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Hosts South Africa will kickstart the 2020 U-19 World Cup on January 17, when they take on Afghanistan in Kimberley. The schedule for the 16-team tournament, to be played over 24 days across eight venues, was announced by the ICC on Thursday. Apart from Kimberley, the games will be played in Benoni, Bloemfontein and Potchefstroom with the final scheduled for February 9. There is free entry to all matches.Along with Afghanistan, South Africa have UAE and Canada in Group D. Defending champions India are in Group A, slotted with New Zealand, Sri Lanka and first-time qualifiers Japan. Australia, the runners-up of the 2018 edition, are paired up with England, West Indies and another first-time team Nigeria in Group B while Group C sees Pakistan being joined by Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Scotland. From each group, the bottom two teams will fight in the Plate tournament while the top two teams will proceed for the Super League stage.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Potchefstroom’s JP Marks Oval will play host to both semi-finals and the final. There are also warm-up games scheduled between January 12-15 in Johannesburg and Pretoria.Japan and Nigeria qualified for the tournament after emerging as champions of the East Asia Pacific and Africa regions. The other three regional qualifiers are Canada (Americas), UAE (Asia) and Scotland (Europe). With four titles, India have won the most U-19 World Cups. Australia have won three times, Pakistan twice while England, West Indies and South Africa have won once each.

A quality half-century from skipper Jess Duffin and three wickets from Molly Strano has sewn up a finals berth for the Melbourne Renegades with a win over Sydney Thunder at the Junction Oval. The Renegades win ensured two-time WBBL champions Sydney Sixers will miss the finals for the first time in tournament history.Duffin made 53 from 44 balls with six fours and a six to help her side post a competitive 6 for 151. She got good support from Danni Wyatt who made 44 from 31 after the Renegades had slumped to 2 for 6 in the third over courtesy two wickets from two balls by Samantha Bates. Rene Farrell went wicketless in her final WBBL game.The Thunder’s chase wilted under the pressure of the disciplined Renegades attack. They could not score at better than a run a ball in the powerplay. Strano removed three of the top four inside the first 13 overs while Alex Blackwell was run out in her final WBBL innings. The Thunder finished 29 runs short.

Finals line-up (Allan Border Field)

December 7

Semi-final one: Adelaide Strikers v Perth Scorchers, 10:10am (local time)

Semi-final two: Brisbane Heat v Melbourne Renegades, 1:50pm (local time)

December 8

Final: 1.40pm (local time)

Sydney Sixers v Adelaide StrikersA blistering 38-ball 84 from Alyssa Healy set up a consolation win for Sydney Sixers against Adelaide Strikers, as they finished their campaign in fifth place. The Strikers finished second despite the loss, and have a semi-final berth booked.Healy’s was a largely single-handed effort that included seven sixes and as many fours, but she found support from Ashleigh Gardner, as the duo added 65 from 38 balls, and later from Marizanne Kapp, who contributed 24 before falling in the final over as Sixers posted 177. Healy reached her fifty in 26 balls, before a rapid acceleration saw her add another 31 in just 12 deliveries. A hundred was there for the taking with more than six overs left but she was cleaned up by Suzie Bates, which meant only 44 came from the last 39 balls.The Strikers lost momentum as quickly as they had gained it, off to a disastrous start with Bates falling for a duck to Stella Campbell, and Tahlia McGrath becoming her second victim for 6. Sophie Devine, though, wasn’t done plundering runs this season, hammering a 38-ball 60 – her eighth fifty – that saw her displace Beth Mooney as the highest run-getter. While she was at the crease, the Strikers were in with a shot, but after she fell to Erin Burns in the 15th leaving them 60 to get from 33, their challenge petered out, as they fell a good 13 runs short.Melbourne Stars v Brisbane HeatBeth Mooney and spinners helped table-toppers Brisbane Heat secure hosting rights for the finals with a win against Melbourne Stars in the rain-reduced game at the Junction Oval.Teenaged legspinner Amelia Kerr finished with impressive figures of 2 for 4 in the two overs she bowled in the 10-overs-a-side encounter, while left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen bagged 2 for 14 as they ran through the Stars’ batting line-up to restrict them to 87 for 6. After a strong 45-run opening partnership between Lizelle Lee and Elyse Villani, Jonassen triggered a collapse with the former’s wicket. Stars then lost six wickets for 34 runs in space of 4.4 overs, Villani top-scoring with 25 off 17 balls.In reply, Mooney started off strongly, hitting seven fours on her way to an unbeaten 27-ball 50. Laura Harris chipped in with a 13-ball 21 as Heat chased the target down in 8.4 overs.Perth Scorchers v Hobart HurricanesMeg Lanning struck her first WBBL century to ensure the Perth Sorchers entered finals weekend on the back of victory with a 35-run win over the Hobart Hurricanes at Lilac Hill. Lanning and Nicole Bolton (44) added a monstrous 154 for the first wicket with Lanning finishing on 101 off 67 balls in a total of 4 for 167. The Hurricanes’ chances of chasing it down disappeared when Nicola Carey, Heather Knight and the big-hitting Chloe Tryon fell in the space of two overs.

Karnataka, Delhi, Baroda and Punjab opened their Syed Mushtaq Ali 2019-20 Super League matches with victories on Thursday. The first day of the Super League games had several teams putting up big scores, while Karnataka were the only team to win while chasing. Among others in attendance for the matches were John Wright and Malolan Rangarajan, both on scouting duty for Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore respectively, with the IPL auction slated for December 19.In other news, Shikhar Dhawan suffered an injury while batting when he dived for his crease to avoid a run-out, and will miss Delhi’s next game.Karnataka v Tamil Nadu
Unbeaten half-centuries by captain Manish Pandey and opener KL Rahul led Karnataka to an easy nine-wicket win after Tamil Nadu had been restricted to 158 for 7. This was the only game played at night, and dew was a factor in the chase, with Tamil Nadu’s bowlers unable to grip the ball properly at times. However, the target was too meagre to challenge a strong batting line-up.Put in to bat, Tamil Nadu sent in the makeshift opening pair of Hari Nishanth and B Aparajith, but the move didn’t work with both batsmen struggling for timing and not picking the gaps. Both fell in the sixth over, Aparjith caught in the circle and Nishanth run out via a direct hit by Pandey, to leave Tamil Nadu 26 for 2. Dinesh Karthik and Washington Sundar led the recovery, immediately hitting their stride and lifting the sagging run rate. They put on 76 in 7.4 overs before Karthik became Ronit More’s second victim for a 29-ball 43. Tamil Nadu’s hopes of a finishing kick were dealt a further blow when Washington was caught off J Suchith for 39 off 25 balls. Vijay Shankar sparkled briefly and dragged the score past 150.Karnataka’s in-form opening pair of Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal then raced to 70 in seven overs, with none of the bowlers troubling them. Padikkal fell against the run of play, sweeping M Ashwin straight to short fine leg for a 20-ball 36. However, Pandey joined Rahul for an unbroken 91-run stand in only 9.2 overs. Rahul ended with 69* off 46, while Pandey had 52* off 33.Delhi v Maharashtra
Nitish Rana took a career-best 4 for 17 to bowl Maharashtra out for just 90 in 17.2 overs and hand Delhi a 77-run victory.Put in to bat, Delhi’s opening pair of Dhawan and Hiten Dalal were steady more than spectacular, and when both fell within a few minutes of each other, the score was a shaky 44 for 2 in the seventh over. Dhruv Shorey, the Delhi captain, played a crucial knock, steering the innings with an unbeaten 48 off 37 to ensure Delhi’s second half was much better than their first. Rana, who had a good all-round day, made 21, while Himmat Singh gave the innings the boost it needed with a 16-ball 32.Maharashtra’s innings stuttered from the start. Only Ruturaj Gaikwad got into double figures, and his 42 off 32 stood in stark contrast to the rest of the line-up. Kedar Jadhav being run out for 8 didn’t help Maharashtra. Gaikwad was the eighth wicket to fall, bowled by Rana, who then picked up the remaining two batsmen too.Delhi’s only sore point in the match was a gash on Dhawan’s thigh, acquired when he dived to make his crease while completing a run. Dhawan was taken to a nearby hospital to be patched up, and ESPNcricinfo understands that he is likely to miss only one match for Delhi.Baroda v Rajasthan
A high-scoring thriller saw Baroda edge Rajasthan by 15 runs. The foundation was laid by Baroda’s opening duo of Kedar Devdhar, the captain and wicketkeeper, and Aditya Waghmode.Devdhar (64 off 44) and Waghmode (88 off 50) put on 150 runs for the opening wicket at almost ten runs per over, as Baroda racked up 201 for 5. Aniket Choudhary was the only Rajasthan bowler to emerge unscathed, picking up 2 for 27 in four overs.Rajasthan had useful contributions throughout the order, with opener Ankit Lamba (54 off 37) and middle-order batsman Arjit Gupta (41 off 21) leading the way, but they needed one of their batsmen to go big. The required rate eventually proved too much for them, as they ended on 186 for 8. Atit Sheth was the most impressive bowler, with 3 for 34.Punjab v Jharkhand
Punjab routed Jharkhand by 109 runs, the bowlers completing the good work started by the opening duo of Abhishek Sharma and Mandeep Singh.Jharkhand’s decision to field backfired with Abhishek (72 off 44) and Mandeep (81 off 52) piling up 124 runs in 12.3 overs, setting the stage for Punjab to eventually reach 199 for 4. Jharkhand’s two left-arm spinners – Shahbaz Nadeem and Anukul Roy – were the only ones to have a measure of success, with Nadeem taking 2 for 27 and Roy returning 1 for 35.Jharkhand’s reply was punctuated by a rash of wickets, as they were all out for 90 in just 14.2 overs. The highest score was opener Utkarsh Singh’s 24, with no other batsman crossing 20. Leggie Mayank Markande spun a web around Jharkhand, picking up 3 for 13 and dismantling the chase in the middle overs.

South Africa have named an unchanged 16-man squad for the second half of the ongoing four-match series against England but there is unlikely to be any tinkering to the XI that lost at Newlands. Though defeated, South Africa found a decent balance to their team, with Pieter Malan slotting in seamlessly in place of the injured Aiden Markram and the two allrounders, Vernon Philander and Dwaine Pretorius, providing plenty of bowling options. Still, the selectors always like to know their cupboard is well-stocked and will turn their gaze to the first-class competition, where the surplus members of the squad were deployed earlier this week. Here’s how they performed:Temba Bavuma turns one away down the leg side•Getty Images

Temba Bavuma

The most talked-about man in South African cricket, Temba Bavuma had the perfect platform to push for a Test return when he walked in to bat with the Lions on 170 for 2 in their match against the Knights at the Wanderers. Bavuma hit two fours off the first 12 balls he faced and a reporter on the scene described him as looking energetic and full of intent. Too much, perhaps.Off his 18th ball, Bavuma pulled Corne Dry straight to the fielder at short square leg to end his innings on 9. The Lions dominated the rest of the match and he was not needed to bat again, which is likely to leave him on the fringes for the rest of the Test summer. It doesn’t help Bavuma’s cause that his replacement, Rassie van der Dussen, enhanced his reputation with his performance in Cape Town. His first-innings 68 was the second half-century of his two-Test career while his more than four-hour vigil at the crease in the second innings contributed to taking South Africa to within 50 balls of saving the match. Van der Dussen is set for an extended run in the Test team, which may mean Bavuma will have to wait for another injury, or for Faf du Plessis’ lack of form to reach critical levels, to fight his way back in.Beuran Hendricks celebrates a wicket•AFP

Beuran Hendricks

Part of the reason Bavuma did not get to bat again was the form of his Lions’ team-mate, left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks. He took seven wickets in the match to contribute to the Lions’ comprehensive win.After the Lions posted 358, Hendricks took two wickets in two overs early on in the Knights innings to reduce them to 75 for 5. He returned to take two more in two overs at the end of the innings as the Knights were bowled out for 158 and made to follow-on. Hendricks picked up exactly where he left off in the follow-on and claimed the first two wickets of the Knights’ second innings to leave them 17 for 2 late on the second day. His final wicket came deep into the Knights’ second innings, when their lead was below 10. They ended up setting the Lions a target of only 20.Hendricks’ form may not be enough to force his way into the Test team right now, but he will doubtless be in the selectors’ minds for the future. Not only does he offer control, but the variety of that left-arm angle, something South Africa have not had since they experimented with Wayne Parnell, who last played a Test in 2017.Dane Paterson sends one down•AFP

Dane Paterson

The Cobras’ Dane Paterson is the only one of the reserves set to travel with the Test team to Port Elizabeth, with the rest due to remain with their franchises for another round of first-class cricket. That must mean Paterson is closest to the starting XI and his performance for the Cobras showed why.Paterson took 1 for 13 in 11 overs after opening the bowling against the Dolphins, and conceded at an economy rate of just over one run an over for the rest of the first innings, in which the Dolphins were bowled out for 174. His second-innings figures of 2 for 57 saw him climb to fourth on the tournament wicket charts with 21 wickets at 21.80 this season and the lowest economy rate of the top 10 bowlers: 2.82. With Vernon Philander’s retirement coming at the end of the series, Paterson may be putting his hand up as the replacement.Andile Phehlukwayo improvises while launching his way to 38•Getty Images

Andile Phehlukwayo

Allrounder Andile Phehlukwayo has been told he needs to work on his bowling to become a Test player but on a spinner’s wicket in Oudtshoorn, his batting shone. He top-scored for the Dolphins with 61 in the first innings to register his sixth first-class half-century and starred in a 91-run sixth-wicket stand with Cody Chetty to ensure the Dolphins scored over 150 in a disappointing first dig. With wickets falling to the Dolphins quicks and Senuran Muthusamy (3 for 92 and 7 for 36), Phehlulwayo was only required to bowl four overs in the first innings and none in the second, where the Dolphins skittled the Cobras out for 86 to win the match.As a means of comparison, Dwaine Pretorius put in 11 overs in the first innings of the Newlands Test and 16 in the second, which will tell Phehlukwayo the kind of load he will have to be able to carry if he is to included at some stage. Again, Philander’s retirement could open up a spot for him, but only if there are more overs under his belt.Rudi Second cracks one through point•Getty Images

Rudi Second

The back-up wicketkeeper and middle-order batsman in South Africa’s squad, Rudi Second scored a half-century for the Warriors against the Titans but was overshadowed by his team-mates Sinethemba Qeshile and Eddie Moore, whose names have also been mentioned in connection with national selection. Qeshile’s 77 was the top score of the Warriors first innings of 305. He helped them take a slender 11-run lead over the Titans, for whom dropped Test batsmen Theunis de Bruyn scored 54.In the second innings, Second managed just 13 runs while Moore top-scored with 98 and is now second overall in the tournament standings, and Qeshile was unbeaten on 57. At 30, Second will know his chance has not passed, especially after three recent debutants of the same age: Malan, van der Dussen and Pretorius. But he will also know that unless big runs come soon, he may be eclipsed by brighter stars.

Ollie Pope has said he is ready for the step-up in scrutiny following his breakthrough series in South Africa, and believes that the positive influence of Joe Root and Ben Stokes will help him to translate his impressive form in South Africa on to the slower, spinning decks of Sri Lanka in March.In a series studded with crucial contributions from a variety of England players, established and new, Pope’s haul of 266 runs in three Tests at 88.66 was instrumental in their 3-1 victory.He bounced back from missing the first Test through illness to record a matchwinning maiden Test hundred in the innings win at Port Elizabeth, and confirmed his reputation, at the age of 22, as one of the best young batsman in the world.ALSO READ: Marks out of 10 – Stokes, Wood, Pope shine for England“It’s an amazing feeling,” Pope said, after England had wrapped up the series with a 191-run win at the Wanderers. “I went through all the emotions on that final day. They got a few good partnerships early on but we trusted our bowlers to go on and take the wickets, and it happened pretty quickly at the end.”However, with England’s next Test challenges looming large in Galle and Colombo, Pope knows that he and the squad will not be able to rest on their laurels – but nor will they be allowed to, thanks to the drive for constant improvement that he said has been instilled by the captain and vice-captain.”Looking at the guys around you, you definitely never stand still,” he said. “You’re learning from Rooty and Stokesy – they set a benchmark from a batting point of view. They’re always looking ahead, always thinking about that next series coming up and how they can prepare themselves best for that. That’s definitely what I’ll be learning to do from now on as well.”Pope has already shown he is a fast learner in the course of his brief career. Less than three years have elapsed since he made his first-class debut for Surrey, at the age of 19, while his Test debut followed a year later, against India at Lord’s in August 2018.He finished his first full season of Championship cricket with 986 runs at 70.42, including four hundreds, and even managed to improve on that average in his five appearances for Surrey in 2019 (561 at 80.14), despite missing the bulk of the season after dislocating his shoulder in a fielding accident.And with all that in mind, Pope insisted he will have no qualms about the heightened expectations that come with his efforts in South Africa.Ollie Pope and Ben Stokes added 203 for the fifth wicket•Stu Forster/Getty Images

“I think you go through that whatever level you play at,” he said. “It happens in county cricket. When you’re first starting out, no one knows what you do, they might bowl to your strengths then they realise what your strengths are and bowl differently. But if I just keep working on my technique and my temperament at the crease, and whatever flaws I have got, if I can brush them out of the way then I’ll be ready to cope with whatever comes my way.”Pope’s range of experiences made be limited, but he will at least be travelling to Sri Lanka with some prior knowledge, having been an initial member of the squad that completed a 3-0 whitewash on their last tour of the country in November 2018.On that occasion, he proved surplus to requirements and decamped to join the Lions tour in the UAE, but he saw enough from his team-mates to know what type of approach could succeed, not least from his Surrey team-mate Ben Foakes, who was named Player of the Series after scoring a century on Test debut in Galle.”It’s going to be completely different cricket to what it is out here from a batting point of view,” Pope said. “We play on pretty quick wickets out here and you might not face many overs of spin. In Sri Lanka, they might open with spin.”But from that time out there, I learned that you can go about scoring runs in different ways. I saw how Foakesy went about his innings, he batted time and backed his defence and picked off bad balls. He had a lot of success, then Jos [Buttler] had a lot of success as well. He probably took the more positive option – a lot of sweeping and you look at the scoreboard and he’d be 30 off 20 before you knew it.”There’s two different ways to go about it. I chat to people like Rooty who’ve done very well out there, and I bat in a similar tempo to him, and try to pick his brain a little bit and take that into that first Test if I do get picked out there.”In the latter stages of his Port Elizabeth hundred, however, Pope showed he is not simply a Root clone, with a remarkable array of one-day-influenced strokes, including a ramp over fine leg off an Anrich Nortje bouncer, and a full-blooded reverse-pull off Kagiso Rabada. And when the pair came together in their century partnership at the Wanderers, it was the younger man teaching the old dog some new tricks.ALSO READ: Dobell: Young England embrace old-fashioned virtues“It’s quite funny,” Pope said. “Rooty been one of my favourite players as I’ve been growing up over the last 10 years – watching him play has been awesome. He hit a shot – one of those ramps – and said ‘I learned that one off you!’ That’s a big compliment from one of my favourite players growing up.”But I learn a lot off him and that’s just the way batting works. Sometimes I’ll be bogged down and grafting a bit more and other times it will come a bit easier. That morning for me, I was just moving well and it’s a shame not to go on and make a bigger one [Pope made 56] but I really enjoyed batting with him.”My dream is to play all three formats for England,” he added. “I see myself as a white-ball player as well but our team is pretty established at the moment. They’ve got a great batting line-up, a great middle order, so if I want to get in that white-ball side I’ve got to bide my time, score my runs in county cricket and hopefully keep scoring some Test runs and that’ll look after itself.”Pope wasn’t the only young player to make his mark in South Africa. Dom Sibley also scored his maiden Test hundred in Cape Town, while Zak Crawley seized his chance to impress after Rory Burns’ ankle injury with a series of key innings at the top of the order.”The way this series has gone it’s been nice for Sibbers, Crawley and myself to get some game-time and get some runs as well, which has been really good for all of us going forward,” Pope said. “Obviously we’re still young guys and I think that’s what we needed – a few scores under our belts to give you the confidence to know you can do it at this level. Definitely doing it in a winning cause makes all the difference as well, from a personal point of view.”And after a stuttering start in New Zealand, where England were ground down on slow pitches to succumb to a 1-0 series loss, the confidence in a new-look squad is tangible.”I think it’s massive,” Pope said. “At the start of the New Zealand series we realised we’ve got a young group of players together as a team, and we knew it wasn’t going to happen overnight. Our target was to go and win this series out here.”It’s been an amazing experience to do that. But we also realise, hopefully, it’s just the start. Looking ahead it’s been nice to get some games under our belt, and a series win and now it’s massive taking that into Sri Lanka.”

Despite being stunned by a lower-ranked Sri Lanka side in their last warm-up game, England captain Heather Knight has backed her team’s “massive preparations”, making it clear she is not worried about the mental pressure on her side heading into their T20 World Cup opener against South Africa on Sunday.The runners-up in the 2018 edition of the tournament, and holders of the 50-over World Cup, England suffered an eyebrow-raising 10-wicket loss in that practice match in Adelaide. Knight conceded they were blindsided by the pace of the Sri Lanka spinners and a superlative all-round performance from opposition captain Chamari Atapattu, who took 3 for 21 and made 78 not-out after England opted to bat.”It was a good leveller, to be honest,” Knight said of the shock loss. “We were well off our best but Sri Lanka played really brilliantly. Their spinners bowled a lot quicker than we are used to. We probably didn’t adapt very quickly and then Atapattu just played a brilliant innings, and that can happen in T20 cricket.ALSO READ: Thailand impress but Stafanie Taylor averts upset“It’s that kind of a game; if you are not completely on it, you could bite your nails a little bit. Credit to them, they played brilliantly, but I am not too worried. We’ve had massive preparations, we’ve played really good cricket and we’ve been learning along the way as well, so it’s about how well we start [the tournament].”The defeat to Sri Lanka came after a comfortable win over New Zealand in England’s first practice match two days prior, led by Knight’s unbeaten 45 and a three-for from Katherine Brunt. That victory hauled the team back into winning ways after an up-and-down performance in a closely contested tri-series last month saw them finish last on net run rate, with India and eventual winners Australia reaching the final.Despite their failure to progress, a Super Over win against Australia and then a reassuring four-wicket victory against India in Melbourne showed just why England remain strong contenders to make the T20 World Cup knockouts for the fifth tournament running.”There were a lot of learnings,” Knight said, looking back on the tri-nation series. “I feel we [have] really built up as a team since the start of that tri-series. The bowlers in particular have gotten used to the conditions and are really firing, which has been pleasing from where we probably were at the start of the tri-series. From where we were to where we have got to has been quite brilliant.”And the close games, there were a few really close games which we were pleased with to get over the line against some of the best teams in the world. We have continued to improve: we have had some success and some low levels as well, which isn’t the worst thing.”Much of the team’s preparations in the lead-up to the World Cup, Knight said, have been focused on the responding to the call to “step up more” from newly appointed head coach Lisa Keightley. Now they have worked together for a while, Knight believes Keightley “goes about her business in a more relaxed manner”.2:28

What is Amy Jones superstitious about?

“She is quite chilled and wants players to take aim, which is exactly what we have wanted to do following the Ashes as well,” Knight said. “We want to step up more as players, make more of an impact on how we want to do things. The players have responded well to that. I have enjoyed that. I have always enjoyed taking a leading role, so I guess I’ve taken a bit of a lead since the Ashes. Myself and Lisa, we share a good relationship and hopefully we can bring success.”I’ve really enjoyed working with her. I know her very well from her stint in England [with the Women’s Academy]. She is more of a quiet coach. She likes to go about her business in the background, build one-to-one relationships. As a squad, even before Lisa came in we did a lot of work [together]. We have had the chance to assess what we were about as a side, how we want to do things, how we want to go forward, things we want to keep going and things we want to change a little bit.”With a return on the cards for allrounder Nat Sciver, who missed the warm-ups due to a niggle, Knight underscored that England, currently ranked No. 2 in T20Is, are well poised to put up an impressive show on Sunday at the WACA, where the same pitch will be used as the one for Saturday’s low-scoring double-headers.Much of Knight’s optimism stems from the prior experience of players like Sciver and Amy Jones, who are part of the WBBL franchise Perth Scorchers, and Keightley, formerly coach of the Scorchers and Western Australia.”A lot of our players have played at the WACA, played for the Scorchers and then you’ve got Lisa, who used to coach there,” Knight said. “So, she knows the conditions inside out. She has spoken a lot in terms of how to be successful at the WACA.”They don’t actually play a lot of games under lights there, because of the time difference. So, that’s probably going to be slightly different. We are going to have to adapt to that and make sure we communicate as a side very clearly when we are around the pitch.”We were training under lights yesterday, so it skidded on a little bit more than it probably did previously. It was a little bit tennis-bally when it was dark. We have prepared for it in our individual skillsets.”

As far as Harbhajan Singh is concerned, MS Dhoni will never play for India again. Harbhajan, who trained with Dhoni in March at the Chennai Super Kings’ preparatory camp for the IPL, said the former India captain had “played enough” for India.Recently, as soon as the BCCI postponed the IPL indefinitely, the first question that popped up in Indian cricket was: what does this mean for Dhoni, who will turn 39 in July?India head coach Ravi Shastri had said that Dhoni, who has not played any cricket since last July, when India lost in the semi-finals of the 2019 World Cup, would need to prove his form in the IPL to be in contention for selection in the T20 World Cup, scheduled in Australia this October-November.Talking to Rohit Sharma, India’s vice-captain in limited-overs cricket, during an Instagram chat on Thursday, Harbhajan said the 2019 World Cup was where Dhoni might have ended his India career even though he would continue playing the IPL.”I was at the Chennai (Super Kings) camp, and a lot of people asked me, “Is Dhoni going to play? Will he be selected at the [T20] World Cup?” I said, “I don’t know, it’s up to him”. Whether he wants to play or not, it’s his decision,” Harbhajan told Sharma.ALSO READ: MS Dhoni hits the CSK nets“He [Dhoni] will 100% play the IPL, but does he want to play for India anymore, that’s the first thing we need to find out,” Harbhajan said. “Does he feel like it or not? As far as I know, he doesn’t want to. (he’s done playing for India), and as far as I know him, I don’t think he would want to wear the blue jersey again. When it comes to playing for India, I think he had decided that whichever was India’s last [2019] World Cup match was – final, semi-final – would be his last match too. That’s what I feel. A couple of people had told me, too, that this is how it will be.”Sharma said he and his India team-mates were not aware of Dhoni’s thought process after last year’s World Cup. “We have not got any news,” he said. “World Cup’s last match was in July, since then until now we have not heard any news. [So we] have no idea [about Dhoni].”Recalling the World Cup exit, Sharma regretted India’s bating in the first ten overs. India were 24 for 4 at the end of the first powerplay. Asked by Sharma to compare the limited-overs teams he was part of to the current one led by Virat Kohli, Harbhajan said India’s current white-ball teams were over-reliant on the top order, lacking consistent support from the middle order.”The current team, what I see from the outside, is too dependent on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. And the team doesn’t have a lot of self-belief. There are very good players for sure, but there’s no belief that if Virat and Rohit get out… 70% of the matches get out of our hands when that happens, it’s very rare for someone to come in lower down the order and win the game for us.Harbhajan Singh and Rohit Sharma celebrate David Warner’s dismissal•BCCI

“But our team had that belief, that Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh) will score the runs, if he doesn’t, Rahul Dravid will do it, someone or other will do it, there was that trust on each other. I don’t know… in this team, in matches where you (Sharma) or Virat have not scored runs, or there hasn’t been a partnership upfront, say you and Shikhar, so if three wickets fall at the start, the match is out of our hands. That’s one thing I think this team can improve on.”Harbhajan agreed with Sharma that India have the talent to win at least two of the next three World Cups (two T20 World Cups in 2020, 2021 and the 50-over World Cup in 2023) but wanted the players to carry their IPL success into international cricket and respond to pressure better.”The way the boys play – I see them in the IPL, somehow they don’t play the same way in international cricket,” Harbhajan said. “I don’t know whether that’s because of the pressure to keep their spots, but if they want to be big players, they have to play their natural games, what I see them playing in the IPL. In the IPL, they look like totally different players. They are hitting the same bowlers. Trent Boult plays here, Tim Southee plays here, Dale Steyn plays here, the best in the game play here. But maybe that’s the pressure of international cricket, maybe they are scared that they will lose their spots. That’s why they can’t play their games. So if they get ten games to settle down, at least they have a better chance.”

Zimbabwe Cricket have voided the 2019-20 domestic season and will not declare winners in either the first-class competition or the 50-over tournament. Cricket in Zimbabwe has been suspended since March 18 and the country has been on lockdown since March 30. The stay-at-home order was due to end on May 3, but has been extended for a further two weeks.At the time that cricket was stopped, Eagles were on top of the first-class points table, five ahead of Mountaineers, while Tuskers were leading the 50-over tournament, with Mountaineers in second place. Each team was due to play eight first-class matches and eight List A matches and at the time of the suspension, the teams had not played the same number of matches. In the first-class competition, Eagles, Tuskers and Rangers had each played six matches while Mountaineers and Rhinos had played five. In the List A tournament, Rhinos had played four matches and the rest five. As a result, ZC deemed it unfair to declare a winner.”We were looking forward to the conclusion of our season, but seeing what is happening in our country and elsewhere across the world, we realised it was not realistic for us to expect our competitions to resume anytime soon,” Hamilton Masakadza, ZC director of cricket said. “ZC therefore decided to void the 2019/20 season with immediate effect and we will not declare a winner or award any of the trophies as teams had not played an equal number of games when the season was curtailed.”Zimbabwe also had their home series against Ireland, scheduled for one Test and five T20Is in March-April, postponed. They now enter their off-season with their next fixtures due to be three ODIs in Australia in June followed by three ODIs against each of India and Netherlands at home at the start of the next season in September-October. Zimbabwe have not qualified for the T20 World Cup and are not part of the World Test Championship. Brendan Taylor believes they could be among the hardest hit cricket countries as the effect of the pandemic starts to take hold.

Of course Stuart Broad had the final word. Of course, at the end of a series he has dominated since his spell with the second new ball on the fourth evening of the second Test, it was his wicket that sealed the series.Some might argue that Broad dominated the series even before he was selected. His omission from the side for the first Test so disappointed him that he made the unusual decision to give an interview midway through a game in which he was not involved to express his frustration. He also suggested he was bowling as well as ever.It’s one thing to talk a good game; it’s quite another to back it with performances. And, over the last couple of weeks, Broad has proved his point more eloquently than his words ever could. The upshot is, a campaign that started with him struggling to get into the side has finished with him being named player of the series. The third Test produced his best innings analysis since 2016 and both his best match analysis and highest innings since 2013.Back to his best? Well, maybe. In truth, he is a slightly different bowler to the man who was winning Tests for England a decade ago. Certainly not worse; just different. For while he was once capable of delivering genuinely quick spells and tended to hit just back of a length, he now pitches a yard or so fuller and nags away on off stump like an unpaid bill. He’s not quite as quick but he has just finished his third series out of four (the Ashes and the South Africa tour were the others) as England’s leading wicket-taker.Where once he was inclined to resort to the bouncer just a bit too quickly, it’s almost as if his slightly diminished pace has forced him to find different ways to defeat batsmen. As a result, he’s become a more sophisticated bowler. It’s hardly surprising he has no intention of calling it a day just yet.”You always hear ex-sportsmen saying they knew when it was time to go,” Broad said. “They say they lost that feeling.”Well, I’ve still got it in abundance. A couple of weeks ago I was in a bit of a thinking place. I couldn’t leave a cricket ground where I’d been left out. I thought ‘where am I going here?'”But I’m glad I stayed strong because I’m very happy two weeks later.”I feel I’m bowling as well as I ever have. I’ve done some technical work and changed my run-up in the last 18 months. I’m challenging the stumps and trying to make the batsmen play as much as possible. That’s a tactical thing that’s really taken me to a really exciting level.Stuart Broad claims his 500th Test wicket•Getty Images

“I felt like my alignment to the stumps was really good in this game. I had a bit of confidence and match practice from the second Test so my tempo and alignment felt like every time I released the ball I could bring off stump into play.”That’s my go-to: I want to make the batsman play. I don’t like to get left too often. When you come on a pitch with a little bit of wear that’s keeping low, that’s sort of my dream pitch. Most fast bowlers like it flying through, catching the edge and going to slip at chest height but if I can bring the stumps into play, it really suits my style.”If Broad required any inspiration for the pursuit of sporting excellence in his mid-30s, he doesn’t have far to look. James Anderson’s hunger to pick up new skills and his dedication to his fitness have carried him to the brink of 600 Test wickets. Broad doesn’t rule out pushing on to the same milestone.”Jimmy is my idol on that,” Broad said. “He turns 38 during this break we have now. He’s someone I have watched very closely and has been a great friend of mine for many years.”Also, the way he has maintained himself and kept upskilling himself to be able to not just compete but get better at this level. You look at both of our records over the last few years, we are actually improving. Compare my last 18 months to my career record, it’s way better. It’s a great sign.ALSO READ: Stuart Broad, England’s spring-heeled superstar“It is easy to get to 34 and start thinking ‘I’ll do what I have done for the last 13 years and be okay’. But I’m looking for the next step that will improve me as a cricketer. That keeps you moving forward as a cricketer.”If you’d asked me four years ago, ‘at 34 do you think you could play another three or four years?’ I’d have said absolutely not. Now I’m 34 and I feel fit. Post-lockdown my fitness testing was the best it’s ever been. I feel excited.”I’m not someone who sets targets. I never said I really want to get to 500 wickets or 600 wickets. But at the moment I feel fresh, I feel fit. I’m bowling how I want to be bowling. If I keep bowling the way I am for the next few years then I wouldn’t rule anything out.”But his greatest attribute, he says, is not his height, his experience or his seam position.”My defining quality? I never give up,” he said. “It probably comes from my Mum. I feel like we can win from any situation. The most recent time when that came through was in Cape Town at tea. I can’t remember how many wickets we needed but we were slogging away for a long period of time.Stuart Broad, England’s man of the series, braves the rain at Old Trafford•Getty Images

“I knew deep down that if we kept applying pressure, South Africa would crack. That’s the mindset which helped us win that Test match.”I’ve never shied away from intimidating moments. I really enjoy moments when the game need changing. I want to be the person to do it. I want to be the person to get thrown the ball or go into bat when we need to change the momentum of the game.”All of which begs the question: why was Broad left out of the side for the first Test?England’s rotation of their seamers was one of the key differences in the series. With each of them bowling in a maximum of two games, they looked fit and fresh right to the end. West Indies’ trio of fast bowlers, by contrast, played in all three matches and looked close to exhaustion some time ago. It was not especially controversial, really. England’s strength in seam-bowling depth is a huge asset, even if it does make for awkward selection meetings at times.It’s also highly likely the same policy will be used in the series against Pakistan. Which means there may be days when other high-profile players – the likes of Anderson and Jofra Archer, included – will be rotated. And yes, there will be days, particularly in the conditions anticipated this winter, when Broad is left out once again. Sometimes the word ‘dropped’ can be a bit emotive.”Let’s be honest, we have so many fast bowlers if you’re not taking wickets you’re probably not going to play,” Broad said. “It keeps the standard high.”There were echoes of Fred Trueman when Broad was asked whether anyone else could achieve the 500 Test wicket milestone. Trueman, on reaching the 300 landmark, famously quipped that if anyone else achieved it they would be “bloody tired”. Broad’s point was more that modern seam bowlers might not have the opportunity to play enough games.While Nathan Lyon, who currently has 390 wickets, would appear to have a chance, the next highest wicket-taker among current seamers is Ishant Sharma who, at 31 years of age, has 297. It is entirely possible Broad will be the last seamer to reach the figure.”You need a lot of Test matches to get 500 wickets,” Broad said. “I think there’ll be people who have the talent to get the numbers, but whether a seamer will be able to play the amount of Test cricket to get that feat remains to be seen. There is a lot of competition out there between different T20 leagues franchises.”There’s talk of thinning the amount of Tests down. I feel very lucky to have played for England in an era where we’ve played a lot of Test cricket.”England have been lucky to have him, too. And only a fool would suggest there aren’t a few pages in the story left to be told.

James Anderson has dismissed the idea that he is on the brink of retirement and instead reiterated his desire to play on to the Ashes and beyond.Anderson, 38 years old and the highest wicket-taker among seam bowlers in the history of Test cricket, endured what he termed “a bad game” at Emirates Old Trafford. But although he admitted the “opportunity to retire” could be taken out of his hands by the selectors if he didn’t bowl better, he insisted he was determined to “work hard to try to put things right” and believed he “still has quite a few more Tests left in me”.And, despite rising concerns about his ability to recover between spells of bowling – a concern fuelled by the fact he has yet to take a second-innings wicket this summer – Anderson insisted he hoped to retain his place in the England side for the second Test starting on Thursday and to be in Australia in November 2021 for another Ashes campaign.”It’s been a frustrating week for me personally,” Anderson said. “I’ve not bowled very well and felt out of rhythm. For the first time in probably 10 years I got a little bit emotional on the field. I got a bit frustrated and let it get to me a little bit. It reminded me of when I first started playing, when you get frustrated and a little bit angry, you try and bowl quicker and quicker and it doesn’t help”Yes, I absolutely want to play in the Ashes. But it’s not like that’s a focus of mine. I want to play as long as I possibly can. I’m still hungry to play the game.”If I keep bowling the way I did this week, the opportunity to retire will be taken out of my hands. It will be a selection issue. I think the frustration for me this week was the sort of whispers that go around after one bad game. I don’t think that’s really fair.ALSO READ: Buttler clicks, but have England found key to unlocking him?“Everyone has a bad game every now and then. That’s how I look at it. I’ll work hard to try and put things right if I get a chance next week if I get the chance.”By most standards, Anderson’s bowling in the first Test really wasn’t so bad. He accepts, however, he let a dropped catch in the second innings get to him, while the “whispers” about his potential retirement also played on his mind.”I didn’t bowl that badly,” he said. “But I feel like, in the second innings in particular, a chance went down and I let it get to me. I’m normally pretty good at [thinking] if you’ve created a chance then that’s a positive thing. It’s obviously frustrating when a catch goes down but if you’re creating chances, you must be doing something right.”But I let it get to me a bit. I got a bit too emotional; a bit too frustrated. I just felt I wasn’t bowling to the standards I set myself.”I just don’t want every time I have a bad game for there to be whispers going round that I’m going to pack in. For me it’s about trying to find a way of dealing with that, dealing with the outside noise. I’ve done that really well in my career, but it’s a little bit different now.”I did feel that pressure a little bit. Whether it’s pressure of expectation or the pressure of the match situation, I feel I’ve dealt with it pretty well in my career, but this week I probably didn’t deal with it that well. That’s something I need to look at and personally work on. The minute you start thinking about the whispers or things like that it can affect you. I’ve got to throw myself into the match situation.”Coming into the game I felt good. But during it there was something off; the rhythm wasn’t quite there. As I went through the game I just tried to start bowling quicker and run in faster. I bowled a couple of no-balls, which isn’t like me really. It felt like I was trying a bit too hard. I was chatting to [head coach and former bowling coach] Chris Silverwood and [Graeme] Welch [the bowling consultant for this series] about some basics and making sure my action is where I want it to be. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that the captain and coach keep faith with me for the next game.James Anderson had a rough day•Getty Images

“On the fitness side I work really hard on that and will continue to. I felt great in these last three games. The body feels good and I’ve felt stronger as the games have gone on. I was running in quite hard and to come through that at a good intensity is pleasing.”The work ethic thing is not an issue for me. I’ll keep doing the hard work in the nets and the gym to try and keep improving.”I’ll just try to work hard and hope I get the nod for the next game. Hopefully I can show people I’ve still got what it takes to play Test cricket.”Although Anderson is poised on the brink of a couple of personal milestones – he needs 10 more wickets to reach 600 in Tests and seven more Tests to become England’s most capped player – he dismissed the notion that either were a motivation for him.”Six hundred wickets is not a huge thing for me, really,” he said. “The other milestones I’ve gone past haven’t been, either. I want to be contributing to this team; that’s my sole focus. I want to be bowling well and contributing to England winning games of cricket. That’s been my focus throughout my career. I think that focus has served me well.”If I get 600 wickets then great; if I don’t, then I’m happy with what I’ve got. I know I can perform better than I did this week. I want to keep getting better and keep helping England win games of cricket.”I still can’t quite believe the number [of Tests] that’s next to my name when the teams go up on the TV. 154 does sound like quite a lot of games. But I feel like I’ve still got quite a few more left in me.The last 18 months has been frustrating injury-wise. I want to get back to enjoying my cricket – I didn’t enjoy bowling this week – but I want to remember why I play the game, enjoy doing what I do and play as long as I can.”If I can go past Alastair Cook’s record [of 161 Test caps] it will probably be the one thing I’ve got up on him.”