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Ahead of the team’s departure for the World Cup in the UK, Meg Lanning said that Australia’s female players shared the view that a fair deal for all cricketers was key to the resolution of the pay dispute

Daniel Brettig08-Jun-2017

Australia women’s captain Meg Lanning has declared why her team is staying united with male players in the current pay impasse with Cricket Australia (CA), despite the board’s offer of massive pay increases for both international and domestic females in their current MoU offer.Ahead of the team’s departure for a World Cup campaign which will end after the June 30 expiry of the existing pay deal, Lanning said that Australia’s female players shared the view that a fair deal for all cricketers was key to the resolution of the dispute, even if pay rises for her group sounded attractive at face value. Women have not previously been included in the MoU, and have been paid separately by CA.CA’s proposal features average increases of A$79,000 to $179,000 for centrally-contracted female players, with average pay for domestic female cricketers to rise from $22,000 to $52,000. However, only international players – both male and female – have been offered any of the game’s blue sky above fixed rates of pay, rather than the fixed revenue percentage that has been at the core of agreements between CA and the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) for two decades. Lanning said the players had no desire to be divided along these lines.”All the players are behind a revenue share model for all cricketers, and we’ve been able to stay really strong and we’ll continue to do that and hopefully there’s a resolution pretty soon,” Lanning said. “I think CA and the ACA are talking at the moment, so as players we just want to play cricket and we’ve left the rest of that to the ACA and CA. We’re looking forward to getting to the World Cup and playing, and we’ll leave it to the ACA to negotiate on our behalf.”[Pay rises are] certainly a step in the right direction, but it’s a whole player [group] agreement and we’re fully behind all players, male, female, state, international so that’s where we’re at. It’s about every player playing the game and grassroots as well. We’re not going to individualise any players or teams, male or female, it’s about all the players moving forward and getting a result that’s good for the game.”At the start, we came out with what we wanted and where we wanted to go and we’re pretty clear on that.”Lanning’s squad is due to depart for England at the end of the week, and all players have been handed short-term contracts for the duration of the tournament in acknowledgement of the fact it will conclude after the MoU deadline. While admitting the dispute was a topic of frequent conversation, Lanning insisted the players would forge on with clear minds when they begin their campaign to defend the title won in India four years ago.”It’s definitely been spoken about, it’s not something you can hide away from,” she said. “But as a squad once we get over to the UK we’re very keen on just playing cricket and our job and priority is to go over there, play really good cricket and win games. We won’t be distracted by it at all, everything’s in place contract-wise, so we’re just going to focus on playing and winning games.”These words arrived at a time when members of CA and the ACA negotiating teams have resumed talks after some weeks. Knowing this, the players were perplexed to be sent another package of graphics and video from the board’s lead negotiator Kevin Roberts on Wednesday, in which the fixed revenue percentage model was again challenged.”The latest attempt by Cricket Australia to directly communicate with Australia’s cricketers has undermined current behind the scenes efforts to break the impasse for a new Cricket MoU,” the ACA said in a statement. “It is also a mischaracterisation of the true position regarding grassroots investment which every Australian male and female cricketer is passionate about.”The video comes a day after productive talks for a ‘without prejudice’ process for attempting to rebuild trust and break the current impasse. [It] is another attempt to directly communicate with players who have asked for the last 6 months to be left alone to concentrate on cricket. As has been the case with CA throughout the negotiation it is 2 steps forward and 3 steps back. This latest effort exposes what the ACA have been dealing with.”One member of the Australian squad particularly eager to get on the field will be allrounder Ellyse Perry, who had the latter part of her Australian summer curtailed by a hamstring injury suffered during the WBBL. Despite a lack of recent cricket apart from training, Lanning was confident Perry would be able to deliver her best in England.”She’s 100% fit, it was a pretty major injury she sustained in the WBBL, so she’s had some time to get over that and she’s been in full training now with the squad,” Lanning said. “She’s a very key member of our team, an important player for us, and looking forward to having her back on the park.”

ESPNcricinfo’s wrap of the first day of the Sheffield Shield match between Western Australia and New South Wales in Perth

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Mar-2017ScorecardFile photo – Cameron Bancroft scored 104 for Western Australia•Getty Images

Cameron Bancroft scored his second century of the Sheffield Shield season as Western Australia piled on the runs on the first day of their match against New South Wales at the WACA. The Warriors began this round fifth on the Shield table but could still reach the final if they win outright and other results fall their way, while the Blues entered the game sitting second.Western Australia’s top order made plenty of runs between them. Hilton Cartwright at No.3 scored 70 before he was caught behind off Doug Bollinger, which then left Bancroft and Ashton Turner to put on 139 for the third wicket.Turner missed out on the chance to bring up his third hundred of the Shield summer when he fell to the spin of William Somerville for 84, but by that stage Bancroft had already brought up his and fallen for 104. The retiring Adam Voges finished unbeaten on 48 with wicketkeeper Josh Inglis on 35 as the Warriors moved to 5 for 360.

An unconvincing South Africa survived a spirited Afghanistan chase to defend a 200-plus score and get their World Twenty20 campaign back on track

The Report by Firdose Moonda20-Mar-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details 4:07

Chappell: South Africa have a few bowling concerns

An unconvincing South Africa survived a spirited Afghanistan chase to defend a 200-plus score and get their World Twenty20 campaign back on track. In the absence of Dale Steyn, who was left out for tactical reasons, Chris Morris and Imran Tahir squeezed through the middle period to ensure AB de Villiers’ quickfire 64 was not in vain.Afghanistan’s second loss means their chances of progressing to the knockouts are all but over, but they have showed their promise. They kept up with the required run-rate for the first half of their innings and were ahead of where South Africa were at the same stage in their knock, but lost too many wickets to keep going. Afghanistan also did not have a 17th over like South Africa did; de Villiers took 29 runs off Rashid Khan, which ended up being the major difference between the two sides.In the end, South Africa will be relieved that they were able to defend their total, but disappointed that the margin of victory was not bigger. They tightened up on their discipline in the field but still gave away more extras than their opposition – six wides compared to two from Afghanistan – and did not show the kind of killer instinct that they will need later in the tournament.They also suffered an injury concern. JP Duminy left the field four balls into Afghanistan’s chase with a hamstring strain and was unable to take any further part in the match. Duminy has only just found form again and his availability will be important for the rest of the World T20.As the same venue where they posted 229 batting first on Friday night, South Africa chose to set a target again. Quinton de Kock picked up from where he left off two days ago and dominated the opening passages of play. De Kock faced all but one delivery in the first two overs and found the boundary five times. Hashim Amla may have wanted to catch up but after one four, gifted a catch to Asghar Stanikzai at mid-off.South Africa held de Villiers back and sent in Faf du Plessis at No.3. The strategy worked. Du Plessis took on the spin from Mohammad Nabi while de Kock continued to attack in the Powerplay. South Africa finished it on 66 for 1 and 60 of those runs came in boundaries.When the fielding restrictions were lifted, Rashid put the brakes on with the first boundary-less over of the innings, but du Plessis did not want things to slow down too much. He picked up the pace before being run-out and de Villiers was soon at the crease.Afghanistan were not under threat immediately while de Villiers settled in and de Kock nicked off. After conceding just 19 runs in three overs after the halfway stage of the South African innings, Afghanistan might have been hopeful of pulling South Africa even further back. But Duminy and de Villiers were wise to the need to accelerate and began to push for runs.De Villiers should have been caught for 27 when he offered Samiullah Shenwari a return catch but he could not hold on his follow through and Rashid suffered most. He was torn apart in his final over, when de Villiers went over midwicket and down the ground five times. The result? Six, four, six, six and six. South Africa’s total went meandering to mighty and 200-plus was within sight. It was up to David Miller to take them there after de Villiers was dismissed. Twenty runs off the final over ensured South Africa had a second straight 200-plus score.South Africa would have felt fairly safe with 209 on the board, especially as Afghanistan two previous scores over 210 were only achieved batting first, but Mohammad Shahzad threatened to gun down that total all by himself. He began fearlessly against Kagiso Rabada and Kyle Abbott and plundered 32 runs off the first two overs. His partner Noor Ali Zadran did not face a ball until the third over and then, it was only to return the strike to Shahzad.Morris was brought on in the fourth over and showed improvement from previous performances. He started by holding his length back but then steamed in with a delivery just under 150kph – full and straightening – which splayed Shahzad’s stumps.Asghar Stanikzai and was caught behind in Morris’ next over but Gulbadin Naib kept Afghanistan in it and targeted David Wiese, South Africa’s replacement for Steyn. Afghanistan reached 10 overs on 103 for 2, 11 runs ahead of where South Africa were at the same stage. Then, Gulbadin was caught behind, Noor Ali was stumped, and Afghanistan were wobbling, still needing 100 runs off eight overs. Their chase was over then and South Africa had the chance to drill home an advantage.Instead, they allowed Afghanistan to drag it out. Abbott and Morris got the yorker right more often than they did in previous matches and Rabada managed one at the end, but South Africa will not feel it was a complete performance by any means.

علق إسماعيل يوسف، لاعب ومدرب الزمالك السابق، على رحيل البرتغالي جوزيه جوميز، عن تدريب القلعة البيضاء بشكل مفاجئ خلال الأيام الماضية.

وكان جوميز أخطر إدارة الزمالك بالرحيل قبل نهاية عقده، من أجل أن يتولى تدريب فريق الفتح السعودي.

طالع | جوميز: تركت 40 مليون مشجع لـ الزمالك من أجل الفتح.. وأنا الطرف الذي يفسخ العقود دائمًا

وقال يوسف خلال تصريحات عبر قناة “إم بي سي مصر 2” لبرنامج “الكورة مع فايق”: “جوميز كان منذ فترة لا يعمل، سيرة ذاتية لم تليق بالزمالك، وبعدما عمل مع الفريق، استطاع أن يكبر اسمه”.

وأضاف: “جوميز من حقه دفع الشرط الجزائي والرحيل عن الزمالك، هو ليس ابن من أبناء القلعة البيضاء، ونادي الزمالك كبير ومجلس الإدارة حسنًا فعل وتعاقد مع مدير فني أكبر وهو السويسري كريستيان جروس”.

وواصل: “أتمنى له التوفيق ولكن لم يعجبني ما قاله، عملت لمدة 13 سنة مع نادي الزمالك ولكن لم أعمل بعقود لأن الزمالك بيتي، نادي الزمالك لا يأكل أموال على أحد، شرف كبير أننا نعمل في نادي الزمالك”.

وأكمل: “لا أحد يلوم أحمد مجدي أنه قرر الرحيل مع جوميز ولكن اللوم عليه تصريحه الذي قاله إنه لا يشعر بأمان”.

طالع | “لم أبيع النادي”.. أحمد مجدي يكشف سبب موافقته على الرحيل مع جوميز عن الزمالك

وأتم: “أعجبني نادي الزمالك أنه ذهب للتعاقد مع مدير فني أجنبي”.

Tom Westley has been ruled out of action for 12 weeks after undergoing finger surgery in Leeds

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Dec-2017

Tom Westley has been ruled out of action for 12 weeks after undergoing finger surgery in Leeds.Westley, who made his England Test debut in the summer but was overlooked for the Ashes tour, sustained the injury while fielding for England Lions against a Queensland Select in Brisbane last week.He will now be out of action until at least March, ruling him out of the Lions’ tour of West Indies that gets underway in early 2018.The remainder of the Lions squad are currently in Perth, at the Western Australia Cricket Association’s facilities at Murdoch University, for the second part of their training camp, with the focus switching to white-ball cricket.They play a 50-over match against a WA selection on Wednesday, followed by a T20 game the following day.Then they play three T20 matches against Perth Scorchers, as part of the hosts’ preparations for the Big Bash on December 11, 13 and 15 – the first two of which will be the first cricket fixtures played at the new 55,000-capacity Perth Stadium, where the senior England team are due to play an ODI next January.

The quick said he was fortunate to be working in concert with the rest of the NSW attack during his twin hat-tricks, and deflected the spotlight onto Josh Hazlewood for his six wickets on return from a side strain

Daniel Brettig13-Nov-2017Mitchell Starc believes he can bowl far better than he showed in taking a hat-trick in each innings for New South Wales against Western Australia, and pointed to Josh Hazlewood’s outstanding rhythm in the same match as the ideal counterpoint to the all-out pace he and Pat Cummins wish to deliver against England.The hat-trick double was the first time the feat had ever been achieved in a first-class match in Australia, and the first time by anyone around the world since 1978. However, Starc, who has a handsome record of dismantling the opposition tail with swerving yorkers delivered from around the wicket, said he was mainly fortunate to be working in concert with the rest of the attack, and singled out Hazlewood for his six-wicket return to the game after a side strain.”He was spot on, straight back into his Test form after one over of Shield cricket,” Starc said in Brisbane. “Credit to him, he’s a bloody genius of line and length, and it allows Pat and I who are more aggressive to come from the other end and really unleash and bowl as quick as we want and attack. He takes wickets his own way, line and length, and allows Pat and I to try to take wickets our way, attack the stumps and try and blast teams out and really intimidate. We complement each other really well and Jacko [Bird] is a bit like that role as well. We’ve got two of each and all have their different roles.”I think I was just used at the right times [for the hat-tricks]. I cleaned up the tail against WA so I put a couple of balls in the right area but Josh blasted out the top order and Patty bowled well through the middle as well. So I think we bowled really well as a group against WA, Nathan Lyon as well on a small ground. Personally, I’ve enjoyed having that time to let the body heal properly, then find some real good rhythm and form in the Sheffield Shield. Hopefully, it just builds up to that first Test.”Hazlewood, Starc, Cummins and Bird all bowled in the nets at Allan Border Field on Monday as the Shield game between New South Wales and Queensland took place. In assessing Australia’s likely approach for the Gabba Test, Starc emphasised the need to find the right length for the conditions, the better to challenge the outside edge of England’s top order.Mitchell Starc celebrates after bagging a three-for•Getty Images

“For us it’s just about getting our lengths right, it’s a great ground for the Australian team in terms of our record and bowlers and batters in the Australian setup play the Gabba conditions really well,” he said. “We haven’t seen the deck yet and we’ll assess that once the team come together and see the conditions.”But it’s a very good cricket wicket, bad bowling gets punished, patient batting is rewarded. We’ll see what we’ve got but the bowling group have adjusted to different conditions around Australia quite well. There’s been so much hype around it, the hype will get bigger and bigger as the week goes on and once the team gets announced and the squad come together on Saturday. Everyone will be raring to go and look to peak at training.”Reflecting on the history of Australia’s likely pace bowling attack for the Gabba, Starc said there was an opportunity for the group to do something “special” together in much the same way as Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle combined in 2013-14. “We’ve all grown up and come through the ranks together, Birdy’s obviously from NSW as well, playing for Tassie [Tasmania] at the moment, but we all know each other off the field as well and spend time around each other,” he said. “It’s no secret the fast bowlers are a tight unit. Hopefully, that holds us in good stead in this series.”We’re all still relatively young and got a few years ahead so hopefully we can play some really good cricket and do something special over the next few years.”It’s exciting for [Cummins] ahead of his first home Test match. He’s in a great spot, been bowling really well the last six to 12 months, he’s raring to go, he’s up and about the young fella, keeping us older guys down to earth, but it’s great to see him back, bowling fast and aggressive. Looking forward to seeing what he can do at the Gabba.”

Stuart Broad is confident of being fit for England’s first Test of the summer, against South Africa at Lord’s next week, after suffering a heel problem while playing for Nottinghamshire last week

Alan Gardner at Lord's30-Jun-2017Stuart Broad is confident of being fit for England’s first Test of the summer, against South Africa at Lord’s next week, after suffering a heel problem while playing for Nottinghamshire last week. Broad said he was “sick with nerves” before coming through a full training session without discomfort the day before the Royal London Cup final, also at Lord’s, and is set to return to action against Surrey.England’s Test squad will be announced on Saturday morning, with Broad all but certain to be included after passing himself fit for Notts. His availability – assuming he comes through the Royal London final unscathed – will come as a relief to England, after a number of injuries among the fast-bowling attack.”I wouldn’t declare myself fit for a Lord’s final if I was not right,” Broad said. “At the end of the day, you can walk on to any field, bowl your first ball and go down – that’s cricket. But having bowled 100% in the nets, it feels good. I just have to keep managing it well, as you have to with your body when you get to 31. But yeah, I’m fit for tomorrow, which in my opinion, if I bowl okay, it means I’m fit for the Test.”Broad walked off after bowling one over in the second innings of Nottinghamshire’s win over Leicestershire, having suffered a 1cm tear to the fat pad in his left heel. After being told by medical staff that such injuries usually heal at a rate of 1cm a week, he was left sweating on his involvement during “the biggest three weeks of the year”, with the Royal London final and Lord’s Test being followed by a Test at Broad’s home ground, Trent Bridge. Jake Ball, Broad’s Nottinghamshire team-mate, has been ruled out for England after suffering a knee strain earlier in the week, while Chris Woakes was already absent with a side injury picked up during the Champions Trophy. James Anderson has only just returned from a groin tear, while Ben Stokes was hampered by a knee problem during the ODI series with South Africa last month and Mark Wood is on the comeback from a third ankle operation – although all three are expected to be in the Test squad.Stuart Broad undergoes a fitness test on his injured left heel•Getty Images

“It was nice to get out today,” he said. “I’ve felt sick with nerves for the last three-four days, because I’ve worked really hard for three months and played a lot of cricket, pretty much for the biggest three weeks of the year – Lord’s final with your county that you’ve played every game for, Lord’s Test and home Test. So obviously the first step is a tick, being fit for the Lord’s final.”The England guys have said it’s up to me, I’ve played enough cricket to know whether I’m fit or not. You go into a Lord’s final ready to bowl ten overs – you get through something like that comfortably then you’re fit for a Test match.”Having played in all of Notts’ Royal London Cup games, Broad still harbours ambitions of a one-day recall with England – “when Woakesy did his side, I was staring at my phone” – but the priority now will be getting him through a demanding schedule of seven Tests in nine-and-a-half weeks.He will play with extra strapping on his foot and has had Ottis Gibson to stay at his house while working on technical issues to offset pressure on the heel but, ultimately, sometimes rest is the only cure. “A week without bowling, it seems to have, touch wood, done the trick,” he said.

A century stand from Yorkshire’s newly minted opening partnership began the long climb in pursuit of Surrey’s first-innings 592

Alan Gardner at The Kia Oval13-Sep-20171:36

The latest shifts of fortune encapsulated in our Specsavers Championship round-up

An autumnal chill blew through The Oval, even as the sun shone and the pitch played true. There are things still to be decided in the Championship but they will be decided in their own good time. As Somerset’s rally continued in the west country, Yorkshire fans may have begun to study the table in a little more detail – though they could take some solace from a century stand from their newly minted opening partnership as they began the long climb in pursuit of Surrey’s first-innings 592.It was May 2012 when Yorkshire last began an innings without one of Adam Lyth or Alex Lees taking guard (Joe Root and Joe Sayers, for the record). With Lees having dropped down to No. 3 in Yorkshire’s last outing and Lyth absent here due to the birth of his daughter, Tom Kohler-Cadmore was given the chance to step in alongside the experienced Australian Shaun Marsh. He duly compiled his first Championship half-century for Yorkshire since moving from Worcestershire in mid-summer.Kohler-Cadmore has already built a reputation as a buccaneering white-ball batsman but this was a different kind of test, one centring on how hard he could concentrate rather than how hard he can hit. Yorkshire must mount a substantial response if they are to avoid being dropped into the bottom two at the end of this round (Uxbridge’s poor drainage may also help in that regard) and a partnership of 162 between Kohler-Cadmore and Marsh provided something to keep out the cold.Although this was Kohler-Cadmore’s first innings as an opener in first-class cricket, it is a position he views himself as ready to fill. His only regret was in not being able to go out again and continue in the morning, after “slashing at a wide one” and being caught at point five overs from the close. “It’s something that I want to do and I’ve been lucky enough to get the opportunity this week, with Adam having his baby girl,” he said. “So it was nice to get the nod and put a good stand on with Shaun.”I think a lot of people look at your red-ball stuff because they see white ball as kind of, well, the way I play, you come off or not. Whereas red ball, you have to really work hard, you can’t go out and try and hit every ball for four – though I’d like to. It’s about building your innings and setting up the game, which for us was getting to the close with as few wickets down as possible.”With England’s national selector, James Whitaker, watching on, it was a timely display of patience and technique from Kohler-Cadmore. There are a plethora of England squads to pick these days, including the Lions and Performance Programme, and Whitaker may have made a note in his black book. He would doubtless have enjoyed the performance of another young England candidate in the morning, too, as Ben Foakes recorded his first Championship hundred of the season.Kumar Sangakkara returned to inflict more pain•Getty Images

Foakes has been tipped as the likely understudy for Jonny Bairstow in England’s Ashes party and, with a first-class average above 40, he could also provide competition for a batting spot. A princely straight drive in the morning welcomed Tim Bresnan into the attack and he went on to complete a century that was both unobtrusive – a good quality for a wicketkeeper – and fluent, slipstreaming the outgoing great, Kumar Sangakkara, as Surrey piled up the runs.Being unobtrusive is more straightforward when Sangakkara is batting at the other end, of course. This was the seventh hundred of what is to be his final first-class season, as he popped back in from a few weeks at the Caribbean Premier League (where he was the second-leading scorer) to resume filling his Championship boots.For Surrey, the summer of Sanga has been both richly rewarding and slightly underwhelming. When they beat Warwickshire by an innings in the first round of the Championship (Sangakkara contributing a modest 71), Surrey were touted as potential champions. They have not won a four-day game since.That is reflective of Surrey’s bowling, more than anything else. Their two leading wicket-takers – Tom Curran (away with England) and Mark Footitt (who left in mid-season for Notts) – are not playing here and, as this match has so far showed, The Oval can produce surfaces that swiftly reduces an attack to a defence. This will be their tenth draw if they cannot convert scoreboard pressure into the currency of 20 wickets.Sangakkara, in his final first-class season, has done everything possible to leave Surrey fans wanting more. Yorkshire will probably be pleased to see the back of him, however. In three innings against them this season, Sangakkara has made scores of 121, 180 not out and 164. Those innings have come while facing three different coloured projectiles: pink, white and red. Yorkshire do not like to hand over candy so readily.His stand with Foakes yielded 258 as Yorkshire’s bowling creaked – at least until Jack Brooks produced some welcome zip during a four-wicket spell. That and the youthful promise of Kohler-Cadmore’s 78 just about kept the visitors from seizing up.It is barely 12 months since Yorkshire were battling out for a third title in succession, a three-way tug-of-war that also featured Middlesex and Somerset. Those three teams are now locked in a battle to avoid joining Warwickshire (most likely) in relegation to Division Two. Winter is coming for someone.

India offspinner R Ashwin has claimed the top ICC awards for 2015-16, having been named the ICC Cricketer of the Year and the Test Cricketer of the Year

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Dec-2016

India offspinner R Ashwin has claimed the top ICC awards for 2015-16, having been named the ICC Cricketer of the Year and the Test Cricketer of the Year. Ashwin is the third Indian, after Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for Cricketer of the Year.Ashwin, currently the top-ranked Test bowler, had picked up 48 wickets and scored 336 runs in eight Tests during the ICC’s voting period from September 2015 to 2016, in addition to 27 wickets in 19 T20Is. In 2016 alone, he picked up 72 wickets in 12 Tests and became the second-fastest bowler to 200 wickets during the Kanpur match against New Zealand.Ashwin said he was overwhelmed by the recognition. “It’s a bit overwhelming and it is yet to sink in completely. At the same time I was expecting to land one but to end up with two awards was extremely special,” he said. “To be bracketed alongside Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar is indeed a matter of great pride.”I want to dedicate this award to my family who have been a pillar of strength. And not to forget all my teammates and coach Anil Kumble who push me to give my best with their support and guidance.”The offspinner rated his 7 for 83 in the Antigua Test against West Indies as the performance he enjoyed the most. That haul helped India to an innings-and-92-run win, and he finished the series as the leading wicket-taker with 17 dismissals. Another performance Ashwin rated highly was his knock of 118 in the first innings in St Lucia, which helped rescue India from 126 for 5 to 353. They went on to win the match by 237 runs. It was also Ashwin’s fourth Test hundred.South Africa wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock was named ODI Player of the Year. De Kock has been South Africa’s leading run-getter in ODIs since September last year, and tallied 793 runs in 16 ODIs during the voting period. Overall, since September 2015, he has scored 1175 runs in 22 matches in the format, with five centuries and three fifties, ahead of senior batsmen like Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla. One of de Kock’s most prolific phases came between October 2015 and February 2016, when he scored four centuries in six innings during the tour of India and the home series against England. He enjoyed the same form in the longest format, with five successive fifty-plus scores between August and November 2016. De Kock is the second South Africa player after AB de Villiers to win the award.West Indies allrounder Carlos Brathwaite’s match-defining 34 not out off 10 balls in the World T20 final against England earlier this year was named the T20 Performance of the Year. The allrounder, who took over as the T20 captain in August, sealed a second World T20 title for West Indies by slamming four successive sixes to end a chase of 156 in Kolkata.Bangladesh seamer Mustafizur Rahman was named Emerging Cricketer of the Year, having notched up impressive performances since his international debut in April 2015. The first Bangladesh cricketer to win an annual ICC award, Mustafizur picked up eight ODI wickets and 19 T20I wickets in the voting period.Afghanistan’s flamboyant wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Shahzad won the Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year. He was the leading run-getter in the category, with 699 runs in 16 ODIs, 533 runs in 17 T20Is and 301 runs in the Intercontinental Cup matches.Earlier, New Zealand’s Suzie Bates had bagged the Women’s ODI and T20I Player-of-the-Year awards, while Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq was given the Spirit of Cricket award. Marais Erasmus won the David Shepherd Trophy for the Best Umpire.

The second Test of their tour of Sri Lanka will be Bangladesh’s 100th. Having begun their journey in November 2000, they will have taken little over 16 years to their century

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Feb-2017

Bangladesh will play their 100th Test match, against Sri Lanka, on March 15 in Colombo. Having played their first Test in November 2000, Bangladesh will be the last of the Full Members to complete the century, having taken little over 16 years to the mark.The visitors will begin their tour with a two-day practice game in Moratuwa before the first Test in Galle on March 7 and their milestone match at P Sara Oval a week later.The limited-overs leg begins with a warm-up game on March 22, before Dambulla hosts the first and second ODIs on March 25 and 28. The series concludes in Colombo – unusually at the SSC, which has not hosted an ODI since 2011.Sri Lanka Cricket CEO Ashley de Silva said the decision to play this match – a day game – was made on the basis that Bangladesh were not a major drawcard. The SSC has a capacity of about 10,000.”The reason we don’t host one-day games at SSC when we play other teams, is because we feel we won’t be able to accommodate the crowds there – the capacity is very limited at SSC,” de Silva said. “But when we play against Bangladesh, though there will be crowds, it will not exceed the capacity which can be accommodated as SSC, I’m sure.”When you play at a smaller ground also, it would seem like there are crowds – even for a Bangladesh tour. We can market it better.”The two T20Is to finish the tour, however, will be played at Khettarama.The Bangladesh squad is expected to be announced by February 20, while training begins in Mirpur on February 24. This is Bangladesh’s first bilateral tour of Sri Lanka since 2013, when they drew the Galle Test and also secured a 1-1 result in the three-match ODI series.