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South Africa needed a little over two sessions to bundle Zimbabwe out and win by an innings

Himanshu Agrawal08-Jul-2025A complete mismatch of a Test in Bulawayo ended within two sessions on the third day, as Wiaan Mulder alone scored only 23 runs lesser than what Zimbabwe’s entire line-up managed across two innings. But even that happened when, at nine wickets down after being asked to follow-on, an outside edge off Wellington Masakadza dribbled away for four wide of the slips.The tenth-wicket stand between Masakadza and Tanaka Chivanga frustrated South Africa for nearly nine overs, but couldn’t prevent an innings defeat. South Africa comprehensively won by an innings and 236 runs to wrap the series 2-0 after confining Zimbabwe to their heaviest defeat by runs in the first Test of the series. It was South Africa’s tenth Test win on the trot, including their victory over Australia in the WTC 2025 final last month.Related

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Zimbabwe started day three of the Bulawayo Test trailing by a massive 405 runs, with nine wickets in hand. While an innings defeat was inevitable given the deficit and the time remaining in the Test, a middle- and lower-order collapse of 6 for 31 after lunch hastened the eventual result.But before that, overnight batters Takudzwanashe Kaitano and Nick Welch negotiated the seven overs from Codi Yusuf and Corbin Bosch to start play by mostly blocking and leaving the deliveries. The first over of spin, though, got South Africa the breakthrough. Off his second ball, Senuran Muthusamy had Kaitano chipping to cover for 40 in the 24th over.Welch, at the other end, struggled to tick along. His first 45 balls fetched him only 14 runs, and one of his two boundaries came earlier in the day when he outside-edged Yusuf between third slip and gully. In the 26th over, however, Welch swung Muthusamy for a huge six down the ground. Next ball, he went for a hoick across the line, and the ball missed both the bat and the leg stump.But that didn’t prevent Welch from keeping his counterattack going. He punched Mulder wide of gully for four, had a difficult chance dropped by David Bedingham at backward point off Muthusamy, was beaten and nearly stumped next ball, and repeated his massive hit for six off Muthusamy – all these in the space of facing nine balls.It was Mulder’s Test, though, and come the 29th over, his heel was just within permissible limits as he cleaned Sean Williams up for 11. Welch slowed down after that wicket, looking content to push for singles and bat time. He raised his fifty just before lunch when he flicked Prenelan Subrayen for two to fine leg , before both Welch and Craig Ervine went unbeaten at the interval. At the time, Zimbabwe were still another 313 runs behind South Africa.However, Welch and Ervine didn’t last long enough. Muthusamy got a leading edge from Welch, who was caught by Mulder at slip for 55 in the third over after lunch. That began the slide, as 153 for 3 soon turned out to be 184 for 9. Yusuf got among the wickets when he trapped Wessly Madhevere in front for 5 in the 53rd over. Ervine and Tafadzwa Tsiga strung together plenty of dots as the scoring stalled, before Yusuf had Tsiga chipping to short midwicket to end his stay on 1 off 20 balls.At six down, Masakadza joined Ervine, and kept South Africa waiting for more. Masakadza edged one just short of second slip off his first ball, and had a tight stumping decision go his way. It was Bosch who ended the five-run union in almost six overs when he had Ervine edging behind for 49 to start the 65th over. Three balls later, Bosch bowled Kundai Matigimu for a duck to bag his third wicket. In the 69th, Bosch had Blessing Muzarabani edging to third slip without scoring, with Zimbabwe trailing by 272 runs.It was a matter of time before South Africa wrapped up victory, but while last man Tanaka Chivanga had some fun, Masakadza too hung around to annoy South Africa. Chivanga scored 22 off 26 balls, with three boundaries and a six, but was the last man to fall when Muthusamy had him top-edging to slip. Fittingly, it was Mulder who took the winning catch, having stood in as captain for this Test, and being named Player of the Match for his marathon 367* and Player of the Series for scoring 531 runs overall and bagging seven wickets.

Shreyanka has fractured the fourth finger on her left hand

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jul-2024Shreyanka Patil has been ruled out of the women’s Asia Cup after picking up an injury to her left hand. A press release from the Asian Cricket Council on Saturday said the 21-year old India offspinner “sustained a fracture to the fourth finger of her left hand.”Shreyanka took a full part in the team’s only game of the tournament so far, against Pakistan on Friday, bowling 3.2 overs and picking up 2 for 14. She was not needed to bat with India wrapping up the win in 14.2 overs and with seven wickets to spare. Tanuja Kanwar, the uncapped 26-year-old left-arm spinner who plays for Gujarat Giants in the WPL and Railways in domestic cricket, has been called up as replacement.Shreyanka made her debut for India in December 2023 on the back of impressive performances in the WPL. This year, she went on to become champion with Royal Challengers Bengaluru in a season where she took 13 wickets – the most by any bowler – at an average of 12.07 and an economy rate of 7.30. Shreyanka has played 12 T20Is for India and has gone wicketless in only two of those games. She’s also represented her country in three ODIs.Kanwar, born in Himachal Pradesh, also made a big splash in the WPL. She was bought by the Giants in 2023 for INR 50 lakh. A week before that auction she had starred with 3 for 26 for Railways in the One Day Trophy final to finish the tournament with 18 wickets while averaging 11.16 and conceding just 2.43 runs an over. Kanwar finished the 2024 WPL season with 10 wickets from eight matches at an average of 20.70 and an economy rate of 7.13. She is known for a variation where she bowls her left-arm spin from well behind the popping crease.India’s next match at the women’s Asia Cup is on Sunday against the UAE in Dambulla.

Duckett, Crawley reach fifties as England close in on Ireland’s modest first-innings total

Valkerie Baynes01-Jun-2023 is a TV quiz show in which contestants must guess the most obscure answer to each question, an answer that’s right but which no member of the public surveyed by the show has thought of. But it was Stuart Broad who provided the most obvious solution of all amid the murmurings that there was little point to this Test – as evidenced by Ireland’s undeniable focus on World Cup qualification and England’s understandable caution with their thinning seam-bowling stocks and eagerness to experiment in that department.It would be impossible to argue to Broad that a third five-wicket haul at Lord’s – his first at this ground in a decade – carries zero meaning, just as it would be to tell England that any kind of rehearsal for their upcoming Ashes campaign is pointless. In the same way, it would be futile to tell Ireland that if they are to boost their Test experience – still only seven matches old – that there’s no point turning up. The international season has to start somewhere, so it might as well be here and now, right?Broad’s 5 for 51 restricted Ireland to 172 after they were sent in to bat under overcast skies by a side that loves to chase. The total fell short of Ireland’s first innings the last time these sides met at Lord’s, four summers ago, when they then bowled England out for 85 in their reply before capitulating for just 38 in the fourth innings and the hosts won by 143 runs.Related

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By stumps on the opening day, after the cloud cover had given way to baking sunshine by lunchtime, England had closed the gap to just 20 runs in assertive fashion with nine wickets in hand. Zak Crawley reached fifty off just 39 balls before he perished to a juggled return catch by Fionn Hand, on debut as Ireland’s third seamer, Crawley’s 11 fours comprising some exquisite cover drives interspersed by some streaky inside edges. Ben Duckett reached his own half-century off 53 balls and remained unbeaten on 60 at the close, joined by Ollie Pope on 29.Broad took a flurry of three wickets in the space of eight balls to leave Ireland floundering at 19 for 3 early in the morning session and claimed two more, shortly after lunch and early in the evening session, as James McCollum, Curtis Campher and Paul Stirling all made it into the 30s but failed to press on. McCollum was patient, Campher spirited and Stirling enterprising but the task was too big, and arguably made even bigger by the well-publicised absence of Josh Little, their best bowler who is resting after the IPL and before next month’s 50-over World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe as well as the European T20 World Cup Qualifier in Scotland a month later.With his usual new-ball partner James Anderson sitting out to manage his return from a groin problem ahead of the Ashes, Broad opened the bowling with Matthew Potts and while the latter probed impressively, it was Broad broke through with the second ball of his third over, a fuller one which pitched a fraction outside off stump then angled back beautifully as PJ Moor walked across his stumps and was struck halfway up his front pad in line with middle and leg.Crawley pulled off an excellent dive from second slip to snaffle Andy Balbirnie’s outside edge as the Ireland captain departed for a five-ball duck and Broad claimed his second. Harry Tector followed two balls later, advancing to Broad and tucking the ball straight to Potts at leg slip.Broad thought he had a fourth wicket immediately, as did umpire Paul Wilson, when he struck Stirling flush on the front pad as he played across the line, but Stirling survived on review when ball-tracking showed it to be missing leg stump by a whisker.Debutant Josh Tongue, the Worcestershire seamer originally drafted as injury cover for Anderson and Ollie Robinson, who is also being kept on ice after hurting his ankle playing for Sussex, replaced Broad from the Pavilion End in the 11th over and tested McCollum immediately, sending down twin maidens to begin with. He conceded 40 runs off 13 wicketless overs but he bowled excellent line and length while finding extra bounce and carry.Stuart Broad leads England off the field•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

McCollum survived an England review for caught behind off a Tongue short ball which beat his inside edge, nipped back sharply and just evaded the bat as it sailed over the stumps, brushing his thigh pad instead. By lunch, he had faced 93 deliveries for his 29 not out, whereas Stirling reached 30 off 35 balls, including back-to-back fours off Tongue among his five boundaries, before he shaped to sweep Jack Leach and the ball looped off his glove to a waiting Jonny Bairstow, back behind the stumps after nine months out of international cricket with a broken leg.Broad struck again in the fifth over after lunch as McCollum edged to Joe Root at slip and he bowled Mark Adair with an excellent inswinger that clipped the top of off stump as Ireland lurched to 169 for 8 shortly after tea.Campher fell advancing on Leach and missing as the ball rattled his stumps to give the England spinner his third and Potts claimed his second wicket, having broken a 38-run stand between Campher and Andy McBrine, when he had Hand caught behind to wrap up the innings.

Steps down to allow independent investigation into alleged anti-semitic social media posts

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Dec-2022Azeem Akhtar, the new chair of Essex, has stepped down after just three days in the role, ahead of an independent review into his social media activity.The appointment of Akhtar, Essex’s first minority-ethnic chair, was this week hailed by the club as a “new beginning”, 12 months on from the controversial departure of the former chair, John Faragher, who continues to deny that he used racist language in a board meeting in 2017.Instead, however, the club has been plunged back into turmoil, following revelations in the Jewish Chronicle that Akhtar had ‘liked’ anti-Semitic posts on Twitter, including one that compared Israel to Nazi Germany.He had been due to take over from John Stephenson, the chief executive who has been interim chair since Faragher’s departure last November. However, Sir Stephen O’Brien, Akhtar’s deputy, will now stand in as interim.”I have taken the decision today to voluntarily step aside as chair of Essex County Cricket Club while an independent review takes place into recent matters that have been raised,” Akhtar said in a club statement.”I have made the decision to initiate this review because it is important that I as Chair and Essex County Cricket Club more widely hold ourselves to the highest standards of governance and accountability. By stepping aside, I want to show leadership and ensure the club can focus on the ongoing challenges it is tackling.”I am resolutely committed to ensuring that Essex County Cricket Club is an inclusive and welcoming environment for people of all backgrounds.”It’s a further embarrassment for Essex, who were fined £50,000 by the Cricket Discipline Commission last summer following Faragher’s departure, and were further found to have fallen “significantly short” of the diversity targets set by the ECB, which stipulated that county boards needed to feature 30% female representation and “locally representative ethnicity” by the end of April 2022. Akhtar’s departure exacerbates that shortfall.In the wake of Azeem Rafiq’s whistleblowing testimony about his treatment at Yorkshire, Essex had also been implicated in separate racism allegations, with former players Maurice Chambers, Zoheb Sharif and Jahid Ahmed all stating that they were victims of abuse during their playing days. A report on those claims is expected after the club appointed an independent QC to investigate.

Parthiv Patel, Vinay Kumar and James Franklin are part of the coaching staff too, while Robin Singh is the general manager – cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Sep-2022Shane Bond, the bowling coach at Mumbai Indians in the IPL since 2015 – a job he will continue to do – has been named head coach of MI Emirates, the Mumbai Indians-owned team in UAE’s ILT20. The staff also has Parthiv Patel [batting coach] and Vinay Kumar [bowling coach] making their debuts as coaches, and James Franklin will be the fielding coach. Additionally, Robin Singh will be the general manager of cricket.While the fixtures for the ILT20 are not out yet, the tournament will be played in the same January-February 2023 window as the SA20 league in South Africa. That required the Mumbai Indians group to appoint multiple coaching teams, since they have teams in both the competitions.With the latest round of appointments, that exercise is complete.Related

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Mark Boucher, who will step down from his position as the head coach of the South Africa men’s national team at the end of the team’s campaign at the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia, has been signed up to be the head coach at Mumbai Indians in the IPL.That position opened up after Mahela Jayawardene, the Mumbai Indians head coach since 2017, was elevated to a more global role within the Mumbai Indians group. Jayawardene has been made the group’s global head of performance. He will be overseeing the scouting and coaching of all three teams that the owners have – at the IPL, the ILT20, and the SA20. And Zaheer Khan, earlier the director of cricket operations, has been made the global head of cricket development for the three teams.Simon Katich, meanwhile, has been made the head coach of MI Cape Town, the SA20 team. Katich will be assisted by Hashim Amla as the batting coach, while Robin Peterson will be the team’s general manager. James Pamment will take charge as fielding coach [and continue in the same role with Mumbai Indians at the IPL too].MI Emirates have Kieron Pollard, Trent Boult and Dwayne Bravo, among others, in their roster of non-UAE [overseas] players already.”Having been an integral part of MI for various periods of time, the coaching team is exceptionally well-versed in the values that make MI what it is,” Akash Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm, which owns the three teams, said in a statement.For his part, Bond said, “It’s always exciting to build a new team and I’m looking forward to furthering the MI legacy and inspiring our players to take the game to new heights.”Bond, the former New Zealand quick, has been a part of the coaching set-up of a number of teams in the past. Apart from being the New Zealand bowling coach and part of the team’s backroom staff at various stages, he has also been the head coach at Sydney Thunder in the BBL, a position he held between 2018 and 2021. He has also been part of the England team as a bowling consultant in the past.

Both teams were also fined 40% of their match fee by match referee Chris Broad

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Aug-2021England and India have been fined two World Test Championship points each for their slow over-rates during the first Test in Nottingham, which ended as a rain-affected draw on Sunday. Both teams were also fined 40% of their match fee by match referee Chris Broad.The teams now take two points each out of the Test match, instead of the four they would normally get for a draw under the new points system for the 2021-23 WTC cycle.Related

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“As a team we were not pleased we lost two points because of factors that were definitely in our control,” India captain Virat Kohli said on Wednesday. “We were short by two overs, but we made up quite a few overs in that second innings. we basically have to keep up to speed with the pace of the game – small little things where we can save 10-15 seconds, that really matters, we practised that in the second innings and we were able to cover up three to four overs. You don’t want to be that far behind in the game that you are not able then to not to catch up and cover your overs in time, as the points are very, very crucial.”A major factor behind the slow over rates was both teams opting for pace-heavy attacks owing to the seam-and-swing-friendly pitch and overhead conditions at Trent Bridge. England picked four fast bowlers and no spinners, and India four fast bowlers and one spinner, Ravindra Jadeja. In the end, the quicks sent down all but 16 of the 250.2 overs bowled during the Test match.The match was also beset by frequent rain interruptions, while the completion of overs was also delayed by batters not being ready to face. As light worsened on the second afternoon, KL Rahul took his time to get into his position against James Anderson. England’s batters, meanwhile, also made Mohammed Siraj wait on more than one occasion.Over-rate-related points deductions could prove costly to teams during the WTC. In the inaugural 2019-21 cycle, Australia were docked four points for their slow over rate during the 2020 Boxing Day Test against India in Melbourne. It ultimately cost them a place in the final, which instead went to eventual champions New Zealand.

It often happens that a batsman chooses to play on after being hit, but that is not a good thing

Varun Shetty at Eden Gardens23-Nov-2019Cricket’s newly-introduced protocols for concussion testing and substitutions were in the spotlight on the second day of the Kolkata Test, with two batsmen – Mohammad Mithun and Mushfiqur Rahim – continuing to bat after being struck on their heads by bouncers.Two other Bangladesh batsmen had already been diagnosed with concussions in the first innings and substituted. In the second innings, Mithun was tested and showed no signs of concussion before coming back out and being dismissed soon after. Bangladesh confirmed that Rahim also showed no early signs of concussion. He batted through to stumps and is currently unbeaten on 59.Had either batsman been diagnosed with concussion, Bangladesh had only one player – Mustafizur Rahman, a bowler – available on the bench to act as substitute.Concussion protocols were introduced into the ICC playing conditions on August 1 this year, after years of deliberation following Phil Hughes’ death in 2014 and a deeper understanding about brain injuries in the broader world of sports. About two weeks after the playing conditions were amended, Australia’s Steven Smith became the first player to be substituted in a Test match with a diagnosed concussion.While it’s common for batsmen to continue to bat after passing initial concussion Tests, in most cases at international level, they have been found later to have batted with a concussion. This was true of Smith during the Ashes, as well as Hashim Amla during the World Cup this year.In New Zealand, Henry Nicholls was hit on the head but continued batting after two concussion tests – one when he was hit on Friday evening and another just before play on Saturday. The story was a little different last week though when Hamish Rutherford batted on for New Zealand A after being struck, made a fifty, then missed the rest of the match after failing follow-up tests.Henry Nicholls is hit by a delivery from Jofra Archer•AFP / Getty Images

In the absence of strong mandatory procedures, a lot of power still rests with the players, who would naturally prefer to go on batting. The topic was briefly front and centre as the physio spent a long time chatting with Mithun before he saw the over through and went in unbeaten at tea. Other injuries such as the one Mahmudullah suffered – a hamstring strain – are often readily apparent. The player feels pain immediately and the case for treatment is clear. Concussions and brain injuries though are hard to gauge as the onset of symptoms may be delayed for up to 48 hours.Cricket’s protocols depend on the appointed medical representative of a team – usually the physio – to run standardised tests and submit a report to the match referee in case a player fails the tests. But, as mentioned in the examples earlier, players can sometimes show no signs of trauma until the next day, which means they play on at less than 100% and at great risk of being struck again with the bowlers under no obligation to not bowl bouncers again. To avoid this circumstance, a sport like rugby, for instance, decrees that a player hit on the head has to compulsorily go off and is not allowed back on till he is proven to have no signs of concussion.Another crucial element of the blows sustained by the Bangladesh batsmen is that this was the first time many of them were playing an international match under lights with the pink ball. Fast bowler Al-Amin Hossain said there were no issues with the visibility as such, but India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara said otherwise.”I thought light and pink ball had a role to play,” Pujara said after the second day’s play. “Because as a batsman it’s not easy to pick the ball, especially short balls, the kind of pace our fast bowlers have. I think it (the batsmen being hit) is because of the pink ball and playing under lights, because their batters, as far as I know, they haven’t even played any first-class games with the pink ball. It’s not easy.”Of the four Bangladesh batsmen that were hit during the Test, Mithun and Rahim were the only ones to be hit after sunset, under completely artificial lighting. Mahmudulllah, meanwhile, has been “walking around” in the dressing room and could come back out to bat on Sunday.

The Chennai police commissioner advised CSK to “reschedule” the matches in the wake of the protests in the city over the Cauvery river water issue

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Apr-20182:45

Dasgupta: Raina is the batting fulcrum of CSK

Chennai Super Kings will lose their home advantage for the rest of the 2018 season.* The IPL has decided to move their six remaining home games out of Chennai in the wake of protests during the first match, and threats to disrupt more fixtures. CSK’s home games will be played in Pune instead.Kasi Viswananthan, the Super Kings CEO, met the Chennai police commissioner on Wednesday and was advised to shift the matches because of the ongoing protests in the city over the Cauvery river water issue, a long-standing dispute between Tamil Nadu and its neighbouring state Karnataka.The Maharashtra Cricket Association president Abhay Apte told ESPNcricinfo he had requested the IPL to consider Pune as CSK’s alternative home venue. Rajkot, Visakhapatnam and Thiruvananthapuram were the other cities in consideration by the IPL.The Pune ground is familiar to CSK captain MS Dhoni and coach Stephen Fleming, who were part of the Rising Pune Supergiant franchise in 2016 and 2017. The Super Kings already have experience playing home games away from home; four of their home matches were moved to Ranchi in 2014 due to the dispute between Tamil Nadu Cricket Association and the local municipal corporation.Chennai had hosted Kolkata Knight Riders on April 10, marking the return of the IPL to the city after the franchise had completed a two-year ban for corruption. However the lead-up to the game was not peaceful, with political parties organising rallies in the vicinity of the MA Chidambaram Stadium, protesting the Cauvery river water issue. Several local political parties and fringe groups wanted a boycott of the IPL matches in Chennai till the dispute was resolved.There was trouble during the match as well. A group of spectators flung shoes in the vicinity of Super Kings players on the boundary, prompting the intervention of police. The incident happened in the eighth over of the game, after which the concerned spectators were evicted from the ground and, as per reports, taken into custody. While there was no confirmation that the shoe-throwing incident was directly related to the Cauvery river water issue, it was the likely cause.*

Chris Cairns has been found not guilty of perjury and perverting the course of justice following a nine-week trial at Southwark Crown Court. Here’s how the events unfolded

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Nov-2015Chris Cairns has been found not guilty of perjury and perverting the course of justice following a nine-week trial at Southwark Crown Court. Here’s how the events unfolded:Monday, October 5Mr Justice Sweeney, the presiding judge at Southwark Crown Court, outlines the case to the 16 shortlisted men and women of the jury, of whom 12 will be sworn in on Wednesday. His “pessimistic” view is that the trial will extend until November 20.Monday, October 12Lou Vincent, the first of the witnesses to be called for the prosecution, claims he was under “direct orders” from Cairns to get involved in match-fixing. His introduction had come while playing for Chandigarh Lions during the 2008 Indian Cricket League.Tuesday, October 13During his second day on the witness stand, Vincent recalls how Daryl Tuffey, an alleged fellow member of the Chandigarh Lions match-fixing operation, threatened to “f****** kill” Cairns for non-payment. Under cross-examination from Orlando Pownall, QC, Vincent’s emotional state causes an early adjournment.Wednesday, October 14Vincent recalls how Stephen Fleming, the former New Zealand captain, accused him and Cairns of being “dirty”. Despite claiming to have been “disgusted” at Cairns’ lies, Vincent nevertheless agreed to support his libel action against Modi. The reason for this, suggests Cairns’ defence, was “there was no corrupt activity … and you could give a truthful account.”Thursday, October 15Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand captain, tells how he had been approached three times by Cairns to get involved in spot-fixing, but did not report this to the authorities for three years because he “did not want it to be true”. The defence queries the inconsistencies in McCullum’s three statements to the ICC, claiming that his main concern was to protect his lucrative “Brand McCullum”.Friday, October 16Andre Adams and Kyle Mills, two former New Zealand team-mates, take the stand via videolink. Adams recalls how Cairns had doubted how the ICL could prevent corruption because it was an unsanctioned event. Mills states that he had been “gobsmacked” in 2009, when McCullum admitted his approach from Cairns.Monday, October 19Eleanor Riley, Vincent’s ex-wife, tells the court of a key conversation in a bar in Hale, Greater Manchester, in which Cairns calmed her fears about her husband’s activities by saying “everyone was doing it in India”. Riley insists her recall was “clear as a bell” despite the defence suggesting she had been “infected” by alcohol. “I certainly wouldn’t come to a perjury trial to lie,” she adds.Tuesday, October 20Ricky Ponting, the former Australia captain, confirms he was present in a bar in Kolkata in 2008 when McCullum claims to have been first approached by Cairns to spot-fix. McCullum, he said, described a five-minute phone-call with “Cairnsy” as a “business proposition”.Tuesday, October 20Leanne McGoldrick, McCullum’s former agent, recalls how her client had asked her during a dinner in Christchurch whether she thought Cairns was involved in match-fixing. “I was completely shocked,” she says. “I couldn’t believe what he was saying.” She encouraged McCullum to report the approach but their business relationship ended soon afterwards.Wednesday, October 21John Rhodes, the ICC anti-corruption officer, says that McCullum’s initial statement to the ACSU in February 2011 omitted any explicit mention of “match-fixing”. Rhodes tells the defence that the “inference was clear” in the statement but says that he was not in a “position to put words” into McCullum’s mouth.Wednesday, October 21Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the chairman of the ACSU, denies the defence’s assertion that the “scalp” of Cairns is being sought to deflect criticism away from his unit’s lack of success in tackling corruption. “Absolutely not,” he says. “If scalp turns out to be an appropriate description, I think it is an absolute tragedy.”Thursday, October 22Daniel Vettori tells the court he was “shocked and angry” upon hearing that his “mentor” Cairns was allegedly involved in match-fixing. He encouraged McCullum to report Cairns’ approaches following an anti-corruption briefing in 2011, but played down his own request for Cairns to buy him a US$15,000 diamond ring with the proceeds from a toothpaste commercial in 2006 as “innocuous”.Monday, October 26Chris Harris, the captain of the ICL franchise Mumbai Champs, claims that Cairns had worn an “unusual” expression after Chandigarh’s wicketkeeper, Sarabjit Singh, had won a match featuring an “unusual number of strange incidents” with 41 not out from 22 balls. Harris also claims that Andrew Fitch-Holland, Cairns’ co-defendant, had stated “Cairnsy’s guilty” during a Lashings charity game ahead of the libel case. The comment, it was suggested, could have related to his marital issues.Tuesday, October 27Vincent’s mental state made him “vulnerable” to approaches from match-fixers, according to his friend and former Auckland team-mate, Steve Pearson. In his own testimony, Vincent had outlined how he had struggled with depression since being dropped by New Zealand in 2007. Confessing to his involvement in match-fixing was, Pearson said of Vincent, “a release”.Wednesday, October 28Cairns’ statements to the Metropolitan Police in April and May 2014, following the allegations from McCullum, Vincent and Riley, are played back to the court. “Seriously? These are the accusations in regard to this?” Cairns is heard saying. “This is why I can’t get money, this is why I can’t make a living? This is it? I don’t want to seem like a whack job. I’ve been wracking my brains for months, I’ve been f**ked over.”Thursday, October 29Cairns’ defence questions the motives of the police investigation, in particular why there was no move to charge Vincent for his admissions of match-fixing and money-laundering. Detective chief superintendant Michael Duthrie said his force was interested only in what happened at the High Court, but added that Vincent had not been granted immunity from prosecution.Tuesday, November 3Cairns takes the stand for the first time in the trial but limits his responses largely to one-word answers. Asked by Pownall, his barrister, whether at any stage he was involved in match-fixing, Cairns replied: “No.” “Did you contemplate match-fixing?” Pownall continued. Cairns again replied: “No.”Wednesday, November 4Cairns receives a warning from the judge for evasion during a cross-examination from the prosecution. Mr Justice Sweeney told him to stop “making speeches” as he struggles to give straight answers to Ms Wass’ line of questioning.Thursday, November 5Cairns’ wife, Mel, denies that any discussion about match-fixing had taken place in the Manhattan Bar and Grill in 2008, the scene of Riley’s alleged encounter with Cairns. “I would never lie to help my husband in court,” she said via videolink, adding that the couple had not been able to afford for her to fly to the UK to support him during the trial.Friday, November 6Fitch-Holland, Cairns’ co-defendant, denies attempting to procure a false witness statement from Vincent during a recorded Skype conversation. He also denies all memory of a conversation at a charity cricket match in which he was alleged to have declared that “Cairnsy’s guilty”.Monday, November 9Under cross-examination, Fitch-Holland is reminded of an incident in 2009 in which Rod Marsh, the former Australia wicketkeeper, refused to sign a cricket bat which already had Cairns’ name on it. It was a sign, said the prosecution, that players had been “warned off” associating with Cairns. Fitch-Holland, however, said that the ICC had told him he was not under investigation.Tuesday, November 10Fitch-Holland is accused by the prosecution of inventing a convoluted story to explain his “very guilty words” in the Skype conversation with Vincent. “I’ve come up with the truth,” Fitch-Holland says. “I’m saying Lou Vincent is a self-confessed liar, and a cheat … I hoped I would be believed over him, as I hope now I will be believed over him.”Thursday, November 12Ms Wass closes the case for the prosecution by describing Cairns as the “Lance Armstrong” of cricket. The evidence that he was involved in match-fixing is “overwhelming”, she says. “He has made a mockery of the game of cricket, the fans, the game.”Monday, November 16Cairns’ barrister, Pownall, denounces four of the nine witnesses for the prosecution as liars, namely Vincent, McCullum, Vettori and Riley. Cricket’s authorities, Pownall added, were “determined to have the scalp of an innocent man”.Tuesday, November 17The case for the prosecution was “biased” from the outset, according to Pownall. “Beyond rumour, beyond self-motivated lies, you cannot be sure Mr Cairns is guilty. For that reason, we invite you to acquit him.”Wednesday, November 18Jonathan Laidlaw QC, Fitch-Holland’s barrister, protests that his client’s case has become a “sideshow”. “The prosecution has become rather too Cairns-focused in this case,” says Laidlaw. “Have they overlooked that there is a second man on trial here?”Friday, November 20Mr Justice Sweeney, beginning his summing-up, warns the jury to treat Vincent’s evidence with caution, given a self-confessed reputation for lying. “It is incumbent on me to emphasise to you the potential danger posed by such a witness and point out to you that he might have his own interests to serve by giving evidence.”Monday, November 23The evidence provided by Ms Riley is highlighted by the judge as “the most important”, seeing as it stemmed from a direct conversation with Cairns. Mr Justice Sweeney also reminded the jury of Andrew Hall’s testimony, that Cairns had told him his suspension from the ICL had been for match-fixing allegations. It was not, however, “evidence of the truth” per se.Tuesday, November 24The jury retires to consider its verdict at the completion of Mr Justice Sweeney’s summing-up. It is a “matter for you”, he tells them after outlining McCullum’s evidence, whether they believed he altered his ICC statements deliberately to serve his own interests, or as a consequence of more careful questioning in each of his three interviews with the ACSU.Friday, November 27After a two-day break, the jury is unable to reach a unanimous verdict in its initial deliberations. Court is reconvened at 11.44am in order for the judge to grant them permission to seek a majority verdict of 11-1 or 10-2. With no time pressure, the hearing is adjourned for the weekend at 4.30pm.Monday, November 30After 10 hours and 17 minutes of deliberation, the jury find Cairns not guilty of perjury and perverting the course of justice. His co-defendant, Fitch-Holland, is also acquitted on the second charge. Speaking after the verdict, a relieved Cairns speaks of the five-year “hell” through which he and his family have been put, but admits that his reputation in cricket has been “scorched”.

Allan Donald, who has been elevated from bowling coach to head coach for Pune Warriors this year, has spelled out his expectations from the players in no uncertain terms

Amol Karhadkar31-Mar-2013Despite being around for two years in the Indian Premier League, Pune Warriors – the most expensive franchise in the event – seem to be struggling to find their feet. In both the editions they have featured in, they have finished near or at the bottom.No wonder then that their third successive season will see a new captain and coach going into the tournament. While both their previous coaches – Geoff Marsh in 2011 and Sourav Ganguly as captain-cum-mentor last year, when they participated without a head coach – were diplomatic ahead of they stints, Allan Donald, who has been elevated from bowling coach to head coach this year, spelled out his expectations from the players in no uncertain terms.Referring to his new role as “intimidating” in a tournament that moves “at a million miles per hour”, Donald, the former South Africa pace spearhead, urged the players to “care” for one another.”I am going to have a meeting with our overseas players on their own to explain their commitment to our cause for the next two months. Every one of those players wants to play. I would be disappointed if I wasn’t picked. But what is important for Pune Warriors is for everyone to be swimming up one stream, [and] not every way and direction like it went last year,” Donald said, referring to a disgruntled unit in the latter half of last year’s IPL.”And negativity spreads cancer. It does because it gets people talking, players talk among each other. And my message to the team is [to] be up front and honest. [This] is going to be the key. I am not here to make anyone promises.”That’s what this format requires. You just can’t be pleasing cricketers for the sake of it. I just want guys to be part of the team and helping each other out. The care factor for me is huge. I want guys to look after each other. That creates that relaxed environment that I talk about. That’s pretty much what I look for. How we gel as a team, how we grow as a team and how we care as a team is going to be the key for us.”In a season in which Pune Warriors tried out 23 players during the season, not many players were given a long rope. It led to team harmony going for a toss as the tournament progressed, and affected the team both on and off the field. Donald seems to have learned the lessons from the disappointing previous outing: “[I] don’t think last year was a great example for me. That was my first year, and I felt that at times, we were a bit gung-ho with our selection.”At times, [we tried] quick fixes, which didn’t work. I see that the teams that have been successful in the IPL have stuck with a certain group of players for a long period of time. And that’s what I intend to do.”Why fix [something] if it’s not broken? All coaches and teams are looking for early momentum and confidence, and we have to earn the right to do that first of all. The hard part about this competition is to get your nose in front. I am not looking far ahead. I am not looking at the semi-finals or anything like that. I just want to concentrate on every game, and on what we do in every game. If it doesn’t work and we go down fighting, so be it. To try and stick to certain processes is the key.”