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Length of tournament, and nature of injuries, means that players who miss the cut should not give up hope of involvement, says skipper

George Dobell at Headingley19-May-2019Eoin Morgan has confessed that he is still not sure who will make England’s final World Cup squad.Morgan, the England captain, and his fellow selectors, Ed Smith and Trevor Bayliss, will meet on Monday to finalise the 15-man squad. They plan to announce it at 9.30am on Tuesday morning.With England having beaten Pakistan 4-0 to secure an unbeaten run of 11 ODI series (of more than one match) in succession, Morgan feels he has an embarrassment of riches available to him among the 16-men used against Pakistan and described the final decision as “extremely difficult”.But while Morgan knows there will some hugely disappointed players on Tuesday morning, he has urged them to take pride in their achievements in recent years and to remain prepared in the expectation that illness or injury could grant them a reprieve in the coming weeks. England will go into the World Cup as the No. 1-ranked side, having improved immensely over the four-year cycle since the debacle of their previous World Cup appearance in Australia and New Zealand.”I don’t know the 15,” Morgan told Sky Sports after the game in Leeds. “Every one of these guys should be proud of what we’ve achieved so far. The continuous improvement of performances makes the selection meeting extremely difficult.”But every single member of the 17-man squad here will play some role, due to the nature of injuries and illness and call-ups.”While Chris Woakes, who claimed a five-wicket haul in Leeds, has surely done enough to guarantee his own selection, he admitted he would be nervously awaiting a confirmation.ALSO READ: Dobell: The final contenders for England’s World Cup 15“Everyone will be wary of that phone call,” he said. “Even if you feel like you’ve got a good chance to being in the squad, until you hear it from selectors’ mouths, it’s not quite set in stone. You’re still probably a little bit on edge, particularly with these 16 and 17 players, because everyone has performed at some point. It’s a tricky decision for the selectors. Everyone will be looking at their phones tomorrow I suppose, if that’s when we find out.”Woakes, who revealed his post-wicket celebration was a tongue-in-cheek homage to Sir Ian Botham’s celebrations during the 1992 World Cup, also accepted, however, that the competition for places has “driven everyone forward”.”It’s certainly driven everyone forward to try and improve,” he said. “And to make sure you’re on top of your game. Whenever you get the opportunity to bowl in practice, or bat or field, you constantly feel, not like you’re on audition, but like it’s an opportunity to show your skills. It’s certainly driven everyone to try and improve and it’s certainly showed in our performances over the series.””The series went as well as we could have hoped,” Morgan agreed. “Pakistan are a strong side and they played some competitive cricket. We’ve chopped and changed our side a lot but the performance has never been compromised. That emphasises how competitive positions are as well as everyone’s hunger and determination to constantly improve their games.”

Run outs, poor shots hamper Peshawar Zalmi as they slump to second loss in three matches

The Report by Danyal Rasool25-Feb-2018Shahid Afridi goes through his trademark celebratory routine•PCB/PSL

In a nutshellKarachi Kings completed a day of low-scoring runs and comfortable chases with a five-wicket win against Peshawar Zalmi to maintain their perfect record in PSL 2018. It was tighter than it needed to be, the chase completed with only two balls to spare. However, the defeat was no less than Peshawar deserved after a feckless first innings in which they were out to poor shots. They were even more indolent with their running: three run-outs meaning they gifted wickets to Karachi who bowled well enough to not require assistance anyway.An ephemeral cameo from Kamran Akmal at the top aside, Peshawar struggled to score at a good enough run rate, with the crease becoming a revolving door for batsmen to waltz in and out of. Dwayne Smith was the only one to chip in with an innings of any note, responsible for 71 of Peshawar’s 131. Karachi’s bowlers – particularly Mohammad Amir early on – were magnificent, setting the tone for the rest of the evening.A late surge had given Peshawar hope of eking out a scrappy win, but Karachi were clinical when they came out. They prioritised keeping wickets in hand, knowing the run rate wasn’t going to be an issue. Joe Denly and Babar Azam kept Karachi on course, before Colin Ingram injected some impetus with a 14-ball 23. A pair of late wickets and good bowling at the death meant Peshawar made it tight, but Imad Wasim’s men were never in real danger of blowing this, with the captain himself smashing the last ball for six to secure victory.Where the match was wonKarachi Kings effectively sewed up the contest with a superb effort in the field. Once Kamran was dismissed in the second over, they kept their foot on Peshawar’s throats. No bowler was a weak link as the run rate remained well below six for nearly the entirety of the first innings. Even though Darren Sammy’s men managed 48 in the last four overs, Karachi’s good work in the first 16 meant the target was still well within the Karachi’s reach.The men that won it
Mohammad Amir sustained an injury which meant he couldn’t bowl any more than two overs. Which was a shame, as he had been majestic in the first two. He swung the ball at pace and extracted every ounce of bounce the surface had to offer. He put an end to Kamran’s barrage at the start, which, if left unchecked, could have taken the game away from Karachi in the first Powerplay, as happened with Islamabad on Saturday. He also accounted for Tamim Iqbal with late swing, thereby setting the tone for an innings that was going to be heavily dominated by the bowlers.Dwayne’s distinctive day
If you hadn’t watched the game, the scorecard would give you the impressions Dwayne Smith was the only Peshawar batsman who had a good day. After all, he scored an unbeaten 71 off 51 in a low-scoring game, accounting for nearly 55% of his side’s runs. But the other side of the coin is he was atrocious with his running and calling, at fault for at least two of the three run-outs that happened while he was at the crease. There is a case that the batsmen dismissed, Ibtisam Shiekh, Darren Sammy and Wahab Riaz may have been able to make useful contributions that made the difference in what ended up being a tight contest. But Smith’s consistency across the three editions of the PSL is unquestionable, and he once again demonstrated his destructiveness with the bat.Where they stand
Karachi are the only side with a perfect record in the PSL so far, and move to the top of the table. Zalmi now have one win from three, and are fourth.

Steven Smith said he did edge the ball to the wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed when he was on 97 but felt it was a bizarre that nothing came off it

Brydon Coverdale in Brisbane16-Dec-2016Steven Smith was due some luck, and on the first day at the Gabba, he got it. Having lost six consecutive tosses, Smith finally won one. He chose to bat. Smith batted well, but on 53 edged behind part-timer Azhar Ali’s delivery and was dropped by wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed. Pakistan would rue that miss.Then, on 97, Smith again edged behind, but this time was caught by Sarfraz off Mohammad Amir. The chance for a hundred could have vanished, but Smith could hardly believe his eyes as Pakistan were deceived by their ears. None of the Pakistan players had heard Smith’s edge, and none appealed. Smith played it cool, batted on, and reached his 16th Test century, and first against Pakistan.”I was very surprised, it was pretty loud, obviously I was on 97, there was a fair bit going on in the crowd,” Smith told on Friday morning. “It was pretty loud, but yeah, I did nick it, and no one went up so I wasn’t going to walk.”Asked if he had a good poker face, Smith replied: “Yeah, I didn’t look behind. Not sure why, I just played the ball and it was a bit bizarre that nothing came of it.”At the end of the over, Smith was seen in conversation with umpire Ian Gould, who had been standing at square leg while his colleague Richard Illingworth was not called on by the Pakistan players to make a decision.”I told ‘Gunner’ Gould at the end of the over: ‘I’m pretty sure I hit that one last over,'” Smith said. “He said: ‘I’m pretty sure you’ve said that to me before. I reckon it was out here as well.’ So it’s happened before, you take the good with the bad.”The concept of “walking” – a batsman voluntarily ending their innings because they know they have edged the ball – was sometimes seen in past eras, particularly in county cricket in England. But rarely does it take place in the modern era, with most batsmen these days preferring to wait on umpires, reasoning that good and bad decisions even out in the long run.

Offspinner Ramesh Powar has announced he will retire from all forms of cricket at the end of the 2015-16 Ranji Trophy season

Arun Venugopal10-Nov-2015Offspinner Ramesh Powar has announced he will retire from all forms of cricket at the end of the 2015-16 Ranji Trophy season. Thirty-seven-year-old Powar, with 341 Ranji wickets till date, has the most wickets among active bowlers in the tournament.He has played for Gujarat since the 2014-15 season, following a year with Rajasthan. Before that, he had represented Mumbai for 14 seasons. Between 2004 and 2007, he had played for the country too, in two Tests and 31 ODIs, taking six wickets in the longest format and 34 in the one-dayers. Handy with the bat, he also has an ODI fifty.Powar’s decision allows him to play in the Masters Cricket League in January; the tournament rules require a player to be retired from all forms of competitive cricket, including the IPL, to participate.”After leaving Mumbai, I thought I’ll keep on playing, but then again I’ve thought it can’t keep going this way,” Powar told ESPNcricinfo. “There has got to be some motivation. If you aren’t going to get picked for India, you can’t just keep on playing. So I just thought I’ll rather play cricket on my own terms.”Luckily, there is the Masters League in January. Some of my old buddies are playing so I might enjoy that and have some fun. I’ll play out this whole season for Gujarat though. The last league game ends on December 4. If we make the knockouts [which spill over to 2016], I’ll speak to people and take a call.”Powar, understandably, picked out his time with the national team as his most cherished cricket memories. “To share the Indian dressing room with [VVS] Laxman, Sachin [Tendulkar], Rahul [Dravid] and Sourav [Ganguly] was the ultimate dream come true, because I never thought I’ll play cricket professionally and to get where I got was a big thing for me.”Through his career, Powar often attracted attention for a perceived lack of fitness and a fascination for funky sunglasses. “Lots of people thought I was looking for style in those glasses, but glasses only helped me stay focussed,” Powar said. “I had put a lot of effort in my bowling and would bowl two hours, three hours every day. It’s debatable [what people said about my fitness].”When I was playing for India, someone asked me about my fitness. I said I can’t be Mohammad Kaif or Yuvraj Singh. I’m Ramesh Powar, this is my frame and this is how I play cricket. I tried to lose weight during the West Indies series in 2006, and I lost my bowling also. I’m a classical bowler and I said I’d rather work on my bowling. I always tried to be fit through cricket and tried to be a safe fielder.”Now, once he is done playing, Powar said, he would look to give back to the game by coaching young spinners.

The Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers kept their home run going, stopping Mumbai Indians just short of 130 on a slow pitch which the visiting batsmen could never get going on, despite losing only four wickets

The Report by Abhishek Purohit01-May-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIshant Sharma’s spell of 2 for 15 kept Mumbai Indians to a low score•BCCI

This was a clash between the IPL’s most powerful line-up and its most effective attack. Here was a line-up that had had just one failure in nine games. Here was an attack that was still to concede more than 130 at home. The Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers kept their home run going, stopping Mumbai Indians just short of 130 on a slow pitch which the visiting batsmen could never get going on, despite losing only four wickets. Shikhar Dhawan guided the chase single-handedly, peppering both square boundaries as he motored to his second fifty in three innings.Apart from the pitch and the home attack, what went against Mumbai Indians was that they lost their four wickets in groups of two each, sucking out whatever momentum they had managed to build on both occasions. The first time it happened, a start of 32 in 4.2 overs was squandered. The second time, two batsmen, Dwayne Smith and Rohit Sharma, who had spent enough time in the middle to have assessed the wicket, fell in the same over.It was Ishant Sharma who began Sunrisers’ dominance. Sachin Tendulkar had whipped and lofted Dale Steyn for successive fours but Ishant’s short of a good length stuff was to prove difficult to time. Tendulkar backed away and missed one that nipped in from that length. Two balls later, the in-form Dinesh Karthik reached for one that wasn’t quite there for the drive, and sliced it to backward point.As he usually does, Dwayne Smith took his time in the Powerplay but unlike normally, he found the runs weren’t coming even during the middle overs. Ishant was bowling a superb line and length, and the two legspinners, Amit Mishra and Karan Sharma, were getting grip and turn.Smith was dropped by Ishant at long-off in Mishra’s second over but got a poor decision in the bowler’s next, given out lbw after gloving an attempted sweep onto the pads. Four balls later, Rohit mishit in front of long-off and this time, Ishant made no mistake.Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard had seven overs to go, and managed to last till the end, but as evidence of how accurate the Sunrisers bowlers were, the partnership went over run a ball only twice in those overs.Steyn came back well after an expensive opening over, signing off with six full and low balls in his last over. Thisara Perera wasn’t far behind apart from the 20th over that went for 16, finding swing on his full deliveries.Mumbai Indians don’t have a bad attack at all, but Dhawan is not in bad form either after Test debut against Australia. A chase of 130 could easily have got close – Sunrisers defended 126 here against Pune Warriors – but Dhawan was in a different mood.Pragyan Ojha created some pressure, giving just 18 in four overs, but Sunrisers broke away in the 12th over as Rohit tried Smith. Dhawan and Hanuma Vihari took 15 off Smith’s mediums. Dhawan bossed the attack after that, cutting, pulling and lofting over extra cover at will to end the game with a couple of overs left.

A round-up of the second days’ action of the One-Day National Cup Division Two matches

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Feb-2012Group ALahore Lions were routed for 81, owing to a combined bowling performanc, led by the right-arm seamer Asad Ali at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) finished the chase in just 11.1 overs to register their maiden win in the tournament. Early strikes by Asad and Imran Ali left the Lions tottering at 5 for 5. Farhan Asghar and Saad Nasim were the only players to pass 20. Asad finished with the best figures of 4 for 14, while the other three bowlers took two wickets apiece. The SNGPL openers Ali Waqas and Imran Ali (the opener) ensured they attained the target without any loss of wickets.A half-century by Musadiq Ahmed and a five-wicket haul by Mohammad Fayyaz set up Peshawar Panthers‘ 28-run win over Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) in Peshawar. Musadiq hit 66 off 96 balls with five fours to take the Panthers to 227. Mohammad Irfan took 3 for 35. KRL began their chase steadily, taking the score to 100 for 2. But the Panthers hit back, taking four wickets for 29 runs. Bazid Khan was the top scorer with 60 but was dismissed by Fayyaz, who ran through the middle and lower order to finish with 5 for 26 off six overs, his maiden five-for in domestic one-dayers.Group BA century by Bismilliah Khan set up Quetta Bears’ 140-run victory against Multan Tigers in Karachi. Bismilliah scored 142 off 141 balls and was supported by Abid Ali, who made 73, in an opening stand of 177. Quetta finished on 326 for 5 in 50 overs, the only wicket-taker for Multan being Haziq Habibullah, who claimed 4 for 64. Multan floundered in their chase, and collapsed from 109 for 2 to 186 all out in 39.5 overs. Mohibullah took 3 for 19 and Arun Lal 3 for 36 for Quetta. Moinuddin and Maqbool Ahmed top scored with 40 each for Multan, woefully inadequate contributions when chasing such a tall target.Lahore Eagles restricted Karachi Zebras to a below-par 199 for 9 and completed a five-wicket victory at the National Stadium. Lahore struck early and repeatedly after winning the toss, reducing Karachi to 69 for 5, before the lower-order batsmen rallied and prolonged the innings until the 50th over. The opener Behram Khan top scored with 71, the next best being Sohail Khan’s 39 at No. 9. Lahore stumbled from 50 for 0 to 63 for 3 in their chase but Rana Adnan cored 58 and Usman Salahuddin 42 to take their team towards victory. The target was achieved with nine overs to spare.

A round-up of the action from the last two quarter-finals of the 2010-11 Vijay Hazare Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Feb-2011Vidarbha dumped defending champions Tamil Nadu out of the tournament with a four-wicket win in Indore. Shrikant Wagh and Himanshu Joshi restricted TN to 230, taking five wickets between them, after M Vijay (38) and S Anirudha (28) had given TN a solid start, putting on 67. After both fell to Wagh, Joshi dismissed Abhinav Mukund and Dinesh Karthik cheaply. S Badrinath too didn’t hang around for long, and it was left to the lower order to take TN past 200, after they had slumped to 164 for 7.C Ganapathy brought TN back in to the game, sending back the Vidarbha openers with 38 on the board. But Ravi Jangid and Joshi steadied the chase in a 53-run stand, and captain Ranjit Paradkar anchored the innings with a patient half-century. But Ganapathy returned to remove Paradkar with Vidarbha still needing 34 from 25 deliveries. Amol Ubarhande, though, was there to take Vidarbha to the target with nine balls to spare, and remained unbeaten on 40.Gujarat stormed into the semi-finals with a 114-run demolition of Bengal at the Emerald High School Ground in Indore. Half-centuries from Parthiv Patel, Manprit Juneja and Sunny Patel set up Gujarat’s 263. The Bengal seamers took six wickets between them but none of them went for less than six runs an over. It was left to the spinners to exert some amount of control, and Gujarat did not help themselves with four run-outs.Bengal lost Anustup Majumdar to the second delivery of the chase, and Saurasish Lahiri soon after. Manoj Tiwary also could not capitalise on his start, and was caught behind for 27. Shreevats Goswami (39) and Wriddhiman Saha (30) took Bengal past 100, but the asking rate soon climbed above six. After the duo was dismissed, the lower order crumbled under the pressure, and Bengal lost seven wickets for 35 runs to be bowled out for 149. All the Gujarat bowlers were among the wickets, with Amit Singh finishing with 3 for 25.

To watch Jacques Kallis in the final stages of the chase was to witness a master in action. He waited for the ball to come to him, saw it on to the bat and then used that massive physique to power it beyond the rope

S Aga16-Mar-2010If not for a bloke from Barbados who once flayed Dennis Lillee and friends for 254 at the MCG, Jacques Henry Kallis would end his career as the greatest all-round cricketer in the history of the game. His numbers in Test and one-day cricket brook no arguments, but there were many who felt that Twenty20 represented a bridge too far. It was fashionable to stereotype Kallis as the dour defender of his team’s fortunes, a consolidator rather than a destroyer.”Two years ago, there was a lot of criticism from people who said that I couldn’t play it [T20],” he said, after the stunning 55-ball 89 that piloted the Royal Challengers Bangalore to a target of 204. “I’ve worked at it. It’s something I pride myself on. Technically, you don’t need to change much. In Test cricket, you get a bit more behind the ball. In T20, you need to give yourself a bit more room to hit.”To watch Kallis in the final stages of the chase was to witness a master in action. Both Manish Pandey and Virat Kohli were guilty at times of going too hard at the ball, perhaps forgetting that the same strokes which get you four and six in first-class or one-day cricket will get you the same rewards in this format. Kallis waited for the ball to come to him, saw it on to the bat and then used that massive physique to power it beyond the rope.There were few preconceived notions or premeditated shots either. “We wanted to have 50 or 60 on the board after the first six overs [the Powerplay],” Kallis said. “It needed one guy to bat through and the others to play around him. Robin [Uthappa] came out and played an unbelievable knock. That was as good as I’ve seen the cricket ball struck.”After Pandey had lit the torchpaper with a 26-ball 38 that included three sixes, Uthappa’s 19-ball half-century and demolition job on Sreesanth transformed the game. Sreesanth was left so dazed by the 25-run assault that he walked off into the outfield after five balls, thinking
the misery was over.”That was as good a batting performance as you can get,” said Kallis. “Everyone played their role perfectly.”Uthappa wasn’t without some sympathy for Sreesanth, a good friend off the field – “When he was bowling, I was only looking at the ball,” Uthappa said – but he revelled in the opportunity to make an impact in front of a fervent Ugadi crowd. “I needed to get my eye in quickly and then go after the bowling, because I knew Jacques would be there till the end.”Promoted up the order after the loss against Kolkata Knight Riders, Uthappa struck the ball with awesome power in the V. Once he departed, Kallis took over. His first 45 runs had taken 38 balls. The next 44 came from just 17. With his frontline bowlers so expensive, Kumar Sangakkara would have known he was taking a gamble by giving the 18th over to Bipul Sharma. Three sixes over midwicket later, the match was as good as lost.”This hurts a lot more [than the loss to Delhi],” said Sangakkara after the game. “Here, we got more than 200. But we’ve got to learn that strong performances from individuals is not enough. We need to get a collective performance.”Bangalore managed that, with the bat anyway. As for the bowlers, this was a day to airbrush from the memory.

Gloucestershire and Derbyshire share spoils in rain-ruined contest at Bristol

ECB Reporters Network27-May-2024Beau Webster completed a Gloucestershire home debut to remember before the rain-ruined Vitality County Championship Division Two match with Derbyshire at the Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol petered out into a predictable draw.The Australian all-rounder, recruited primarily for T20 cricket, followed up his six-wicket haul in Derbyshire’s first innings of 526 by smashing 76 off just 79 balls as Gloucestershire extended their reply from an overnight 399 for four to 530 all out, Zak Chappell claiming five for 58.James Bracey was dismissed for 144 and Graeme van Buuren 187 after extending their record-breaking fifth-wicket stand to 277. But too much time had been lost to the weather and the players shook hands at 4.53pm when Derbyshire declared their second innings on 166 for four, with a lead of 162.Brooke Guest contributed 57, his second half-century of the match. The visitors took 15 points from the game and Gloucestershire 14.Only 21 overs had been bowled on day three because of rain and a draw looked the only likely outcome when play began with Gloucestershire 127 runs adrift of Derbyshire’s first innings total. The first ball of the day from Anuj Dal brought a van Buuren boundary and a fourth batting bonus point for the hosts.Five more runs had been added when the marathon stand between Bracey and van Buuren, who had resumed on 137 and 156 respectively, was finally broken, Bracey looking aghast as the ball trickled onto his stumps and dislodged the bails as he attempted to sweep off-spinner Alex Thomson.Bracey had faced 190 balls and hit 20 fours and a six. The stand with van Buuren occupied 52.2 overs and bettered by 16 the previous Gloucestershire record fifth-wicket partnership of 261, put together by W.G.Grace and William Moberly against Yorkshire at Cheltenham 148 years ago.Webster soon attacked with two fours in an over off Dal before a van Buuren single off Thomson brought Gloucestershire their fifth batting point. The skipper’s 236-ball knock, featuring 23 fours and three sixes, ended with the total on 475 when he drove at a good length ball from Sam Conners and edged to slip.An unexpected clatter of wickets followed as Ed Middleton was caught behind fencing at Chappell, who followed up by removing Matt Taylor and Marchant de Lange with successive balls, the former caught at fine leg off a glance he timed too well and the latter lbw to a toe-crushing yorker.Chappell was denied a hat-trick when his next delivery, also very full, crashed into Ajeet Singh Dale’s pads, but was rightly ruled to be missing leg stump. Gloucestershire’s number eleven went on to share a stand of 43 with Webster, who moved confidently to a run-a-ball fifty, celebrating with a big six over mid-wicket and into the car park off Conners.The tall Aussie was last man out, skying a catch to long-off to give Daryn Dupavillon a wicket, having struck eight fours and three sixes. Chappell’s figures were outstanding, but Derbyshire were left to reflect on taking only two bowling points, having wasted the second new ball on day three, and Gloucestershire’s slender lead of four runs offered little hope of a decisive result.Only a clatter of Derbyshire second innings wickets could change that. It seemed even less likely when Marchant de Lange’s opening over with the new ball went for 14.There was a glimmer of light for Gloucestershire when de Lange bowled Luis Reece off an inside edge for seven with the total on 25. But skipper David Lloyd cruised to 49, with eight fours, before edging leg-spinner Middleton through to wicketkeeper Bracey.In bright afternoon sunshine, the cricket became soporific as Guest and Wayne Madsen steadily accumulated against slow bowlers Middleton and Ollie Price without the runs counting for much. By tea, Derbyshire had moved to 129 for two and led by 125, Guest having just reached his fifty off 100 balls, with seven fours.The abridged final session saw Madsen caught behind for 30 trying to reverse sweep Middleton and Guest snapped up at short-leg off Price after the pair had added 70 for the third wicket.

Senior batter vows to support Markram in the role; wants to make an impact on and off the field with the youngsters in the squad

Firdose Moonda20-Mar-2023David Miller has pledged to throw his support behind South Africa’s new T20I captain Aiden Markram even as he acknowledged he hoped he would be considered for the job.”I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested,” Miller said, ahead of South Africa’s second ODI against West Indies in Potchefstroom. “I’ve really enjoyed the journey I’ve had with the Proteas and the experience that I’ve got. The fact that I am not captain, I am most certainly not bitter or anything towards anyone. I want to put my best foot forward for the team and support Aiden in that role.”Miller has been playing international cricket for 12 years and previously captained South Africa in matches against Pakistan, England and Ireland. He has also led Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings), Barbados Royals and Paarl Royals in T20 leagues and was considered one of the frontline candidates for the job Temba Bavuma stood down from when he was appointed Test captain.Related

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But Markram, a former South African Under-19 captain who won the age-group World Cup, and current captain of the SA20 champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape, was preferred. There were no announcements regarding a vice-captain.”He is an extremely great leader and he has got a lot of maturity and a calmness about him,” Miller said of Markram. “And that just moves throughout the change room. It’s a great option and with Rob (Walter) coming in as the new (white-ball) coach, they are going to form a great combination. I am there to support the guys in whatever they need from me.”Crucially, Miller’s experience in the middle-order will come in handy. South Africa were without him for their ODI series opener against West Indies (as he was returning from the PSL) and fell 48 runs short chasing 336 on Saturday. They also had three batting debutants Ryan Rickelton, Tony de Zorzi and Tristan Stubbs – none of whom were able to stay at the crease long enough to help Bavuma who was playing an incredible innings.Miller is eager to help the new players make better decisions on the field. “It’s great to see the young guys coming in and getting a taste of international cricket,” he said. “It’s really healthy with the standard that we’ve got and it’s a matter of time before all these new guys come in and start performing at their best. I just want to make the impact that I can on and off the field; for the new guys in the squad to feed off my experience and learning. I am always learning myself; learning from them as well. The young guys have some different thought processes when they bat and bowl, so for me it’s just to boost the guys on the field, recognise moments in the game that I have seen more often than they have, keep that communication throughout the game and keep the guys nice and calm.”South Africa can level the series with a win in Potchefstroom on Tuesday they move on to the three T20Is that round out West Indies’ visit.Then, the last and biggest test of the summer looms. South Africa face Netherlands – who booted them out of the T20 World Cup in November – in two must-win World Cup Super League ODIs. As reported by ESPNcricinfo earlier in the month. Cricket South Africa have held all their international stars back from the IPL’s opening three days in order to compete in these matches. They will only fly out on the evening of April 2, the day of the last match against Netherlands.That means Miller will miss Gujarat Titans’ opening match against Chennai Super Kings but will arrive in India in time for the second match against Delhi Capitals on April 4 – though his availability is likely to depend on any travel fatigue.”They (Titans) were really upset. It’s always a big thing playing in Ahmedabad. I am a bit disappointed to be missing that but to put on the green and gold has always been a huge privilege and honour and we have got some work to do in those two games against Netherlands so I think having a strong team – the best squad that we can pick – is definitely the way forward. I will be missing one game so whether I’m somewhat disappointed or not, the process has taken place.”Unlike last year, where CSA gave the players the choice of going to the IPL or staying home for Tests against Bangladesh, this year, through the memorandum of understanding with the South African Cricketers’ Association which gives them the right to keep players available for the national team, the board made the decision for them.”We weren’t given an option in any way,” Miller said. “Be that as it may, we’ve got our best squad on the park and we’ve got a lot of work to do in those two games so it will be nice to be able to focus on that.”