighth innings before he was dismissed for less than 50, the longest such stretch from debut for any player in Test history. Although life became a little tougher on the tour of India, an unbeaten 72 in the second innings in Ranchi helped Australia grind out a draw and was described by captain Steven Smith as being “worth 150 in my eyes”.Next summer, he faces the challenge of helping Australia regain the Ashes in a home series against England, and he is confident that his winter placement with Yorkshire will help him when the Australian season comes around.”It’s very important. I’ve often found that when I have been able to play cricket matches over the Australian winter, I’ve been able to come back and hit the ground running during the Australian summer,” Handscomb said. “It’s good just to constantly play cricket and that time in the middle is so valuable and so much better than just hitting balls in the nets.”And although Handscomb’s form for the time being is outstanding, he is well aware that the relentless nature of the county season can mean that any dip in productivity can be difficult to remedy.”With the county season, it can be sort of one way or the other,” he said. “If you can get yourself onto a bit of a roll, because there is so much cricket, you can find yourself feeling really good out in the middle and hopefully converting that into runs. But on the flip side, you don’t get a lot of time to practice if you are out of form. If you’re having a tough time out in the middle, you don’t really get any time to work on it.”The job is to make runs every time you go out to bat. Once you start thinking that batting becomes easy, then that complacency sets in, and cricket’s a bit of a fickle game like that, it can really take you down if you do start getting a bit complacent.”

Shaun Marsh is heading to Yorkshire for this season’s NatWest Blast

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jun-2017Yorkshire Vikings have secured the services of Australian batsman Shaun Marsh as an overseas player for this summer’s NatWest T20 Blast competition.Marsh, a 33-year-old left-hander, has recently completed a 10th successive Indian Premier League campaign, for Kings XI Punjab.Yorkshire had to find a replacement for Travis Head, who stood down after winning an international call-up by Australia A through July and August.”I’ll be looking to bring some experience to the group and obviously some runs would be nice too,” Marsh said. “I’ve played in a lot of T20 competitions now and hopefully I can bring most of what I’ve learned over the years to the group and have a really successful campaign together.”I think we’ve got a really experienced team with a lot of talented players. Hopefully we can get some momentum going early. Having never played at Headingley, I’m really excited by the prospect of that too.”Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket, said: “It was obviously a bit of a blow to see Travis pull out, but to secure the services of Shaun is a massive coup for us. To get someone of his calibre, with his ability in both formats of the game – in T20 and potentially red ball cricket as well – and at such short notice is fantastic news for us.”Marsh, who has represented Australia in all three forms of the game, has topped the runscorers lists in both the IPL and the BBL in 2008 and 2013 respectively. He averages 39.59 in T20 cricket.”Shaun has had a really good IPL campaign and, with the quality he’s shown throughout his career, he became a really attractive proposition,” Moxon said. “His stats stack up really well and on current form he’s in a really good place. We’re delighted he’s joining and we look forward to him having an enjoyable and successful time with us.”The Western Australia batsman, who was omitted from Australia’s 15-man squad for the Champions Trophy, will be looking to impress throughout the summer as he bids to regain his national team spot.

AB de Villiers is expected to retire from Test cricket as early as August, in a second attempt at hanging up his whites, unless CSA can convince him to stay on again.

AB de Villiers is expected to retire from Test cricket as early as August, in a second

Firdose Moonda26-Jun-2017AB de Villiers is expected to retire from Test cricket as early as August, in a second attempt at hanging up his whites, unless CSA can convince him to stay on again.ESPNcricinfo has learned that de Villiers informed CSA of his decision to give up the longest format late last year, but was instead offered a year out of the game in a bid to get him to reconsider. However, de Villiers is understood to contemplating Test retirement when he meets CSA officials following the appointment of a new coach in August, in an attempt to continue playing white-ball cricket for South Africa until the 2019 World Cup. CSA have declined to comment.Before leaving the UK for a two-month break at home, de Villiers said he and CSA would “make a final decision about what happens for the next few years” when they meet in a few weeks’ time, and indicated that the appointment of the new coach would be key to his future. Incumbent Russell Domingo’s contract is up at the end of the current tour to England and several sources have confirmed he has not reapplied for the post despite the support of the players, including de Villiers.But, insiders have revealed there is more on de Villiers’ mind than the question of who will take charge of the side. Those close to de Villiers say the batsman has wanted to retire from Test cricket since sustaining the elbow injury that kept him out of the New Zealand, Australia and Sri Lanka Tests last season.In a column for Graeme Smith all but confirmed this information when he wrote: “It’s my belief that AB was looking to walk away from the Test game last year at some point, but has been encouraged to carry on by CSA. His personal prerogative is ensuring he does all he can to add as much longevity to his international career as possible, as well as taking in to account the harsh realities of touring such as the amount of travel involved, and the toll that takes on your body.”AB has already made huge sacrifices for South African cricket, over such a long period of time, and with the next ICC World Cup just two years away, it’s likely that he is targeting that tournament as a swansong to his already illustrious career at the top level. What has AB de Villiers got to prove to anyone? He’s a star, and those players are often expected to be available all of the time no matter what the consequences might be personally.”Smith’s advice to de Villiers is to “step away from the captaincy”, and concentrate on maintaining his energy levels for the World Cup. If anyone would know about such things, it’s Smith. He gave up the limited-overs captaincy after the 2011 World Cup, following nine years in charge in all formats but continued playing before an unexpected retirement in 2014.Until yesterday, de Villiers had given no indication he was likely to take that course of action, insisting that he enjoyed leadership, but following South Africa’s defeat in the third T20 in Cardiff, he seemed to change his tune.De Villiers said he would like to be part of the World Cup squad in “one way or another”, and hinted at a change in mood in South African cricket. “There are quite a few things that are changing in South African cricket at the moment, quite a few things we need to wait for. I don’t even think it’s in my hands what is going to happen,” de Villiers said.Those changes include the introduction of a T20 league, to which de Villiers has committed to being a part – he is the marquee player for the Pretoria franchise. He also plays in the IPL and has previously had stints in the CPL. He admitted to being approached by the Big Bash in the past, but turned them down, because of the clash with the South African season. With a growing family, it remains to be seen how much de Villiers still wants to travel abroad, for T20 leagues or for South Africa.