A dramatically recast Australian team rued Faf du Plessis’ composure for the second time in the space of four days as South Africa scrambled to 225 then snipped the top off Australia’s batting order on day one of the third Test

Daniel Brettig30-Nov-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMitchell Starc improved greatly in his second spell, finding the perfect length and just enough swing a few minutes before lunch•Getty Images

Though Perth is three hours behind the rest of Australia, the nature of the WACA ground pitch is to encourage a match in fast forward, and so it was again. A dramatically recast Australian team rued Faf du Plessis’ composure for the second time in the space of four days as South Africa scrambled to 225 then snipped the top off Australia’s batting order on day one of the third Test.Twelve wickets fell for 257 runs, but with enough evidence between several rushes of wickets to suggest that batsmen will prosper at some point during the match. Du Plessis’ exemplary, unbeaten 78 was compiled after he came to the wicket amidst the fall of 5 for 14 either side of lunch. It granted South Africa some sort of total to bowl at, enough for Dale Steyn and the fit-again Vernon Philander to nip out Ed Cowan and Shane Watson before the ball had lost its shine.The WACA ground rose mistakenly to laud Ricky Ponting at the fall of Watson’s wicket, but it was the nightwatchman Nathan Lyon who walked out instead. He did Ponting a major good turn in the 37-year-old’s final Test by accompanying a somewhat jumpy David Warner to the close at 2 for 33.Aside from the aforementioned period of frenzy, Australia found breakthroughs difficult to extract on a bouncy but true surface. The Australia bowlers shared the spoils, Mitchell Starc perhaps the pick with a pair of late inswingers to bowl Alviro Petersen and Jacques Kallis in the closing minutes of the morning session. Lyon vindicated his inclusion with 3 for 41, the debutant John Hastings and vice-captain Shane Watson contributed important wickets, while Mitchell Johnson claimed two of his own and intimidated at times with well-directed short balls.Lacking James Pattinson, Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus due to their Adelaide exertions, Starc and Johnson were recalled while Hastings made his debut as the into-the-wind trundler so often favoured at the WACA ground.Having been 12th man in Brisbane and Adelaide, Starc found himself taking the new ball at the start of the Test. There was some early swing for him and Petersen was given out lbw by the umpire Richard Kettleborough when one delivery curled back into the opener’s pads, but a review had the ball passing high and wide of the stumps.That ball was not representative of the opening spells for either Starc nor Hastings, who both erred on the short side to give plenty of sighters to Petersen and Smith. Clarke called on Watson at first change and followed up with Johnson at the other end, and their spells signalled a change in the morning. Watson found a little movement either way and bowled a far better length, rewarded when Smith pushed out at ball going across him and edged to Clarke at slip.

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• Faf du Plessis has become the first batsman to score more than 70 in each of his first three Test innings. The batsman who got nearest to achieving it was Australia’s Herbie Collins, who scored 70, 104 and 64 in his first three. Andrew Strauss was close too, with scores of 112, 83 and 62.

• This is the third successive instance of the team batting first scoring less than 300 in a Perth Test, following India’s 161 earlier this year and Australia’s 268 in the 2010 Ashes.

• Dean Elgar has become the first South Africa top-order batsman (batting in the top 7) to score a duck on Test debut since Gerhardus Liebenberg in 1998.

• In nine Tests when AB de Villiers has played as wicketkeeper, he has an average of 29.23 with a strike rate of 39.62 and one half-century in 15 innings. When he doesn’t keep wicket, he averages 50.42 at a strike rate of 55.01.

• Nathan Lyon’s 3 for 41 are the third-best figures by an Australia spinner in the first innings of a Perth Test, after Bruce Yardley’s 5 for 107 in 1982 and Shane Warne’s 4 for 83 in 1997.

Johnson produced some nasty deliveries to Smith and some compelling ones to Amla, beating the No. 3 for pace and length on more than one occasion. Having been given a firm idea of how to bowl by two more experienced WACA ground exponents, Starc improved greatly in his second spell. A few minutes before lunch he found the perfect length and just enough swing to burst through Petersen’s drive, and in the next over produced a near identical delivery to do the same to Kallis.South Africa thus ended the session in far worse shape than they had seemed likely to for most of its duration. Starc had learned quickly, helped by the examples of Watson and Johnson. On resumption Hastings commenced an excellent spell up-wind, finding useful outswing in addition to sharp bounce.Amla was fortunate when he flicked Hastings straight to midwicket in the first over, Ed Cowan dropping a simple chance, but in the next he was caught somewhat short of the appropriate gear when de Villiers called a quick single – David Warner’s direct hit found Amla short and saved Cowan the blushes. Unnerved by the run-out, de Villiers walked into a delectable, swerving ball from Hastings in the next over and edged to Clarke at slip.Elgar’s first appearance at a Test batting crease was not pretty – Johnson worked him around the crease with a hostile spell – and he completed a 12-ball duck by gloving a short ball tamely to Wade when trying to hook. The first ball Peterson faced was full, fast and far too quick for him, but it narrowly missed off stump.Slowly du Plessis and Peterson regathered somewhat less shaky ground, punching the ball through the field and taking advantage of Perth’s typically quick outfield. De Plessis eluded a concerted lbw appeal and referral by Watson when ball-tracking had the ball missing leg stump, and the pair had caught a glimpse of tea when Lyon was introduced.There was evidence of loop, bounce and turn in Lyon’s first over, and in his third a shortish ball bounced enough to draw a fatal error from Peterson. Philander contributed another nuisance lower-order innings to follow up, however, advancing to loft Lyon into the crowd at wide long on before he skied to Michael Hussey when attempting a repeat. Lyon had moved around the wicket, and was rewarded further when he claimed the last man Morne Morkel, who had clumped a trio of boundaries from the bowling of Johnson after Steyn played on.Left with a little under an hour to bat, Warner flashed absentmindedly at Steyn’s first delivery. His third angled teasingly across Cowan, who pushed at the line in expectation of some swing, but finding none succeeded only in edging to Kallis at slip for a golden duck. Watson late cut his first ball to the fence, but his tendency to plonk the front pad down the pitch was exploited by Philander, who had the plumbest of lbw decisions bizarrely refused by Asad Rauf. The inevitable review set that call right, and left Lyon to bravely protect Ponting until stumps.

Round-up of the first day of the eighth round of Ranji Trophy’s Group C matches

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Dec-2012
ScorecardOn a strange day in which two players single-handedly dominated the bowling and batting for their respective sides, and in doing so, created history, Jammu and Kashmir played out an evenly-contested first day against hosts Kerala. Opener Ian Dev Singh scored an unbeaten century, becoming the second J&K batsman to have carried his bat, and seamer CP Shahid, playing in his third first-class game, took 8 for 51 to register third-best figures for any bowler in his side in history. Besides opener Adil Rishi and No. 3 Bandeep Singh, who were the first two to be dismissed, all fell to him, as J&K were bowled out for 215.But wickets didn’t fall in a heap, as Ian Dev struck useful partnerships, especially for the third and the seventh wicket. None of them, however, lasted beyond 59 runs, and seven single-digit scores put paid to J&K’s hopes of a big first-innings total.
ScorecardServices captain and opener Soumik Chatterjee scored a century to lead his side to a strong 284 for 4 against Goa at stumps in Porvorim. After choosing to bat, they lost their other opener Pratik Desai in the fifth over, No. 3 Ansuhl Gupta for 31 in the 18th over and the next batsman Soumya Swain after ten more overs. But Chatterjee then combined with Yashpal Singh, who gave him able support, to give their side a strong foundation. The duo added 141 runs for the fourth wicket, before Chatterjee got out in the final session after scoring his fourth century.
ScorecardIn Guwahati, Assam built the foundation for a strong first innings against Himachal Pradesh after being put in to bat. Opener PP Das, playing his eighth first-class match, was dismissed for ten short of what would have been his maiden first-class century. Although none of the top-order batsmen scored a fifty, they featured in four productive partnerships, to help their side reach 213 for 4 at stumps.Das’ innings of 90 contained 15 boundaries, but he also played out many dot deliveries, as his innings’ strike-rate was 48.36. For Himachal, offspinner Gurvinder Singh, with two wickets, was the most productive bowler.
ScorecardJharkhand held the upper hand in their contest against Tripura in Agartala after right-arm fast bowler Ajay Yadav, in only his second first-class match, took 6 for 38 to help bowl Tripura out for 106. After a poor start to their reply, Ishank Jaggi and Saurabh Tiwary scored 85 runs together to leave their side to within 11 runs of their opponent’s total.Tripura’s innings crumbled from the beginning. Opener Shubhrajit Roy top-scored with 43, and only two others scored beyond five runs in the innings. When five wickets had fallen for 12 runs in the 11th over, Shubrajit and Debabrata Chowdhury stuck for 17.2 overs, and helped them to a better position, adding 54 runs. But Chowdhury’s dismissal led to another collapse, and Tripura were soon bowled out. Their bowlers, however, gave them a positive start with the ball, as Jharkhand were reduced to 10 for 3, but Tiwary and Jaggi batted responsibly to ensure their side’s dominance.

Fast bowler Umesh Yadav is unlikely to be fit in time for final match of the India-England Test series, which begins in Nagpur on December 13, as he is taking longer than originally expected to recover from a lower back injury

Amol Karhadkar08-Dec-2012Fast bowler Umesh Yadav is unlikely to be fit in time for final match of the India-England Test series, which begins in Nagpur on December 13, as he is taking longer than originally expected to recover from a lower-back injury.With India all but certain to reach Nagpur in a must-win situation, this comes as a blow for an Indian attack that that has been plundered over the last two Tests. Yadav was the pick of India’s fast bowlers in the first Test in Ahmedabad, but was then ruled out with injury for “at least for 10 days”.The prognosis for the injury has been ambiguous; while one specialist had put forward the 10-day recuperation period, another had advised him rest for three months. Now, a day before the selectors are to choose the squad for the final Test, ESPNcricinfo has learnt that the fast bowler will surely be unavailable for the game. He is also unlikely to recover in time for the England Twenty20s and the Pakistan limited-overs series’ that follow.”This will be disappointing for him not just because it [the Nagpur game] is his home Test, but also because the team needs him badly,” a source said, adding it would be “a miracle” if he features in the Pakistan series.With Yadav unavailable, Sandeep Patil and his colleagues in the selection panel don’t have much to choose from as far as pace bowling is concerned. But it remains to be seen if the selectors take tough calls on a batting line-up that has faltered time and again in the series.

Leighton Greenidge, the president of the Southern Connecticut Cricket Association, has spoken out against the way the Annual General Meeting was handled

Peter Della Penna28-Dec-2012Leighton Greenidge, the president of the Southern Connecticut Cricket Association and regional director of the currently suspended North East Region, has spoken out against the USA Cricket Association (USACA) for the way the Annual General Meeting was handled on December 15 in New York. According to sources, only two league presidents belonging to member leagues in good standing attended the meeting, which took place inside the Hilton Hotel at JFK Airport.Despite the small crowd, several people including Greenidge were denied access at the conference room door to prevent participation at the AGM. USACA has not issued any meeting minutes regarding the AGM and attempts to contact USACA president Gladstone Dainty by phone to discuss the meeting were unsuccessful.According to sources, one of the documents presented at the AGM by Dainty was titled, “A Vision For USACA” and dated September 9, 2008. In the document, Dainty blamed USACA’s lack of a business office as the singular fact that “has stymied the development of the organisation.”USACA had originally announced that the AGM was to take place at the April 14 board meeting in Florida, when general elections were held. Just days ahead of that meeting, the ICC had confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that USACA’s funding grants were temporarily suspended because of its failure to hold an AGM in 2011, one of the core administrative requirements for all Associate members. Dainty was re-elected in a landslide after 32 of the 47 USACA member leagues were barred from voting.Sources claim that internal doubts were raised recently as to whether or not the April meeting constituted an AGM. As a result, USACA announced that the AGM would be held in New York on December 15. However, it is unclear if the meeting can be considered a legitimate AGM if only two presidents from member leagues in good standing were present. Consequently, the Associate funding grants that USACA receives from the ICC could once again be in danger of being suspended.”It is public knowledge that I am not a supporter of Gladstone Dainty’s failed policies and initiatives as it relates to management of cricket in the United States,” Greenidge told ESPNcricinfo. “Having said that, I still have a fiduciary obligation and responsibility to my constituents as president of my league, the Southern Connecticut Cricket Association, and as a Regional Director of the North East Region to represent them and report to them what transpired at that and every AGM.”According to Greenidge, he arrived shortly before the 10 am start time and approached the entrance to the meeting room with USACA board member Krish Prasad. In a scene reminiscent of two previous board meetings from 2011 and 2010, when board members were prevented from entering USACA meetings by off duty policemen or security guards, Greenidge had his name on a list held by a security guard stationed outside the door with instructions to refuse him entry. Prasad was allowed to enter.”On approaching the door to the meeting room, we were approached by a gentleman who asked both of us to sign in on the sign-in sheet provided and to produce some form of photo ID for verification,” Greenidge said. “Upon examination of my credentials, the gentleman, who identified himself as chief of security of that Hilton Hotel, informed me that he had a list of individuals in hand who were not allowed in the meeting and that furthermore my name was on that list. He insisted that I leave the establishment immediately or he would take further action.”Greenidge’s league is currently a member league that was declared one of the 32 member leagues not in good standing after the results of a USACA compliance audit were announced at the start of the year. As a result, his league was ineligible to vote in April’s general elections. However, Greenidge said he didn’t think that attending the AGM in New York would cause any problems because of statements made by Dainty and USACA treasurer John Thickett to ESPNcricinfo on November 22 regarding April’s elections and that all members would be welcome at the AGM.”I would like to state it’s not true the board targeted certain regions,” Dainty told ESPNcricinfo. “The constitution is quite clear about the compliance procedures and the rules are there in the constitution and in the laws of the United States.””No league was sanctioned in any way and USACA has provided a large amount of material to non-compliant leagues to help them to become compliant and offered the services of its staff to also assist them,” Thickett said. “All USACA members are welcome to attend the AGM. On voting matters, all members in good standing are eligible to vote.”While USACA had 47 member leagues under its umbrella in 2011, Dainty stated in a December 13 affidavit that there are currently only 12 member leagues in good standing with USACA. The affidavit was filed in response to a lawsuit filed by former USACA executive secretary Kenwyn Williams.”The cricketing world needs to have a full understanding of the state of cricket in the USA under the current administration,” Greenidge said. “This administration has reduced its membership to 12 leagues while still expecting to receive the same level of ICC funding that they enjoyed when there were 45+ leagues in the association.””This administration claims to be transparent and honest, but the actions of this group are anything but honest. One has to wonder if USACA is really about cricket or something else. No real tournaments, no cricket development or anything that even approaches the mission statement of the organisation. If an organisation is unable to develop simple local and national tournaments, it is unreasonable to expect it to run a tournament with international implications that approaches the standard of the IPL and what would amount to be a $1 billion venture.”

Rangpur Riders scored their third win in the competition defeating Khulna Royal Bengals by 33 runs in a low-scoring match

Mohammad Isam29-Jan-2013
ScorecardRangpur Riders scored their third win in the competition defeating Khulna Royal Bengals by 33 runs in a low-scoring match. The target was a meager 123, but by the 15th over, Riders’ bowlers had turned the game into a one-sided affair before Fidel Edwards completed the victory.Defending a low total, it was Edwards who gave Riders the perfect start with the wicket of Lou Vincent in the first over. The wickets of Mizanur Rahman and Riki Wessels followed soon after. Captain Shahriar Nafees laboured to a 22-ball 14 before getting caught cutting Nasir Hossain. Daniel Harris and
Asif Ahmed battled for a while before both fell within 10 balls of each other to end the Royal Bengals resistance as they collapsed to the lowest total in BPL.Edwards ended up with four wickets as he cleaned up the tail while captain Abdur Razzak took three wickets.Riders were not always on top in the game though. Harris, Royal Bengals’ part-time medium-pacer, took three wickets, a catch and hit the stumps direct to pin them down. Harris removed Danza Hyatt, Cameron Borgas and Niall O’Brien in a four-over spell that dictated the pace of the game.
Kevin O’Brien top scored with an unbeaten 24 off 30 balls with just a
Boundary, but Riders stumbled their way to 122.

A round-up of Regional Super50 matches played on March 11, 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Mar-2013
ScorecardCombined Campuses and Colleges scraped to a three-wicket win over Leeward Islands in a low-scoring match in Bridgetown on Monday.Set a paltry target of 116, CCC struggled with their chase, losing seven wickets before they passed Leewards’ score in the 33rd over. Shacaya Thomasplayed an important role in the victory: his 61 accounted for more than half of the team’s runs, even as the other batsmen failed to reach a score of 20.Earlier, Leewards Islands were bowled out for 115 after choosing to bat first. Offpsinner Ryan Austin, who played an important role in CCC’s victory over Leewards in the Regional Four Day Competition, once again led the bowling attack, conceding 24 runs in his 10 overs and picking up two wickets. Left-arm spinner Derone Davis picked up three wickets, while Nekoli Parris picked up two wickets.The win helped CCC move to third place in the table, behind Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago.
ScorecardJamaica’s bowlers set up a 78-run win after a collective batting failure led to Windward Islands folding for 151 chasing 230 for victory.Windwards never recovered from their poor start and were struggling at 2 for 2 early on in the innings, before Andre Fletcher, Miles Bascombe and Liam Sebastien tried bringing some momentum into the chase. The partnerships they added, however, failed to put Windwards’ chase on track and the team were eventually bowled out in the 39th over. Odean Brown’s domination over Windwards’ batsmen continued as the legspinner picked up 3 for 19 in 7 overs.Earlier, Jamaica, who were put into bat, lost opener Simon Jackson in the second ball of the match, but recovered through an 88-run second-wicket partnership between Nkruma Bonner (39) and Danza Hyatt (59). Carlton Baugh and Andre Russell added some important runs towards the end, as Jamaica posted a total of 229.
ScorecardTrinidad & Tobago won a close match against Guyana by two wickets in Port of Spain. Although T&T chased down the Guyana target of 235 in 45 overs, they lost eight wickets in the process, giving Guyana a chance right till the end.Fifties from captain Christopher Barnwell and Devendra Bishoo helped Guyana put up 234 on the board after they were struggling at 117 for 7 in the 28th over. The pair added 107 runs for the eighth wicket, to help Guyana pass 200. Barnwell, whose last significant innings for Guyana came in the Caribbean T20 competition, struck a solid 66 off 100 balls, including four fours and two sixes. Bishoo excelled in the supporting act, hitting an unbeaten 52 with four fours and one six.In reply, T&T kept up with the chase in spite of losing regular wickets. Adrian Barath guided the chase, scoring 65 off 80 balls. T&T stuttered briefly after Barath fell with the score at 180 for 6, but a brisk 28 from Sunil Narine ensured that T&T remained unbeaten in the Regional Super50 Competition.

Mohammad Nabi has been named Afghanistan captain, ahead of the ICC Intercontinental Cup in the UAE

Umar Farooq01-Mar-2013Mohammad Nabi, the Afghanistan allrounder, will lead the side in the ICC Intercontinental Cup in the UAE, after Nawroz Mangal was stripped of the captaincy following his dismal show in the limited-over series in Pakistan last month. Mangal had led the side for more than four years.Afghanistan, in the recent tour of Pakistan, failed to make an impact under Mangal, losing the limited-over series against the Pakistan ‘A’ team and various regional sides. Mangal, however, was retained in the 18-man squad named ahead of the international fixtures against Scotland in UAE, with wicketkeeper batsman Mohammad Shahzad named as vice-captain.Nabi, 28, who skipped the Pakistan tour to play in the Bangladesh Premier League, was the top wicket-taker for Sylhet Royals, taking 18 wickets in 14 matches at 19.27. This is not the first time Nabi has been handed the captaincy, as he was earlier named captain for the Asian Games in 2010 where Afghanistan finished runners-up, losing to Bangladesh in the final.They will head to the UAE to play two Twenty20 internationals against Scotland at Sharjah, starting March 3, followed by two ODIs in the ICC World Cricket League Championship. From March 12, the team will play a first-class match against the same opponents in the sixth edition of the ICC Intercontinental Cup, which is to be held in Abu Dhabi.Squad: Mohammad Nabi (capt), Mohammad Shahzad (vice-capt & wk), Karim Sadiq, Nawroz Mangal, Javed Ahmadi, Mohibullah Paak, Samiullah Shenwari, Gulbodin Naib, Hamza Hotak, Dawlat Zadran, Izatullah Dawlatzai, Aftab Alam, Mirwais Ashraf, Afsar Zazai, Shabir Noori, Shapoor Zadran, Hamid Hassan and Asghar Stanikzai

It may frustrate supporters, but Surrey enter this season at the start of another rebuilding process.

George Dobell04-Apr-2013Last year 7th, CC Div 1; Group stages, T20; 2nd Group B, CB402012 in a nutshell: A season overshadowed by tragedy. While it would be an exaggeration to suggest all was progressing well before the death of Tom Maynard – Surrey’s form had been modest – the club faced a desperate struggle to retain equilibrium afterwards. That they retained their Division One status and missed out on a CB40 semi-final by the skin of their teeth might be considered admirable. Amid the shock, few individuals progressed. Surrey utilised 24 players in the Championship alone, seeming unsure who was best at the top of the order and rarely batting with assurance. The bowling of Stuart Meaker, who was not flattered by his figures, was a bright spot but Jacques Rudolph was a disappointment, Steven Davies and Chris Jordan were dropped and Jon Lewis, Jade Dernbach and Chris Tremlett either rarely played or struggled to make an impact. All have strong mitigating factors, but there is no avoiding the fact that 2012 was a dark year in the history of the club.2013 prospects: Surrey look a very different team in 2013. Gone is the old captain, Rory Hamilton-Brown, gone is the mainstay of the batting for a generation, Mark Ramprakash, and gone are several of the bright young things (Maynard, Chris Jordan and Matt Spriegel) who it was hoped would form the spine of the team for years to come. Recognising that more maturity was required in the dressing room, the club brought in Vikram Solanki (37 on April 1) and Gary Keedy (38) to join the likes of Zander de Bruyn (37), Jon Lewis (37) and Gareth Batty (35) as well as big name overseas signings Graeme Smith (32) and Ricky Ponting (38). Some good young players remain: George Edwards and Matt Dunn are among the most promising fast bowlers; Jason Roy and Rory Burns are talented young batsmen and all can be seen as products of the club’s youth system. But the balance between youth and experience has swung sharply. A trophy seems unlikely – the batting looks a bit fragile for that – but decent limited-overs form and the comfortable retention of Division One status should not be beyond them.Key player: While Surrey have other wicketkeeping options in Gary Wilson, Steve Davies could be seen as a barometer of this side. He typifies the Chris Adams regime: recruited on a large salary and amid much expectation, his career has not progressed as some predicted. His talent remains undoubted but Surrey – and their director of cricket, Adams – could do with him producing more to justify the investment they made.Bright young thing: George Edwards, 20, is a strong fast bowler with some ability with the bat. Given sustained fitness and opportunity, he could develop into a top-quality player for club and country.Captain/coach: It was always going to take time to turn things around at The Oval. Just as things were, at long last, improving, the club were thrown into turmoil by the death of Maynard and the team required rebuilding. This is Plan B for Chris Adams. How much time he will be given to get things right this time remains uncertain but the club have backed him to the hilt by bringing in Smith as captain. Such investment is likely to demand a return.Cricinfo’s verdict: It may frustrate supporters, but Surrey enter this season at the start of another rebuilding process. Having lost several of those seen as the future of the club, it may take time for others to settle in their place. How much patience will be shown towards Adams and co. remains to be seen but the squad is deep and experienced and, led by Smith, they will surely prove tougher, more obdurate opposition.

Gary Kirsten has decided not to renew his contract as South Africa coach

Firdose Moonda10-May-2013Gary Kirsten’s tenure in charge of South Africa will end on July 31 after he decided not to renew his contract for a further two years. Kirsten, who was appointed in 2011, cited the needs of his sons, Joshua and James and daughter, Joanna, who are all under the age of 10, as the only reason for him opting not to continue to be in charge of the team he took to No.1 on the Test rankings. His last assignment will be the Champions Trophy in England before he settles in to spend more time with his family.”I feel I can no longer cope with the lengthy periods of separation from my family that this job demands,” Kirsten admitted. “Last year, I had 250 days away from Cape Town, my home. I believe my absentia as a father is compromising my responsibilities to my family. I’ve just had five weeks at home now, which is the longest period I have had there for a few years and I began to realise the impact my absence as a father has had on my family.”When Kirsten took the job as South Africa coach, he made it plain to his employers, CSA, that his first priority was to his family. His contract included terms relating to the amount of time he could spend at home, even during the season and on tours, because he did not want the job to rob him of his primary role of husband and father.At the time, he and his wife, Deborah had a policy in place about the maximum number of days they would spend apart – 21. Kirsten also assured her if the separation ever became “unbearable”, he would not continue as coach. He has now decided it has reached those levels and Deborah was among the most surprised by that conclusion.”I don’t think she believed me when I said I was not going to renew,” Kirsten said. “But that’s how I feel about the importance of the institution of family. I don’t want to be a statistic so that when my kids are grown up, they say they didn’t see their dad. Right from the outset of my contract, it was a concern – how I would be able to manage the time apart. I even considered doing only one format of the game but we felt it would be unfair on many people. The last five weeks at home have made me more aware of my responsibilities.”Kirsten denied that political reasons pushed him, although there was some suspicion he was under pressure for a slow transformation rate, especially in Test cricket. Although South Africa has not had a quota system in place for several years, it was widely frowned upon that no black African played in the longest format for South Africa during Kirsten’s time in charge. “No, that has nothing to do with it. I’ve given my reasons and those are 100%,” he said.Kirsten leaves South African cricket in a healthy state at Test level, where he had the best record of all past coaches. The team won 63% of the Tests they played and Kirsten was the only coach who took them to No. 1 in the world with victory over England. “The Test team moved to new heights,” he said. “We’ve got an incredibly strong senior player base. They are the heartbeat of the team and they drive the values and the culture of the team, so I move away very comfortable that that is in place.”His limited-overs returns were not as striking. So far, Kirsten is the third-worst performing coach in the fifty-over game with a win percentage of only 56%. He conceded, “performances in ODIs and Twenty20s haven’t been where we wanted them to be. But we’ve built a good base of players.”After winning the World Cup with India in 2011, Kirsten was widely thought to be the man who would help South Africa finally lift that trophy. But he said that was never part of his plans. “It was not my intention to go to the World Cup. My work is part of a process to help the players and South African cricket reach the goals they want to reach,” he said, although he did have some advice for the man who takes South Africa to the 2015 event. “Going into the World Cup in two years, we don’t have to shift the team around too much.”Kirsten has one more chance to achieve success in the fifty-over format with the team in a month’s time. He pledged to approach the Champions Trophy with “renewed vigour,” but after that family will have him around almost full-time.Kirsten confirmed he will not seek any other employment immediately although he will not rule out contributing to South Africa in a consultancy role. “I like to think my time is not done. I don’t think I will ever leave coaching but it would have to be in a way that suits my needs,” he said.CSA will appoint a committee to handle the appointment of the new coach, who will take over for the limited-overs series in Sri Lanka in July and August. Kirsten himself could be involved in the process and hinted his assistant, Russell Domingo may be best placed to take over.”My relationship with Russell has always been a close one. He is passionate and clinical and he has done a lot of coaching. I have no doubt that he is very capable of doing high-level coaching jobs,” he said. Domingo and bowling coach Allan Donald’s contracts also expire at the end of July and they will only know if they will continue in their roles after the new head coach has been appointed.Donald appears interested in continuing. He is currently coaching Pune Warriors in the IPL and told ESPNcricinfo that if it was up to him, he would stay on. “I spoke to Gary personally a couple of days ago and I respect his decision 100%,” he said. “At the moment we are very focused on the Champions Trophy and I’m sure that this team needs no motivation to go and win this tournament for Gary. As far as I’m concerned, we’ve just got to let this whole thing take its course and, for me, there is no decision to be made about my future with the Proteas.”

Lonwabo Tsotsobe will represent his third first-class club when he joins the Lions for the 2013-14 season

Firdose Moonda17-May-2013Lonwabo Tsotsobe will represent his third franchise in as many seasons after he decided to move to the Lions for the 2013/14 summer. Tsotsobe originally hails from the Eastern Cape and represented the Warriors for seven seasons before changing allegiances to the Dolphins over the past season and will now play for the Lions.How frequently he turns out for the Johannesburg-based franchise will depend on his international commitments. Tsotsobe is a regular member of South Africa’s ODI and T20 team and is often on the fringes of the Test squad, which limits the amount of time he can play domestic cricket.Tsotsobe has also earned a reputation for shirking his domestic responsibilities, although a number of family-related problems were partly to blame for his absence from the circuit. He only turned out for the Dolphins in the one-day competition, where he played nine matches, but did not play a single first-class or T20 match, much to their administrations’ displeasure.Should he make the odd appearance for the Lions, he will team up with Chris Morris and Hardus Viljoen in what could be a fearsome trio of quicks. “He has a tremendous amount of ability and and I believe he will bring experience and guidance to some of the younger players in the squad,” Geoffrey Toyana, Lions coach, said.They will have to wait until after the Champions League T20 to make use of Tsotsobe, though. He will not be able to represent the Lions because he was not part of the contracted squad that qualified for the event.Tsotsobe is not the only big mover this winter. Hashim Amla also left the Dolphins and will ply his trade at Cape Cobras. This leaves the Dolphins’ franchise without two of its most senior players.They have been bolstered by the arrival of veteran wicket-keeper batsman Morne van Wyk from the Knights. The franchise from the Free State also lost Ryan Bailey to the Warriors.