Former Barbados wicketkeeper-batsman turned analyst Jamal Smith believes struggling West Indies batter Nkurmah Bonner could benefit from some decisiveness at the crease.
The 35-year-old Bonner has earned plenty of accolades for gritty performances for the West Indies since making his debut against Bangladesh in 2021. The player has, however, struggled vor vorm ov late, managing just 65 in his last 5 innings and has been hit twice off short pithed bowling in the last year.
Bonner has been ruled out of the current Test series against Australia after being struck on the back of the helmet by a Cameron Green bouncer. Despite being allowed to continue batting for another few hours Bonner is now under the team’s concussion protocol.
In light of the latest incident, questions have been raised regarding the player susceptibility to pace bowling.
“Short bowling is simple yet complex, you are either looking to attack the ball or defend it. I think. In simple parlance either you are hooking or you ducking. I think either Bonner is caught between two minds,” Smith told the Mason and Guest radio program.
“…He takes his eyes off the ball. We’ve seen him now being struck. If we’re being honest, we can pinpoint some of the technical deficiencies our batters have,” he added.
“We can’t knock Bonner because he’s done reasonably well up until this point, but you know he’s languid, he always looks little bit slow on the ball and these hard bouncy surfaces will show that up.”
Bonner has recorded two 100s and three 50s for the West Indies in 15 matches so far.
Cricket West Indies’(CWI) Selection Panel on Thursday named the 15-member West Indies Women’s Under 19s Rising Stars squad for the ICC Women’s U19 T20 World Cup in South Africa in January 2023.The squad will again be led by batting all-rounder Ashmini Munisar who captained the team on their tours to the USA in August and last month in India.
Lead Selector Mrs. Ann Browne-John said: “The Under 19 girls T20 World Cup will be an historic event being the first of its kind in women’s international cricket. In preparation for this the team embarked on tours of the USA and the recent Tri Series in India against the hosts and New Zealand. These series have identified some competent up and coming batters like Djenaba Joseph, Shunelle Sawh and Trishan Holder who are showing potential to transition to a higher level. We also had excellent performances from the two main spinners, captain Ashmini Munisar and Shalini Samaroo.”
She added: “We’ve held training camps over the past few months and the preparation will culminate with a final camp to be held in Antigua this month. This international exposure would no doubt be extremely beneficial, not only to this group of players, but also serve as an investment and feeder group into the senior West Indies Women’s set up.”
Captain Ashmini Munisar expressed her happiness in being selected to lead the squad, “It is every cricketer’s dream to play for their country let alone be able to captain their team, it is an immense honour that I get to do it at this historic inaugural ICC Women’s U19 World Cup. We have been playing together for the past few months and all the players are gelling and progressing quite nicely and we’re all excited to represent the West Indies.”
The ICC Women’s U19 T20 World Cup will feature 41 matches be played from 14 to 29 January in South Africa. The official warm-up matches will be from 9 to 11 January. The 16 participating teams will play in four groups in the preliminary round. West Indies have been drawn in Group C alongside New Zealand, Ireland, and Indonesia.
WEST INDIES WOMEN UNDER 19s RISING STARS SQUAD
GROUPS
Group A: Australia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, USA
Group B: England, Pakistan, Rwanda, Zimbabwe
Group C: Indonesia, Ireland, New Zealand, West Indies
Group D: India, Scotland, South Africa, UAE
GROUP C - WEST INDIES MATCH SCHEDULE
Sunday January 15: vs Ireland at NW University, Potchefstroom – 4am Eastern Caribbean/3am Jamaica
Tuesday January 17: vs Indonesia at NW University, Potchefstroom – 7:45am Eastern Caribbean/6:45am Jamaica
Thursday January 19: vs New Zealand, JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom – 7:45am Eastern Caribbean/6:45am Jamaica
Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head rattled off punishing centuries as Australia dominated once more against West Indies, racking up 330-3 on day one of the second Test.
Top of the ICC batting rankings, the in-form Labuschagne put on a show as he reached 120 not out, while local hero Head joined him on three figures later in the day, finishing up on 114no at stumps.
They shared in a fourth-wicket partnership worth 199 and will resume on Friday looking to bat West Indies out of the match.
For Labuschagne, a third consecutive century and 10th of his Test career was complete when he cracked a boundary square of the wicket.
He was the more watchful of the hundred-makers, with Head more up front about his intentions, getting stuck into a mostly blunt West Indies attack and reaching three figures in just 125 balls, some 61 fewer than Labuschagne needed to reach his ton.
For Head, getting the job done brought obvious relief, after he was dismissed for 99 in the first match of the series in Perth. He brought up this century with a drive through mid-off for four, removing his helmet and waving to the Adelaide Oval crowd. Born in the South Australia city, this is his home ground and the century earned him the warmest of ovations.
After making 204 and 104no in the first Test, Labuschagne again mastered the West Indies attack. He came in at number three and shared in a stand of 95 with Usman Khawaja, who fell lbw to Devon Thomas for 62 to leave Australia 129-2 during the afternoon.
That soon became 131-3 when stand-in captain Steve Smith went for a duck, caught and bowled by Jason Holder, but from that point on it was all one way in Australia's favour.
Better late than never for Thomas
At the ripe cricketing age of 33, Thomas is a Test wicket-taker for the first time. A wicketkeeper by trade, he is not wearing the gloves in this game, his Test debut. With West Indies seeking to break the second-wicket alliance, Thomas was given a try with the ball by West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite and made the breakthrough.
Thomas made his international debut in the limited-overs formats all the way back in 2009, and lately he has been a familiar face in their T20I side, but this is his first opportunity in the five-day game. He was the seventh bowler used by West Indies on Thursday, finishing the day with 1-43 from nine overs.
Labuschagne does it again
Ten centuries in a batter's 30 Tests is great going by anyone's standards, so hats off to Labuschagne. Taking into account the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle back in July, Labuschagne has made tons in four of his last five innings and his average has shot up to 61.81. He is 33 runs short of reaching 3,000 Test runs, which will be a target for day two.
David Warner's manager has claimed Australia players were encouraged to tamper with the ball after a hiding at the hands of South Africa 16 months before the scandal blew up.
Australia were thrashed by an innings and 80 runs in Hobart in November 2016, after being bowled out for 85 in their first innings.
James Erskine said Warner, his client, has been unfairly treated after his part in the sandpaper scandal at Newlands in March 2018, and pointed back to the Hobart game.
Opening batter Warner was banned from elite cricket for a year and from leadership positions for life after he was deemed to have been the instigator in the plot to alter the condition of the ball in Cape Town.
However, Erskine says there was more to the episode than has thus far come to light.
He told the SEN radio network: "When the truth comes out, everyone's going to turn around and say, 'Well, why was David Warner picked upon?'.
"The truth will come out. Let me tell you. Someone will... there's lots of people. There's two cricketers who put their hands up and said, 'Why don't we all just tell the truth? They can't fire all of us.'
"That's what happened. Two senior executives were in the changing rooms in Hobart and basically were berating the team for losing to South Africa.
"Warner said we've got to reverse-swing the ball, and the only way we can reverse-swing the ball is basically by tampering with it. So they were told to do it."
Erskine did not accuse the executives of being those responsible for giving the go-ahead to tamper with the ball.
He did, however, stress the three players punished for the scandal – Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft – were far from the only people involved.
Erskine said: "You'd have to be a blind black labrador, there was far more than three people involved in this thing, they all got a canning and David Warner was completely villainised.
"He has shut up, he protected Cricket Australia, he protected his fellow players on my advice, because at the end of the day no one wanted to hear any more of it and he's got on playing cricket."
Cricket Australia has yet to comment on Erskine's latest claims.
Warner this week withdrew his appeal against a lifetime captaincy ban with Australia, saying he has no interest in "a public lynching" over his part in the controversy.
The 36-year-old, who has returned to favour since his ban, was given the chance to appeal against the decision after Cricket Australia's code of conduct changed in November, but has now confirmed he will no longer do so.
Mark Wood returns to the England team in the only change for the second Test and Ollie Pope has been named as wicketkeeper-batter once again as Ben Foakes misses out.
Paceman Wood has recovered from an elbow problem and replaces Liam Livingstone, who suffered a tour-ending knee injury.
Pope took the gloves in a famous victory in the first Test at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium after Foakes missed out due to illness.
Foakes was available for selection for a second Test that starts at Multan Cricket Stadium on Friday, but the man captain Ben Stokes regards as the best keeper in the world has not been included.
"The selection is just for this Test," captain Ben Stokes said on Thursday. "I'll still keep saying he's [Foakes] the best keeper in the world, so it must sound silly for us to not pick him.
"Adding Mark Wood into the side gives us a better chance of taking 20 wickets.
"We did say to Ben to not take this as anything for the future. We didn't have this on our radar until the illness he unfortunately had before the first Test. This is definitely no sign for his future."
Stokes revealed he has spoken to Ben Duckett about the possibility of taking over from Pope as keeper if he finds the demands of donning the gloves at batting at number too much during the match.
The tourists will be looking to seal a first away Test series win over Pakistan for 22 years.
England team: Crawley, Duckett, Pope, Root, Brook, Stokes, Jacks, Robinson, Leach, Wood, Anderson.
Australia have made an unexpected change for the second Test against the West Indies starting Thursday with Josh Hazlewood ruled out due to general soreness replaced by Michael Neser.
Hazlewood joins skipper Pat Cummins (quad) in missing the second Test after helping Australia to a comprehensive 164-run victory in the first Test in Perth.
Australia's stand-in skipper Steve Smith won the toss and elected to bat on Thursday for the day-night Test at Adelaide Oval which rounds out the two-game Test series, before taking on South Africa in a three-game Test series starting on Saturday 17 December.
Neser comes into the Australia side for his second Test appearance, with his only previous game coming at the same venue 12 months ago in similar circumstances with both Cummins and Hazlewood dropping out.
Uncapped tearaway Lance Morris, who was added to the Australia Test squad along with Neser earlier this week, misses out on the final XI.
"Unfortunately, Hazlewood was pulled out last night. I'm not entirely sure of his availability for South Africa," Smith said at the coin toss. "But Neser bowled really well last year so we're thrilled to have him back."
Australia had previously indicated they were optimistic Cummins would be available for the first Test against the Proteas.
The West Indies made three changes to their side, with Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales and Kyle Mayers out through injury, replaced by Anderson Phillip and debutants Marquino Mindley and Devon Thomas.
Ben Stokes says England are mulling sticking with Ollie Pope as wicketkeeper for the second Test against Pakistan which starts in Multan on Friday.
Pope stepped in with the gloves for the ill Ben Foakes in England's 74-run first Test win in Rawalpindi, making 108 in the first innings. Foakes was one of numerous England players hit by illness on the eve of the first Test but was unable to take his place.
Pope, 24, has made three centuries in 31 Tests but kept wicket for only the second time in his Test career in Rawalpindi.
If Pope retains the gloves, England could bring in fast bowler Mark Wood, replacing the injured Liam Livingstone, to bolster their attack which was burdened with a heavy workload in the first Test.
"We found ourselves in that situation and still picked a team that was strong enough to win. We'll consider all our options," Stokes said.
"I think there are a few different options we are going to lay out in front of each other, and try and understand what is the best option to try and win this Test match. Because we have got a few other factors that we have to contend with.
"That's the great thing about where we're at at the moment… As I said, we are going to have a conversation at some point about what we feel is the best route to go."
Beyond Pope's century, he had a mixed Test with the gloves, dropping a catch in Pakistan's first innings, while spurning an opportunity in the second innings with one wicket left.
Pope also pulled off a smart stumping to dismiss Zahid Mahmood along with an acrobatic one-handed catch down the leg side to dismiss the same player in the same innings as England pushed for victory.
Wood has only just returned from a long-term elbow injury, with Stokes adding his availability was "an added bonus".
Another factor impacting selection is the morning smog in Multan, which could delay the start of play, potentially shortening the number of overs available if there is bad light late in the day, like which occurred on four of the five days in Rawalpindi.
"We'll have a sit-down discussion and we'll find a way to pick a team which we find is best to win the game, with those two things: the start time potentially delayed and coming off early because of the light," Stokes said.
"We could end up having only 300-350 overs in the Test match. We might have to get even a bit more adventurous with what we do. We'll see."
Jos Buttler does not know if he will return to the Test fold for England, stressing his focus remains firmly on white-ball cricket ahead of next year's World Cup defence.
Having led his side to success in the T20 World Cup last month in Australia, the wicket-keeper-batsman will look to defend the 50-over trophy he won as part of Eoin Morgan's side in 2019 next October.
Buttler's commitments to the sport's shorter formats has seen him kept out of the red-ball game, having last played for the Test team in January.
With the World Cup now 10 months away, the 32-year-old is not ruling out a return, but says it is not a priority with his other commitments.
"We will wait and see [but] I don't know for the minute, to be honest," he told Sky Sports News.
"I am really enjoying what I'm doing at the moment, and getting the opportunity to captain the white-ball teams has been a great challenge and really enjoyable.
"The attention turns to the 50-over World Cup and trying to think ahead and planning how we tackle that tournament. We've had a couple of retirements from the side, some stalwarts in Stokes and Morgan.
"We've got to work out how we fill that hole and give guys the opportunity to take those positions up and look to build a balanced team ahead of the tournament."
Test skipper Ben Stokes has retired from the ODI format since succeeding Joe Root as red-ball captain, but has not ruled out coming back into the fold for the World Cup.
Buttler would not be drawn on whether he would reverse his decision, however, adding: "He's got lots on his plate captaining the Test team and obviously some exciting series coming up with the Ashes next year especially.
"We'll just plan ahead and give guys the opportunity and things will work themselves out naturally.
"I think over the next six to eight months, guys will perform really well and put their hand up and try to stake a claim for those positions."
West Indies are determined to keep scrapping when they face Australia in the second and final Test with both sides dealing with injury issues.
The Windies were beaten by 164 runs in the first Test in Perth and face an uphill battle to save the series in Adelaide.
Australia will be without captain Pat Cummins for the day-night Test following a quad strain he suffered in the series opener.
The hosts have opted not to risk their skipper, with a series with South Africa, who are second behind Australia in the World Test Championship standings, around the corner.
Steve Smith will deputise as captain for the finale of this series, which does not form part of the Test Championship.
The tourists will likely be without Nkrumah Bonner, who has a concussion. All-rounder Kyle Mayers will only be available as a batter because of a shoulder issue while bowler Jayden Seales has a knee problem.
Kemar Roach is also a doubt due to a hamstring concern for an attack that took only six wickets in Perth and was tormented by Marnus Labuschagne, who scored 204 and 104 in a man of the match display.
But assistant coach Roddy Eastwick wants to see more fighting spirit, which was most evident in the first Test when fast bowler Alzarri Joseph troubled Labuschange with his pace.
"You are playing the best side in the world, no doubt about that," Estwick said. "You can't go gung-ho.
"I know everyone has seen how England are playing and think that's the way to go. Well, that's the way they want to go, fine by them, but with us, we know we have to be as patient as possible.
"We are playing the best team in the world and we just want to grind and fight and stay in the fight as long as possible.
"We did that [in Perth], we want to go one step further. It's all about improving, learning and getting better. You've just got to keep fighting and scrapping with the Australians."
Scott out to bowl Windies over
Scott Boland has been called into the Australia squad in the absence of Cummins.
Boland has an incredible average of 9.55 having taken 18 wickets in three Tests in the 2021-22 Ashes series.
His last Sheffield Shield match for Victoria against South Australia at Adelaide saw him take six wickets, so hopes will be high for another impressive showing on the international scene.
Australia's Adelaide dominance
The omens for an upset win for the Windies are not good. To be frank, they're terrible.
Australia are undefeated in their last 18 men's Tests against the Windies (W14 D4), last losing to them in 2003 at St John's in Antigua; in fact, their last loss to them at home came in 1997.
In addition, Australia have won eight of their last nine men's Tests at Adelaide Oval including their last three on the bounce. They are undefeated in their last four Tests at the venue against the West Indies (W3 D1).
A maiden ODI century for Mehidy Hasan Miraz helped Bangladesh secure a dramatic five-run win over India that sealed a series victory despite the best efforts of injured captain Rohit Sharma.
Miraz (100 not out) and Mohammad Mahmudullah (77) combined for a crucial stand of 148 as hosts Bangladesh dug themselves out of a hole to recover from 69-6 and set India a target of 272 that they came so close to achieving in unlikely circumstances.
Rohit, despite coming off injured during the Bangladesh innings and requiring an x-ray on his thumb, came out to bat at number nine despite being in visible pain while the tourists' hopes were looking slim.
But he smashed five maximums as part of a rapid 51no from 28 balls to give his side a chance.
Needing 12 from the final two balls, Rohit hit the required six on the penultimate ball but could not repeat his feat with the final delivery of the day as Bangladesh clung on to delight a packed home crowd at Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
Miraz and Mahmudullah steadied the ship after a dreadful start for Bangladesh, before Nasum Ahmed (18no) kept the charge going with two fours and a six to help the home side to a competitive total at 271-7.
India were also slow to get going with the bat, Virat Kohli (5) opening in Rohit's initial absence, as he and Shikhar Dhawan (8) were dismissed with just 13 on the board, though Shreyas Iyer got India back on track with 82 runs in a key 102-ball knock.
Axar Patel (56) provided some big shots and vital support, but when Miraz removed Iyer lbw to halt the productive duo's partnership at 107, India's hopes then looked bleak when Axar was swiftly dismissed soon after by the impressive Ebadot Hossain (3-45).
It looked like game over when Mahmudullah bowled a maiden to a struggling Rohit to leave India needing 40 runs from the last two overs.
But Rohit came agonisingly close to securing victory in a dramatic conclusion, rapidly firing three sixes and two fours to leave India needing a six from the final ball, but bowler Mustafizur Rahman (1-43) held his nerve as Bangladesh claimed an unassailable 2-0 series lead ahead of the final match on Saturday.
Rohit shines for India
Despite a thumb injury that was clearly hindering him, Rohit was superb for India as he somehow got them back in the hunt from what looked like an impossible equation at 213-8 in the 46th over.
Rohit confirmed after the match that he would miss the third encounter due to the injury, after KL Rahul skippered India while his issue was assessed for most of the Bangladesh innings.
Marvellous Miraz
Miraz played a crucial role in both halves of the win for Bangladesh, breaking the three-figure mark for the first time at ODI level – his century coming from just 83 balls, with 12 boundaries that included four maximums.
He is only the second batter to score an ODI century after coming in at number eight or lower, after Simi Singh.
The all-rounder was also key with the ball, taking the key wickets of KL Rahul and Iyer while also taking the catch that removed Dhawan early on.
West Indies Women’s coach Courtney Walsh has lamented another poor performance with the bat by the team that suffered another massive loss to England Women at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Tuesday.
After bowling England out for 260, the West Indies Women were skittled out for a 118 in just 31.3 overs to lose by 142 runs, a similar margin to the loss in the first ODI on Sunday in which England made 307-7 and then bowled the home side out for 165.
The result means England takes an unassailable 2-0 lead in the CG United One Day International series.
“In both games we haven’t batted well,” Walsh said after Tuesday’s humiliating defeat. “We were a lot better with the ball in this game on a good batting track and for the score where we had them at 260, I thought we would have batted better.”
Walsh reserved praise for Rashada Williams, who stood out among the batters.
“We lost those early wickets and just never recovered,” he said.
“The batters can take a lot from Rashada’s performance. I am pleased with how she went about it and showed that it can be done. We have a lot at stake with one game remaining and we need to get championship points. Our momentum is good but performance and execution, we have to try and get better.”
Batting first, England owed their competitive score to Amy Jones, who scored an unbeaten 70 and Sophia Dunkley’s unbeaten 57 as the local bowlers restricted England’s ability to build big partnerships.
Leading from the front Hayley Matthews took 3-50 and was supported by Afy Fletcher, who returned figures of 2-41 and Aaliyah Alleyne 2-47.
The West Indies Women’s reply got off to a disastrous start losing four wickets inside the first four overs with just eight runs on the board.
Williams offered the only real resistance with an unbeaten 54 that allowed the West Indies Women to push past 100 runs. Chedean Nation and Chinelle Henry with scores of 17 and 13, respectively, were the only other batters in double figures as Lauren Bell wreaked havoc taking 4-33.
Charlie Dean took 2-9 and there were also two wickets each for Sophie Ecclestone (2-25) and Kate Cross (2-35) in the rout.
The teams meet again on Friday, December 9 at the same venue.
Australia captain Pat Cummins has been ruled out of the second Test against the West Indies starting Thursday in Adelaide due to a quad strain, with Scott Boland to replace him in the XI.
Cummins did not bowl in the second innings of Australia's 164-run first Test win in Perth, which concluded on Sunday, although he participated in the field on the final day, appearing laboured.
The Aussie captain attempted to complete a fitness test at training on Tuesday, but has since been ruled out.
"Team medical staff commenced Cummins' recovery in Adelaide but selectors deemed there was not sufficient time for the fast bowler to be fully fit for the match, which starts tomorrow," a Cricket Australia statement said.
Steve Smith will skipper the Australians in Cummins' absence for the second time since his leadership ban expired.
Boland comes in for his fourth Test and first since last year's Ashes, where he burst on to the scene with a scintillating 6-7 on debut at the MCG.
Australian selectors had added fast bowlers Michael Neser and Lance Morris to their initial 13-man squad for the day-night Adelaide Test, with both overlooked. Marcus Harris is the other player to miss out.
CA said Cummins is expected to be fit for the upcoming Test series against South Africa, which will commence on Saturday December 17 in Brisbane.
The West Indies Women have been docked 40 percent of their match fee for a slow over rate against England in the first ODI in Antigua on Sunday.
England triumphed in the match by a massive 142 runs after amassing 307 in addition to the loss, however, the ICC match referees imposed the sanction after the West Indies were found to be two overs short of the target after time after allowances were taken into consideration.
West Indies Women’s team captain Hayley Matthews pleaded no contest to the charges and as such there will be no need for a formal hearing.
Based on Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to minimum over-rate offences, players are fined 20 per cent of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time.
Andre Fletcher scored his third T20 hundred to help his Kandy Falcons get off to a winning start in the 2022 Lankan Premier League with a dominant 109-run triumph over the Colombo Stars in Hambantota on Tuesday.
Fletcher hit 11 fours and three sixes on his way to a brilliant 102 not out off just 67 balls to help the Falcons post 199-1 from their 20 overs after the Stars won the toss and chose to field first.
Sri Lankan Pathum Nissanka was also dominant with a 41-ball 71 including eight fours and two sixes while Carlos Brathwaite ended 20 not out.
The Falcons were then equally dominant with the ball, restricting the Stars to just 90 all out in 14.3 overs.
Wanindu Hasaranga was the star of the show with 4-14 from three overs while Fabian Allen needed just three balls to finish with figures of 2-1.
Pakistan will be without Haris Rauf for their second Test against England in Multan, with the quick bowler potentially set to miss the rest of the series with a quad injury.
The 29-year-old stepped on the ball while fielding during the hosts' 74-run defeat in Rawalpindi and did not bowl in the second innings.
Now, having undergone MRI scans, Rauf – who made his Test debut in the match – has been a confirmed absentee for his side's next match, in what is a significant blow.
Despite an underwhelming performance against England, his departure - and potential unavailability - for the rest of three-game tour could throw a spanner in their selections.
With Shaheen Afridi already unavailable, Pakistan may have to call upon a name from outside their original 18-man squad, with Mohammed Wasim Jr their only other specialist quick currently in their party.
Hasan Ali and Mohammed Abbas are both among those who could be drafted in, though whether Babar Azam would wish to call upon them at short notice remains to be seen.
Faheem Ashraf and Mohammad Nawaz both offer all-rounder experience and are in the squad already, though their inclusion would require a reshuffle in the batting order.
Pakistan will start their second Test on Friday, as they look to bounce back from just a third red-ball defeat on home soil against England, and first since 2000, upon the tourists' return to the country.
An aggressive encounter with the bat saw the two sides rack up the third-highest aggregate score in a match in Test history, in a record-shattering encounter.
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